Thursday June 20th, 1918
Reveille 4:30. Firing gun. Very hot indeed. Feeling rotten and groggy. Pitched tents on Cugunci show ground. Tired. Caithness has malaria.
To the Hospital
Frank’s colleague, Thomas Caithness, has malaria. His service number is 111471. He will be transferred from the 13th to the Infantry Base Depot at some point and then to the equivalent Depot of the South Wales Borderers as 64048. This transfer to non-combat duty could be as a result of the long-term effects of malaria.
To the Cheshires
Lt John Leslie von der Heyde was commissioned with the Royal Sussex Regiment in the Regular Army in March 1917, having transferred from the Territorials.º Initially attached to the 13th Manchesters, he is now moving to the 12th Cheshire Regiment. Born in the south of England in 1896, he is 21 years old.
Remaining in Salonika for the final breakthrough in September 1918, he will be awarded the Military Cross: ‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during the attack on the ‘P’ ridge on September 18th 1918. He was sent forward to ascertain the situation on the ‘P’ ridge at a time when, owing to dust and smoke, no observation was possible. He entered the enemy works alone, and, although subjected to a very heavy machine-gun and trench mortar fire, returned with very valuable information.’¹ He is also one of many cited for ‘gallant conduct and distinguished service’ by General Milne in January 1919.
Von der Heyde remained with the Royal Sussex in the inter-war years, rising to become a Major in 1939. He served throughout the Second World War and by 1943, he was an Acting Brigadier and had earned an OBE. He rose to become a Lt Colonel.
He retired from the Army in 1949 with the honorary rank of Brigadier. In 1955, von der Heyde went to Tanganyika as the Chairman of the Public Service Commission. There, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 1960, he was awarded the CBE. Interestingly, on the ‘outward passenger list’ for April 1955, en route to Tanganyika, he was recorded as having both British and German citizenship. He died, back in England, in 1974.
13th (Service) Battalion War Diary – 20th June 1918 – La Marraine
Fatigues as usual A, D and C Coys firing on Rifle Range. Practices – 5 rounds grouping, 10 rounds rapid, both in gas masks. Range about 150yds. B & C Coy also on Lewis Gun Range. Lt JL von der Heyde C Coy struck off the strength of the Battalion on attachment to 12th Cheshire Regt with effect from 18-6-18.
References & Further Reading
º Supplement to the London Gazette, July 12, 1918 (8165)
¹ Edinburgh Gazette, February 5, 1919, issue 13398, page 715.