Saturday August 3rd, 1918
Reveille 6am. Rehearsal for GOC 6:45. Raining hard – washout through rain. Work on assault course 2 to 5pm. Stayed in camp night – slept out.
Battalion Inspection
Today the 13th was inspected by its Divisional Commander, the mercurial Major-General Bethell. Despite rehearsing since 6:45 this morning, the inspection, at least in Frank’s opinion, was a ‘washout’.
It would be interesting to know what the Battalion commander, Lt-Col Morrell, thought. His peer at the time, ‘General Jack’, of the 1/Cameronians believed that the structure of Army life and its routine were key. For him, inspections were not for show or pomp. Instead they were important learning and development opportunities for both his officers and men.
On August 5th, 1918, while on the front line, Jack recalled, ‘At dawn today the Brigadier visits our lines and has, with perfect justification, many faults to fine. I therefore perform a second and more leisurely, four-hour tour after breakfast to remedy defects…’ ¹
Brigadier General James Lochhead Jack, DSO (1880-1963)
Sidney Rogerson, served under Jack and was the author of several acclaimed books on the War. He wrote the forward to ‘General Jack’s Diary’ and recalled Jack’s time commanding the 2/West Yorkshires:
’For one thing, his sense of duty was far too strict for most of us young men to understand. For another, he had an almost exasperating punctiliousness in what often appeared to us to be unimportant details of military etiquette as well as discipline.
It was only in later years that I came to realize what his diary reveals so clearly, how these and other facets of his character enabled him, a stranger, to take hold of a battalion not a little sick and shaken after the terrible experiences of July 1st [1916], to nurse it back to health amongst the mines and minenwerfers of the Loos salient; and to harden and train it in the muck and misery around Les Boeufs until, when it went over the top on July 31st 1917 at Ypres, it was recognized by High Command as one of the picked battalions of the BEF.
It was also surely one of the happiest battalions, and a spirt of gaiety, the result of increased confidence in their own efficiency, characterized the duties and recreations of officers and men alike.’²
The photograph was taken in November 1914, and shows the then Captain Jack, in the full dress uniform of the Scottish Rifles. Brigadier-General James L Jack DSO was a career soldier. During the war he served with the Cameronians twice, the West Yorkshire Regiment and ultimately became commander of the 28th Infantry Brigade. Jack earned the DSO and Bar and was twice mentioned in Despatches. He retired from the Regular Army in 1921 and was appointed Aide-de-Camp to the King between 1931 and 1941.
13th (Service) Battalion War Diary – 3rd August 1918 – Haudricourt
The Battalion was inspected by the Divisional Commander, Major-General Bethell CMG DSO after which the lines were visited. 5 OR struck off effective strength to hospital between 2-8-18 and 3-8-18. Extract from London Gazette no 30791 dated 12th July 1918, T/Lt VHP de Jongh to be 2Lt (Regular Army) from Special Reserve with seniority 1st Jan 1917. 2Lt J Schofield leave to UK.
References & Further Reading
¹ ‘General Jack’s Diary, War on the Western Front 1914-1918’ edited by John Terraine, Cassell, 2003 (first published 1964), page 251
² ibid, page 13/14
* Photograph appears in ‘General Jack’s Diary’ without attribution. Image may be subject to copyright.