The War in Belgium

It was a much diminished Jersey Company that left the Somme and crossed the border into Belgium a few weeks later. 16th (Irish) Division was sent north to recuperate and refit in the sector of trenches in front of Messines Ridge, a strongly fortified German position lying to the south of the famous town of Ypres. The following winter and spring was spent there, reorganising and slowly regaining fighting strength.

For the Jersey Company it was a watershed time. With no volunteers forthcoming from Jersey since 1915, it was forced to accept men from the UK and Ireland in order to make up numbers. From this point on the separate identity of the unit was progressively worn down - and there was a great deal of bitterness amongst the original members as a result.

In June 1917 the British attacked Messines Ridge. Preceded by the exploding of 19 massive mines under the German defences, 10 Divisions, including the 16th (Irish), succeeded in capturing the entire ridge in one of the most celebrated victories of the war. The unexpected swiftness of the victory meant that many of the reserve units, including 7th Royal Irish Rifles, were not committed directly to the fighting that day.

In August, however, they were not so fortunate. By that time the battle had moved north to the front around Ypres itself, and after a successful opening assault in July, had bogged down in difficult conditions exacerbated by strong German defences and swamp-like conditions brought on by heavy rain. On 16th August, 16th (Irish) Division was ordered to launch a fresh attack towards the village of Zonnebeke. This time, 7th Royal Irish Rifles were to be in the first wave. But, having already endured a week in dreadful positions around the hamlet of Frenzenberg, the Battalion was in no real shape to make an attack against strong German defences. Soon after leaving their trenches the men were halted by heavy shelling and remorseless machine gun fire.

The Jersey Company was in the centre of the attacking force and came up against resolutely defended concrete bunkers. Despite several attempts to move forward, in the end they were forced because of heavy casualties to fall back to their starting positions. It was another red-letter day for the Contingent: by the end of it a further 9 men were dead, and scores more wounded.

In November they found themselves taking part in the Battle of Cambrai. This was another of the war's landmark battles: the first for which the British massed together hundreds of tanks for a surprise attack on the German line. On November 20th they burst through the Hindenburg Line with surprising ease, and pushed on towards the town of Cambrai. For a fleeting moment a major breakthrough appeared to be on the cards; but just outside the town the advance was held as the Germans responded with customary alacrity, and stubbornly defended a number of key positions.

One was the village of Moeuvres; and it was here on the morning of the 23rd November that 2nd Royal Irish Rifles, and their new Jersey comrades, were committed to battle. They attacked the heavily fortified village, and came very close to capturing it as planned. But having pushed into the centre, they found themselves increasingly isolated, and were forced to retreat as evening fell. Left behind were 17 dead, including three from the Contingent. A fourth member would die of his wounds the next day.

In December, as a result of the appeal made earlier, news came through that those surviving Contingent members, who wanted to, could leave the Royal Irish Rifles, and transfer to the Hampshire Regiment, a unit with long standing Jersey connections, and with whom considerable numbers of Islanders were already serving.