Benson, Sgt George, 147n
Bethmann, M.M (interpreter), 12, 131
Billon Wood, 180
Bland, Capt. Alfred Edward (‘Bill’): comradeship, xxii, 168n, 207; collects cash for pay, 18; letters uncensored, 22n, 76n; dislikes Merriman, 45n, 76n; in trenches with CCM, 71n, 198; Merriman charges with insubordination, 75; riding with CCM, 103; cheerfulness, 110; in rest house, 127; sends pressed forget-me-not to wife, 212n; borrows watch, 218n; killed in action, 225
Bois de Rusicourt, 70
Bois de Treux, 179
Bois des Tailles, 178, 197, 199, 209
Bonham-Carter, Lt Col. Sir Charles, 196, 200
Bonnay, 159, 203
Bonneville, 42, 45
Bosquet, Gen. Pierre, 65n
Bowly, Capt. Reginald Walter (‘Bubbles’): in France with CCM, 8, 11, 143; takes out working parties, 104, 120; removes shinbone
Bowly, Capt. Reginald Water (cont.) trophy from soldier, 135; avoids mortar explosion, 139–40; arrested for drunkenness, 140–1; court martial, 144, 149; sentenced and transferred, 158–9
Bradley, Sgt J., 189
Bray-sur-Somme, 92–4, 97–9, 107, 126, 140, 161, 178, 180, 184
British Army Formations:
DIVISIONS: 7th, 45, 48n, 49, 57n, 77, 109; 30th, xviii
MANCHESTER REGIMENT: CCM enlists in, xvi; embarks for France, xviii; King’s Colours presented in ceremony (1920), 226
Battalions: 16th Service (1st ‘City’), xvii; 20th, xvii; 21st, xvii, 28n, 91n, 93n; 22nd (‘7th City Pals’), at Battle of the Somme, xxiv–xxv; as ‘Pals Battalion’, xxii; formed and trained, xvi–xviii, 1, 28n, 34, 91n, 93n, 159, 219n, 224; moves to Lark Hill, 1n; in France, 28, 34; 22nd, 1n
OTHER REGIMENTS: Border, 156, 200; Dorsetshire, 205; East Lancashire, 26–8, 31–4, 75; Gordon Highlanders, 62; Loyal North Lancashire, 202; Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, 74; Queen’s Royal West Sussex, 48n, 57, 61, 77, 112, 150, 152; Royal Berkshire, 184; Royal East Kent (‘the Buffs’), 171; Royal Hampshire, 25; Royal Irish Fusiliers, 25; Royal Norfolk, 94, 98; Royal Warwickshire, 200; Royal Welch, 77; South Lancashire, 146; South Staffordshire, 48n, 77, 145, 155, 170; York and Lancaster, 171, 205
VARIOUS: King Edward’s Horse (territorial unit), xvi–xviii; London Mounted Brigade, xvi; Accrington Pals Battalion, 26n; Machine Gun Corps, 184; Royal Engineers, 106
British Expeditionary Force (BEF), xvi, 27n, 171n
Brocklehurst, Capt. Thomas Pownall, 184–5
Brownlow, Adelaide, Countess, 4
Brucamps, xx
Brunt, 2nd Lt William Edward, 205; killed in action, 225
Brusilov, Gen. Aleksei, 201n
Bulgar Point: attack on, 188–91, 196
Bull, Pte William, 105, 113
bully beef, 86n
Bunting, Pte Arthur: as CCM’s batman, xxii, 26, 118, 197; drunken escapade, 52, 54; with CCM at death, 218–9; correspondence with Maude following CCM’s death, 220–2; later service and death, 225
Bunting, Effie, 219, 225
Burchill, 2nd Lt Vivian, 65, 104 & n, 189 & n, 190 & n
Burlton, Capt. George Philip, 94–5
Canaples, 35, 39–40
Cansino, 2nd Lt Joshua Hain, 172, 188n, 189–91
Capper, Maj. Gen. Thomas, 45
Cardonette, 90
Carey, Miss, 6
Carr, Pte George, 137
censorship, 22n
Chaplin, Charlie, 71
Chetham-Strode, Lt Edward Randall, 184
Clarke, Pte John Albert, 169
Congreve, Lt Gen. Sir Walter, VC, 59n, 61, 108
Connaught, SS, 98
Conrad, Joseph, 170n
Cook, 2nd Lt Henry Rodham, 165
Corbie, xxiv, 91, 93, 128, 154–5, 157, 176, 188
Cotton, Lt Hugh Stapleton (‘John’): in France with CCM, 8, 11; on soldiers’ ignorance of progress of war, 16; on sheep behaviour, 68; tour of trenches, 101; brings bible from dead German, 108; returns to unit, 161; character and humour, 173, 206; friendship with ‘Jamp’, 173; survives war, 225
Cowan, William James (‘Pat’), 102, 124–5, 138, 178, 180–1, 201, 211
Cushion, Lt William Boston, 62, 81
Daley, Pte Charles, 115
Davidson, Capt. Paul Victor, 199n, 200, 202
Day (of 91st Brigade Trench Mortar Battery), 185
Derby, Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of, xvii, 1n, 226
Deverell, Brig. Gen., 149
Dillon, Maj., 76
dogs: shot in trenches, 118–9 & n, 161
Dompierre, 89n
Dooley, Pte Henry, 166
Dowling, 2nd Lt Albert Victor, 128n, 130, 143–4, 146
Dransfield, Pte Allen, 190, 191n
dug-out: described, 114–7, 122–3
Duke, Maj. Jesse Pevensey (‘Jake’), 135, 177, 185
Dunedin, New Zealand, xvi
Earles, Capt. Francis John (‘Frank’), 22, 221n, 225; marries CCM’s widow, 226
Epping Forest, xvi
Etheridge, Lt Col. Cecil de C., xvii, 208n
Ewald (interpreter), 131
Faulkner, 2nd Lt Henry Lander, 128n, 138
Festubert, Battle of (1915), xviii, 184
Fieffes, 42
Finch, Pte Harold Cecil, 67
Flixecourt, 176
Folkestone, 5–7
football, 22n, 45, 85, 87, 187
Fortune, Pte James, 169
Fourdrinoy, 48, 56, 89
France: CCM’s views on, xx, 13, 153; British soldiers on, 19–20; and defence of Verdun, 113
French Sixth Army, 33n, 89n, 211
French 20th Division, 188
French, Field Marshal Sir John, 60n
Fricourt, xxiv, 92, 104–5, 208
Frise, 89n, 126, 160
Fry, Maj. Gen. Sir William, xviii, 59, 93
Gallipoli, xvi
Gandy, Cpl Thomas Moreton, 147n
Garside, Company Quartermaster Sgt Robert Taylor, 55, 168
gas (poison), 20, 91, 115n, 217
Gazette des Ardennes, 193
Gee, Cpl William, 183; killed in action, 225
George V, King, 1n
Germany: military methods, 176
Givenchy, 176
Gomersall, Lt William Ellis (‘Gommy’): comradeship, xxii, 22n, 145, 168n, 205n, 207; killed in action, 225
Gough, Maj. Gen. Sir Hubert de la Poer, 185n
Grady, Cpl Frederick, 140
Grant, Maj. Arthur Kenneth, 74, 159, 188, 191, 200
Grantham, xxii
Graves, Robert: Goodbye to All That, xx
Greenlees, Capt. Dr James Campbell, 192
Gresty, Sgt George Kinsey, xxii, 147–8
Grimwood, 2nd Lt Herbert (‘Grim’), 23, 125–6, 157, 163, 177, 185
Grovetown Camp, near Bray-sur-Somme, 184, 195, 197
Guillet, Miss, 2
Hadfield, Sgt Herbert, 165–6, 169
Haig, Gen. Douglas, 60n
Hamilton, Ernest W.: The First Seven Divisions, 171 & n
Hampshire, HMS, 195n
Harris, Lt Aubrey (‘Bottom’), 141, 177–8
Harrison, 2nd Lt Frank Arthur (‘Frankie’), 110n, 156, 225
Heathcote, Cpl Alfred, 147n
Heilly, 144, 150, 160
Helliwell, Cpl John Edmund, 147n
Hickey, Lt (of 1st Norfolks), 98
Hinsley, Sgt Henry, 121
Hobson, Capt. Charles James Mottram, 109
Jarvis, Pte William, 124–5
Jellicoe, Admiral John Rushworth, 1st Earl, 195
Jones, 2nd Lt H.F., 205
Jutland, Battle of (1916), xxi, 195 & n
Kentish, Col. Reginald John, 74–5
Kewley, Sgt Frederick, 191n
Kirchner, Ernest Ludwig, 143 & n
Kitchener, Field Marshal Horatio Herbert, 1st Earl: creates New Army, xvi–xvii; death, 195 & n
Knowles, Sgt Maj. Frederick Charles: conducts drill in France, 66; at Minden Post, 122n; on con
trolling weather, 129; exasperated by Merriman, 130n; arrested for drunkenness, 140–1; court-martialled and reduced to sergeant, 142, 144; transferred to Ramsbottom, 145; killed in action, 225
Knudsen, 2nd Lt Orric Joures, 3
Kut al Amara (Mesopotamia), xxi, 164 & n, 175n
La Boisselle, xxiv, 208
La Houssoy, 159
Lake, Sir Percival, 164n
Lambert, Col. Thomas Stanton, 28n
La Nouvelle, 159
Lark Hill, Wiltshire, xxii, 1
Le Fayel, 70, 72, 92
Le Quesnoy-sur-Airaines, 54–6, 87, 89
Lloyd, Capt. Charles Mostyn: takes temporary command of D Company, 22n; visits Amiens, 63; kept out of line with CCM, 161–2, 178; wounded in leg, 166, 168n, 178; returns to front, 180; on Bonham-Carter’s staff posting, 200; in 1916 offensive, 214; later journalistic career, 225
Longbourne, Lt Col. Francis Cecil, 177
Loos, Battle of (1915), xviii: xxi, 45n, 59–61, 200
Lusitania, RMS, 206
McClintock, Capt., 185n
McGregor, Lt Dr George Barbour (‘Doc’): comradeship, xxii; on march in France, 9–10; at Minden Post, 122n; helps build dug-out, 136; sleeps through barrage, 140; visits Heilly with CCM, 140, 150; shares mess with CCM, 199; sings at reunion, 207; survives war, 225
Maiden, Lt Earl Langford, 96, 199
Mametz, 162, 202, 208, 210, 212–3
Mametz, Battle of (1916), xxiv–xxv
Manchester: CCM moves to, xvi
Manchester Cathedral: Derby chapel dedicated to Manchester Regiment, 226–7
Manchester Guardian, xxvii, 222
Mansfield, Maj., 59
Maricourt, xxiv, 96–7
May, (Bessie) Maude (née Holl; CCM’s wife; later Earles): marriage, xvi, xxiii, 80; and CCM’s departure for France, xx; CCM’s love for, xxiii; CCM visits on home leave, 98n; Tawney and wife visit, 172; final letters to and from CCM, 214–6; correspondence with Bunting on CCM’s death, 220–1; gives clock to Bunting’s
May, (Bessie) Maude (cont.) widow, 225; remarriage (to Earles), 226; presents chairs to Derby Chapel, Manchester Cathedral, 227n
May, Capt. Charles Campbell: character and qualities, xv; diary, xv, xviii–xxi, 50, 139; killed in action, xv, xxiv–xxv, 218–22; birth, xvi, 8; joins King Edward’s Horse, xvi–xviii; enlists in 22nd Manchester Pals Battalion, xvi; commissioned, xviii; marriage, xvi; horse-riding in France, xxiii, 45, 85–6, 103, 155, 199; writing, xviii, 101, 233–4; on military field training exercises, xxiii, 66, 70, 79, 85n, 88, 155, 159; patriotism, xxii; training in England, 1–4; arrives in France, 7–10; in trenches, 17, 26–30, 93–6, 103–18, 121–2, 146–7, 150, 165–9, 178–90, 192–3, 201; family background, 50, 186; granted home leave, 78, 80, 95; Le Havre, 97; takes home leave, 97–8 & n, 99; describes dug-out, 114–7; orders dogs in trenches shot, 118–9; fishing, 129; given temporary command, 134–6, 197n, 200; escapes mortar bomb, 139; at sports meeting in France, 158; in soccer game, 160; on army friendships, 162; loses men, 179n, 180; concerns at possible death, 203–4; estate valued, 203n; prepares for great Somme offensive, 204–12; final letters to and from Maude, 214–6; as Freemason, 222n; grave, 224; ‘To the Unenlisted’ (poem), 261–2
May, Capt. Charles Edward (CCM’s father), xvi, 223, 225
May, Lillie (CCM’s sister) see Worledge, Matilda Lillian
May, (Maude) Pauline (CCM’s daughter), xvi, xxiii, 136
May-Oatway fire alarm company, xvi
Mellor, Lt Roy, xxii, 122n, 136, 142, 201, 207; killed in action, 225
Merriman, Maj. Frank Boyd: takes leave of wife, 3; pessimism, 6; unpopularity, 45n, 75n, 107, 110 & n, 130 & n; accuses Bland of insubordinate language, 75; rides with CCM, 155; kept out of line with CCM, 161, 178; legal career, 162; sent to front, 180; transfer to Judge Advocate’s Department, 186; later career and peerage, 225
Mesnil-Martinsart, 25n, 28, 226
Mesopotamia, 164n, 175, 223
mess (officers): described, 142–3
Miles, Capt. Wilfred: The Official History of the Great War, 228
Minden Post (dug-out), 122–4, 134–5
Minshull-Ford, Brig. Gen. Sir John Randle, 187 & n, 191, 196
Mons, Battle of (1914), 27
Montrelet, 42, 45
Morecambe, xxii
Morlancourt, 149–50, 205
Morris, Maj. Robert John, 177n
Murray, Lt David Stanley, 6, 14, 16, 21, 71, 100
Murray, Capt. Donald (‘Don’): comradeship, xxii; shares accommodation with CCM, 6, 8, 143; in France, 8–11, 89, 117–8, 159, 165–7, 170–1, 198, 201, 206–8, 211; disturbed by rats, 26; in trenches, 27, 31; country walk with CCM, 39; on cross-country march, 44; at New Year (1916), 57; riding, 88; birthday, 125; on course of instruction, 133; dependability, 141; and CCM’s death, 221
Nanson, 2nd Lt Joseph, 165, 167, 169; killed in action, 225
Neuve Chapelle, 81
Neuville les Bray, La, 142
New Army (Kitchener’s), xvi–xvii
New Zealand, xvi
Newdigate, Capt. Richard Francis, 158
Nixon, Sir John, 164n, 205n
Norman, Lt Col. William Wilding, 177
Nuttall, Sgt James, 89
Officer Training Corps (OTCs), 43n
Oldham, Lt Eric: on CCM’s drunken servants, 52; anxiety over trench mortar, 136; and Bowly’s court martial, 141; examines new aerial torpedo, 151; extracts grenade detonators, 167; takes charge of raid, 183, 187, 188n, 189–90, 191n; wounded, 189, 191n; awarded Military Cross, 191n; protests at being left out of attack, 205n
Ommanney, Maj. Francis Frederick, 127
Ostrahove, near Boulogne, 6n
‘Pals’ battalions’, xvii, xxii, 41n: see also British Army Formations
Parker, Capt. Reginald Frank, 200
Passchendaele, Battle of (3rd Ypres, 1917), 115n
Paton, J.L., 82n
patrols: described, 134–5
Perkins, Sgt, 24n
Picquigny, 62
Playfair cipher, 74
Prince, Lt John Franklin: in France, 11; on course of instruction, 13, 144; on French countryside, 43; tours trenches with CCM, 106; on solitary mission, 120; swimming in river, 145; shares accommodation with CCM, 146, 152; hit by sandbag, 149; in trenches, 150; illness and recovery, 168, 182; survives war, 225
‘Programmes of Work’, 173–4
Puchevillers, 33
Pullen, Capt. Richard Sandeford, 7, 79, 81, 145
Raineville, 23
Ramsbottom, Capt. Gordon Openshaw (‘Ram’), 42, 45, 67, 127, 129, 145, 166n, 177, 180
rats: in trenches, 28, 32, 103; hunted, 142
Reid, Lt William Morrison, 116n
Rheims, 18
Robertson, Maj. Alexander Winton see Winton Robertson, Maj. Alexander
Rodman, Lance Cpl William George, 29
Ross, Lt F.G., 71–2
Rouen: hospitals, 182n
Royle, 2nd Lt Harold Williamson, 101
Russia: offensive (June 1916), 201n, 207
Ryall, 2nd Lt George, 223, 225
Salt, Lt Wilfred Austin, 27
Salvation Army, 8
Shea, Gen. Sir John Stuart Mackenzie, 59
Shelmerdine, 2nd Lt Joseph Armitage, 65, 85n, 103, 136, 167, 172, 187
Smith, Pte Richard, 26n, 52, 78–9
sniping, 30, 109
Somme, Battle of the (1916): xv, xviii, xxii, xxiv, 113n, 217–22; casualties, xxv, 226
Somme, river, xxiv, 128, 142
Stapylton-Smith, Driver-Mechanic Henry Miles, 97–8
Street, 2nd Lt Edmund Alger (‘Stuggins’), 172, 189–91
Strode, Lt Edward Randall Chetham see Chetham-Strode, Lt Edward Randall
Suzanne (village), 93, 98
Tawney, Jeanette, 172n
Tawney, Sgt Richard Henry: background, 22 & n; in trenches, 135; visits Maude, 172; marriage relations, 173n; shares mess with CCM, 191; on great Somme offensive, 217; wounded but survives, 226; ‘The
Attack’, 218n; ‘To G’ (poem), 148n
Taylor, Capt. F.T., 71, 97
Thiepval, xxiv
Thompson, Sgt William Robert, 130
Thornycroft (or Thornton), Capt. (of Queen’s Royal West Sussex Regiment), 151n, 152
Townsend, Lt Arthur Evans, 24n
Townsend, Capt. John Edward (‘Towny’), 8, 24, 149, 195, 199
Townshend, Maj. Gen. Sir Charles, 164n, 175
University and Public Schools Battalion (UPS), 82
Varennes, 2
Verdun, xxiv, 113 & n, 186, 209
Vignecourt, 59, 61
Warr, Capt. William Charles Samuel, 76–7, 132
Watts, Lt Gen. Sir Herbert Edward, 61
Webster, Maj., 200
Weekly Telegraph, 162n
Wellington Redoubt, 187
Whetham, Lt Col. Paul W., 2n, 58n, 122n, 177n, 220
Whitehead, Sgt W. Henry, 151, 167
Whitham (of 104th Battery), 141–2
Wicks, 2nd Lt Frank Cowlin, 78, 156
Wilson, 2nd Lt George Frederick, 183
Winton Robertson, Maj. Alexander, 135
Wolstencroft, Pte H. Edward, 191n
Wood, Clarence Lawson, 143 & n, 187
Wood, Revd Clifford (Padre), 153
Wood, 2nd Lt John Patrick Hamilton, 23, 125, 225
Woodgate, Capt. Edward, 30n, 32
Woodhouse, Lt Marcus Loftus, 224–5
Woodward, Maj. Francis Willoughby, 202
Worledge, Frederick John, 223n
Worledge, Matilda Lillian (née May; CCM’s sister), 2n, 223
Worthington, Hubert, 227
Worthington, Capt. Thomas Ryland (‘Worthy’): comradeship, xxii, 212, 171, 201; visits Amiens, 17; rides with CCM in France, 46, 73, 103, 144, 172, 188; unwell, 107; visits Heilly, 144; takes leave, 145; visits Corbie, 188; on power of guns, 202; role in Somme offensive, 205n, 206, 214; wears Alexandra Rose, 216; wounded but survives, 225
Ypres, 1st Battle of (1914), 45n, 77
Ypres, 2nd Battle of (1915), 115n
Ypres, 3rd Battle of see Passchendaele
Ypres salient, 198
Zeppelins, 104
Acknowledgements
In 1950, my cousin Pauline May, who had been a civil servant, became engaged to Harris or ‘Harry’ Wolfe Karet. After their Jewish wedding, which caused some division in both families, they moved into a flat in Notting Hill Gate, where a suitcase containing some of Charlie’s possessions was placed in the attic. Many years later Pauline died, and when Harry planned to move the case was opened. He found it contained not only Charlie’s war diaries, but also drafts of his stories, poems and journalism, scrapbooks of newspaper cuttings and photographs. He asked a friend, Joyce Weiner, to type a transcript of the diaries, a task she commenced in 1980.