Following the capture of the completely destroyed village of Passchendaele on 10th November 1917, Sir Douglas Haig closed down the

FOLLOWING the capture of the completely destroyed village of Passchendaele on November 10, 1917, Sir Douglas Haig closed down the 3rd Battle of Ypres.

This battle, described by A J P Taylor as “the blindest slaughter of a blind war”, had cost the British Expeditionary Force about a quarter of a million casualties, some 70,000 of them dead.

The small amount of territory gained from the Germans left the B E F in a much worse position than it had been before the outset of the battle in July.

On January 10 secret instructions were sent to the Army Commander to draw up plans for a “voluntary withdrawal” from the Passchendaele salient. This retreat in April 1918 meant the British were almost back to the front lines they had held in July 1917.

After the closure of the battle it would be pleasant to report that fighting in this area ceased, and that all the sorely-tried troops went home for Christmas. Sadly, that was not so.

The newly appointed Army Commander, General Rawlinson, described the conditions at Ypres as “one huge pool of liquid coffee” but nonetheless ordered another attack to be made northwards from Passchendaele towards Westrosebeke village. This would improve the tactically disastrous position they now found themselves in. Two Divisions of the B E F were chosen, among them the Lonsdales

Colonel Wylly, in the History of the Border Regiment in the Great War, writes “then on the second of December the Battalion had a smart little action, making a night attack on German positions. Zero hour was 1.55am; the Lonsdales took their objectives and held them all through the day until 4.30pm when a German counter-attack drove them back to their old front line”

This “smart little action”, an advance of no more than 400 yards, cost the Lonsdales another 250 casualties, 100 of them dead.

Four of those killed were from South Westmorland.

Private Walter Dalzell, whose wife and two children lived at 6 Maude Street, Kendal, was a driver at Wiper’s livery stables. He had joined up in February 1917. His widow was awarded 25 shillings and 6 pence per week as a pension.

Private John Hodgson, the eldest son of Benson Hodgson, of Busk Cottages Ambleside, was employed as a gardener for Colonel Haworth. He had enlisted September 1914, served with 9th Battalion Border Regiment in Salonika, suffered much ill health and was returned to England in September 1916. Sent to France June 1917, he was officially posted as “missing” in May 1918.

Private William Tyson lived at Lane Ends, Elterwater and worked at the gunpowder works. He enlisted, aged 33, in September 1914.

Private Thomas Walker, a driver, enlisted in August 1915. His widow Eleanor, of 2 Woodland Grove Windermere, received a pension of 30 shillings per week for herself and her three daughters.

None of these four have a marked grave. Their names ,with 88 other Lonsdales who lost their lives in this battle, are inscribed on the Tyne Cot Memorial, which commemorates the 35,000 men who died in this small patch of Belgium between August and December 1917 and have no known grave.

Unbeknown to the Lonsdales, this was to be their last major engagement of the war. At the end of March 1918 they moved out of the dreaded salient to Aubigny, North of Arras.

On May 10, the 5th and 11th Battalions were amalgamated and on July 31 the Lonsdales ceased to exist.

The last two local men to be killed in action serving with the battalion were Private Anthony Willan, of Bowland Bridge, Crosthwaite, who was killed in action on April 13 and is buried in Douchy-les-Ayette British Cemetery and Sergeant Alfred Walker, of 6 Bank Terrace Windermere, killed in action on April 23 and buried in Bienvillers Military Cemetery.

During their 32 months of service on the Western Front about 800 men from the 11th Battalion of the Border Regiment were killed and an unknown number of others were wounded.