230 Private Herbert
Maginnis was a patient at Beechland House in 1916 and 1917. His entry in Nurse
Oliver’s album reads:
(230) Pte H Maginnis
5th Scottish Rifles (Cameronians)
Wounded in both legs on Sept
15th 1916 in the village of
Martinpuich.
Land of darkly rolling Dee,
Land of silvery winding Cree
Land thats aye been dear tae me
Bonnie Gallowa.
He shares this
page in Nurse Oliver's album with an entry from 2725 Private William Fryer Washbourne of the 1/5th Gloucestershire Regiment.
Herbert was born
in the parish of Girthon, Kircudbrightshire in March 1896. His religion, noted
on Army Form B103, was Roman Catholic. His next of kin, noted on the same form,
was his father, John Maginnis of 47 Bank Street, Dumfries.
Herbert was working
as a clerk for Gaumont Co Ltd at 77 and 79 Mitchell Street, Glasgow, when, on 13th November 1915 at 261 West Princes
Street, he enlisted with the 3/5th Scottish Rifles. He was nineteen
years and eight months old and was noted as being five feet four inches tall. His
physical development was reported as “good” and he was passed A1.
Herbert embarked
for France on 18th July 1916 and reported at the 20th Infantry Battalion Depot the following day. Ten days later he was posted to the 5th Entrenching Battalion and then, on the 2nd
August, attached to the 10th (Service) Battalion of the Scottish Rifles
The battalion
formed part of the 46th Brigade of the 15th Scottish Division and had he arrived a few days earlier
he would have found himself in the forefront of an attack on German trenches south of Martinpuich. As it was, he had disembarked on the 18th August, six days after the initial attack had been
launched, and by the time he reached the battalion, it was a period of relative quiet, the 46th Brigade having
just been relieved by the 45th. The Switch Line opposite them had
been discovered by patrols to be empty so this had been promptly occupied and consolidated by the men and re-named Cameron
and Sanderson Trench by them. One line of trenches now stood between the Scotsmen
and the village of Martinpuich
to their north. The Intermediate Line had withstood numerous attacks already
and now it was decided to surround it and force the garrison to surrender. In
order to achieve this, a chain of posts was established between Sanderson Trench on the left and Clarke’s Trench on
the right. The work was carried out on the night of August 29th/30th
and the following afternoon, the defenders, realising they had been surrounded, surrendered to the 45th Brigade.
With the capture
of The Intermediate Line, the British line had advanced beyond the crest of the rising ground to the south of Martinpuich
and from it, the occupying troops could now see the village laid out in front of them.
This was to be their next objective but it would take some preparation and for the next three weeks, the men busied
themselves preparing for the coming assault. As well as arranging all the support
necessary for a large scale attack such as ammunition dumps, advanced dressing stations and water supply, four new jumping
off trenches were also dug in front of the line.
Assailed throughout by German artillery fire coming from High Wood which was still in their hands, the trenches were
christened Ham, Egg, Liver and Bacon by the men who had constructed them.
The attack was timed to take place on 15th September. On the
right, the 45th Brigade would advance from Ham and Egg Trench. The
13th Royal Scots and the 11th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders would lead the assault supported by
the 6/7th Royal Scots Fusiliers and the 6th Camerons. On
the left, the 10th Scottish Rifles, 7/8th King’s Own Scottish Borderers and 10th/11th
Highland Light Infantry would lead the 46th Brigade’s advance. They
would be supported by the 12th Highland Light Infantry.
The whole procedure was meticulously planned. Resting behind the line,
the 45th and 46th Brigades had spent eight days rehearsing the assault over ground marked out with flags. In this way, it was hoped, every man knew what was expected of him and the role he
would have to play. To further support the effort, four ‘tanks’ were
also allotted to the Division from ‘D’ Company of The Heavy Machine Gun Corps.
‘Tank’ was still the cover word for this new secret weapon which would be used for the first time in the
coming attack. While the men advanced under a creeping barrage at 50 yards per
minute, a lane 100 yards wide would be left in the barrage so that the tanks could accompany them. Perhaps learning the lessons of previous failed assaults, although the German lines had already been subjected
to a steady and continuous bombardment, it was decided not to herald the start of the attack by a preliminary bombardment
but to rely on the barrage and the surprise offered by these new lumbering beasts that would growl into Martinpuich. In order
to maintain the element of surprise that it was hoped the tanks would bring, aeroplanes were instructed to fly over the German
trenches while the tanks were being moved into position in case the noise of their exhausts should give the game away.
At 6:20am the
attack was launched and by 4pm, the whole of Martinpuich had been captured. “A better conceived and better executed operation it would be difficult to find,” reported
the Fifteenth Divisional History ten years later. “Artillery, Engineers
and infantry worked together in a manner little short of marvellous; losses were not excessive and a serious blow had been
dealt to the enemy.”
The GOC Fourth Army also added his congratulations; his words later recalled in the 15th Division’s
history published in 1926: “Please convey to my old friends in the Fifteenth
Division my congratulations on their splendid performance the day before yesterday.
To have captured Martinpuich after having been a month in the line is a very fine performance and I greatly appreciate
their gallantry and vigorous fighting spirit.”
Total casualties sustained by the Division numbered 1854 of whom 221 were killed and 351 reported missing. Herbert Maginnis was one of the 1208 Other Ranks wounded in the advance.
He had made it into Martinpuich itself before he had been shot through both legs, one bullet causing a compound fracture
of the right tibia, another going through his left knee.
Herbert appears to have lain on the battlefield until the following day as his service record reports that he was admitted
to No 2 Field Ambulance on the 16th September. From there he was taken
to 1/SMO Casualty Clearing Station and from there to John’s Hospital Etaples.
Five days later he was being stretchered off a hospital train at Brighton. Unusually, his surviving service
records that he spent time at “VAD Newick – Sussex”.
I am unsure how long Herbert was in hospital but it would seem that he was there for some months. In February 1917 he appeared in the pantomime, Beauty & The Beast, staged by Beechland House patients. He took the role of Vanity although whether he required crutches in the execution
of his role is not recorded. He also acquired a new regimental number at this
stage; part of the systematic renumbering of the territorial battalions. His
new six digit number was 201566.
He was discharged from the Scottish Rifles in June 1917 and transferred to The Labour Corps; to 481 HS Employment Company. This information appears on one of his army papers along with a new number –
271312. This information in turn was crossed out when he transferred again, this
time to the 30th London Regiment in July 1918. This battalion was
formed in June 1915 from home service personnel and remained in England for the duration of the war. The transfer
also meant another new number: 802076.
Herbert appears to have remained with this battalion for the remainder of the war, finally being discharged from Purfleet
in April 1919 and giving his home address as 101 King Street, Glasgow. The medical report on his discharge noted that although there was some
scarring, movement was good. Herbert though, complained that both legs were painful
in wet weather.
Sources and
Acknowledgements
- The National Archives: Herbert Maginnis’ partial service record
exists as a burnt document; ref: WO 363/M1029
