John Bryan Bigg
A Soldier
| 21st July 1915 | Bryan applied to enlist. |
| 17th August 1915 | He joined the 15th Battalion of the London Regiment - The Prince of Wales Own Civil Service Rifles - and came home in khaki. |
| 29th April 1916 | Presumably as a training exercise, the Battalion went to Ireland, and marched from Queenstown to within 15 miles of Killarney. |
A Lewis Gunner
Bryan was chosen to be a Lewis Gunner.
The Lewis gun was produced in Belgium by Americans working there in 1911. They migrated to Birmingham as war refugees in 1914, and the gun was manufactured there by B.S.A. (Birmingham Small Arms Co. Ltd.)
The gun had three chief snags:
- It had a cumbersome loading tray.
- It had a tendency to jam.
- It only fired 47 rounds, whereas the Vickers machine gun could fire 250 rounds and had an easier belt loading. In addition, the Lewis combat range was 500 yards, compared to the Vickers combat range of 2000 yards.
However, the Lewis gun was light enough to be towed by one mule, weighing only 29 lbs loaded, whereas the Vickers weighed 1000 lbs.
The Lewis gun was useful in defence. The real breakthrough in tactics, however, lay in providing covering fire within the front line of attack, and suppressing enemy pill-boxes whilst the assault troops moved forward.
France
On 22nd June 1916 the Battalion crossed to France, as part of the 56 London Division, and joined the 3rd Army, commanded by General Sir Edmund Allenby.
The Battle of the Somme
The 56th Division was part of the forces getting together for General Sir Douglas Haig's "Big Push" on 1st July 1916.
The General considered that if the German positions were bombarded for a week, and 17 land mines were placed to explode under them, and then 60,000 of our troops advanced; it would result in "The Big Push" with our army advancing into Germany.
Bryan's itinerary was:
| Southampton | Thursday 22nd June 1916 |
| Le Havre | Friday 23rd |
| St. Pol (arrived early) | Sunday 25th |
| Penin (marched during the day) | |
| Marceuil | Monday 26th |
| Ecoivres | Wednesday 28th |
| Up Trenches | Thursday 29th |
| Neuville St. Vaast | Wednesday 5th July 1916 |
The outcome was very different from what Haig expected. The land mines did cause casualties, but the Germans had constructed deep shelters which kept a large number safe. There was a pause after bombardment, before our troops arrived. This gave the Germans time to leave their dug-outs, and be prepared to defend themselves.
The result was that the British Army suffered its greatest loss ever
in one day - 57,470 casualties, of which 19,240 were killed.
The main thrust was made by the Fourth Army. The Third Army made a
diversionary attack to cut off Gommecourt, and suffered casualties of
4,314 (killed and wounded).
In addition to June and July, Bryan remained in the trenches throughout August, September and October.
| Ecoivres | Rest | Wednesday 12th July 1916 |
| Trenches | Saturday 15th July | |
| Rest | Friday 4th August | |
| Trenches | Saturday 12th August | |
| Rest | Friday 1st September | |
| Trenches | Thursday 7th September | |
| Rest | Monday 25th September | |
| Trenches | Sunday 1st October | |
| Rest | Thursday 19th October |
Soldiers in the trenches were in constant danger. Mortars could wipe out an area the size of a room, shells could clear an area the size of a house. There was the smell of cordite, and rotting flesh from bodies and parts of bodies scattered everywhere, as well as the sounds of guns firing, shells exploding, and the cries of the wounded. Swarms of flies came by day, and rats appeared at night
It was decided that Bryan's Battalion should move to Macedonia at the end of October.
| Tilley | (Trek starts) | Monday 23rd October, 1916 |
| Sibiville | (3 days training for attack) | Tuesday 24th October |
| Bealcourt | Saturday 28th October | |
| Lanches | (training) | Sunday 29th October |
| Francieres | (training continues) | Friday 3rd November |
| Longpre | (march commenced pm) | Tuesday 14th November |
| Marseilles | (arrived) | Friday 17th November |
| (departed) | Thursday 23rd November |
Macedonia
When the 15th Civil Service Rifles reached Macedonia, they became part of the 60th Division, to oppose the Bulgarians in the North. It was not known if the Greeks in the south would attack our forces in the back, and so the 15th Battalion went to find out.
| Salonica | (camped 7 miles west) | Wednesday 29th November, 1916 |
| (left camp) | Sunday 10th December | |
| Guida | Tuesday 12th December | |
| Katerina | Barrack square | Saturday 16th December |
| Blockhouse outpost | Wednesday 20th December | |
| HQ of Defences overlooking Stepit, Mt Olympus | Saturday 30th December |
|
| River Bride outpost | Friday 19th January, 1917 | |
| Bonfire Hill | Tuesday 30th January | |
| Barrack square | Thursday 15th February | |
| Pass through Mt Olympus | Wednesday 28th February | |
| River Beach | Friday 2nd March |
It was decided to move the Battalion north. There were two choices:
The Struma Valley to the North East, which was water-logged and malaria-ridden
The Varder Valley to the North West, where the fighting was harder
The Civil Service Rifles went to the Varder Valley.
| Departed for the Varder front | Sunday 10th March, 1917 | |
| Karasuli | Saturday 17th March | |
| Kalineva | H.Q. | Sunday 18th March |
| Sejdelli | Outposts & trenches I Sector | Monday 19th March |
| Sandbag City | Rest | Friday 27th April |
| Pieton 6 | Outpost & trenches F Sector | Thursday 10th May |
| Crew Hill | Advance line | Thursday 24th May |
| Dash | Rest | Friday 1st June |
The Battle of Machukovo
On 26th April 1917 the 60th Division took part in the battle of Machukovo. This began on 24th April with a three day bombardment.
At one time 200 Bulgarians rushed forward, and were cut to bits by 18 pounders firing shrapnel. The 60th Division had 3,163 casualties. The operation ended on 14th May.
Bryan never spoke of his army service, but once, when asked what he had found most difficult, he replied "Catching the hind legs of mules, to help them climb the mountains".
As Macedonia was mountainous, the machine gunners were very important. General Farndale wrote: “The field Gunners were everywhere, most of them Territorials gallantly working with infantry, who learnt true respect for them, for without the guns nothing was possible. Yet again it was the land of the mountain guns, so well designed for a theatre such as this - and so they were over-used. We owe so very much to these magnificent men with their mules and little guns, who knew no limit”.
In June it was decided to move the 15th Civil Service Rifles to Egypt and Palestine.
| Yerakeui | Trek to Salonica commenced | Wednesday 6th June, 1917 |
| Sarageui | Saturday 9th June | |
| Salamanli | Sunday 10th June | |
| Naresh | Monday 11th June | |
| Ushantar | Attack training centre | Tuesday 12th June |
| Salonica | Arrived and departed | Wednesday 20th June |
| Alexandria | Saturday 23rd June | |
| Ismalia | Arrived | Saturday 23rd June |
The army in Macedonia were given no leave. Morale was maintained by physical training, sports and horse shows. The British did better than their allies by having a hunt and a pack of beagles.
Bryan's Battalion left Macedonia at a good time, since there were 11,000 sick by the end of June 1917, mostly with Malaria. By mid-October the number had risen to 21,500.
Egypt
The crossing from Salonica to Alexandria must have been on an immense scale, and not without danger. During the last six months of 1916, 256 vessels were lost when attempting it.
The boats were loaded with men, horses, mules, guns, gun-carriages, ammunition, food and stores in great quantities. The mules alone amounted to five thousand.
Bryan must have enjoyed being in Egypt. On 30th June 1917 he wrote some post cards. To his brother Philip he wrote: "We have left Macedonia, thank goodness. Safely crossed the Mediterranean, landing at Alexandria. Since being here we have had a fine swim every alternate day in a lake of salt water". On the same day he wrote to his mother: "At present encamped in the desert, though within two miles of a respectable town. Weather so hot that I sleep in a shirt only, with no other covering. Some chaps have absolutely nothing at all". To his father he wrote: "Still going strong, though the weather absolutely tropical".
Bryan visited Cairo, and photographed the city and people. He kept a brochure concerning the Anzac Hotel in Cairo run by the YMCA, with details of food and accommodation. He also kept the menu from the Anglo-Italian Restaurant in Ismalia.
Palestine
It took until 30th October 1917 for a great concentration of troops to be built up for the operation against the Turks.
The battle for Beersheba began on 31st October, and the town was taken on 1st November. Our casualties were 136 killed and 1010 wounded. Bryan was admitted to El Arish Hospital, Egypt, on 1st November with a gunshot wound in his ear. Today El Arish is a centre for camel racing.
Jerusalem surrendered on 9th December 1917. A cutting in Bryan's diary states that Jerusalem "happily was rendered up without a battle". Bryan wrote on this cutting: "This is untrue. We had considerable resistance before Jerusalem fell, and were twelve hours later than expected". Our casualties were 1000 killed, 1800 wounded.
After the fall of Jerusalem, the troops had two months rest. Among the recreation was a show entitled "The Barnstormers" by the 60th London Division Entertainers, and held in the Empire Theatre, Jerusalem.
Jericho was taken on 21st February 1918. On 23rd February Bryan was admitted once again to El Arish Hospital with "gunshot wound in left hand".