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News from The Western Front Association (WFA). The WFA was formed in 1980 to further interest and education in The Great War of 1914-1918.

Established in 1980 by noted military historian John Giles, The Western Front Association has grown over the years to in excess of 6,000 members worldwide. The WFA has supported many remembrance and research projects, from saving many millions of servicemens' records from destruction, to re-establishing the 11 o'clock two-minute silence at the Cenotaph on 11 November each year.

11/10/2026

Sergeant William Patrick Tobin was born in Newbridge, County Kildare, the son of Thomas Tobin. Aged 18, he enlisted in the Royal Engineers in May 1894 and served in Gibraltar from 1897 until 1899 and in South Africa from 1899 to 1902. He was discharged to the Army Reserve in 1902.

William married in June 1908 in Preston and by 1911 was living in Schleswig Street in Preston with his wife, Florence, and two young daughters, and working as a Prison Officer. On the outbreak of war, he re -enlisted in the Royal Engineer. On 10 November 1915, he went to France, serving in 202 Company in the 30th Division.

William was killed in action on 11 October 1916, on the eve of the 30th Division’s unsuccessful attack in the Flers area on the Somme. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

10/10/2026

As the 'Pension Cards and Ledgers' which The Western Front Association saved from destruction continue to be investigated, more and more fascinating stories emerge. One of these is the sad case of George Howlett whose first period of service in the Royal Navy lasted little more than a year (1906-07) before being discharged as being medically 'unfit'.

He seems to have re-enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1915 and - using the 'Pension Card' for him as a starting point, his service has been investigated and told in an article entitled ' A Royal Navy rating discharged as epileptic and destined for the Asylum'.

To read the various twists and turns in the story of George - who ended his life in a Lunatic Asylum, click on the link >>> https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/world-war-i-articles/2021/october/a-royal-navy-rating-discharged-as-epileptic-and-destined-for-the-asylum/

09/10/2026

On 9 October 1917, 37 men of the 10th Battalion of the AIF ‘disappeared’ in an area near Passchendaele known as Celtic Wood. 78 men and 7 officers of the Battalion were ordered to carry out a diversionary raid on the woods at 5.20am under a creeping barrage. The raid would be described as a ‘minor operation’ by the CO of the 10th Battalion in the Unit War Diary.

In 2005, the Australian War Memorial recorded in an ‘on this day’ entry on its website:
“On this day LT Scott of 10 Bn led 84 men on a raid into enemy lines near Broodseinde. The main party was seen to enter Celtic Wood and were never seen again. Extensive investigations since that time have failed to fully account for the fate of LT Scott's party. A total of 37 soldiers are still not accounted for. This is the greatest mystery for the AIF in WW 1.”

Much of what happened at that time was shrouded in mystery but official records did imply that 48 men were known to be wounded or killed in the raid – but no information on the remaining 37 men was known. Speculation mounted at the time that they were prisoners or had been massacred by the Germans. Even more fanciful theories would cite a supernatural event, leading to the incident later being dubbed the wartime equivalent of ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’.

It is much more likely that a more mundane explanation lies in the research and work carried out by military researchers which suggests that the missing 37 were simply caught in both the British and German barrages which followed the raid, obliterating their bodies.

Frank John Scott was the Lt who led the raid on Celtic Wood. He was one of 14 children, born to James and Felicia Scott who lived in Port Broughton, South Australia. Frank enlisted at the start of the war, with an early service number and subsequently fought in Gallipoli. The date of Frank’s death is stated by the CWGC to be 8 October and he is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial.

His brother, Cleve James Scott, also served as a Lt. in the 10th Battalion and was killed on 22 July 1918. Frank is remembered in the inscription on his brother’s headstone in La Kreule Military Cemetery, Hazebrouck.

08/10/2026

In our latest video in the "I Was There!" series we hear from Charles Edmonds (real name Charles Carrington) who describes the events of 15 July 1916 at Ovillers on the Somme. This episode is entitled "I went too far Trench Bombing"

https://youtu.be/sn_P17GNaho

07/10/2026

Leonard Crane was born in October 1879, the son of John and Martha Crane. By the turn of the century, he was working as a miner at Haigh’s Pit but later joined the Army in February 1901, serving in the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in South Africa. He returned home in 1902 to find himself out of work due to a strike at the colliery. Leonard was later found work at Wormald and Walker’s mill in Dewsbury by Major P.B. Walker – over the next 9 years, Leonard would act as Major Walker’s orderly at the annual Territorial camps.

By the outbreak of war, Leonard was married with two young children and was working as a stoker at Ingham’s Coke Ovens in Thornhill. As a reservist, he was called up in September 1914 and for the first 12 months of the war, he served in Officers’ Training Schools in Harrogate and Scarborough. In June 1916, he went to France, joining the 7th KOYLI, part of the 20th Division. During the attack on Rainbow and Cloudy Trenches from Gueudecourt towards the village of Le Transloy on 7 October 1916, Leonard was killed by a shell.

Although Leonard has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial and the Dewsbury Borough War Memorial, his image lives on. After the Boer War, it had been decided to erect a statue in Crow Nest Park, in Dewsbury to commemorate the part played by local soldiers in that conflict. Leonard was chosen as the model for the statue which was placed on top of a square plinth. It was unveiled by Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout movement who had himself played a significant role during the Boer War – and stands to this day in the park.

06/10/2026

On 6 October 1918 HMS Otranto (an armed transport) was transporting US troops to England as part of the build up of the American Expeditionary Force.

In poor visibility and very rough seas, she was involved in a collision with HMS Kashmir, another troopship, in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and Scotland, off the coast of the Island of Islay.
The Otranto sustained severe damage below the water line but the seas were so mountainous at that time that it was impossible to launch the lifeboats.

For the islanders, this was not the first time that they would be affected by such an event. Some eight months earlier, on 5 February 1918, SS Tuscania, another American troopship, was torpedoed by a German U-Boat. 200 soldiers and sailors died as a result, bringing many of the dead and survivors to Islay.

But the scale of the losses from the Otranto was much greater – although reports vary on the numbers, at least 350 US ‘doughboys’ and 96 British sailors lost their lives. The destroyer HMS Mounsey managed to take off many troops, thus preventing a much greater loss of life. The Otranto then hit rocks and became grounded, before eventually breaking up. Lt Commander Francis Worthington Craven would later receive the DSO for his actions in saving the lives of many of those on board the Otranto.

Many stories about the assistance provided by the islanders to the survivors of the wreck would be reported later in the press. One such account was the contribution of the McPhee family who rescued a number of American soldiers from the sea and then cared for them in their small croft. Later reports recounted that that The McPhee family later received a testimonial cheque from the American Red Cross.

The dead were buried at Kilchoman Military Cemetery on Islay, although in 1920 the American dead were either repatriated or reburied in the American Military Cemetery at Brookwood, Surrey.

The island of Islay remembered the terrible times of 1918 – the American Monument was erected 6 miles from Port Ellen on Islay and commemorates those lost from both the Tuscania and Otranto.

05/10/2026

On this day (5 October) in 1918 only five weeks before the end of the war, Albert Dent - aged just 19 - died of wounds received during the famous, successful, but very deadly 'Hundred Days' campaign.

Albert Dent was born in 1899 to Mr and Mrs James Dent. Before the war Albert worked as a mule minder at F. Doble & Sons until being called up; this did not mean that he worked with animals, a mule (otherwise known as a spinning mule) was a machine used for spinning cotton into yarns and then winding the yarns onto spindles.

After training he was sent to France, joining the 10th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment (the Grimsby Chums). According to the Dewsbury News he joined the battalion ‘at Easter’ (presumably his 19th Birthday), but within a month had contracted trench fever. This disease was passed by body lice; lice were a severe irritant to the troops, and despite strenuous efforts, their spread could not be prevented in the insanitary conditions that were prevalent in the trenches.

At around the time of Albert contracting trench fever, the Grimsby Chums were disbanded, and Albert was transferred to the 2nd Lincolnshires, part of 62 Brigade, 21st Division. The division was operating as part of the Third Army’s push on Cambrai, 62 Brigade being in the line just west of the village of Gouzeaucourt (south of Havrincourt and south-west of Cambrai). On 27th September the 2nd Lincolnshires were in support of an attack on African Trench, the next day patrols found Gouzeaucourt to have been abandoned by the Germans.

On 29th September an attack was launched from Gouzeaucourt towards the village of Gonnelieu, a smaller village 1½ miles to the east of Gouzeaucourt. The attack went in at 3.30am, with the 1st Lincolnshires on the right and Albert’s 2nd Lincolns on the left. Unfortunately Albert’s battalion was not in position when the attack was launched, and therefore did not have the full support of the artillery barrage; nevertheless the men caught up with the attack despite heavy enemy machine gun fire. The attack did not dislodge the Germans from Gonnelieu, and casualties to Albert’s battalion amounted to fourteen men killed in action.

In the early hours of 30th September patrols reported that the Germans had evacuated Gonnelieu, and the 2nd Lincolnshires moved up to occupy the village.

It is likely that it was during these operations that Albert received a severe gunshot wound to the chest. Evacuated to a casualty clearing station, Albert died on 5th October aged 19; his parents received notification of their son’s death at their home at 23 Aire Street in Ravensthorpe a couple of weeks later. .

Albert Dent is buried at Thilloy Road Cemetery south of Bapaume; the cemetery was started in September 1918 by a field ambulance unit and used until early October by the 3rd, 4th and 43rd Casualty Clearing Stations. It now contains 240 graves.

04/10/2026

Thomas James Manners was born in 1889 in California, USA to English parents. By 1915, he was married and living in Victoria Park in Western Australia, working as a tram conductor. In November 1915, he enlisted in the AIF.

He was posted to the 16th Battalion on 21 July 1916. His service record shows that within a short period of time, he was wounded, described as shell shock, and taken by Ambulance Train to hospital in Boulogne. Within a few days, his brother, George who was also serving in the 16th Battalion, would also be wounded and transferred to hospital. Whilst Thomas rejoined his unit at the end of September 1916, George did not return until the middle of October 1916. By that time, Thomas had been killed in action on 4 October 1916. He was buried in Chester Farm Cemetery near Ypres.

Some time later, a picture of his original grave was taken, featuring John Fullarton Aarons, serving in the 16th Battalion. John had enlisted in June 1916 and arrived in France in April 1917. He would later die of wounds on 11 July 1917 and was buried in Trois Arbres Cemetery.

George Manners would survive the war, rising to the rank of CQMS and was awarded the Military Medal on 21 July 1918.

03/10/2026

Born in 1868 in Dewsbury, Frank Wormald rose to the rank of Brigadier General, commanding the 5th Cavalry Brigade.

The son of a mill owner, he had joined the Army in 1887 as a 2nd Lieutenant serving in the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment and later saw active service in the Second Boer War. He later served in the 12th Lancers. Frank Wormald was also a successful big-game hunter in India and Africa and was well known in the hunting field and also as a polo player, playing for many seasons in the 12th Lancers' team. He won the Irish Grand Military at Punchestown on his own horse.

He married Gwynifred Browne in London in 1898.

With the outbreak of the war in August 1914, he went to France as Lieutenant Colonel of his regiment but within less than a fortnight, he was wounded. Another officer wrote of this action :
“August 18, 1914: As they topped the crest and came in sight of the enemy, he gave the order “Gallop” and “Charge”, the latter call being taken up by the C-section ¬trumpeter. In a perfect line, with a ringing cheer, the squadron, with Lt Col Wormald and his two orderlies and the trumpet major about 30 yards ahead and the adjutant on his left, raced across the remaining 50 yards that separated them from the enemy. The German cavalrymen for the most part fought exceedingly gallantly, though a few of them put up their hands or laid down in the roots. The colonel was immediately wounded and his horse shot dead….”.

Frank recovered within a few weeks and in July 1915 was promoted to Brigadier General in command of the 5th Cavalry Brigade.

He was killed on 3 October 1915, while inspecting front line trenches where his brigade were working digging and clearing up battlefield debris. The Brigade war diary records: “Brigadier-General Frank Wormald killed by shrapnel whilst going round trenches of late battlefield, Vermelles”.

During his career he had been mentioned in dispatches twice and had been made a Companion of the Order of Bath.

Frank Wormald is buried in the churchyard in the village of Nedonchel, not far from Bethune. There are only two war graves in this cemetery – Brigadier General Frank Wormald is buried adjacent to Private J. G. Hardy of 7th Sherwood Foresters.

In 1922, his widow wished to have a private memorial erected over his grave and had ordered a memorial stone which was shipped to France, but she had not approached the IWGC about this. The Commission refused permission for the private memorial and it was returned to England at the Commission’s expense.

02/10/2026

Lord Ninian Edward Crichton-Stuart was the only Welsh MP to be killed in the war. He was born in May 1883, the son of John Crichton-Stuart, the 3rd Marquess of Bute and his wife, Gwendolen. The family lived at Dumfries House in Ayrshire but also had a close connection with Cardiff through the Bute Docks developed by his father.

Ninian was educated at Harrow Initially, he wished to follow a diplomatic career and spent time in Kiev where he became a fluent Russian speaker but due to illness, he returned home and instead went to Christ Church College in Oxford. Later he joined the army in 1903, serving as a 2nd Lt in the Scots Guards.

In 1906, he married the Honourable Ismay Preston. He transferred to the Army Reserve and embarked on a career in politics, serving on Fife County Council. In 1907, he was adopted as a prospective parliamentary candidate for Cardiff, and on his election as a Unionist MP for Cardiff in December 1910, the family moved to Cardiff. An accomplished sportsman, he was a leading proponent of football in Cardiff, where the football ground is named after him. In 1901, he kicked off Cardiff City’s first match against Aston Villa, wearing a bowler hat and suit.

Ninian’s political career was cut short by the war. In 1912 he has been appointed as Lieutenant Colonel of the 6th Welsh Regiment which was called up on the outbreak of war. The battalion moved to France at the end of October 1914. By September 1915, the battalion was moved from the Ypres area to Loos.

On the night of 1st October 1915, he led the 6th Welch into battle at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, capturing a section of trench, which they were later forced to evacuate following heavy casualties and a strong German counter attack. During the start of the evacuation he was shot in the head by a German sniper, and died at the age of 32, leaving his wife and three children, the youngest of whom was only 6 months old. He was buried in Bethune Town Cemetery.

The original Ninian Park Ground is now the site of a housing estate named Ninian Park, and when Cardiff City moved to their new stadium, The Ninian Stand was named in his honour. There is a statue of him in Gorsedd Gardens, Cardiff, and the nearby Ninian Park Railway Station and Ninian Park Primary School are named after him.

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