Newton-le-Willows and Earlestown War Memorial

1st/4th South Lancashire Regiment

Pioneering in 1916

Captain H. Whalley-Kelly, in his book “Ich Dien – The Prince of Wales’s Volunteers”, gives the following account:

“It is not possible to make a thrilling story out of the drab monotony of the daily round of work carried out by battalions employed as Pioneers. It has been truly said that modern war consists of long periods of intense boredom punctuated by moments of intense fear, and to no phase does this epigram apply with more force than to the weeks, and sometimes months, spent by Pioneer battalions in carrying out, usually at night the multitudinous tasks called for by the conditions of static warfare. Like so many things in war, as in life, the existence of a Pioneer battalion was a paradox; on one hand the daily routine of heavy manual labour in wet and muddy trenches, often under fire; the carrying parties, with men stumbling blindly forward over the shell-pocked ground; the wiring parties in No Man's Land, humping "knife-rests" and crouching low every time the enemy's flares lit up the scene of desolation round about; all carried out in cold blood, the men frequently soaked to the skin, with none of the excitement of actual combat to stimulate their aching muscles. On the other hand, the discipline and devotion to duty required to overcome the laxness in turnout and soldierly bearing which was bound to develop under such conditions, and to maintain the cohesion and high military qualities demanded by the very nature of the work itself. To the everlasting credit of the 4th Battalion all ranks rose supreme above the soul-destroying elements of their allotted role, and never once was there any relaxation of the very high standard of their work in their varied tasks, nor faltering in the strong Regimental spirit that animated officers and men alike."