Nicholas Lovell
The Five Victoria Crosses of Bromsgrove School
Two of the three brothers attended Bromsgrove School: F. B. Wearne joined
in 1908, at the age of fourteen, and left in 1912. He was followed to the
School by his younger brother, G. W. Wearne, who later served with the Canadians
and was the only brother to survive the war. The eldest brother, Keith Morris
Wearne, did not attend Bromsgrove but became a regular army officer, joining
the First Battalion of the Essex Regiment from Sandhurst before the First
World War.
F. B. Wearne
showed considerable promise at School, winning a scholarship in 1908 and
rising to become Head Monitor before leaving in 1912. He was also a member
of the First XV and a corporal in the O.T.C. (what is now the C.C.F.). He
went up to Corpus Christi, Oxford as a commoner in 1913.
At the outbreak of war in August 1914, Wearne immediately volunteered for
service in a Public School Battalion. He later obtained a commission in the
3rd Battalion of the Essex Regiment, presumably choosing this regiment because
of his older brother's association. After training he was sent to the Western
Front and received his baptism of fire at the Battle of the Somme, where
he was badly wounded on July 3rd, 1916. So severe were his wounds that he
was only deemed fit enough to return to active service in May the following
year, 1917.
May 1917 was a sad month for the Wearne family. It saw the return of Frank
Wearne to the Front and the death of his older brother, Captain K. M. Wearne,
on the 21st. When Wearne returned to the Front in May 1917 he was attached
to the 11th Battalion of the Essex Regiment. This was based near the town
of Lens in Northern France, and was manning trenches facing the enemy just
east of Loos (Northern France) or resting at a small village behind the front
called Les Brebis.
It is hard for us, some eighty years later, to imagine life for soldiers
in the trenches of the Western Front. Usually they occupied a section of
the trenches for a period of about ten days, then rested behind the lines
for a few days before once more returning to the horrors of the trenches.
During the periods when battles were not in progress there was still great
danger. To put one's head above the parapet of the trench -- let alone climb
out of the trench -- was to risk one's life: snipers lay camouflaged in No
Man's Land ready to shoot any who showed themselves,and the enemy in the
trenches opposite were ever vigilant.
Living conditions for the soldiers were filthy and cold. Lice bred in the
seams of their uniforms; huge rats, gorged on the dead, lived in the trenches
and stole the men's food; sleep was very difficult.
After a period in the trenches, one battalion would be relieved by another
and stagger back to a place a few miles behind the front to sleep, wash and
recuperate.
It was during a period of rest and recuperation at Les Brebis that a plan
was conceived for a trench raid to be carried out by men from the 11th Battalion.
The idea was for a force of about 100 men to attack, capture and hold a section
of the German front line. Prisoners were to be taken, dugouts were to be
destroyed and German mine shafts were to be investigated and blown up. The
battalion left Les Brebis and returned to the line on 20th June, 1917, with
a strength of 19 officers and 514 men. The raid was set for the 28th June.
On the 27th June Wearne and a number of other officers, including Captain
S.E. Silver who was to command the raid, were given temporary leave to visit
a café in Les Brebis for an evening meal. Possibly this was allowed
because the officers were likely to become casualties. Certainly the planning
for the raid at Les Brebis had embraced the idea that the officers might
be killed. It was very much in the tradition of the British army that junior
officers led from the front and consequently were the first to be killed.
Subalterns in World War One had the shortest life expectancy of any infantry
soldiers.
During a meal of boiled rabbit and vegetables with poor wine, Wearne discussed
the recent death of his older brother with Major Roberts, who had served
with K. M. Wearne before the war. Prior to returning to he trenches, Wearne
gave Roberts a snapshot of himself. Possibly this was a keepsake from a serious
young man who thought he was going to his death.
The raiding party was composed of three parties from the Essex Regiment plus
a party of one officer and 20 other ranks of the 3rd Australian Tunnelling
Company. Party A of the 11th Battalion, composed of one officer and 30 other
ranks split into three squads, would be at the centre of the attack. Its
order were to cross No-Man's Land and capture a juntion in the German trenches
known as Nash Alley. One in position the men were to hold a length of the
German front line trench, destroy dugouts, collect prisoners and "mop up"
opposition. Party C, composed of one N.C.O. and six men, was to rush a strongly
held position to the right (south) of Party A. The Australian Tunnelling
Company was to follow Party C and, under their protection, take prisoners,
obtain identification and destroy dug-outs and mine shafts. Party B was to
be composed of 20 men split into two squads, and commanded by 2nd. Lieutenant
Wearne. Its job was to attack to the left of Party A and its main job was
to capture the front line trench to the north and hold it, thus preventing
the rest of the force from being attacked from the left by German reinforcements.
One squad of Party B was to clear the German trench to the right and link
up with Party A; the other squad was to move up the enemy trench (north)
and form a block against attack. The raid was to last one hour and whistles
would signal the withdrawal to the British front line.
So it was that at 7.00 p.m. on the evening of the 28th June, 1917, over a
hundred men assembled in a large dugout at the junction of Scots Alley and
the British Reserve Line. A box barrage was laid on by the artillery, presumably
to force the Germans to take cover. At a little past 7.10.p.m. Parties A
and B left their trench and rushed the German front line. A few minutes later
Party C and the Australians followed.
Whilst a squad of Party A occupied and held the junction of Nash Alley, the
rest rushed down the trench blowing in dugouts with Mills bombs and shooting
all opposition which either came up the trench or over the top from the German
support trench. Meanwhile the Australian Tunnelling Party - led by Captain
Alex Sanderson - located and destroyed two dugouts and three mine shafts.
Party B, led by Wearne, had also succeeded in taking their section of the
enemy front line, to the left. But it was here that the fighting was at its
most intense. The Germans repeatedly attacked down the trench and over the
top from their support trenches. Wearne's party exacted a terrible toll upon
the Germans, with sustained rifle fire, but the situation was becoming desperate
and many of his men had been killed or wounded; in fact of the sixteen men
who held this point on the left flank only one escaped without injury. Wearne
knew that if the left flank collapsed then his comrades in Parties A and
C, already hard pressed themselves, would be overwhelmed and the raid a failure.
At the point when the German attack was at its most dangerous, Wearne performed
an act of the utmost daring and bravery. He leapt onto the parapet of the
trench, exposing himself to a hail of machine-gun and rifle fire, and then
ran along the top of the trench firing his revolver and throwing bombs down
at the enemy below. This courageous example encouraged his men to follow
him and the surprise and ferocity of this attack, from an unexpected quarter,
threw the Germans back.
Although Wearne succeeded in temporarily repulsing the German attack, he
was severely wounded. Despite this, he refused to leave his men and stayed
at his post organising the defence of the left flank. He received a second
serious wound just before the whistles sounded the withdrawal and sadly,
as he was being dragged away from the German positions, was hit for a third
time and killed.
The raid was deemed a success, despite the fact that almost fifty percent
of the attacking force had become casualties. Two officers had been killed
and one wounded; ten other ranks were killed and six reported missing believed
killed; thirty other ranks were wounded. Wearne was recommended for the Victoria
Cross by his commanding officer, Colonel Spring.
The citation for Wearne's V.C., awarded posthumously, appeared in the London
Gazette of the 31st July, 1917. This was read to the School on the first
day of Michaelmas Term 1917 by the Headmaster, R. G. Routh.
Wearne's Victoria Cross was the sole V.C to be won by a member of the Essex
Regiment during the First World War, and is one of only six won by this famous
old county regiment since the Victoria Cross was instituted. Wearne's V.C
was presented to his father at Buckingham Palace by George V. Sadly the medal
was auctioned at Sotheby's in 1977 for £7,000 and its present whereabouts
are unknown.
From the citation for the Victoria Cross:
'By his tenacity in remaining at his post though severely wounded,
and his magnificent fighting spirit, he was enabled to hold on to the
flank.'
"Frank Wearne wins the VC"
©Copyright Nicholas Lovell,
September, 1996.
The other four Bromsgrove School VCs are:
Return
to the Hellfire Corner Contents Section
by Christine M. Lovell.
Lieutenant
Commander Percy Dean
Captain Eustace Jotham
Sergeant
Nigel Leakey
Field
Marshall Sir George White