More About Planning the Umbrella Hill Raid

Map of Umbrella Hill from The History of the Fifth Battalion Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment

Thursday 19th July 1917

The intention in the raid on Umbrella Hill to be carried out by 1st/5th Bedfords is, as usual with such raids, to kill and capture as many of the enemy as possible and capture or destroy as much of their material as can be achieved in the limited time available.

Captain Maier

The personnel forming the party will be: one officer and twelve other ranks from 484th Field Company, Royal Engineers; sixteen officers and 511 other ranks of the Bedfords under Captain H S Armstrong and a stretcher-bearer sub-division of 2nd/1st East Anglian Field Ambulance. Of the Bedfords, five officers and 231 other ranks will be the raiders, Captain E T Maier, two other officers and 134 men will be in support and the rest, under Captain C H Miskin will be in reserve.

Captain Miskin

The amounts of ammunition have been carefully calculated, for example: the raiders will carry 736 Mills bombs and the support troops 120 more, in horses nose-bags each containing fifteen grenades, with 184 in the reserve section. The raiders will have 27 wire-cutters, 4 picks and 22 bill-hooks. There will be four stretchers taken with the raiders, eight with the support troops and sixteen in reserve.

All ranks will wear jackets, shorts and puttees. Helmets (with chin straps down) will also be worn as will equipment but without pack, haversack, waterbottle or entrenching tool and handle. Each man will carry 120 rounds of small arms ammunition and each Lewis gun team will; have twelve full drums. Bayonets will be fixed by all at the place of assembly (except men who are ordered to have rifles slung). Two sandbags will be carried on each man’s belt. All possible marks of identification will be removed (including both identity discs). No papers, letters, envelopes or notes of any sort are to be carried on the person.

All ranks will wear a white armlet three inches wide, securely fastened on each arm. These armlets will be numbered consecutively in indelible pencil and registered with the regimental number rank and name of the wearer, in a special roll to be prepared beforehand and kept at the place of assembly by Company Sergeant Major Lewsey and four men of A Company.

The Raiders will carry with them white name boards with clear black lettering in accordance with the tracing of Turkish position issued. The boards will be placed under careful supervision as the position is captured to assist all ranks in finding their way about the enemy position. Similar boards are also be used in the replica of the position during rehearsals.It has been carefully explained to all ranks that while every care has to be taken to construct correctly the replica of the position used during regearsals - there may be certain points in which it is not quite accurate, also the contour of the ground on which it is situated is known to be different.

The raiders are being carefully taught that they must keep right up to the artillery barrage which will precede them, like a creeping barrage so often used with success on the Western Front. Such an operation is almost unknown here and the men have been told that it is quite safe to keep within one hundred yards of the exploding shells and to get to such a point that our shrapnel bursts immediately overhead. The success of the whole operation depends on the raiders dashing into the enemy trenches as the barrage lifts, and before the enemy has time to recover from it. The raid is expected to take thirty-five minutes

A warning has been issued to all ranks: the enemy's line lies to the east and that our line lies to the west. The men are to be tested to see that they know how to find their direction by the stars. Every man is to be warned if inadvertantly he should be taken prisoner by the enemy he is obliged to give his Regimental Number, Rank, Name and Regiment. All ranks are also to be cautioned not to take any notice of any order shouted out or whistle blown unless they are absolutely sure that it is given by one of our own side, who, from his position, is entitled to give it, and that it is meant for them.

Source: X550/6/8