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On the 5th May 1917, Albert Datlen was sent a Statutory Order for Military Service. He was required to present himself for examination at the Buffs Depot in Canterbury on 21st May 1917 at 11 O’clock in the morning.
Albert enlisted on 13th July 1917 he gave his address as 69 Limekiln Street, Dover and his age as 34 years 213 days. He was single and employed as a store keeper (There is a word written in brackets after store keeper which I cannot make out but probably indicates the type of store he kept). He indicated his preference to join the Royal Engineers but he was posted to the Northamptonshire Regiment, 26th T reserve battalion of St Albans
His medical report describes him as being 5 foot 6 1/4 inches tall, with a 36inch chest measurement. He gave his next of kin as his father, Robert Elgar Datlen also of 69 Limekiln Street, Dover.
After four months training, Albert was posted to 3rd (reserve) battalion. He was sent to France on the 14th January 1918, where he was posted with the 7th Service Battalion, and then to the 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment. The regiment were attached to the 24th Brigade of the 8th division and formed part of the Fifth Army during the battles of the Somme.
On the 1st March 1918, following a snow storm, the battalion moved out of California Camp to relieve the 1st Sherwood Foresters in the front line. The enemy was very quiet and no casualties were reported. The following day they received a visit from Brigadier General Haig. That night at 6pm news came through that the regiment to their right, the 2nd Middlesex, received a raid which resulted in casualties and later at 9pm, the regiment to their left, the 1st Division, were also raided.
On the 6th March the battalion were relieved and retreated to Wattou. Here, they occupied themselves with training, cleaning up and playing sports such as boxing, football and rugby. On the 13th March they moved out and travelled west by train from Abeele station on the Belgium border to Lumbres, France. From here they marched north to Boisdinghem Aerodrome where they spent eight days training and playing sports.
On the 22nd March the battalion marched to St Omer train station and travelled south to Nesle, 18 miles West of Saint Quentin. They arrived at 7am on the 23rd, had breakfast and marched on to Licourt. After lunch they took up their positions in the Front Line on the West bank of the river Somme.
On the 24th March the 23rd Brigade on the right flank were attacked and forced back giving the Germans part of the west side of the river. The Worcestershire Regiment attacking to the left issued a counter attack enabling the 23rd Brigade to retire in good order. The right flank, however was still in danger but they managed to hold until reserves were thrown in. By 5pm infantry action had ceased and there followed a quiet night when they were reinforced by the 5th Yorkshire Regiment. The 2nd Northamptonshire Regiment suffered 10 fatalities that day..
The entry in the battalion’s war diary for the 25th March explains that the battalion was arranged so that ‘D’ company formed a defensive flank to the Sherwoods and the line to the north, but it was unavoidable that a large gap should exist between ‘C’ and ‘D’ companies. The 4th Yorks were put into the gap but it was too late to deter a determined attack by the Germans forcing the battalion to withdraw a considerable distance. ‘A’ company held their position but became surrounded and had to fight their way out. This action enabled the whole line to withdraw to the railway embankment near Marchelepot. The battalion lost 31 men during this battle.
On the 26th the order was given to retire to defend Rosieres. The enemy pursued resulting in the loss of 10 men. The following day the enemy attacked to the right exposing the flank. A small party was formed and issued a counter attack re-establishing the line and driving back the enemy beyond their original position. A further 8 casualties were reported this day.
The Germans launched an overwhelming attack on the 28th this time to the left of the Brigade, causing a complicated withdrawal and change of direction towards Caix. The enemy advanced very rapidly and practically surrounded the high ground that the Brigade now occupied. They found a way out of this tight spot and marched 16 miles to Jumel. 7 men lost this day.
The Battlion remained at Jumel in reserve until 31st March when they marched to Moreuil and took their position back in the front line. They captured 5 German prisoners and a heavy machine gun that evening but lost 3 men in the process. The next morning there was heavy allied shelling and harassing fire against an amassed German presence to the North East of Moreuil. The rest of the day passed fairly quietly but not without incident. It is written in the Battalion War Diary that a Corporal Scriveur and Private Pepper captured two sorry looking creatures found wandering nearby. The prisoners were “milked and sent back to the transport”, a curious way to treat POW’s you may think until it is revealed that the two captured were cows. No doubt they were sent back to be butchered and processed into burgers for the evening Barbie.
The Battlion were relieved on the 2nd April by a French regiment and they marched to Dommartin and eventually taken by lorries to Crouy where a much welcomed and deserved hot meal was served. It was noted that since the 23rd March they had 23 men killed; 131 men wounded; 128 men missing and 8 wounded men missing.
During these days of fighting our man Albert Datlen received a bullet wound in his leg, a ‘Blighty one’ to use a trench phrase meaning that it was sufficiently bad enough to guarantee a return to England. It is not clear which leg was targeted as some papers report the left leg and others report the right leg. Albert must have been rather seriously inured as he was taken to Rouen, a major hospital base. It would have taken a bit of time to get there via the Regimental Aid Post, then a Casualty Clearing Station then the Hospital.
On the 10th April 1918 A telegraph was received by Robert Elgar Datlen informing of his sons condition.
“Regret to inform you 49121 Private A.Datlen 2nd Northamtonshire Regiment is seriously ill at 12 General Hospital, Rouen. I regret permission to visit him cannot be granted.”
In fact the wound was so severe that it resulted in amputation.
Albert was back in England on the 24th April 1918 and over a year later he was officially discharged on grounds that he was 50% disabled. He served 1 year and 274 days service for which he received an army pension. He was sent the Silver War Badge with the instruction that he was to wear the badge on his right breast or on the right lapel of his jacket. This was to show that he had been honourably discharged i.e. wounded or unfit for service. It was a sort of protection from abuse so that others would know that he had done his bit for his Country.
Albert received the following medals:-
British War Medal
Victory Medal
Silver War Badge
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