5th November 1914 On this day:  First Patients VAD Hospital opens in Charlton Kings   The Abbotts VAD hospital, Cheltenham, opened in Moorend Park, Charlton Kings on the 5th of November 1914.  1st Herts proceed to France Pioneering work - trenches    16th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles (Pioneers) - Trench Wiring Work. A vital tactic to deter enemy attacks was the positioning of rows of Barbed Wire around the top of the trenches. It was merely a small deterrent as it was vulnerable to artillery fire with batteries engaging in "Wire Cutting" either to disrupt enemy work or to clear a way through for assault purposes. The amount of equipment needed presented many a challenge to the Pioneers particularly during attacks and modifications needed if the infantry managed to hold new forward positions, involving a thousand or more yards of wiring overnight in areas targeted by enemy artillery. A typical 1000 yards of fencing needed: 400 long pickets 800 short pickets 180 coils of barbed wire (65 yards each) 40 coils of barbed wire (130 yards each) This could be erected by a company of men in about an hour, but the time and effort to get it to the new position and laid out for installation is enormous. Pickets were screwed into the ground as the work had to be carried out in near silence at night so as not to alert the enemy. Doran Family 22nd Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers raised   22nd Battalion (3rd Tyneside Scottish) Northumberland Fusiliers is formed at Newcastle on the 5th of November 1914, by the Lord Mayor and City. 2nd West Yorks proceed to France   2nd West Yorks landed at Le Havre on the 5th of November 1914 as part of 23rd Brigade, 8th Division, forming up at Hursley Park near Winchester. Return to 5th Cavalry Brigade   E Battery 3rd Brigade RHA Same as before but fired a little and at 1730 were relieved and withdrawn to billets at St Jans Cappel which we reached at 2000. war diaries 3rd Dragoons go into trenches   The weather was very cold and wet and the camp was shelled during the afternoon of the 5th, when three men were wounded. The 6th Cavalary Brigade which the 3rd Dragoon Guards had now joined, had been almost continuously in action since they landed in Belgium. They had suffered severely, the reinforcement therefore being very welcome. The regiment had not long to wait for their first action, as every man was needed in the line. At 5:30pm on the 5th they paraded dismounted, and marching through Hooge, took over the trenches on the eastern front of Herenthage Woods, south of Ypres-Menin road, at 10:00pm. ‘A’ Squadron was in the centre with a machine gun, ‘B’ squadron on the right and ‘C’ on the left with another machine gun. The trenches were very inadequate. Men had to climb over the top from one trench to another. Several were killed whilst so doing by snipers and shell fire. History of the 3rd (Prince of Wales) Dragoon Guards 1914-1918 by Captain H P Holt  1st East Lancs in reserve  More losses  Great Havoc Wrought  Under Shellfire  Prisoner Taken  13th Londons on the Move  Perfectly Hopeless  Defence Work  Heavy Shelling  Bonfire Night  Move to new line  Heavy Shelling  Trench Work  Reliefs  Reliefs  On the Move  In Reserve  Training  Defences  Orders  French Attack Falters  On the Move  In touch with French troops  Night Attack  Quieter.  On the Move  On the Move  Reorganisation  Into Billets  Lost over the Channel Can you add to this factual information? Do you know the whereabouts of a unit on a particular day? Do you have a copy of an official war diary entry? Details of an an incident? The loss of a ship? A letter, postcard, photo or any other interesting snipts? If your information relates only to an individual, eg. enlistment, award of a medal or death, please use this form: Add a story.

Killed, Wounded, Missing, Prisoner and Patient Reports published this day. This section is under construction.

Want to know more about 5th of November 1914? There are:37 items tagged 5th of November 1914 available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Remembering those who died this day, 5th of November 1914. Stkr1. Nathaniel Agnew. HMS Hawke Read their Story. Sub-Lieutenant Francis Annesley. Read their Story. Pte. Thomas William Foley. 1st Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment Read their Story. Pte. James Harris. 1st Btn. Cameron Highlanders Read their Story. Rfmn. Thomas James Lodge. 1st Btn. Rifle Brigade Read their Story. Pte. Arthur Edward Loveday. 2nd Btn., No.1 Coy. Coldstream Guards Add a name to this list.

Previous Day     Next Day Select another Date Day: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31   Month: January February March April May June July August September October November December   Year: 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

The free section of The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers. This website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running. Hosted by: The Wartime Memories Project Website is archived for preservation by the British Library Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV - All Rights Reserved - We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.