295291 Private Clifford Bethell, 12th (West Somerset Yeomanry) Battalion Somerset Light Infantry (1894-1918).

Clifford Bethell was born late in 1894 at Mudgley Farm, Mudgley near Wedmore in Somerset, the eldest son of Francis Bethell (1868-1947) and his wife Alice Mary (1867-1948) nee Millard. He had one young sister called Minnie and two younger brothers named Ernest and Percy. Clifford was educated at Sexeys School at Blackford. In April 1911 16–year old Clifford was living with his parents at Mudgley Farm, Mudgley near Wedmore and was working as a farm labourer in the family business. Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War he was employed as a mechanic in Glastonbury.

19 year-old Clifford enlisted in the West Somerset Yeomanry at Minehead on 21st September 1914, presumably directly into A Squadron which had a Drill Station at this small seaside town. This horsed fighting unit, part of the Territorial Force, had mobilized on 4th August 1914 and after concentrating at its war station at Winchester had been sent to East Anglia to protect the eastern coast from a possible German invasion. When Clifford joined the unit, part of 2nd South Western Mounted Brigade, it was based during the autumn at Ardleigh before moving later to Great Bentley and Tendring in Essex. Between periods occupying beach defences it carried out intensive training during the wet and bitterly cold winter of 1914-15 for service overseas. The 2nd South Western Mounted Brigade, leaving its beloved horses behind with great regret, left Liverpool on 23rd September 1915 aboard the maiden voyage of the newly-commissioned Her Majesty’s Transport Olympia – the elder sister ship of the ill-fated SS Titantic – for the journey to Gallipoli in Turkey. It was far from a comfortable experience, however, with the ship stripped of her former fineries and crammed to the gunwhales with some 7,000 troops.

The 2nd South Western Mounted Brigade was transhipped at the island of Mudros, lying off the coast of Gallipoli, onto the former Turkish liner Osmanieh before passing Cape Helles and anchoring at Suvla Bay. A heavy sea prevented the troops landing until the following day. By the time the West Somerset Yeomanry began its 10-week tour of duty at Gallipoli on 9th October 1915 – with a strength of 25 Officers and 477 Other Ranks – all thought of knocking Turkey out of the war had largely been abandoned. The 2nd South Western Mounted Brigade initially formed part of 11th Division (later 2nd Mounted Division) – one of five British divisions defending the Suvla Bay beachhead from Turkish attack. With offensive military operations on hold most of the unit’s time was spent building defences and carrying up supplies. Lice, a chronic shortage of fresh water, clouds of flies and intermittent Turkish shelling made life extremely uncomfortable for troops living in dugouts and caves burrowed into the hillsides. Following a gradual introduction to trench life understudying experienced units, on 3rd November the 2nd South Western Mounted Brigade took over a section of the front line. Losses to enemy action were minimal, but dysentery quickly cut a swathe through the ranks. Further heavy casualties were caused by frostbite, exposure and sickness during periods of intense cold rain, hard frosts and the ‘great blizzard’ of 24th-26th November 1915 to troops lacking suitable warm clothing and appropriate equipment. Along with the rest of the formation on 19th December the West Somerset Yeomanry was withdrawn from Gallipoli, with its strength now reduced to just 10 Officers and 148 Other Ranks. The following day Suvla Bay was completely evacuated and abandoned to the enemy.

The 1/1st West Somerset Yeomanry was shipped to Imbros and then onwards to Alexandria in Egypt where it disembarked on 30th December 1915, after which it spent two months resting, reorganising and re-equipping at Sidi Bishr Camp. As part of the newly formed 2nd Dismounted Brigade the West Somerset Yeomanry took part in operations during the late spring, summer and autumn of 1916 against hostile Senussi tribesmen threatening the Nile Valley. The unit spent an extremely hot and uncomfortable summer based on a line of oases, separated by miles of waterless and featureless sand, in the Libyan Desert. In October 1916 the occupation of Dakhla brought an end to this long-forgotten campaign freeing up troops for service elsewhere. The 1/1st West Somerset Yeomanry moved along with other Yeomanry regiments for the last time as a dismounted cavalry unit to Moascar Camp near Ismalia, where it underwent platoon, company and battalion level training, having already heard rumours that it was about to convert to an infantry battalion. In mid-January 1917 the General Officer Commanding the Egyptian Expeditionary Force ordered the reorganization and re-designation of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Dismounted Brigades of Yeomanry, currently serving on Suez Canal defences, as the 229th, 230th and 231st Brigades. The new 229th Brigade was senior, with a re-designated 12th (West Somerset Yeomanry) Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry, now consisting of a HQ and A, B, C and D Companies, formally reorganised on 7th January 1917 as an infantry battalion. Three days later the ‘new’ unit marched to El Ferdan on the banks of the Suez Canal where for the rest of the month and throughout February it carried out intensive infantry training on its new establishment. The three reorganised brigades began concentrating on 4th March 1917 near El Arish where they became part of the newly-formed 74th (Yeomanry) Division. On 29th March before the division had completely assembled the 12th (WSY) Battalion Somerset Light Infantry advanced into Palestine and at Khan Yunus took over the outpost line from troops of 52nd (Lowland) Division in contact with the Turkish Army.

74th (Yeomanry) Division – lacking divisional artillery until July when it finally arrived from Salonika - was almost immediately committed to battle in Palestine as part of XX Corps, later commanded by Lt.-General Sir Philip Chetwode, playing a supporting role in the abortive Second Battle of Gaza (17th – 19th April 1917). The Turkish Army proved once again a formidable opponent, as did the climate and terrain in Palestine with water always in chronically short supply and the heat and septic sores making life extremely uncomfortable for all ranks. The 74th (Yeomanry) Division, commanded by Major-General E.S. Girdwood, took a larger part in the successful Third Battle of Gaza (27th October – 7th November 1917), including the capture of Beersheba on 31st October and on 6th November the Somersets helped capture the Turkish defensive position at Sheria. The Turkish Army had little option now that its trench line had been outflanked, but to withdraw from Gaza opening the way to Jerusalem. Campaigning in the hills of Palestine during the cold, wet and frequently muddy autumn and winter proved extremely demanding. Early in December the 12th (WSY) Somerset Light Infantry took part in operations in the mist-covered and rain-soaked hills to the north of Jerusalem which on 9th December 1917 culminated with the capture of the Holy City.

The Turkish Army had not abandoned hope of recovering Jerusalem, with a major counterattack east of the city planned for 27th December. A series of counter-measures were immediately put in hand by the British high command who had gained intelligence of the impending enemy counter-offensive, with 10th (Irish) Division and 74th (Yeomanry) Division given responsibility for counter-attacking north of the city as soon as the Turks advanced. The 229th Brigade was placed under command of the 10th (Irish) Division during these operations and tasked with capturing an enemy position running atop a series of 600 foot high ‘wall-like hills’ that ‘for steepness vied with the cliffs of the Cheddar gorge’ north of Jerusalem, on whose summits stood Beit ur el Fuka and Zeitun where Turkish troops had dug trenches or had built stone sangars (breastworks made up of stones and boulders).

The 229th Brigade attacked on a two-battalion frontage at 8am on 27th December 1917, with the 12th (WSY) Battalion Somerset Light Infantry, led by Major C.R. Haywood, advancing on the left flank and the 14th (Ayr and Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Battalion, Royal Scots on the right, with the capture of the Zeitun ridge, a tongue of land stretching east west on which at one end stood a small Mosque, forming the objective for the first day of the attack. A and B Companies led the Somersets into battle up a steep, rocky and heavily terraced hillside rising 600 feet from the Wadi bed at its base which frequently made climbing or crawling the only way of moving forward. As the troops began struggling up the broken hillside the Turks on the heights above reacted. As the regimental historian later described: ‘Heavy machine-gun and rifle fire opened upon us from our front and right flank, but the very nature of the ground, its rocks, terraces and steep sides were a great protection to us. Once more was experienced the extraordinary performance of clambering, heavy laden, slowly and painfully up a mountain side, with the intention of ousting from the summit an entrenched and expectant enemy.’ A covering artillery bombardment, however, successfully kept down the heads of many of the defenders behind cover. The Somersets made steady progress up the steep hillside briefly halting to catch breath. To quote another historian: ‘Up they went, 300 feet were soon covered. Still up and up, climbing, crawling and scrambling over terraces and rocks. Four hundred feet – a pause. They clung like ants to earth and rock. On once more, dodging from rock to rock. Five hundred feet up they halted to rest. Then came the last swift scramble, on to and over the Turkish sangars.’

The stiff climb up the difficult side of the Zeitun Ridge meant command and control quickly broke down and in the early-morning darkness the officers and men of the 12th (WSY) Battalion Somerset Light Infantry arrived ‘blown’ and in dribs and drabs at the crest. As a result its leading troops found themselves involved in a series of small-scale, confused and disjointed battles with the defenders and in many cases men dealt almost single-handedly with Turkish counterattacks. To quote from the regimental history again: ‘Corporal W. Jones, Corporal C. Cleal and Corporal F. Couch had successful battles unaided; while Privates Bethel [sic] and Dawden, when they found their L.G. [Lewis Gun] ammunition expended, had recourse to the ammunition of the country (stones) with excellent results, until, with the arrival of reinforcements, the enemy party surrendered.’ By 9.15am the first objective of the attack had been taken, but the slow progress made by flanking units meant it not until midday that two companies finally secured the battalion’s second objective. At midnight the 229th Infantry Brigade finally secured its third and last objective lying north and south across the Zeitun Ridge. The advance resumed at 3.00pm the following day with 12th (WSY) Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry capturing its objective – Hill 35 - within half an hour, while the neighbouring Fife and Forfar Yeomanry took the village of Beitunia. Following a further brief advance towards El Muntar the next day the battalion went into reserve at the end of two days hard fighting which had cost it just 13 dead and 81 wounded. Private Clifford Bethell was later awarded a Military Medal for his conspicuous bravery as part of a two-man Lewis Gun team during the first day of the attack.

The fighting outside Jerusalem on 27th-28th December 1917 was the last in which the 12th (West Somerset Yeomanry) Battalion Somerset Light Infantry took part in Palestine. Following two months rest the 74th (Yeomanry) Division was transferred to France in the spring of 1918 to shore up the badly-shaken Western Front following the successful German Spring offensive that had begun on 21st March 1918. The 12th (West Somerset Yeomanry) Battalion Somerset Light Infantry – 37 Officers and 964 Other Ranks – embarked at Alexandria aboard HMT Leasowe Castle on 29th April 1918 en route for Marseilles. On 7th May the unit landed in southern France and immediately entrained for Noyelles where the men disembarked three days later and marched to billets at Forest Montiers. Following home leave (the first for 2½ years for nearly all its men) and reorganization on a new war establishment the 12th (WSY) Battalion Somerset Light Infantry began re-training for a very different theatre of war, with instruction focusing on gas warfare and cooperation with aircraft and tanks. On 14th July the 74th (Yeomanry) Division took over a section of the frontline near Merville where it was introduced to the extremely different conditions of warfare on the Western Front. The 12th (WSY) Battalion, Somerset went into the frontline trenches unaided in the Robecq sector on 23rd July and almost immediately began suffering a steadily toll of casualties each day from sniping, shelling and mortar fire during the course of ‘normal’ everyday life in the trenches. Unfortunately just two days later Private Clifford Bethell was amongst those killed in action - presumably during the battalion’s first 8-day tour of duty on the Western Front.