Pte E. F. Birchmore, one of five Lutonians serving in the 2nd Border Regiment, sent a graphic account of the fighting at Neuve Chapelle to Mr Herbert Burgess, of 3 Adelaide Street.

"Come on my lads, now's your chance. Charge!" was the call to which the regiment answered in the thick of the fight. They went through a terrible ordeal to attain success, and casualties were many. Of the five Lutonians only Pte Birchmore was in fighting trim when he wrote. Two others were wounded, one was sick at the base and the fifth was missing.

Pte Birchmore said: "I am in the pink just now, after four days of fierce fighting and shelling. I came out hospital on the 9th and rejoined by regiment, which had orders to be ready to move at any moment. We were told what was about to take place in the morning - that our Fourth Army Corps was going to attack the Seventh Army Corps. We did it with a vengeance and succeeded, too, all along the front. The General told us we couldn't have done it better, as we did exactly what he wanted, and did it well.

"We had orders to move out at 4.30 am on the 10th to commence the attack, and marched about four miles towards the firing line in support of the 8th Division, who were going to make the attack. We halted in a field in support, and while waiting one of our aeroplanes which was searching for the German guns caught fire and came crashing down not more than 150 yards away, killing both pilot and observer outright.

"While we were waiting for orders to advance, some men of the Middlesex Regiment who were wounded came by and said the 8th had taken the first line of trenches and were holding them while our artillery shelled the second line. We were not needed that night, and spent it in some low trenches.

"At five o'clock on the 11th we advanced to reserve trenches behind our own firing line and got shelled something cruel as we laid in the trenches in reserve to the Wilts Regiment, who had captured the second and third line of German trenches and held them well until the 13th, when they got bombed out of them by the Germans. All this time we were being shelled awfully with 'Jack Johnsons' and shrapnel as we laid in the open.

"We had to cross a piece of ground that was being swept with rifle fire and we lost several men in doing so, but my platoon got over without loss. We had got as far as the second line of German trenches when we got the order to stop the attack while our artillery shelled the Germans for two hours. They simply poured shells into them, and it was like a big cloud of smoke all along their front where the shells were bursting and doing terrible execution among the enemy. All this time we were still under shell fire to keep us from advancing, but they did little damage bar knocking holes in the ground.

"We were waiting the chance for a rush when artillery stopped all of a sudden, and out colonel shouted 'Come on boys, now's your chance. Charge!' We were at them like madmen so they threw down their arms and rushed towards us, shouting 'Mercy, England,' and one chap who had been in England said, 'Good old England. Thank God I am captured!' He also said that he had had only three raw potatoes in five days. In all our regiment took some 400 prisoners, a lot of them being wounded.

"While we were rushing forward to secure an advance trench we ran into a terrible enfilade fire, and only three of us got that trench unharmed. The rifle fire was horrendous, and we three laid flat on the ground until we got a chance to jump behind a low trench. I shouldn't care for a second dose like that, above once a day. It makes the air too thick, and one stands a chance of getting lead poisoning quite suddenly.

"After we had got their trenches they shelled us something awful until dark, when it eased up a bit. Then we started to dig ourselves in as best we could, and worked all through the night, although we had no rations that day. It was too hot with shells to go back for them, but not a man grumbled as we knew the reason they didn't come.

"My section, or what was left of it, dug ourselves in just in front of a ditch full of water - water we had to drink, as there was none better. I owe that ditch my thanks, for when they started shelling us next day they put three shells bang in the middle of it, wounding three of my section rather badly and covering the rest of us with earth and a shower-bath at the same time. Had there been no ditch behind us we must have all gone sky-high, but the water stopped the force of the explosion a lot.

"One piece of shell hit the back of my hand, another piece went through my cap without hitting my head, and one piece cut my boot. I think most of us were hit with pieces that day. We were not sorry when we were told we were going to be relieved.

"Most of us nearly fell asleep going the distance to our billets, nearly three miles away from the firing line. I am satisfied to come come out of that four days with my life."

[The Luton News, March 25th, 1915]