Devonshire Regiment casualty BWM. Samuel Courtman. 9th Devon Regt. KIA 1917. Born Dartmouth

5A British War medal on replacement ribbon named to.

20666 pte s courtman Devon r .

( please note scratch to rim across Devon in pictures ).

By the time the Devons were back in the front line on 20^th March, as the Regimental History puts it, “the situation map [was] more changed than in any period since trench warfare had begun”. The front line to which they were allocated had moved a considerable distance, north-east of the village of Mory, well to the north of Bapaume. When they arrived in the front line, they immediately began to push forward patrols towards the village of Ecoust-Saint-Mein, which had become an outpost of the Hindenburg Line system between Croisilles and Doignies. The patrols “reported enemy holding village strongly”. On 23^rd March, the Battalion War Diary records that “during the night the enemy attacked one of our advanced posts but was driven off leaving three dead”.

Each day during their tour the Battalion sent out patrols, and contined to find the village of Ecoust strongly held. On 26^th March nine men were killed and eight wounded, before they were relieved by the 8^th Devons, who took over the task. For their experience, see the story of Harry Bowhay, killed on 28^th March.

Death

On 2^nd April 1917 an attack was made by 22^nd Brigade, including the 8^th and 9^th Devons, on Ecoust. According to the Regimental History:

The 9^th Battalion attacked on the left of the village ie to the north-west; their first objective was some houses on the road to Croisilles, and their second the railway embankment north of Ecoust. The 8^th Devons attacked the village itself, with the aim of reaching the railway station to the north-east of the village.

Owing to a bright moonlit night, the attack was delayed until 5.15am, just before dawn. For the 9^th Devons, numbers 1 and 2 Companies were in front; number 4 Company was in support, and number 3 Company in reserve. Samuel was in Number 2 Company.

The Battalion War Diary records that:

To their right, the 8^th Devons had been involved in heavy house to house fighting in the village, but had succeeded in taking it, and later in the day, despite heavy casualties, fought off a counter-attack successfully, and the village was held.

Casualties for the 9^th Devons, according to the Battalion War Diary, were four officers killed, including Captain Inchbald leading Number 2 Company, and 16 men killed and 8 missing; 68 men were wounded. Samuel was one of those killed. According to the letter sent to Carrie from the new CO of Number 2 Company (reported in the Dartmouth Chronicle), “his death was absolutely instantaneous … he proved himself to the end a gallant soldier, and a credit to his King and country”.

Under the heading “Dartmouth Heroes: Their Lives for their Country: Privates S Courtman and Harry Bowhay”, the Dartmouth Chronicle of 20^th April 1917 published the news of the death of the two men from the town who had died in the attack on Ecoust, though they could not report it as such. The deaths column also carried an announcement from Ellen:

Samuel Courtman was born in Dartmouth on 28^th June 1886 and baptised at St Petrox on 8^th August of that year. He was the fifth child and second son of Charles Courtman and Elizabeth Ellen Kerswell.

Like so many, Samuel’s Army service papers have not survived. However, the Dartmouth Chronicle of 5^th November 1915 included Samuel’s name in the list of “Dartmouth men who are now serving in HM Forces”. This was the period in which the “Derby Scheme” (or “Group Scheme”) came into operation (see the story of Thomas Charles), as the Government’s final attempt to boost further voluntary recruitment, before moving to conscription. It seems that Samuel chose to volunteer immediately, rather than to attest with an obligation to serve later – the Dartmouth Chronicle’s list clearly differentiates between those who had volunteered and those who had deferred their service under the scheme, and enlisted in the Army Reserve. Soldiers Died in the Great War records that he enlisted in Newton Abbot.

The Chronicle’s list shows Samuel as a member of 3^rd Battalion Devonshire Regiment. As this was the training battalion of the Regiment it indicates that he was by then undergoing his initial training. The Devonshire Regiment’s Victory and British War Medal Roll shows that he was first posted to the 1^st Battalion. This is the same pattern as that of Sydney Callard, who volunteered at about the same time, so they may have joined the 1^st Battalion together. When Samuel joined the Battalion in France is not known, but must have been some time during the first half of 1916. For the activities of the 1^st Battalion during 1916, see the story of George Peters.

By the time of his death, however, Samuel had transferred to the Regiment’s 9^th Battalion, which included several men with Dartmouth connections.

The 9^th Devons had begun 1917 still in the Somme sector, but for most of January 1917 to the end of February, they were in reserve. During this period several drafts arrived, to rebuild the Battalion to full strength, so Samuel may have joined them at this time. There is no reference in the Battalion’s War Diary to any draft arriving from the 1^st Battalion as such.

For much of March, the Battalion was in Brigade support, employed in working parties taking ammunition and stores up to the front line and in working on the light railway at Auchonvillers, near Beaumont Hamel. Meanwhile, the German retirement to the new fortified positions of the Hindenburg line had begun.