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Bourlon Wood-1917, showing the position of the entrance to the Quarry within Bourlon wood, based on a reconnaissence photo from the Imperial War Museum collection, taken on 2nd of December 1917...
Bourlon wood, was some 600 acres in extent in 1917, it was a thickly timbered wood situated on a ridge the highest point of which rises to 150 feet above the level of the Bapaume-Cambrai Road.
Rising at 1 in 20, the wood stands out prominently and was comprised of principally Fir but with the occasional Oak. Being a very old wood, the trees were large with dense undergrowth of Hazel, Large Aspens and thickets of Briar.
Running through the wood were numerous tracks, the principle of which ran East-West, and very much like an English woodland had wide ‘drives’ running throughout, in places these drives were sunken which gave them good tactical value.
The night of the 22nd 23rd November 1917 was fairly quiet, but the roads leading towards the front were very congested with traffic. On the morning of 23rd November there was a slight mist, which would favour the attackers and a few minutes before 11:00 am, the shells from 40th Div. artillery began bursting within the woods.
The 119th and 120th Brigade’s began to move up behind several tanks provided for their assault. 119th Bde pushed onwards into the wood and captured the southern corner, despite the dense undergrowth which you see above.
At 11:300am the men of 229th Field Coy RE began to move the ample supplies of wire and pickets that had been left behind by the retreating Germans, and these were used to wire in three infantry posts by 229th and the 224th on the left flank of the positions.
On the 30th Nov the Germans counterattacked, pushing the 40th Div. back and the wood eventually became untenable. Finally, a very depleted 40th Div was relieved by 62nd Div and that night not a great many men of the 40th Division, were left to be relieved.
Of the Welsh Brigade, a handful of armed scarecrows were all that remained - the 12th South Wales Borderers alone had lost twenty-two officers, and 388 men killed, wounded or missing.
What had happened to the Highland Light Infantry was anyone's guess and only tenuous contact had been maintained with Col. Warden and the East Surreys...
As the newcomers from 62nd Division gleaned what they could from the sketchy reports, enemy shells still scoured the area and forty men of the 2nd/4th Duke of Wellingtons (West Yorks) Regtiment were reportedly hit while waiting to take over a quarry from the 4th Grenadier Guards, who insisted they were not to be relieved (they were later relocated in support of their own Division).
The 2nd/7th Duke of Wellingtons (West Yorks) replaced the Scots Guards opposite the highest point on the ridge, which was actually in no-man's-land. Battalion headquarters moved into the ‘Chalet’ (seen above) where the night passed to the sound of ‘sniping and desultory machine-gun fire with intermittent shell fire which at times became most intense’.
Monday dawned bright and with a nip in the air and quite early, staff cars began to line up near a hut in the grounds of Havrincourt chateau. Where a signboard bearing a Pelican proclaimed the headquarters of the 62nd Division. The commander of IV Corps was also about to hold a conference there...
The RE Field Coys and the 12th Yorks Pioneers however had been ordered to remain behind, coming under orders of 62nd Division.
Now that positions within the Wood were becoming slightly more defined, 231st and 229th RE of 62nd Div. and two Companies of Teesside Pioneers (W &Y) were tasked with wiring a large area of the front line, with Operational orders issued for the night of November 27th.
In order to accomplish this on the morning of the 27th, Major Clarke (Officer Commanding 229th Field Company), Major Johnson, V.C. (Officer Commanding 231st Field Company), and Captain Harris (Commanding the two companies of Teesside Pioneers), proceeded to make a daylight reconnaissance of the wood.
Captain John Anthony Harris MC...
It was a fine day, with good visibility and the officers reached the Cambrai Road shortly before ten o'clock then, proceeding up the main centre ride on foot, they called at a Battalion headquarters in the quarry.
Continuing on, a halt was made about halfway up the ride at the ‘kiosk’, this being a shooting lodge, a relic of the days of peace. One of the company headquarters was situated in the basement, and information was obtained regarding the approximate position of the British outposts and the present whereabouts of the enemy.
On reaching the main crossroad which led through the wood from Bourlon village to Fontaine-Notre Dame, the party turned to the left following the road in the direction of Bourlon village but keeping well down in the drain (drainage ditch along the side of the road).
According to the map they had been given, they were then about 100 yards behind the line of the forward outposts. The three Officers then climbed out of the drain and over the bank, turning at right angles in a Northerly direction, towards where an outpost was believed to be. After traversing about twenty -five yards, a party of eight to twelve Germans sprang up at about forty yards away and fired a volley, killing Captain Harris on the spot...
Major Johnson and Major Clark immediately sank into the scrub and worked their way back to the road, under cover of the bank. They pushed on towards Bourlon village with the idea of doubling back by a side path shown on the map, this would bring them approximately to the position where Captain Harris must still be. In the meantime, however, the Germans had moved position and suddenly they appeared again firing a further volley, one fatal shot catching Major Johnson through a vital spot in the neck. Major Clark regained the road safely by wriggling backwards through the scrub, pursued the whole time by a constant stream of bullets.
He returned to the company headquarters at the kiosk, and they, though unable to furnish a Lewis-gun detachment at that moment, undertook to send out a search party at dusk to bring in Major Johnson and Captain Harris. This unfortunate occurrence considerably delayed the reconnaissance for the wiring party, but enough information was obtained to enable the approaches and line to be mapped out. The supply of wire and pickets from the rear of the Hindenburg Line, at the foot of the wood was exhausted and so a large party of infantry and pioneers was organized to carry up more material. This had been brought up on G.S. wagons from Havrincourt to the west of Graincourt where unfortunately two of the wagons were knocked out by a shell whilst at the Graincourt dump.
The wire carrying party commenced their journey at 4 p.m. from a supply dump formed at the Anneux crossroads, the 229th Field Company officers and non-commissioned officers acting as guides for the combined forces, consisting of the 229th and 231st Field Companies, with “W” and “Y” Companies of the Teesside Pioneers, in the charge of Lieutenant Crosby.
Following these exploits, the following message was transmitted to GOC 40th Div. by the GOC 62nd Division thanking the RE and Pioneers for their efforts to secure the newly established front line positions:
“The G.O.C. 62nd Division,
wishes to convey his appreciation of the fine work of the 40th Divisional Engineers and 12th Yorkshire Regiment (Pioneers) in Bourlon Wood, 29-11-17.”
But who was Stewart Anthony Harris...
He was born in the Linthorpe area in 1890, which was at that time outside of Middlesbrough.
Above is a screenshot from the National Library of Scotland, mapping site (https://maps.nls.uk/os/) and shows the immediate sourrounding area of Linthorpe in 1900.
At this time, John was living with his parents and siblings in a large 'villa' style house 'Marton Grove'. His parents James and Jane (Nee Bell) Harris, James was recorded on the 1891 Census above as a 'Shipstorer'. which obviouusly provided a good income as they lived in a large 'villa' and employed two servants...
Unfortunately these grand houses as well as the nearby farm were demolished to make way for the expanding town of Middlesbrough and was replaced by these now rather drab housing built in the 1920's
By 1901 the Census data above shows that James Harris was now a MetalMerchant, who had also joined the local 'Rifle Volunteers', the forerunner of the Territorial Force, later to become the Territorial Army...
They were now residing at a grand house on Albion Terrace Villas in Saltburn By The Sea, named in the census as 'Strathearne'...
The property is still in existence and doesn't seem to have lost its imposing charm, as seen here in 2026...
By 1911 however James Harris had died and his widow, Jane and her son John moved to this property at 6 Lune Street in Saltburn...
John had been educated at the famous Malvern School, until the death of his father and John left college to continue the family business. Until in February of 1915 he was granted a commission in the 12th (S) Bn. Yorkshire Regiment (Teesside Pioneers). He was awarded the Military Cross in 1916 for his conduct during the Battalions struggles around the town of Loos in Picardy...
Captain John Anthony Harris M.C. is remembered on the towns war memorial to the men of Saltburn By The Sea and also on the Cambrai memorial to the missing at Louvereval, Captain Harris's body was never recovered and he remains where he fell in Bourlon Wood on the 25th November 1917...
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