WORLD WAR ONE NORTHAMPTON INDEPENDENT SOLDIER NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
PTE F. ALLIBONE of the 1st Northamptons, Jan 1915
Pte. Frank Allibone of the 1st Northants, who is now in hospital at Brooklands, Manchester, with frost bitten feet,
describes the charge during which Lieut. Pastfield was killed.
“We were at Hazebruck, where we were billeted for five weeks, when we got orders to stand to, and we moved
off at six o’clock in the morning in those London buses. We got to about five miles from the firing line and then had
to march, reaching the scene of action at night. Then we got the order to fix bayonets, and we had to charge without
firing a shot. We had run about 20 yards at a time, and then lay down, till we got near the Germans. All the time men
against us were being shot down, lucky me to get out of it! We did the charge, and the Germans ran for their lives.
We were told before we went that we should take a lot of prisoners, but we only took three. They left bags of ammunition
and rifles. We left the trenches and let the North Lancs Regiment look after them. Early next morning we had to go back
again as the Lancashires had let the Germans through.”
