This map shows the principal battlefields where Reggie and Donald Hunt served and fought during World War 1.
Note: the focus of the map is initially on the Western Front where the brothers spent most of their war service. However, there are battlefields in other parts of the world where they were involved in action. Donald was in action in German South West Africa with the Transvaal Scottish Regiment and in Egypt with the South African Brigade before the Western Front and in the Middle East with General Dunsterville’s British Military Mission to the Caucasus after the Western Front.
Reginald Seager Hunt was born in London on the 24th Feb 1874. He was the third son of Walter Freeman Hunt and his wife Alice (née Mortimore).
After school he joined the Norfolk Regiment and then moved on to the King’s Hussars with whom he fought in the 2nd Boer War in South Africa.
The Hussars were posted to India after the Boer War and Reggie was promoted to Major. There, he swapped places with a Major in the King’s Dragoon Guards. He stayed with that regiment for the rest of his military career even though he was attached to other regiments temporarily.
Donald Rolfe Hunt was born in London on 2nd May 1875, the fourth son of Walter Freeman Hunt and his wife Alice (née Mortimore).
After school he joined the Cape Mounted Rifles and emigrated to South Africa. After resigning that commission and returning to England, he joined the Norfolk Regiment and returned to South Africa to fight in the 2nd Boer War. He was Mentioned in Despatches twice in 1901 and in 1902.
After a spell as Inspector of Native Affairs, he joined the Transvaal Scottish Regiment.
While in Lucknow, the 1st King’s Dragoon Guards Regiment receive the order on 31st August to mobilise for action in support of the British war effort in Europe. They sail from Bombay on 16th October.
Major R.S. Hunt was listed as being present on 23 Oct 1914 at mobilisation. The 1st King’s Dragoon Guards Regiment consisted of –
The whole of March is spent moving around an area between Bethune and Rincq in readiness for action but not actually in action. They furnish working parties at Fontaine les Hermans.
The month of April is spent moving around an area between Bethune and Rincq in readiness for action but not actually in action. They furnish working parties at Robecq.
Donald Rolfe Hunt joins the 2nd Battalion Transvaal Scottish Regiment and is appointed as captain of “F” company.
On the 26th Apr, the 2nd Transvaal Scottish are involved at the battle of Trekkopjes in the South West Africa Campaign of 15th September 1914 to 9th July 1915.
On 31st May 1915 1st King’s Dragoon Guards receive orders at 5.15pm to take over trenches in the Hooge area, east of the Belgian town of Ypres, from where they are to attack and hold Hooge Chateau. They discover that the Chateau is not held by the Germans, and the regiment move into the buildings and grounds unopposed. The Dragoons then proceed to improve the position. On the approach to the Chateau, Reggie is wounded in Zouave Wood.
Reggie is evacuated as “sick” with no information as to the circumstances. He was not to return to the front until Christmas Day later in the year.
After Reggie was evacuated the King’s Dragoon Guards spend another few days in Authuille supplying working parties. On the 3rd they leave the village for Forceville and then on to billets near St. Gratien. At this point they split into 2 parties. 1 party staying in St. Gratien for the purpose of providing working parties in Senlis. The other going on to billets in Halloy-lès-Pernois.
After a week, the Halloy party marches back to St. Gratien and the whole regiment moves back to Authuille. Back in Authuille they provide further working parties until the 16th Sep.
They leave Authuille for the last time and march to Forceville where their horses are waiting and they ride back to St. Gratien for a couple of nights.
The whole group moves back to billets in Halloy-lès-Pernois where the whole 1st Indian Cavalry Division is inspected by Field Marshal Lord Kitchener on the 21st September.
Finally, the regiment move to billets in Autheux but remain in readiness to move at 2 1/2 hour’s notice until the end of the month.
In his memoirs, addressed to Donald’s daughters, Reggie Hunt records “I happened to be in England, in Hospital, when your Father came over with the South African Scottish; I went over & saw him at Richmond”. This meeting must have been while Reggie was recuperating from wounds received in Zouave Wood on 31 May as part of the operation on Hooge Chateau.
The first part of 1916 was spent almost entirely in officers and men attending courses on various subjects including bombing, grenades, signalling, Hotchkiss gun, sniping and anti-gas.
The regiment also supplied many officers and horses to other regiments and supplied working parties.
In March, Reggie takes command of the 1st King’s Dragoon Guards for 2 months until Lt.Col. H.J. Williams returns
The South African Brigade sail to Alexandria, Egypt to get involved in the campaign against the Senussi.
The main action of the 4th SAI is in the reoccupation of Sollum. In order to reach Sollum, the forces have to march from Bag Bag to Sollum over miles of desert and lack of water becomes a serious issue when they reach the well-named Thirsty Hill.
The 4th SAI are released from quarantine. After a wonderful send-off in Marseille, they take the train to the Western Front at Armentières. After a period of training at Le Bizet near Armentières, the entire brigade moves south to the Somme area and start to get familiar with the terrain.
1/4th Seaforth Highlanders move from the Arras area south to the Somme. They are involved in attacks on High Wood just a few miles from where Donald is fighting in the Battle of Delville Wood with the South African Scottish.
The South African Infantry Brigade’s first introduction to fighting on the Western Front was to be a baptism of fire.
The 4th SAI firstly lost their C.O. Lt. Col. F.A. Jones at Bernafay Wood with Donald taking brief command before handing over to D.M. MacLeod. Then, at Delville Wood, MacLeod is wounded and Donald takes command again.
The full story of Delville Wood is complicated and I cannot do it justice here. For the purpose of this study, I can do no better than simply to repeat Donald’s personal diary for the period covering the South African Brigade’s operation at Trônes, Bernafay and Delville Woods.
This section of Donald’s personal diary was published in The Springbok in September 1933 and is included in the package of Donald’s memoirs downloadable from the archives of the University of Witwatersrand.
For most of September the 1/4th Seaforth Highlanders are in action in trenches around Armentières. Towards the end of the month they return back south to the Somme area.
The 4th SAI take the opportunity at Camblain L’Abbé to all have baths and foot inspections.
They then move to billets in Estrée-Cauchy (known to the troops as “Extra cushy”) for more training and then on to Carency to supply work parties for the front line.
Then 1 week in the front line trenches in the Carency sector near Vimy.
Training for the upcoming return to the Somme area.
Donald commands the 4th SAI in the action at the Butte de Warlencourt. The action is a dismal failure despite heroic efforts on behalf of the men. The battalion falls back to High Wood to recover.
There is much fallout in the upper commanding ranks as a result of the lack of planning and failure of the operation at the Butte de Warlencourt.
Major General Furse G.O.C. 9th (Scottish) Division is deprived of his command.
Brigadier General H.T. Lukin (formerly O.C. South African Brigade) takes command of the 9th (Scottish) Division
Lt.Col. F.S. Dawson (formerly of the 1st SAI) is promoted to command the South African Infantry Brigade
The 1/4th Seaforth Highlanders are involved in fatigues and work parties in the area around Courcelles.
On 26th October Reggie is given command of the 8th Battalion King’s Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment who are stationed just 3 miles away from where the 1/4th Seaforth Highlanders are.
I had been aware for some time that my great uncles Reggie and Donald Hunt had served in WW1. I knew I had a letter that was written from the trenches by Reggie to my grandma which described something about life in the front line. But I had no real idea of what these two brothers had done during the war.
At a family event in the middle of the year, my sister asked me to do some research into a name the she and her husband had found on a church war memorial. The name was the same as her married name but neither she nor her husband knew anything about any person of that name or whether he was even a relation. I found the name of the unit that the soldier was serving in and also that he was my brother in-law’s great-grandfather but then I wanted to find more about the circumstances of his death.
The hunt led me to discover the WO 95 war diaries which are available to download from the UK National Archives. The war diaries were written by British Army units involved in action. Each diary was written up every day and detailed the activities of the unit over the course of the day. Where they were, what they did, (sometimes) who did it, what was the result. The diaries are downloadable free from the National Archives to those with an account on the website.
With this new resource, I was able to track the circumstances of the death of the soldier and the events leading up to it.
This page is the result of using the WO 95 diaries to trace the activities of the units of and (very often) the individual actions of my great-uncles Reggie and Donald themselves. We follow them through the lead up to their involvements in the war. We follow them as they get involved in battles whose names are imprinted on the consciousness of all who know anything at all about the Great War. The Somme. Ypres, Passchendaele. Arras. Armentières. Vimy. Every one of those places and many, many others feature in this story.
Even after they left the Western Front towards the end of the war there were still stories to tell about these two brothers. They were each selected for separate missions in the middle east that could almost be described as “Boy’s Own” adventures in themselves. Donald joined Dunsterforce and Reggie joined the Desert Mounted Corps. However, those stories will have to wait for future detailed research.
CGS: Actually it was 9th/June!
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