CSM Walter West D.C.M.
Nov 8, 2013 20:32:44 GMT
Post by shred on Nov 8, 2013 20:32:44 GMT
Company Sergeant Major Walter West, D.C.M., of the King's Royal Rifle Corps believed that he had captured General Reichenau during the First World War.
Please note: I have been unable to find any evidence that General Reichenau was a POW during WW1.
Salford Reporter - 1940
FORMER PENDLETON MAN RECALLS 1917 EPISODE
Writing to his brother, Mr J West the Postmaster of Seedley, Mr Walter West, D.C.M., a former Pendleton resident, who now lives at Millhill, Blackburn, recalls that he captured the present commander of the German Army in Northern France, General Reichenau, during the Allied attack on the Western Front in 1917.
He states, “I recognised him from a photograph in a newspaper as the officer whom I captured near Cambrai and from whom I took a map and case, which I later found out proved that the Germans knew details of our attack, for it was marked with the battalions and brigade boundaries and also our objectives.”
Mr Walter West, who resided in Pendleton for some years after the last war, was a Company Sergeant Major in the 10th King’s Royal Rifles. He won the Distinguished Conduct Medal at Mezieries in 1917 and was taken prisoner of war in the German counter-attack at Cambrai later that year. He was not released until May 1919.
Thanks to Ben for the above cutting.
Walter West's Distinguished Conduct Medal citation:
Please note: I have been unable to find any evidence that General Reichenau was a POW during WW1.
Salford Reporter - 1940
FORMER PENDLETON MAN RECALLS 1917 EPISODE
Writing to his brother, Mr J West the Postmaster of Seedley, Mr Walter West, D.C.M., a former Pendleton resident, who now lives at Millhill, Blackburn, recalls that he captured the present commander of the German Army in Northern France, General Reichenau, during the Allied attack on the Western Front in 1917.
He states, “I recognised him from a photograph in a newspaper as the officer whom I captured near Cambrai and from whom I took a map and case, which I later found out proved that the Germans knew details of our attack, for it was marked with the battalions and brigade boundaries and also our objectives.”
Mr Walter West, who resided in Pendleton for some years after the last war, was a Company Sergeant Major in the 10th King’s Royal Rifles. He won the Distinguished Conduct Medal at Mezieries in 1917 and was taken prisoner of war in the German counter-attack at Cambrai later that year. He was not released until May 1919.
Thanks to Ben for the above cutting.
Walter West's Distinguished Conduct Medal citation:
