{"id":1395,"date":"2014-11-13T19:46:28","date_gmt":"2014-11-13T19:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plattwarmemorial.org\/?page_id=1395"},"modified":"2024-10-08T12:28:22","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T12:28:22","slug":"ernest-rose-1898-1918","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/world-war-one\/ernest-rose-1898-1918\/","title":{"rendered":"Ernest Rose (1898 &#8211; 1918)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;margin-bottom: 0px;margin-top: 0px;border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px;border-color:#eae9e9;border-style:solid;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\" style=\"background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-1 fusion-sep-none fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-three\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:31px;margin-left:0px;\"><h3 class=\"title-heading-left fusion-responsive-typography-calculated\" style=\"margin:0;--fontSize:24;line-height:1.5;\">Pte Ernest Rose (1898 &#8211; 1918)<\/h3><\/div><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-dropshadow imageframe-1 hover-type-zoomin\" style=\"-webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 7px rgba(0,0,0,0.3);box-shadow: 3px 3px 7px rgba(0,0,0,0.3);margin-right:25px;float:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/ernest_rose.jpg\" class=\"fusion-lightbox\" data-rel=\"iLightbox[767954d39d9466ae6a5]\" data-title=\"Ernest Rose (1898 &#8211; 1918)\" title=\"Ernest Rose (1898 &#8211; 1918)\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"224\" height=\"300\" src=\"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/ernest_rose-224x300.jpg\" alt class=\"img-responsive wp-image-6341\" srcset=\"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/ernest_rose-224x300.jpg 224w, http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/ernest_rose-640x856.jpg 640w, http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/ernest_rose.jpg 748w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" \/><\/a><\/span><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ernest Rose was born in Offham on 17 April 1898. He was the second son of Alfred Herbert Rose, a fruit dealer and woodcutter from Mereworth, and his wife, Elizabeth Ann Lawrence. By 1901, the family had moved to Wrotham Heath and lived on Windmill Hill. Ernest started at Platt School\u00a0on 21 April 1902, and by 1911, lived with his parents and siblings at Comp.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, Ernest enlisted in Maidstone with the Royal West Kent Regiment, probably during January 1915, and in 1916 may have seen action at the Somme with the 1st <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. At some point in the war, he transferred to the Machine Gun Corps &#8211; initially serving with the 8th Company, which became part of the 3rd Division in 1916.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In early 1918, Machine Gun Battalions <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">were formed<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> by bringing together four MGC Companies, each <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> taking the number of their respective divisions. Ernest was in one of the companies from the 21st Division and <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">therefore<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, on 24 February, became part of the 21st <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. By mid-March, Ernest would have found himself in a line of trenches running northwards from Epehy to Vaucelette Farm. The imminent attack by the Germans (usually referred to as the &#8216;Spring Offensive&#8217;) was known to the <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, and before<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> this, they had spent some time bolstering defences and ensuring they would be ready for whatever might be coming in their direction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">During the night of 20\/21 March, the German pre-attack bombardment began, with Ernest&#8217;s unit targeted by a large number of gas shells, requiring the men to wear their gas masks for about 3 \u00bd hours. As dawn broke, a thick mist enveloped the battlefield, creating great difficulties in ascertaining the enemy&#8217;s position. The Battalion War Diary records that:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">All <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">M.G.&#8217;s<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> were very severely handicapped, and it is impossible to overestimate the disadvantages under which <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the defence was thus placed<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">At 10:00 am, Vaucelette Farm fell, and after receiving a report that the Germans were advancing towards them along Chapel Hill, Ernest&#8217;s unit concentrated nine guns in that direction. Meanwhile, on their right flank, the 16th Division had suffered badly and withdrew from the battlefield. The corps <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">responded by ordering<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> all remaining guns on this flank, which had become exposed, to act accordingly and hold the line. By late morning, the mist lifted, giving the men a fighting chance of holding off the enemy advance; however, the overwhelming number of troops pushing forward meant they had to fall back.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A counter-attack in the evening failed, and the machine gunners fought valiantly for another week before being taken out of the line. Ernest&#8217;s unit reputedly displayed the &#8216;utmost gallantry and self-sacrifice&#8217; during this period.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On 2 April, the <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> moved from Amiens to Locre and remained in Flanders until early May, when they moved back into France and entered the trenches east of Bouvancourt at Vaux Varennes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Germans launched a second major offensive on 27 May <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">that would become known<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> as the Third Battle of the Aisne.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The attack began at 1:00 am with a preliminary bombardment that included a large percentage of gas shells. Consequently, men in Ernest&#8217;s unit had to wear their box respirators until the danger had passed. At 4:30 am, the barrage lifted, and a sizeable enemy force advanced towards the Allied positions. They <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">were rapidly overrun<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, and the <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">battalion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, which had become dangerously exposed on its left flank, was forced to <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">make a hasty withdrawal<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> while simultaneously fighting a rear-guard action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The fighting continued for two more days, and by the close of operations on 29 May, the 21st had lost 64 of their 76 guns. The human cost numbered 182 men recorded as being killed, wounded or missing. Ernest was among the 62 injured and died of his injuries on 30 May south of Reims at the Hospital Auban-Mo\u00ebt in Epernay.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He was initially buried at the Epernay French Military <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cemetery,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> but exhumed in 1920 and reburied in the Terlincthun British Cemetery in Wimille.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Portrait of Ernest courtesy of Bryan and Richard Rose.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":53,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1395","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1395"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9051,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1395\/revisions\/9051"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}