In the foreground the officer in charge of the battery is receiving
information from observers who are able to trace the course of each
shot.]
He received his commission in the 9th Battalion London Regiment,
popularly known as the Queen Victoria Rifles. With the experience of
the Officers’ Training Corps to help him, the young lieutenant soon
made himself very efficient, and when, in November, 1914, the Queen
Victoria Rifles embarked at Southampton for the front, he had already
become very popular with his men, and shown high promise as a leader.
Soon after landing in France the regiment was at the front, near Ypres,
where it was usefully employed, chiefly in trench work.
G. A. Leask in _Heroes of the Great War_ says:
“On the very first day that he went into the trenches, Lieutenant
Woolley showed his mettle. A hand grenade was flung into his trench;
without a moment’s hesitation the young officer picked it up, and
before the fuse had burned to the charge, flung it out. His prompt and
plucky act saved not only his own life, but the lives of at least six
or seven of his men.
“On the night of April 20-21 the Germans made a desperate attack on
the trench held by Lieutenant Woolley’s regiment. The Queen Victoria
Rifles fought with dogged determination not to be excelled by the most
seasoned Regulars. Every German gun for miles around was trained on the
hill. Again and again the Germans charged with the ferocity of despair.
“One by one Lieutenant Woolley’s superior officers—a major, captain,
and a lieutenant—had been killed.
“The force under Lieutenant Woolley numbered at the start 150,
including some Regulars. As the German attack grew fiercer, he noted
how his little company was being thinned. The young officer did not
despair. He was in sole command of Hill 60, and he realized that a hard
and terrible time awaited them before relief came, but he summoned up
all his courage and made up his mind to hold on at all costs. He went
up and down the line calling to his brave men to ‘stick it’ and he
infused all with his dauntless spirit.
“A particularly fierce onslaught by the Germans commenced. Guns raked
the trench with shells, enemy troops swarmed up, throwing bombs.
Lieutenant Woolley moved among his men, giving orders as coolly as if
on parade. The already diminished band of heroes dwindled more and
more. Lieutenant Woolley knew that the situation was perilous, but he
had no thought of giving in. The knowledge that so much depended upon
him stirred his blood, and called forth every ounce of his fighting
spirit and powers of leadership.”