NEWS of a “Brilliant British victory” was eagerly received by readers of the Daily Echo 100 years ago this week, following reports that our troops had managed to storm an important German position in northern France.

During the afternoon of January 15, 1915 the British delivered a brilliant attack on the troublesome German position located near La Bassee, where the Germans had strongly entrenched themselves.

After preparing the way with their artillery, the British troops charged and captured the enemy’s trenches with clinical efficiency.

Special war telegrams relaying the news back home were being quickly digested and keenly celebrated as the position was described as being located in an important strategic point, with the c a ptur e resulting in the allies securing a gain of over a kilometre.

Even more satisfying was the additional announcement that revealed the British casualties were slight, whereas the German were said to have suffered and lost heavily during the battle, with a number of Germans being captured and made prisoner.

The Daily Echo also featured a report taken from the Petit Parisien publication in France, which carried a report from a captain of a French infantry unit, writing from the trenches on the Aisne, who claimed that the Germans, who were not content with stealing all they could plunder, were now wrenching the spikes from the helmets of their dead comrades to help relieve the shortage of copper resources in Germany.

In recent weeks, Allied forces had noticed that nearly all fallen German soldiers had been robbed of the spikes from their helmets, as these were made of copper and had been hastily unscrewed by their living German comrades and sent back to be melted down.

Meanwhile, in the Echo’s sister publication the Southampton Pictorial, the attention of the readers was concentrated on one of “Southampton’s Heroes” – Corporal Stott, of the Army Service Corps, who hailed from Canute Road, Southampton.

Prior to the outbreak of the First World War, Corporal Stott was decorated following his active service in South Africa as a trumpeter in the Dragoon Guards, when he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his bravery.

When the war broke out, Corporal Stott was a hospital attendant on one of the Union Castle liners, but soon rejoined the colours as a reservist, and, serving with the 7th Division, participated in the fierce fighting around Ypres.

He was wounded in the leg as the result of a point-b lank revolver duel with a captain of a Saxe-Weimar Regiment, but had the satisfaction of slaying his antagonist.

The gallant Corporal, who was later mentioned in despatches, returned home to Southampton to recover from his injuries, but brought home with him the helmet and sword belonging to the officer that injured him as mementos of his thrilling encounter.