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Roll of Honour - The Battle of the Somme
Written and Researched by C.W.Sheldon
Published by Three Counties Publishing (Books) Ltd
Retail: £15.95
To purchase this publication please write to:
TCP (Books) Ltd
P.O. Box 435,
Leek
Staffordshire
ST13 5TB
United Kingdom
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The Battle of the Somme
"You will meet nothing but dead and wounded Germans........."
(A senior officer of the 11th Sherwood Foresters to his men on the eve of the battle.)
At 7.30 on the sunny morning of Saturday 1st July 1916, the British guns suddenly ceased their firing for a few seconds
whilst the artillerymen adjusted the sights for the next targets behind the German front line. The waiting troops were
amazed to see birds hovering and swooping over the trenches. Their song could be heard clearly; it all seemed so unreal.
then suddenly, as the barrage crashed on to the next line of enemy positions, the whistles blew and the infantrymen
climbed up the ladders, spurred on by their officers. But then, reality returned. The Battle of the Somme had begun.
To Leek men like Harold Billing and Tommy Taylor, both of whom would be killed that day, the Somme region held a certain
attraction. Unlike the drab, industrial setor of Lens and Loos and the flat, wet and squalid areas of Flanders, the Somme
was a land which pleased the eye. Gentle fields stretched into the distance, small streams sparkled, green woods and
farmhouses dotted the landscape. This was a place far removed from busy towns, cities and highways. Up to now, the Somme
front had been a relatively quiet backwater and much of it was untouched b the ravages of war. Crops still grew in the
fields and wild flowers adorned the roadsides.
The 'Big Push' on the Somme was originally planned as a joint British French affair. The British would attack north of the
River Somme, astride the Albert to Bapaume road, with thirteen divisions. (A division comprised some 12,000 infantry with
artillery, cavalry and other necessary support). The French would attack south of the river on a slightly longer front.
But, in February 1916, the Germans suddenly attacked the French fortress city of Verdun. Their intention here was to
'bleed the French white'. That battle of attrition ground on until the end of the year, costing the French and the Germans
over 300,000 casualties on both sides. Verdun changed the focus of the French and the Somme offensive was to become a
largely British affair, the French putting only a few Divisions into the attack. The British attacked on an 18 mile front,
towards the fortified villages of Serre in the north and Montauban in the south. In between lay some of the other villages
which were first-day objectives for the assualting troops: Beaumont Hamel, Thiepval, La Boiselle, Fricourt and Mametz. A
diversionary attack at Gommecourt, north of Serre, was designed to draw the attention of the Germans away from the main
assualt further south. The 46th (North Midland) Division containing many Staffordshire men, attacked at Gommecourt along
with a London division. The Leek Battery supported this attack.
As soon as the heavily-burdened soldiers climbed over the parapet they formed up in orderly waves as if on a parade ground.
There was no shouting or rushing. There was no need, or at least that is what they had been told. The Germans would all be
dead from the seven-day bombardment, not even a rat would be left alive, some officer had said. Many of the troops had been
told that they could smoke their pipes and shoulder their rifles as they walked across. They were also told that the German
wire would have been cut by the constant shelling. It was just a matter of walking over and occupying the enemy front-line
trenches.
But then, the unimaginable happened. German machine gunners, nerves shredded from the British barrage but otherwise
largely unhurt, climbed from their deep dugouts and opened fire. they could hardly miss. Men were cut down in their
hundreds but still others carried on marching towards the German lines. The discipline held. then shells started
bursting in No Man's land and many more of Kitchener's men fell. the British soldiers were shocked, stunned and disbelieving.
What had been promised as a 'walkover' was quickly turning into a tragedy. Dead and wounded lay everywhere. Some men took
refuge in shell holes. One such man was Private John Henry Kelk from 15 Spring Gardens, Leek. He was with the Sheffield Pals,
a battalion raised mainly in that city and where John had his roots. As he and his mates walked uphill towards the enemy
trenches near the village of Serre they were met by a hail of machine gun bullets. As men fell around him, John was wounded
in the wrist and realised it was useless to try and go on. As he lay in his temporary shelter, a shell burst close by and a
splinter pierced his steel helmet, killing him. One of 1000 or so officers and men who made up the battalion, 512 were killed,
wounded or missing, mostly in the first hour. Also involved that morning in the assualt upon Serre was the famous Accrington
Pals battalion which suffered 585 casualties. Aged 24 and a member of the Leek Congregational Church Choir, John Kelk had
worked at Sutton's hosiery shop in Stanley Street, Leek. like so many who died on the Somme, John's body was never found
or identified and he is commemorated on the massive Thiepval Memorial to the Missing. The memorial lists the names of the
72,085 men who died on the Somme and who have no known grave. it is the largest memorial of its type in the world.
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