Somme 1916-2016.

This is a fuller version of my Facebook post of this morning.

On this day at 7.30am one hundred years ago whistles blew and soldiers went ‘over the top.’ The Battle of the Somme had started. It was the blackest of black days for the British Army with staggering statistics of nearly 20000 killed and 40000 wounded on the first day.

Both my Grandfathers took part in very different ways, one an infantryman went over the top into ‘Mash Valley’ where ‘no mans land’ was at one of its widest points of 700 yards. The other a cavalryman was waiting for orders to move to exploit the gaps that the infantry and artillery were supposed to make in the German lines so they could ride down the retreating boche. The gaps were never made and eventually the cavalry divisions were stood down. The regimental diaries  ( and bear in mind these diaries would have been written either in or very near the front line, often in pencil or sometimes typed) of the two regiments state the following:

William Morgan 4th from left , top row. Taken circa 1911.

Alfred Gowers taken circa 1949.

G2104 Private Alfred Gowers MM. 2^nd Bn The Middlesex Regiment.

23rd Brigade, 8^th Division.

‘The battalion in conjunction with the remainder of the 8th Division assaulted the German front line trench system between Ovillers la Boisselle & La Boisselle at 7.30am after an intense bombardment lasting 65 minutes. The assault was carried out in four waves, 50 yards apart. The leading wave consisting of two platoons of 'B' Coy and on the right two platoons of 'A' Coy. The second wave followed 50 yards distance consisting of the remaining platoons of 'A' & 'B' Companies. The third wave similarly consisted of 'D' and 'C' Coys followed the preceding waves at 50 yards distance the battalion bombers being distributed by squads amongst the 4 waves  the eight Lewis gun teams amongst the 2nd,3rd & 4th waves.

On the right was a battalion of the Tyneside Scottish belonging to the 34th Division and on the were the 2nd Devons R.  As soon as the leading wave left the trenches to assault it was caught by heavy machine gun fire & suffered heavy loses. As soon as the succeeding waves came under this fire they doubled forward & before anyone had reached the German front line the original wave formation had ceased to exist.

About 200 all ranks succeeded in reaching the German lines passing over the front line they entered the second line trenches but after a short fight during which about half became casualties they were forced to retire to the German front line. Here under the leadership of Maj HBW Savile , Capt & Adjt RJ Young, 2/Lieuts PM Elliott, W Spatz & HO Hunt the survivors proceeded to consolidate.  By 9.15am the handful of un wounded men numbering about a dozen were forced to retire to shell holes outside the enemy front line where the majority remained until darkness enabled them to regain our lines.

Of the 23 officers who took part only one returned unwounded, of the 650 NCOs’ and men who took part in the assault 50 answered their names in the early hours of 2^nd July.’

My Grandad volunteered for the army  at the end of August 1914 ( he'd had an ignominious spell in the Royal Navy from 1905 until 1911) he served until March 1918 when he was invalided out he told me because of wounds but records say because of illness. A conundrum I'll never get a suitable answer to I think. I had a couple of very brief conversations with my Grandad about the war. He told me a little but didn't go into detail, I've learnt more about what he did through research rather than his words, but even into his 90's  ask him his army service number & without hesitation he'd bark it out!

D1901 Private William Morgan 1^st (Kings) Dragoon Guards.

8^th (Lucknow) Cavalry Brigade, 1^st Indian Cavalry Division.

'The regiment received orders to remain in a state of readiness to move in two hours of notification.

The regiment marched at 5.30pm via Viske-Hansart-Barly-into new billets at Frochen Le Grand. 'A' Echelon under SSM Browning  arrived shortly after the Regiment. 'B' Echelon under 2nd Lieut JGK Barraclough marched via Haute Visee-Halte arriving at new billets at 11.30pm. Cpl Rogers 1st KD Gud's promoted 2nd Lieut with effect from 12/6/16 & posted to 15th Batt Royal Warwick Regiment after attending a course at the Cadet School.' 

My Grandad was a regular soldier having joined up in May 1908 & served in India from September 1908 until mobilisation for war in August 1914 travelling with their horses arriving at Marseilles on 8th Nov 1914. He stayed with the KDG's until late 1917 when the regiment was ordered back to India, rather ironically to the North West Frontier-Afghanistan, however my Grandad did not go with them. He was compulsory transferred to 15th Bn The Royal Warwickshire Regiment (on cavalry pay) where he remained until demob in early 1920.This included a spell on the Italian front which was only curtailed due to the big German offensive in March 1918 (Operation Michael) on the Western Front. Another conundrum is the fact that a cavalryman of 9 years experience was transferred to an infantry regiment. Surely his horsemanship could have been put to better use! His brother Percy was also in the KDG's and was a shoeing smith. I know little of what he did but assume it was similar to my Grandad  as they were both in 'D' Squadron.    My Grandad died before I knew he'd been a soldier let alone been in the First World War to his sons questions of trench life his stock answer was 'oh you don't want to know about that,'  and no more.

I have become more than a little obsessed with the First World War of late, being into genealogy as well I am very interested in ancestors who took part, both my Grandads survived  how they coped with what they saw I do not know, Tara had two Grt Grt Uncles who did not survive the war and another who survived but with the catastrophic  life changing injury of losing a leg. How did they cope? Another generation more used to hardship maybe though what choices did they have other than to get on with it?