Current Information:

Born-Fulham

Bapaume Post Military Cemetery, Albert

The opening day of the Battle of the Somme 1^st July 1916

This was a disastrous day for the British Army in France. Eleven divisions of Fourth Army attacked along a 15 mile front from Maricourt to Serre. Two further divisions of Third Army launched a diversionary attack just to the north of Serre at Gommecourt. For a week beforehand the British artillery pounded the German trenches but the Germans had been there for a long time and they had constructed deep, concrete reinforced shelters beneath their trenches and many survived the bombardment. The troops went over the top at 7.30am but even before they had left their overcrowded trenches, many had been killed or maimed by German artillery. The Germans knew that they were coming. Once in No-Man’s-Land the artillery continued to take its toll and then the machine guns opened up on the advancing British infantry. They fell in their thousands and the attack came to a standstill almost everywhere. Survivors sought cover wherever they could find it and at night they crawled back to their own lines, often dragging a wounded soldier with them. Only in the south were any advances made with the attack on Fricourt and Mametz. Over 19,000 British soldiers were killed on this day, including 2,500 from London. 

On 1^st July, 34^th Division attacked either side of La Boiselle. The first wave met well placed German machine guns and within 10 minutes had 80% casualties. They made easy targets as they advanced across the 200-800 yards wide no-man’s land down the front slopes of the Tara-Usna ridge. Because of the blowing of the Lochnager mine, 10^th Lincolnshire and 11 Suffolk, 101 Brigade, attacked 5 minutes later. By now the Germans had had plenty of time to emerge from their dug-outs and 11 Suffolk  were hit by fire from Sausage Redoubt and flanking fire from Sausage Valley and La Boiselle, just as the first wave had been. Their objective was The Bloater, that part of the German front line which lay between the La Boiselle salient and a redoubt called Heligoland but in the face this intense German fire very few made it across no-man’s land. Some reached the mine crater and bombed and blocked the German trenches  whilst others consolidated the crater as best they could. 11^th Suffolk suffered over 500 casualties on this day. The survivors got back under the cover of darkness at which time the British front line was taken over by 19^th Division.