Current Information:

Enlisted-Mill Hill

Happy Valley British Cemetery, Fampoux, France

The Battle of Arras was a series of offensives by the British Army between 9th April 1917 and 16th May 1917. It had been planned in conjunction with the French who would attack in Artois and between them the Allies would force the Germans out of the large salient they had held since the line of trenches was first established. But the Germans had spoiled this plan by falling back to the new and very strong Hindenburg Line in January 1917 and the salient no longer existed.  For the want of an alternative plan the attack went ahead anyway. It all started well for the British who made substantial gains on the first two days but then the offensive ground to a halt and by the end their losses amounted to over 150,000.

The records show that on 1st May, 1917, the 7th East Surrey battalion of 37 Brigade, 12th Division, after two weeks out of the front line, moved from Arras and relieved 7th Suffolk in support in Gun Pit valley, to the north of Monchy. The Battalion Diary recorded that this was a ‘fairly quiet and a good relief’ and gives no explanation as to the deaths of eleven men from the battalion, all killed in action, on that day. It may have been an error in recording and that these men, one of whom was Simeon Isaacs, were killed on 3rd May when 7th East Surrey were heavily engaged in the Battle of the Scarpe, or perhaps they were killed by artillery or machine-gun fire during this relief, in which case the entry in the Diary is very misleading or simply callous.