Current Information:

East Finchley

Born Finchley

The Battle of the Somme (July-November, 1916)

On 1st July 1916 The British Army launched a massive offensive along a section of the front line running north of the River Somme. The French attacked south of it. The first day was a disaster for the British army which suffered nearly 60,000 casualties, 19,000 of whom were killed, and made hardly any inroads into the enemy lines. But the battle had to go on, if for no other reason than to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun where they had been facing the full onslaught of the powerful German Army. So it continued all the way through to November with nearly every battalion and division then in France being drawn into it at some stage. In the end the German trenches had been pushed back a few miles along most of the line but the cost in lives had been staggering. By the end of the fighting in November, 1916, British Army casualties numbered over 400,000, killed, wounded and missing.

On 14th July, 1916, a second major offensive was launched against the German second line of defences stretching from Longueval to Bazentin-le-Petit but after a promising start which saw some important gains on the first day, once again the BEF reverted to a series of uncoordinated attacks, using outdated tactics and they soon found themselves engaged in a war of attrition as they attempted to push the enemy further back across the Somme battlefield. In a commanding position just behind the German lines stood High Wood and it was essential to capture this before further advances could be made. It had in fact been left largely undefended by the Germans on 14th July and occupied by men from 7th Division but confused orders and lack of strong leadership allowed the enemy to retake the wood. It was evacuated by the few remaining troops of 7th Division the next day and was not final captured until the middle of September.

After 14th July the next attempt to capture High Wood came on 20th July when 19 Brigade of 33rd Division launched an attack. At 3.25am, 1st Scottish Rifles and 5th Scottish Rifles forced their way into the wood behind an artillery barrage but their progress was stalled by hidden machine guns in the Switch Line and in the western part of the wood and by thick, clinging mud. 20th Royal Fusiliers followed up and between them these three battalions cleared the south-east part of the wood. In the afternoon the fourth battalion of 19 Brigade, 2nd Royal Welsh Fusiliers, moved up and for a while took control of the northern edge of High Wood until German reinforcements arrived in the evening and took it back. The enemy understood the importance of High Wood and defended it fiercely with all the weapons at their disposal but above all it was artillery that made the casualty rate so high. Among those killed on 20th July was William Edwards of 1st Scottish Rifles.