Current Information:

Born-Holborn

Hannescamps Churchyard, France

13th Royal Fusiliers arrived in France in July, 1915 as part of 111 Brigade, 37th Division and after receiving trench warfare training at Armentières, the division moved south to the Somme, a sector of the front recently taken over from the French Army.

On 1st January, 1916, 13th Royal Fusiliers moved into the front line trenches at Hannescamps, where the conditions were very poor as a result of the winter weather. During 6th-7th January, the battalion suffered a number of casualties. On 6th January the enemy targeted the trenches on the left of the battalion line with trench mortar bombs one of which exploded in a machine-gun emplacement, killing 2 men and wounding 3 more. That night one of the shelters being used by the support company collapsed and 3 men were killed. The following morning, between 7am and 9.30 am, the same trenches were again hit by trench mortars and also shrapnel, causing further casualties. Although the records show that all these deaths occurred on 7th January, they were in fact spread over the two days.