Current Information:

Age-25

94, St. John's Park, Blackheath

Along with the other units of the 58th Division, all second line London territorial battalions, 2/6th London Battalion of 174 Brigade, had arrived in France in January 1917. Trench instruction had soon followed and this had been followed by a period in the line on part of the old Somme battlefield that had witnessed such carnage the previous summer, but which by now was relatively quiet.  Since the beginning of April they had been at Bihucourt, re-building and clearing roads that the Germans had destroyed as they had retreated back to their prepared positions along the Hindenburg Line. This was not what the men of the 2nd 6th London had come to France for, but things were soon to change.

Whilst they had been engaged in these more mundane tasks dramatic and bloody events had been taking place nearby as British troops attacked the Germans in their positions east of Arras. Ground had been gained but at a terrible cost in life and no more so than at the village of Bullecourt. The village had finally fallen to the British on 17th May after a prolonged struggle in which the Australians covered themselves in glory, but to the north of the village a strong position, Bovis Trench, was still in German hands and it was important that this was captured so that the advance could be continued. This was the task that was given to 2/6th London.

Leaving Bihucourt, the battalion arrived in Bullecourt on the 18th May. By this time and after weeks of heavy shelling the village had not just been destroyed but had virtually disappeared. A pile of white stone marked where the church had stood. The only thing that remained was a crucifix on the western edge of the village which had been sheltered by its position on a sunken road.

During the night of 20/21st May white tapes were laid in No-Man’s-Land to guide the attacking troops and the two assaulting companies crawled forward to these tapes which were some 200 yards in front of Bovis Trench. At 4 o’clock on the morning of the 21st May the British artillery unleashed a hurricane bombardment on the German positions, pounding Bovis Trench with everything they had and four minutes later A and B Companies began their advance. Very little went according to plan from then on. The Germans must have been well aware that the attack was coming for almost immediately their own artillery put down a fearsome barrage on the advancing troops and machine gun posts, which should have been destroyed by the British bombardment, sprang into action and took a heavy toll. It is quite likely that the Germans had abandoned Bovis Trench itself and were firing on the London men from the support positions. Two strong platoons were supposed to work their way along the Sunken Road on the left and the road leading to the factory on the right, but both met considerable opposition from German strongpoints and made little headway. Consequently the flanks of the attack were not cleared and the Germans were able to fire on the attack from both sides. The men veered to the left and the right to try to counter this fire and this left a gap in the middle which the Germans further exploited.

Above all there was the utter confusion of the dark and the shelling and the troops on the right, not realising that they had actually reached their objective, continued to advance. When they finally stopped and dug in they were soon in danger of being surrounded and had to withdraw. Some men reached Bovis Trench, others went to ground in shell holes in No Man’s Land and there they stayed all day. Then in the evening the Germans launched a counter attack and drove the men of 2/6th London back to their starting positions. The whole thing had been a costly failure. The battalion’s casualties amounted to almost 250 of whom at least 100 were killed. One of these was George German.