Current Information:

26, Hatfield Street, Blackfriars

On 1st July, 1916, when all eyes were on the start of the Battle of the Somme, 33rd Division were holding the line further north and 1st Royal West Surrey (Queens) of 100 Brigade  were in front line trenches at Cuinchy. During the afternoon and evening of 3rd July, 1916, after a quiet morning, the enemy opened up on the trenches held by 1st Queens with their heavy trench mortars or minenwerfers. Known to the British soldier as “minnies”, these were very destructive weapons, capable of demolishing whole sectors of trench and on this particular occasion four men were killed. That night, 1st Queens were relieved and moved back to billets at Le Quesnoy. The records show that Arthur Rust was killed in action on 4th July 1916, but it is much more likely that he was one of the four men killed the day previous day. The Battalion Diary records that the 4th July was spent cleaning up and resting, with no mention of any casualties.