Current Information:

Age-23

6, Inchmery Road, Catford

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.

The days immediately following the carnage of July 1st on  the Somme, had two main priorities. They were to rescue the wounded and to consolidate what gains had been made. In some cases the Germans allowed a temporary truce so that injured men could be brought back from no-man’s land, but many were not reached and they faced a lonely and anguished death. However, despite the slaughter of 1st July, there was no going back. This was the “Big Push” and the attacks had to continue and Haig decided that they would continue on the southern sector of the front where the few successes had occurred. On 1st July, 62 Brigade of 21st Division had been in reserve but that afternoon, 1st Lincolnshire had moved up in support of 64 Brigade to Crucifix Trench and Sausage Trench which had been captured earlier in the day. On July 2nd the Germans withdrew from Fricourt and 21st Division were able to move forward in the gap between Fricourt and La Boisselle. It was here on 3rd July that at 9am, 1st Lincolnshire attacked 2 small woods in front of them, Birch Tree and Shelter Woods, after a heavy bombardment. With 2 minutes to go the bombardment became intense and 5 Stokes mortars from Crucifix Trench joined in. The leading waves rushed across no-man’s land but came under heavy fire when they reached the ridge in front of the woods. Nevertheless they managed to enter the enemy lines. Some hard fighting followed. A strong party of Germans who threatened the left flank were held at bay by the battalion bombers and in the centre the enemy emerged from dug-outs and tried, unsuccessfully to surround them. Further to the right there was little opposition to 1st Lincolnshire and a number of Germans were taken prisoner. By late afternoon all objectives had been taken and were in the process of being consolidated. At this stage 1st Lincolnshire were relieved and moved back into reserve. They had achieved what they set out to do but at a heavy cost. Their casualties amounted to nearly 250 officers and men. 37 of these had been killed including Lawrence Hills.