Current Information:

Age-21

4 Mount Pleasant, Plumstead

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.

Two weeks after the events of 1st July, the British Army on the Somme was ready to renew the offensive along a broad front stretching from Longueval to Bazentin-le-Petit. The Battle of Bazentin Ridge, an attack on the German second line, began on 14th July, 1916. Different tactics were employed this time. The troops moved up, unseen and unnoticed, in the dark and after a fierce five minute artillery barrage, rose to the attack at 3.25am. The surprise element worked and the villages of Bazentin-le-Petit and Bazentin-le-Grand were soon taken as was most of Longueval but these early successes were not fully exploited and opportunities were lost, notably the failure to capture High Wood which was for a short time undefended. The new line was consolidated but once again the British Army found themselves engaged in a war of attrition as they attempted to push the enemy further back across the Somme battlefield.

On 14th July, 1916, 7th Division attacked Bazentin-le-Grand Wood. At 3.25am, after a five minute hurricane bombardment of the German positions, which destroyed trenches, wire and strong points, notably The Snout, 2nd Border and 8th Devonshire of 20 Brigade attacked. No-man’s-land here was 1200 yards wide so they had moved up much closer over night and straight away they captured the enemy front line. The German second line was taken fifteen minutes later after another short bombardment and within two hours they were at their final objective, Bazentin-le-Grand Wood, which they cleared and consolidated. But this success did not come without a price. There were a number of casualties for 8th Devonshire, including Arthur Blaney.