Current Information:

56, Cumberland Market, Regent's Park

Mailly Wood Cemetery, Mailly-Maillet, France

The opening day of the Battle of the Somme 1st July 1916

This was a disastrous day for the British Army in France. Eleven divisions of Fourth Army attacked along a 15 mile front from Maricourt to Serre. Two further divisions of Third Army launched a diversionary attack just to the north of Serre at Gommecourt. For a week beforehand the British artillery pounded the German trenches but the Germans had been there for a long time and they had constructed deep, concrete reinforced shelters beneath their trenches and many survived the bombardment. The troops went over the top at 7.30 am but even before they had left their overcrowded trenches, many had been killed or maimed by German artillery. The Germans knew that they were coming. Once in No-Man’s-Land the artillery continued to take its toll and then the machine guns opened up on the advancing British infantry. They fell in their thousands and the attack came to a standstill almost everywhere. Survivors sought cover wherever they could find it and at night they crawled back to their own lines, often dragging a wounded soldier with them. Only in the south were any advances made with the attack on Fricourt and Mametz. Over 19,000 British soldiers were killed on this day, including 2,500 from London. 

The artillery played an enormous part in the Battle of the Somme. For over a week before the infantry attack on 1st July, 1916, they pounded the German positions day and night with mixed results. In some places the wire in front of the German lines was blown away. In other places it was not. More importantly the deep German bunkers, often lined with concrete, largely stood up to the bombardment and when the infantry went over the top the German defenders were able to leave their bunkers and inflict crippling damage on the advancing British soldiers. The artillery too suffered casualties. They positions were in turn hit by the German artillery which they had failed to quell and signallers, observers and those in Trench Mortar Batteries who moved up with the attacking infantry often fell victim to German fire. 94th Trench Mortar Battery was part of 94 Brigade, 31st Division that attacked, without success but at great cost, the heavily fortified village of Serre on 1st July.