Current Information:

Age-32

Born-Stoke

Enlisted-Woolwich

The Somme trenches were no place to be during the winter of 1916-1917.  Constant rain, snow and cold winds made them a nightmare. Men who were able to make the comparison said that the mud of the Somme was worse than that at Passchendaele, later in 1917. Simply surviving in the shell battered trenches was arduous enough but by now the plans for a major offensive at Arras were well advanced and they included a need to keep the Germans fully occupied on the Somme front. Starting early in the year, the British launched a number of attacks in the Ancre valley sector, aimed at capturing strategic points in the German line and thereby undermining their overall defences.

One of these attacks took place on 27th January, 1917 when 1st Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and 1st Border, both of 87 Brigade, 29th Division, attacked astride the Fregicourt-Le Transloy road on a 750 yard front. By this time the weather had got much colder. The mud had frozen, the ground was hard and they were able to move quickly to their objective, a series of German posts, 400 yards away. The German resistance on this occasion was very weak and they surrendered in droves, 368 altogether. The new positions were made secure except for one strongpoint which had to be evacuated because it was targeted by the enemy artillery. The following day, 28th January, saw an intense German bombardment of these captured positions and it was this that was largely responsible for the casualties, nearly 300 in total. Among those killed in this operation was George Jackson of 1st Border.