Tower and Town, March 2017

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In Memoriam 1916

Following the information provided in the February edition by Andrew Ross, we continue this act of commemoration with some elaboration of six of those stories from 100 years ago. These and other stories are in a folder in St Peter’s church on the War Memorial (Lady) Chapel altar.

Thomas Henry Dobie died on July 11th 1916 and is buried at the Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension. The cemetery itself had already been used for war graves since October 1915 and the village became a base for field ambulances for the battle of the Somme, so it is not surprising that an extension was developed there as the fighting progressed from July to November of 1916.

The regimental diary records no significant action for July 11th that might explain Thomas' death but there is clear evidence of the regiment being involved in serious fighting between the 6th and 8th of July. Given that Thomas is buried where field ambulances were based, where it would be entirely natural for a dressing station to be established, it is fairly safe to assume that he was injured in the attack on the Leipzig Redoubt referred to on these dates and died from his wounds three or four days later.

The Regimental Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Legge, wrote to the Battalion on the 8th, praising them for their efforts in this attack: "The first Battalion (Wilts Regiment) successfully carried out two attacks, repelled several sustained and determined counter-attacks on two consecutive nights and firmly held the position won under an intense bombardment which lasted over four hours... These successes could not have been obtained except for the heroic courage and stamina and devotion to duties of the Officers and men of the Wilts, so many of them have earned undying honour by giving their lives in their Country's Cause."

Philip Alan Gale served with the 10th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment, who at this time of the Battle of the Somme were engaged in heavy fighting just to the east of the village of Pozières. General Rawlinson planned a major offensive to be launched in the night of the 22nd/23rd July employing a total of six divisions. The 10th Glosters were part of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division.

The attack was a disjointed affair with insufficient artillery bombardment and too little co-ordination between the various divisions. The 1st Brigade advanced shortly after midnight but was immediately deluged by shellfire and machine guns from directly ahead and from the flanks. Having retired to their own line they were ordered forward again with similar results. At the end of the day there was nothing to show for over 1000 casualties, of whom it would seem Philip Gale was one.

There is a memorial brass tablet in Christchurch which states that he was "wounded and missing whilst endeavouring to succour wounded comrades" on July 22nd 1916, and he is commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing at Thiepval having no known grave.

When war broke out Reginald Tom Reddrop joined the 1st/4th Battalion of the Royal Berkshire regiment, and at the time of the Battle of the Somme in the summer of 1916 he was serving as Company Sergeant. By mid-August the front had moved a short distance north along the Pozières – Thiepval ridge. The enemy had attacked and taken a nearby trench known as 6th Avenue, and on the night of the 13th/14th August Tom's battalion was called upon to counter-attack and retake the position. The following extract comes from the regimental war diary: “At 10.30pm (13th) a message was received from Brigade to send up more bombs to the Oxfords and two platoons were sent up. This was the first intimation we received that the 6th Avenue trench had been taken by the enemy. About 2.55am (14th) I received orders from the Brigade to counter-attack as soon as possible, and retake the trench. At 3.00am I issued orders for the attack. C and D Companies and one platoon of A Company went over the top, but though they advanced with the greatest bravery, most gallantly led by their Officers, the Machine Gun fire was so intense, chiefly coming from the Left, that the attack failed.”

Tom was one of 28 other ranks who were killed that morning. He is buried at the AIF Burial Ground cemetery at Flers close to the point where he fell. He was 32 years old. The following day his battalion was withdrawn from the line on account of the heavy casualties endured.

William Robert Hill Merriman served in the 8th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade which formed part of the 14th (Light) Division, having initially enlisted in 1914 in the Honourable Artillery Company. He was killed in action on 15th August 1916, and is buried in the Quarry cemetery at Montauban. His original burial site was at Longueval (Green Dump cemetery), which links him with the intense fighting for the control of Delville Wood during July and August 1916.

This battle of Delville Wood is one of the most infamous of all the conflicts in the Battle of the Somme. Earlier in July South Africans had been sent in to try to clear the wood and suffered horrendous casualties, which is why today the wood is the site of the South African First World War Memorial. Throughout the fighting there poor weather and enemy artillery fire, which at times reached a crescendo of 400 shells a minute, transformed the surrounding landscape into a mess of broken, stumpy tree roots and massive shell holes.

It was into this desperate situation that the 14th Division (of which William's battalion was a part) was dispatched to relieve the 17th Division on the 12th August. Seventeen days later the wood was finally cleared of the last remaining German defenders, but by then William along with a great many other of his regiment had been killed - a young man of 34 years of age who had been mentioned in dispatches "for gallant and distinguished service in the field".

Ernest Head was the son of Frederick and Louisa Head who lived at 2 Pisa Buildings, Marlborough, the row of cottages on the High Street to the south of St Peter's Church. His father was a Master Taylor, but Ernest became a florist and married Laura with whom he lived in Eltham in south-east London.

He enlisted in the 17th Battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, and at the time of his death on 3rd September 1916 he was a Lance Sergeant. He was killed in action during an attack on the very heavily fortified German-held village of Beaumont Hamel in the Battle of the Somme. An extract from the war diaries of the Sherwood Foresters for 3rd September makes reference to the action in which Ernest died: "At 6.10 a.m. message received from Captain H.V.Walters that the enemy’s 2nd Line is strongly held with machine guns and that our casualties are very heavy and reinforcements are urgently needed. At 7.15 a.m. 2 Companies of K.R.R. Corps move up to reinforce. The action is against us, the enemy being very strong in artillery and machine guns, and at 2.00 p.m. orders are despatched for all to withdraw to our trenches."

He was 39 at the time of his death and is commemorated on Lutyens' Memorial to the Missing of the Somme at Thiepval, having no known grave.

James Mundy's father was a boot-maker and they lived on the High Street where Costa now is. James signed up and joined the 19th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry. This was a Bantam battalion for soldiers who were under 5ft 3in in height, and became part of the 35th Division, formed entirely of Bantams.

At the end of August 1916, the 35th Division, including the Durham Bantams, left the Somme for the front at Arras. There daily shelling and gas reduced the battalion’s numbers. With two other battalions the 19th were holding a section of the line which had been broken up by explosions. It was notoriously insecure and was often raided by parties of either side in order to gather intelligence.

About 2am on 26th November 1916, Lieutenant James Mundy and Sergeant Stones were detailed to raid in the vicinity of the ‘King's Crater’, a huge depression caused by an underground detonation. They were ambushed and James, hit by revolver fire, was mortally wounded. Stones ran for his life, and was later found, unarmed, by the Military Police in ‘a pitiable state of terror’.

Meanwhile, in the dark and confusion, though the German raiders had not pressed home their attack, other Bantams led by Lance Corporals Peter Goggins and John McDonald abandoned their front line trench. These men were also stopped behind the front line by Military Police, who found that neither was carrying a rifle. All three were tried by court martial, found guilty of "casting away arms in the presence of the enemy", and executed.

James was 26 years old and is buried in the Fauberg d'Amiens cemetery in Arras.

David Du Croz