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Gommecourt is located approximately 8 miles north of the town of Albert, France. It was the site of a divisionary attack on German lines on 1 July 1916, the first day of the battle of the Somme. Its aim was to draw German troops away from the main British offensive and to take the “Gommecourt Salient” which protruded from the German lines towards the British trenches. The salient was centred on an area known as the Gommecourt Wood. The attack was mounted by the British VII Corps, with the 46th (North Midland) Division attacking to the north and the 56th (1st London) Division positioned to the south. The intention of the proposed attack was for both Divisions to attack the German lines and join up to create a “pincer” movement surrounding the salient. Although the 56th Division initially achieved some of its objectives, the 46th Division did not do so well, and began to suffer ever mounting casualties against fierce German resistance.

The 46th Division included the 5th and 7th Battalions of the Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment) with the 6th Battalion of the same regiment forming a reserve with additional troops and equipment.

Many of the soldiers from Somercotes were posted to these local battalions, and on 1 July 1916 found themselves staring across No Man’s Land, looking toward Gommecourt Wood.

 

Read below a short history of the battle on 1 July 1916, in which soldiers from Somercotes took part.

 

The 5th and 7th Battalions, Sherwood Foresters were attached to the 139th Brigade, 46th Division. The morning of Saturday, 1st July 1916 was reported to be warm, with an early mist. The communications trenches occupied by the 139th Brigade were in a bad state, and it took a while before the troops were assembled. The 5th and 7th Battalions of the Sherwood Foresters were to lead the attack from a new trench, but even this was shallow and waterlogged. As the troops waited, the German artillery started to shell the assembly trenches to the north east of the Sherwoods position.

 

MAP: Map of the Front at Gommecourt with the positions of the British Regiments, 1 July 1916.

 

At 6.25am the final British bombardment began, but this only served to increase the German shelling in reply, which was concentrated mainly on the assembly trenches of the British front line, and which now began to inflict casualties on the waiting troops before they even left the trench system.

At 7.20am a huge British mine was detonated under Hawthorne Ridge, but the order was given too early, and the Germans now had no doubt that a heavy attack would be launched and prepared accordingly.

At 7.25am smoke bombs were fired in front of the German trenches and in No Man’s Land, where the soldiers of the 46th and 56th Divisions were waiting. The smoke in front of the British trenches was thick, but sadly the smoke aimed at the German trenches fairly quickly dispersed, meaning that the troops would be left in the open and clear targets for the Germans. At 7.30am the British artillery lifted its barrage of the German front line trenches and started to bombard their secondary system, expecting the infantry to follow close behind. On the left of the British attack, the 6th North & South Staffordshire Regiments and the 5th and 7th Sherwood Foresters were ordered out of the trenches to attack the German line.     

The first four waves of the 5th Sherwood Foresters managed to advance through No Man’s Land and reached the German trenches, where fierce close combat fighting ensued. They steadily made their way toward the corner of Gommecourt Wood where the German 91st Reserve Infantry Regiment counter-attacked. Although the 6th Battalion Sherwood Foresters should have been in support, orders were confusing and men of the 5th Battalion were forced to withdraw into shell holes close to the German wire in front of their trenches.

The 7th Battalion, after leaving their trenches, became confused in the thick smoke that still hung in the air next to the British line. Some soldiers actually reached the German third line trenches but they were forced to withdraw, having taken heavy casualties and with most of their officers either dead or wounded.

By 8.30am the 139th Brigade Headquarters was reporting to the Division that the first waves had reached the German line, but could make no contact with them. These reports seemed to have persisted throughout the morning of the 1 July, even though the attack itself had probably failed by 9.00am. The 6th Battalion Sherwood Foresters, in support, had tried to move both men and equipment forward, but many had fallen even before reaching the British advance trenches.

During the next few hours, soldiers of the Sherwood Foresters continued to fight in small groups, but the reserves they required were too slow to help them, and German fire was so heavy that progress could not be made. The German troops reported that their trenches had been retaken, and the artillery began to switch their target from the British 46th Division to the 56th Division, whose attack was taking place further along the line.

At 12.15pm the 46th Divisional Headquarters announced a renewal of the attack along their front, but such was the chaos and the slaughter, that this new attack, postponed several times throughout the afternoon, never happened. Finally, at 3.30pm a new advance was organised with remaining soldiers from the 5th North & South Staffordshire Regiment, the 5th Leicestershire Regiment and the 6th Sherwood Foresters, in a vain effort to join with the men of the 139th Brigade still thought to be fighting in the German trenches, but in reality probably all either killed, wounded or captured. The 6th Sherwood Foresters were ordered not to attack unless a smoke screen was laid down for them, but this never happened and only a small number left the trenches to advance. They were killed almost to a man.

Throughout the day the men in command of the 46th Division persisted in believing that the Sherwood Foresters were fighting in the German lines, almost contrary to everything they were being told. A further attack was planned but did not happen until around midnight. The Battalion given the unfortunate task of carrying out this attack was the 5th Lincolnshire Regiment, who despite great bravery, were repulsed in front of the German trenches by extremely heavy machine gun fire. Eventually they were ordered to withdraw and help in efforts to recover as many dead or wounded as they could. The battle was effectively over.

Many of the soldiers who died in the assault on the Gommecourt salient have no known grave. In total, on 1 July 1916 the British Army suffered some 20,000 soldiers reported as killed in action or missing. The 7th Battalion Sherwood Foresters, known as the “Robin Hoods” recorded total casualties that day of 424 officers and men, killed, missing or wounded. Of the 5th Battalion, 208 officers and men were killed in action or missing, without taking into consideration the wounded.

 

PHOTO: Gommecourt Wood New Cemetery (courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) 

 

Many soldiers from Somercotes would have fought on the first day of the battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916. The 11th (Service) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters also fought that day, further along the British line at a place known as “Blighty Valley”. Many would be wounded, and some killed in action.

Below are the men from Somercotes who lost their lives that day during the battle of Gommecourt Salient:

• CLARKE, William, 1/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, buried in Foncquevilliers Cemetery.

• EATON, Joseph, 1/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial (Joseph’s name is not listed on the Somercotes War Memorial)

• FISHER, Percy, 1/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, buried in Bienvilliers Cemetery.

• NICHOLSON, Frank Greenwood, 1/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, buried in Gommercourt Wood Cemetery.

• ROBINSON, Lewis, 1/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, buried at Gommecourt Wood New Cemetery.

• WADDOUPS, Arthur Fred, 1/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial

 

Of the soldiers who fought at Blighty Valley with the 11th (Service) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters the following soldiers were also killed in action:

• HERBERT, Joseph 11th (Service) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, buried at Aveley Communal Cemetery Extension.

• ROGERS, John Wilson, 11th (Service) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, buried at name is not listed on the Somercotes War Memorial)

• TURNER, Frederick, 11th (Service) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, buried at Blighty Valley Cemetery, Authuille Wood.

 

The days after the 1 July 1916 must have been heart breaking for the families in Somercotes, as the official confirmation of the deaths slowly arrived. Every family with a soldier at the front must have been affected, as the scale of the tragedy unfolded. How many soldiers from Somercotes who were wounded in the battle may never be known, but it would undoubtedly be many more than the number who sadly lost their lives.