77. Gerster, RIR119, p. 50; Gerster, Matthaus, Die Schwaben and der Ancre (Heilbronn: Eugen Salzer, 1918), pp. 100–1; not to be confused with delayed-detonation shells.
78. Bachelin, Eduard, Das Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 111 im Weltkrieg 1914 bis 1918 (Karlsruhe: Südwestdeutsche Druck- und Verlag, 1937), pp. 287–8.
79. Gerster, Schwaben, p. 100.
80. Whitehead, Ralph, The Other Side of the Wire: The Battle of the Somme. With the German XIV Reserve Corps, 1 July 1916, Vol. 2, (Solihull: Helion, 2013), p. 252: Verlustlisten disc; Vischer (1921), pp. 32–5; Gerster, RIR119, p. 51; Holtz, p. 34; Reymann, H., Das 3. Oberschlesische Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 62 im Kriege 1914–1918 (Zeulenroda: Sporn, 1930), pp. 89–92; Bachelin, Eduard, Das Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 111 im Weltkrieg 1914 bis 1918 (Karlsruhe: Südwestdeut, 1937), pp. 95–6; ‘Report on the Defence of Gommecourt on July the 1st, 1916,’ Royal United Services Institution Journal, Vol. 62, Issue 447, 1917, p. 552; Sheldon, Somme, p. 157; Frisch, George, Das Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 109 im Weltkrieg 1914 bis 1918 (Karlsruhe: F. Thiergarten, 1931), pp. 122–9; Greiner, Lt. d. R., and Vulpius, Lt. d. R., Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 110 im Weltkrieg 1914–1918 (Karlsruhe: Macklotsche, 1934), pp. 118–28, 305.
81. Sheldon, Somme, p. 128.
82. ibid.
83. Askew, Alfred, ULLC/WW1/MID01.
84. Conyers, Frederick, ULLC/WW1/MID01.
85. Wide, Howard, ULLC/WW1/MID01.
86. Ward, Arthur, ULLC/WW1/WF02/W/4.
87. Heath, op. cit.
88. Goodwin, op. cit.
89. Williams, Herbert, ULLC/WW1/GS/1745.
90. England, Arthur, ULLC/WW1/WF01/E/7.
91. Collis-Browne, John, letter 12 November 1929, NAUK, CAB/45/132.
92. Bales, P.G., The History of the 1/4th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment, 1914–1919 (Halifax: Edward Mortimer, 1920), p. 70.
93. Laporte, Archibald, ULLC/WW1/GS/0920.
94. Gibbs, Alfred, letter, 22 May 1930, NAUK, CAB/45/134.
95. Croft, Henry, Twenty-Two Months Under Fire (London: John Murray, 1917), p. 200.
96. Jenour, Arthur, letter, 9 March 1930, NAUK, CAB/45/135.
97. Moore, Aubrey, ULLC/WW1/WF01/M/24.
98. Ashurst, p. 97.
99. Brown, Malcolm, The Imperial War Museum Book of the Somme (London: Pan Books, 2002), p. 45.
100. Barber, Henry, ULLC/WW1/MID01.
101. Fraser-Tytler, p. 80.
102. Jack, p. 143.
103. ibid., p. 143.
104. Capper, op. cit.
105. Askew, op. cit.
106. Levine, Joshua, Forgotten Voices of the Somme (London: Ebury Publishing, 2009), p. 102.
107. Collis-Browne, op. cit.
108. Lewis, Sagittarius, p. 70.
109. Goodwin, op. cit.
110. Lushington, p. 100.
111. Smith, Four Years, p. 143.
112. ibid., pp. 143–4.
113. Turner, P.W., and Haigh, R.H., Not for Glory (London: Robert Maxwell, 1969), p. 38.
114. Hunter-Weston, Aylmer, letter, 26 June 1916, Hunter-Weston Papers, BL.
115. England, op. cit.; Ashurst, p. 97; Willmer, op. cit.
116. Langford, p. 24.
117. Hart, Somme, p. 93; Baumgartner, p. 62.
118. Kuster, op. cit.
119. Langford, pp. 26–7.
120. ibid., p. 29.
121. Vogler, Heinrich, ULLC/WW1/MID01.
122. Langford, p. 29.
123. Sheldon, Somme, p. 127.
124. ibid., pp. 133–4.
125. Langford, p. 25.
126. Sheldon, Somme, p. 134; see also Gerster, Die Schwaben, p. 107.
127. Renz, Krumeich and Hirschfeld, pp. 84–5.
128. Langford, p. 23.
129. Bielefeld, August, ULLC/WW1/MID01.
130. Westman, p. 94.
131. Müller, Paul, Fabeck, Hans von, and Riesel, Richard, Geschichte des Reserve-Infanterie-Regiments Nr. 99 (Zeulenroda: Sporn, 1936), p. 107.
132. Hart, Somme, p. 93.
133. ibid., pp. 107–8.
134. Renz, Krumeich and Hirschfeld, p. 74.
135. Middlebrook, Martin, The First Day on the Somme (London: Penguin Books, 1984), p. 80.
136. Soden, Franz von, Die 26. (Württembergische) Reserve-Division im Weltkrieg 1914–1918 (Stuttgart: Bergers Literarisches Büro, 1939), p. 106.
137. Hart, Somme, p. 93.
138. Langford, p. 23.
139. Holtz, Georg von, Das Württembg. Res. Inft. Regt. No. 121 im Weltkrieg 1914–1918 (Stuttgart: Chr. Belsersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1921), p. 32.
140. Sheldon, Somme, pp. 123–4.
141. Vischer, Alfred, Das 10. Württ. Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 180 in der Somme-Schlacht 1916 (Stuttgart: Uhland’schen, 1917), p. 12; see Reymann, p. 92, for a similarly upbeat sentiment.
142. Sheldon, Somme, p. 134.
143. ‘Das RIR. 121 am Heidenkopf in der Sommeschlacht,’ by Friedrich Stutz in Der 180er, 1 July 1938.
144. Müller, Fabeck and Riesel, p. 107.
145. Scheytt, Paul, ULLC/WW1/MID01.
146. Hart, Somme, pp. 94–5.
147. Büsing, op. cit.
148. Middlebrook, p. 204.
149. This figure is for British heavy artillery alone, excluding any French guns.
150. III Corps CRA, war diary, 30 June 1916, op. cit.; VIII Corps CRA, war diary, 26–29 June 1916, op. cit.; XIII Corps CRA, war diary, 27–29 June 1916, NAUK, WO/95/901; X Corps CHA, war diary, 24–30 June 1916, NAUK, WO/95/866; Records for VII and XV Corps are inconsistent, meaning the actual total could be more than 29.
151. Edmonds, p. 301.
152. Heath, op. cit.
153. III Corps CRA, war diary, 24–30 June 1916, op. cit.; VIII Corps CRA, war diary, 24–30 June 1916, op. cit.; ‘Report on Preparations and Action of 32nd Divisional Artillery During Operations of July 1916,’ 32nd Division, war diary, June 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2368/1; data for the other corps is either incomplete or not stated.
154. Sutterby, Robert, undated memoir, pp. 64–5; courtesy of the Gauldie Family.
155. XIII Corps CRA, war diary, 30 June 1916, op. cit.
156. Sutterby, p. 67.
157. ibid.
158. ‘Report on Preparations and Action of 32nd Divisional Artillery,’ op. cit.; III Corps CRA, war diary, 29 June 1916, op. cit.; XIII Corps CRA, war diary, 25–28 June 1916, op. cit.
159. XIII Corps CRA, war diary, 26–28 June 1916, op. cit.; Edmonds, p. 122; see also Greig, Robert, letter, 22 April 1930, NAUK, CAB/45/134.
160. Jenour, op. cit.
161. XIII Corps CRA, war diary, 25 and 30 June 1916, op. cit.
162. III Corps CRA, war diary, 29 June 1916, op. cit.
163. XIII Corps CRA, war diary, 26–28 June 1916, op. cit.
164. Edmonds, p. 122; Greig, op. cit.
165. Edmonds, p. 122
166. ‘Blindganger,’ by an unknown author, in Der 180er, 1 July 1937.
167. Ware, Innes, ULLC/WW1/TR/08.
168. ibid.
169. Nanson, Musard, letter, undated, NAUK, CAB/45/136.
170. Unknown officer, letter, 8 July 1930, NAUK, CAB/45/132.
171. Moore, op. cit.
172. Fraser-Tytler, pp. 77–8.
173. XIII Corps CRA, war diary, 24 June 1916, op. cit.; III Corps CRA, war diary, 24 June 1916, op. cit.
174. Noted in most corps-level GS, CHA and CRA war diaries for 24–30 June 1916.
175. XIII Corps CRA, war diary, 26 June 1916, op. cit.
176. XV Corps CRA, war diary, 27 June 1916, NAUK, WO/95/925.
177. X Corps CRA, war diary, 28 June 1916, NAUK, WO/95/863.
178. VIII Corps CRA, war diary, 28 June 1916, op. cit.
179. III Corps CRA, war diary, 24 June 1916, op. cit.; VIII Corps CRA, war diary, 24–27 June 1916, op. cit.; X Corps CRA, war diary, 25 June 1916, op. cit.
180. XV Corps CRA, war diary, 24–25 June 1916, op. cit.; XIII Corps CRA, war diary, 27–28 J
une 1916, op. cit.
181. VIII Corps CRA, war diary, 28 June 1916, op. cit.
182. VII Corps CRA, war diary, 25 June 1916, NAUK, WO/95/811.
183. III Corps CRA, war diary, 28 June 1916, op. cit.
184. XIII Corps CRA, war diary, 30 June 1916, op. cit.
185. Prior, Robin, and Wilson, Trevor, The Somme (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2005), p. 64.
186. ibid.
187. ibid., pp. 64–5.
188. ibid., p. 65.
189. ibid.
190. Prior, Robin, and Wilson, Trevor, Command on the Western Front: The Military Career of Sir Henry Rawlinson 1914–1918 (Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2004), p. 174.
191. Haig, Douglas, diary, 30 June 1916, NAUK, WO/256/10.
192. De Lisle, Beauvoir, letter, 12 November 1929, NAUK, CAB/45/133; de Lisle is in part also referring to the timing of the mine blast at Hawthorn Ridge and the artillery. He conveyed this to Rawlinson prior to battle.
193. X Corps CRA, war diary, 28 June 1916, op. cit.
194. ibid., 30 June.
195. XIII Corps CRA, war diary, 26 June 1916, op. cit.
196. XIII Corps CRA, war diary, 27 June 1916, op. cit.
197. XV Corps CRA, war diary, 28 June 1916, op. cit.
198. ibid., 30 June 1916.
199. VII Corps CRA, war diary, 28 June 1916, op. cit.
200. ibid., 25 June 1916.
201. VIII Corps CRA, war diary, 29 June 1916, op. cit.
202. III Corps CRA, war diary, 29 June 1916, op. cit.
203. III Corps CRA messages dated 25, 26 and 28 June 1916, in III Corps CRA, war diary, June 1916, op. cit.
204. Wyrall, Everard, The History of the 19th Division 1914–1918 (London: Edward Arnold, 1932), p. 35.
205. Holtz, p. 33; Gerster, RIR119, p 51; Reymann, p. 90; Vischer (1921), pp. 32–5; SS460, op. cit.
206. Sheldon, Somme, p. 133.
207. Soden, pp. 106–8.
208. Vischer (1917), p. 9.
209. Prior and Wilson, Somme, p. 66.
210. ibid.
211. ibid.
212. ibid.
213. ibid., p. 67.
214. ibid.
215. Charteris, Brigadier-General John, At G.H.Q. (London: Cassell, 1931), p. 149.
216. ibid., pp. 149–50.
217. ibid., p. 149.
218. Baumgartner, p. 63; Whitehead, Ralph, The Other Side of the Wire, Vol. 1: The Battle of the Somme. With the German XIV Reserve Corps, September 1914–June 1916 (Solihull: Helion, 2010), p. 436; Holtz, p. 33.
219. Holtz, p. 33.
220. Sheldon, Somme, p. 134.
221. Vischer (1921), pp. 99–100.
222. Gerster, Die Schwaben, pp. 102–3, 106.
223. Holtz, p. 33.
224. Gerster, Die Schwaben, p. 107.
225. Reymann, p. 91.
226. Whitehead, Vol. 2, p. 252.
227. Soden, p. 108; Gerster, Die Schwaben, p. 106; Stosch, Albrecht von, Somme-Nord, I Teil: Die Brennpunkte der Schlacht im Juli 1916 (Berlin: Gerhard Stalling, 1927), p. 16; Vischer (1917), p. 12.
228. Reymann, p. 88.
229. ibid., p. 91.
230. Charteris, pp. 149–50.
231. Gerster, RIR119, p. 50.
232. Lewis, Sagittarius, p. 68.
233. Prior and Wilson, Command, p. 172.
234. Edmonds, pp. 300–1, 460.
235. ‘Ammunition expenditure,’ Fourth Army, Battle of the Somme: Summary Operations 24–30 June 1916, NAUK, WO/158/327.
236. McDiarmid, J.I.A., letter, undated, NAUK, CAB/45/136.
237. ibid.
238. Prior and Wilson, Command, p. 172.
239. VIII Corps CRA, war diary, 26 June 1916, op. cit.; VIII Corps CHA, war diary, 30 June 1916, NAUK, WO/95/825; X CHA, reports 24–30.6; X Corps CHA, reports 26–27 June 1916, in X Corps CHA, war diary, June 1916, op. cit.; VII Corps CRA, war diary, 29 June 1916, op. cit.
240. Prior and Wilson, Command, p. 173.
241. ibid.
242. Dobbie, William, letter, 31 October 1929, NAUK, CAB/45/133.
243. Jones, H.A., The War in the Air: Being the Story of the Part Played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force, Vol. 2 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1928), p. 208; see also Fourth Army, Battle of the Somme: Summary Operations 24–30 June, op. cit.
244. Ware, op. cit.
245. Fourth Army, Battle of the Somme: Summary Operations 24–30 June 1916, op. cit.
246. VII Corps CHA, war diary, 24–30 June 1916, NAUK, WO/95/813; VIII Corps CRA war diary, 24 and 27 June 1916, op. cit.; VIII Corps CHA, war diary, 29 June 1916, op. cit.; Hunter-Weston papers, letter, 29 June 1916, op. cit.; X Corps CRA, war diary, 25–28 June 1916, op. cit.; XIII Corps CRA, war diary, 27 June 1916, op. cit.
247. Jones, War in the Air, p. 208.
248. XV Corps CHA, war diary, 26 June 1916, NAUK, WO/95/926.
249. ibid.; see also Jones, J.H.H., letter, undated, NAUK, CAB/45/135; Hogg, Charles, letter, 6 November 1929, NAUK, CAB/45/134.
250. Jenour, op. cit.
251. III Corps CRA, war diary, 27 & 29 June 1916, op. cit.
252. Gerster, RIR119, p. 50; Gerster, Die Schwaben, p. 98; Stosch, p. 15; Moos, Ernst, Das Württembergische Reserve.-Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 27 im Weltkrieg 1916–1918 (Stuttgart: Belser, 1925), pp. 1–5; Klaus, Max, Das Württembergische Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 26 im Weltkrieg 1914–1918 (Stuttgart: Christian Belser, 1929), pp. 45–52; Reymann, p. 89; Baumgartner, p. 67; Langford, p. 26; Holtz, p. 33.
253. Klaus, p. 47.
254. Moos, p. 4.
255. Stosch, p. 15.
256. Gerster, Die Schwaben, p. 104.
257. ibid., p. 99.
258. Stosch, pp. 16–17.
259. Klaus, p. 48.
260. Gerster, Die Schwaben, p. 104.
261. Moos, p. 2.
262. Müller-Loebnitz, p. 214.
263. Büsing, Georg, Das Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 20 im Weltkrieg 1914–18 (Hannover: Göhmann, 1932), unpaginated translation dated 2014 supplied by Bill MacCormick.
264. Moos, p. 3; Gerster, Die Schwaben, p. 104.
265. See Chapter 3.
266. Stosch, p. 62; the division had 10 field batteries and 13 heavy batteries.
267. ibid.; see also Fiedel, p. 121.
268. Edmonds, p. 344; see also Stosch, p. 62; Langford, p. 24.
269. Klaus, pp. 51–2.
270. Sheldon, Somme, p. 128.
271. Haig, diary, 30 June 1916, op. cit.
272. ibid.
273. Haig, diary, 29 June 1916, op. cit.
274. ibid., p. 194.
275. Hunter-Weston, letter, 30 June 1916, op. cit.
276. Haig, diary, 29 June 1916, op. cit.
277. Pulteney, William, letter, 17 May 1930, NAUK, CAB/45/136.
278. MacDonald, Alan, Pro Patria Mori: 56th (1st London) Division at Gommecourt, 1st July 1916 (Cornwall: Exposure Press, 2006), p. 205
279. Haig, diary, 30 June 1916, op. cit.
280. ibid.
281. Charteris, p. 150.
282. Douglas Haig: War Diaries and Letters 1914–1918, ed. Gary Sheffield and John Bourne (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005), p. 195.
283. ibid.
284. Rawlinson, diary, 30 June 1916, op. cit.
285. Falkenhayn, Erich von, General Headquarters 1914–1916 and its Critical Decisions (London: Hutchinson, 1919), p. 263; see also Kuhl, Hermann von, Der Weltkrieg 1914–1918, Band I (Berlin: Wilhelm Kolk, 1929), p. 491.
286. Sheldon, Somme, p. 128.
287. ibid.; see also Reichsarchiv, Der Weltkrieg 1914 bis 1918: Die Operationen des Jahres 1916 (Berlin: Mittler & Sohn, 1936), p. 346.
288. SS553: Experience of the German 1st Army in the Somme Battle, 24 June to 26 November 1916, First Army H.Q. (30 January 1917, translated 3 May 1917); this formation was titled Second Army on 1 July, but from 19 July 1916 became First Army.
289. ibid., pp. 5–14.
290. Stein, Hermann v
on, A War Minister And His Work: Reminiscences of 1914–1918 (London: Skeffington & Son, Ltd, 1920), p. 108.
291. ‘Bericht des Kommandierenden Generals XIV. Reserve-Korps, Generalleutnant v. Stein,’ by Hermann von Stein, in Der 180er: Festnummer: zum Treffen der 26. Reserve-Division vom 4. Bis 6. Juli 1936 in Stuttgart, 4 July 1936.
292. Soden, p 109.
293. ibid., p. 108.
294. ‘Bericht des Kommandierenden,’ op. cit.
295. Kelly, Subaltern’s Odyssey, p. 91.
296. Crozier, Frank, Brass Hat in No Man’s Land (London: Jonathan Cape, 1930), p. 98.
297. Heath, op. cit.
298. Taylor, James, The 1st Royal Irish Rifles in the Great War (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2002), p. 77.
299. Liveing, p. 30.
300. Laporte, op. cit.
Chapter 5: Hunter Bunter’s Folly
1. Hurst, Steve, The Public Schools Battalion in the Great War (Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2007), p. 194.
2. Gerster, Matthaus, Die Württembergische Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 119 im Weltkrieg 1914–1918 (Stuttgart: Chr. Belsersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1920), p. 52.
3. Malins, Geoffrey, How I Filmed the War (London: Imperial War Museum, 1993), pp. 162–3.
4. Cook, Arthur, ‘Fit Only for Devils to Live’, in The Great War: I Was There!, ed. Sir John Hammerton, part 17 (London: Amalgamated Press, undated), p. 674.
5. Riegel, Lt. d. Res., Maschinengewehr-Scharffschutzen im Felde 1916–1918: MG.SS.-Abt. 54 (Beuchdruckerei H. Kuhn, Schwenningen am Neckar, undated), p. 3.
6. Ryan, John, Colonial Commerce No. 5, Newfoundland, undated, p. 12; Shea, Edmund, Daily Star, Newfoundland, 25 September 1916; letter from Jim, Evening Telegram, Newfoundland, 11 August 1916.
7. Jones, Simon, Underground Warfare 1914–1918 (Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2010), p. 120.
8. Yorkshire Evening Post, 19 March 1940.
9. Hunter-Weston, Aylmer, letter, 30 June 1916, Hunter-Weston Papers, BL.
10. Carlyon, Les, Gallipoli (London: Bantam Books, 2003), p. 121.
11. Robbins, Simon, British Generalship on the Western Front 1914–18 (Abingdon, France Cass, 2005), p. 14, 45, 74.
12. Packe, Edward, diary, 23 February 1918, gwydir.demon.co.uk/diaries/diary1918. htm; Robbins, p. 16.
13. Dixon, Norman, On the Psychology of Military Incompetence (London: Pimlico, 1994), pp. 256–80; Robbins, p. 45.
14. Carlyon, p. 121.
15. ‘Fourth Army — Feeding Strength on 1st July 1916,’ Rawlinson Papers 1/6, Churchill Archive; totals were 4th Division 23,373 (all ranks), 29th Division 22,613, 31st Division 22,613, 48th Division 17,348, VIII Corps’ troops 10,261 and attached French soldiers 587. The corps’ into-battle estimate is derived from the 29th’s known attack strength of 8408 (‘Strength of Battalions in Attack,’ 29th Division, war diary, July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2280/4), plus 22 other battalions directly involved at an average attack strength of 761 all ranks each (see Chapter 11).
First day of the Somme Page 50
