61. Liveing, p. 66.
62. ibid.
63. Schuman, Arthur, ULLC/WW1/WF02/S/3.
64. Hart, Peter, The Somme (London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2005), p. 118.
65. Carrington, Charles, Soldier From the Wars Returning (London: Hutchinson, 1965), p. 114.
66. Lockhart, op. cit.
67. Carrington, p. 115.
68. Hart, Somme, p. 126.
69. Schuman, op. cit.
70. Stosch, p. 24.
71. Barber, Henry, ULLC/WW1/WF01/B/4.
72. Stosch, p. 24.
73. Sheldon, Jack, The German Army on the Somme 1914–1916 (Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2005), pp. 140–1.
74. ibid., p. 141.
75. ibid.
76. Berkefeld (Plot 3, grave 1101); Niemeyer (Plot 3, grave 1102); Schultheiss (Plot 3, grave 1042).
77. ‘Defence of Gommecourt,’ p. 540.
78. Hawkings, Frank, From Ypres to Cambrai (Morley: Elmford Press, 1974), p. 97.
79. Liveing, p. 69.
80. Schuman, op. cit.
81. MacDonald, Pro Patria, p. 269.
82. ibid.
83. ibid., p. 239.
84. Stosch, p. 24.
85. Lademann, Ulrich, Das 3. Magdebeurgische Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 66 (Oldenburg: Gerhard Stalling, 1922), p. 33.
86. Büsing, op. cit.
87. Bowles, John, letter, 1 July 1929, NAUK, CAB/45/132.
88. ‘Defence of Gommecourt,’ p. 553.
89. 1/5th Londons, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2961.
90. ibid.
91. Harris, Percy, letter, 10 April 1974, ULLC/WW1/MID01.
92. ‘Defence of Gommecourt,’ pp. 540–1.
93. Hart, Somme, p. 120.
94. ibid., p. 121.
95. ibid.
96. Macdonald, Lyn, Somme (London: Papermac, 1986), p. 68.
97. Tennant, Cecil, ULLC/WW1/MID01.
98. Hart, Somme, p. 124.
99. ibid.
100. Barber, op. cit.
101. MacDonald, Pro Patria, p. 291
102. Hart, Somme, p. 125.
103. ibid.
104. 56th (1st London) Division, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2931/3.
105. ‘Report on Operations at Gommecourt 1st July 1916,’ op. cit.
106. 56th (1st London) Division, war diary, 1 July 1916, op. cit.
107. ‘Defence of Gommecourt,’ p. 538.
108. There is no known reference to Borries or Süsskind-Schwendi interfering in local-level responses to the incursion. Nevertheless, it seems improbable two such hands-on commanders would shy from offering crisp guidance.
109. ‘Defence of Gommecourt,’ p. 541.
110. Tauscher’s battalion was sent to counterattack immediately south of Gommecourt. The tactical situation there prohibited a flanking counterattack and so Tauscher applied his battalion in IR170’s sector, commanding them from a high point on Garde Stellung about 1000 yards east of Gommecourt. Tauscher would be captured at Beaumont Hamel later in 1916, imprisoned in Derby and Leicester and then repatriated due to illness.
111. ‘Defence of Gommecourt,’ p. 541.
112. ibid.
113. ibid., p. 551.
114. Ihlenfeld, Otto von, Das 9. Badische Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 170 im Weltkriege (Oldenburg: Gerhard Stalling, 1926), p. 34; Stosch, pp. 22–30; ‘Defence of Gommecourt,’ pp. 538–43; MacDonald, Pro Patria, pp. 310–23.
115. Express & Star, 28 July 2014; www.expressandstar.com/news/greatwar/2014/07/28/1916-the-somme-suchhigh-hopes/.
116. Williams, Herbert, ULLC/WW1/GS/1745.
117. ibid.
118. MacDonald, Pro Patria, p. 323.
119. Keegan, John, The Face of Battle: A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme (London: Pimlico, 1992), p. 253.
120. Hart, Somme, p. 128.
121. ‘Defence of Gommecourt,’ p. 541.
122. Forstner, p. 305.
123. Schuman, op. cit.
124. MacDonald, Pro Patria, p. 337
125. Schuman, op. cit.
126. ‘Defence of Gommecourt,’ pp. 541–2.
127. 56th (1st London) Division, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2931/3.
128. ibid.
129. ibid.
130. Southam, op. cit.
131. ‘Defence of Gommecourt,’ p. 552; from the regiment’s total 1 July casualties of 397 are deducted those of its battalion in the northern half of the salient, which are dealt with elsewhere in this chapter.
132. Edmonds, p. 475.
133. Whitehead, Vol. 2, p. 132.
134. ibid., Verlustlisten disc.
135. Forstner, p. 301.
136. ibid.
137. Middlebrook, Martin, The First Day on the Somme (London: Penguin Books, 1984), p. 235.
138. Higgins, Thomas James, Tommy at Gommecourt (Leek: Churnet Valley Books, 2005), p. 38.
139. ibid.
140. Moore, op. cit.
141. ibid.
142. Kümmel, p. 211.
143. Stosch, p. 21.
144. Kümmel, p. 212.
145. Edmonds, p. 467.
146. MacDonald, Offensive Spirit, p. 341.
147. ibid.
148. Raymer, Robert, letter, 25 June 1929, NAUK, CAB/45/137.
149. 137th Brigade, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2683/3.
150. Walsall Observer and South Staffordshire Chronicle, 29 July 1916.
151. MacDonald, Offensive Spirit, p. 334.
152. Adams, George, letters, Imperial War Museum.
153. ibid.
154. ibid.
155. MacDonald, Offensive Spirit, p. 318.
156. Moore, op. cit.
157. Kümmel, p. 212.
158. MacDonald, Offensive Spirit, p. 332.
159. ibid., p.331.
160. Higgins, p. 39.
161. MacDonald, Offensive Spirit, pp. 328–9.
162. Kümmel, p. 213.
163. Stansby, John, ULLC/WW1/MID01.
164. ibid.
165. Kümmel, p. 213.
166. ibid.
167. Stosch, p. 21.
168. Edmonds, p. 467.
169. Singleton, Joseph, ULLC/WW1/MID01.
170. ibid.
171. Tomlinson, Auberon, ULLC/WW1/MID01.
172. MacDonald, Offensive Spirit, p. 373.
173. Smith, Sidney, Prisoner of War Statement, NAUK, WO/161/100/292.
174. Kümmel, p. 212.
175. ibid.
176. ibid.
177. ‘Statements of men who reached the German Front Line,’ 139th Brigade, war diary, July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2692/5.
178. ibid.
179. ibid.
180. 1/5th Notts & Derby, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2695/1.
181. ibid.
182. Jones, Charles, letter, 15 August 1929, NAUK, CAB/45/135.
183. Good, Claude, ULLC/WW1.WF01/G/9.
184. MacDonald, Offensive Spirit, p. 504.
185. Edmonds, p. 469.
186. 46th (North Midland) Division, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2663/3.
187. ibid.
188. Edmonds, p. 469.
189. Good, op. cit.
190. ibid.
191. 46th (North Midland) Division, war diary, op. cit.
192. Edmonds, p. 469.
193. ibid., p. 470.
194. MacDonald, Offensive Spirit, p. 449.
195. Moore, Aubrey, op. cit.
196. ibid.
197. MacDonald, Offensive Spirit, p. 462.
198. Sandall, Thomas, A History of the 5th Battalion, the Lincolnshire Regiment (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1922), p. 77.
199. Ward, Arthur, ULLC/WW1/WF02/W/4.
200. Killed: Lieutenant-Colonels D.D. Wilson, 1/5th Sherwood Foresters, L.A. Hind, 1/7th Sherwood Foresters and C.E. Boote, 16th North Staffords; died of wounds: Lieutenant-Colonel W. Burnett, 1/5th North Staffords; wounded: Lieutenant-Colonel R.R. Raymer, 1/5th South Staffords.
201. MacDonald, O
ffensive Spirit, p. 312.
202. ibid., p. 312; Kümmel, p. 212; ‘Defence of Gommecourt,’ p. 552; Whitehead, Ralph, The Other Side of the Wire, Vol. 2: The Battle of the Somme. With the German XIV Reserve Corps, 1 July 1916 (Solihull: Helion, 2013), p. 177.
203. MacDonald, Offensive Spirit, p. 500.
204. Home, p. 113.
205. ‘Defence of Gommecourt,’ p. 546.
206. ibid.
207. Edmonds, p. 475.
208. Edmonds, p. 475; Whitehead, Vol. 2, p. 132; there are apparent contradictions between the figures given in these sources, and also ‘Defence of Gommecourt,’ op. cit., p. 552.
209. Whitehead, Vol. 2, p. 177.
210. ‘VII Corps Report on Operations at Gommecourt, 1st July 1916,’ VII Corps GS, war diary, July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/804.
211. ibid.
212. ibid.
213. Snow, diary, 1 July 1916, Imperial War Museum.
214. Hawkings, p. 103.
215. ibid.
216. Wallis, Ferdinand, letter, 9 September 1929, NAUK, CAB/45/132.
217. ibid.
218. Read, Isaac, Of Those We Loved (Durham: The Pentland Press, 1994), p. 130.
219. ibid.
Chapter 11: The Earth Abideth
1. Barber, Henry, ULLC/WW1/MID01.
2. Farrar-Hockley, A.H., The Somme (London: Pan Books, 1966), p. 174.
3. Edmonds, Sir James, Military Operations France and Belgium, 1916, Vol. 1 (London: Imperial War Museum, 1992), p. 483.
4. Rawlinson, diary, 1 July 1916, Rawlinson Papers 1/5, Churchill Archive.
5. Haig, Douglas, diary, 2 July 1916, NAUK, WO/256/11.
6. Edmonds, p. 483.
7. Haig, diary, 2 July 1916, op. cit.
8. Sheffield, Gary, The Chief: Douglas Haig and the British Army (London: Aurum Press, 2011), p. 176.
9. ibid., p. 176.
10. Haig, diary, 1 July 1916, op. cit.
11. ibid.
12. II Corps, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/637.
13. Haig, diary, 1 July 1916, op. cit.
14. ibid.
15. ibid.
16. II Corps, war diary, 1 July 1916, op. cit.
17. Continuation of Fourth Army Operation Order No. 2, 22 June 1916, Fourth Army Operations Papers, NAUK, WO/158/234.
18. Sheffield, The Chief, p. 170.
19. ibid.
20. Stosch, p. 62; Fiedel, p. 121.
21. 1st Borders, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2305/1; 1st Essex, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2309/1; 2nd South Wales Borderers, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2304/2; 16th Highland Light Infantry, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2403/2; 9th Royal Irish Rifles, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2503/2; 2nd Middlesex, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/1713/1; 8th King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2187/2; 10th Lincolns, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2457/1; 2nd West Yorkshires, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/1714/1; 16th Royal Scots, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2458/1; 8th York & Lancasters, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2188; 11th Sherwood Foresters, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2187/3; 20th Manchesters, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/1663/1; 21st Manchesters, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/1668/1; 2nd Royal Warwick, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/1664/3; 12th Middlesex, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2044/1; 1/2nd Monmouths, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2295/1; 15th Highland Light Infantry, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2393/2; 15th Lancashire Fusiliers, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2397/3; 19th Lancashire Fusiliers, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2394/1; 10th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2510/4; 29th Division Unit Strengths Table, 29th Division, war diaries, March–August 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2280.
22. Excludes two platoons of 7th Buffs.
23. Buchan, John, The Battle of the Somme: First Phase (London: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1916), p. 31.
24. Edmonds, p. 77.
25. Rawlinson, diary, 1 July 1916, op. cit.
26. ibid.
27. Fourth Army Summary of Operations, 1st July, 1916, Fourth Army, Battle of the Somme: Summary Operations, NAUK, WO/158/327.
28. Rawlinson, diary, 1 July 1916, op. cit.
29. ibid.
30. ibid.
31. ibid.
32. ibid.
33. Fourth Army Summary of Operations, op. cit.
34. ibid.; the reference to Contalmaison is taken from map references stated in the report.
35. Rawlinson, diary, 1 July 1916, op. cit.
36. Edmonds, p. 480.
37. Maze, Paul, A Frenchman in Khaki (London: Heinemann, 1934), pp. 136–7; Gough, Hubert, Fifth Army (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1931), pp. 136–7.
38. Maze, op. cit.
39. Gough, p. 137.
40. See Chapter 1.
41. 3rd Cavalry Division, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/1141/3.
42. ibid.
43. Haig, diary, 27 June 1916, op. cit.
44. ibid.
45. Rawlinson, diary, 28 and 30 June 1916, op. cit.
46. ibid., 1 July 1916.
47. ibid.
48. ibid.
49. ibid.
50. Fourth Army Summary of Operations, op. cit.; Rawlinson, diary, 1 July 1916, op. cit.
51. See Chapter 9.
52. Stosch, Albrecht von, Somme-Nord, I Teil: Die Brennpunkte der Schlacht im Juli 1916 (Berlin: Gerhard Stalling, 1927), p. 83.
53. Rawlinson, diary, 1 July 1916, op. cit.; Haig, diary, 1 July 1916, op. cit.; Rawlinson makes no mention of Haig’s arrival at Querrieu in his time-stamped and detailed diary up to 3.15 p.m. The next entry thereafter, to 7.30 p.m., notes Haig had been at Querrieu, meaning he arrived between 3.15 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. Rawlinson noted in his next timestamped diary entry, at 10 p.m., that General Foch had visited Querrieu at 9 p.m. Haig must have left Querrieu at 4.30 p.m., if not earlier, if he was to have driven the roughly 30 minutes’ journey to Villers-Bocage, where he arrived at 5 p.m.
54. Haig, diary, 1 July 1916, ibid.; II Corps, war diary, 1 July 1916, op. cit.
55. ibid.; Rawlinson, diary, 1 July 1916, op. cit.
56. 1st Cavalry Division, war diary and appendices, 1 July 1916, op. cit.; 2nd Indian Cavalry Division, war diary and appendices, 1 July 1916, op. cit.; 3rd Cavalry Division, war diary and appendices, 1 July 1916, op. cit.; Reserve Army, war diary and appendices, 1 July 1916, op. cit.; II Corps war diary and appendices, 1 July 1916, op. cit.; Fourth Army Operations Papers, July 1916, op. cit.; Reserve Army Operations Papers, July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/518.
57. Edmonds, p. 481; Edmonds’ comment is based on Fourth Army Operation Order No. 3, 1 July 1916 and Fourth Army Operations Papers, op. cit.
58. ibid.
59. Reserve Army, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/518; 1st Cavalry Division, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/1097/5; 2nd Indian Cavalry Division, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/1180/1; 3rd Cavalry Division, war diary, 1 July 1916, op. cit.
60. Haig, diary, 1 July, op. cit.; OAD 32, 1 July 1916, Fourth Army Operations Papers, op. cit.; OAD 33, 1 July 1916, Fourth Army Operations Papers, op. cit.; ‘Decisions of C.-in-C — 5 p.m., 1-7-16,’ 1 July 1916, Fourth Army Operations Papers, op. cit.; 23rd Division, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2167/4; 38th (Welsh) Division, war diary, 1 July 1916, NAUK, WO/95/2539/4.
61. OAD 32, 1 July 1916, Fourth Army Operations Papers, NAUK, WO/158/234; Decisions of C-in-C at 5 p.m. on 1 July 1916, Fourth Army Operations Papers, op. cit.
62. Rawlinson, diary, 1 July 1916, op. cit.
63. Sheffield, The Chief, p. 172.
64. Norman, William, letter, 28 February 1930, NAUK, CAB/45/136.
65. Fourth Army Operation Order No. 3, 1 July 1916, Fourth Army Operations Papers, op. cit.
66. ibid.
67. ibid.
68. Charteris, Brigadier-General John, At G.H.Q. (London: Cassell , 1931), p. 151.
69. ibid., p. 152.
70. Gough, Hubert,
Fifth Army (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1931), pp. 138–9.
71. Haig, diary, 2 July 1916, op. cit.
72. ibid.
73. OA136, telegram, 2 July 1916, Fourth Army Operations Papers, op. cit.
74. Gough, p. 139.
75. Kiggell, Launcelot, to Edmonds, James, letter, 2 December 1937, NAUK CAB/45/135; Macdonald, Andrew, Passchendaele: The Anatomy of a Tragedy (Auckland: HarperCollins, 2013), pp. 47–9, 63–4.
76. The French 39th Division suffered 728 total casualties, and the French 11th Division accrued at least 670 total casualties.
77. Sixty-first Division suffered 1058 dead, wounded and missing, Third Colonial Division about 2522 for the period 1–5 July, but mostly on the first day of that range. Casualty data for 2nd Colonial Division is incomplete, but it is known to have evacuated 757 wounded French soldiers in 24 hours to 8 a.m. on 2 July.
78. Edmonds, p. 343.
79. Philpott, William, Bloody Victory: The sacrifice on the Somme (London: Abacus, 2011), p. 197.
80. ibid.
81. Reichsarchiv, Der Weltkrieg 1914 bis 1918: Die Operationen des Jahres 1916 (Berlin: Mittler & Sohn, 1936), p. 351.
82. Weltkrieg, p. 351.
83. ibid., p. 352.
84. ibid.
85. ibid.
86. ibid.
87. Dellmensingen, Konrad von, and Feeser, Friedrichfranz, Das Bayernbuch vom Weltkriege 1914–1918 (Stuttgart: Belser, 1930), p. 304.
88. German units reported casualties incurred over 10-day periods, rather than individual days. Whilst records such as war diaries and muster rolls for several German units that participated in the first day of the Somme have survived, more have not. Such records, along with post-war regimental histories, are the main source for these figures.
89. Lossberg, Friedrich, Meine Tätigkeit im Weltkriege (Berlin: Mittler & Sohn, 1939), p. 214. Lossberg makes it clear Grünert’s sacking was decided by 10.30 p.m. on 1 July, the time at which Lossberg was offered the job as Second Army’s chief of staff.
90. ibid., pp. 220–1.
91. ibid., p. 220.
92. Falkenhayn, Erich von, General Headquarters 1914–1916 and its Critical Decisions (London: Hutchinson, 1919), pp. 264–5.
93. Lossberg, pp. 214–15.
94. ibid.
95. ibid., p. 220.
96. Stosch, p. 83.
97. Sheldon, Jack, The German Army on the Somme 1914–1916 (Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2005), p. 179; for a slightly different version, see Stosch, p. 109.
98. Falkenhayn, pp. 265–6.
99. Miles, Captain Wilfrid, Military Operations, France and Belgium 1916: 2nd July to the End of the Battles of the Somme (London: Macmillan, 1932), pp. XV–XVI; German casualties are given as base total of 500,000, which excluded those incurred during the seven-day bombardment (estimated at 10,000) and less seriously wounded (estimated at 150,000). Miles also cites various other comparative data from German sources.
First day of the Somme Page 56
