Military History

Newton is listed as being killed in action on 8th June 1917. The 50th Battalion war diary report on operations for the period 7th to 9th June is transcribed below.

Neuve Eglise - 7 Jun 1917: At 8.10am on 7th June,17 the Battalion moved from Neuve Eglise to the old front line system to take up its position as Brigade Reserve in Midland North Support Trench where it arrived at 10.30am without suffering any casualties.

Carrying Parties had previously been told off as under for attacking troops of the Brigade:
49th Bn: 1 Off. 50 O/Rks
52nd Bn: 1 Off. 50 O/Rks
13^th M.G. Coy: 33 O/Rks
13^th A.L.T.M.B: 37 O/Rks
Brigade Dump: 1 Off 30 O/Rks
A special reserve of 1 Off 8 Lewis Guns & Crews complete were standing by for use at short notice.

Neuve Eglise - 8 Jun 1917: At 11.15pm. Battalion was ordered to send 1 officer with 4 Lewis Guns & Crews to report to 49th Bn HQ. in Front Line. The 49^th Bn received these but having sufficient Officers allowed our Officer to return.

Neuve Eglise - 9 Jun 1917: A gap of about 450 yards existed in the right portion of the Brigade sector where touch had not been gained with the Brigade on our right.

At 1.10pm 50^th Battalion received orders to reach the front line as soon as it was dark, then capture & consolidate the uncaptured portion of the Green dotted line (Odd Trench) thereafter pushing posts into Green Line (Odd Support). The 51^st Bn held the Green dotted line on left and 45^th Bn the Green dotted line on right. The 51^st on left were to push out posts to Green Line on night of 9/10^th.

An English battery commander reported that at 8.15pm (i.e in daylight) he had walked along Odd Trench and found no hostile troops in it and an airman flying low also reported that Odd Trench appeared to be unoccupied. Infantry in the vicinity and patrols from 50^th Bn however reported Odd Trench held by the enemy.

A Coy of the 51^st were reported to be dug in 300 yards west of the centre of the gap. They were however 100 yards back from this or 400 yards from Odd Trench. The troops on the right were not as far to the left in Green dotted line as they had reported and the troops on the left were not as far to right as they had reported. The gap therefore instead of being 450 yards was over 650 yards across.

The total number of available in the Bn for the attack was 283 [or 883] Officers and men. A jumping off line was selected 300 yards from Odd Trench and Battn ordered to attack in two lines at 10.30pm. Battn HQ was situated 200 yards behind the jumping off line. There was not artillery preparation and the attack was to be a silent one.

When the attack commenced the hostile artillery immediately shelled behind the jumping off line, while rifle and machine gun fire broke out from Odd Trench, with machine gun fire from concrete block houses at the Brigade boundary line crossing Odd trench on right also from another block house on the left flank at O.28.c.7.3, there also appeared to be M.G. fire from direction of Delporte & Deconink Farms & it was found all along the line that our artillery fire prior to 7^th June had not cut the wire sufficiently.

Our attack came to a standstill, some men dropping into shell holes in front of the wire, others where they came under heavier machine gun fire scattering back to the jumping off line.

A Lewis gun team and a few bombers, 10 in all, got behind a small concrete structure at O.28.c.5.1 and began to dig in. About 30 men of D Coy on left worked to left and getting through a gap in wire left for patrols entered trench with 51^st Bn and worked about 30 to 50 yards to right where trench was then completely destroyed. They were then still 50 yards left of road and a hostile machine gun in block house at 28.c.7.3 prevented further progress.

By the time I had found out the situation definitively it was rapidly becoming too light to do anything further then. I therefore ordered the portion of D Coy who were forward to stay there and the post at 28.c.5.1 to endeavour to hang on. The remainder to reorganise behind jumping off line. Soon after daylight hostile fire was opened on the post from end of Odd Trench. The post held on until they had lost 1 killed & 4 wounded (i.e. 50%) they then withdrew across the shell holes to jumping off line.

Our relief by the Cheshire Regiment could not of course be carried out.