Military History

Theatre of War	Medals	Commonwealth War Grave or Memorial
France and Flanders	1914-15 Star, British War & Victory Medals	Thiepval Memorial
Arrived in Theatre	Medal Citation (if app)	SWFHS Area Memorials
11 Aug 1915	~	Long Itchington
Action, Battle or Other Reason Killed	Date and Place Enlisted	Other War Memorials
Battle of Bazentine Ridge (Somme)	April 1915 Northampton
Place of Death	Previous Regiments or Units
Trones Wood, just west of Guillemont

Circumstances Leading to Death (Normally from War Diary)           

Fred was killed during the Battle of Trones Wood which is described as the Rorke’s Drift of the First World War. On the 13th July at 07:00 the 7th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment (RWR) moved forward following the customary artillery bombardment to find that the conditions were just as hazardous as expected with the thick undergrowth, numerous enemy strongpoints and fierce resistance making successful progress very difficult for the Battalion. The objective of clearing the Wood before the morning of the 14th appeared doubtful. The Battalion was soon to take heavy casualties including the temporary Lieutenant of George’s Company. The heavy and confused fighting resulted in some disorganisation and loss of cohesion and direction – or put more bluntly many of the detachments found themselves lost and separated from the main force. Captain Holland and his B Company rounded up men from A and B Companies and in the general confusion found themselves defending a position between the German units and their objective of taking complete control of the wood. And hence the legend of the Defence of Trones Wood began. From their new stronghold and with just two Lewis Guns and limited ammunition the 7th Battalion held a much superior German force at bay throughout the night and were still in position at dawn although at this point ammunition was dangerously low and losses high. With dawn approaching, and with the high probability of being over-run the 12th Middlesex Regiment, also of 18th Division, were ordered into the wood in a last ditch attempt to relieve the West Kents and to be in full possession of the wood to allow the major attack at dawn that morning to go ahead. Such was the urgency of the situation that the Commanding Officer of the Middlesex contingent couldn't gather his own troops in time for the assault so led the 6th Northampton Battalion instead, with the 12th Middlesex Battalion following shortly behind.

Meeting up with the 7th RWR in the wood, the 3 battalions (though to be fair, the RWRs had taken nearly eight hours of punishment in the wood, and were probably few in number) took the rest of the wood from the Germans, thus protecting the right flank of the "dawn attack" of that morning. The Battalion's determination won the day and the action was one of the most important events during the Somme offensive. However, the cost was high and in the bloody fighting the Battalion had sustained 250 more casualties with 34 dead; after the losses on the first day advance of the Battle of the Somme the Battalion was now reduced to 50% strength.

Undoubtedly the 7th Battalion of the Royal West Kents, covered themselves in glory when successfully defending throughout the night the strategically important Trones Wood and their heroic engagement received much coverage in a British press anxious to report good news stories at this sombre time. As news of the battle filtered back to England the engagement gained much adulation from the public with an edition of the London Illustrated News devoting a two page colour spread to the engagement, probably historically inaccurate in most respects, under the banner headline - A "Rorke's Drift" of the Great War: The Glorious stand of the Royal West Kents in Trones Wood.", and under an artist’s representation of the engagement an article that opened with the lines “One of the most heroic episodes of the great British offensive: A small body of the Royal West Kent Regiment who held out all night repelling German attacks."
At this point George and many of the other wounded were shipped back to England for medical attention and convalescence. (See later notes on Hospitalisation). We will discuss later the cases for George being wounded at Trones Wood or in the opening advance of the Battle of the Somme. One suspects that George would have preferred it to be the latter. The above courtesy of the Imperial War Museum