Military History

Charles is listed as being killed in action on 6 Jul 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. However it is highly likely that he died sometime between the 1st & 3rd July when the battalion was in the front lines at the start of the Battle of the Somme, they were relieved on the 4th July and spent 4th; 5th & 6th behind the front lines in billets and on the 6th were reorganising in billets.

The following account of the 8th Battalion's actions is provided courtery of Ancre1917 a user on the Great War Forum.

The 8 North Staffordshire Regiment of 790 men arrived in the Somme area on 7 June 1916, moving up to between Dernancourt and Albert on 13 June 1916. The battalion spent the next 10 days digging trenches. During this period five men were killed, four on the 17 June and one on the 19 June 1916. All five are buried next to one another in Albert Communal Cemetery. The battalion also began to practise attacking defended villages and it was clear to them that this would be their rôle in the battle ahead.

The bombardment that preceded the battle of the Somme began on 24 June 1916 (U Day). The actual assault was to take place on 29 June 1916 (Z Day) but was postponed for two days and was finally launched on Saturday, 1 July 1916.

On that fateful Saturday the 57 Brigade, including 8 North Staffordshire Regiment, was in Divisional reserve to the 34 and 8 Divisions who were attacking around La Boiselle. This hamlet of 35 houses stood on a spur of high ground that fell away from Pozières, the highest point on the battlefield. If this small settlement could be captured Pozières would be accessible. The British would have commanding views over much of the battlefield and an opportunity to take Bapaume, the main German railway centre supplying the Somme sector.

The battalion was based at Tyler's Redoubt, an earthwork west of Albert, but moved up to the relatively safe reserve line trench that lay on the reverse slope opposite the village known as the Tara Usna Line. They were then ordered to move up to the front line to make an attack on the village at 10.30 p.m. following the disastrous failure of attempts to take the hamlet earlier in the day. The communication and front line trenches were very congested with the detritus of the earlier attack and the dead and wounded of the 34 Division who had undertaken it. To make matters worse, the guide only arrived at 9.30 p.m. They were only able to get into position fully at 4.30 a.m. on 2 July 1916, just as day was breaking. Fortunately the attack was postponed.

The order was repeated for the attack to take place on 3 July and early that morning the battalion made its way once more to the front line, arriving at about 2 a.m. The battalion war diary states that the process was too hurried, with one company only arriving at the correct place as the attack started. No time was allowed to explain the plan to the men and the noise of the bombardment made issuing orders doubly difficult.

The Divisional plan was for 57 Brigade to move forward simultaneously on the left flank of 58 Brigade to assault La Boiselle from north and south. The first group of 8 North Staffords to attack was from D company. They reached the Y Sap mine crater on the north of the village and the men began to hurl grenades into it thinking that it was occupied by the enemy. This caused a hold-up and the following companies became mixed up with one another, making it difficult for officers and NCOs to maintain control; some hesitation followed. Small parties of men became isolated from the main force, which weakened the whole. Major Carnegy, who commanded B company, was seen to walk ahead of the men waving his stick and encouraging them to move forward with the cry "Come on Staffords". Unsurprisingly perhaps, he was killed by a sniper.

With the 10 Worcestershire Regiment appearing out of the haze on the battalion's left, the advance continued and soon the two battalions had swept through 3/4s of the village. As the battalion had passed the outer edges of the village further progress was only possible by means of bombing parties of varying sizes dealing with the deep bunkers. These groups became separated from their supports and were side tracked into fighting small scale mini battles. The Regimental bombers of all four battalions were drawn into the battle very early and after an hour or twos' fighting were worn out and could not advance any further. They were relieved with any other bombers who could be found, and the Brigade was able to advance a small distance, but these men soon became worn out as well.

The village houses had long since been pulverised, with the debris from the houses lying on top of the cellars. This only made it more difficult for artillery fire during the preparatory barrage to penetrate them. And so, the German defenders were relatively safe in their deep shelters. In his book 'Bloody Victory, the Sacrifice on the Somme', William Philpott describes La Boiselle as "a rabbit warren, the result of two years' tunnelling by the people holding it who did not mean to be dislodged ... nearly every house of which was a strong point with dugouts thirty to forty feet deep. ". In his report at the end of the battle the 57 Brigade commander described how, in the centre of the village "was an inner strong point or keep, the whole being undermined with subterranean passages connecting to mine heads and deep dug outs with numerous lateral and longitudinal communication trenches".

In the excitement of the moment the inexperienced men of these Kitchener battalions used too many bombs and the supply diminished rapidly. Unfortunately, the re-supplying of bombs and ammunition for the Lewis guns failed to keep up and, just at that moment, the Germans launched a counter attack. As many Germans could speak English, they had shouted out commands for the battalion to retire. It was at this moment that Major Wedgwood DSO (the first mayor of the federated six towns of Stoke-on-Trent and Member of the illustrious pottery family) exposed himself to shout "Forward North Staffords" and was shot through the neck by a sniper, dying a few moments later.

A veritable rain of mortars and howitzer shells fell on the village as the Germans sent up their rockets to warn their artillery. The follow-up counter attack forced the British to give up much of the ground previously gained. Two Victoria Crosses were won during this period (Private Turrall 10 Worcestershire Regiment and Lt. Col Adrian Carton de Wiart commanding 8 Gloucestershire Regiment.)

By 12 noon, however, with the help of two companies from 10 Royal Warwickshire Regiment, and an improvement in supplying bombs and ammunition, the line was consolidated about half way through the village. The fighting was severe with the Germans using hidden machine guns. The attacking battalions were determined to use the bayonet at every opportunity. The North Staffords were relieved at 6 a.m. on 4 July 1916, moving back to the old British front line in the rain. The trenches they were to shelter in were a quagmire. The following day they moved back to the Tara Usna line where officer reinforcements joined.

The battalion history states " Many unrecorded acts of bravery and devotion to duty were performed. The entire action, in fact, resolved itself into a series of individual efforts of Junior Officers and men, rather than a concentrated action. The Battalion had been split up into small parties from the start of the attack, and remained so until it was relieved. In spite of this enormous handicap it had succeeded in penetrating the enemy's stronghold, which had resisted all earlier efforts on the part of units of the 34th Division."

William Philpott explains that the hand to hand fighting raged for three days with "big bearded men belonging to a pioneer battalion, who no doubt resented being turned out of their comfortable home......It was a real dog fight and the Germans never fought like it again. The determined enemy was being mastered, and the traumas of 1 July were starting to fade". The 8 North Staffordshire Regiment had played a full part in achieving this success. But at some cost.

As a result of the attack 12 officers and 272 other ranks became casualties. Major Cecil Wedgwood DSO, Major J. Carnegy (from Edge, Gloucestershire) , 2nd Lieut. W.G Fletcher (bombing officer) (from London), 2nd. Lieut. W. Lawton (from Newcastle-U-Lyme) were killed. Captain E.J. Colls, commanding D company, Lieut. W.A. Meir, Lieut. J.B. Gidley, 2nd. Lieut. D.O. Norman, 2nd. Lieut. C.A. Woodward, 2nd. Lieut C.J Hunter, 2nd. Lieut S.B. Dodman, 2nd. L.Y. North were wounded.

According to the war diary and battalion history 28 other ranks were killed, 210 were wounded and 34 were missing between 2 and 5 July. However, the details from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Soldiers Died in the Great War show: the number of men killed between 3 and 6 July 1916 along with the four officers was 65, seven of whom died of wounds. The high number of officer casualties was due to the way they had had to expose themselves to keep control of the men in La Boiselle's labyrinth of trenches and dugouts as the soldiers became separated.