Military History

Harry is listed as dying of wounds (effects of gas) on 29 Jul 1916. He had been gassed on 19 Jul 1916 when part of a working party digging a Communication Trench near La Boisselle. Harry had been evacuated to the No 20 General Hospital at Camiers where he died.

The following description of the events of the night of the 19/20th July 1916 when Harry was gassed is provided courtesy of Mike Wells and his book Shipston Remembers.

On the night of the 19th July 1916 the 1st/8th Battalion met with disaster on the Somme. After 3 days in divisional reserve, they received orders that all four companies would form a working party to dig a new communications trench up the main road, from La Boisselle to the position in front of Pozieres. The four Companies moved off at 9pm and were working before 11pm.

At 11:10pm the enemy’s guns started to shell the road.  The troops continued their work noting that whilst some of the shells exploded, most didn’t. After a while a “funny stink” was commented on, but as it didn’t smell like gas the work continued.  All the while more shells fell near them. Eventually the sickly smell became overpowering and men started to vomit. The officer in charge decided that whilst it must be an unknown gas, the effects did not seem very serious and the work continued.

Finally at nearly 2am, when the task practically accomplished, the four Companies made their way back. For the nature of the job, casualties were light with seven killed and seven wounded by the shellfire.  Thirty-six others were affected by the gas, and were taken to a nearby dressing station and then on to hospital. The four companies arrived back at their billets at about 5am and the exhausted men threw themselves down to sleep.

The following day the effects of the gas were clear with men everywhere vomiting or helpless with pain, even those not physically being sick were unable to actually undertake any work.  Of the four fighting companies of the Battalion, only 18 men were not affected. Between the 20th and 25th July the men remained in billets, as one by one they collapsed. After a further 70 men had been admitted to hospital the Battalion was sent right back to the Houdencourt area. 

Eventually over 400 men were sent home to recover. Harry’s condition would have been treated in an Advanced Dressing Station, and as it worsened he would have been ‘sent back’ and treated by Casualty Clearing Station, and finally back to one of the General or Stationary Hospitals on the coast at Etaples.