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7 September 1916 : Gnr George Butt
/on-this-day/7-september-1916-gnr-george-butt/
George Butt was born in Hawes, Yorkshire in 1895, the first child of Frederick (a railway signalman from Somerset) and Mary. By the 1911 Census, George, a farm labourer, his parents and five siblings, were living in Long Preston, Hawes. The year before enlisting George's sister Elsie died of a short illness. In January 1916 he went to Settle t...
27 October 1918 : Pte Reginald Smith
/on-this-day/27-october-1918-pte-reginald-smith/
Reginald Smith was born in Leeds in 1898, the son of Alfred (leather currier/bricklayer's assistant) and Bertha Smith. In 1901, age 2, Reginald lived at home (3 Mosely Place, Leeds) with his parents, 4 year old sister and a boarder. Age 12 at the 1911 Census, Reginald was at school (part-time) while working as a 'doffer'. He was living at home (...
31 October 1916 : Sgt James Sandeman Cunningham
/on-this-day/31-october-1916-sgt-james-sandeman-cunningham/
James Cunningham was born at Broughty Ferry, Scotland on 4 May 1885. He emigrated to Canada, where he was employed as a chartered accountant in Montréal at the time of the outbreak of war. James enlisted into the Canadian Army at Montréal on 31 July 1915 initially into the 13th Royal Highlanders of Canada, but he transferred to the 73rd Bn CEF...
Who was Ronald Johnson ? 29 May 1917
/world-war-i-articles/brothers-in-arms/who-was-ronald-johnson-29-may-1917/
Prologue With the Glazer family takeover of Manchester United Football Club between 2003 and 2005 a group of Manchester United supporters, who were disillusioned at the way that ‘modern' football was being run (and organised in general), decided to form their own, totally democratic, supporter-owned, breakaway club. After much discussion, this n...
Major 'Alastair' Soutar, M.C.
/world-war-i-articles/major-alastair-soutar-m-c/
One of the well known 'classic' accounts of the First World War is 'Twelve Days' published in 1933 (and more recently republished as 'Twelve Days on the Somme') by Sidney Rogerson, an officer on the staff of 23 Infantry Brigade (part of the 8th Division). Less well known is his second book, about his experiences in May 1918 on the Aisne. This ac...
18 July 1916 : L/CPL Eugene Walter Linley
/on-this-day/18-july-1916-l-cpl-eugene-walter-linley/
Eugene Linley was born in Inverness in 1893. His father, Fred, was from Huddersfield; his mother was Ellen Louisa. At the 1901 Scotland census records show that the 8-year-old Eugene was living on Muirfield Road, Inverness with his parents and brothers Frederick Kay [b.1890] and Richard Musgrave [b.1898] and a 19-year-old domestic servant Mary...
19 October 1917 : Gnr. Henry Clark, 50th Bde, Royal Field Artillery
/on-this-day/19-october-1917-gnr-henry-clark-50th-bde-royal-field-artillery/
HHenry Clarke was born in Burnley, Lancashire in 1897.He was a weaver at Queensgate Mill, Burnley prior to enlistment. He enlisted into the RFA in Blackburn on 22nd October 1915 and, after a year of training in the UK, embarked for service on the Western Front on 19th October 1916. After seeing action during the latter stage of the Battle of the...
Video: Four veterans remember the Battle of the Somme
/world-war-i-articles/video-four-veterans-remember-the-battle-of-the-somme/
The documentary below was produced in 1991 and featured four veterans reminiscing about their time on the Somme in 1916. The veterans featured were Tom Bromley, Alf Razzell, Sid Lovell and Donald Hodge. Although the picture quality is not great, we thought members may enjoy watching this video. As will be seen in the end credits, The Western Fr...
From Boer War to World War: Tactical Reform of the British Army, 1902-1914 by Spencer Jones
University of Oklahoma Press, 2012, £22.33, 314pp ISBN: 9–780–806–142–890 Paddy Griffiths said that from the second day of the Battle of the Somme the British Army went through the steepest learning curve of its entire existence. The same could have been said, during the Second Boer War, of the Battle of Paardeberg where, although eventually tr...
11 April 1917: Lieut. Arthur Pole Godfrey
/on-this-day/11-april-1917-lieut-arthur-pole-godfrey/
Arthur Godfrey was born at 41 Devonshire Place, Portland Place, London 7 Feb 1879, the only son of Charles Godfrey and Evelyn (née Browne). He was educated at Chigwell School and at a school in France. He was good at football, cricket and tennis. Age 20, he went to Ceylon 1899 and eventually became a partner in a Tea Plantation. He joined the...
Celebration the 100th Edition of 'The Camera Returns'
/world-war-i-articles/celebration-the-100th-edition-of-the-camera-returns/
Celebrating its 100th instalment over 33 years, ‘The Camera Returns’ has become the most enduring feature of the journal of The Western Front Association. In Stand To! 17, summer 1986, Mr R.B Grundy had an article published entitled ‘Q744’. Imperial War Museum Q744 is the well known photograph of the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers apparently fixing b...
ONLINE: “ I Shall Hope To Try an Officer and at least One Corporal for Cowardice” -Michael Le Cicero ZOOM
'I Shall Hope To Try an Officer and at least One Corporal for Cowardice' with Michael Le Cicero 1916 was a pivotal year for the British Army. It was a year of intense combat that was defined by the Battle of the Somme and the appalling casualties of the 1st July 1916. Yet it was also the year in which the British Army began to master industrial...
Beaumont Hamel - 51st (Highland) Division and Hawthorn Crater Commemorations
/events/beaumont-hamel-51st-highland-division-and-hawthorn-crater-commemorations/
On the 13th November 1916, in one of the final engagements of the Battle of the Somme, the 51st (Highland) Division advanced on and finally captured Beaumont Hamel, which had been a first-day objective on the 1st July.
Ceremonies will be held at Beaumont Hamel on 13th November 2024 to mark the 108th anniversary of the second blow of the Hawthorn...
Thiepval Memorial Commemoration - 1st July 2024
/events/thiepval-memorial-commemoration-1st-july-2024/
At 10.30am on the 1st of July 2024, there will be a commemoration service at the Thiepval Memorial to mark the 108th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. Etched on the walls of this iconic monument, cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, are the names of 72,000 British and South African soldiers who fought and died in the area,...
Ulster Memorial Tower Service of Remembrance - 1st July 2024
/events/ulster-memorial-tower-service-of-remembrance-1st-july-2024/
A Service of Remembrance to commemorate the 108th anniversary of The Battle of the Somme will be held at the Ulster Memorial Tower, Thiepval, France on the 1st of July 2024 at 2.30pm. The memorial is a replica of Helen’s Tower on the Clandeboye Estate in Co. Down and this is the area, including the nearby Schwaben Redoubt, around which the 36th...
Commemoration at the Ginchy Cross in Guillemont - 1st July 2024
/events/commemoration-at-the-ginchy-cross-in-guillemont-1st-july-2024/
On the 1st of July 2024, there will be an Act of Remembrance to commemorate the 108th anniversary of The Battle of the Somme at the Ginchy Cross, Guillemont, France at 4.30pm. The 16th (Irish) Division went into action here in September 1916, suffering over 4,300 casualties and the memorial is inscribed in Gaelic “Do chum Gloire De agus Onora na...
A talk about two brothers who fought in the war - Deville Wood 1916 and Arras 1917 presented by Simon Cains
We welcome our branch member Simon Cains who will be discussing 'two brothers who fought in the war - Deville Wood 1916 and Arras 1917. This promises to be informative and an interesting afternoon presentation.
The Sea Soldiers - Royal Naval Division at War 1914-1918. A talk by Dr Andrew Jeffrey.
Andrew's talk will trace the history of the Royal Naval Division from its baptism of fire at the 1914 defence of Antwerp to Gallipoli, the Somme and the Western Front. It will show how the Sea Soldiers, hastily-formed, half-trained and woefully ill-equipped when they landed at Gallipoli in 1915, were transformed into an elite force fighting at t...
Hawthorn Ridge—Then and Now.
/branches/united-kingdom/thames-valley/events/hawthorn-ridge-then-and-now/
Richard Smith : Hawthorn Ridge—Then and Now. Richard will be looking at what happened at Hawthorn Ridge and the surrounding area throughout the Great War, followed by an up-to-date overview of the work of the Hawthorn Ridge Crater Association. A founder member of Hawthorn Ridge Crater Association, Richard Smith has been visiting the Western Fron...