Somme 1916: A Battlefield Companion

By Gerald Gliddon

Gerald Gliddon's classic survery of the Somme battlefield in 1916, first published in 1987 to great acclaim, has been greatly expanded and updated to include the latest research and analysis. Supported by a wide selection of archive photographs and drawing on the testimony of those who took part, this new edition covers both the famous battle sites, such as High Wood and Mametz Wood and lesser known villages on the outlying flanks. It includes a day-by-day account of the British build-up on the Somme and the ensuing struggle, British and German orders of battle and a full history of the cemeteries and memorials, both 'lost' and current, that sprang up in the years following the First World War. The author also provides thumbnail biographies of all the senior officers to fall, as well as the winners of the Victoria Cross and those who were 'shot at dawn'. In addition, Somme 'personalities' such as George Butterworth are covered in far greater detail than before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Nov 20, 2009
• ISBN: 9780752495354

Book preview

While every effort has been made to ensure that the information given in this book is accurate, the publishers and the author do not accept responsibility for any errors or omissions or for any changes in the details given in this book or for the consequence of any reliance on the information provided. The publishers would be grateful if readers would advise them of any inaccuracies they may encounter so these can be considered for future editions of this book.

The inclusion of any tourist attraction or other establishment in this book does not imply an endorsement or recommendation by the publisher or the author. Their details are included for information only. Directions are for guidance only and should be used in conjunction with other sources of information.

In this updated paperback edition of Somme 1916 for The History Press, the author has taken the opportunity to make some amendments, updates and corrections to the 2006 edition.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

During the preparation of this new edition of what was originally called When the Barrage Lifts, I have received enormous support from four particular individuals, without whom the project would have been severely delayed. First and foremost they are Peter F. Batchelor and Graham Keech, who put in very long hours in The National Archives at Kew when gathering information from war diaries; Nick Reynolds of Sutton Publishing, who was not only very enthusiastic about the need for a new edition, but also kept my nose to the grindstone during a vital period of fatigue and computer failure and has been a tower of strength ever since. Lastly I would like to thank my wife Wynne, who must have been nearly driven mad by my continuous concentration on a long-ago battle, for her patience and total support.

During the preparation of the original version of this book and its successor, there have been many people who have been very helpful, and I would like to thank them again for their assistance and kindness. The staff of the Imperial War Museum in the Departments of Printed Books and Photographs; The National Archives; the Archivist at the Liddell Hart Centre, King’s College, London; the Archivist at Churchill College, Cambridge; the Bodleian Library, Oxford; the Royal Artillery Institution, Woolwich; the National Army Museum; the Met-eorological Office; the Commonwealth War Graves Commission; Correlli Barnett; the late Mrs Claire Blunden; John Bolton; Andrew England; Patrick Mahoney; Paul Reed; Col Philip Robinson RE of the Durand Mining Group; and Tony Spagnoly.

I would also like to thank the Naval & Military Press for their permission to use the CD-ROM produced by them together with the Imperial War Museum for permission to reproduce maps from the Official History of the War: Military Operations in France and Belgium, 1916 (1932 and 1938), as well as their CD-ROM of trench maps of the Western Front; Her Majesty the Queen, for her gracious permission to use material from the Royal Archives; the Controller of HMSO for permission to use material from A.F. Becke, The Order of Battle Divisions (HMSO 1935–1945), 4 volumes; the Oxford University Press for lines from ‘Crucifix Corner’, ‘Of Grandcourt’ and ‘Ballad of the Three Spectres’, from the Collected Poems of Ivor Gurney, edited by P.J. Kavanagh (1982); A.P. Watt, on behalf of the Executors of the Estate of Robert Graves, for using lines from ‘A Dead Boche’, published in Goliath and David and ‘A Letter to S.S. from Mametz Wood’, published in Fairies and Fusiliers (1917); George Sassoon for the use of 8 lines from the poem ‘At Carnoy’, by Siegfried Sassoon, 3 July 1916; Mr Andrew Rawlinson and the Master, Fellows and Scholars of Churchill College, University of Cambridge, for permission to use material from General Lord Rawlinson’s war diary; Bodley Head on behalf of the Estate of F. Scott Fitzgerald 1959; the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King’s College, London; the Imperial War Museum for permission to use material from interviews with Cpl L.J. Ounsworth (332/12), Sgt C.R. Quinnel (554/18) and Capt R.C. Cooney (494/6) from the Department of Sound Records; also from Mr Christopher Skelton, for permission to quote from his father’s papers deposited in the Department of Documents; Peter Liddle 1914–18, Personal Experience Archives at the University of Leeds; Peter Harris; Derek F. Heaney; Chris Baker, for information gleaned from his excellent website ‘The Long, Long Trail’; and Jack Sheldon, for assistance from his book The German Army on the Somme, 1914–1916 (Pen & Sword, 2004).

Lastly I would like to thank Peter F. Batchelor again, in his role as postcard collector, for his wisdom, encouragement and willingness to take on any task that I pushed in his direction.

CONTENTS

Title

Quote

Acknowledgements

Preface to this Edition

Author’s Introduction

List of Abbreviations

SOMME DIARY

THE SOMME:    Abbeville to Zollern Redoubt

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

J

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z

APPENDIX I:       A Note on Casualties Incurred in the Somme Battle

APPENDIX II:      Higher Command, British Expeditionary Force

APPENDIX III:    Battles and Engagements

APPENDIX IV:    Army Divisions

APPENDIX V:     German Divisions Facing the British on the Somme

APPENDIX VI:    ‘Lost’ Somme Cemeteries

Bibliography

By the Same Author

Copyright

PREFACE TO THIS EDITION

After When the Barrage Lifts was first published in July 1987, I received letters from numerous readers who seemed to welcome a fresh approach to the most remembered battle of the First World War. Several people suggested minor alterations and on re-reading and using the book myself I also found some errors that needed attention.

For the Leo Cooper edition, published in 1989, these changes were incorporated, together with an additional ten-page index of military formations and units. This edition went out of print in 1991 and for a third printing, issued by Alan Sutton Publishing Limited in 1994, I made a further fifty small changes. This latest version was reprinted twice more under the new title of Battle of the Somme, but went out of print in 2004.

The idea of a new and updated edition was first mooted in 2002, with the publisher commissioning it the following year. There appeared to be at least one very good reason as to why a new edition should be produced, as, like any work of reference, the book had simply become out of date. Another reason was that in the previous ten years, the field of research for study of the First World War had simply exploded. While in the 1980s one had to visit or write to public archives, museums or libraries in order to retrieve information, much of this same task could now be done from a computer in one’s own home. Over the past decade I have combined these two methods, as have my colleagues who have assisted me. However, a note of caution should be sounded at this point, as information supplied via Internet sources should always be double-checked.

Other changes for the better have included the Commonwealth War Graves Commission having put their records of burials and commemorations online, which has been a huge boon for researchers. The release of Officers’ Files at the Public Record Office, now renamed The National Archives, has been another bonus, as has the filming of files belonging to Other Ranks that had been damaged during the London Blitz and were known as the ‘Burnt Files’. Soldiers Died in the Great War was issued by the Naval & Military Press in 1998, which was superceded by an improved version in 2003. Official History Maps and Trench Maps are now available in compact disc form. The Dominion Archives held in Canberra, Ottawa and Wellington and so on have also become much more accessible. The reawakening of interest of regimental museums with the knowledge that more and more people are researching their ancestors, many of whom would have served in recent World Wars, has also been a great step forward. The start of work by the Imperial War Museum to put its holdings online is also work in progress. The list of research improvements is endless, but taken together, they have provided me with enough impetus to justify the need for a new version of this book, together with the approaching First World War centenary.

The reader familiar with earlier editions will find that not only has the number of entries increased from 200 to 322 (about 60 per cent) but many of the original entries have also been greatly expanded. The section on the Royal Flying Corps squadrons who served on the Somme in 1916 has been incorporated into the main structure of the book. In the entries for individual locations that follow, place names in capital letters indicate that there is an entry devoted to that location. Except in quoted material, modern spelling has been used for place names. Military units have been abbreviated throughout; full unit designations and a complete British, Empire and Dominion order of battle can be found in Appendix IV.

There has also been a major shift of focus with this new edition, in that the story of the involvement of troops of the British Expeditionary Force and their role in the back areas and front lines of the Somme has been taken back to the end of July 1915, when British troops first came to the area. More than 7,000 men were to lose their lives before the battle on 1 July 1916 had even begun.

This edition of Somme 1916 has been updated to coincide with the centenary of the battle in 2016. During the period from July to November major commemorative events will be held, particularly in Albert, Newfoundland Park in Beaumont-Hamel, the Butte de Warlencourt, Contalmaison, Flers, Lochnagar Crater, Longueval, Mametz, Pozieres, Thiepval and Ulster Tower.

AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION

Many readers will be aware of the significance of the date of 1 July 1916 and of it being the most disastrous day in terms of casualties ever in the history of the British Army. But for more than 7,000 men of the British Expeditionary Force serving in the Somme area, their lives were already over by that date. Indeed, the first casualties were among members of 48th and 4th Divisions as early as the end of July 1915. By the end of June 1916, 21 more divisions were to hand at least for a few weeks within the Somme area.

The first priority of these British divisions, who were initially part of Third Army, was the relief of French troops, whose line it had been since 1914. Secondly, troops were to be given battle training. Thirdly, they were to provide working parties for the very many tasks to be carried out before the planned big battle was due to begin. These tasks would have included the reinforcing of trench lines and communication trenches; the supplying of wiring parties; the building of camps, railways, first aid posts, casualty clearing stations and hospitals; the improvement of roads; the establishment of ammunition dumps and artillery battery positions; the digging of trenches to take signal cables, which had to be at least 6ft deep; the continuous revetting of trenches; camouflage; cemeteries; the cleaning up of villages, making them more sanitary; the establishment of a regular supply of clean water; and the arranging of accommodation and the feeding of horses. The list is endless, and although Royal Engineers carried out many of these tasks, they often needed the support of infantrymen as extra labour.

After a battalion had carried out a spell of several days in the front line, it then returned to its billets in a town or village or camp for a period of rest and training. It was often when expecting some ‘rest’ that men were called upon to provide working parties for the sort of duties just mentioned. Many divisions developed a close bond with a particular village, which in turn became ‘home’ for a short period. Civilians remained in these villages for as long as possible and not surprisingly they were elderly, women or children. War or no war, the harvest had to be attended to in the summer of 1915, and there are many instances of British troops helping out the civilians who had been robbed of their menfolk. Curiously, exactly the same situation occurred in villages on the other side of the front line, where German troops also assisted the local population to bring in the harvest. Estaminets too were often established, where the beer was cheap and wine in plentiful supply. There appears to have been often a genuine friendship between the French and the British, although of course there were problems when the military was accused of damaging French property or stealing the odd chicken, sheep or even cow. This friendship was particularly marked with men of the Newfoundland Regiment when they spent time in the village of Louvencourt prior to the battle.

On a recreational note, troops also became adept at providing their own entertainment and most divisions established concert parties, which performed regularly in village barns throughout the back areas. These concerts included variety acts and singing and gave a taste of home for officers and men, which was much appreciated. Films were often shown. Football matches, some between officers and men or between two battalions within the same brigade, were regularly organised and sports days too and even horseshows took place. Apart from home leave, troops were occasionally allowed to spend time in Amiens, providing they had an official pass and the inhabitants of that city carried on a relatively normal life. Troops could go shopping or more likely have a good meal and plenty to drink depending on their pockets. A visit to the red-light district would often add numbers to the casualty returns a short time later.

All this sounds like mixing hard work with play, a cushy existence and not particularly dangerous. However, a soldier could often be wounded or killed seemingly quite by chance, perhaps by one stray shell falling in the wrong place. Reading through war diaries, one comes across numerous instances of a billet or camp being shelled quite out of the blue. A parade of men formed up in a narrow village street could be hit, with extra injuries being caused by the blast and broken glass. There were instances of rogue shells exploding at an artillery or trench mortar battery. When men were having a demonstration of a bomb or grenade they were often closely packed, and when an accident occurred it could kill or maim a dozen men at a time. The human evidence of all these tragedies can be found in the cemeteries and where one comes across a group of men who died on the same day or even within a few days, this is often the reason.

This emphasis on what was happening behind the lines is not to detract from equal tragedies occurring nearer the front line and the worst day before the battle was 6 April, close to Beaumont-Hamel, when 112 casualties were suffered by 29th Division when the enemy put down a barrage which virtually destroyed the whole of the division’s trench system in that section of the battlefield. Although the British carried out numerous raids in the early part of 1916, they were very often unsuccessful and in human terms very costly. On the other hand, when the Germans carried out a raid, they appeared to be more successful.

At the beginning of 1916, Gen J. Joffre, Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, and Gen Sir Douglas Haig agreed that the British and the French should carry out a joint offensive north of the Somme in July, but a week later Gen E. von Falkenhayn, Chief of the German General Staff, decided on an attack against the French at Verdun. Although Haig would have preferred a battle much further north, either towards Cambrai or in Flanders, he had agreed with Joffre’s request, providing it was to be a joint offensive with the British playing the junior role. As the commitment of the French Army to the defence of Verdun continued with mounting casualties, Joffre had to inform Haig that in view of the situation the BEF would have to bear the brunt of the planned Somme offensive, with a much reduced presence of the French.

Prior to the end of February 1916, the Somme sector had been the responsibility of the British Third Army under Gen Sir Edmund Allenby. Two new armies were established; Fourth Army, under Lt Gen Sir Henry Rawlinson, was established at Querrieu, between Amiens and Albert, at the end of the month. They would take over much of the line from Third Army between the Somme and Serre. In addition, a Reserve Army was to be formed under Lt Gen Sir Hubert Gough, whose role at the start of the battle in July was to ‘exploit the success achieved by the Fourth Army’.

Although there were many signs of a forthcoming offensive, both in the lines opposite the German front on the Somme and of an obvious build-up of men and armaments in Britain, it was not until the German High Command received aerial reconnaissance reports of pre-battle activity in early April that they began to take the matter seriously.

Nearly five months later, the French and British High Command finally agreed on a starting date for the Somme battle as being 29 June, but owing to poor weather, the time was put back by 48 hours to 1 July, which was also the 131st day of the Battle of Verdun. By this time, Fourth Army was responsible for half a million troops, broken down into five corps – VIII, X, III, XV and XIII – and fourteen divisions. The British part of the attack was to commence with 164 battalions, with a further 64 battalions in close reserve. The men were a mixture of Regulars and Territorials, now supplemented by volunteer troops of Kitchener’s New Army. The role of the cavalry was to exploit the success of Fourth Army and push northwards and on to Bapaume.

A massive Allied bombardment began on 24 June, which, it was felt, would destroy the enemy front positions and allow their occupation by British and French troops. There would be no one left alive who would be able to repel the attacking divisions. Although this is not the place to go over the whys and wherefores, it does appear that this really was Haig’s thinking and any evidence that differed from this optimism was seemingly fatally ignored or dismissed. One general even thought that only a dog would still be alive in the ruins of Thiepval and yet Capt Martin of 9th Devons had even made a plasticine model of the front at Mametz and forecast the position of the machine-gun post that would kill him. His forecast was correct in every detail and his body lies in Devonshire Cemetery as if to prove it.

To make matters worse, one of the biggest errors of the day was the premature explosion of mines at Hawthorn Redoubt, close to Beaumont-Hamel. Instead of the mine being blown at just before the start time of 0730 hours, it was blown at 0720 hours, thus giving the enemy a full 10-minute early warning of British intentions. One feels that one has to look for a culprit here and I would suggest that the corps commander, Lt Gen Sir A.G. Hunter-Weston, was guilty by seemingly caving in to the Royal Engineers’ request for an early detonation without thinking of the dire consequences it would have on the battle.

What happened next at 0730 hours is now such a familiar and tragic story that it hardly needs retelling, but for the record, the only successes on the 25-mile front on this day were to the south of the battlefield, where the British captured the villages of Montauban-de-Picardie and Mametz, with the French Army making progress further south in their attacks towards Péronne. The British Army suffered over 57,430 casualties, of whom 19,240 were killed. Further progress over the next 4 months was very slow and costly.

On 14 July, after a very hard struggle to capture Mametz Wood, which had been achieved two days before, the British attacked the German Second Line and captured the villages of Longueval and Bazentin-le-Petit. By 26 July, Pozières was taken and on 15 September, High Wood was finally captured on the same day as British-made tanks appeared for the first time on a battlefield. Two months later, in what was the fourth phase of the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of the Ancre began and Saint-Pierre Divion and Beaumont-Hamel were captured, together with 4,000 prisoners. The battle finally spluttered out a few days later and the next real movement on the Somme front was when the enemy began to pull his troops back to a stronger defence line in early 1917.

The human cost of life as a result of the first Battle of the Somme will never be known exactly, but the majority of commentators have the British and German casualties down as being similar in the region of 419,000. The French cost was around 204,000 and in sheer numbers the Germans could be said to have therefore won the battle.

History has not been kind to Sir Douglas Haig, the Commander-in-Chief, but in recent years and led by the late John Terraine, a serious attempt has been made to rescue his reputation. The current scenario is now that the Battle of the Somme was necessary not only just to wear down the German Army, but it was also part of a learning curve that could only be sustained by a very large loss of life. Other points are that the battle broke the backbone of the German Army, i.e. their NCOs. In addition, the battle casualties were not so high when examined against the whole cost to the British Army throughout the war. The Allies won the last battle in 1918 and that was what really counted.

To some extent, much of this might well have been true, but I suspect the real truth is to be found, as so often, somewhere between the two extremes of Haig the Butcher and Haig the great Commander.

After the war, much of the Somme area was considered to be unusable, as the destruction had been so great. However, French farmers and other civilians were having none of that, and got back to work as soon as it was safe to do so. Obviously, roads and railways were the first priority, together with the clearing of the battlefield area of ammunition, the bodies of the fallen and the detritus of war. The harvest was the next priority, and people were accommodated in temporary buildings and schools were also re-established. Many of the Somme villages were ‘adopted’ by British towns, whose populations contributed to the cost of reconstruction and vital equipment. Agricultural assistance was also given by the British including the supplying of farm animals and seed to assist with re-stocking of farms.

It was hardly surprising to learn that France and Belgium became places of pilgrimage, even as early as 1919 after the war had scarcely finished. The first people to travel were mostly members of families who had lost men during the war and were anxious to find out where they might have been buried or otherwise commemorated. Others were soldiers themselves who wished to return to the sites of their battlefield experiences. There was even a third group of travellers who were perhaps slightly voyeuristic and wanted to see for themselves where so much death and destruction had occurred.

Although many cemeteries had been set up during the war, hundreds more bodies were later brought into them during the next 20 years. The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing was dedicated in 1932 and that at Villers-Bretonneux as late as 1938. During the Second World War, this part of northern France was once more occupied until 1944, and the Imperial War Graves Commission now had the task of repairing 5 years of neglect to the Allied cemeteries.

The First World War as the Great War was now virtually out of fashion, as the concentration camps and the dropping of two atomic bombs, together with other recent memories of a second conflict that had brought death much closer to home, seemed to have eclipsed it for the time being. In 1971, Martin Middlebrook, a Lincolnshire farmer, published a book called The First Day on the Somme, which was to have a considerable effect on a whole new generation, who up to then might not have given this subject much thought. Slowly, battlefield visiting began to increase, and in 1980, the Western Front Association was launched, which has also contributed to a wider understanding of the subject.

New memorials have sprung up alongside new museums in Albert, Delville Wood and Péronne, and tourism is booming. A new Visitors’ Centre was opened at Thiepval in the autumn of 2004, which is avowedly educational and will hopefully kindle interest in the young and maybe not so young, so that this area of northern France will continue to occupy a special place in the hearts and minds of the British and former Dominion nations.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

SOMME DIARY

This guide to the weather conditions during the eleven months prior to the start of the battle is based on war diary entries. The weather reports from the end of June 1916 are based on official records of the Meteorological Office covering the Albert district of Northern France. Daily rainfall is measured in millimetres, and the two degree measurements represent the highest and lowest Fahrenheit temperature each day. Trace means minimal rainfall.

A note too on the casualties mentioned prior to the Somme, as it should be stated that these are based on the records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and cover actual burials within the Department of the Somme. It naturally follows that casualties, in many cases, would have been higher than quoted, as men will often have died elsewhere.

The author has drawn upon the copy of Lt Gen Sir Henry Rawlinson’s war diary kept in the archive of Churchill College, Cambridge, to form the basis for this chronology from February 1916. Reports on the weather prior to the end of June are taken from War Diaries kept at The National Archives and later weather reports are taken from official records kept at the Meteorological Office, Bracknell, Hertfordshire.

JULY 1915

19 July: Troops of 48th Division, part of British Third Army, arrive at Beauquesne and Authie to begin to take over front-line duties from the French.

20 July: Troops from 4th Division arrive in the Somme area, detraining at Doullens and Mondicourt.

26 July: Troops of 18th and 51st Divisions are transferred to the Somme area, the latter arriving to the east of Amiens.

26 and 31 July: Five men from 1st Royal Warwicks (10th Brigade, 4th Division) are killed on these dates and are among the very first men buried in Row A, Sucrerie Military Cemetery, Colincamps. The French had used the cemetery since the summer of 1915.

Thirty British soldiers are recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as having been buried in the last 13 days of July 1915 in the Department of the Somme.

AUGUST 1915

At the beginning of August, units from 5th Division begin to arrive on the Somme at Ribemont.

8 August: Three men of 1/5th Gordon Highlanders (153rd Brigade, 51st Division) are killed and are buried in I A 3–5 in Bécourt Military Cemetery.

16 August: Three men of 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers (10th Brigade, 4th Division) are killed and are buried next to each other in Row B in III B 3–4 of Sucrerie Military Cemetery, Colincamps.

19 August: Five men of 1/7th Black Watch (153rd Brigade, 51st Division) are killed. Four of them are buried in Row I A 13–16 of Bécourt Military Cemetery and one is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

25 August: Four men of 7th Royal West Kents (55th Brigade, 18th Division) are killed, three of whom are buried in Point 110 Old Military Cemetery and one in Norfolk Cem Becordel I A 15.

27 August: Six men of 6th Royal Berkshires (53rd Brigade, 18th Division) are killed; five are buried in II Row C of Citadel New Military Cemetery and one in Corbie Communal Cemetery I A 24.

28 August: Two men of 6th Royal Berkshires (53rd Brigade, 18th Division) are killed and are buried in I A of Norfolk Cemetery.

29 August: After an explosion of a German camouflet, ten men of 7th Buffs (55th Brigade, 18th Division), attached to No. 178 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, are killed; nine are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial and one buried in Norfolk Cemetery I A 5. In addition, five men are wounded. Ten men of 7th Buffs (55th Brigade, 18th Division) are killed, of whom nine are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial and one buried in Norfolk Cemetery I A 5. Two men of No. 174 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, are killed and are also commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

30 August: Elements of 37th Division begin to arrive in the Somme area.

31 August: Six men from the 8th Leicester Bn are killed during a grenade practice demonstration and are buried together in a row in Montdicourt Communal Cemetery.

A total of 258 British soldiers died on the Somme in August.

SEPTEMBER 1915

1 September: Four more men from 7th Buffs (55th Brigade, 18th Division) are killed and are buried in Point 110 Old Cemetery in Rows C & D. Six men from the 1st King’s Own (Royal North Lancaster Regt.) (12th Brigade, 4th Division) are killed and are buried in Row III C of Sucrerie Military Cemetery, Colincamps. They were in trenches between la Signy Farm and the Serre road when caught by enemy guns and trench mortars during the morning and afternoon.

6 September: Three men of No. 178 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, die; they are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

12 September: on a day of considerable activity, two mines are exploded and four men from 6th Northamptons (54th Brigade, 18th Division) are killed, of whom three are buried in Rows E & F of Point 110 Old Military Cemetery and one is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

15 September: Five more men from 6th Northamptons die, of whom four are buried in Row F, Point 110 Old Military Cemetery and one in Saint-Pierre Cemetery I A 1, Amiens.

17 September: Three men of No. 178 Tunnelling Company are killed and are buried in I A & B in Norfolk Cemetery.

23 September: Three more men of 6th Royal Berkshires (53rd Brigade, 18th Division) are killed and are buried in I Row C of Bécourt Military Cemetery, followed by two more the following day.

25 September: Four members of 1/6th, 14th and 15th King’s killed when on patrol at Curlu. Three are buried in Suzanne Communal Cemetery Extension in graves C 12, C 13 and C 14 respectively. The grave of the fourth man is in Assevillers New Brit Cemetery V B 6.

27 September: Four men of 1st Leinsters are killed and buried in Hangard Communal Cemetery Extension I G & K.

29 September: Five men of 10th Essex (53rd Brigade, 18th Division) are killed and are buried in I Row D of Albert Communal Cemetery Extension.

A total of 364 men died on the Somme in September.

OCTOBER 1915

4 October: Troops of 36th Division begin to arrive.

6 October: Nine men of 7th Oxford & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry are killed, of whom four are buried in Row C of Dartmoor Cemetery and five commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

8 October: Four men of 1/6th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders (152nd Brigade, 51st Division) are killed and buried in Row B, Authuille Military Cemetery. Three men of No. 174 Company, Royal Engineers, die and are buried in Row G, Point 110 Old Military Cemetery.

15 October: Around this date, six men of 1/7th Gordon Highlanders (153rd Brigade, 51st Division) are killed near Authuille by enemy trench-mortar fire in reply to British shelling. One mortar hit a shelter, burying several men, and another landed close to a support trench. The six men are buried in Row B of Authuille Military Cemetery.

16 October: Three men of 8th Norfolks (53rd Brigade, 18th Division) are killed and are buried in Row C of Norfolk Cemetery, Graves 9 to 11.

20 October: As a result of the enemy exploding a mine near the Tambour at Fricourt, seven men of 7th Queen’s (55th Brigade, 18th Division) are killed and are buried in I Rows B or C of Norfolk Cemetery. The men, attached to the mining section of 55th Brigade, had been caught east of the Tambour when cut off in a sap leading to a mine and were gassed. Six other men are sent to hospital. Four men of 8th East Surreys (55th Brigade, 18th Division) are also killed and are buried in I Row C of the same cemetery.

23 October: Gen Sir E. Allenby takes over command of Third Army from Gen Sir C. Monro. Four men of 1/5th Cheshires (14th Brigade, 5th Division) are killed and buried in Row C of Suzanne Communal Cemetery Extension.

A total of 383 men died on the Somme during October.

NOVEMBER 1915

1 November: Heavy snowfall.

2 November: Many trenches had fallen in.

3 November: Five men of 1st East Surreys (14th Brigade, 5th Division) are killed when a trench mortar falls into their trench while they are having a meal. Later the same day, a sixth man is killed in the South Péronne subsector. The six men are buried in II Row J of Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery.

5 November: Four men of No. 178 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, are killed and are buried in Row B of Norfolk Cemetery.

7 November: When a sergeant and 11 grenadiers of 11th Royal Warwicks (112th Brigade, 37th Division) fail to return from a patrol, it is assumed that they have been taken prisoner. Eight men who are not found are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. Five men of 1st Royal Warwicks (10th Brigade, 4th Division) are killed and are buried in Plot II of Sucrerie Military Cemetery B, C, D and F.

9 November: Elements of 30th Division arrive in the Somme region, setting up their headquarters in Ailly-le-Haut-Clocher.

15 November: Heavy snowfall during the night. Further elements of 30th Division begin to arrive in the area.

16 November: Heavy snowfall during the night.

17 November: Snow and bitterly cold.

18 November: Bitterly cold.

19 November: A thaw set in. Around this date, 2nd Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (14th Brigade, 5th Division) arrive in Suzanne, when an accident causes the death of three men and the wounding of four others. Two men are buried in Suzanne Communal Cemetery Extension B 9–10 and one man who dies the next day is buried in Chipilly Communal Cemetery D–1.

21/22 November: Six men of No. 179 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, are killed; two are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial and four are buried in I Row A of Albert Communal Cemetery Extension. They are killed by an enemy mine explosion, together with eight men of D Coy, 10th Bn Essex Regiment. They had been on duty at the Glory Hole in La Boisselle and were blown up by a German mine placed below where they were working.

24 November: A patrol of men of 2nd Manchesters (14th Brigade, 5th Division) is sent out, but finds no sign of the enemy. The group was later caught by enemy shelling. Six men died, of whom five are buried in II E of Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery and one in Row B of Suzanne Communal Cemetery Extension.

27 November: Elements of 32nd Division begin to arrive in the Somme area.

28 November: Very cold.

29 November: Very cold.

A total of 253 men died on the Somme during November.

DECEMBER 1915

1 December: Eight men from No. 183 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, are killed near Fricourt after detonation of an enemy mine leads to the crushing of galleries; two men were gassed when escaping and one officer and two men were crushed in the collapse of a shaft lodgement. Four are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial; four are buried in V–A of Citadel New Military Cemetery.

2 December: One man from No. 183 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, is gassed when clearing up the above. Those killed are either buried in Citadel New Military Cemetery V A 13 or commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

3 December: Rain in the morning.

6 December: Rain all day.

7 December: 1st Cheshires (15th Brigade, 5th Division) carry out a successful raid south of Mametz, but lose one man; he is buried in Row D2 of Chipilly Communal Cemetery. Troops of 7th Division begin to arrive.

9 December: Rain all day.

11 December: Heavy frost.

12 December: Icy wind.

18 December: Cold and misty. No. 179 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, lose two men, who are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

19 December: No. 179 Tunnelling Company lose a further four men, who are also commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

20 December: Fine and clear day.

21 December: Rain all day. When the enemy explode two large mines in Tambour Diclos, Fricourt, 14 members of No. 178 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, are killed. Seven of them are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial and seven are buried in Row C, Plot I, Norfolk Cemetery.

22 December: Rain all day. Four men of 10th Royal Irish Rifles (25th Brigade, 8th Division) die and three are buried in Plots II and III of Sucrerie Military Cemetery. One is buried in C4 of Mailly-Maillet Communal Cemetery Extension.

23 December: Rain on and off all day.

25 December: Five men of 16th Royal Warwicks (15th Brigade, 5th Division) are killed; two men are buried in Row D of Chipilly Communal Cemetery and three in B and C of Plot III in Citadel New Military Cemetery.

31 December: Rain in the night and most of the day.

December was a particularly tragic month for tunnelling companies; at least 34 men were killed and more than half of the dead were never found. They were part of the 331 men who died from all British units that month.

JANUARY 1916

1 January: Rain all day.

2 January: Rain all day.

3 January: In trenches to the east of Hébuterne, seven men of 1/8th Worcesters (144th Brigade, 48th Division) are killed; they are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. Their French-built dugout did not protect them from heavy enemy shelling.

4 January: Rain all day. Six men of 1st East Lancashires (11th Brigade, 4th Division) are killed and are buried in Plot I, Row A, Hamel Military Cemetery. The enemy had been shelling Hamel for much of the day, including the use of aerial torpedoes, and also targeted the Jacob’s Ladder positions behind the village with a shrapnel barrage. All communications are broken and Lancashire Post suffers badly.

6 January: Rain all day.

14 January: Fine all day. Four men from 17th King’s (89th Brigade, 30th Division) die of wounds as a result of the premature explosion of a rifle grenade near Méricourt l’Abbé. Three men are buried in Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery I, A & H and one who dies later is buried in Corbie Communal Cemetery I C 22. Nine men, mainly from B Company, 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers (90th Brigade, 30th Division), become casualties when the enemy systematically range buildings in the village of Suzanne, many of which are occupied by troops. Billets are hit and even the cellars are unsafe. The dead are later buried in Rows B and D, Suzanne Communal Cemetery Extension, and two who die of wounds are buried in Corbie Communal Cemetery. The remaining civilians in Suzanne are evacuated.

16 January: Rain all day.

18 January: Very wet day.

19 January: Fine day.

22 January: Wet.

24 January: Heavy German bombardment against Maricourt.

25 January: Fine.

26 January: Fine. Five men of 17th Northumberland Fusiliers (pioneers of 32nd Division) die and are buried in Row A, Authuille Military Cemetery.

27 January: Fine. Four men of the 15th Highland Light Infantry are killed and buried side by side in Row A of Authuille Military Cemetery.

28 January: Fine. The Kaiser’s birthday. The village of Suzanne is heavily shelled. Three men from 17th King’s and two men from 20th King’s (both 89th Brigade, 30th Division) are killed during heavy shelling of Maricourt and are buried in Plot II, D, G & H of Cerisy-Gailly. Seven men of 17th, 18th (both 90th Brigade, 30th Division) and 19th Manchesters (21st Brigade, 30th Division) die and are buried in Corbie Communal Cemetery and Suzanne Communal Cemetery Extension. The Germans had taken Frise from the French on the other side of the River Somme, which explains all the shelling activity.

29 January: Fine. Three men of 18th Manchesters die; one is buried in Corbie Communal Cemetery Extension I-C-37 and two in Suzanne Communal Cemetery Extension Row D. A member of 19th Manchesters is buried next to the 18th man in Corbie in CCE.

30 January: Four men of 12th Middlesex (54th Brigade, 18th Division) are killed and are buried in Row B 24–27 of Méaulte Military Cemetery.

31 January: Fine and dull.

A total of 387 men died on the Somme during January.

FEBRUARY 1916

1 February: A fine spring day.

2 February: A fine but cold day. Elements of 49th Division begin to arrive on the Somme.

4 February: Rain all day. When the enemy blow a camouflet in Inch Street mine, 16 men and 2 officers of No. 185 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, are killed. The men are buried in I-J-9 Bécourt Military Cemetery and the officers are buried in I–F 1 and 2 Albert Communal Cemetery Extension. In addition, six men of 18th Manchesters (90th Brigade, 30th Division), caught by shell-fire in Vaux, are buried in Rows D and E of Suzanne Communal Cemetery Extension; a seventh man, who died of wounds, is buried in I-D-39 Corbie Communal Cemetery.

5 February: A fine day.

6 February: A dull day. Four men from 19th Manchesters (21st Brigade, 30th Division) die after being hit by a rifle grenade close to Carnoy; three of them are buried at Carnoy Military Cemetery H, J & K and one at Corbie Communal Cemetery I D 31. Six men from 24th Manchesters (pioneers of 7th Division) die and are buried in Point 110 Old Military Cemetery, Row J1 to J7, including a regimental sergeant-major next to a company sergeant-major. 2nd Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (96th Brigade, 32nd Division) lose 8 men killed and 17 wounded when targeted in the line by enemy trench mortars. Two men from from the 20th Manchesters are in Plot V of Citadel New Military Cemetery, V D 18 & B 11.

7 February: Four men from 13th Royal Irish Rifles (108th Brigade, 36th Division) die, of whom three are buried in G4 to G6 of Mesnil Ridge Cemetery and one, who died of wounds, in Forceville Communal Cemetery and Extension. Four men from 1st South Staffords (91st Brigade, 7th Division) are killed when enemy blow a mine in front of their trenches, of whom three are buried in V A 2-A4 of Citadel New Military Cemetery and one is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. Ten men of 24th Manchesters (pioneers of 7th Division) die and are buried in Row B9–B19, Point 110 New Military Cemetery.

8 February: A fine day. Five members of the 12th New Heavy Battery Royal Garrison Artillery are killed and buried in Suzanne Communal Cemetery Extension Row E.

9 February: A fine day. Eight men from 2nd King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (97th Brigade, 32nd Division) die; seven are buried in Aveluy Communal Cemetery Extension Row C and one in the A.I.F Burial Ground, Flers IV H 20. Three men are killed in trenches in Authuille Wood when their dugout is blown in. Shelling of the wood was intense for several hours and it was later found that a whole gun team of 12th Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, had been killed; five men are buried in Row E of Suzanne Communal Cemetery Extension. The French regain some trenches they had lost at Frise on 28 January. Elements of 46th Division begin to arrive in the Somme area.

10 February: A fine day.

11 February: Wet and cold.

12 February: Four men of 2nd Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (96th Brigade, 32nd Division) die and are buried in A 31 to A 34 of Authuille Military Cemetery.

13 February: Four men of 2nd Gordon Highlanders (20th Brigade, 7th Division) die and are buried in I A or B Norfolk Cemetery.

15 February: Wet.

17 February: A fine day. Four men from 2nd Essex and six men from 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers (both 12th Brigade, 4th Division) die and are buried in Sucrerie Military Cemetery, Colincamps. Of the four men from the 2nd Essex, two are in III H of Sucrerie Military Cemetery, one in Euston Road Cemetery II C 2 and one on the Thiepval Memorial. Of the six 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers men, five are in the Sucrerie Military Cemetery side by side in III H 7–10 in the same row as the Essex men.

18 February: A fine day.

19 February: Prior to arriving at Querrieu to take over Fourth Army, Lt Gen Sir Henry Rawlinson attends a conference at Lt Gen Sir Charles Monro’s First Army headquarters. Rawlinson is then allowed a week’s leave before taking up his appointment. Maj Gen A.A. Montgomery is to be his Chief of Staff and Maj Gen J.F.N. Birch, formerly I Corps’ Brigadier General Royal Artillery, is to be his artillery advisor; both men are to work with him at Querrieu. Eighteen men of 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers (12th Brigade, 4th Division) die, of whom 14 are buried in Plots I to III of Sucrerie Military Cemetery and 4 are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

20 February: A fine day. Five men of 1/5th West Yorkshires (146th Brigade, 49th Division) die; three men are buried in Mill Road Cemetery and two are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

21 February: Fine and cold. The Battle of Verdun begins after a heavy German attack.

22 February: Fine with snow. Thirteen men of 2nd Borders (20th Brigade, 7th Division) are killed, of whom all except one, commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, are buried in Norfolk Cemetery in I Rows A and B. Back from leave, Rawlinson goes round XIII Corps’ front and sees all over the French lines at Frise and Vaux Wood, as well as visiting Fricourt and Mametz. It is snowing for much of the tour and snow lies thickly at Méricourt l’Abbé.

23 February: Snows hard most of the day. Rawlinson visits VI Corps’ front and gets a very good view of the ground and the enemy trenches at Thiepval, Ovillers and La Boisselle, before the snow blots out the view. He also visits some of the artillery batteries before returning to Querrieu in time for tea.

24 February: Heavy snow and frost. Fourth Army ‘sets up shop’ in the village of Querrieu and Rawlinson visits units of the Royal Flying Corps; writing of cooperation with artillery, he notes: ‘it was far from what it should be …’ Gen Sir E. Allenby, General Officer Commanding Third Army, visits Querrieu; he is to take over from the French XVII Corps. Rawlinson notes in his diary: ‘I am not in favour of small pushes – they are expensive in casualties and do no good …’ A fourteenth man of 2nd Borders (20th Brigade, 7th Division) dies of wounds at Corbie and is buried in Corbie Communal Cemetery I D 11.

25 February: Heavy snow and hard frost. Rawlinson moves into the château at Querrieu.

26 February: Further snow before a thaw begins.

27 February: A dull day with the thaw quickly melting the snow. Rawlinson notes that the château is not very comfortable yet, as the electric light keeps going off and the fires smoke. In the afternoon he goes to Albert and later walks round the trenches opposite La Boisselle. Rawlinson’s lines had now been extended to include Gommecourt as well as taking over the Tenth French Army front. Rawlinson is to keep Lt Gen Sir W.N. Congreve (XIII Corps) and Lt Gen Sir T.L.N. Morland (X Corps), but will lose Lt Gen J. Byng (XVII Corps): ‘My line will be very thin.’ He notes also that Haig is back from London, where he had seen Kitchener.

28 February: A fine but showery day. In the morning Rawlinson leaves for Beauquesne, where he holds talks with Gen Allenby and Lt Gen Byng. Back at Querrieu, he is ready to receive Haig at 1400hrs; before Haig leaves to see Gen Joffre at Chantilly, he tells Rawlinson that he can now also have VIII Corps, which is in the process of being raised. He can also have two Indian divisions as a reserve. Rawlinson notes that ‘Uncle Harper [Maj Gen G.M. Harper, General Officer Commanding 51st Division] rode over and I rode back to tea with him’ at 51st Division headquarters, which was at Flesselles.

29 February: A dull day with drizzle, although there still seems to be snow around, which continues to thaw. Lt Gen Congreve comes over to Querrieu after breakfast and Rawlinson rides over to Baizieux to see Lt Gen Morland, who is to move his headquarters to Toutencourt. VIII Corps is to begin to form at Marieux. Gen Allenby and Maj Gen H.M. Trenchard, Royal Flying Corps, come to lunch.

A total of 470 men died on the Somme in February 1916, a month that had also been particularly cold.

MARCH 1916

1 March: Fine but dull. At noon on this day, which is also Rawlinson’s birthday, Fourth Army takes over the front-line section from the River Somme to the Somme–Mailly-Maillet line. At 1215hrs, Haig calls in from Chantilly and then rides out to have tea with Maj Gen F.I. Maxse, General Officer Commanding 18th Division, and Maj Gen H.E. Watts, General Officer Commanding 7th Division, but the former is out. Rawlinson notes that some roads are in a very bad state.

2 March: Rawlinson sees Gen Foch, soon to be commander of the French Northern Army Group, in the morning; after lunch he visits Mesnil and takes Maj Gen O.S.W. Nugent, General Officer Commanding 36th Division, out to the observation station, where there is a very good view of Thiepval and the Ancre Valley. He later visits Maj Gen W.H. Rycroft, General Officer Commanding 32nd Division, at a ‘splendid château’ at Hénencourt, and gets home ‘late’ at 2000hrs.

3 March: A fine morning, followed by dull and wet weather. Rawlinson takes his first conference of Fourth Army’s corps commanders, noting that Congreve and Morland are ‘very intelligent and communicative’. Rawlinson then inspects III Army School at Flixecourt and after that drives on to Saint-Omer, where he is to stay with Haig. He is held up by bad roads and is half an hour late for dinner. Gen Allenby is also there.

4 March: A dull, damp and cold day. Rawlinson is still away and notes that the railway system will not now be ready until the end of April.

5 March: A bright cold day. Rawlinson visits Maj Gen R. Fanshawe, General Officer Commanding 48th Division, at Bus-lès-Artois, some 15 miles from Querrieu, so ‘I had a good ride’. Maj Gen W. Lambton, General Officer Commanding 4th Division, comes to lunch.

6 March: A very cold but fine day with a little snow. Rawlinson visits Auchonvillers and the right bank of the Ancre. He mentions a good view that can be had from the hedge in a cemetery to the north of the village.

7 March: A fine cold day with some snow. Two enemy mines are exploded opposite Auchonvillers. Rawlinson has tea at Hébuterne.

8 March: A cold but fine day. Rawlinson leaves for Amiens, where he presents the Order of St John of Jerusalem to two nuns for their good work when the enemy briefly occupied Amiens in 1914. Back at Querrieu he entertains Ruthven of the staff of VII Corps before riding over to Maj Gen Maxse’s 18th Division headquarters in the afternoon. Six men of 18th Manchesters (90th Brigade, 30th Division) are killed, of whom five are buried in Suzanne Communal Cemetery Extension Row F and one in Chipilly Communal Cemetery, A 19.

9 March: A dry fine day with slight snow. Gen Foch comes to lunch at Querrieu, after which Rawlinson takes to bed with flu.

10 March: A dry fine day with a little snow. The enemy raid 32nd Division positions near Thiepval and carry off one officer and eight other ranks, as well as inflicting 50 casualties. Twelve men, including one officer, of 16th Lancashire Fusiliers (96th Brigade, 32nd Division) are killed, of whom 10 are buried in Rows A, B or C of Authuille Military Cemetery and 2 in Aveluy Communal Cemetery Extension. A wiring party had been working in the lines when driven back into the trenches by a heavy bombardment and at one point the enemy entered the British trenches. Five men are also killed when their dugout in a reserve line is crushed. In addition, seven men of 10th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (109th Brigade, 36th Division) are killed and are buried in Rows B and C, Authuille Military Cemetery.

11 March: A dull and cold morning. Rawlinson’s doctor allows him to visit his office briefly, but he is still far from well. Lord Salisbury, who is staying with Maj Gen Maxse, comes to tea. Troops of 31st Division begin to arrive in the Somme area.

12 March: A fine day.

13 March: A fine day. One British aircraft is brought down near the Somme.

14 March: A fine day. Rawlinson is still far from well but Haig visits and informs him that he is to have Lt Gen H.S. Horne’s XV Corps as well. Rawlinson plans a trip to the south of France in order to recuperate from his illness. Bray-sur-Somme and Sailly are bombed at night.

15 March: A fine day but cloudy. Haig decides to make Lt Gen Sir Hubert Gough commander of the Reserve Army. Four men of 17th Manchesters (90th Brigade, 30th Division) die, of whom three are buried in Suzanne Communal Cemetery F 18–20 and one in Chipilly Communal Cemetery, A–7.

17 March: Rawlinson leaves Amiens and journeys by train via Paris to Nice, where he stays in a convalescent home for officers run by the RAMC.

18 March: A fine day. Four men of 2nd Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (96th Brigade, 32nd Division) are killed, three of whom are buried in Authuille Military Cemetery Row C and one, who died of wounds, in Millencourt Communal Cemetery Extension A 63.

19 March: During an enemy raid, 12 men of 1/6th Glosters (144th Brigade, 48th Division) are killed, of whom 10 are buried in I C, Sucrerie Cemetery, Colincamps, and 2 in Beauval Communal Cemetery, D 19 & 20. In addition, three men of 2nd Gordon Highlanders (20th Brigade, 7th Division) die, of whom two are buried in Méaulte Military Cemetery. In the south of France, Rawlinson receives a telegram from Haig’s secretary, Philip Sassoon, telling him to stay put until he is completely fit.

20 March: Fine. Another Glosters man dies and is buried next to the two men from the above, 19 March, at Beauval CC.

21 March: Fine.

22 March: Wet.

23 March: A dull and very cold day.

24 March: Very cold.

25 March: Cold and showery. III Corps is established at Montigny. Four men of 20th Manchesters (22nd Brigade, 7th Division) die and are later buried in I E Dartmoor Cemetery, Bécordel-Bécourt. Three men of 2nd Royal Warwicks (also 22nd Brigade, 7th Division) are killed in the trenches and are buried in Rows D & E of Point 110 New Military Cemetery.

26 March: Cold and showery.

27 March: Cold and showery. Rawlinson finishes his period of recuperation at Nice and returns by train to Paris and Amiens, arriving back at Querrieu the following day. Sixteen men of 16th Highland Light Infantry (97th Brigade, 32nd Division) die, of whom 15 are buried in I Rows K & R of Bécourt Military Cemetery and 1 at I C – 8, Saint-Pierre Cemetery, Amiens. They were caught by the enemy while covering an 86-man-strong raiding party of 1st Dorsets (97th Brigade, 32nd Division). The raiders who worked under cover of a mine explosion at Y Sap soon after midnight achieved nothing but returned with 21 casualties, including four fatalities who had become tangled in enemy wire. Three men are buried in Millencourt Communal Extension Cemetery, B 62, C 44 and C 45, and a fourth, who died of wounds, at Saint-Pierre Cemetery, Amiens, I C 9. Lastly, three men of 6th Royal Berkshires (53rd Brigade, 18th Division) are killed in the shelling of Maricourt and are buried in Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery, II D 15, D 16 and D 22. Troops of 8th Division begin to arrive in the Somme area.

28 March: Cold with snow.

29 March: Cold with heavy snowfall in the afternoon. Lord Kitchener arrives in France and has talks with Haig. Elements of 29th Division begin to arrive in the Somme area.

30 March: Lord Kitchener arrives at Querrieu and Rawlinson notes in his diary that ‘K is not in favour of a Big Push’ but of smaller offensives which would kill