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8Th Norfolks on the Somme, 1St July 1916

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8Th Norfolks on the Somme, 1St July 1916 8th Norfolks on the Somme, 1 st July 1916 Introduction 8th Norfolks, a ‘Kitchener battalion’ raised in September 1914, was one of the attacking battalions on the 1 st July. Their starting position was on the southern part of the British front line, north of the village of Carnoy. As part of 18 th (Eastern) Division, under the experienced and enlightened General Maxse, the battalion was well trained and properly prepared, but had not previously been involved in a major attack. My grandfather, Sergeant Sid Dace, served with the battalion and was there on 1 st July but his role is not known. He may have been one of the bombers referred to below. Contemporary documents [From 53rd Brigade War Diary – WO 95/2034] “Attack of the 8 th Norfolk Regiment At 7:27 a.m. the leading Coys . ('C' Coy. on the right and 'B' Coy. on the left) went over the parapet and formed up for the assault in front of our trenches. No difficulty was experienced during the forming up, practically all our wire having been removed and, the enemy's barrage was not heavy, most of the fire being directed on our 3 rd . and 4 th Assembly trenches. At 7:30 a.m. the leading wave moved forward to the assault; very little opposition was encountered in MINE Trench and MINE Support; the enemy’s wire had been almost completely destroyed and offered no obstacle and his trenches were almost obliterated in places. The first serious resistance was encountered at THE CASTLE, this was overcome about 7:53 a.m. and the leading Coys. pushed on. A good number of prisoners of the 109 th Inf. Regt. were captured here by the right platoon of the 3 rd Coy. (‘B’ Coy). After leaving THE CASTLE, the right of the right Coy. was held up at the junction of MINE ALLEY and BRESLAU SUPPORT, the remainder of this Coy. and the left Coy. pushed on to the POMMIERS line which was reached shortly after 8:15 a.m. Captain Hall commanding the Left Coy. was badly wounded just after leaving BUND SUPPORT and 2 nd Lieut. Attenborough assumed command of the Coy. The right of the right Coy. came under heavy machine gun fire from the gun in MINE ALLEY and machine gun and rifle fire from the junction of BACK and BOCHE trenches where the enemy had a strong point. 2 bombing parties under Sergt. WEST were sent forward and a Stokes gun was brought up; there was considerable delay in getting the gun into action owing to some of the party carrying ammunition having been hit. During the next few hours the progress of the right was very slow, and it was not till nearly 2 p.m. that resistance in this quarter was finally overcome [and] the capture of this strong point and BACK Trench was accomplished by bombing parties under 2 nd Lieut. GUNDRY- WHITE and 2 nd Lieut. MIALL-SMITH working up BRESLAU ALLEY and MINE ALLEY, and assisted by the fire of Stokes guns from MINE ALLEY and THE LOOP. 2 officers and about 150 men were made prisoners. In the meantime THE LOOP had been captured at about 10:20 a.m. together with about 60 prisoners. The loss in Officers was severe and at this period there was only 1 Officer with the detached portion of the Right Coy. and 1 Officer (who was slightly wounded) with the left. At this period Capt. MORGAN re-inforced the leading Cos. with 2 platoons of his Support Coy. (‘B’ Coy.) and 1 took command of the line. About 11:00 a.m. the Right Coy. moved forward to BLIND ALLEY and the Left Coy. began working up LOOP Trench and eventually got [in] touch with the R. BERKS REGT who were working up this trench. At this time considerable trouble was caused by fire from the still uncaptured strong point to the right rear. Little progress was made until the LOOP Trench was finally cleared by the BERKS about 5:40 p.m. when the advanced line moved forward to MONTAUBAN ALLEY. About 4:00 p.m. an attack was made to push across the MONTAUBAN – MAMETZ Road, but this was prevented by heavy machine gun fire. 2 nd Lieut. Attenborough and C.S.M.1 Coe both being killed during the attempt. On reaching MONTAUBAN ALLEY the Coys. were re-organised and a strong bombing party was sent forward to clear CATERPILLAR Trench where practically no resistance was met. This trench was double blocked at about Pt. S.26.a.9.6. The Reserve Coy. under Capt. ASHDOWN now moved forward and about 8:00 p.m. occupied an advanced line in front of MONTAUBAN ALLEY on the line of EAST Trench - Pt. S.26.b.46.40 - Pt. S.26.a.9.6. By 10:00 p.m. the work of consolidation was well advanced.” [From 8 th Norfolks War Diary – WO 95/2040] “War Diary – JULY 1916 Assembly Trenches 1 st The Battal ion took part in an assault on the German trenches North or CARNOY, and S.W. of MONTAUBAN. The 7 th Battalion The Queens Royal West Surrey Regiment of the 55 th Brigade were on our Right and the 6 th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment, of our own Brigade, were on our left. For details of Operation Orders giving Administrative arrangements issued prior to 1 st July, see Appendix 1 (Attached). In the early hours of the morning the Battalion was in position in the four assembly trenches, i.e., in their battle position ready for attack. The early hours of the morning were passed in comparative quietude. 5:30 am. Teas were brought up from CARNOY and served out in the Assemb ly trenches. 7.20 am. Our artillery commenced the intense bombardment and the enemy’s retaliation on our Fourth line assembly trench became more apparent. 7.27 am. A mine and two Russian Saps were exploded on our front. 7.27 am. The first wave of our “C” and “ D” Companies deployed from our firing line and laid out in the open about 30 yards in front. This movement was accomplished without loss. 7.30 am. The assault commenced. The remainder of our two assaulting companies left our trenches and moved forward in four successive waves. 1 Recte R.S.M 2 MINE TRENCH was reached and crossed by these two Companies with practically no opposition and without loss on our side. All Germans remaining alive in this trench after our artillery barrage had passed were thoroughly cowed and at once surrendered. “C” Company on our right took about 30 prisoners from the West Edge of the mine craters. MINE SUPPORT was taken about 7.40 am. The wire entanglements in front having been completely demolished by our artillery. Up to this point, the Battalion suffered very few casualties. BUND SUPPORT was reached and taken at 8 a.m, where in accordance with previous arrangements 2 a halt was made. The two assaulting companies on leaving BUND SUPPORT came under heavy enfilade machine gun fire from the direction of BRESLAU SUPPORT and BACK TRENCH and suffered heavily. Captain B.P Ayre being killed and Captain J H Hall being seriously wounded. By this time the following officers had been wounded. Capt & Adjt H.P. Berney-Ficklin, 2 nd Lieuts. J.G. Hampson, C.T. Blackborn, L. Padfield, S.A. Wharton, G.R. Ironmonger and E. Maclean, (at duty). There now remained no officer with the left leading company and two subalterns in the right leading company, which were now reduced to 90 and 100 men respectively. The Left Leading Company under C.S.M. A.F. Raven reached our first objective - POMMIERS TRENCH - and took it at about 10.30 am. A portion of the Right Leading Company also got into POMMIERS TRENCH near the East Side of THE LOOP at the same time, but the remainder of this company was held up by machine gun fire and a strong point at the junction of BOCHE TRENCH and BACK TRENCH with MINE ALLEY. After this company had been reinforced by a platoon from the support company under 2nd Lieut G. E. Miall-Smith and the Battalions Bombers under Sergeant H E West had also been sent up to this point, this strongpoint fell and the garrison of about 150 Germans and 2 Officers of a Bavarian Regiment surrendered, and right leading company was then able to push forward into the East portion of POMMIERS TRENCH which up to then had not been taken. At this point in the attack, “A” company which had been in reserve and had advanced from the assembly trenches in artillery formation at 7.45am, and had been consolidating MINE SUPPORT, now advanced to BUND SUPPORT and commenced the consolidation of this trench. At the same “B”, the support company, advanced with three platoons, (1 already having been sent to reinforce “C”), to POMMIERS TRENCH. 3 pm. “B” Company had now taken THE LOOP and both assaulting companies advanced to the MONTAUBAN ALLEY line, - the final objective of the Battalion. Owing to machine gun firing from the line and from N.W of MONTAUBAN, “D” company on the left suffered heavy casualties, and “C” company, led by 2nd Lieut J H Attenborough made repeated attempts to get into MONTAUBAN ALLEY but did not succeed until a bombing party under 2 nd Lieut. L.A Gundry-White gained an entrance by way of LOOP TRENCH on the left.
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