Somme 1916 by Paul Kendall

Author:Paul Kendall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The New Press
Published: 2016-06-07T04:00:00+00:00

Within minutes the advance of the 16th Northumberland Fusiliers had been stopped. These men were advancing eastwards up a slope, the sun shining in their eyes, dazzling their vision. Unable to overcome the awesome fire power being fired downwards in their direction, the only option for them was to take shelter in the shell holes. The survivors of ‘A’ and ‘B’ companies lay on the ground or dived into nearby craters for shelter from the overwhelming enemy fire. ‘C’ and ‘D’ companies were brought forward together with Newcastle Commericals Battalion HQ to the front line. ‘C’ Company, followed ‘A’ and ‘B’ companies and suffered the same fate. The first platoon could not get beyond the parapet and was immediately mown down. The remainder were stopped from going over the top and ordered to man the fire steps in the British line where they could provide covering rifle fire aiming for the German soldiers that were clearly visible firing from the top of their parapet. The 96th Brigade War Diary reported that soldiers of the Newcastle Commericals ‘hung on in No Man’s Land under heavy shell fire in addition to M.G. fire by getting into shell holes and improvising cover with entrenching tools they remained there suffering from shell and machine-gun fire. The few that remained there were withdrawn at dusk.’10 Captain Arthur Young returned to the British trench in order to report that the advance of ‘A’ Company had faltered. He then returned to the remnants of his company in No Man’s Land to rally them but he too was killed.

Leutnant Cassel could easily see the British waves as they moved towards them:

We rushed to the ramparts, there they come, the khaki-yellows, they are not more than 20 metres in front of our trench. They advance fully equipped slowly to march across our bodies into open country. But no boys, we are still alive, the moles come out of their holes. machine-gun fire tear holes in their rows. They discover our presence, throw themselves on the ground, in front of our trenches, once these were trenches, now a mass of craters, welcomed by hand grenades and gun fire, and have now to sell their lives themselves.11

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