Serre. 6 Bn King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. 3 August 1916.
Serre was the most northerly sector of the main Somme Offensive. The sector had been the scene of the disastrous start to Offensive on 1 July. John Harris’ novel “Covenant With Death”, gives a vivid description of those first few tragic hours in July. The attack in this sector failed with very heavy casualties – mostly among ‘Pals’ battalions from Hull, Leeds, Sheffield, Accrington, Bradford and Barnsley. After 1 July the sector remained relatively quiet and no actions happened there again until November. Because of the failure of the attack many wounded men were stranded in ‘no man’s line’ and died of their wounds. Bodies would remain where they fell and were only recovered when the battlefield was cleared in March 1917.
The British front lines at Serre ran along the base of a shallow valley linking between 4 small woods or copses named, from the westward, Mathew, Mark, Luke and John – the last had been the northern limit of the main. These days Mathew Copse has gone while the others are co-joined, where Mark Copse was is now a memorial to the Accrington, Barnsley Pals battalions who fell decimated on the opening day of the Somme Offensive,
GOOGLE MAPS Satellite view centres on Serre battle ground
(National Archive)
Old British front line trenches at Mark Copse, Serre.
Serre. 6 Bn King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. 3 August 1916.
6 Bn King’s Shropshire Light Infantry had arrived on the Somme about 24 July and went into the trenches on 28th at Serre. They were in trenches around Mathew Copse and Basin Wood. There they found that the trenches were – to quote the battalion history, ‘waist deep with our dead, the stench was appalling’. For 6 Bn KSLI the next week was spent collecting and burying the bodies, collecting salvage and repairing and improving the fortifications. The enemy was generally quiet although there were a couple of artillery and mortar barrages – in one instance the Germans fired a British rifle grenade into the line, the safety pin was still in and tied to it was a hand written note reading – ‘Vorsteker vor Abschuss Herausrichen’ (Remove pin before firing) and on the other side ‘Much Pleasure’. During the morning of 3 August however, the Germans fired a charged grenade which exploded wounding 2 and killing 2 ORs. The battalion was relieved on 6 Augst and went into billets at Courcelles. Later in the month they moved down to Carnoy to prepare for the next assault in the Battle of Guillemont scheduled for September.
War Diary 6 Bn KSLI. Regimental History KSLI.
B&O 1916. Somme. Serre. 6 Bn KSLI. August 1916.
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