2nd Gordon Highlanders - Somme - Mametz - 1st July 1916

[johnnieboy]

I'm reasonably certain that my Grandad William B Graham S13247 (Born Windermere 1898), was at Mametz on the first day of the Somme as two of his pals are buried at The Gordon Cemetry there.

Does anybody have any information about the movements of the Gordons on this day and the days following.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

John

[jay dubaya]

Hi John,

would one of William's mates be Pte. S/13246 John Hayes? The following is an extract from Westlake's 'Battalions on the Somme'

2nd Battalion. 20th Brigade, 7th Division:

Attack on Mametz (1/7) - assaulted western side of village on right of railway - German first line reached then heavy machine gun fire from The Shrine - advanced on past Mametz Station (The Halt), Shrine Alley, Cemetery Trench and to objectives Bunny Alley and Orchard Alley . Withdrew to Citadel Camp (3/7) . Casualties - 461. To Ribemont (6/7), Pommiers Redoubt (11/7), Mametz Wood (13/7), trenches Bazentin-le-Petit (14/7) - reinforced 2nd Royal Irish during counter attack. To The Halt (15/7). Attack on High Wood (20/7) - advanced at 3.25 a.m. taking first objective - Black Road. Moved on towards Wood Lane which could not be reached. Official History of The Great war records heavy fire from machine guns hidden in standing crops, and from High Wood which took Battalion in the rear. Withdrew to Black Road. To Dernancourt (21/7). Casualties since (14/7) - 262. Entrained at Mericourt for Hangest and from there marched to Picquigny (22/7). Entrained at Hangest for Mericourt (12/8) and from there to Buire. To Mametz (3/9). Attack on Ginchy (6/9)- after heavy losses from shelling during night advanced early hours of morning towards western side of village - held back by strong machine gun fire. Renewed attack in afternoon also repulsed. To camp south-west of Fricourt (7/9). Casualties - 240. To Buire (8/9). Entrained at Albert for Airaines (9/9). Entrained at Longpre for Bailleul (17/9).

Jon

[johnnieboy]

would one of William's mates be Pte. S/13246 John Hayes? The following is an extract from Westlake's 'Battalions on the Somme'

Hi Jon,

John Hayes was one of his mates, along with S/13245 William J Crosthwaite. It seems that both were killed on the 1st July - my grandad was a lucky one.

Do you know anything about these two?

John

[jay dubaya]

Hi John,

No, Cpl. William Crosthwaite was KiA on 26th October 1917 possibly during the Second Battle of Passchendaele and is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, so it would appear that William endured over another year of hell. I can't really tell you anything about these lads except that along with your Grandfather they enlisted in Kendal, there consecutive numbers and they were also born in Windermere,

Jon

[SettleKaren]

Hi guys, I'm new to this, but joined up as I'm trying to track my Great Uncle John Hayes. I typed into the web and got directed here, so I joined as you have mentioned him in your messages. So far, I have found that he is in the Gordon Cemetery in Mametz, his name is on the cenotaph in Kendal. I wonder if you know how I would find photos of him? Am planning on taking my Dad to Mametz next year...

Any directional to put me in the right direction would be appreciated.

Thanx, Karen Hayes.

[margaretdufay]

Hi, if you want pictures of the cemetery of Mametz and his gravestone, let me know

mags

[SettleKaren]

Thanx, I have got 2pics from the cemetery, just not got a pic of him!

[bmac]

2^nd Gordon Highlanders War Diary

July 1^st 7.30 a.m.

The battalion attacked at 7.30 a.m. in 4 lines at 100 yards between lines. B and D Companies 1^st and 2^nd lines (2 platoons in each line), A and C Companies 3^rd and 4^th lines. The advance was carried out under a very heavy barrage of machine gun and rifle fire. D and C Companies were held up by the barbed wire and suffered very heavy losses whilst A and C Companies pushed on steadily. Three lines of trenches had to be crossed before nearing the village of Mametz which was the final objective.

7.55 a.m. A and B Companies who had lost heavily during the advance had reached the Sunken Road immediately in front of Mametz village. All the officers of B Company were wounded except Lt K S Gordon. The 1^st South Staffords were on our right and the 9^th Devons on our left. The objective of the Staffords was the east half of Mametz village and the 9^th Devons to prolong the line to the left of Mametz.

8 a.m. Message received from Capt A N Davidson, commanding A Company: “Am rallying in Sunken Road, north of Cemetery Trench preparatory to rushing Mametz.”

9.0 a.m. A second message was received from OC A Company: “Am in touch with party of 50 1^st South Staffords on right. They are in Shrine Alley. Cannot get any touch on left which is at present in the air. Mametz being heavily shelled. Reinforcements badly needed.”

On receipt of this message two runners were sent forward to find C and D Companies. They returned stating that C and D Companies were held up in front of the German wire and unable to advance owing to the heavy machine gun fire and snipers.

9.30 a.m. 3^rd message from OC A Company: “Situation more normal. Mametz being still heavily shelled. Left flank still in the air and valley west of Shrine held by enemy’s machine guns. No officers and NCOs with party of S Staffords on my right.”

A message received from Capt G H Gordon: “Am held up by wire. Am going to try and work round on the left”.

11.5 a.m. 4^th message from OC A Company: “Left flank by Shrine still in the air. Patrols cannot find D or C Companies and have met with serious opposition from enemy’s machine guns in the valley west of Shrine. Am occupying from Shrine to point F.11.a.7.9 along bank of road. Propose advancing to objective when Devons and Borders on left get into line”.

The 9^th Devons suffered heavy losses in their initial advance and right company being wiped out and never getting to the 1^st line German trench, the result being that our left was very much exposed.

1.45 p.m. 5^th message from OC A Company: “Situation grave. Being bombed by large parties at Shrine. Reinforcements absolutely necessary”.

2.40 p.m. A reply to the 5^th message was sent: “2 companies of 2^nd R Warwicks are coming up to support you at once. Hold on to your position at all costs”.

3.45 p.m. The two companies of 2^nd Warwicks arrived at 3.40 and advanced in 4 lines with little opposition.

4.5 p.m. The enemy surrendered as soon as the 1^st line 2^nd Warwicks approached the Sunken Road and Mametz was captured and 600 prisoners. 2 platoons of the 8^th Devons who had been sent up previously in support joined up and they had been held up by barbed wire.

4.45 p.m. The force now consisted of 2 companies Gordon Highlanders, 2 companies 2^nd R Warwicks, 2 platoons 8^th Devons and 3 machine gun sections. They were re-organised at once and the defence of the village at once taken in hand. 2 companies of 2^nd Warwicks were in touch with 1^st South Staffords left. 2 companies 2^nd Gordon Highlanders prolonged to the left of the 2^nd Warwicks and 8^th Devons (2 platoons) prolonged to the left of 2^nd Gordon Highlanders. Three strong points were made and a machine gun section placed in each point.

10 p.m. 2 more companies 2^nd Warwicks came up and formed a close support, the whole force being under command of Lt Col B G R Gordon DSO, commander of the Gordon Highlanders.

10.30 p.m. The 95^th Company RE arrived and assisted in consolidating the position and during the hours of darkness a large number of high explosive shrapnel was burst over the village of Mametz but little damage done. Capt Gordon and about 50 of his men joined up about this hour but nothing was known of D Company less 1 NCO and 18 men.

2^nd July The position remained the same. Advanced stores of bombs and ammunition were brought up and the positions improved. Whizz bangs and high explosive shrapnel were burst intermittently over Mametz during the day. The killed were all collected, the wounded having been evacuated on 1^st July.

Special Notes:

A party of bombers under 2^nd Lt Lawrence bombed all the dug outs up the valley accounting for a large number of killed. The trophies captured comprised 600 prisoners, one machine gun, one anti-aircraft machine gun, one trench mortar and large supplies of rifles, ammo and bombs, stores, etc.

The casualties were as follows:

Killed

Officers:

2^nd Lt W Fearnley

2^nd Lt G Giles

2^nd Lt C G Gordon

2^nd Lt D T King

2^nd Lt N L McNeill

2^nd Lt J White

2^nd Lt W A Davidson died of wounds, 2^nd July 1916

Wounded

Capt H B Brooke died of wounds, 24^th July 1916

Capt R A W Murray

Capt J E Fiennes

Capt Gross

Lt H Mc D Pyper

Lt J R E Guild

Lt Ferguson

Lt Macdonald

Lt G R S Cookson

Other ranks:

Killed 119

Wounded 287

Missing 39

Strength of battalion going into action:

Officers 24

Other ranks 783

[clive_hughes]

There is a poignant scene in the Battle of the Somme film (1916, remastered by IWM and available on DVD) showing some of the dead of the Gordons and 9th Devons lying somewhere to the front of Mansel Copse ?the following day.

They were sorted out and buried in Gordon Cemetery or Devonshire Cemetery respectively within another day or so. The Shrine from where the German machine-gun was firing was located in Fricourt Communal Cemetery, and the spot can be visited today (a squareish family memorial building is on the site). Worth going to the Cemetery as the view that the Germans had of the attack can be appreciated.

View from Shrine towards Mansell Copse. Gordon Cemetery is out of sight to the left.

Clive

[johnnieboy]

Hi Karen

The photo attached is of three young Gordons - the one in the centre is William graham, my grandfather, I have a suspicion that the other two may be john Heyes and William Crosthwaite as the three of them were the only ones to enlist from Windermere.

I went to the gordon cemetry in Mametz in 2010 and found Johns grave.

Do you have any more photos/information of John or the Williams?

Regards

John

[johnnieboy]

Sorry, here is the picture

[folium]

My great uncle, 2Lt EHG Farquhar, was a freshly minted platoon commander with 2 Gordons on 1 July 1916 (having arrived with the Bn on 7 May 1916). It appears that he was one of the few platoon commanders to remain unscathed during July and August 1916, though his luck ran out in early Sept and he was casevaced back to the UK.

Does anybody have any details re which company he served in or any other pieces of information relating to him? We have little information as he was subsequently killed on 20 Aug 1917 shortly after his return to the front, serving with the Seaforths and his name is now on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

[Guest aquilah3]

My cousin Alexander Bain, Pte S13063 2nd Bn Gordon Highlanders was killed on 1 Jul 1916 and buried in Gordon Cemetery. Having read the posts above, this gives me a general idea of the action in which he was involved. Does anyone have any additional information or pictures? Alexander was 32, so quite long in the tooth for a private, born in Edinburgh.

James

[Guest steve5707@btinternet.com]

Just joined this forum since my granddaughter was doing WW1 homework!

Had researched my great uncle John Hayes years ago but not much info on web then.

I don't know about his name on cenotaph in Kendal but he is named in Windermere - in garden next to police station.

Interesting to see a link with Settle as his brother - my grandfather, Arthur Hayes married

Molly who lived there too before moving to Windermere.

The picture of the 3 highlanders is interesting too as the one on the right looks very similar to my late uncle - also named John Hayes.

[johnnieboy]

After a lot of research I can confirm that the photograph above is of (l to r): William Crosthwaite, William B Graham, John Hayes. I've found out from Johns niece that he left Windermere Grammar School and was helping teaching there before volunteering with his other 2 pals. 

 

Does anybody have any information about Willie Crosthwaite?

[scot278]

My Grandfather was a stretcher bearer in 2 Gordons, he was awarded the MM. I have his old diaries which have some casualty details and also some short accounts of the battle. The entries are in pencil and he gives a start time of 0600 - which differs from the war diary entry above. It is painstaking work transcribing it as it is fading, I have taken pictures and I am getting there, here are the entries from 1- 3 July 1916:

uly 1st
6AM Batt.goes over the parapet and charges the German trenches. Germans are prepared and give strong resistance + throw up a heavy curtain of fire by artillery. Fierce fighting Gordons at hand to hand fighting with the Germans We take all the trenches and the village of Mametz and also hold Fricourt . In front of that Germans. Prisoners taken about 1000 roughly. Got a couple of bullets through my kilt and remain unharmed. Got little souvenir in the shape of a German watch in between the first and second German lines. German trenches and dugouts are full of dead huns.
2nd July
We have cleared out all of the wounded comrades and two squads take up position with the companies in the front line. We watch some other regiment advancing through the village of Fricourt bombing all the houses and cellars then they take the wood in front along with some batteries of artillery. We get relieved from Mametz and go back to the Aid Post and start carrying in our dead.
July 3rd.
All of our dead carried in and buried by three o’clock. 120 altogether

https://youtu.be/UhHdZLioRZg

The link above is to a documentary which was mentioned on the tv coverage on the 1st July this year. They spoke about it being one of the only film clips of the time to show the bodies of British soldiers - and they specifically  said the Gordons at Fricourt and Mametz, which my grandfather mentions in his diary. I watched the footage and at the very beginning you can see the build up at Fricourt, which I assume the Batt would have seen, and been involved in. At around 38 minutes you will see the caption about the bodies of Gordons and Devonshires. I think these two batteries could well be those mentioned for the 2nd July, the fallen which we can see are certainly those who were carried in and buried by my grand father and his comrades. There are entiries for later in July and I will post them once I have transcribed them, along with anything else I find.

[scot278]

This picture shows my grandfather with the diary behind it. The trench map in the background is from the area of Loos and was addressed to my great granny.

[johnnieboy]

I haven't visited this page in a while, thanks scot278, for your posts - do you have any more information from your granddads diaries?

[johnnieboy]

When I went to the Somme in July 2016, I took this photo and left a photo of John. I was a very peaceful day, all you could hear was birdsong.

[Guest]

Just reading a letter from my grandfather Charles Young (From Hawick), written to a friend in Hawick in the 1960's, which for some reason was not sent. My grandfather I believe was in the 2nd Gordon Highlanders but we know very little of his war service as although he lived to 97, he said very little about his war experiences. We know he was wounded a couple of times and we think gassed but again was never spoken about. (He migrated to Australia soon after returning from the war and never returned.)

The following is an exert from the letter : 

‘A funny incident that happened in the trenches we were holding the line at Mametz, Jerry held the village and we held the hill over looking it. My cobber was a Lang olm chap and  joined up in 1913, he was a sniper and had a nice post in the stump of a large tree with a covered sap running into the post, with an aperture cut into the stump and a sand bag hanging over it. One morning after stand to and stand down I went into the post to have a yarn with Bob, he was having a look through the hole, when he says to me have a quick look, he whipped his rifle out, I had a look, one of the Jerries had been taken short, he had come out of a cellar and he was sitting with his pants down alongside a brick wall, Bob was shaking with laughter, however he pulled the trigger and we could see the red dust spurt right under Jerries bum, he gave one leap and went down into the cellar. I said to Bob I bet he has constipation for a week after that fright. Bob Rae was the cobbers name, I noticed his death in the Hawick paper last year, the old brigade are thinning out fast.’

[rainb0w1987]

Ello....my 2nd great uncle Pte Robert Christie Stirling was also was the 2nd Bn and was KIA on the first day of the Battle of Somme unfortunately I don't have a picture of him in uniform but I would love to find one 

[JeffN]

My grand uncle, Lance Corporal James Nisbet of the 2nd Gordon Highlanders, died on 1 July 1916, the first day of ground combat at the Somme. He was 24 years old. His brother, William Nisbet of the Cameron Highlanders, was my grandfather. He survived the war and died in 1981. A few years ago, while sorting through some old family photos following the 2011 death of my father, I came across the attached photo of the wooden memorial cross erected shortly after the battle. It lists the 2nd Gordons who died on July 1. Jamie's name is the 11th down in the first column, and John Hayes, mentioned in Karen Hayes' post, above, is the 10th down in the second column. The Gordon Highlanders' Museum in Aberdeen had never seen the photo, and used it as the background image for their 2016 Somme memorial exhibit. The second photo shows Jamie (seated right) with four other members of his company. I do not know who the other men are. The third photo is of a postcard sent by Jamie to my grandfather, when my grandad was in a Leicester hospital due to war wounds. The fourth photo was found by the staff of Aberdeen's Gordon Highlanders Museum -- it shows an Imperial War Museum photo of the cross being visited by socialist labor leader Ben Tillett, a supporter of the war. Photo is by WWI photographer Alan Sim. The fifth photo shows Jamie in civilian clothes. The sixth photo shows the poster the Aberdeen Gordon Highlanders Museum made for their 2016 centennial Somme exhibit, and the seventh photo shows the wooden replica the museum had made for its exhibit.

Edited 27 October , 2019 by JeffN
Added another photo.