8th Battalion South Staffs

[Guest dannytruell]

Does any forum member know what the 8th Battalion of the South Staffs were doing on 25th September 1915 ?

My great-uncle, Lieutenant Stanley Robert Edwards, was killed on that date and is buried in the Voormezeele Enclosure near Ieper.

He rests with twenty other comrades of the South Staffs in this cemetery. It is interesting that the others were all killed between the 16th August and 11th September. I am trying to establish whether he was killed in a subsequent action or died of wounds suffered beforehand.

Regards

[Steven Broomfield]

51st Bde, 17th (Northern) Divn. In trenches, south of Zillebeke. As part of a diversion from Loos, the 3rd and 17th Divns put in an attack on saturday 25th September. Mostly, the role of the 17th was to 'demonstrate' - as the History of the 17th has it (in the words of an officer), they were "to play the giddy goat here and make the Bosche think we were coming also" The 7th Borders and 10th Foresters (both 51st Bde) were the only Bans from the Divn involved in actually attacking - they lost a total of 222 men between them.

The only other casualties would have been by enemy counter-bombardment. The History comments that the german riposte was very heavy - in fact it was quite an artillery bombardment, because the Germans seemed to have thought a full-scal attack was in hand.

I imagine your great-uncle got it in that affair.

Hope this is of help

Steven

[Guest dannytruell]

Stephen

Learning for the first time the likely circumstances of my great-uncle's death is especially poignant on the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. For him and 221 others to fall 'playing the giddy goat' in one small encounter in one small field of war on one day brings home the horrors of the War.

Thank you.

[Doug Lewis]

Stephen

A small snippett from the History of the South Staffordshire Rgt. And for the record ODGW records that your Uncle was killed in action on the 24th.

Regards Doug.