16th Middlesex July 1st 1916

[Nick Thornicroft]

The Battalion War Diary for the 16th Middx. does not give much away, but several historical references indicate that none of the soldiers advanced beyond the German wire. However, in the service record of one of the men (who died of wounds) he was seen by a comrade in a German dug-out on July 2nd, wounded, several hours after being taken prisoner. The eye-witness himself was also taken prisoner, so at least two were in the German front line. I am wondering if they were wounded in No Man's Land & brought in by the Germans, or did they breach the wire themselves before being taken prisoner? Are there any 16th Middlesex experts out there who may have more detailed accounts?

Many thanks.

[Papineau]

A handful of men made it to the Hawthorn mine crater - that was their immediate objective when they began the advance. Most of these were killed, wounded and/or taken prisoner. There was a truce on this part of the line, and the Germans did go out and collect wounded from No Man's Land all over Hawthorn Ridge. It is documented both in their own records, and ours.

There was no wire to speak of in front of the 16th Middlesex; the mine explosion had probably destroyed it.

[Nick Thornicroft]

Thanks for that. In one map, the left flank of the 16th Middlesex is shown as advancing to the north of the Hawthorn Crater, bypassing it altogether. Was this the case?

[SOMMESOLDIER]

Hi Nick,

I am not an expert on the Middlesex but have looked through books on the Somme that I have and as far as they tell the story, it is that the Middlesex were slightly to the North of Hawthorne Ridge near the Sunken Road. They were held up by mainly intact wire and got no further. in November 1916 the bodies of 180 of them were found in and around the Sunken Road. I can find no reference to any Middlesex men up around the crater. It is possible a couple were somewhere near but that was not their objective. 86th Brigade's objective was to attack eastwards from North of Hawthorne Ridge.

This is not to say one or two didn't get through the wire but generally this was certainly not the case.

Cheers

Tim.

[delta]

The Adjt (Capt Francis Cockram), who was hit three times during the assault, was captured by the Germans at the crater. He spent the rest of the War in PoW camps

[Nick Thornicroft]

Many thanks for the extra info.

[Papineau]

They advanced exclusivley up the slope of Hawthorn Ridge towards the crater; some may have verred north slightly, but only slightly. There may have been some wire intact on the left, but there was none at the crater. It didn't matter, as the majority of the casualties were on the slopes approaching the German front line. Some men, like Cockram, did get into the crater; Cockram only got there by crawling, riddled with bullets.