6th Bedfords on the Somme.

[BillG]

Extract from the War Diary of the 6th (Service) Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment.

"15th July 1916: Attack on Pozieres by 112 Brigade from trenches S. of Contalmaison. Brigade held up by hostile machine guns, established itself about 100 yards from the liniere and dug in........"

Question; Does anyone now what the liniere may have been and where it was situated? The word liniere may be a French word as there appears to be an accent over the first "e" although, as the diary entry is a photo copy of a handwritten document this may not be the case. The reason for asking is that my wife's grandfather was killed on the day in question, serving with the 6th. Bedfords and whist we have been to the battlefield, we would dearly like to know where about Private 18310 Clarke, W.E. actually fell.

He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

Thnks in anticipation,

Bill.

[Stephen Barker]

Bill,

Know this attack really well, my uncle was in it. The word is lisiere, the French word meaning village boundary ie the extent to which the village gardens and copses came.

When on the battlefield I always think of it as the mesh fences which mark off the boundaries of the orchards.

Hope that this helps.

The best account comes from Collinson, in command of 11 Royal Warwicks. No 8th East Lancs accounts. My Great uncle came through unscathed, his two mates were wounded and invalided home, one with an mm, recovering men back to the chalk pit.

I'll help further if I can .

Stephen

Stephen

[BillG]

Bill,

Know this attack really well, my uncle was in it. The word is lisiere, the French word meaning village boundary ie the extent to which the village gardens and copses came.

When on the battlefield I always think of it as the mesh fences which mark off the boundaries of the orchards.

Hope that this helps.

The best account comes from Collinson, in command of 11 Royal Warwicks. No 8th East Lancs accounts. My Great uncle came through unscathed, his two mates were wounded and invalided home, one with an mm, recovering men back to the chalk pit.

I'll help further if I can .

Stephen

Stephen

[Stephen Barker]

Click on fast reply Bill

Stephen

[BillG]

Thanks Stephen, you're a star! I appreciate the speed of your reply. Would you say the attack was launched from Mametz Wood or further round to the west in the area of Peak Wood Cemetery? The War Diary only says "From trenches south of Contalmaison"?

Cheers, Bill.

[Stephen Barker]

From neither - basically from the Contalmaison- La Boiselle Road, where they formed up behind Contalmaison Wood, or what was left of it, and breasted the rise between Deadman's Road, the track from Casualty Corner to Pozieres, and the Contalmaison-Pozieres Road, these latter two roads running parallel. They then passed the Chalk Pit and breasted the rise and then the problems began about 300 yards from the lisiere. The attackers bunched up on such a narrow frontage and some of the men made flanking moves along the main road Albert-Bapaume.

By the way if you want war Diary excerpts I recommend Steve Fullers site which you can link to

here

Apologies for overlong sentence!

I've got lots of photos and a map - I'll try and post a few later today.

Back later with more.

Stephen

[BillG]

Stephen,

My wife Marion and I thank you for your time and effort in replying to the query. The information you supplied will give us an area to focus on next time we visit the battlefield.

Many thanks,

Bill.

[Stephen Barker]

Bill and Marion,

Hope that you find this picture useful.

Stephen

[Rupert]

G'Day Bill. Simply take a stroll down Deadmans' Walk from Pozières and all the action happened to your left. I don't know when you are going, but in the winter the British and Australian entries to trenches are clearly visible (from the August fighting). Be sure to carry on after the chalk pit: there is a concrete British Aid Post on your left among some trees, recently excavated.

Regards,Stu

[steve fuller]

Well, just come back and there's not much i can add!

I have a photo of the section his name is on, on the Thiepval memorial if you want it but its too large to post on here. Email me if you do not have it already & Ill send it over to you.

Steve

[BillG]

Stu,

Thanks for your directions and contribution to this thread, they're really helpful and in conjunction with Steve's info should make our next visit to the battlefield very rewarding.

Steve,

Your map of the action made everything very clear and gives us such a great chance to follow Marion's grandfather's footsteps.

Many thanks for the offer of the photo of his name on the Thiepval Memorial, but we have taken photographs of it on several visits. Your offer is none-the-less much appreciated.

To both of you we send our sincere appreciation for your assistance in our quest to find out all we can about Marion's grandfather

Kindest Regards,

Bill & Marion.