AT 5.40pm on July 19, 1916, 100 men from the Oxfordshire and
Buckinghamshire Light Infantry filed out into No Man's Land and lay
down.
Twenty minutes later, with a cheer, they leapt up and threw themselves on the enemy's trenches. The machine guns mowed down almost all of them.
The few men who actually reached the German parapet never returned.
July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, has long been known as the British Army's blackest day: 19,240 killed out of 57,470 casualties.
But new research has revealed that July 19 that year might have been an equally black day for Oxfordshire.
Steve Berridge, a volunteer with the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, has been transcribing the war diary of the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, while Brigadier Robin Draper, president of the Oxford branch of the Royal Green Jackets Association, has taken a closer look at some of those entries.
Mr Draper, author of Redcoats to Riflemen: A Short History of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire County Regiment, scrutinised of the war diary and discovered that July 19, 1916 – a century ago today – resulted in particularly severe losses for the regiment at Fromelles, in support of the Somme battle.
The diaries reveal that the 2/1st Bucks and 2/4th Oxfords were involved in direct combat with the Germans which left many dead.
Mr Draper said the diaries revealed that A Company 2/1 Bucks lost 70
men to gas on the previous day and, on the morning of the attack, the
battalion suffered another 100 casualties from shellfire.
Entries in the diaries demonstrate the devastating casualties.
"At 5.40pm what was left of A and D Companies, about 100 men, filed out into No Man's Land and lay down in four waves.
"At 6pm, with a cheer, the four waves leapt up and assaulted the enemy's trenches. The enemy machine guns mowed down our advancing waves, so that only a few men actually reached the German parapet and none of these ever returned.
"The Battalion went into action with 20 officers and 622 other ranks, at the end only six officers and 300 other ranks remained.
"The 2/4th Oxfords took over at 11pm from what remained of 2/1st Bucks and 2/4 Berks, with order to attack that night. Fortunately this was cancelled. Despite that in July the 2/4th lost 24 men killed and 100 wounded."
The British Army's major offensive on the Western Front lasted until November 18, a total of 141 days.
But Mr Draper said: "July 19 was a particularly bad day for the 2/4th Ox and Bucks and 2/1st Bucks - they suffered considerable losses at Fromelles in a diversionary attack."
According to an Oxford Times report, one of the casualties from the Ox & Bucks on July 19 was Corporal Reginald Frederick Harding, of Chipping Norton.
He "died instantaneously in a plucky effort to get in a wounded man under heavy fire".
In a letter his parents were told: "He was such a bright, cheery and promising soldier that it makes it very hard for us all to lose him."
Twenty minutes later, with a cheer, they leapt up and threw themselves on the enemy's trenches. The machine guns mowed down almost all of them.
The few men who actually reached the German parapet never returned.
July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, has long been known as the British Army's blackest day: 19,240 killed out of 57,470 casualties.
But new research has revealed that July 19 that year might have been an equally black day for Oxfordshire.
Steve Berridge, a volunteer with the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, has been transcribing the war diary of the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, while Brigadier Robin Draper, president of the Oxford branch of the Royal Green Jackets Association, has taken a closer look at some of those entries.
Mr Draper, author of Redcoats to Riflemen: A Short History of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire County Regiment, scrutinised of the war diary and discovered that July 19, 1916 – a century ago today – resulted in particularly severe losses for the regiment at Fromelles, in support of the Somme battle.
The diaries reveal that the 2/1st Bucks and 2/4th Oxfords were involved in direct combat with the Germans which left many dead.
Entries in the diaries demonstrate the devastating casualties.
"At 5.40pm what was left of A and D Companies, about 100 men, filed out into No Man's Land and lay down in four waves.
"At 6pm, with a cheer, the four waves leapt up and assaulted the enemy's trenches. The enemy machine guns mowed down our advancing waves, so that only a few men actually reached the German parapet and none of these ever returned.
"The Battalion went into action with 20 officers and 622 other ranks, at the end only six officers and 300 other ranks remained.
"The 2/4th Oxfords took over at 11pm from what remained of 2/1st Bucks and 2/4 Berks, with order to attack that night. Fortunately this was cancelled. Despite that in July the 2/4th lost 24 men killed and 100 wounded."
The British Army's major offensive on the Western Front lasted until November 18, a total of 141 days.
But Mr Draper said: "July 19 was a particularly bad day for the 2/4th Ox and Bucks and 2/1st Bucks - they suffered considerable losses at Fromelles in a diversionary attack."
According to an Oxford Times report, one of the casualties from the Ox & Bucks on July 19 was Corporal Reginald Frederick Harding, of Chipping Norton.
He "died instantaneously in a plucky effort to get in a wounded man under heavy fire".
In a letter his parents were told: "He was such a bright, cheery and promising soldier that it makes it very hard for us all to lose him."
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