Somme - Thiepval

 The 32^nd Division’s objective was to capture the village of Thiepval. On the left flank, the 96^th Brigade, including the 16^th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (Newcastle Commercials) kicking a rugby ball ahead of them, were cut down by heavy machine gun fire on leaving their trenches, many being forced into the 36^th Division area,




The preliminary bombardment saw a good concentration of guns of all calibre allocated counter battery fires. However, with only six, eight or twelve rounds per target, fire was nor affective, and the enemy guns were not silenced.

During the attack, the barrage ran away from the infantry as they were slowed down by the heavy German machine gun fire. Command and control was at a higher level, consequently deviations from the plan to deal with troublesome machine guns could not be dealt with by the batteries. Two 9.2 inch howitzers tasked with the destruction of machine guns at Thiepval were themselves destroyed when one had a premature.

Thiepval

Laying a wreath on behalf of 101 Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers)