Chorley Pals Memorial In the Sheffield Memorial ParkTimeline - July 1st 1916
Background- This small farming village was at the far left of the fifteen mile attack front known as "The Big Push". Due to this its left flank was "in the air" allowing the defenders M/C guns to bring enfilade fire along the front and assembly trench lines. This part of the front was very heavily fortified with five trench lines, barbed wire and deep dugouts
Special Points of Interest - Famous for being the Battleground of the Accrington, Barnsley and Sheffield Pals. Front line trench still in situ at the front of the "Copses". The area is dominated by the many cemeteries, mostly in No Mans Land, the Pals fell in their hundreds, no one turned back. John Harris' epitaph explains "...two years in the making, ten minutes in the destroying, that was our history"
Memorials and Cemeteries
SUCRERIE CEMETERY - Contains many July 1st casualties from Heidenkopf (known as the Quadrilateral) and Redan Ridge areas. Pte James Crozier (I-A-5) a soldier "Shot at Dawn" is buried here. Thought to have been shot at Mailly-Maillet and held in Avril Williams cellar in nearby Auchonvillers
SERRE ROAD No 2 - Largest cemetery on the Somme with over 7,000 burials. Built on the Site of the Heidenkopf. Adjacent is a special memorial to Valentine Braithwaite, killed on this spot 1st July
SERRE FRENCH CEMETERY - Contains 817 graves from fighting in 1914/1915 in the Hebuterne/Touvent Farm areas
SERRE ROAD No1 CEMETERY - Contains many Pals burials and the grave of Pte Horace Iles, 16 years old who was used by the Imperial War Museum as a subject for a school awarness campaign for Rememberance Day 2003. Killed in action 1st July, a Leeds Pal
SERRE ROAD No3 CEMETERY - Near to the copses. Good views to the Sheffield Memorial Park and across No Mans land. Contains mainly Leeds Pals from 1st July. Leave car here and walk to the park
RAILWAY HOLLOW - Excellent site, some Accrington and Sheffield Pals are buried here
QUEENS CEMETERY - In No Mans Land. Walk from front line trench and imagine it is 7.30 on July 1st. You are carrying an 80lbs pack, rifle at the slope, pipe lit,as you reach the gate your head just appears on the skyline. BANG
LUKE COPSE - A battlefield clearance site, most burials in May 1917 for those killed in action in July 1916. Many unknowns here, some Hull Pals from November actions
SHEFFIELD MEMORIAL PARK - This front line area contains memorials to the Accrington, Chorley and Bradford Pals
Additional Information - The village was never taken by force. Seven War Poets died here in July 1916 and four are buried at Serre, including Gilbert Waterhouse, Serre Road No2 Cemetery (I-K-23). Wounded mortally at Serre was Brigadier - General Bertie Prowse DSO. Shot in the back by a M/C gun on the Redan Ridge, he is buried at nearby Louvencourt. Prowse Farm, Ypres,Prowse Point, at Ploegstreet and Fort Prowse near Auchonvillers are all named after him
The Memorial to the missing on the Somme at ThiepvalTimeline - July 1st 1916 to November 1916
Background - Britain lost 3 men for every 12 inches gained on the Somme battlefield. Nearly 60,000 casualties on the first day, a third of these killed. 70,000 were lost without trace over 5 months and are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. The village had only 60 homes, a few farms, a church and a chateau - all were destroyed
Special Points of Interest - British battalions included men from Salford, Belfast and Newcastle. The German defences included the Schwaben Redoubt, the Leipzig Redoubt and the formidable Mouquet Farm. The Thiepval area was not captured until 26th September and fighting continued into November in the surrounding areas
Memorials and Cemeteries
AUTHILLE MILITARY CEMETERY - Charles Douie, 1st Dorsets wrote of this area in 1916. "they have passed into silence, we hear their voices no more yet the music of those voices lingers" This site is near the infamous Black Horse Bridge. A beautiful setting and a restful place. A new memorial to the Salford Pals has been erected in the village
LONSDALE CEMETERY - Mainly casualties from July 1916, killed in the Leipzig Redoubt and Nab Valley area. Includes Sgt. James Yuill Turnbull VC (IV-G-9) and Pte. Thomas Moore (IV-M-6) only 16 when he died, an 8th Loyal North Lancs Soldier
THIEPVAL MEMORIAL - Completed in 1932, designed by Edwin Lutyens commemorates 73,357 soldiers with no known grave that fell on the Somme
CONNAUGHT CEMETERY - Sited on the British front line, a superb example of CWGC gardeners work
MILL ROAD CEMETERY - Sited on the German Front line. Many graves are laid flat due to unstable ground adjacent to the Schwaben Redoubt
THE ULSTER TOWER - A copy of Helens Tower at Clandeboyne, Belfast. Has a memorial to all the VC winners of the Divisions who fought here. Limited access but has good toilets
Additional Information - A new Visitors Centre was opened at the Thiepval Memorial in September 2004
The Caribou MemorialTimeline - July 1st 1916
Background - The first attack was mounted by the 29th Division who lost 223 officers and 5,907 other ranks. The Newfoundland Regiment was one of several in reserve and after the early casualties they attacked over this ground towards the German front line at Y Ravine with the 1st Essex. They were mown down in heaps, mainly at gaps in the wire. They lost 26 officers and 658 men and the Regiment in military terms "ceased to exist". This is a preserved site, with an excellent Visitors Centre and toilets, and manned by young helpful volunteers from Canada
Special Points of Interest - Among those killed on the first day were 4 members of the Ayre family, three are buried in surrounding cemeteries and one is commemorated on the Caribou Memorial. Some of the site is now fenced off for "safety" reasons but you can still walk some of the trench lines. Y Ravine was full of dugouts with tunnels leading to the trenches. This site was not taken until November 1916
Memorials and Cemeteries
Y RAVINE CEMETERY - Most burials took place after November 1916 of casualties killed in July and laid in No Mans Land. Most headstones have two names on them.
HUNTERS CEMETERY - This circular cemetery is a mass grave using a large shell hole. All burials are from the 51st Division.
HAWTHORN RIDGE No2 CEMETERY - A battlefield clearance site completed in 1917 for those killed on July 1st 1916. This cemetery is inside the Park boundary and near to No1 and Hawthorn Crater, which can only be accessed outside the Park
51st DIVISION MEMORIAL - This Highland Division commemorates the capture of Beaumont Hamel in November 1916. Its inscription reads "Friends are good on the day of Battle". Across the path a smaller wooden celtic cross commemorates the same divisions fighting at High Wood in August 1916
THE CARIBOU - Standing proud on its stone cairn which has orientation markers of the battlefield
Additional Information - Every officer in the Newfoundland Regiment was a casualty and only 68 other ranks were unscathed on the first days action that lasted only 30 minutes. The "Danger Tree" is still in evidence and marks the spot where the casualties were heaviest on the battleground