The men although sujected to terrible machine gun and artillery fire kept going forward, disappearing into the morning mist and the smoke and dust from the shellfire.There must have been very few men who reached the German trenches. A private from the 26th Battalion James Tunney describes how;
The First Day On The Somme By Martin Middlebrook
We soon reached the German trenches and when we got 30 yards from them, we made a rush with fixed bayonets and rifles fire. They asked us to spare them, but we let them see how we could use cold steel.As the time went on we got to the second line of German trenches. They came to meet us to fight for their trench back, which we took from them.
Lying wounded in a shell hole Corporal Michael Harvey of the 27th Battalion thought he was about to die. Nearby lay the body of his brother Sergeant James Harvey. The more he thought about death, the more Michael thought he should say an ' Act of Contrition ' and make his peace with God. But he could not remeber the words. Eventually he recited the ' Glory be to the Father ' It was the only prayer he could remember . Further to his left, where the 26th Battalion were advancing, another soldier was taking cover in a shell hole. Private Will Donaldson who was not a Catholic, found himself sharing the shell hole with a Catholic soldier who was holding his rosary beads and was repeatably saying the ' Hail Mary ' Before long Will was joining in saying the prayer word perfect.
Lance Sergeant Edward Dyke of the same Battalion later wrote to his brother describing the events of the advance
Lance Sergeant Edward Dyke of the same Battalion later wrote to his brother describing the events of the advance
How anyone got to the German lines i don't know, but we managed it, or rather some of us did. Machine guns mowed us down, shells were bursting all around us, and our own artillery pouring shells into the enemy. Later i got hit with a piece of shell and the earth left me. taking out my field dressing i bandaged my head. The return to safety was as bad as the charge. How i got back is a mysetery. My steel helmet, the doctor says, saved my life.
Incredibly those men from the 24th and 27th Battalions had aslo crossed the 500 yards of No-Mans-Land to get into the German Front line in Sausage Valley. After approximately 20 minutes the advance of the 25th and 26th Battalions had stopped and the men who had reached the German front line returned where possible, to the British front trench. A small pocket of men occupied the Lochnagar crater in the German front line and a small area in the second line trench, comprising men from a mixture of battalions. The senior officer present was Lieutenant-Colonel Howard the Commanding Officer of the 24th Battalion, who was very badly wounded. The 24th was ordered to remain in the German Front line, but before the order reached them a party set off towards the next objective. Likewise the men of the 27th Battalion kept on going and some reaching Round Wood, began to dig in and consolidate. Private Lew Shaughnessey wrote in his diary;
I recall the Corporal told me we were in a German trench and the others would be along in a minute. There were some Tynside Scots there and they didn't seem to have any more idea than we did. They had blocked the trench at the junction with a communication trench and they were waiting for their officer to come. The Corporal told me to remain with the Scots while he took a look down the trench to find the others. They disappeared round a corner and i never saw any of them again. About quarter of an hour later an officer from another company dropped into the trench with more men, some with horrible wounds. There were plenty of men there but hardly any i recognised from my own platoon. It was then i realised how lucky i had been
Among those from the 27th Battalion fighting their way through the German communication trenches was Private Wilf Holmes. He was serving with D Company as a bomber. They had worked their way forward bombing several dugouts with the enemy still inside. Then a German machine gun post had to be attacked at point blank range and the position was only taken when ' our dead were piled up in front of it ' Wilf recalled. Shortly after the capture of that position Wilf received wounds to the head and was blinded, then he was blown into a concrete position and received further injuries from the blast.
In one stretch of captured trench lay a wounded Tyneside Irishman, nearby a German soldier emerged from a dugout and, on seeing the wounded Irishman bayoneted him to death. The German however failed to notice, that behind him were other men of the Tyneside Irish, who very promptly bayoneted the German without mercy. They the proceeded to bomb the dugout from which he had emerged, not stopping until all the screams of the enemy wounded had stopped.
In one stretch of captured trench lay a wounded Tyneside Irishman, nearby a German soldier emerged from a dugout and, on seeing the wounded Irishman bayoneted him to death. The German however failed to notice, that behind him were other men of the Tyneside Irish, who very promptly bayoneted the German without mercy. They the proceeded to bomb the dugout from which he had emerged, not stopping until all the screams of the enemy wounded had stopped.
The above photograph is a very rare moment caught on camera of British troops actually in No-Mans-Land and attacking German trenches. It is infact the British attack on the village of Mametz, 1st July 1916. It gives a very good idea though of the very exposed landscape the troops had to cover once they were out of their trenches.The British troops are the ant like figures in the distance. It is incredible that any of the Tyneside Irish made it to the British front line never mind the German trenches.
Others in the 27th Battalion reached Birch Tree Wood and linked up with men of the Royal Scots and the Suffolks of 101 Brigade. A few not enough to make a difference to the Battle, got through to the Fricourt-Pozieres road while another partylinked up with the men of the 24th Battalion and pressed on to Acid Drop Copse, and reached the outskirts of Contalmaison. A group of men under Second Lieutenant Thompson of the 24th Battalion managed to fight its way back from the village to the German second line where they took up position, held on, and waited for support. Some of the party fought who fought their way into Contalmaison were unable to retreat and died there, some fighting to the bitter end. We shall never know the circumstances under which they died. A small group hid in some dugouts and when the village was entered by the 1/Worcestershire Regiment on the 7th of July, came back with the survivors of that attack along with some men of the Tyneside Scottish, who had been taken prisoner and released. One soldier from the Tyneside Irish Private George Lowery desribes events from the German Fourth line.
I will never forget the 1st of July, when we got to the first line of German trenches, you should have seen the Germans throwing their hands up and shouting " Mercy Kamerade " i was hit in the neck about 12.30. It took me about four hours to get back and if i had not has a bomb in my pocket i would not be alive today. I got as far as the fourth line and as i was coming out i met a great big German officer. I had no rifle only this bomb.He fired at me with his revolver but missed me. Just as he was going to fire a second time i threw the bomb which blew his head off. I managed to get his revolver and flash lamp.
