ARTICLE: Beginning the Battle of the Somme, Pt.2

This week marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme, 109 years ago. We mark the 1st July 1916 as the worst day in British military history, but in actual fact, the first four days of the battle are one huge dumpster fire, and it is often difficult to predict where a man might have died anywhere in that nightmare. All will become clear, because this week, I am sharing the first four entries that we (self, Andrew Holmes and Jonny Dyer) included in a 2016 book: Somme, 141 Days, 141 Lives. The premise was that we instead of wholly focusing on the opening day, we would pay tribute to one man who died on each day of the campaign…

3rd July, 1916

Captain Oswald Brooke Webb 11th Royal Irish Rifles

(Captain Oswald Webb, who appeared ont he front cover of our book (C) The Cowdy family)

Also toward the northern end of battlefield at the beginning of July was the 36th (Ulster) Division. The Derrys, the Donegals, Fermanaghs and the like were organised on community lines to the extreme: colleagues, friends and neighbours ready to fight side by side.