141 Days of the Battle of the Somme and its impact on the district
The majority of men that had committed themselves to the service of the Nation prior to the start of the Battle of the Somme had been willing and enthusiastic volunteers. However they were still raw and inexperienced recruits having recently left their passive and ordinary civilian lives behind.
Many of the recruits from the area were drafted into the local infantry Battalions. The 15th West Yorks 'Leeds Pals', 16 & 18th 'Bradford Pals', the 7 & 8th 'Leeds Rifles' the 6th & 10th West Yorkshire Regiment Territorials, Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and Green Howards are by now familiar names to us.
These Regiments and many more drawn from the North of England would be the man power intended to inflict a heavy defeat on the German Army in the summer of 1916.
Im not going to explore what happened on the Battlefield in detail. Instead first it is important to consider the home front of June 1916:
The majority of the eligible men had already joined up by this time, or were being drafted. The local workforce had been supplemented by the women of the town, now enjoying in most cases full labour for the first time. This meant working extremely hard though and trying to manage a domestic life without support. Many men unfit for service and thousands of women were asked to work in the local shell factories at Newlay (Horsforth) Armley and Phoenix Dynamo at Thornbury. This was dangerous and exhausting, though the rates of pay were excellent to relect the hazards. Added to this was the war draining food resources meaning that rationing was introduced for the first time and people had to grow their own food in allotments. Meanwhile in France, men horses and guns were being moved into the Somme region in preparation for the largest British led campaign yet seen.
Many of the recruits from the area were drafted into the local infantry Battalions. The 15th West Yorks 'Leeds Pals', 16 & 18th 'Bradford Pals', the 7 & 8th 'Leeds Rifles' the 6th & 10th West Yorkshire Regiment Territorials, Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and Green Howards are by now familiar names to us.
These Regiments and many more drawn from the North of England would be the man power intended to inflict a heavy defeat on the German Army in the summer of 1916.
Im not going to explore what happened on the Battlefield in detail. Instead first it is important to consider the home front of June 1916:
The majority of the eligible men had already joined up by this time, or were being drafted. The local workforce had been supplemented by the women of the town, now enjoying in most cases full labour for the first time. This meant working extremely hard though and trying to manage a domestic life without support. Many men unfit for service and thousands of women were asked to work in the local shell factories at Newlay (Horsforth) Armley and Phoenix Dynamo at Thornbury. This was dangerous and exhausting, though the rates of pay were excellent to relect the hazards. Added to this was the war draining food resources meaning that rationing was introduced for the first time and people had to grow their own food in allotments. Meanwhile in France, men horses and guns were being moved into the Somme region in preparation for the largest British led campaign yet seen.
141 Days of the Somme - Roll of Honour of those who fell
Please remember when reading these names that this battle on its own was more deadly for our servicemen than the Second World War. 37 were lost on the first day alone, and 104 in total during the 141 days of the battle until it was halted. These were ordinary lives given in the Service of the Nation - they were woollen mill workers, teachers, cinema projectionists, sons of the Lord Mayor and owners of local factories, all came together. In the words of England Cricketer and Leeds Pal 2nd Lieutenant Major William Booth “It is our duty, we cannot do anything else.”