Home. Origins of the Battalion.
Page 1. Start of the First World War.
Page 2. To the Ypres Salient.
Page 3. Ypres. The Battle of St Julien.
Page 4. April 1915. Ypres. Gas.
Page 5. Battle of St Julien losses.
Page 6. New Division Name.
Page 7. The Battle of Bellewaarde.
Page 8. Bellewaarde Losses. Sanctuary Wood.
Page 9. Neuve Eglise, Kemmel Sector.
Page 10. August 1915. To Armentieres.
Page 11. Sep/Oct 1915. Armentieres.
Page 12. October 1915. Armentieres.
Page 13. Oct/Nov 1915. Armentieres.
Page 14. Nov/Dec 1915. To Merris.
Page 15. Back to the Ypres Salient.
Page 16. Jan 1916. Armagh Wood.
Page 17. Feb 1916. Hill 60.
Page 18. Mine Explosion.
Page 19. Feb 1916. Ypres. Hill 60.
Page 20. Armagh Wood. CO Killed.
Page 21. Mar/Apr 1916. Kemmel.
Page 22. Apr/May 1916. Fletre. Kemmel.
Page 23. June 1916. Friendly Fire Kemmel.
Page 24. Jun/Jul 1916. Kemmel.
Page 25. July 1916. Kemmel.
Page 26. Aug 1916. To the Somme.
Page 27. Battle of Flers Courcelette.
Page 28. Sep 1916. Flers-Courcelette.
Page 29. The Thiepval Memorial.
Page 30. Flers-Courcelette. Losses.
Page 31. Flers-Courcelette. Attack repelled.
Page 32.Training. Martinpuich.
Page 33. In the Line near Flers.
Page 34. Nov 1916. Martinpuich. Flers.
Page 35. Flers. To Belloy.
Page 36. Feb/Mar 1917. Belloy.
Page 37. April 1917. To Arras.
Page 38. Capt D.P. Hirsch. V.C.
Page 39. The Arras Memorial.
Page 40. The Arras Memorial.
Page 41. Arras Burial Sites.
Page 42. Arras. Famechon.
Page 43. May 1917. Famechon. Bayencourt.
Page 44. June 1917 Back in the Line. Arras.
Page 45. Sep 1917. Arras. Wancourt.
Page 46. Oct 1917. Back to Ypres.
Page 47. Nov 1917. Passchendaele.
Page 48. Jan 1918. Ypres.
Page 49. Feb 1918. Last of Ypres.
Page 50. The Battle of St Quentin.
Page 51. German Offensive. Michael.
Page 52. German Advance. Pozieres Memorial.
Page 53. Losses on both sides.
Page 54. From the Somme to the Lys.
Page 55. April 1918. Battle of Estaires.
Page 56. Ploegsteert Memorial.
Page 57. From the Lys to the Aisne.
Page 58. German Offensive. Blucher-Yorck.
Page 59. May 1918. 150th Brigade decimated.
Page 60. End of the 4th Yorks.
Page 61. Last Weeks of War.
Page 62. Prisoners of War.
Page 63. Prisoners of War.
Page 64. Prisoners of War.
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SEPTEMBER 1916. BATTLE OF FLERS-COURCELETTE. MARTINPUICH.
The 50th Division were to take part in their first "set" Battle to further Haig's plan for the Battle of the Somme. The area of their operations is shown on the map. As can be seen their position was further forward than the rest of the line and with the Germans in High Wood and Martinpuich any further advance would leave them exposed to fire from the front and both sides. The 149th Brigade were particularly open to the enemy in High Wood. Nevertheless the plan was to advance immediately on the 15th and capture the three objectives shown. The Germans had been subjected to heavy artillery bombardment from the 12th and the attack was to be accompanied by a creeping barrage and for the first time tanks. Actually in the 50th Division's sector only 2 tanks were used on the left flank near Martinpuich.
14th SEPTEMBER. The Battalion moved from Shelter Wood to O.G. line at 8 p.m, where stores were distributed.
They then moved to assembly trenches, Eye Trench, trench immediately behind that and Swansea Trench. This was a matter of extreme difficulty as neither of the Battalions on the flanks had left the Communication Trenches available. The positions had to be occupied over the open and this was noticed by the Germans. They opened a barrage causing 40 Casualties.
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1714 Pte Pickersgill Harry. Born and enlisted at Richmond N Yorks. Killed in action. Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz.
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2166 Pte Skinner John, Robert. Born and enlisted at Redcar, N Yorks. Killed in action. Age 23. Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
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Battle of Flers-Courcelettes.
The orange area was the sector to be attacked by 150 Brigade with the 4th Yorks Battalion in the Centre.
The trenches between the French villages of Bazentin Le Petit and Martinpuich are shown as they were held before the assault. Blue lines for British held and Red for German.
The 4th Yorks Btn in Eye Trench had 3 objectives as shown and reached the third, but at great expense.
15th SEPTEMBER. The assault took place at 6.22 a.m. The order of attack was "Z" Coy right, "X" Coy centre and "W" Coy left. "Y" Coy were in Reserve. Brigade order was 4th East Yorks, 4th Yorks and 5th Yorks. Division order was 47th Div Right, 50th Div centre and 15th Div left.
The 150th Bde advanced in good order and quickly gained the first objective, Hook Trench. By 7.58 they were in the second. But High Wood and Martinpuich was still in the hands of the Germans. The 47th Div and the 149th Brigade on the right and East Yorks on the left were held up.
By 9.57 the 150th Brigade had taken the final objective with men in Prue trench. But the the 4th Yorks right flank was "up in the air" [Open to German fire from the side.] at the junction of Prue Trench and Martin Alley. This position was held despite terrific shelling which caused heavy casualties.
By 10 a.m the 15th Div had taken Martinpuich and by 1 p.m 47 Div had taken High Wood.
The following 26 4th Yorks men were killed in action this day and have no known grave. They are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
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3439 Pte Lorains William, Rippon. Home at 8 St Hildas Cottages, Church St, Whitby, N Yorks. Enlisted at Guisborough N Yorks. Age 36.
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British Tank.
The first tanks were more primitive and the Battle of Flers Courcelettes was notable for their first use.
Still unreliable and moving at only half a mile per hour only 15 of the 49 that started made it to No Man's Land.
They were said, though, to have had an uplifting effect on British morale and the opposite on the Germans.
High Wood and the villages of Martinpuich, Flers and Courcelettes were taken in a 2k advance.
[Picture courtesy of - "Photos of The Great War".]
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201382 Pte Armstrong William. Enlisted at Middlesbrough, N Yorks.
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5471 Pte Brown Harold, Charles. Born Leeming N Yorks and enlisted Northallerton.
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201949 Pte Coates Stanley. Home at Nunthorpe, N Yorks. Born Whitkirk, Yorks and enlisted Stokesley, N Yorks.
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4907 Pte Dobson Isaac. Home at Lingdale N Yorks. Enlisted Saltburn, N Yorks.
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3427 Pte Downes Mark, Kirton. Home at - 1 Mulgrave Rd, W Hartlepool, Co Durham. Enlisted at Middlesbrough. Age 19.
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3931 Pte Ferguson Harrie, Leonard. Home at - 69 Borough Rd, Middlesbrough, N Yorks, town of enlistment. Age 20.
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3007 Pte Fishwick Joseph. Home at - Loftus N Yorks. Enlisted at Skelton in Cleveland, N Yorks. Age 19.
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201258 Pte Gill James. Home at N Ormesby, Middlesbrough N Yorks, town of enlistment.
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2072 Cpl Goodchild Samuel. Born and enlisted at Middlesbrough, N Yorks.
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200644 Pte Hall George, Walton. Home at Boosbeck N Yorks. Enlisted at Skelton in Cleveland, N Yorks. Thiepval Memorial
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3309 Pte Harrison Fred. Home at - 8 Jackson St, Brotton, N Yorks. Enlisted at Skelton in Cleveland, N Yorks. Age 23.
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Field Marshal Douglas Haig.
He was a Cavalry Officer of the Old School and, it s said, did not have much faith in the Tank as the weapon of the future.
He had been Commander in Chief of the British Army since replacing Sir John French in December 1915.
Haig was responsible for the offensive on the Somme, which started at the end of June 1916 and went on into the autumn.
He has been blamed for sending so many young men to their deaths [600,000 Allied troops].
He argued that it had been necessary to force the Germans to divide their resources, as earlier in the year they had looked like overcoming the French at Verdun, which, had it happened, could have meant the War was lost.
As one French General observed, once the lines were drawn in this War of attrition to the end, thousands on both sides were inevitably going to die anyway.
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1480 Pte Hewson George. Home at - 48 Marsh St, Middlesbrough, N Yorks, place of birth and enlistment. Age 24.
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4069 Pte Hitchen Thomas. Home at 6 Maltby St, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough, N Yorks. Age 18.
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200793 Pte Hodgson James, Richard. Home at Loftus, N Yorks.
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4572 Pte Husband Joseph, William. Home at - 133 Duncombe St, Middlesbrough, N Yorks, place of enlistment. Age 23.
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4813 Pte Longstaff Robert. Born and enlisted at Middlesbrough, N Yorks. Age 21.
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201889 Pte Macken James. Home at - S Otterington N Yorks. Born at Castlebar, Co Mayo. Enlisted at Northallerton.
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4236 Pte Mainforth George. Home at - Carlin How N Yorks. Enlisted at Saltburn, N Yorks.
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3254 Pte Marsay Francis, George. Home at - Haredale Farm, Moorsholm, Skelton, N Yorks Age 26.
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3231 Pte Nelmer Albert. Home at New Marske N Yorks. Enlisted at Skelton in Cleveland, N Yorks.
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3779 Pte Royer George, Arthur. Enlisted at Middlesbrough, N Yorks.
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200440 Pte Smith James, W. Born and enlisted at Northallerton, N Yorks.
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201662 Pte Smith James, W. Home at 7 Aysdalegate Cottages, Charltons, Boosbeck, N Yorks.Enlisted at Guisborough. Age 19.
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3251 Pte Waller Robert, Ernest. Home at 28 Oxford St, Boosbeck, N Yorks, Enlisted at Saltburn, N Yorks.
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201062 Pte Watson William. Home at 38 Back Lane, Skelton in Cleveland, N Yorks. Born Normanby. Enlisted at Northallerton. N Yorks. Age 27.
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The following three men were killed in action and are buried at Adanac Military Cemetery, Miraumont.
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3867 Pte Williams Daniel. Home at 64 Waterloo Rd, Middlesbrough, N Yorks, place of enlistment. Age 18.
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3748 Pte Cleaver Charles. Born Grangetown, Middlesbrough and enlisted at Saltburn, N Yorks. Age 28.
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201060 Pte Gibson Edward. Home at - N Ormesby N Yorks. Enlisted at Northallerton.
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