Retaliation

German 77 mm trench mortar at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford

Monday 28th February 1916: The adjutant of the 2nd Battalion near Maricourt on the Somme tells us that yesterday the French, on their right flank, south of the River Somme, warned them that they were going to fire on the German communication trenches and that this might cause some retaliation. It duly did, about a hundred 77 mm and thirty 5.9 inch shells fell on Maricourt, many of them near Battalion Headquarters, one soldier, Private Henry Parker from Stratford, Essex, dying of his wounds this morning.

Source: X550/3/wd