Day Twenty One on the Somme

Friday 21st July 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

Today 48th (South Midland Division) launched an attack on enemy positions west and south-west of the village of Pozières. This important position is the highest in the area giving an overview of land to west, south and east. To seize it at this juncture would give us the immense advantage of overlooking many German positions, allowing our artillery to zero in on them. Sadly the attacks by the division were largely fruitless, no ground being taken.

At the end of this third week of fighting in the Battle of the Somme it seems a good time to take stock of where our local battalions are and what they have done.

• The 1st Battalion is east of Mametz. Their brigade (15th) is acting as the reserve for 5th Division. They have yet to be committed to this battle that has now been raging for three weeks but expect to be in action before long.
• 2nd Battalion, after its exertions at Trônes Wood, is bivouacked behind the lines at a place called The Citadel near Albert. A draft of 47 other ranks originally from the Northamptonshire Regiment has reinforced the much-reduced battalion during the day.
• 6th Battalion: is at la Houssoye near Béhencourt, north-east of Amiens and well behind the front line. A draft of 120 men has just arrived.
• 7th Battalion: by contrast with the 6th Battalion, has been heavily involved in this battle. Its great triumph came at the Pommiers Redoubt east of Montauban on the first day of the battle and it was in reserve for the final capture of Trônes Wood. It is presently on board a train travelling from Dernancourt to Longpré-les-Corps-Saints en-route to the Saint-Omer area.
• 8th Battalion: has taken no part in the battle so far, but took a minor part in the Battle of Loos in September last year and suffered a catastrophic German raid in April this year and so has seen combat. It is currently in reserve near Ypres.

The 4th Battalion is still acing as guards at Landguard Camp in Suffolk but expects to be shipped to France within the week. The 1st/5th Battalion is believed to be still at the el-Kubri Ralhead in Egypt.