The British Front Line

The British Front Line , The land upon which stood the four copses then known as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were patriotically given to the City Sheffield by the landowner in 1928, provided that the tenant farmer was compensated, which was done. You are standing in Mark copse where the British front line was on 1st July 1916., About 1000 metres ahead of you on the crest of hill lies the village of Serre which was then occupied by a battalion of the German 169 Infantry Regiment (8th Baden), with four well-established trench lines and six heavily reinforced machine gun positions in front of the village. The German front-line was no more than 300 metres from here - just beyond where you now see Queen's Cemetery. To your left was the boundary between the British Third and Fourth Armies. The 12th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment (Sheffield Pals) was the northernmost end of the attack as the Third Army did not take part. This trench was occupied by 11th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment (Accrington Pals) with the 13th and 14th Battalions York and Lancaster Regiment (Barnsley Pals) on the slope behind., "Z" day had been set for 29th June but was delayed by wet weather. The planned artillery bombardment commenced on 24th June to "completely destroy German wire and trenches so that when the infantry get there, not even a rat will be alive.” On the final day, before moving up to the front line trenches, each soldier packed his small pack with a day's rations, spare socks etc., leaving his big pack behind. Every rifleman carried 120 rounds of ammunition in his pouches and 50 more in a bandolier. In addition, he wore a helmet and carried a rifle, four empty sandbags, gas helmet, groundsheet, two grenades and a pick or shovel strapped to his back. Wire cutters, rolls of barbed wire and pickets were distributed among the men so that everyone had at least 60lbs (27kg) of equipment, some is much is 90lbs (41kg)., The soldiers set off to the front line as dusk approached on 30th June. It took them 10 to 12 hours to cover the 5 to 7 miles (8 to 11km) arriving filthy and exhausted as late as all 0400 hours as dawn broke. Their feet sank into the deep sticky mud of the communication trenches., Imagine you are one of the soldiers. You know the enemy is near but you know your job and have confidence in your pals. The noise of the shelling of the German positions is mind-numbing. Your mouth is dry: you are shaking - it must be the cold. You pray to God that the shelling has knocked out the machine guns and breached the wire. The barrage lifts and there is a sudden unexpected silence. You look at your mate and give a nervous grin. He grins back. The order comes - "Fix bayonets!" And then the whistle blows..., Epilogue , By 0750, half an hour after the first soldiers had left the trenches, the attack had failed. The wire had not been cut. The defenders came out of their deep dugouts when the barrage lifted before the advance started. The Accrington Pals suffered 585 casualties; the Sheffield Pals 513; 1st Barnsley Pals 286 and 2nd 275., Before you leave, look around you and visualise the carnage as a lovely summer's day witnessed a massacre., This panel was designed by Sheffield City Council's Communication Service on behalf of the York and Lancaster Regiment In conjunction with Made in Sheffield and manufactured by Chimo Sheffield (Mfg) Ltd. ,