Delville Wood.
In August 1916, the 12th Royal Fusiliers were part of British and Commonwealth forces trying to capture the village of Guillemont close to Delville Wood on the southern part of the Somme Battlefield.
The brief battalion war diary entry for August 14 is short but hints at the increasing strain of the men coming under almost constant artillery fire as they sought shelter in a landscape turned to a wasteland. We begin to read of soldiers succumbing to shell shock. Or PTSD as it’s now called.
My great uncle Jack Walker was there with the 12th Royal Fusiliers. The Allies (the French were in this sector too) inched their way over the battlefield to capture German positions – only to abandon them time and again under counter attack. It was attritional warfare of the worst kind. Yards of ground covered and immediately surrendered at a terrible cost.
Date 14/08/16
Location: Trenches between Delville Wood and Guillemont
A fine day. Continued digging assembly trenches. Artillery on both sides very active. 2nd Lt Martin wounded.
Casualties: Wounded: 1 officer, 13 OR (other ranks). Wounded (shell shock) 3 OR.
Lt Harold Martin from Snaresbrook in Essex died on the 31st July the following year when the battalion was fighting further north near Ypres. He has no known grave. His name is inscribed on the Menin Gate.
He was 24 years old.
Ramblings of a Walker 