Guillemont, 30 July 1916 – a black day for Liverpool
A second major push ‘over the top’ at the Somme took place at the village of Guillemont on 30 July 1916, in which around 460 Liverpool Pals officers and soldiers were killed, and around 600 others were wounded, captured or missing. Over a period of a few days, nineteen battalions from the King’s Regiment, including all three Pals battalions serving at the Somme, fought to capture and hold on to the village of Guillemont.
|
|
The attack by the British and French on German positions was made extremely difficult by heavy fog, and by tactical mistakes made by the commanding officers. The British soldiers had to cross a mile of unknown land, and could not see where their German opponents were through the fog.
German soldiers had taken cover in No Man’s Land (the area between German and British trenches) and could not be seen, while the German machine gunners simply had to fire into the fog and hope that they hit their targets. Communications between soldiers on the battlefield were also extremely difficult due to the conditions.
By the end of July 1916, it was estimated that the 89th Brigade’s losses since the start of the war from all causes were around 1,450.