WW1 First Day of the Somme Casualty 1914-15 Star Medal Trio – Pte. F.J. Taylor, 2nd Bn. Essex Regiment – K.I.A. 1/7/16

A first world war first day of the Somme casualty medal group awarded to 12727 Private Frank Joseph Taylor, 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment, who was killed in action on 1/7/1916 and is remembered at Thiepvl Memorial. 

1914-15 Star named to 12727 Pte. F.J. Taylor. Essex R. 
British War Medal named to 12727 Pte. F.J. Taylor. Essex R. 
WW1 Victory Medal named to 12727 Pte. F.J. Taylor. Essex R. 

Killed in Action – 1st July 1916 (First Day of the Battle of the Somme) 

Frank Joseph Taylor was born in Great Baddow, Essex, in 1895, the oldest of four surviving children of Joseph Taylor and his wife Mary Ann (née Boughtwood).  The 1911 Census shows the family living at “New Found Out”, a beer house in Galleywood, with fifteen-year-old Frank working as a domestic under gardener.  Following the outbreak of the First World War, Frank enlisted at Chelmsford as 12727 Private Taylor in the Essex Regiment.  After recruit training with the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, on 27 July 1915 he was posted to the 2nd Battalion the Essex Regiment in France.

The 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment was part of the 12th Brigade, which, together with the 10th and 11th Brigades, formed the 4th Division.  At the end of July 1915 the 4th Division was one of the first British formations to move down to the Somme, where it took over the line in front of Beaumont-Hamel from French troops.  The Somme was a quiet sector at this time, and the 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment settled down to nine months of trench routine, suffering relatively few casualties.  At the end of April 1916 the 4th Division became part of VIII Corps of Fourth Army.  It was known by this time that Fourth Army was preparing for an offensive on a very big scale, and the 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment spent the next eight weeks training for the attack and providing working parties for various construction tasks.  

On 1 July 1916 the objective for the 4th and 29th Divisions of VIII Corps was the village of Beaumont-Hamel.  The plan was to mount attacks on either side of the village – the 4th Division along Redan Ridge to the north, the 29th Division along Hawthorn Ridge and “Y Ravine” to the south.  The 4th Division’s objective was the ridge between Grand Court and Puisieux-au-Mont, about 3,600 yards away.  The 11th Brigade would attack first, their objective being the last trench of the German front-line system, called Munich Trench.  Once the 11th Brigade had gained their objective, the 10th and 12th Brigades would pass through them and gain the final objective along the ridge.  

At 07.30 the attack began.  The British troops had to cross 200 yards of No Man’s Land to reach the German front line, but as soon as they left their trenches they were met by a storm of machine gun and artillery fire.  The right battalions of the 11th Brigade suffered very heavy casualties and were unable to reach the German lines.  On the left, however, parties of the Rifle Brigade, Somerset Light Infantry and Royal Warwickshire Regiment were able to enter the German trenches and push on to the German third line.

In the meantime the 10th and 12th Brigades began moving from their assembly trenches to the British front line which they were scheduled to leave at 09.00.  The 12th Brigade, on the left, would attack with the Essex Regiment and King’s Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment), while the 10th Brigade, on the right, would attack with the Seaforth Highlanders and Royal Dublin Fusiliers.  In view of the 11th Brigade’s losses, signal messages were sent at 08.35 from Divisional HQ directing the 10th and 12th Brigades to refrain from crossing the front line until the situation became clearer.  However, these instructions did not arrive in time for the leading battalions of either Brigade to be stopped.

The 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment left their assembly trenches at 08.36 and immediately came under intense machine gun and artillery fire.  They suffered heavy casualties as they crossed No Man’s Land but parties succeeded in reaching the German trenches and reinforcing the troops of the 11th Brigade who had reached the German third line.  Likewise, parties of the Seaforth Highlanders also managed to reinforce the 11th Brigade, but neither the King’s Own or the Royal Dublin Fusiliers were able to get across.

Unfortunately, owing to the failure of the divisions either side of them, the 4th Division’s flanks were exposed, and these advanced parties came under severe pressure from German counter-attacks.  Eventually they were forced back to a redoubt in the German lines called “The Quadrilateral”.  During the withdrawal, a number of men of various units went right back to the British trenches.  It was at this point that Drummer Ritchie of the Seaforth Highlanders repeatedly jumped onto the parapet of a German trench and sounded “The Charge”, rallying those men who had lost their officers and NCOs and were wavering.  Ritchie was subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross.  

The Seaforth Highlanders Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Hopkinson, was the senior officer and set about organising the defence of the Quadrilateral.  There were men from the Rifle Brigade, Somerset Light Infantry,  Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Seaforth Highlanders and Essex Regiment, and Hopkinson ordered each party to make itself responsible for the defence of part of the redoubt.  As the afternoon wore on the beleaguered garrison began to run short of ammunition.  As many bombs as possible were collected from casualties, and messages were sent back for further supplies, but as none arrived and the enemy continued to bomb the flanks, the decision was taken at about 17.00 to retire to the original German front line.  The Quadrilateral remained in British hands for the rest of the day.  However, by nightfall it had become obvious that the British offensive had been a disaster; most of the attacks had failed even to reach their objectives, let alone capture them, and the handful of units that had achieved their objectives could not be reinforced and were in danger of being cut off and destroyed.  In the early hours of 2 July it was decided that the Quadrilateral could not be held, and the garrison was ordered to withdraw.

Of the 24 officers and 606 men of the 2nd Essex Regiment who went into action on 1 July, only 2 officers and 192 men came out.  Nine officers and 134 men were killed.  One of the dead was Private Frank Taylor.  He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial and the Galleywood War Memorial.