1st July 1916 was the worst day ever for British Army casualties, & it was a failure. Nowadays we have ceremonies which "commemorate" the 1918 Armistice & other significant dates during the Great War, but in reality it destroyed more than one generation (& still it goes on).

Lucky man to get through Gallipoli & 1/7/16. Did he survive the war unscathed ?

went forward from support lines OVER THE OPEN & exposed to enfilade MG fire, especially from "Y Ravine". The Off Hist F&F 1916 Vol I describes it as an "isolated and doomed attack". nb - the apparent discrepancy in the NFs officer casualties is because more officers went forward than were meant to.

Circumstances of 1st Dublin Fusiliers & 1st Newfoundland attacks were very different. The NFs were supposed to attack just after 9am flanked by 1st Essex, but the Essex couldn't get forward because the front & comms trenches on that part of the front were clogged with dead & dying. The NFs >cont>

1st Dublin Fusiliers were a "2nd assault" Bn which probably greatly reduced their casualties. Troops attacking ahead of them were decimated by MG fire & 1st Bn made slow progress to the jumping-off points. The wire ahead was largely uncut & the attack on that part of the front was halted at midday.

98/100 times divorce means you made a mistake in the first place.
That's advice from a deliriously happy long-term divorcee who thought they could "rectify historical self-destructive behaviour".

1st, 2nd, 3rd Line Battalions in the same regiment.
My granddad was a 1/4th (TF) QO Cameron Highlander, an active Bn which went abroad Feb 1915.
2/4th Bn were a home service Bn; essentially a training Bn.
3/4th Bn were also home service & were a short-lived reserve Bn which was disbanded July 1916.

Some ventures into German archives have been very revealing. Perceptions of events have sometimes "shifted".
"Covid" severely impacted print costs, etc, & the amount of research time moving forward has been & continues to be considerable for Jonathan. Vol 3 will be worth waiting for👍

"Bergwerk" & Beaumont-Hamel. His burial is poignant, - Grave B.52. in Beaumont-Hamel British Cemetery; very close to where he was killed & a few hundred yards from the 1/7/16 Hawthorne Ridge Crater, the blowing of which was so problematical. No family inscription on headstone & age unknown.RIP.

WW1 Pow officer's capture reports often have me scratching my head🫢
They tend to be formulaic, which given their circumstances at the time is hardly surprising. If you're up the creek without a paddle then pragmatic action is pretty sensible. Challenor flew a desk, & desk pilots think a certain way😒

Wait till you see Vol 3 ... its beginning to look inevitable that its going to have to be split into two volumes🫢
zerohourzday.com is heading towards being the seminal work on the lead-up to & first day of The Battle of The Somme 1916.

questions to ask - the closest I've come to a Pow officer not being automatically "exonerated". The WO query letter is below, as is Alfred's reply, & finally the WO's letter saying he is to go on the "Exonerated Officers List (& be granted his medals).

Kingston-upon-Thames may be the most anti-motorist council in Greater London. They even have an unadvertised blanket exclusion zone which "suspends" Blue Badge parking rules😱 A few years ago I fought them over a bus lane "penalty" where road works forced one into the bus lane. I WON👍

thigh. On recovery he returned to 2nd Bn & was KiA 2/9/18. He is buried in Windmill British Cemetery, Monchy-le-Preux, II.D.18. The family inscription on his headstone is "THEIR BODIES ARE BURIED IN PEACE BUT THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE"
Researched for a future vol of zerohourzday.com