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The Battle of the Somme continued in a series of stages until it
finally petered out in November 1916. La Boiselle eventually fell on
7th July, and Contalmaison Wood was taken on 10th, thus achieving in
ten days what the Tyneside Scottish was expected to do in one. The
British advance ground slowly forward, major engagements being:
- 14th-17th July - Battle of Bazentin Ridge.
- 15th July-3rd September - Battle of Delville Wood.
- 20th-25th July - Attack on High Wood.
- 23rd July-3rd September - Battle of Pozieres Ridge.
- 3rd-6th September - Battle of Guillemont.
- 9th September - Battle of Ginchy.
- 2nd September - Battle of Flers-Courcelette (tanks used for
the first time).
- 26th-28th September - Battle of Thiepval.
- 25th-28th September - Battle of Morval.
- 1st-18th October - Battle of Transloy Ridges.
- 1st-3rd October - Capture of Eaucourt l'Abbaye.
- 7th October - Capture of Le Sars.
- 7th October-5th November - Attacks on Butte de Warlencourt.
- 3rd-11th November - Battle of Ancre Heights.
- 13th-18th November - Battle of the Ancre.
With the onset of winter the advances ground to a halt, and the
opposing armies dug themselves in along a new line of trenches which
would hardly alter until the German Spring Offensive of 1918. The
costs were enormous. Although no exact casualty figures have ever
been arrived at, official figure give the British Empire casualties
as 419,654, and the French at 204,253. A rather dubious attempt was
made by British Military Intelligence in September 1916 to calculate
German losses to date, arriving at a total of 522,000. In fact, the
German losses were less than this, the final total being some
500,000. The gains were a slice of France some 25 miles long and 7
miles wide. Individual leaders were replaced; Falkenhayn in Germany,
Joffre in France, and Asquith in Britain, (whose son had died in the
fighting), to be replaced by Lloyd George. Haig survived, and claimed
the whole affair as a victory, carefully redefining what had been his
original objectives. On 3rd January 1917 he was promoted to Field
Marshal, and in 1919 he was granted an earldom and awarded
£100,000. The main instigator of the disaster, Rawlinson, was
given a baronetcy and £30,000. In the 1920's the area was slowly
returning to normal, and the British dead were gathered into fifty
cemeteries. Of these, the Bapaume Post Cemetery, on the side of the
Albert road, contains the graves of many Tyneside Scottish, including
two of the Commanding Officers, Cols. Lyle and Sillery. This cemetery
is on what was the Regimental Aid Post during the battle. On the
north side of Mash Valley is the Ovillers Military Cemetery, where
many of the Tyneside Irish are buried. Several Tyneside Scots are
also here, many graves simply marked "An Unknown Soldier of the
Tyneside Scottish". Ovillers Cemetery is located in what was No-Man's
Land, and the first burials were made soon after the battle began.
Most of its 3556 burials were made after the War, and these include
no fewer than 2477 unidentified soldiers.
The Germans were only allowed one cemetery, at Fricourt, which
contains memorials to 11,970 men, with a further 6,477 unknown. The
sombre black crosses in this cemetery make a stark contrast to the
white headstones marking Commonwealth burials.
The monuments which now dot the area were erected, including the
one at Thiepval to the 73,412 men who disappeared on the Somme. The
Memorial, designed by Sir Edward Lutyens, was built between 1928 and
1932, and unveiled by the Prince of Wales, in the presence of the
President of France, on 31st July 1932. The Memorial is clad mainly
in brick, but its sixteen piers are faced with Portland stone on
which the names of the dead are engraved. Some two and a half piers
are taken up with names of men from the various battalions of the
Northumberland Fusiliers, including Lt.Col. Elphinstone.
Among many memorials to individual units in the area, a Tyneside
Memorial Seat now stands on the Albert to Bapaume road where the side
road branches off into La Boiselle, and at the eastern edge of the
village is the 34th Division Memorial.
James Brown left hospital and returned home late in 1916, where he
re-established his business as a boot and shoe maker, working from a
shop below his home at 60, North King Street, North Shields (since
demolished). The youngest two of his eight children were born after
his return.
Because of the pressures on men to join the Armed Forces, there
was a grave danger that someone who was not visibly unfit to serve
could be taunted and called a coward. To counteract this the men were
issued with the Silver War Badge, designed to be worn on a lapel,
showing that they had served King and Country. The documents relating
to these awards show that Pte James Austin Brown was officially
discharged on 15th June 1917, and awarded Badge and Discharge
Certificate No.207224 on 27th June 1917.The official records also
show that his entitlement to the Victory Medal and the British War
Medal was approved on 28th July 1921, and these, along with his
Discharge Certificate, he proudly displayed in his shop.
He was diagnosed as suffering from 'Trench Neuritis', a term
designed to cover many medical problems, and given six months to
live. Having been exposed to gas, possibly seeping from the ground as
he lay injured, he suffered from asthma, and in winter, when his
chest was particularly bad, he spent time in a Royal British Legion
hospital in County Durham, in company with many ex-soldiers, some of
whom were permanent patients. Also, he had a fear of thunder and
lightning, a lasting legacy of the shell shock caused by his
experiences. James Brown died on 2nd November 1945, aged 63.
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