Over the Top

8th Battalion of the Royal West Kents go into action on the Somme

In the small hours of 3 July 1916 the 6^thBattalion of the Royal West Kent regiment were roused and stood ready to advance across No Man’s land. They had been in reserve as part of 12^thDivision on 1^stJuly but moved up to replace 8^thDivision in the line on the night of 1/2 July with orders to attack the following night.

The Kentish men were entrenched to the west of the ruin of Ovilliers with two German salients running North to south at Ovillers and La Boisselle in front of them. Orders had to come down to cut the German salients off from the main line. To the right of the Kents 35 Brigade were attacking eastward and to the right of them a larger thrust towards Mametz wood with the aim being for the attacks linking and cutting of the two garrisons.

   The task before the Kents already had some complications. The Germans wire belt in front of them ran, uncut, for 300 yards and the northernmost German position had a larger wire belt. There was no advancing force to their left which left their flank exposed to enfilading fire but the Royal Fusiliers were ordered to give covering fire with rifles and machine guns whilst a smoke screen was deployed.

Troops of the Royal West Kent Regiment in a front line trench near Ypres, March-April 1915. Imperial War Museum image Q61569

   The plan of attack was simple. A Company (Captain Barnett) and C Company (Captain Hatton) were to be the first wave and take the German first line advancing with A Company on the right and C Company on the left. Once they reached the line they were to bomb out the dugouts and spread out along the line until C Coy reached a Junction with a communications trench and erect a double block whilst A Coy moved left until the met with the 6^thBattalion of the Queen’s Surreys who were advancing at the same time.

  B Coy (Captain Harris) and D Coy (Captain Matthews) were to push through the German front line and assault the Second line some 300 yards further on whilst the 7^thEast Surreys would take the third line beyond that.

   At 3:15 a.m. the British artillery fire ceased and the Kents dashed forward into the dark. The attack was met with heavy machine gun fire but not enough to turn the attack and both companies pressed on. On the left C Coy Lieutenants Montagu and Robert’s platoons drifted too far left and got entangled in the wire suffering heavy casualties from enemy fire which claimed both Lieutenants.

Lieutenant Coombs

Lieutenant Claude Coombs, a 21 year old native of Beckenham, was the first of C COY to reach the German line after shooting one of the defenders who was lining up a shot at Captain Hatton, he began leading his bombing teams along the line. Captain Barnett was killed on arrival at the lines but his Company carried on regardless and began clearing the lines. In all 250 yards of German line were secured despite C Coy being hampered by the loss of specially selected bombers in Montagu and Robert’s platoons.

   Under heavy covering fire from A and C Coy the second wave began to advance but things had already begun to go wrong with the two companies being delayed by congestion in the British line and by the time they passed over the German front line the artillery barrage had already lifted on the second line. Unlike the front line which seemed to only have machine gunners in it the second line was more heavily manned and despite the covering fire given by A and C Coy the second wave came under withering fire. They were also struck by enfilading fire in the left flank. Captain Matthews tried to urge his men on but was shot after only a few yards. A young subaltern, who had recently joined the battalion from Rugby, Lieutenant Hugh Latimer, dashed forward and pushed his way through the wire and up to the German parapet cheering his men on and trying to show the way but he too fell with a bullet through the head. The attack soon petered out.

   The situation in the old German front line was now becoming tenuous with the failure of the second wave compounded by the advance of the Queen’s Surreys, who, along with the 6^thBattalion of the Buffs, had suffered heavy fire from the front and on both flanks as they advanced and had had to retire and take the line to the right of the Kents.

   As it was A and C Coy were cut off and unsupported. Attempts at rushing up reinforcements to resupply were met with deadly heavy fire with only a few handfuls of men arriving by jumping from shell hole to shell hole. A telephone cable was laid back to the British line but it was quickly cut and the surviving senior officer, Captain Hatton, had to rely on runners bearing messages but the enemy fire made this difficult. Despite this, an order from the Colonel had arrived.

The Two Companies were to hold the line.

This would be easier said than done as the British artillery barrage had severely damaged the line, the Companies were cut off from reinforcement and were without support on the right and the strong point on the left not adequately established due to the shortage of bombers but the men set to their task with grit and bravery holding out for several hours.

  Sergeant Knight of C Coy dashed into No-man’s land to grab bombs from fallen comrades and despite drawing heavy fire, was able to bring two bags back to the line only to fall dead from a head wound. Lieutenant Cuthburt Buckle, a 24 year old American officer climbed up onto the parapet and despite repeated pleas and orders to get down, paced up and down directing his platoon’s fire on the enemy until he too was felled.

   As time passed ammunition and bombs dwindled whilst casualties rose. Hutton and his batman moved up and down the line taking ammunition and bombs from the casualties and redeploying them to the remaining bomb squads until the Captain was badly wounded at 7 a.m. during a German counter attack.

   The defences failed and handfulls of men tried to make it back to the British line under fire from the pursuing Germans and from German artillery firing from Pozières.

   Of the 617 men to go into action, 375 men were casualties including three of the four company commanders killed and Hatton wounded and captured. In total 19 officers were casualties including Lieutenant Coombs who crawled, mortally wounded, through no man’s land only to die of gas gangrene in a hospital in Bolougne on 6^thJuly where he was buried. In a letter home a Lance Corporal wrote that Coombs "was one of the most daring and bravest officers we have ever had and I have often heard the remark passed by the men that they would trust themselves with him."

   The Battalion was to be reformed around Captain Dawson and the reserves and when 12 Division were withdrawn on the 9^thJuly they were sent to Vauchelles des Authoy.