Historic Records: Men of July 1916

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1st July 1916 remains the worst day, as far as casualties were concerned, in the history of the British Army. This Historic Records blog focuses on the men of July 1916, not all those with a connection to that awful month, of course, but rather men with whom I have a personal connection. That connection might be an interview that I conducted with a veteran back in the 1980s; a postcard or a photo that links to July 1916, or more than not, a medal or medal group to someone who became a casualty.

The photo above was acquired by me in 2019, and shows is British army officers photographed at the end of a month-long training course at the Fourth Army School at Flixécourt on the Somme in 1916. The photo dates to May 1916 and within six weeks, seven of these men would be dead. First World War poet Siegfried Sassoon attended the course and wrote about it in Memoirs of an Infantry Officer and in his journal. He was a second lieutenant when this photo was taken and he is seated cross-legged on the ground, third from the right.

The Fourth Army was formed in France on the 5 February 1916 under the command of Henry Rawlinson and on the 1st July 1916, eleven Fourth Army Divisions attacked German positions along the Albert-Bapaume Road. These officers were all being trained for the forthcoming Somme offensive and six of these men would be killed in action on the opening day of the battle, 1st July 1916.

I shall have more to say about these officers, and others, in due course.


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