1st Of July 1916
07.30 hours - 'Over the top'
Whistles blew as the 750,000 men (a total of 27 divisions) of which 80% comprised the British Expeditionary Force climbed the small steps from their muddy trenches and went 'Over the top' to face the German front line (a total of 16 divisions). As part of X corps., the 36th (Ulster) Division began the advance towards their first objective at Thiepval ridge. The advance began with the detonation of a series of 17 mines. The first, which was actually exploded ten minutes early, had went off at 07:20 hours. The detonation of this mine caused the so called Hawthorn Crater which remains visible today. As the smoke cleared and the Ulstermen advanced it became shockingly evident that the chief effect of the preliminary bombardment of the previous eight-days had served merely to alert the German army to imminent attack. It had caused virtually no damage to the German barbed wire layout, their underground trenches or their heavily fortified concrete gun emplacements. Much of the munitions used by the British had proved to be ‘duds’, badly constructed and ineffective. Many charges did not go off; even today farmers of the Western Front unearth many tons of unexploded ‘iron harvest’ each year. During the bombardment the German troops had simply sought effective shelter in their bunkers, emerging only with the ceasing of the British artillery bombardment, when the German machine guns were then manned to great effect.
Many of the dead from the 36th (Ulster) Division that day fell the moment they stepped out of the front lines into No Man's Land. Many men walked slowly towards the German lines, laden down with 30 kg of supplies and equipment, expecting little or no opposition. They made for incredulously easy targets for the German machine-gunners. The Ulstermen had advanced slowly shoulder to shoulder in line, one behind the other, across the crater-torn waste of No Man's Land towards the awaiting German guns and the slaughter began. The advance of course, had been carefully planned. The idea was that the Division would attack the armoured and heavily fortified bunkers on Thiepval ridge and take the notorious well armed stronghold behind which was called the "Schwaben Redoubt", a strategic part of the German front line. The idea was that the Ulstermen would attack in a pincer movement from both North and South sides of the ridge where the first and second German trenches were. But timing was of the essence since a 'rolling' barrage of artillery was scheduled to hit each trench just before the Division arrived. It looked good on paper and at first it did actually go well for the Ulstermen. Despite the physically demanding climb uphill towards the ridge and the horrifying number of casualties, the Royal Irish Rifles did manage to cut through the German barbed wire on several fronts.
The German wire had now been cut in many places, and in their eagerness, the soldiers forgot their orders to attack in ordered waves, but rushed up the hill to the first line of enemy trenches which was taken after a short, fierce struggle. While the Division took its first prisoners, disaster struck the Ulstermen. The 32nd division to the right of the advance, failed to take the fortress village of Thiepval, so the German guns which should have been silenced were now turned on the men from Ulster. They fell in dozens, those not killed crawled into shell holes for cover. At the same time the German artillery - having had weeks to sort out their ranges - started to fire onto the following -up ranks of the four Belfast battalions. No-man's-land became a death trap. This is a quote from the official division diary :- 'No sooner were they clear of our own line than the slow tat-tat of the Hun machine-guns from Thiepval village and Beaumont-Hamel caught the advance under a deadly crossfire.'
The bodies of the dead began to pile up over the wire and mud but throughout the noise and clamour of the charge towards the trenches, many Ulstermen were to later admit they would never forget the screams of agony from the hundreds of wounded that now covered No Man's land. Many died waiting for a first aid detail that never arrived. This quote is from the diary of John Kennedy Hope who was part of that dreadful advance :-
'A 9th Inniskilling lying at the top has got a bullet through his steel hat. He rolls over into the trenches at my feet. He is an awful sight. His brain is oozing out of the side of his head and he is calling for his pal. An occasional cry of ‘Billy Gray, Billy Gray, will you not come to me?’ In a short time all is quiet, he is dead. He’s the servant to an officer who is lying in the trench with a fractured thigh and won't let anyone touch him, and he is bleeding badly. They die together.'
Despite heavy casualties the Inniskillings (109 Brigade) surged forward, and somehow took the supposedly impregnable "Schwaben Redoubt" silencing the German machine-guns, by 8.45 a.m. having covered one mile of devastated land, they carried out their objective. On their left, 108 Brigade was exposed to a hail of machine-gun fire from the "Beaucourt Redoubt" across the river Ancre. The 13th Irish Rifles lost nearly all of its officers, before reaching the enemies trenches. "A & D" companies from the 11th Irish Rifles, were almost annihilated. The 15th Irish Rifles, pressed on over the top of the dead and dying to take their objective, the north-east corner of the "Schwaben Redoubt". The 12th Irish Rifles and the Irish Fusiliers, suffered horrendous casualties, twice they reformed, but were both times cut down. Some men started to waver, but, according to legend, roared on by cries of "No Surrender" they gained new strength and reached the Redoubt and joined their comrades. There were now men from eight battalions engaged there. The fighting was at close quarters and vicious but the Ulstermen won the day. They had achieved their main objective and taken the "Schwaben Redoubt".
It was becoming clear to Gen. Morland that the attack was failing on several fronts. At 9.10am, therefore Morland instructed the 107 Brigade that they must not (as planned) move forward in support. The messenger arrived too late - at 9.15am the 107 Brigade moved out of Thiepval Wood and hurried to join the 109 at the Schwaben Redoubt, ready for the second stage of the attack. The 107 Brigade consisted of "8th, 9th and 10th Irish Rifles" and they now advanced through the ranks of 109 Brigade "which included the 14th Irish Rifles (Y.C.V.'s) and by 10.00 am occupied the German trenches before the Grandcourt Line, two thirds of them being cut down as they charged across the open ground. The surviving troops occupying their final objective, but only after bloody hand to hand fighting.
Many officers had been killed in the assault and the soldiers were uncoordinated and lacked central command. It was however, obvious to the junior officers present that they had advanced further than the rest of the allied line. Incoming fire from the German stronghold of Thiepval village was a clear sign that the assault there had failed. Patrols were sent out towards Thiepval and could perhaps have captured it from the rear, but this manoeuvre had not been rehearsed and the men had to return.
For some reason, they still did not have a senior officer with them, but the junior officers and the men had trained extensively behind the lines, and they knew their next objective - the Stuff Redoubt, about 600 yards beyond the Schwaben Redoubt. Two small parties went on towards the second German line and the Stuff Redoubt. But, as nowhere else in the whole battlefield, they were well ahead of schedule. Mistakes by the German generals had meant that the Stuff Redoubt was unoccupied, so they faced no resistance. As a result, they set off 10 minutes too early, and as they ran across the 600 yards of open ground they suddenly found themselves under a bombardment from the British artillery which was firing on the German lines as part of the pre-ordained plan. Two-thirds of the men were killed and wounded, and most of the rest had to take cover in craters; only 50 men reached the Stuff Redoubt. They were by now brought to the attention of the Germans and they began a serious of counter attacks starting at the Stuff redoubt and the Ulstermen had to retreat back to the Schwaben.
By early evening, the Ulstermen had held the Schwaben for several hours but could advance no further. They were being pounded by a series of determined counter attacks by the Germans. The Ulster Division of the New Army had no regular battalions attached to it to act as "stiffeners" yet it had advanced further than any other Division. For four miles on either side of them there was no advance to distract the German machine guns and artillery, and the enemy was able to gather its reserves and prepare its counter-attacks. The glorious advance was over. The Ulstermen needed re-inforcements badly. They had been promised earlier in the day but had never appeared. The sad truth is that General Morland had by now considered the attack to have failed and that he would not be committing any more reserves to the assault. As the German attacks intensified, the Ulstermen knew they would have to retreat. The desperation of the Division at this point is highlighted by this extract from the journal of rifleman John Boyd 14th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles (YCV) :- "...time was getting on and we were very hungry. I remember asking our Corporal the time, he was the only one with a watch. He said it was 7.30pm and we would be getting relieved soon (some hope!). Shortly after that, by 8.00 pm I got hit in the left arm by a machine gun bullet....."
The slow retreat had now begun. Despite a last valiant stand, the 36th (Ulster) Division had no option but to retreat. First to the second trench but by 09.00 hours the ferocity of the German assault and their superior numbers pushed them back to the first trench and by 10.30, all of the British forces held only the German front line. The Division was finally relieved on 2 July, having suffered 5,104 casualties of whom approximately 2,069 died.
The 36th (Ulster) Division’s attack on 1 July 1916 has been covered by writers in immense detail, and has entered into Ulster folklore as a day of enduring memory. Overall the day was one of significant defeat for the British Army, when more than 57,000 men became casualties, of whom 20,000 were killed. This made it the worst day in the history of the British Army, where sixty per cent of all officers involved on the first day were killed. However, it is often forgotten that three Divisions captured their objectives, and that several others while not doing so did perform exceptional feats. The Ulster Division was one of them: it captured and held for a considerable time the Schwaben Redoubt, despite virtually no progress being made by either Division on its flanks, a glorious victory. The author of the 36th Divisional History, the noted military historian Cyril falls says this of it:-
'But and of this there can be no shadow of doubt today it laid the foundations of final victory.
The German troops were never the same after it, while our young levies, dreadful as were their sacrifices, were to arrive at a far higher standard of military virtue.'
Amongst the many rewards for bravery on the 1st of July 1916, were four Victoria Crosses. The recipients were:-
Captain E. N. F. Bell, 9th BN. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Tyrone Volunteers).
Lt. G. St. G. S. Cather, 9th BN. Royal Irish Fusiliers (Armagh, Monaghan & Cavan Volunteers).
Pte. R. Quigg, 12th BN. Royal Irish Rifles (Central Antrim Volunteers).
Pte. W. F. McFadzean, 14th BN. Royal Irish Rifles (Young Citizen Volunteers).