Sherwoods on the Eve of the Somme, 1st Anniversary Reflection

“THE EVE OF THE BATTLE.

“SHERWOODS AND THE SOMME ANNIVERSARY.

“DID THEIR DUTY AND “SO THEY DIED!”

“The first anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme yesterday has brought to mind the gallant behaviour of the Sherwood Foresters on that occasion. There are probably few people in Nottingham who did not lose relatives or friends in the fighting. An account of the manner in which the Sherwoods spent the eve of the attack, sent to us by an officer who served in the engagement, is therefore of great interest.

“Starting from our rest billets, he writes, a short distance from the trenches, at about 2 p.m., the various platoons made their way at short intervals and by circuitous routes to the gathering place, a few hundred yards behind the line. The guns, which had been rumbling night and day for more than a week, had now swelled to an incessant thunder as we plodded our way through a sea of mud, the resul of heavy storms a few days previous.

“Arrived our destination, the various companies drew their quota of bombs, grenades, barbed wire, spades, picks, sandbags, and all the various paraphernalia essential for a modern attack. This completed the companies separated and rested in little tree-surrounded orchards, which still survived, wild and tangled on the outskirts of the ruined village.

“There, sitting on the unrolled sandbags they were to carry, they rested and waited, what time they chewed enormous bacon sandwiches, the ration which had caused so much amusement when issued, destined for so many their last meal.

“NOW AND FOR EVER MORE.”

“Presently came the Padre asking permission to say a few short prayers preparatory to proceeding to the trenches. Just two simple prayers, one of which I remember began “Lord God of battles.” Then the Lord’s Prayer said very humbly, very earnestly, and very reverently by all, and last the voice of the Padre half-drowned by the din of the guns, “The blessing . . Almightv .... upon . . . now and for evermore,” and then the Sherwoods made their peace with their Maker and were ready. Dusk soon fell and the men, straining at their heavy loads to an accompaniment of desultory shelling, filed through the muddy and flooded trenches. This proved a long and wearisome task, not completed until after midnight.

“Then came the long wait for the appointed hour. As dawn broke the Boches' guns concentrated on our front trenches, gradually increasing in intensity as the light grew stronger. Soon afterwards our own guns commenced a terrific bombardment.

“The Boche bombardment increased accordingly, and presently the ominous and oft-repeated call of stretcher-bearers told its own tale. At last the hour of the advance came and out into a barrage that no man could hope to live through went the gallant Sherwoods. That the position was hopeless that advance or even exposure meant almost certain death, mattered not. They had their orders, they did as they had always done, and so they died.

“Thus fared this battalion of the Sherwoods on July 1st. A mere handful of men came out, their ranks shattered but their honour intact. It is with a satisfaction that helps to soothe the sorrow that we learn the Sherwoods “did their job” and their supreme sacrifice enabled great advances to be made elsewhere and was not in vain. Nottingham may be justly proud of her sons, and well may their epitaph be written “Well done, good and faithful servants.”

'Nottingham Evening Post', 2nd July 1917.