Mesopotamia

6Bn Loyals, 6Bn E Lancs and 6Bn King's Own were all part of 38th Brigade, 13th Division.  They had fought at Gallipoli in 1915 but were then sent to Mesopotamia to help relieve British forces besieged at Kut-al-Amara.  The attempt failed and Kut fell on 28 April, one of the most abject British failures of the War.  James Marlow and Richard Austin were killed in the fighting; Harry Clitheroe and Harold Helm died of sickness, probably cholera, in the appalling heat and torrid conditions.  John George Parkinson was taken ill and evacuated to India where he died of septicaemia.

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The Western Front

During the spring of 1916 there was a series of localised operations where each side sought to gain a tactical advantage.  John Shuttleworth died of wounds received in 'ordinary' trench warfare near Ypres. John Halshaw was killed in a period of attack and counter-attack at Broadmarsh Crater; James Caton was killed during a raid on an enemy trench south of Arras.

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The Somme

1 July, on the opening day of the battle, the British suffered 60,000 casualties - 20,000 dead.  Joe Balshaw was only 19 and had survived Gallipoli.  William Carr, another Gallipoli veteran, was killed near Beaumont-Hamel.  Matthew Livesey was killed near La Boisselle.  Francis Brindle was killed with the Accrington Pals at Serre.

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After a brief respite, the slaughter continued.  Harry Forrest was killed at Mametz Wood. Tom Eastham was killed as the infantry tried to advance beyond the wood.

Eighty-eight 'Preston Pals' were killed at Bazentin-Le-Petit between 19 and 23 July, including Joe Fowler, Tom Mansfield and Hermon Lancaster.  Thurstan Holland's battalion was in the same Brigade.  Fred Hargreaves was killed at Delville Wood.

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Ezra Yates, Fred Briggs, John Nelson,Tom Warner and John Joyce were killed during the long struggle to capture the strategic village of Guillemont.  John Coupe was killed when the village was finally taken in September. Capt. George Woods was killed during the capture of the village of Ginchy.

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Robert Halshaw was killed during vicious trench fighting east of Bazentin-Le-Petit.  His brother John had been killed in May.  Edward Hall, and John Woodcock were killed in the trenches near Bernafay Wood.  Sam Piper (a stretcher-bearer) was killed when a shell exploded near his aid post at Les Boeufs.  William Tickle was killed at Le Transloy.  Edward Jamieson was killed in the trenches at Hébuterne.  As the battle reached its bloody and weary conclusion, the Battle of the Ancre claimed the lives of Walter Higham, the 19-year old George Fellows, and Stephen Murray.  Henry Cornall was shot in the spine and died of his wounds in hospital in London a month later.

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Although the Battle of the Somme was considered to have ended with the capture of Beaumont Hamel on 18 November, shelling and fighting in the trenches continued.  Ellis Dixon, another 19-year old, was killed near Mametz Wood.

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Back home, Joe Bamford died in Colchester while still in training.  John Hartley had emigrated to Western Australia, where he enlisted despite being too old (at 42).  He died of colitis a couple of weeks after returning to England. William Henry Halpin, in the Royal Defence Corps, died of a heart attack in Cumberland.

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