Between 24 and 28 October 2014 I took a small group across to the Somme to look at where the Norfolk Regiment served between July and November 1916. The 1st, 7th, 8th and 9th Battalions all served in that sector from August 1915 onwards. Many of their first casualties were incurred by snipers including a 16 year old boy called Isaac Laud. He is now laid to rest in Norfolk Cemetery near Fricourt.
On 1 July 1916 the 8th Battalion went over the top in front of Montauban. They then saw action at Delville Wood on 19 July. On 26 July the 1st Battalion fought at Longueval and Delville Wood. By 12 August 1916 the 7th Battalion joined the fray fighting alongside the Australians near Mouquet Farm. The 8th Battalion went back into action between 26 September and 5 October taking part in the capture of Thiepval and an assault on the Schwaben Redoubt. On 4 September the 1st Battalion assisted in the captured Falfemont Farm and finally the 9th Battalion went over the top on 15 September near Ginchy in an effort to capture a German strong-point called the Quadrilateral.
I took my group to a number of places including the start line for the 8/Norfolks at Montauban on 1st July 1916 where they would have seen footballs being kicked across no-man’s land by the 8/East Surreys and we also looked at where the same battalion went into Delville Wood on 19th July. I then showed the group where the 9/Norfolks had got to the wire at the Quadrilateral before losing 431 men in shell holes in front of the position. We were also able to explore Thiepval and the area around Mill Road Cemetery where the mighty Schwaben Redoubt once stood.
One thousand one hundred and twenty seven men from the Norfolk Regiment lost their lives in the mud of the Somme and a great many of them have no known grave. They are now commemorated on the mighty memorial at Thiepval. Hundreds of others lie in cemeteries such as Carnoy Military and Connaught.
This is hallowed ground for the Norfolks and it was an honour to guide this small group from Norfolk to see where their forefathers had served during the four long months that the battle raged. It is a place that I never tire of returning to.
Steve Smith is the author of Great War Britain Norfolk: Remembering 1914-18, part of The History Press's Great War Britain series. A beautifully illustrated and highly accessible volume, it describes local reaction to the outbreak of war; the experience of individuals who enlisted; the changing face of industry; the work of the many hospitals in the area; the effect of the conflict on local children; the women who defied convention to play a vital role on the home front; and concludes with a chapter dedicated to how the city and its people coped with the transition to life in peacetime once more.