Saturday 25th March 1916

Front line trenches west of Angres

The day was reported as “beautifully clear, but very cold”. The Battalion was relieved by 9^th Yorkshires, with the relief getting underway at 7pm and completed by midnight. The Battalion returned to their former billets at Coron Fosse 10.

Pte. Harry Ambler (see 23^rd March), who had suffered shrapnel wounds to the chest and a compound fracture to his left arm two days previously, died of his wounds at 58^th (West Riding) Casualty Clearing Station at Lillers; he would be buried at Lillers Communal Cemetery. A chaplain at the Casualty Clearing Station would write to Pte. Ambler’s widow; “I very much regret that I have to write to tell you of the death of Pte. Harry Ambler. He was brought into the West Riding Casualty Clearing Station. He was suffering from wounds in the chest and arm. Everything possible was done for him but he died as a result of his wounds at 11.45 am, March 25^th. He is to be buried this afternoon at Lille Cemetery with the other English soldiers who died and are at rest. His grave will be marked with a wooden cross on which his name and regiment will be printed. All his personal effects will be sent to you. I will take his funeral and pray that God will comfort you. With sincerest sympathy. D.C. Woodhouse, Chaplain”.

At home in Sunderland, Edith Dyer, wife of Pte. Cuthbert Dyer (see 11^th September 1915) gave birth to the couple’s second child; the boy would be named William.