Saturday 10th June 1916

Trenches north of Souchez

This sector contained two notorious saps, Solferino and Sevastopol, which extended out to within thirty yards of the German line and early in the morning both came under heavy fire from rifle grenades and trench mortars. The Battalion replied with more than one hundred 60lb trench mortar shells, “which succeeded in quietening the enemy for a time”. However, there were continued, sporadic exchanges over the course of the day and, as a result, “We applied for assistance which was immediately given”. Conditions were made much more difficult by heavy, thundery showers during the morning and heavy rain for much of the rest of the day; it was reported, somewhat laconically, that, “Dugout accommodation is very poor & consequently things are very unpleasant”.

As things became quieter in the evening, Capt. Tunstill wrote to the widow of Kayley Earnshaw (see 9^th June),
"It is with very great sorrow that I have to tell you that your husband was killed yesterday in doing his duty as a brave man. He was taking his machine gun team to the trenches when a trench mortar hit him, and he was killed on the spot. I knew nothing about it until today, and this evening it has been my duty to see him buried. There was no man in this Battalion more respected than your husband. He was one of the few who had won the D.C.M., and he had won the respect and admiration of every officer and man of the Battalion. It is difficult for me to tell you what I think, but I feel his death more perhaps than any other N.C.O. of this Battalion. I remember him as a civilian, and I knew him as a soldier, and you have my sympathy in losing a husband who was a very brave and valiant soldier. I have tonight seen him buried. He is buried some few hundred yards behind the firing line between two little woods. There were not many of us there, but those who were there grieved to lose a man who could be ill spared, and the thoughts of those there were with you”.

Sgt. Kayley Earnshaw DCM

(Image by kind permission of Sue Lugton)

Image by kind permission of Sue Lugton

2Lt. Harry Foster (see 27^th August 1915) an officer with the machine gun section, also wrote to Mrs. Earnshaw,

"No words of mine can adequately express the sympathy which I, and indeed the whole machine gun section, wish to convey to you in your loss. Earnshaw was one of the finest men and the best soldier in the Battalion, and was respected by officers and men alike, and no man had more thoroughly earned the medal which was recently conferred upon him for distinguished conduct in the field”.

He also confirmed that Sergeant Tom Pickles (see 25^th February) had collected together Earnshaw’s personal effects and would send them on to the family. The loss of so popular and experienced an NCO as Earnshaw must have been a major blow to the Battalion as a whole, and especially to the morale of Tunstill’s Men.

Following Earnshaw’s death, Cpl. John Hartley (8^th December 1915) was promoted Sergeant.

Sgt. John Hartley

2Lt. Harry Foster, who was one of the Battalion’s original officers, has not been positively identified.

69^th Field Ambulance carried out works to improve casualty evacuation from the front line trenches (see 19^th May). Their War Diary reported that “New evacuation trench completed from RAP to junction of Morocco North and Labordie Trenches to avoid use of Bully Trench (up trench); advanced ambulance post, 1 NCO and 6 men, placed at this junction”.

Pte. James Pickering (see 19^th April), who had been in England for two months after suffering from haemmerhoids, was posted to 11DWR at Brocton Camp, Staffs.

Pte. Sam Shuttleworth (see 7^th June) who had been taken ill, suffering from tooth decay, some days earlier, was transferred from no.6 Casualty Clearing Station at Bruay to 4^th Stationary Hospital at Arques. Pte. Thomas Barber Dudley (see 22^nd May 1915) was also admitted to the same hospital, also suffering from dental caries.