1st Battalion 6th July to 10th July Sgt Arthur Day

[tharkin56]

Sergeant Arthur Day, 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment went missing and then assumed killed age 34 between the 6th of July 1916 and the 10th of July 1916. He was the son of John and Annie Day, of Belbroughton, Stourbridge and husband of Mary Day of 67 Kingston Road, Coventry. Arthur was born on the 6th October, 1881 at Belbroughton, a reservist he was employed as a storekeeper at Siddeley. Sergeant Day has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

Any idea of operations of the 1st battalion on these days he is commemorated in the war memorial park coventry

[justices]

Hi tharkin56,

There are people here much more expert than me in the Worcs operations but I've been looking at this and can tell you some of the story. 1/Worcs (24th Bde) were attached to 23rd Division during this time and if you're man was with them he fell during the assaults on Contalmaison.

Contalmaison is directly NW of Mametz Wood, was in front of the German Second Line on 1st July 1916 and was an objective of 34th Division that day. The assaults failed with large losses. During the next few days more efforts were made.

Pretty much over the exact period you are asking 1/Worcs attacked North East from Shelter Wood and to the left of Pearl Alley (the SW to NE side of the four-sided Quadrangle trench system) and in to Contalmaison, receiving heavy casualties before reaching the village (MG fire). They were engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat in the cellars and houses, making it to the area of the church where they tried to dig in. The Germans appear to have shelled their own line and the attackers indiscriminately at this time and 1/Worcs had to withdraw, out of bombs and low on ammunition. 1/Worcs had been fighting alongside 2/E. Lancs and to this point both battalions had lost 800 officers and ORs. As far as I know the final 1/Worcs effort was on the 8th Sept when they again were unable to gain ground.

Geoffrey Malins filmed in Contalmaison soon after it fell on 10th July, captured by 17th division and 38th division (the Welsh coming through Mametz Wood).

I'm sorry to hear that your man was unable to be recovered but many men were buried where they fell in those few days. Subsequent attacks and shelling destroyed the graves or lost the markers, unfortunately.

I hope this helps and good luck with your researches.

Kind Regards,
Simon