From a bag of papers, trench maps and photographs recently found in an attic. I haven't found the officer's name yet, but it must be here somewhere: From his journal:


"July 1st, 1916

At last the long looked for day and hour has arrived; broad daylight, the rain has ceased and the day is quite bright. The din now is beyond all imagination, every gun in France seems to be turned on the Hun on our front, surely none can live in this hail of shells and still the German guns remain quiet. Meanwhile all our front line men had been engaged in lighting smoke candles and firing hugh smoke bombs. Now arises a dense cloud of smoke all along our line and the time has arrived when we must show our hands and advance.


The Germans as soon as they saw the smoke knew what was to follow and rapid fire was opened at once. Nothing daunted the London boys climbed up the parapet ready for the fray, they advanced in the face of terrible fire, the Germans now found their hidden artillery and belched forth a tornado of shells on the advancing line. Men fell by the dozen, yet nothing daunted the remainder pushed on. When our brave lads were nearing the German front line batches of the enemy were seen to be clambering out of their trenches (minus their equipment) they rushed forwards hands in the air calling out in their bad French "mercy comrade". Our batt'n alone were responsible for 182 hun prisoners, they were thin and hungry, but quite a decent class and very clean. Only a small percentage of each regiment ever got into the German trenches these few however gallantly hacked their way right into the 3rd line from where they sent us the SOS signal. We, the 2nd London were the reserve batt'n and as soon as the battalions in front sent the signal two companies were up and over despite the fact that all fire was now concentrated on our particular sectors.

The reason for this concentration was that the Division on our right (46th Div) let us down and failed to attack. The sight of our boys advancing in the face of this terrible fire was wonderful though terrible; losses in our two companies alone numbered 250. But for the fact of our officers the whole batt'n would have been wiped out. These officers refused to allow the remaining two companies to go over and so saved them. Our trenches were now blocked with dead and dying, only a dozen or so of our lads ever reached Fritz's trenches at all, hundreds were lying in no man's land mostly dead, some however alive though badly wounded managed to crawl into shell holes of which there were thousands; later in the day in one shell hole I found four chaps. We held on to the German 3 front lines for a matter of 10 hours using all our own bombs and ammunition besides that which we found in the trenches. At about 7 pm all ammunition ran out and as it was impossible to get any more from our own lines owing to the heavy barrage of fire, we had to retire; first from the 3rd German line, then from the 2nd into the 1st and finally the 100 or so that were left had to retire over the top towards our own lines. What a horrible journey midst a hail of bullets, past heaps of dead and dying eventually (with only 27 instead of the 100 odd that started) covered in mud and blood. 23 of the 27 badly wounded.

Suddenly at about 7.30 pm the firing died down to a minimum and looking out I noticed a man had boldly climbed out of the German trench and was holding up a large white board with a brilliant red cross painted on it. This man advanced well into the centre of no mans land and beckoned to us, whereupon one of our stretcher bearers jumped over the parapet and went to meet him. The man with the board was a German doctor who spoke quite good English; he offered an Armistice of one hour and this after much ado was accepted by our people. The Hun doctor then signalled with his hand and immediately a party of about 50 German stretcher bearers doubled out and started attending to the wounded. This was good enough for us and over we went again. I was not quite sure whether they were playing the game or not so I went armed and this bit of caution nearly cost me my life. The German doctor told me to cover my revolver with a mackintosh or I would most certainly be shot. The Germans were real bricks and kept their word to the letter, extending the armistice 10 minutes to allow us time to get into our trenches again. Our people however did not play the game as after we had been out about half an hour they put some shells right into the German lines. We thought our time had come and said goodbye to each other, but still the Hun kept his promise and not a shot was fired, this little episode made us feel awful cads.

As may be imagined the sight out there was terrible, there were men in every attitude, dead mostly, many blown to fragments. Most of the wounded we found in shell holes, I found 3 chums in 1 hole all unable to move but cuddled together and it was a hard job to persuade one to leave alone, they decided that age should settle it and the youngest left first. The look of amazement and relief on the poor devils faces when they saw us peering over the shell hole was good to see. One boy could not believe it and asked me amid sobs if he was dreaming. I am glad to be able to write and say that we got all our wounded in. The dead we could do nothing for, as time would not permit I covered over a few of the most hideous cases and returned to the line sick, sad and very fatigued. Wounded were trooping out of all the trenches like the crowd from a football match. The trenches were appallingly blocked here and there with dead men and one could not help but walk over them.

Passing along Young St. I came along a tableau of 3 of my chums, 1 standing, 1 sitting (headless) and the other lying, all 3 had been hit by the same shell. In the dusk in Yiddish St. I stumbled over something and bending down to my horror found it was a mans head, so as to save some other chaps a similar shock I tried to pick up the offending napper but found that it was rigid as the whole body was beneath the ground and it remained there the whole night and part of the next day. In Yellow St. I was clutched at and caught by a hand protruding from the side of the trench, all that was visible was a hand and arm, the sleeve showed it to be an officer (1st Lt) of the L.R.B.'s There are many other frightful scenes that go to make up this nightmare, but I will refrain from writing more about them. The remnant of our boys hung on to our sector of trenches all night and have had no sleep for 3 days and nights. We were all knocked to the world when the Kensingtons relieved us at 5 pm. We straggled in penny numbers to Sailley, a small village in the rear of the line and disappeared into cellars hoping for a nights rest. Ere many minutes however over came heaps of big shells both gas and tear. Some pierced the dugouts others hit the church and houses. Several of us crawled out intent on rescue work. I was making for a heap of ruins that had been a house when the doctor grabbed me and insisted on me going to bed."

Thanks for posting this. Truly a very sobering account.
Des

Just in case anyone was wondering. This account refers to the 56th London Division diversionary attack upon Gommecourt.

Thankyou for sharing it with us all.

regards

Terry

Thank you Glos. for posting this account.
Myrtle

Glosters,

An amazing account. I would be most interested to know what unit he was from and the background to the papers (if that exists).

Regards

Tom

Very interesting account - amazing what is still turning up.

Great account,
Marina

Glosters
Thank you for sharing that with us.
Glyn

Glosters

What a detailed and seemingly uncensored account.

Is the whole of his journal there?

Wish I had things like that in my attic, instead of old BBC computer, Christmas lights, sandwich toaster and a Sodastream.

Thanks for letting us see it.

Kate

Glosters,

Thanks for that. A riveting account. Anyone come across any reference to this truce before?

Regards,
AGWR

PS I am going down the PRO tomorrow if you want me to look up his file.

It was a well recorded event on the 56th (1st London) Division's front. Not heard of a similar event anywhere else though.

Thanks Bmac,

Are the other accounts as detailed?

Regards,
AGWR

Hi There,


How true that is !!!!


Cheers

Tim.

Is it possible to narrow down to either 169 Brigade or 168 Brigade? Just read the "official" account from that sector in German "Schlachten des Weltkrieges" - very interesting! But no word from 1 hr armistice after the slaughter.

The truce is mentioned in at least four battalion histories: London Rifle Brigade, Queens Westminster Rifles, 4th Londons and The Rangers. The detail varies but it is clear that the truce extended across most of the fronts of both the 168th and 169th Brigade.

Is it not true that there were often periods allowed for recovering wounded soldiers and even burying some of the dead after a major action?

Probably not so formalised as the description in the account which Glosters has shown us. Of course the danger for the stretcher bearers would be that, without a formalised agreement or truce, they couldn't be sure they would have any leeway in this task

One of the things which is amazing in the officer's words, is his honesty in stating that the Allies opened fire and describing feelings when this happened.

Kate

Glosters,
Thank You for sharing this account with us.
Shelley

One of the reasons why there may have been a localised truce in this area is that most of the first and second lines of trenches were overrun in the initial attack. The bombardment had kept many Germans in their bunkers and they were captured as they emerged. Though some were then herded back into the bunkers a large number were sent across No Man's Land and through the very heavy German artillery and machine gun barrage that was then sweeping it. Casualties were inevitable and, therefore, there were quite a few dead and wounded Germans in No Man's Land. The truce was a way for these men to be recovered as well as the wounded men of the 56th Division who littered the ground.

Wow. An extraordinary find. Interesting to note that he says "46th Div on our right". They were of course on the left of the 56th Div.

Many thanks,Glosters.
Nowt like a first hand account.
All the best.
Simon.

Me too, Steve.

---'stick and rag camp'?

Hi Steve,

This just gets better and better. I can't wait for some more. Many thanks for sharing this with us.

Cheers

Tim.

Anybody knows the exact location of mentioned 167 Brigade? I don't find them in my accounts near 168 or 169 Brigades

Keep typing!!! Superb stuff.
Thnnks for sharing.
Des

Kate/Sandy - 'stick and rag camp' .... lean-to shelters/temporary accommodation knocked together with any handy material?

Fascinating stuff Glosters

More please...... soon

Me too - he's quite a personality, isn't he? I Liked the Lord Robert's joke! VERY DRYAnd the hair oil and swank.
The hospital sounds DIRE.
Marina

Horrible thought - we don;t know if he survived, do we, if we don;t know who he is!
Marina

Horrible thought - we don;t know if he survived, do we, if we don;t know who he is!
Marina

I now know who the writer was, he survived the war and he won the Military Medal. At the current point in the diary he is a Sergeant (Nov. 1916). I will give you his name and a picture of him once I have scanned the photo.

Steve

p.s.

The entry for 30th June 1916 -

"Have taken over Y Sector trenches directly opposite Gommecourt Wood. All the while, our artillery is at it hammer and tongs and the din is terrible; will it never cease? Tonight the bombardment is intense as the attack all along the line comes off tomorrow. To be quite honest we expect a "walk-over" as our guns have not been replied to, and barely a German has been seen. Rain is now falling heavily making the trenches very uncomfortable."

Remarkable diary. How strange that we now know the full circumstances of Gunner Allen's demise and are the first to discover it for 90 years. Unlikely that the diary writer knew the poor fellow's name.

Obviously a sensitive and intelligent man and one would not be surprised if he rose higher in rank. However, if he remained a Sergeant, I am sure his men would have appreciated him. Equally unsurprising that he won an M.M .

Great work, Glosters. Hardly surprising he won the MM - he seems so coll and controlled. G;ad to hear he made it!
Marina

The 167th Brigade dug this trench over three days towards the end of May. They were in reserve on 1st July with some battalions just behind the lines at Hebuterne. The two Middlesex battalions (1/7th and 1/8th) suffered particularly badly in the days before the attack when they occupied the front lines. Most of the casualties were from sickness and exhaustion as the weather was awful.

"Spent the night shifting to another position more to the right, and thought we were to be relieved, but no such luck as we found ourselves in the front trench opposite to Cherisy, a brute of a place. About 12 midnight I was sent for by the Captain and told that we were to take Cherisy in the early hours of the morning, this was bad news and I was astounded and explained to the Captain that it was impossible as another village Guimappe by name which lay to the rear and left, had not yet been taken, he agreed but said "orders are orders." We moved over the top at once and advanced with spades under cover of darkness a matter of 200 yards and dug ourselves in holes all that day waiting for the word "Go" and hoping it would never come. Those of us who knew the ropes also knew that the word "Go" would be the finish for the lot of us. 24 solid hours we were crouched up in these holes waiting for the fatal word which for us never came owing to the 14th Division not advancing. We were relieved and the 2 other Battns of our Brigade were put in, while we were put 500 yards back in a shallow ditch, the feeling of relief was beyond description; we also felt very sorry for our pals the QVRs and QRWs who had the job.

14 April 1917 - 6.30 am zero time. QVR and QWR advanced in several waves for Cherisy an exceptionally, in fact, ridiculously long way off, the expected happened, as just as these fellows mounted the parapet and went over, down they went. Fritz simply sat on his parapet and caught them in the rear with MG fire, it was nothing less than a massacre. We waited expecting at every moment to be called on to reinforce, but evidently the Brigadier or whoever planned the show, discovered that 2 battns wiped out in one morning would be enough. That night we carried in dead and wounded of our own brigade by the hundred, cursing the man who was criminal enough to send them over to certain death."

And the writer of the diary -
3254 Sergeant T.H. Bisgood, 2nd Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers)
This photograph, from his 'scrap book' is marked 'Sgt. T.H. Bisgood with 2 German stick grenades'

Difficult to adopt the proper revisionist attitude to the "Lions led by Donkeys" debate when a voice from the past quietly tells it like it was. It must have been gut wrenching to watch that attack whilst at the same time thanking the fates that decided that you would be a spectator that day - and then be forced to see sights that no man should ever see , when the dead and wounded - your comrades -were brought in.

My God what a terrible battle Arras was - but of course they were all terrible.
Thanks for bringing us this, Glosters. And thank you Sgt Bisgood for writing that brought tears to my eyes 90 years on.

Thanks for taking the time to post this stuff. It's absolutely fascinating.

Regards
AGWR

Thanks Glosters,
And thanks to the men who wrote and fought.

Great history lesson!
I have read again the equivalent German account - most of Bisgoods accounts can be traced in the "official" history >Reichsarchiv, Schlachten des Weltkrieges, Somme-Nord, 1.Teil<.
It seems to be that the German and British time zones were 1hr out of sequence.
I do really wonder why there is no word from local armistice in German accounts, although they buried about 1400 Brits alone in discussed area.
On demand I can scan/post the 8 or so pages with German accounts in Gothic German, but will not translate them because I do not speak/write English
The following scan shows the route of attack of 168/169 Brig. up to third line Gommecourt redoubt.

Gommecourt 1.7.1916

Glosters

Possibly Thornton Henry Bisgood, borth registered in Q1 1872 at St Pancras.

1881 census shows him at 20 Circus Road, St Pancaras, the son of Thomas and Alice Bisgood.

Can't find him in any other census, though.

SN

Somewhere I have a translation of these pages. I will try to dig them out.

The maps from Somme-Nord are somewhat inaccurate, i.e the LRB did not reach the locations indicated and did not sweep around to the right. Rather the QVR and QWR moved left.

Also, very few men of the 1/2nd Londons made it into the German trenches. A few runners perhaps. However, the efforts made by the 2nd Londons to assist their colleagues were nothing short of heroic. As an example of the incredible efforts made by the 1/2nd Londons to get across to assist their colleagues it should be noted that ten officers and 179 other ranks were either killed or later died from wounds received on 1st July 1916. This was more than all other battalions from the 56th Division except for the London Rifle Brigade (8 officers and 281 other ranks), the Queen Victoria Rifles (10 officers and 219 other ranks) and the London Scottish (8 officers and 218 other ranks). In other words, they lost more men killed than two of the battalions that had attacked the German trenches in the initial attack (i.e. Queen's Westminsters and The Rangers).

The vast majority of these men were killed and wounded within 30 yards of the British trenches. Machine guns in Gommecourt Park caught them in enfilade and mowed them down.

Thanks for posting this ...

Bill,
I transfered all avail information from Bisgood and German accounts - which match to my understanding (to include the official GE Gommecourt plan, also Bisgoods' description of situation in Young/Yiddish and Yellow trench after the attack=they were directly opposite to 8/170) - and inserted them into aerial. The sources clearly state that they turned right at 3rd line and also passed the point where Garde Stellung merges into 3rd line (Hellmut Graben). It says at right wing of 8./170 all dugouts were smashed/blocked and the men could not get out and subsequently were overrun; this was one of the two mainpoints of entry into the German trench system. Obviously we have a mismatch of , yes of what: accounts, geography?

According to all of the information I have (which is considerable, I have 250 pages written of an account of the attack by the 56th Division ), the London Rifle Brigade attacked an area comprising the left of 6/170, the front of 8/170 and the right of 2/170. They barely penetrated Gommecourt Park. The Somme Nord map shows the park finishing at Hauser trench. In fact it runs into the are where the trenches turn NE at right angles and then runs along side the road which cuts Hauser trench.

The point of the right angle was called Point 94 by the British (a map reference) and the LRB fought along the NE running trench (Fir on British maps) up to a point where the first reserve line cuts Hauser and runs SE. Just to the west of Sud Trench there is a rectangle of trenches. The eastern part of this rectangle formed a collection of short trenches called The Maze by the British. On the photo it is about the point where the top arrow bends to the right. The LRB occupied this area and a trench running (on the photo) down to a small area with some trees right on the bottom edge of the photo. This area is Gommecourt cemetery. This trench was occupied by the part of D Company, LRB led be 2nd Lt Rex Petley. This is as far as the LRB went.

To their right, the Queen's Westminster Rifles pushed through the initial attack by the Queen Victoria Rifles and, once they had crossed the Gommecourt-Bucquoy road, set up blocks at the junction of Becker Graben and Hellmut Graben. Elements, with a few QVRs attached, then moved up Hellmut Graben. Some made contact with the LRB near the cemetery and some moved up Lehman Graben towards the area known as The Quadrilateral by the British. The small party that made this objective, reputedly led by 2nd Lt Arthur of the 1/5th Cheshires (the divisional pioneers), were soon bombed out by men of RIR 55. Counter-attacks down Lehman Graben and the Garde Stellung split the LRB and the QWRs.

As to the 1/2nd London, they were the reserve battalion of the 169th Brigade. One of their tasks was to have been to dig a trench across No Man's Land joining Point 94 with the British front line. They were to do this during the attack. Heavy machine gun fire soon put paid to this operation. At about mid-day six men did volunteer as runners to get across to the LRB and QWR to find out what was happening. Four disappeared without reaching the German trenches. Two others, Corporal Werner and Lance Corporal Boyce, reached the trenches and set off to find the COs of the various battalions. Werner was never seen again. Boyce met up with some QVRs, discovered they were retreating and, amazingly, found his way back across No Man's Land to report to Brigadier General Coke.

At 1.30, the 1/2nd Londons were ordered to move forward. D Company was to go over with bombs. They were to take them to a point at the suppsoed junction between the LRB and QVR attacks from where they could be distributed to all three attacking battalions in the adjacent trenches. C Company was to move left in support of the L.R.B.. A Company was to advance on the right of the Brigade front. They were to support the Q.V.R. and the Q.W.R..

By 2.30, the men were ready in the front line trenches. C Company, on the left went first. They clambered out of their trenches, led by Capt. Percy Handyside. They were immediately assailed by heavy machine gun fire from both the Park and Nameless (Bock) Farm. A few moments later, the redoubled efforts of the German artillery, plunged into their ranks. Capt. Handyside was hit within fifteen yards of the parapet. Undaunted, he crawled forward, encouraging his men to get on until a nearby shell burst wounded him mortally. He died the following day. His men did their best to live up to their Captain's example. About fifty survivors of the attack crawled back into the British lines after dark. No one got over.

At 3 PM, Captain James Garland took A Company over the top in yet another forlorn attack. Within a few yards, a rifle bullet killed Garland. Every officer and practically every NCO was either killed or wounded as they tried desperately to go to the aid of their comrades. Plans to commit the other two companies were later abandoned.

The sacrifice of the men of these two companies, who tried to walk across a ruined No Man's Land into intense machine gun and artillery fire laden with bombs for their colleagues, is humbling.

Alright Bill,
Could we then agree on this areal/map.

Absolutely!

A new dimension to the story maybe? I have found a reference online to a Lieutenant-Colonel T. Bisgood, MBE, MM.

Too much of a coincidence? Surely this must be our man. The diary ends in May 1917 with no obvious reason. Was he wounded? Was he sent to the UK for officer training? More research needed.

Steve

Fantastic news, Steve, But then we all knew by now that he was a great guy ! What authority that MM ribbon must have given him with the men he commanded.
M.M was gazetted December 1916 (for his Somme activities ?).

It seems he went on to become a J.P , be awarded the M.B.E and may have lived near Middleton on Sea Sussex.

He lost his adopted son Squadron Leader Douglas Bisgood D.F.C 202 Squadron who was killed on 18.4.47 aged only 27 - 2 mths after being promoted . A hero who raised a hero. What a story. His son was formerly Douglas Tomley.

(CWGC says 202 squadron but not so sure as he as not listed on a list of 202 commanders)

Was the RAF in Israel in 1947 ? Can any of our RAF experts come up with his DFC citation and details of how he died ?

That's amazing! Are we sure it's him? There can't be thta many T. Bisgoods around. What a find!
Marina

This may be of intrest to some. The Iron Cross award doc of the senior NCO who took over command of the 2nd company of the I.R.170 after the Company commander was wounded in the initial attack.