Steyning Men at the Battle of the Somme - Steyning Museum July 16

The slaughter began the day before the major Somme assault, which was launched on 1st July; a diversionary attack had been planned for 30th June.  The three South Downs battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment were earmarked for this task.  The prospects were not good.  Bad weather had curtailed their training for the attack, the Germans were ready for them - even hanging signs on their trenches saying "When are you coming over Tommy?" - and the wind was against them.  As the 3rd South Downs battalion led the attack the smoke from the shells intended to mask their approach from the Germans blew back in their faces and left them confused and moving in the wrong direction, fully exposed to machine gun fire.  379 South Downers, who came from towns and villages across Sussex, were killed that day and more than 700 were reported as being wounded or missing so it is no surprise that it has become known as "The day that Sussex died".

Amongst the dead that day were Steyning men:  William Bennett, Edward Bristow and his brother Frederick Bristow.  The three were close friends who had all enlisted together, all joining the same battalion.  They had also probably all worked together before the War as gardeners in a nursery.  The brother's bodies were never found so it must have been particularly hard for their mother, who had been widowed some years before and lived and worked as a laundress in one of the Old Workhouse cottages.

The next day, the first day proper of the main Somme offensive, another Steyning man was killed.  This was Samuel Watson who we know of, through our records, as being a feisty Steyning footballer.  He was in the machine gun corps. 

 It is worth saying here that when regiments suffered heavy casualties men could be transferred from training regiments or other reserves to fill the gap.  So a further 3 Steyning men who all died on 30th September at the height of the battle had not necessarily originally joined the regiments they ended up in.  The three were Edwin Duke of The Royal West Kent Regiment, John Pierce of the Northumberland Fusiliers (whose younger brother Albert had been killed just six weeks before) and Arthur Emery of the Royal Sussex Regiment.  Edwin Duke was the brother of Frank Duke the builder.  He was older than the others at 38 and had already carved out a successful career for himself as a miller.  Despite that, and despite the fact that he had just become a father for the first time, he voluntarily enlisted.  Regimental Sergeant Major John Pierce was also in his thirties and a regular soldier.  He married just before the War and died without ever having seen his baby boy.   Like the Pierces, Arthur Emery's family lived in Charlton Street.   Arthur was one of seven Emery brothers, all serving in the forces, three of whom were killed.

Herbert Flowers, Ernest Green, Albert Joyce, Charles Phillips and William Tilley were yet more Steyning men who were killed during the first two months of the offensive and, in the final 6 weeks of the battle two more died, Thomas Bolton - once again one of three brothers from one family to be killed during the War - and Alfred Mansbridge.

These are the fifteen men of Steyning who died during those four appalling months 100 years ago.  And, of course, the list takes no account of the wounded.  Their names were not recorded but, If the usual ratio of wounded to killed applied, there could easily have been a further 25 local men who suffered in this way. 

It is a sad mid summer's tale but one that needs to be remembered.

Steyning Museum
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