Monday 31st July 1916

Reserve trenches near Scots Redoubt

The Germans use of gas shells continued and the War Diary noted “without causing casualties he (the Germans) created some discomfort”.

Pte. Arthur Cliffe (see 29^th July), who had been wounded two days’ previously, died at 44^th Casualty Clearing Station at Puchevillers; he would buried at the adjacent Puchevillers British Cemetery. A chaplain, Rev. C.F. Knyvet, would write to Pte. Cliffe’s parents: “I am very sorry to send you the sad information that your son has died of wounds received in the recent severe fighting. He was brought into this Casualty Clearing Station on July 30^th, very severely wounded in the abdomen and thigh, and passed away the following day. The nurses and doctor who attended him did all they could to make him as comfortable as possible. He is buried in the little cemetery near this camp, where I laid him to rest. A cross of wood stands at his head, with his name and regiment inscribed. The French have promised that the cemeteries shall never be disturbed and they are kept in order by the soldiers who work under the Graves Registration Commission. I wish I could tell you the name of this whole village. The cemetery is all amongst the cornfields, and the children of the village come with their schoolmistress twice a week and put flowers on the graves. Besides these, grass seeds have been sown and dwarf begonias have been planted”.

Pte. Charles Smith (12380) (see 11^th July), who was under treatment at 6^th General Hospital in Rouen having been wounded in early July, was evacuated to England; on arrival he would be admitted to Oakbank War Hospital in Glasgow.

Pte. John Onion (see 5^th July), who had been in England since having been wounded on 5^th July, was discharged from hospital in Birmingham; he would have ten days’ furlough before reporting to the Regimental Depot in Halifax. 

A payment of £8 12s. 7d. was authorised, being the amount outstanding in pay and allowances to the late Pte. Edward Tetlow (see 8^th June), who had been killed in June whilst attached to 181^st Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers; the payment would go to his mother, Eliza.

69^th Brigade War Diary recorded casualties for the Brigade for the month of July:

Killed                                     24 officers and 132 other ranks

Accidentally killed               0

Died of wounds                   4 officers and 12 other ranks

Wounded                            57 officers and 1,288 other ranks

Accidentally wounded       0

Missing                                 2 officers and 212 other ranks

10DWR’s casualties were recorded as:

Killed                                       7 officers and 55 other ranks

Accidentally killed                0

Died of wounds                     1 officer

Wounded                              13 officers and 295 other ranks

Accidentally wounded         0

Missing                                   1 officer and 64 other ranks

If we assume a maximum Battalion strength of perhaps 800 men at the start of July, though even this is likely to be an over-estimate, then these figures indicate a casualty rate of more than 50% and a mortality rate of 16%.

The official record of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission detail 102 men from 10DWR killed in July 1916; the difference between this and the Brigade War Diary total of 119 killed or missing can presumably be reconciled by taking account of missing men subsequently returning to duty and those found to have been taken prisoner.

The official cumulative casualty figures for the Battalion since arriving in France were now:

Killed                                       92

Accidentally killed                  4

Died of wounds                       4

Wounded                             469

Accidentally wounded         43

Missing                                    68