Battle of Flers-Courcelette, Somme

[LilyAllenFan86]

My great Grandfather William John Price was just thirty three when he was killed on September 16th 1916 at the battle of Flers-Courcelette, he had left behind a young wife Myfanwy and four young children the youngest Vivian Charles he had never met as he was born after he left for France.
William had enlisted at the very beginning of the war August 1914 in Tonypandy, Rhondda and was placed into the 6th Battalion, 43rd Brigade, 14th Light Division of the Prince Alberts Somerset Light Infantry as a Private his service number was 10187, as they did not find his body there is a family story that he was blown up don't know whether that is true or just a rumour but that is what his son Raymond told my Father, he is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial in the Somme as well as a memorial outside St Stephens church in Ystrad, Rhondda along with seventy other men who fell in the first world war.
I know very little about the battle that killed him what I have been able to find has been very little and would like to know more and maybe piece together if possible how he was killed maybe if someone knew what his battalion of the Somerset light infantry was doing during this time I would be very grateful for the help.

Kind Regards
Beth

[Mutley]

Have you looked at the web site for the Somerset light infantry?
https://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/sli/index.htm

[Mutley]

According to Wikipedia the battle lasted only one week, started on the 15th September.
https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Flers-Courcelette

[olliecat]

Have you thought about getting hold of the Battalion's war diary from the National Archives? This will tell you about the movements and activities of the unit. Just bear in mind that while war diaries may include officer names, most do not mention men of the "other ranks" very much.

Note: You may have to click the above link twice, which should take you to the catalogue description of the war diary for 1916.

[olliecat]

Further to the above, as an example of the type of information you can expect to find in a war diary, have a look at this transcribed extract from the war diary of the 168 Brigade RFA (not your unit unfortunately), as they prepared for the battle of the Somme during May/June of 1916 ...

The Long Long Trail
www.
1914-1918.net/Diaries/wardiary-168BdeRFA.htm

Also, if you haven't been to the above site before you may find other pages of interest, although there doesn't appear to be much on the 6th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry.

I think Mutley has you given you plenty to look at but I found this following page interesting as there are some short accounts of the battle of Flers-Courcelette, as reported in the newspapers from the 15th to the 18th of September, (mostly the 18th.) Although specific units are not mentioned it will give you a flavour of the offensive.

www.
spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWflers.htm

[olliecat]

On more for now. There is a description of the battle of Flers-Courcelette on Google Books and the title is ...

Silent general: Horne of the First Army : a biography of Haig's trusted Great War comrade-in-arms
Page 122

There are a few pages to read through and it goes into the preparations for the attack as well as what happened on the 16th. Some of the different divisions are also mentioned (although not in great detail), including the 14th Light.

Note: If you type in the keyword Flers-Courcelette on Google books you may find some of the other books that describe the battle - I only checked the first one that came up (the one above) but I couldn't stop reading it.

[SomersetLI]

My great Grandfather William John Price was just thirty three when he was killed on September 16th 1916 at the battle of Flers-Courcelette, he had left behind a young wife Myfanwy and four young children the youngest Vivian Charles he had never met as he was born after he left for France.
William had enlisted at the very beginning of the war August 1914 in Tonypandy, Rhondda and was placed into the 6th Battalion, 43rd Brigade, 14th Light Division of the Prince Alberts Somerset Light Infantry as a Private his service number was 10187, as they did not find his body there is a family story that he was blown up don't know whether that is true or just a rumour but that is what his son Raymond told my Father, he is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial in the Somme as well as a memorial outside St Stephens church in Ystrad, Rhondda along with seventy other men who fell in the first world war.
I know very little about the battle that killed him what I have been able to find has been very little and would like to know more and maybe piece together if possible how he was killed maybe if someone knew what his battalion of the Somerset light infantry was doing during this time I would be very grateful for the help.

Kind Regards
Beth

Hi my 3rd Cousin Pvt Ernest Bawdon 9707 also served with the 6th Batallion SLI and was killed in action on the 16th September 1916 during the attack on Girds Trench Battle of Flers–Courcelette, this is probably where your great grandfather was killed.

Ernest’s body was also never found and he is remembered on the Thiepal Memorial, I am awaiting copies of letters that he sent home from another relative.