A 'First Day of the Battle of the Somme' casualty pair awarded to Second Lieutenant, B. H. B...

A ‘First Day of the Battle of the Somme’ casualty pair awarded to Second Lieutenant, B. H. Belcher, 2nd Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment, who was killed in action during the attack on Ovillers on 1 July 1916 - seen to fall just after leading his platoon over the parapet, his battalion suffered a total of 437 casualties that day British War and Victory Medals (2. Lieut. B. H. Belcher.), Memorial Plaque (Basil Henry Belcher) nearly extremely fine (3) £1,000-£1,400 --- Basil Henry Belcher was born in Newbury, Berkshire, on 3 August 1894 and was educated at Brighton College, where he was a member of the Officers' Training Corps. At the outbreak of war, Basil and his elder brother, Wilfred, joined the 18th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (1st Public Schools Battalion), and both were commissioned as Second Lieutenants in the 3rd Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment on 16 May 1915. Transferring to the 2nd Battalion, he served with them during the Great War on the Western Front from March 1916. Battle of the Somme On 1 July 1916, the 2nd Battalion - who formed part of 25th Brigade, 8th Division - found themselves in a trench near the France town of Albert. At 7.30am three companies of the battalion left the trench to advance on German held positions a few hundred metres away around the little village of Ovillers-la-Boiselle, off the Albert/Bapaume road. No Man’s Land was particularly wide at this point and was overlooked by German positions to the north. At about 7.45am the advancing companies lost their commanding officer when Lieutenant-Colonel Holdsworth was fatally wounded without even leaving the trenches; since his second in command, Major Sawyer, was also wounded, command of the battalion fell on the shoulders of Second Lieutenant Mollet. The 2nd Berkshires were in serious trouble. At 11am the order to standby was finally received from Brigade HQ and the surviving members of the battalion (about 200 men) regrouped in a nearby trench. The Battalion War diary for the day gives the following account: ‘Attack on Ovillers. The Battalion took up its assembly position in accordance with Brigade Operation Order No. 100. The 2nd Bn Lincolnshire Regt was on the left and the 2Bn Devonshire Regt on right. Our own wire was not sufficiently cut and parties were immediately sent out by Companies to clear it. At 6.25am the intensive bombardment began as scheduled. At about 7.15am the enemy opened rifle and machine gun fire on our line; this fire was probably drawn by the 2nd Devon Regt which at about this time attempted to line up in front of their parapet. At 7.20am Companies began filing down trenches and getting ready for the assault. At 7.30am the three assaulting Companies advanced to attack the German line. They were met by intense rifle and machine gun fire which prevented any of the waves reaching the enemy lines. A little group on the left of the Battalion succeeded in getting in, but were eventually bombed out. At about 7.45am the commanding officer (Lt Col A.M. Holdsworth) and second in command (Major G.H. Sawyer DSO) were wounded in the sap on the left of our front, the commdg officer handed over Command of the Battalion to 2nd Lieut C. Mollet (Actg Adjt) by this time the parapet was swept by rifle and machine gun fire which prevented any exit from our trenches. The enemy replied to our intensive bombardment by barraging the front line from about 6.35am onwards. No message was received from other Battalions in immediate vicinity. At about 11am the order came from Bde Headquarters to "stand by" and await further orders. About 200 men of the Battalion were collected on the right of the front line and in the assembly trenches off Ulverston Street. At about 12.30pm news was received that the Brigade would be relieved. At about 3pm Major Hon R. Brand, 2nd Rifle Brigade arranged to take over all the front line and with the sanction of the Brigade the Battalion was withdrawn to Ribble Street. On relief by the 37th Infantry Bde, the Battalion marched back to bivouac in Long Valley. Two Lewis Guns were damaged, Steel Helmets proved invaluable and in numberless cases saved men’s lives.’ The war diary for the day lists a devastating 431 casualties (20 Officers and 411 men) for the battalion; 3 officers and 33 men dead; 8 officers and 260 men wounded. The death toll appears far lighter than reality as a further 9 officers, including Basil Belcher, and 118 men are simply reported as missing. On that dreadful day missing almost always meant dead; either cut down by enemy fire or blown apart by shellfire. The following report appeared in the Newbury Weekly News on 13 July 1916: ‘Mrs W H Belcher, of Newbury, has received a telegram from the War Office, stating that her younger son, 2nd Lieut B H Belcher, Royal Berks Regt, has been reported missing on July 1st. From letters received from her elder son, it is feared that there is very little hope of his being alive. The battalion made an attack on the morning of July 1st, and came under very heavy machine gun fire, and 2nd Lieut B H Belcher was seen to fall just after leading his platoon over the parapet.’ For almost a year the family may have held out some hope that Belcher would turn up in a list of prisoners of war, though the report that he fell close to the British lines must have made them fear the worst. Confirmation came ten months after he fell, as reported in the Newbury Weekly News of 10 May 1917: ‘In view of the fact that no further information has been forthcoming about 2nd Lieut B H Belcher, Royal Berks Regt, reported missing July 1st, 1916, the Army Council conclude that he must have been killed in action on that day. He was educated at Brighton College and in Paris, and was on the point of going to Russia when the war broke out. In September, 1914, he and his brother joined the Public Schools Brigade, and obtained their commissions in the 3rd Batt Royal Berkshire Regt in May, 1915. They both went to France in March, 1916, and 2nd Lieut B H Belcher was in the severe fighting for the Vimy Ridge in the spring of that year. He was transferred to the 2nd Battalion, to be near his brother, just before the great offensive on the Somme. He went into action on the morning of July 1st, and was seen to fall soon after leaving the trench. The ground was so swept away by the enemy’s fire that search was impossible.’ His Colonel wrote of him: ‘He was a very good boy indeed. When he joined I told him that if he came up to the standard of his cousin, Gordon [Captain G. Belcher, M.C., Royal Berkshire Regiment], he would do right well. I think I can say with truth that he came up to that standard. He was very popular with all ranks when he was here.’ Belcher’s body was recovered from the battlefield, and he is buried in Serre Road No.2 Cemetery, France. His brother Wilfred survived the war, rising to the rank of Captain and being awarded the Military Cross. Sold with the following related archive: i)Two portrait photographs of the recipient; together with two small photographs, one of the recipient, the other presumably his mother. ii) A letter, dated 16 April 1915, from the recipient to his mother whilst serving with the 1st Public Schools Battalion, a month to the day prior to his Commission. The content giving the young man’s somewhat naive description of how the war began. iii) Named Buckingham Palace letter of condolence, dated 23 June 1917.