makin

MAKIN, HAROLD. 7th City of Manchester Pals Battalion.

Killed in action, 1st day of The Battle of the Somme. 1st of July 1916.

This page is to Commemorate Harold Makin, who I have been researching, he does not come from Dover.

MAKIN, HAROLD. 25641. Private. Manchester Regiment. 22nd Bn. Killed in action: France. 01/07/1916. Age 23. Son of Sarah Makin, of 219, Warbreck Rd. Blackpool, and the late John Henry Makin. Born: Lancs, Radcliffe. Enlisted: Manchester. Memorial: Thiepval, Memorial. Pier and Face 13A and 14C.

Harold Makin`s 1914-1915 Star and Victory Medals.

7th Division's General Plan

On 1 July 1916 the Battle of the Somme was opened. The Allied line ran from north to south until just after crossing the Albert to Bapaume Road at La Boisselle. At the small village of Fricourt the line turned east running south of the village and under Mametz.

It would be the responsibility of 21st Division to capture Fricourt.

A few kilometres to the east 7th Division were preparing to capture Mametz using an assault force of 5 battalions. From left to right these were the 2nd Border, 9th Devonshire, 2nd Gordons, 1st South Staffordshire and 22nd Manchester.

The last two battalions were part of 91 Brigade who would be attacking to the east of the village of Mametz, with 21st Manchester and 2 Queens in support.

The other units formed 20 Brigade who would be attacking to the west of Mametz.

Mametz had like so many of the other villages in the German front line been turned into a fortress. In front of it lay the main front line with secondary systems of trenches immediately surrounding the village.

The battle plan was for Mametz to be attacked on the flanks before a frontal assault was made later in the day.

22nd & 21st Manchesters

The 22nd Manchesters were the right hand unit of 7th Division and had reached their first objective of Bucket Trench to the east of the village by 07:55 hrs.
They then moved up further forward into Danzig Alley Trench the left hand section of their first objective.

Now, however they came up against stiff opposition from the Germans. At 08:55 hrs. the Germans launched a series of counter attacks from the Fritz Trench which pushed them back out of Danzig Alley.

At this stage D Coy 21 Manchester were sent up to assist their sister battalion to retake Danzig Alley. This in turn would allow 2nd Queens to come through and attack Fritz Trench - the Brigade's Second Objective.

The attack by the Manchesters was launched at 13:30 hrs. and succeeded in taking back Danzig Alley.

This helped 1 South Staffs take the remainder of Danzig Alley and continue into Bunny Alley on the far side of the village.

In the village you will find a memorial to the Manchester Regiments.

At precisely thirty minutes past seven, in the bright summer morning sunshine of Saturday, 1st July 1916, shrill whistles blew along the length of the front line of the battlefield which was to become known as 'The Somme'.

Thousands of men, many of them Kitchener volunteers and untried in combat, clambered forth from their trenches and into no man's land. For many, it was their last act on this earth. By the end of that day, the British had sustained sixty thousand casualties - twenty thousand of them dead.

War Diary of 22nd Battalion, Manchester Regiment 1st July 1916

Public Record Office W09511669

Date Summary of Events and Information

Trenches and BUNNY ALLEY. This was the situation on the night 1st/2nd July. The total casualties of the battalion during the assault was 18 Officers and 472 other ranks, 10 officers being killed and 8 wounded, whilst of other ranks 120 were killed, 241 were wounded and 111 were missing ( i.e. unaccounted for and probably killed or wounded). Officer reinforcements sent up

22nd Manchesters-7th Manchester Pals.

7th Division. 91 Brigade. XV Corps.

Mametz, one of the very small villages which became a household name and part of history during the battle of the Somme, is on the D64 between Fricourt and Montauban. The village was well fortified and completely surrounded by a system of trenches. A little to the east was Pommiers Redoubt.

The 7th Division , with its 20th and 91st Brigades was to attack Mametz while the 22nd Brigade`s objective was the attack on the eastern flank of Fricourt to complete the pincer movement with the 21st Division on its left.

Four Russian saps had been excavated to the German front line and in order to avoid casualties, the assault battalions of the 20th and the 91st Brigades were assembled in the support trenches.

Prior to zero hour, the leading battalions of the 91st Brigade, the 22nd Manchesters with the 1st South Staffs on its left moved forward through the Russian saps, opened up at the last moment and almost immediately had seized and passed over the German front trench. From here the ground rose and both the Battalions lost heavily through fire from Mametz and Danzig Alley. The advance continued and within fifteen minutes the Staffordshiremen were in Cemetry Trench just south of the village, having covered a distance of 650 meters. At 8.00am the Manchesters entered Bucket Trench to the east of Mametz and close to Danzig Alley East. By now the Staffords had entered the southern end of the ruined village and German resistance was weakening. A good number of prisoners were escorted to the rear. However, German units in strongpoints in the west and north fought tenaciously and the brilliant advance of the staffords came to a halt. A few dug in and remained in the village but most had to retire to Cemetery Trench. An hour or so later three companies of the 21st Manchesters went forward to support the Staffords but the combined Battalions could not get forward to the village. At the same time two companies of the 2nd Queens reinforced the 22nd Manchesters in Bucket Trench and Bulgar Alley but fire from Danzig Alley East prevented futher advance at the moment. When news came that Pommiers Redoubt had fallen in the 18th Division`s sector to the right, a thirty minute bombardment was made west from Pommiers Redoubt to crush the remaining obstacles in Mametz and break the German communications from Danzig Alley towards Montauban. The last two companies of the Queen`s went forward and at 1.00pm, had entered Danzig Alley East pushing the defenders to the north of the village or or towards Fritz Trench and Bright Alley. The latter was entered by bombing parties. The advance had now picked up and the Queen`s entered Fritz Trench. Following the bombardment the South Staffs and the 21st Manchester were able to advance from Cemetery Trench and again entered the southern end of the village from where they cleared pockets of enemy resistance at the western extremity of the village. Apart from some opposition in the north, Mametz was in the hands of the 91st Brigade.
The 20th Brigade`s advance was in the shape of a “V”. The right to attack on the western outskirts of Mametz , the centre in a north easterly direction right of hidden Wood towards Willow Avenue and the left towards Hidden Wood and beyond. Four small mines had been fired in the cratered area between the 20th and 22nd Brigade`s frontage in an attempt to destroy known German positions. T he Gordon Highlanders were then to join the 9th Devon and advance on Bunny Alley and Orchard Alley. Apple Alley, which runs south off Orchard Alley was the initial objective of the 2nd Border. The right companies of the Gordon Highlanders adjacent to the 1st South Stafford of the 91st Brigade leaped into the German front line trench as the enemy was mounting its defences and was quickly overrun. The left company was held up by conceald wire suffering haevy casualties before reaching the front line. During the long british bombardment many shells had failed to explode due to faulty fuses and dud shells were scattered over a wide area. At zero hour the 9th Devon moved forward and was caught by devastating machine gun fire from the Shrine in Mametz civil cemetery, from Mametz village and from Fricourt Wood. Captain D. L. Martin one of the company commanders of the Devons had predicted such an event. While on leave in England , he had constructed a plasticine model of his attack area and forecast his men would be prone to severe enemy fire from the Shrine. His fears were well founded and he fell with many of his men on the exposed slope after Mansell Copse. The Devons did not falter and after entering the German front line, they went forward a further 250 meters to the support trench. Not being able to advance further, they set about clearing the support and communication trenches and some prisoners were escorted to the rear. This done, they offered fire support to the flank battalions who had managed to get ahead. Two companies of the 8th Devon were sent forward to assist but sustained heavy losses in No Man`s Land. The remainder joined the 9th devon and the Highlanders in the support trench. Within thirty minutes the leading companies were passing the halt and into Shrine Alley. Enemy resistance stiffened and another machine gun to the south east of Mametz on the Maricourt road caused heavy casualties. Some of the Gordons and 9th Devon spent most of the morning clearing up the troublesome German defences. The remainder of the Gordons were unable to continue past Shrine Alley but were in contact with the 1st South Staffs 91st Brigade in Cemetery Trench. The 2nd Border on the left was able to get forward with less difficulty having some protection from the physical features of the ground and within a short time had crossed the front line and was advancing on Hidden Lane to the west of Hidden Wood, only 140 meters from its final objective and found themselves too far ahead with no flank support, both the Devons and Gordon Highlanders having been held up. About 1.00pm the remaining company of the 8th Devons was sent up to take position between its sister battalion and the Highlanders.
Two companies of the 2nd Royal Warwick in reserve were sent to fill the gap between the Highlanders and the 1st South Stafford. At 3.30pm with the remainder of the 8th Devon, the battalions moved forward and the last of the German resistance crumbled in Mametz and the Shrine. Some two hundred prisoners were taken. Half an hour later all resistance in the northern part of the village was subdued and the whole of Mametz was now under the control of the 7th Division. By the early evening the 2nd Queen`s had cleared Fritz Trench. The centre and right had been a complete success and the new gains were consolidated. The defences in Mametz were repaired and consolidated in order to deal with any counter attack.
The 22nd Brigade`s flanking attack on Fricourt was undertaken by the 20th Manchester with two companies of the 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers. They were quickly over the German front line but afterwards fire from a distant machine gun caused many casualties. The same gun virtually destroyed the bombing parties. The Rectangle was entered by a few of the Manchesters but they could not hold and retired to the support line. The Welsh Fusiliers enjoyed better success, bombing their way both sides of the Rectangle and up the Sunken Road Trench to the outskirts of Fricourt, thus allowing the Manchesters to get forward. Meanwhile, A Company was to the south of Fricourt cemetery. The 22nd Brigade had had achieved all its objectives and the flanking manoeuvre on the east of Fricourt was completed.
The attack by the 7th Division was an outstanding success, all objectives having been taken. Casualties amounted to 3,480 officers and men, the third lowest of all the attack Divisions.