Captain Bernard Sidney Harvey

[armourersergeant]

This chap died on 1st July 1916, obviously during the Battle of the Somme. According to CWGC he is buried at the Thiepval memorial.This chap is mentioned in Gen. Snow's diary entries to his wife which i have just read at the IWM and he seems to have had some connection to Snow.

Has any Pal come across this chap in any research? and in which battle was he involved?

Any info welcomed.

Arm.

[Bob Coulson]

Arm,

1/5th Londons were on the left of the 56th div attack at Gommecourt on the first day of the Somme battle.

Bob.

[armourersergeant]

Thanks for that Bob,

That makes it interesting because it mens that in a way Snow sent him to his death. I have yey to work out the connection, other than It would appear that they knew probably his parents better than himself.

The diarys were very difficult to read as they were in his original hand and made it hard going but very fascinating, i shall have to go again to read them fully, i just concentrated on 1st july 1916 and nov 1917 to get the info i was specifically after.

Arm.

[bmac]

Capt B S Harvey was educated at Malvern College and Trinity College, Oxford. He was captain of the Trinity rowing eight between 1907 and 1910. After serving in the Oxford University OTC he was commissioned into the 2/5th LRB on 23rd September 1914. He was promoted Lieutenant and then Captain in 1915. He joined the 1/5th LRB in France in December 1914.

Capt Harvey was killed late in the day on 1st July 1916 in front of Gommecourt village. At about 5.30pm he and about 70 men from the LRB, Queen Victoria's and Queen's Westminsters were trapped in a German front line trench. For an hour and a half they resisted severe bombing attacks from three sides. At about 7pm, German mortars started to bombard the trench where the dedenders had been reduced to some 20 able bodied men. Orders were then given to evacuate the trench with each man to try and regain the British lines. Some made it, many were killed in No Man's Land. One, 2nd Lt Bovill (A Company, 1/16th Queen's Westminsters) was shot and killed as he stepped into the British trenches. Capt Harvey was one who did not make it and whose body was never found.