Pte F J Calver, 2nd Bn Suffolk Regt

[Guest pjm]

I have discovered that one of my relatives, Pte Frank James Calver of the 2nd Bn, Suffolk Regt, died on 20 July 1916 and is listed on the Thiepval Memorial. Does anyone know where I can find details of that day's engagements/battles and therefore where or how Pte Calver may have actually died?

[Chris_Baker]

"In the early morning of the 20th July the XIII Corps made another effort to clear Delville Wood and Longuveval, employing for the purpose the two battalions of the 76th Brigade (3rd Division) which had not yet been engaged. An advance from the west was made by 2/Suffolk, but there was no sign of the other battalion, the 10/Royal Welsh Fusiliers, which was to come in from the south. The two leading companies of the Suffolk, with their right flank exposed, pressed on with great resolution and were almost entirely lost. The Fusiliers were ten minutes late, having been led astray in the dark by a guide, so that they came under British machine gun fire and lost nearly all their officers before they could form up. Nevertheless they delivered their attack, and isoltaed parties of two battalions carried on the fight, although any chance of success had disappeared". (British Official History)

Footnotes:

1. A German account says that an officer and 81 other ranks of the 2/Suffolk became prisoners.

2. The Brigade Major of 76th Brigade, Billy Congreve, was killed by a sniper during this engagement. He was awarded a posthumous VC.

3. Cpl J. Davis and Pte A. Hill of the 10/RWF also won the VC during this attack.

What a tragic affair.

For more detail you might try the battalion war diary, which is held at the National Archive in Kew.