No record in the War Diary [WO/95/2694]
29th: Enemy artillery fired ten rounds at our left Battalion Headquarters, but otherwise a very quite day.
139 Infantry Brigade: Headquarters War Diary [WO95/2692]
No record in the War Diary [WO/95/2694]
27th: Enemy fired about 20 field gun shells into the front line of the left sector and also did slight damage to OAK STREET during the morning.
139 Infantry Brigade: Headquarters War Diary [WO95/2692]
26.8.1916 BAILLEUVAL: Battn ceremonial drill and inspection by G.O.C. Division.
War Diary [WO/95/2694]
Augt 26: Went for so called rest – Genl did a review as in peacetime. Result rest meant much harder work for everyone that war does.
[Lieutenant Josiah Taylor]
26: Situation normal.
139 Infantry Brigade: Headquarters War Diary [WO95/2692]
No record in the War Diary [WO/95/2694]
25th: A quite day. Rather more activity shown by the enemy during the night, 20 shells being fired behind front line of our right sector.
139 Infantry Brigade: Headquarters War Diary [WO95/2692]
No record in the War Diary [WO/95/2694]
Official Operation Orders 77 Operations Orders 77 from WO-95-2692-6
24th 7am: A patrol of 5th Sherwood Foresters found that the wire in the bed of the river under the BLOCKHOUSE was intact.
24th 7.30pm: “A” PARTY under Lieut SANDOVER left our front line near the top of WILLOWS and reached the enemys wire under the BLOCKHOUSE forty minutes later.
At 8.30pm Lieut SMALLEY with 8 men and a Lewis Gun “B” PARTY left our trenches and took up their position in the RAVINE in support of the first party.
Lieutenant SANDOVER hearing a party working to his right front endeavoured to find a gap in the German wire between the RAVINE and the BLOCKHOUSE. After passing through two rows of wire he and Sgt LOOMES were cutting through a third row when they were challenged by the enemy’s sentry 15 yards from them who threw four hand grenades. Finding it was impossible to surprise the enemy’s post Lieut. SANDOVER ordered his party to withdraw. In the meantime Rifle and Machine Gun fire had been opened from the German trench & Cpl JOHNSON was hit in the head. Lieutenant SANDERSON dragged the Corporal through the wire with the assistance of Pte MARRIOTT who had returned to help him & the whole party gained the cover of the river bed without further casualties.
Supporting fire was soon afterwards opened by our Artillery who carried out the remained of the programme very effectively. On the guns opening fire Stokes Mortars and Rifle Grenades were fired from CAVENDISH SAP into the German Saps & Trenches in X3b, the enemy replying with 20 HE shells on left sector.
Edward Arthur Victor Smalley (1885-)
139 Infantry Brigade: Headquarters War Diary [WO95/2692]
No record in the War Diary [WO/95/2694]
23rd 2pm: A bombardment of the BLOCKHOUSE and trenches in the vicinity was carried out by VII Corps Heavy Battery, Divisional Battery and medium trench mortars. Considerable damage was down while the enemy’s reply was feeble.
139 Infantry Brigade: Headquarters War Diary [WO95/2692]
22.8.1916 TRENCHES: Relieved by 5th Battalion and moved into Divisional Reserve at BAILLEUVAL.
War Diary [WO/95/2694]
22nd: Enemy very quite. An Officer patrol with a Lewis Gun dispersed a hostile bombing party near the RANSART-BELLACOURT road during the night.
A view of a series of dugouts and bivouacs positioned in a sunken road near Ransart in northern France. The bivouacs are assembled from sandbags and corrugated iron, some piles of rusty barbed wire nearby. Two British soldiers sit relaxing on the grass in the right foreground. Trees line the upper part of the sunken road © IWM (Art.IWM ART 1617).
[Sergeant John Singer, RE at Ransart 1918]
No record in the War Diary [WO/95/2694]
Aug 21: Did a kind of minstrel stunt in no-mans-land. All very quite and uneventful.
[Lieutenant Josiah Taylor]
21st: An extraordinarily quite day in which the enemy did practically no shooting at all.
139 Infantry Brigade: Headquarters War Diary [WO95/2692]
No record in the War Diary [WO/95/2694]
20th: A quite day.
139 Infantry Brigade: Headquarters War Diary [WO95/2692]
2nd Lieutenant Thomas George Inglesant of the 1/5th Battalion was killed in action.
19.8.1916 BELLACOURT: Enemy shelled village about 12.15 a.m. 17 other ranks wounded, and 1 killed and 1 wounded attached to 139th Trench Mortar Battery.
War Diary [WO/95/2694]
19th: Soon after midnight the enemy the enemy fired a few shells into BELLACOURT which caused 20 casualties – 17 of which were in the 6th 1/2 Reserve Company.
The support line close to MARTINETS WOOD (above) was shelled about midday.
139 Infantry Brigade: Headquarters War Diary [WO95/2692]
4443 Pte Thomas Stoppard a miner from Clay Cross who enlisted in July 1915 and arrived in France with the 6th Reinforcement in March 1916 was killed in action and buried in Bellacourt Military Cemetery in Riviere.
Lizzie Stoppard received a letter from Col Goodwin informing her that her son had been killed in action.
“You must remember that he was a good soldier and has died for his Country. Your son was buried this afternoon in a small cemetery behind the lines. I was present with several Officers and Men of his Company.”
Tom’s Cousin (Q Sergt M Unwin of Chesterfield), was serving in the same Battalion and in a letter home he indicated that Tom lived only minutes after being wounded. Tom had been resting in billets with his comrades when the Germans started shelling the Village.
The men who died of their wounded were:-
3683 Pte. John Arthur Andrews aged 30 and a plate layer from New Whittington. John was the 95th man from New Whittington to be killed. He was the son of Mary Ann Andrews of 142 South St., New Whittington, Chesterfield. and before enlisting he was employed in the pipe shops at Staveley Works. He was 31 years of age and had been in France for about ten months.
2160 Pte. William Hallows aged 19 and a general labourer from Wirksworth.
“In comparison with villages of a similar size the village of Middleton-by-Wirksworth has already suffered severely in the number of the soldiers who have given their lives for their country during the present war. This week news has been received that Private William K Hallows died in a casualty clearing station on the 30th August from wounds received the –th of the month. Private Hallows was aged 19 years, single and was mobilised with the Sherwood Foresters (T.F.) on the outbreak of the war and proceed with those to France. At the time of his wounding he was a member of the Lewis gun section and he was shot in the chest and back . . . . . . . . . .”
[THE DERBYSHIRE TIMES, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER, 9th, 1916]
The less severely wounded included the following men of “C” Company:-
Also wounded on this day was 4861 Pte John Thomas Elliott of the 1/5th Battalion.
Derbyshire Territorials in the Great War 