Wristwatch, Captain R Ede England, 1916

Wristwatch, Captain R Ede England, 1916

Collected in 1974

Currently on display at Wakefield Museum

A wristwatch with a black leather strap and round face with Roman numerals in black and red. A luggage label is attached to the fastening. The label has typed text and is signed in blue ink.

Captain R. Ede England wore this wristwatch on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916. He was the Officer commanding D Company of the 12th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. D Company was timed to "go over the top" at 7:48am on 1 July and this is the watch that timed that event in the battle. It is now forever stopped at that fateful time.

The 12th was a new battalion created to boost troop numbers at the start of the First World War. It had been recruited, funded and equipped by the West Yorkshire Coal Owners' Association. The battalion included 400-500 miners from South Kirkby, Hemsworth and Featherstone collieries. Their mining skills made them ideal recruits for a Pioneers battalion. Pioneers worked on constructing trenches and temporary roads, bridges and railways.

The 12th battalion were first posted to Egypt in December 1915 before being called to Europe in March 1916. In France, they began constructing trenches and dug outs in preparation for a major offensive. On 30 June 1916, they arrived at the assembly trenches on the Somme front line ready for the big push the next day.

Part of a trench map showing the Somme battlefields, has annotations in red and black, deep creases where the map has been repeatedly folded, there is also some wear and losses to the edges.

Section of Captain England’s trench map from 1916 showing the Serre area of the Somme front where he and his men advanced

The weather on the morning of the 1 July 1916 was beautifully clear. Officers gave the signal and thousands of British and Allied soldiers went over the top of their trenches into No Man's Land. Captain England blew his whistle to send D company over the top at 7:48am.

A small triangular pennant flag, the main body is khaki green with red and white edging

‘Shoulder flash’ worn by Captain England on the back of his tunic at the Battle of the Somme.

The Somme offensive was meant to be a major breakthrough. It followed a week-long bombardment that should have destroyed the German defences. But the enemy lines had survived. When the men went into No Man’s Land, they walked into a deadly barrage of artillery and gunfire. By the end of the day, 19000 British and Allied soldiers were dead.

The 12th Battalion were part of an attempt to capture the hilltop village of Serre to the left of the main attack. They were tasked with consolidating captured trenches. Instead, as the attack failed under enemy fire, they carried supplies and rescued the wounded. When the battalion reassembled at 4:30pm, 197 men were reported missing, wounded or killed. Many had died less than 50 metres from the trench.

In 1966, Captain England returned to the Somme for a service commemorating the battle. He wore this same watch with which he had timed his advance 50 years earlier. He had stopped the watch at 7:48am.