210738 Pte. Joseph Lewis British Army 8th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry from:11 Sandfield Road. Aberavon (d.29th Jun 1916) "Soldiers Died in the Great War" recorded Joseph Lewis was born in Swansea and resided at Aberavon, Glamorgan. The CWGC recorded he was the son of Lewis and Leah Lewis of 11, Sandfield Road, Aberavon. Joseph Lewis, born about 1892, who served with the Somerset Light Infantry and was killed in action on 29th June 1916. The medal index card recorded "John" Lewis entered France on 8th September 1915 and served with the 8th Battalion SLI. This date closely matched the date the battalion crossed to France.
The 8th Battalion was formed at Taunton in October 1914 as part of Kitchener's New Army of civilian volunteers. The battalion was billeted at Leighton Buzzard during the winter of 1914/15 and trained at Halton Park, near Tring, from April 1915 with the 63rd Infantry Brigade in the 21st Division. In August 1915 they were at Witley Camp, Surrey and then sailed to France in September. The Division was marched immediately to the front and actually went into battle on 25th/26th September 1915 at Loos. This was a baptism of fire, as the soldiers had not been issued with rifles until June 1915, so they had had little firing practice. After landing in France on September 10th they had marched to Vermelles in the Pas de Calais, facing the town of Loos. At 7 pm on the 25th September they moved forward to the "Chalk Pits" on the Hulloch-Lens road where they engaged the enemy, just two weeks after arriving in France. They went to Borre on October 2nd 1915 and then spent the next five months near Armentieres in trenches known as the "Mushroom". Christmas Day 1915 was spent in the front line trenches. On March 21st 1916 the Battalion moved from Armentieres to Strazelle, which is east of Hazebrouck. In April they moved, via Meaulte, near Albert on the Somme, to La Neuville where they underwent training for "the big push".
On 27th June 1916, the Battalion moved into trenches at Ville, near la Neuville, which were to form the assembly line for the attack on the morning of June 1st 1916. The trenches were named "Marischal Street" and "Stonehaven Street" and were in front of Fricourt Wood held by the enemy's 111th Infantry. British Artillery continued to bombard the enemy positions from 26th June and on the night of 28th June 1916 the 8th Battalion moved into the trenches to relive the 4th Middlesex regiment. During the relief they lost one corporal and six men killed. On June 19th the battalion moved forward to some new trenches which had just been opened up centred on "Shuttle Lane" and the night of the 29th was spent securing the position in readiness for the attack planned for July 1st.
The date of Joseph Lewis's death was recorded as June 29th 1916. He may have died on the night of the 28th when one corporal and six men were killed. His death would have been recorded at roll call in the morning of the 29th. He may have died during the preparation to advance, but the Battalion war diary does not list any deaths on the 29th itself. The 8th Battalion went into the attack at 7.25 am on July 1st 1916 – the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Joseph Lewis is buried in Norfolk Cemetery at Becordel-Becourt. He qualified for the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. The war diary of the 8th Battalion is included in a group of diaries which can be downloaded from the National Archives Documents Online website for GBP 3-50. It is in catalogue reference WO 95/2158.
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