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Sgt. William James Denton Milson DCM.
British Army 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment
from:Minster Moorgate, Beverley, Yorkshire
(d.4th July 1916)
My great uncle Wil Milson won his DCM whilst the 2nd Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment were near Bethune in the Loos sector,in November 1915, an area full of mine works.
The Regiment's history notes that both the British and the Germans were attempting to explode mines under each other's trenches. At midnight on the 29th the 2nd Battalion were busy endeavouring to explode mines before the Germans exploded theirs, and laid charges timed to explode at 4am on the 30th and then they planned to move up across quickly, given the torrential rain, a very muddy No Mans Land. As there was no response after the explosions for several hours an advance party of some 30 men went to consolidate the trench taken from the Germans only for the Germans to blow another small mine which buried about 25 men. My Uncle, assisted by a Corporal Wilson, organised a rescue party under heavy shell fire and supervised and assisted in rescuing the men, despite German sniper fire and a heavy bombardment. They worked so well that 19 of the men were rescued although 6 remained missing.
The 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire regiment were part of the 21st Brigade of the 30th Division at the Battle of the Somme at the southernmost sector, whose objective on the 1st July 1916 was to capture Montauban from the Germans. The Battalion were in support of the advance party, who were the 2nd Liverpool and 4th Manchester Pals. Given the effectiveness in this sector of the preliminary Artillery barrage before the attack, the advance party had little opposition as it crossed No Mans Land. However when the 2nd Battalion of the Yorkshire regiment advanced a German machine gun unit positioned to their left in the Railway, or Carnoy, Valley created an enfilade fire which cut to pieces the 2nd Yorkshires to the point that very few managed to get across No Mans Land. Amongst those was my Great Uncle, Sergeant Milson, who was badly wounded. He was sent to a Casualty Clearing Station behind the lines, at Corbie, where he died from his wounds on 4th July. He is buried at Corbie Communal Cemetery Extension.
