1st August 1916 On this day:  In Brigade Reserve  German aircraft bombing raid  Reliefs.  Operation Order 51. GCF Angel Road, Edmonton opens.   Government Cartridge Factory Angel Road, Edmonton, London started in August 1916 for the production of small arms ammunition. First output was May 1917. In 1918 they also undertook aero-engine repair. It was under the direct control of Eley Bros. CSAS Greenford opens   Chemical Shell Assembling Station Greenford, Middlesex started in August 1916 with first output in Jan 1917. Production was assembling lethal shell. It was under the direct control of the Ministry of Munitions. NGF Upper Market Street, Woolwich opens.   National Gauge Factory Upper Market Street, Woolwich, London started in August 1916 for the production of gauges. It was under the direct control of Pitter's Ventilating & Engineering Co.  On the March 16th Northumberlands receive reinforcements   A draft of 160 other ranks arrive at Houchain to reinforce the much depleated 16th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers.  On the March Messines Sector - Flanders   16th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles - Pioneers. At the end of July the 36th Ulster Division was sent back into the line and all the moves of the 16th Battalion were to bring it into support positions around Neuve Eglise opposite enemy positions on the Messines Ridge. The Battalion had grown accustomed to the terrain in the Picardy region of France. Now they were to encounter the fairly flat low lying terrain of Flanders with its water table problems that made defensive position, road construction and maintenance methods a very different proposition. Flanders, August 1916 to December 1916. During August the entire 36th Division were committed to the Front and pioneering work gathered pace. Everywhere there was water just below the surface and even on the highest ground this was encountered within a few feet. Communication trenches could only be dug down a couple of feet, so construction had to be above ground by piling earthworks or sandbags to the required heights. The war diaries describe August as being routine work but with increased enemy shelling and resultant higher casualties. Summary as follows: 4th August: Several shells fell near No. 3 Company’s farm and two hit it killing all the mules and wounding the company commander’s charger. Some rifles and equipment were damaged and a fire exploded some ammunition. The men sheltered in the basement of a house until shelling was over. 6th August: Two companies relocated from Bulford to Le Grande Munque Farm to get closer to work. It could hold about 400 men and was about 2000 yards behind the front line. 7th August: Battalion HQ moved to a point south of Petit Pont and camped there. No.4 Coy’s work assignment moved from Subsidiary Line to Gas Trench. 13th August: Artillery active from both sides. 14th August: GOC visited trenches and expressed approval of progress. 19th August: A note of irritation in the war diary entry. "Without previous warning our artillery started a bombardment. The Boche retaliated killing 2 men and wounding 3 of No. 2 Company also wounding 3 men of No.3 Company, one of whom died later from his wounds. 23rd August: 3 NCOs and 33 men were assigned to construct emplacement for a mortar battery. 24th August: A sentry from No.3 Company challenged another man of No.2 Company and getting no reply, bayoneted him. The injured man was sent to hospital. 26/27th August: All available men in Battalion, about 300, were used to carry gas cylinders up to the front line trenches each night. 30/31st August: Gas attack on enemy took place at 0130 accompanied by a bombardment and a raid. 31st August: There was general retaliation by the enemy all day and No.1 Company was shelled on its way to the trenches. Another small gas attack on the enemy was carried out that night Also during the month 2 officers and 44 ORs were attached to the 1st Australian Tunneling Company for work on Hill 63. This involved digging two galleries into its steep southern slope capable of holding two battalions completely safe from any form of artillery fire. An amusing incident was reported in Colonel Leader’s Memoirs. After he left one of the billets he had been occupying, his landlady complained to Divisional HQ that a grandfather cuckoo clock was missing. The following correspondence took place: HQ to Leader: Can you offer any explanation? Leader to HQ: No. HQ to Leader: The GOC desires that you answer this question more fully. Leader to HQ: No I can’t. HQ to Leader: The GOC considers your answer most impertinent. Kindly send more particulars about this cuckoo clock. Leader to HQ: Cuckoo; cuckoo; cuckoo. It then transpired that the lady’s son-in-law not trusting the British had removed the clock before the colonel’s occupation. So he sent off a final message: Leader to HQ: Soldiers I am innocent, the cuckoo clock has been found. Later an officer from the Division on leave met a relative of the Colonel who asked him if he knew John Leader, to which he replied: "Oh yes, everyone knows the cuckoo colonel". Colonel Leader was suffering from injuries received when his dugout was blown in and eventually on the 8th August he allowed the Medical Officer to evacuate him to No.12 Casualty Clearing Station and he was returned to the UK. His place as Commanding Officer was taken by Major Meares, who was promoted to Temporary Lt Colonel in September. Casualties for August reported as: Other Ranks 2 killed, 6 wounded and 1 died from wounds. The Terrors by SN White Schütte-Lanz Airship.    Burial of Crew SL11 at Potter's Bar Cemetery Schütte-Lanz SL11 First Flight: 1st August 1916 Length: 174 metres (571 ft) Diameter: 20.1 metres (66 ft) Gas Capacity: 38,780 cubic meters Performance: 91.8 km/h Payload: 21 tonnes Engines: 4 Maybach 960 hp/716 kW total Army airship based at Spich and Commanded by Hauptmann Wilhelm Schramm. The first German airship to be shot down over Britain. It was attacked over Hertfordshire by Lt. W.L. Robinson in a BE 2C with incendiary ammunition on the 3rd September 1916. It crashed at Cuffley, having bombed Saint Albans. The crew were buried at Potters Bar Cemetery and in 1962 they were re-interred at Cannock Chase German war cemetery. The press incorrectly reported it as the L21 Zeppelin which was only corrected much later. It was probably a touch of propaganda as the death of a baby-killer Zeppelin rather than the lesser known SL Airship would create greater public interest. John Doran  Hot Weather  Counter Mines  Move to Somme area  Trench activities  Actions during 1916  Staff ride and Regimental strength  New Aircraft  Fighters    Steel Arrows Collected  Bathing  New Squadron formed  Training  Under Shellfire  Reliefs  New Emplacements  At Rest  Grenades    On the March  In the Trenches  Working Party  On the March  New Squadron formed  Gas    Working Parties  A Quiet Day  Trench Work  In Action  Defences  Training  In Billets  In the Trenches  In the Line  Instructions  Dispositions after Relief  Intermittent Shelling  Usual parades, inspections  Aircraft damaged  Aircraft damaged  Aircraft damaged  Aircraft damaged  Aircraft damaged  Aircraft damaged  Aircraft damaged  Aircraft damaged  Aircraft Lost  Aircraft damaged  Aircraft damaged Training   7th Buffs are Training, parades under Coy arrangements, training of specialists continued, weather very fine Received 55th Brigade Operational Order No 32 re relief of 3rd New Sealand Rifle Brigade. 7th Buffs war diary WO95/2049  2230 hours Germans started a very heavy Arty barrage on the village which continued till 0430 hours on the 2nd.  Reliefs  On the Move to Soues  Some Shelling  On the Move  On the Move  Battalion Sports  On the March  Return to Duty  Billeted  Baths  Battalion relieved  Shrapnel  Active aerial reconnaisance on both sides.  Message  Support Trenches  hells exploded among the Companies  Working Party Can you add to this factual information? 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Want to know more about 1st of August 1916? There are:80 items tagged 1st of August 1916 available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Remembering those who died this day, 1st of August 1916. Pte. Alfred Joseph Deadman. 17th Battalion Middlesex Regiment Read their Story. Sgt. John Thomas Gilbert. 2/7th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment Read their Story. Pte. Richard James Shaw Granger. 17th (Welbeck Rangers) Btn. Sherwood Foresters Pte John Henry Harradine. 2nd Btn Suffolk Regiment Pte. Thomas Harold Hartley. 99th Coy. Machine Gun Corps Pte. Thomas Richard Rogers. 14th Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers Read their Story. Pte. Thomas Richard Rogers. 14th Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers Pte. Joseph Porteous Skinner. 12th Btn. Gloucestershire Regiment Read their Story. WO2 Robert Smith. MM. 1st Northumbrian Field Ambulance Royal army Medical Corps Read their Story. L/Cpl George William Spencer. 13th Btn. Middlesex Regiment Read their Story. L/Cpl. Walter Stephen Turner. 1st Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment Read their Story. Pte. Thomas Albert Weaver. 18th Btn. Durham Light Infantry Read their Story. Add a name to this list.

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