Second Battle of Ypres, March 1915

1. Second Battle of Ypres, March 1915 This illustration shows men of the 2nd Battalion Northumberland, less than 1000 men, facing a dawn attack by a great German column, the main strength of the enemy. The machine gun was used on the close enemy formation and a 'minute of mad rifle fire' caused havoc.

2. Return From St Eloi The Fusiliers were replaced by Canadians after their successful attack on the German position. They returned with items of German uniform and equipment as seen here, a German coat and a helmet badge sported by two of the men.

3. The Battle of Mons The opening battle of the First World War for the British Expeditionary Force: they encountered massed German Infantry, the regulars and reservists of the British Army and received an unpleasant shock.

4. Soldiers of 1st Northumberland Fusiliers preparing street barricades in the Mons area before the fighting started on 23rd August 1914.

5. A Company, 4th Royal Fusiliers in the market square of Mons on 22nd August 1914, the day before the Battle of Mons. Soon after this photograph was taken the battalion moved up to the Mons Canal line at Nimy.

6. British infantry waiting to advance in the Mons area prior to the battle

7. The Somme As the long drawn out battle on the Somme ground on into September, 1916, the toll amongst local families was particularly acute for those whose sons, husbands and brothers had rushed to join up in the first Kitchener volunteer New Army in 1914.

8. As the 11 British divisions walked towards the German lines, the machine guns started and the slaughter began. Although a few units managed to reach German trenches, they could not exploit their gains and were driven back. By the end of the day, the British had suffered 60,000 casualties, of whom 20,000 were dead: their largest single loss. Sixty per cent of all officers involved on the first day were killed.

9. It was a baptism of fire for Britain's new volunteer armies. Many 'Pals' Battalions, comprising men from the same town, had enlisted together to serve together. They suffered catastrophic losses: whole units died together and for weeks after the initial assault, local newspapers would be filled with lists of dead, wounded and missing.

10. German trenches were heavily fortified and, furthermore, many of the British shells failed to explode. When the bombardment began, the Germans simply moved underground and waited.

11. Areas previously forested, were decimated. The British suffered around 420,000 casualties, the French 195,000 and the Germans around 650,000.

12. September saw heavy casualties amongst the men of the 8th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers who had been sent to France from the Middle East after reinforcement following the heavy losses suffered in the badly directed landings at Suvla Bay on the Dardanelles in August, 1915.

13. Now fighting as a part of the 11th Division they were thrown into the assaults launched as part of the campaign known as the Battle of Thiepval Ridge. On the morning of 26th September the Northumberland’s were in the vanguard of the attack against the German positions. Meeting heavy resistance the momentum of the attack was lost and the history of the campaign shows that the troops following on as 'moppers up' were killed, almost man by man, leaving only 50 survivors with a sole remaining officer organising a temporary position in front of the German strongpoint.

14. ThiepvalMemorial which records the names of over 73,000 British and Dominion servicemen lost in the Somme theatre of operations from 1916 to 1918.

15. The Northumberland Fusiliers lost 16,000 men during the Great War. The most of all regiments.