This is the Victory Medal for Private J. Birchall of the Prince of Wales’s Volunteers (South Lancashire) Regiment, 4100. He entered France on the 4th of September and he was killed in action on the 9th of August 1916 and is buried at the Dive Copse British Cemetery, Sailly-Le-Sec.
Shrapnel and shell fragments accounted for a large proportion of those killed and wounded in WW1. Those blown into the ether by high explosive to one side, artillery accounted for around 70% of casualties. These six balls were recovered from the Thiepval Redoubt on the Somme and are German in origin. Thiepval was a slaughterhouse on the first day of the attack and, despite early success, took a savage pounding from German counter-fire.
The Battle of Thiepval. The view looking toward Thiepval on morning of attack and showing German barrage. (IWM)
A simple, yet evocative item. This is a 1916 dated British officer’s trench whistle. I deliberately looked for a 1916 date because the centenary of the Battle of the Somme passed this month. The whistle was manufactured by D’Courcy & Co from Birmingham.
Lancashire Fusiliers go “over the top”, first day of the Somme, July 1st 1916.
Kiwi Medals 