William Bramwell
in the 1911 census he is shown as a coal miner hewer
- Family History
- Military history
- Extra information
- Photographs
William Bramwell was born in 1882 at Mansfield Woodhouse, he was the son of the late John a coal miner labourer, and the late Mary Bramwell néé Greatorex of Mansfield Woodhouse.
His father John was born in 1855 at Mansfield, he died in Mansfield in 1905 he was 50 yrs of age, his mother Mary Greatorex was born in 1856 at Mansfield Woodhouse she died in 1881 at Mansfield she was 25 yrs of age, they were married on 24th December 1876 at Mansfield they had 2 children, their other child was Alice born 1878 at Mansfield Woodhouse.
In the 1911 census we find William living at 6 Bradden Street, Mansfield, he s shown as being 29 yrs and is a coal miner hewer, he is living with Samuel Fried Daynes 54 yrs a gas fitter who is living with his family.
Williams pension record card shows his dependant as his foster mother Harriett Elizabeth Daynes of BraddonStreet,Mansfield
Commencing 5th June 1917 his foster mother was granted a pension of 7 shillings a week.
Private William Bramwell enlisted at Mansfield, he served with the 11th battalion Sherwood Foresters Regiment, he went to France on 11th October 1915. He was killed on the first day of the Somme. Battalions attacking Ovillers on 1st July 1916 had to cross 'Mash Valley' one of the widest expanses of No Man's Land (750 yards) along the entire Somme front. Today, looking from Ovillers Cemetery (German front line) towards distant houses (British front line) across open fields offering little cover, the magnitude of their task is still evident. 11th Battalion Sherwood Foresters' War Diary recorded:
'Casualties along the whole line were very heavy and a general attempt was made to crawl forward under intense machine gun and shrapnel fire, any available cover being made use of.... Lt Colonel Watson, walking diagonally across the front collecting men as he went gave fresh impetus to the advance by his personal example... A third attempt, led by Captain C E Hudson*, to reach the German trenches by the sunken road on the right flank was made but... was brought to a standstill by heavy frontal and flank fire as they came over the brow of the hill in the last 80 yards. The casualties sustained by the battalion during the day amounted to 21 officers and 508 men. The strength of the battalion on entering the trenches on 26th June was 27 officers and 710 men.' 11th Bn Sherwood Foresters War Diary TNA WO95/21871(3).
125 men from 11th Battalion Sherwood Foresters were killed during the attack on Ovillers (CWGC Debt of Honour Register). *John Cotterill adds 'The man who brought the 11th Foresters out of action on 1 July and, one of the 6 unwounded officers, was Capt Edward Hudson who would go on to get a VC as CO of 11th Foresters on Asiago Plateau in Italy in 1918'.
2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment suffered 264 fatalities during the same advance. Concerns of their CO Lieutenant Colonel Edward Thomas Falkiner Sandys DSO, a brave and well respected officer, that his battalion would be badly mauled crossing such an expanse of open ground with uncut wire an added hazard, did not impress his superiors. Sandys was wounded during the attack and evacuated to the UK. Depressed at the fate of so many men who had trusted him, Sandys shot himself in a London hotel room and died a few days later.
8th Division's Official History records a total of 5,121 casualties on 1st July 1916.
Having no known grave his name ic ommemroated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France.
Military Research by David Nunn
additional research and information Peter Gillings
Photo David Nunn
Photo taken from German machine gun positions (now Ovillers British Military Cemetery) showing the terrain over which 8th Division including 11th Sherwood Foresters (70th Brigade), advanced on 1st July 1916. Houses beyond the distant tree line now stand on the 1st July 1916 British line.