Ronald Fensom

Fensom attested on 05/10/1914 in Nottingham. He was transferred to 1/7th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters on 20/02/1915 and was drafted to France. On 13/10/1915 he was reported as missing, but the next day he was admitted to 46th Field Ambulance having been gassed. On 15/10/1915 he was transferred to 15th W.R. Casualty Clearing Station and then sent on to St. John Ambulance Hospital at Etaples. On 29/10/1915 he was sent on to 1/46th Infantry Base Depot at Rouen but did not rejoin his unit until 23/11/1915. The battalion moved to Foncquevillers in preparation for the attack on Gommecourt on July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. At 7.30 a.m. the battalion moved in four waves across No Man's Land. The week of artillery bombardment had failed to subdue the Germans and soon shells and heavy machine gun fire was cutting great gaps in the lines. Within minutes there were no officers left, but the men did not hesitate; they continued to moved forward. At seventy yards they could see that the situation was hopeless as the wire had only been partially cut. Still they did not hesitate. A few made it to the German second line but were soon bombed back into No Man's Land. There the wounded and the survivors waited all day until it got dark and they could crawl back to their lines. That night only 96 men were present at roll call. Pte. Fensom's body was recovered and he was buried at Foncquevillers Military Cemetery.

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