James Driver
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
James Driver was born in 1895 he was the son of Thomas a coal miner hewer and Mary Driver née McSally of 27 Coke Street, Mansfield Woodhouse. Thomas was born in 1860 , Mary McSally was born in 1866 both were born at Ulverston, Lancashire, they were married in 1888 their marriage was recorded in the Ulverston registration district, they went on to have 7 children. In 1911 the family lived at 27 Coke Street, Mansfield Woodhouse, Thomas is 51 yrs a coal miner hewer, he is living with his wife Mary 45 yrs and 5 of their children including James 16 yrs a coal miner.
Private James Driver enlisted in September 1914, at Mansfield, landing in France on 27th August 1915. He was killed in action on 1st July 1916 the first day of the Battle of the Somme, having no known grave his name is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. 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. Military Research by David Nunn
Mansfield Chronicle Advertiser: 14/12/1916: photograph.
