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Ernest Vernon was born at Townend, Ossett on 7th January 1897 the son of Retford born railway porter, Thomas Vernon (1864-1935) and Doncaster born Alice Brown (born 1863) who married at South Ossett Christ Church on 19th January 1890. Bride and groom stated their residence as South Ossett. Ernest was baptised on 7th February 1897 at Holy Trinity Church, Ossett. The couple also had a son, George William, born in Ossett on 2nd July 1894.
In 1891 the recently wed Thomas and Alice Vernon were living at Little Townend Ossett. Thomas was working as a railway porter. By 1901 the couple and their sons George and Ernest were living at Lea, near Gainsboro in Lincolnshire. Thomas was working as an agricultural labourer. In 1911 George and Ernest were working as farm labourers at Holme, Kirton where they were boarding with a young family Richard, born in Germany, who was and Kate Schmidt and their son Ernest Walter. Richard was working as a farm labourer.
Shortly after his wife, Alice, appears to have died in early 1914 Thomas Vernon married Fanny Higgins at Gainsboro in spring 1914. By 1921 Thomas, now a ring maker on his own account, and Fanny were living at Walkeringham, Lincolnshire. Living with them was Thomas’s son George William who was a general labourer.
Ernest Vernon at War aged 18-19.
On 4th August 1914 Germany invaded neutral Belgium and Great Britain declared war on the German Empire. Ernest enlisted at Gainsborough and joined the 2nd Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment. In August 1914 the battalion was in Bermuda and moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia returning to England on 3rd October 1914 and on arrival came under command of 25th Brigade in 8th Division. On 6th November 1914 the 2nd battalion Lincolnshire Regiment land at Le Havre.
The 8th Division was formed in England during October 1914 by bringing together (mainly) regular army units which had been stationed at various points around the British Empire. The division moved to France in November 1914, a badly-needed reinforcement to the British Expeditionary Force. It remained on the Western Front throughout the rest of the war.
Ernest’s army service records were destroyed in a Luftwaffe attack on London in September 1940 making it difficult to be certain about Ernest’s army movements. It is known however that Ernest embarked for France on 1st June 1915 and would have seen action on 25th September 1915 in the action of Bois Grenier which was carried out by only one British formation; the 8th Division.
8th Division was ordered to attack a 1200-yard section of the German front line to assist the main attack by First Army at the start of the Battle of Loos. 8th Division chose its 25th Infantry Brigade to make the attack. The infantry assault would be preceded by four days of artillery bombardment and all men were to carry gas helmets as it was expected that the enemy would respond by firing gas shells. The enemy’s front was protected by barbed wire defences and behind it was a network of reserve trenches and a second line.
The assault units were in position by 3.30am. In front, on the right, a company of 2nd Rifle Brigade; centre, the other three companies of that battalion; on the left, a company of the 2nd Lincolnshire Regiment. It proved to be a day of mist and heavy rain, and by afternoon visibility was very poor. Observation for the artillery became impossible.
At 4.25am the artillery opened fire on the German first and second lines and five minutes later the infantry went “over the top” into no man’s land. The left and centre were quickly captured and the attack pushed on to the German second line but some areas could not be taken due to machine gun fire. The enemy fought hard and there was continual bombing by hand grenades from both sides. By 8am the two assault battalions had got in touch with each other in the German trenches, which were now entirely held except for a 300-yard portion. At 7.40am two companies of 1st Royal Irish Rifles were sent to assist the 2nd Lincolnshire.
At 1pm a determined German counterattack had removed the 2nd Lincolnshire Regiment from one of the strong points and recaptured some of the trenches. The attack had achieved its objective of shortening the British front, but it came at terrible human cost. Some three officers and 120 German other ranks were taken prisoner. In a single day, 25th September 1915, the 2nd Lincolnshire Regiment alone lost four officers and 51 other ranks and a further 6 officers and 171 other ranks were wounded. The other participant British regiments lost another 12 officers and 106 other ranks with 22 officers and more than 600 other ranks wounded. This action with all its loss of men was carried out as a diversion to the start of the British offensive the Battle of Loos and the major French offensives in Artois and Champagne, all on 25 September 1915.
As if a single day’s action was not enough the worst battles of the Great War were about to be encountered in 1st -13th July 1916. The Battle of Albert, the first phase of the Battles of the Somme included the bloodiest day in British military history.
The Capture of Ovillers (1–16 July 1916) was a British local operation during the Battle of Albert, the name given by the British to the first two weeks of the Battle of the Somme. The village of Ovillers-la-Boisselle is located some 22 miles north-east of Amiens. On 1 July 1916, the first day on the Somme, Ovillers was attacked by the 8th Division. The attack was a disaster and the division lost 5,121 casualties. The 8th Division was withdrawn and replaced by the 12th (Eastern) Division, which resumed the attack on Ovillers on 3 July and lost 4,721 men by the time it was relieved. The village was captured during the evening of 16 July.
No man’s land was unusually wide on the 8th Division front. Eight minutes before zero, 24 Stokes mortars in hidden emplacements on the 25th and 70th brigade fronts, fired 80–100 bombs each on the German front line, as the leading infantry crept forward about 200–300 yards into no man’s land. Two German machine-guns had opened fire at 7:00 a.m. and swept the British front line trench and immediately the British infantry left the trench, small-arms fire began from the German lines.
At 7:30 a.m., the British guns lifted to the second objective, the mortars ceased fire and the infantry rose, each battalion in four lines of companies, fifty paces apart on 400 yd fronts. German machine-gun fire increased from La Boisselle, Ovillers and the second trench as the troops moved forward over ground devoid of cover. When the first wave was 80 yd short of the German front line, German small-arms fire increased in intensity and artillery began to barrage no man’s land and the British front trenches. The 8th Division troops who had not been hit began to run, the ground being un-cratered and bunched up, casualties increased rapidly, the increased speed of movement making no difference.
Few in the first wave reached the German wire and the troops in the salient up to the third trench were cut off. The Germans began systematically to overrun the area and the survivors eventually retreated to shell-holes near the German front trench. Firing died down and after the 8th Division ceased attempts to reinforce the parties in the German front line, the Germans watched British stretcher-bearers collect wounded but there were still many men lying in no man’s land as dark fell and many could be heard crying out in the night. German soldiers recovered British wounded close to the German lines but when British troops rose up and tried to get away they were fired on. The dead were buried where they fell, the wounded were moved back to dressing stations.
Details of the costly defeat of most British attacks had not reached GHQ on the evening of 1 July and Haig ordered that the attack resume as soon as possible. The 12th (Eastern) Division was sent from reserve to relieve the 8th Division. The divisional relief took so long that the 12th (Eastern) Division was unable to resume the attack at dawn on 2 July. The enemy had defeated the 8th Division attack and restored their front line by the afternoon. Two enemy machine-guns had great effect in defeating its attacks and prevented the 8th Division from holding any of its lodgements. A lull came after the 8th Division attacks ended but the Germans worked on the defences for another attack, repairing wire and trenches, linking shell-hole positions by saps. By 4:00 p.m. German supply parties had evaded British shelling and brought up enough hand-grenades, ammunition and rations to resist another attack.
When the defenders concentrated on the 8th Division battalions the 70th Brigade got into the German positions but there the advance broke down. Once the attacks on the flanks had been destroyed, German machine-gunners resumed fire against the remnants of the 70th Brigade and prevented other battalions from crossing no man’s land. Messages sent from the front line to get the barrage brought back never arrived and of 2,720 men in the 70th Brigade attack, fewer than 600 were left the next day.
On 1 July 1916, the 8th Division had 5,121 casualties and losses in the battalions of the 23rd and 25th brigades, ranged from 53 percent to 92.5 percent.
More was to come………
Battles Of The Somme – Attack On Le Transloy – 23/10/1916. Ernest Vernon’s Last Stand
Le Transloy -October 1916. Moving a 60 pounder gun forward.
This was the final stage of the British Army offensive during the Battle of the Somme.The Battle began well with the capture of the first objective as well as advances along the Albert-Bapaume Road. However, there were no substantial gains or losses for either side. The 8th Division in reserve during first phase of the attack on the Le Transloy Ridge, took over positions in trenches on 21st October, in preparation for the renewal of the offensive towards Le Transloy on 23rd October.
25th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Lincolnshire Regiment and 2nd Rifle Brigade the lead battalions, with 2nd Royal Berkshire in support, also attacked Zenith Trench further left, the two brigades ‘meeting up’ on the far side. Only 2nd East Lancashire Regiment of 24th Infantry Brigade were in action, attacking Mild Trench on the far left to straighten out a salient already held by 2nd Northamptonshire Regiment.
The attack by 23rd Infantry Brigade was a success although being held up for a time by machine gun fire. 25th Infantry Brigade were less successful. 2nd Lincolnshire Regiment were met with heavy fire and were unable to reach the trenches. Attempts to progress the advance on the following days were hampered by heavy rain making the ground impassable and 8th Division were withdrawn on the evening of 30th October.
Private 14846 Ernest Vernon had two years army service including one year and five months in the field when he was wounded and admitted to 34 Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) on 25th October 1916 in the Attack on Le Transloy, a phase in the Battles of The Somme. His misfortune was to suffer a gunshot wound to his left thigh, left hand and right arm with a fateful compound fracture in his left femur. The conclusion of number 34 C.C.S. was that he was “dangerously ill”. He was 19 years old when he died from his wounds on 29 October 1916. So far away from home and his loved ones.
He was posthumously awarded the British, Victory and 1914-15 Star service medals
Ernest is remembered with honour at Grove Town Cemetery, Meaulte II.D.21
Meaulte is a village just south of Albert. In September 1916, the 34th and 2/2nd London Casualty Clearing Stations (CCS) were established at this point, known to the troops as Grove Town, to deal with casualties from the Somme battlefields. They were moved in April 1917 and, except for a few burials in August and September 1918, the cemetery was closed. Grove Town Cemetery contains 1,395 First World War burials.
CWGC headstone marking his grave at Grove Town Cemetery
Ernest Vernon is also remembered on the Nottinghamshire Great War Roll of Honour and on the Walkeringham – St Mary Magdalene Church War Memorial (Above)
Private Ernest Vernon will also be remembered at the Ossett War Memorial alongside his brothers and sisters in arms. We know them as The Ossett Fallen.
SOURCES
Researched by The Ossett Fallen Team 2022/23. Biography by Alan Howe (January 2023)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/31870/ernest-vernon/
