Alan George's Story.
Alan was the second eldest son of Gilbert and Helena Hammersley of Church Road, Alsager. By the time of the 1911 census Helena had already been widowed. Gilbert having died on 28 September 1909, six months before their youngest daughter Vera was born. The census shows the couple had seven children, though two had sadly died in infancy. Gilbert had run a successful manufacturing business in Longport which continued to support the family after his death. In 1911 Helena was raising five children. Eric (16), Alan George (15), Leslie (11), Doris (9) and Vera (10 months), with the help of two servants.
Alan enlisted in September 1914 as a private in the 1/5th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment. He landed in France on 3 March 1915 and was soon promoted to Lance Corporal. By August 1915 he had gained a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the same battalion.
During the Battle of Loos in October 1915, he was wounded when the battalion suffered severe casualties attacking the Hohenzollern Redoubt. The Nantwich Guardian reported that Alan wrote a cheerful letter home from hospital in France, reassuring his family that he had received only a slight wound to the arm and was recovering well.
By March 1917 the battalion was serving in the northern Somme sector near the village of Bucquoy. On the night of 13–14 March they were ordered to attack German positions in front of the village.
The battalion war diary recorded the plan of attack:
‘A’ Company would attack on the right with a frontage of 230 yards.
‘C’ Company would advance in the centre with 240 yards frontage.
‘D’ Company would attack on the left with a frontage of 230 yards, also forming a strong point to cover the left flank at F.26.a.20.25.
Two platoons from ‘B’ Company were detailed to hold and consolidate the communication trench between Rettemoy Trench and Bucquoy Trench, while also establishing a bombing post and barrier.
‘A’, ‘C’, and ‘D’ Companies, together with one platoon from ‘B’ Company, were to advance behind a British artillery barrage in two waves of four lines. Another platoon from ‘B’ Company was tasked with moving along the communication trench to establish posts as the advance progressed.
The barrage opened precisely at 1.00am, and the battalion moved forward, closing to within around 20 yards of the German wire. At 1.04am the Germans responded with a barrage of their own, though most of the attacking troops had already passed through the danger area. They were then met with intense machine-gun fire from both flanks and from the German second line.
At 1.45am, the first report reached battalion headquarters. It stated that ‘C’ Company had been unable to enter the German trench because the wire remained uncut. Many men had fallen there, including the company commander Captain Wedgwood and Second Lieutenant Hammersley, who were killed on the German wire while leading their men forward.
View from the Shrine Cemetery, in the distance Biez Wood.
The Nantwich Guardian reported shortly afterwards that Alan, who had initially been listed as wounded and missing, had in fact been killed while gallantly leading his men into action.
View from the Shrine Cemetery, in the distance Biez Wood.
The Nantwich Guardian reported shortly afterwards that Alan, who had initially been listed as wounded and missing, had in fact been killed while gallantly leading his men into action.
Alan is buried at Shrine Cemetery, Bucquoy. The view from the cemetery looks out towards Bois des Biez, across the same open ground that Alan and his company were crossing in the early hours of that March morning in 1917.
