(Extract from Ray Westlake’s "Brittish Battalions on the Somme")

Ovillers la Boisselle is a village to the north-east of Albert just off to the left of the Albert/Bapaume Road. The village lay along a road at right angles to the Allied front line. It was protected by rising ground and enemy parapets hid it from British eyes. To the east was Mash Valley which was also in enemy hands and this complemented Sausage Valley which was on the La Boisselle side of the road. Mash Valley was very broad and the lines went across as they bent south-eastwards.

It was the 8th Division who were allocated Ovillers as their objective for 1 July and each of their three Brigades was to be used in the attack. Right from the start it was known that there would be no chance of success if the flanking Divisions did not make simultaneous progress with the 8th Division attackers. The 23rd Bde, on the right, was to attack up Mash Valley and gain the Albert/Pozieres road due south of Pozières. During the final bombardment just before 7.30am on 1 July, the attacking waves began to move forward into No Man’s Land which was exceptionally wide in places - up to 800 yards. They at once came under machine gun and rifle fire. At 7.30am when the barrage lifted, the first waves advanced and, despite the appalling fire and very exposed territory that they had to cross, they somehow made enough progress not only to reach the German front line but parties actually reached the second line as well. When the attackers got up close to the German line the German artillery and fire intensified and this resulted in the waves becoming mixed up. The 23rd Bde had had an appalling stretch of No Man’s Land to traverse with the German garrison at La Boisselle to the right and the fortified village of Ovillers in higher ground to the left. Despite the deadly flanking fire parties of the 2nd Middlesex and 2nd Devons passed through the German defences. They were caught by cross fire and after a time were forced to withdraw. Lt Col E T F Sandys, CO of the 2nd Middlesex (also of the 23 Bde 8 Div) had been concerned before the battle began about uncut German wire and the enemy trenches which were still occupied despite the heavy Allied barrage in the area of Mash Valley. His battalion had 750 yards of No Man’s Land to cross and they were cut down as he had predicted. The disaster so preyed on his mind that he shot himself in September and died a few days later.

(Extract from ‘When the Barrage lifts" by Gerald Glidden)

OVILLERS MILITARY CEMETERY

Stands impressively on the slope of the Ovillers spur in the old No Man’s Land. It is easily the largest cemetery in this area, having 3436 British and 120 French graves. The graves are mostly local from the fighting in this area and at least 2477 of the graves are unidentified. At 72.1% of the total, this is the second highest proportion on the Somme, a testimony to the ferocity of the fighting near here. One of the British graves is that of Captain John Lauder, son of Sir Harry Lauder. It is said that his father wrote the song "Keep right on to the end of the road" after hearing of his death.

(Extract from Middlebrook’s ‘The Somme Battlefields")

Entry for Sgt. Stone reads: Killed in action 1 July 1916 Age 19. Son of Mabel P Stone of 85 Standard Road Hounslow Middx and the late George Stone. Born in India.