A SEAFORD MAN CAUGHT UP IN 'THE BLOODIEST DAY'

inety years ago on July 1 Britain fought its most costly battle. In an effort to relieve the French at Verdun the Army had agreed a huge push along an 18-mile front centred on the Theipval area. Five days of intense bombardment was supposed to have destroyed the enemy lines, but the Germans had dug in deeply and at 7.30am when the Tommies 'went over the top' the enemy were ready with machine-guns to pick out the advancing lines of attacking troops. Thirteen British Divisions attacked in long uniform lines walking slowly among a hail of bullets. They sustained 60,000 casualties of whom 20,000 were killed in what was to become the bloodiest day in the history of the British army.

Despite the tragic loss of life on July 1 the attack continued for the rest of the month and small gains were made into the enemy lines. One of the soldiers to have lost his life during the Battle of the Somme was Seaford- born Second Lieutenant John Geoffrey Savage who was attached to the 109th Siege Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery. John was the son of Colonel F W Savage (1884-1920) who was the founder and first headmaster of Seaford College '“ then situated at Corsica Hall. John had attended the school himself and had joined the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) on the outbreak of the War. The RGA supplied heavy guns which were often mounted on railways. In the days prior to the attack John would have been busy working almost non-stop to blast the enemy positions.

He was killed in July 1916 aged just 28. His body was eventually taken to Dantzig Alley Commonwealth War Cemetery near Mametz, east of Albert. His name was added to Seaford War memorial and the War Memorial within St. Leonard's church. His name was also added to a brass plate which remembers the 24 old-boys from Seaford College who were killed in the Great War. This memorial is now on display in the chapel of the new Seaford College in Petworth.

While in France last year my wife and I paid a pilgrimage to Dantzig Alley Cemetery to find the grave of John Savage. It was a sunny day and the smart white gravestones were dotted with the red roses which are carefully tended by the cemetery gardeners. The cemetery is large with nearly 2,000 graves. It overlooks the rolling hills, woods and farmland of the French countryside, peaceful now but then known as Death Valley. Between the trees, the Golden Madonna on top of the church at Albert can just be seen. Albert was one of the main headquarters for the British troops and a place that would have been well known to Lieutenant Savage.

We checked the cemetery records and soon found John's grave. A nearby memorial remembers the many Welsh soldiers buried here and is inscribed with the lines'¦

Distance cannot make you forgotten

The children of those dear hills

Heart and heart remain together

Even when separated.

We stayed for a while; taking in the scenery and quietly walking up and down the ranks of graves and reading the names and memorials for the young men who lay there. We made a short entry in the cemetery register before we left.

Ninety years after the slaughter of the Somme we still remember our brave soldiers and particularly John Savage, a Seaford victim of the Battle.