Lives of the First World War

ERNEST CLAYTON – Research Notes Life Milestones b. Apr-Jun 1884 in Toxteth Park Parents: William and Martha Clayton m. Isabella Weatherburn JAMES Jul-Sep 1909 in Toxteth Park d. 21 Jan 1918 aged 34 on the Somme Wife living at 70 Vandyke St, Lodge Lane, Liverpool. War Service Enlisted 6th (Service) Btln South Lancashire Regiment Private No. 10903 6th battalion history: August 1914: battalion formed at Warrington as part of K1 and moved to Tidworth, under command of 38th Brigade in 13th (Western) Division. January 1915: moved to billets in Winchester before going next month to Blackdown. June 1915: sailed from Avonmouth. 7-31 July: landed at Cape Helles (Gallipoli) then moved to Mudros. Landed at Anzac Beach 4 August 1915. 20 December 1915 : evacuated from Gallipoli and went to Egypt via Mudros. February 1916 : moved to Mesopotamia. Family oral history confirms that Ernest fought at Gallipoli. At some time he transferred to the 2nd battalion (see CWGC record at death). 2nd battalion history: 26 October 1915: battalion transferred to 75th Brigade in 25th Division. In the third week of June 1916 this Division moved to the area behind the Somme front, in the area around Warloy. 21 June 1916: battalion transferred to 64th Brigade in 21st Division, fighting in the Battles of the Somme 1916: 1-13 July 1916: the Battle of Albert 14-17 July 1916: the Battle of Bazentin Ridge 15-22 September 1916: the Battle of Flers-Courcelette 25-28 September 1916: the Battle of Morval in which the Division captured Geudecourt 1-18 October 1916: the Battle of Le Transloy. The Germans then retreated to the Hindenburg Line. The 21st Division then moved to the Arras area for the start of the 1917 Arras offensive: 9-14 April 1917: the First Battle of the Scarpe 3-4 May 1917: the Third Battle of the Scarpe 3-16 May 1917: the flanking operations of the Battle of Bullecourt Then the Division fought in the Third Battles of Ypres: 26 September-3 October 1917: the Battle of Polygon Wood 4 October 1917: the Battle of Broodseinde 26 October – 10 November 1917: the Second Battle of Passchendaele 20 November – 30 December 1917: the Cambrai Operations The Division then moved back to the Somme. Ernest died before the Battle of St Quentin, which started the First Battles of the Somme 1918 on 21 March 1918. Family oral history confirms that Ernest fought on the Somme where he died on 21 January 1918. Ernest is buried in the Vaulx Australian Field Ambulance Cemetery, Pas de Calais (Grave ref. A9). The cemetery lies about 6km from the front line at the beginning of the Battle of St Quentin. The Vaulx Australian Field Ambulance Cemetery Location: Vaulx-Vraucourt is a village in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais, about 6.5 kilometres north-east of Bapaume. From Bapaume take the D956 in the direction of Douai. Continue for 3 kilometres then turn right onto the D10E towards Vaulx Vraucourt. Vaulx Australian Field Ambulance Cemetery is a further 2 kilometres along this road, set approximately 200 metres in a field on the right. History: Vaulx-Vraucourt was taken in the spring of 1917, lost (after severe fighting) in March 1918, and retaken in the following September. Vaulx Australian Field Ambulance Cemetery was begun in April 1917 and used until February 1918. The Germans were then buried in it, and one further Commonwealth burial was made in August. The cemetery contains 52 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, one of which is unidentified, and 61 German war graves. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Record for Ernest Clayton surname CLAYTON forename initials E age 34 date_of_death 21/01/1918 rank Private regiment South Lancashire Regiment unit ship squadron 2nd Bn. country France service number '10903' cemetery memorial VAULX AUSTRALIAN FIELD AMBULANCE CEMETERY grave reference A. 9. additional information SON OF THE LATE WILLIAM AND MARTHA CLAYTON; HUSBAND OF ISABELLA W. CLAYTON, OF 70, VANDYKE ST., LODGE LANE, LIVERPOOL. BORN AT LIVERPOOL. It is clear from these notes that Ernest served in some of the most horrific battles, and under some of the most atrocious conditions, of the Great War: in Gallipoli, the Somme, the area around Arras and Ypres and then back to the Somme where he died. Christopher Wells, family friend, February 2016

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