209193 Gnr. William Henry Rouse British Army 242nd Brigade Royal Field Artillery from:Birmingham (d.16th June 1916) William Rouse was ‘learning electric motors’ at the age of 17, in 1911. He was at that time living with his parents and two siblings in Sheep Street (which made way for the Aston Uni Campus) – where William Hy Senior was caretaker at a working men’s residence. William joined a territorial army unit called the 3rd South Midland Brigade Royal Field Artillery, in November 1915. This brigade was headquartered in Stony Lane Sparkbrook, Birmingham (where a memorial still remains) but had been mobilised at the outbreak of war in August 1914. William joined – or was possibly drafted – in November 1915 and soon after was at the front line in France. I have a massive amount of detail as to the movements of the 242nd Brigade – which the 3rd South Midland Brigade became in 1916 – but will not cover that here.
William died on 16th June 1916 along with the other six members of his gun crew, as a result of a direct hit from an enemy shell. The Brigade had moved there just three days earlier.
They were incredibly unlucky: this was two weeks before the commencement of the main Somme offensive and the sides were firing occasional ranging shots at each other. To suffer a direct hit was truly tragic and highly unusual. Artillery crews were some way behind the front line and direct hits were rare.
The details of his death and the process of discovery are as follows:
William died on 16th June 1916, in Sailly-au-bois near Hébuterne in France. The Royal Field Artillery 242nd Brigade (he was in C battery) was based there from 13th June. It was something of a moonscape - very close to the front lines. We know from diaries that (a) it was said at times that there were 'more trenches than men to fill them' and (b) the field guns were unusually exposed.
Three days after the unit arrived in Sailly (near Hébuterne, where he is buried) and "a shell landed in one of the gun pits of C Battery, killing seven members of the detachment, Gunner T F Eccleston being awarded the Military Cross for action which he took in connection with the tragedy". How do we know this is how William died? It has been a case of piecing together the available information - and here's how I got to the answer:
1. Records confirm that William was with the 242nd Brigade, C Battery, of the RFA.
2. Records conform that he died on 16th June 1916
3. Records indicate that the unit moved to Sailly-Hébuterne on 13th June 1916 - making it likely that William died at this location
4. By luck I discovered that there is a cemetery at Hébuterne - and that William is buried there
5. I noticed that several others in the same Brigade died on the same day - yet this was 2 weeks before the main Somme offensive
6. The number and ranks of these fatalities indicated that it could have been an entire gun crew
7. The likely reason for an entire gun crew being killed simultaneously is that they were unlucky to receive a direct hit from an enemy shell
8. I discovered a book "Before the Echoes Die Away" published in 1980. It charts the history of the regiment - and the quote* above is taken from that book.
Without doubt it can be concluded that the names listed at the cemetery are the same men referred to in respect of this unfortunate incident reported in the book (which is based on records held in the National Archive). William Henry Rouse was one of these men. (Note that whilst the book refers to seven fatalities, only six RFA men buried in Hébuterne are shown as having died that day. The seventh was buried at another cemetery.
Those that died on 16th June 1916 and buried at Hébuterne were (sic):
- Sjt Leonard Wilson
- Bdr Edwin Henry Prince
- Gnr TW Holloway
- Gnr Watkin William Henry Hughes
- Gnr George Davis
- and Gnr W Rouse
Whilst this was 2 weeks prior to the main Albert (Somme) offensive, it is known that both sides were peppering the other with artillery fire. And whilst a direct hit was rare, it did happen. So William Rouse died in action, by his gun, that emplacement having taken a direct hit from an enemy shell.
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