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Pte. John Benjamin Spilling
British Army 15th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers
from:Salford
(d.2nd Jul 1916)
Ben Spilling was my Great-Grandfather, he was among the very first to volunteer in the Salford Pals, 15th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers. He is listed as dying on 02/07/1916 on day two of the battle of the Somme but it seems more likely that he was killed the day before and discovered the next (which is preferable to him taking a day to die) as he is listed as being in A Company which formed the right hand side of the first line of attack,with B in support whilst C Company formed the left hand side with D in support. To their left was the 9th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Ulster Division and to their right were the 16th Northumberland Fusiliers. The order was to march in a straight line,in an upright fashion with no firing,and no jinking,flanking or pepper-potting manoeuvres over 300 yards of uphill,smooth terrain towards defenses (held and improved by the German forces for almost 2 years) by Maj Gen Ryecroft, commanding the 32nd Division, who was heard to shout, "My God, all we'll find in Thiepval is the caretaker and his dog". The Battalion was withdrawn the next day having suffered 470 casualties from an attacking force of 642,the majority of them within the first 15 minutes.
My Great-Grandfather was just one man within this battle and in turn the battle at Thiepval was just one among many within the larger battle of the Somme.Some 432,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded,The French lost nearly 200,000 men and the Germans an estimated half a million. Ben is buried at Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension. Like most of the men he was a husband and a father, leaving behind my Great-Grandmother Elsie to raise 2 small boys.
