#330159 Corporal Lorimer Headley
1/9TH (GLASGOW) HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY
BORN IN AYR, LORIMER HEADLEY had been raised in Glasgow and was one of five brothers serving; four in the army and one in the Royal Navy. Educated at Whitehill Higher Grade School, he was bright, with an aptitude for modern languages and maths. After leaving, he had gone to work as an apprentice for the Royal Bank of Scotland at its St Rollox branch near Springburn. Lorimer had joined a Glasgow territorial battalion of the Highland Light Infantry in 1912 and was at the front by November 1914, shortly after his 19th birthday. The chaplain was especially fond of him, telling his parents that he was ‘a splendid soldier’, who ‘kept the men in his charge and many of his comrades bright by his own happy disposition’.
Although Lorimer was now becoming an experienced soldier, unfortunately the precision planning that had served so well on 14th July appeared to be disregarded and the 9th Highland Light Infantry was about to fall victim to what was to be one of the first of many costly attempts to conquer smaller-scale objectives on the Somme throughout the rest of the summer.
Stone of Remembrance amongst a sea of headstones at Delville Wood Cemetery. (Andrew Holmes)
Continuing in a north-easterly direction from Bazentin-le-Petit, where Luther Cordin had disappeared the day before, was High Wood. This isolated piece of woodland was to bleed the British Army of valuable manpower for weeks. At the onset of the battle it had been behind the German second-line system, on slightly raised ground; in such flat country it was precious. ‘From this vantage point the Germans could see any attempt by the Allies to approach.’ The enemy had taken full advantage by readying themselves for a siege. Thick with undergrowth, it was also full of young saplings, which were to be a hindrance to troops on the move.
While battle raged on 14th July, Lorimer’s battalion was ordered to move to Flatiron Copse to the right side of Mametz Wood. Led by pipes through sweltering heat, they passed motor ambulances waiting in Mametz. ‘Wild and exciting’ rumours abounded that the enemy line had been broken and that the cavalry was chasing the Kaiser’s men away. Wounded and captured Germans passed in the opposite direction, helped by their friends or carried on stretchers. The air shook with the concussion of shells and the men fell quiet as they filed by piles of corpses and dead horses. Wounded Indian cavalry passed them too, ‘slumped over their mounts’, having been sent up speculatively in the direction of the wood. One of them was in tears as he led his wounded animal and travelled on foot towards the rear. The situation was already confused. The Glasgow Highlanders had orders to support troops in the area, but do not appear to have ever received them. That night, the skyline was lit up by gun flashes and high-explosive shells continued to rain down.
At dawn on 15th July a thick ground mist completely obscured both High Wood and the village of Martinpuich to the left of it. At 5:30am orders were received that the Highlanders were to attack Switch Trench, an advance pushing almost due north. Lorimer Headley and his battalion readied themselves for their battle. The mist was clearing, there was no cover as the Glasgow Highlanders formed up to the west of High Wood. Machine-gun fire streamed out of it. It seemed that any attempt on their objective would be suicide unless neighbouring troops managed to secure the wood first, but protestations fell on deaf ears.
At 9am the Highland Light Infantry attacked and men began to drop before they had even advanced a few yards. Heavy shrapnel fire from High Wood and the trench that formed their objective cascaded on to them. The advancing line was annihilated and the few survivors attempted to rush forward in isolated groups. They became confused as to what direction they were supposed to be going in and veered towards High Wood itself. Men crawled along the ground trying to avoid enemy fire or hid in shell holes. The attack was quickly rendered void of all coherence, all leadership as officers fell and machine guns and artillery continued to play on them. The direction in which the Glaswegians were attacking even made it possible for a German battery to fire almost at the backs of them from near Martinpuich.
At most, Lorimer Headley and his fellow Highlanders only advanced about 150 yards before they were scythed down. A battalion was sent up to support them but suffered a similar fate.
Reinforcements strayed into High Wood too. Any movement on the gently sloping hill was hammered by enemy fire. Stragglers tried to get back to safety, or attempted frantically to dig in in the confusion, while British artillery was directed erroneously to shell British troops running across the battlefield. By early evening the surviving troops taking part in the attack had collected right back where they had started. The 9th Highland Light Infantry suffered the loss of twenty-one officers, almost every one, and some 400 men.
In the confusion of the day, to the west of High Wood the slope had become covered in dead Glaswegian volunteers and writhing, wounded men torn down by the enemy’s relentless fire. Lorimer Headley was reported missing in the aftermath and when he failed to appear in the ensuing weeks he was confirmed to have been killed ‘on or about’ 15th July. His body was later recovered from the battlefield and Lorimer was ultimately laid to rest at Delville Wood Cemetery, plot XXVIII.G.2.