#10531 Company Sergeant Major John Addison
11TH ROYAL SCOTS
THERE WAS ONLY SOME SEMBLANCE of success to weigh up against the disastrous attempts of 1st July and that was at the opposite end of the battlefield, where the British Army met the French just north of the River Somme. The 11th Royal Scots, formed of Edinburgh recruits, had been in reserve on 1st July when troops in this sector attacked up a slope towards the Germans above them. Montauban fell by lunchtime, the enemy ran and the British soldiers found themselves with a view over Caterpillar Valley. Montauban was the first German-held village to fall on the Somme and was a significant gain on what was otherwise a truly miserable day for Sir Douglas Haig and his forces. Here the preliminary barrage had successfully smashed the enemy wire entanglements to pave the way for the infantry and actually, had they not been reluctantly (in some cases) reined in, the men could have gone on further that day. Instead, though, they were told to consolidate their gains and get ready to move on in conjunction with more troops at some point later on.
In the aftermath of the seizure of ‘Monty-Bong’, as it was known by the men, the 11th Royal Scots were ordered up to relieve the victorious attackers. Among them was a 24-year-old company sergeant major named John Addison. Born on Easter Road, he had worked as an apprentice plumber in Edinburgh under his father until joining the army as a teenager in 1909. Aside from once being written up for not getting his men out of bed promptly enough and instead enjoying an unauthorised lie-in, John’s service, all of which had taken place at home until he left for the Western Front in 1915, was impeccable. On the outbreak of war he was routed as an experienced NCO to one of Kitchener’s New Army units, who were in dire need of such men. ‘This man is thoroughly steady and reliable,’ wrote one officer. ‘He has a good education and … is a total abstainer.’ As John was promoted steadily prior to the war, another report noted that he was ‘an exceptionally smart and intelligent man’.
John’s battalion entered Montauban before dawn on 3rd July and took up a position along the east side of the village. There were practically no trenches, and those that had been made had been destroyed by shellfire. The task of the 11th Royal Scots was to consolidate these meagre lines and establish strong points while under heavy German artillery fire. Montauban was a mass of rubble. Underneath them were the enemy’s deep dugouts, and they now proved a respite for the Scots every now and again as the men withdrew from the shells that plagued them as they worked. It had begun to rain heavily and John and his men worked soaked to the skin, their shallow trenches filling up with water and mud clinging to them. The only escape from this back-breaking, miserable work was a foray into Bernafay Wood for reconnaissance, which the German gunners responded to by attempting to wipe it off the face of the earth with their shells. Casualties mounted.
In the early hours of 4th July the position of the 11th Royal Scots was hit by ‘extremely intense’ shellfire, making work almost impossible. John’s consolidation work continued, though in many cases the trenches being dug were destroyed by enemy shells almost as soon as they were fashioned. Steady shelling continued throughout the day, with the British retaliation adding to the din as fierce as the barrage falling on John and his men. Before the end of the day, his life was claimed by one of the shells that fell among the brick dust and ruins. Although the troops at the southern end of the battlefield had smashed into the German front-line trench system, they had not managed to force through the other side. Continuing the battle would not be easy, for there were two more systems of defence in the way and the prospects for the grand offensive of 1916 looked bleak. John Addison left behind a widow, Lily Elizabeth. His body, if recovered, was never identified and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Pier & Face 6d/7d.