2nd Lieutenant Robert Main Graham
10TH DUKE OF WELLINGTON’S (WEST RIDING REGIMENT)
ROBERT GRAHAM WAS THE SON of a Glasgow doctor, born in 1891 in Pollokshields near Govan, but he had since moved out to near the football ground at Hampden Park, which at the time was the largest stadium in the world. Educated at Albert Road Academy and Glasgow University, by the outbreak of war Robert was working as a chartered accountant. He joined the Glasgow University OTC in June 1915 and received a commission a few weeks later. Joining the 10th Battalion of the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment), by the beginning of October 1916 Robert found himself to the south of Le Sars, which sat north of High Wood and on the approach to Bapaume astride the main road from Albert. Here the Yorkshire battalion was tasked with edging forward towards Le Sars ahead of them, to help bring Rawlinson’s line very close to Bapaume, a fair-sized town behind the German lines with good rail links where the enemy had established some of their artillery batteries. The weather was miserable at this juncture and planning was difficult on the Somme because the battlefield had become confused; the enemy had forward posts in front of their main lines, and troop dispositions were baffling to those with responsibility for orchestrating the campaign.
At dawn on 4th October the West Riding Battalion sent several parties on a north-easterly path towards Le Sars with both with rifles and bombs. The lines they advanced along were rough saps, no deeper than 3ft. As they passed through, the enemy suddenly opened a heavy machine-gun barrage on these exposed positions from a nearby trench and also began lobbing bombs towards members of Robert’s battalion. The men were forced to retreat again, one group having only made it 10 yards before it was almost entirely wiped out by German fire.
Peeking at the trench that was the source of this resistance through periscopes and binoculars, it was apparent to Robert and the other officers that the position was strongly held. It appeared to have been deepened and every 8–10 yards they spied German sentries manning niches cut into the walls. At the main road there seemed to be a great deal of tangled barbed wire. Ideally, both the wire and the trench needed to be attended to by the artillery before any further attack was made. To cap it all, it was thought that ‘undoubtedly’ beyond this there was a machine gun covering the approach to Le Sars in the path of their advance and two snipers were also thought to be occupying a well-placed house.
This assessment was made at noon but, nevertheless, just a few hours later, Robert’s battalion was ordered to go forward again and attack the problematic trench in front of them, taking on all the obstacles that they had reviewed. The assault was launched at 6:03pm in three waves, spaced out at intervals of 80 yards. Robert went forward in charge of the left flank. The Yorkshire battalion was protected by an artillery barrage, but as it lifted to allow them to advance, they found that the wet, soggy ground sucked them down and slowed their progress dramatically.
Robert and the men made ambling, easy targets for German machine gunners, who enfiladed their ranks as they stumbled on, causing heavy casualties. Only a few men managed to reach their objective and their number was so small that they were compelled to retire almost immediately. It was an outcome that would have been obvious to the officers that had reconnoitred the position earlier in the day. The 10th Duke of Wellington’s had been given an impossible and quite futile task and suffered expensive casualties in the case of their officers. Six of the eight who took part were gone from their strength, including Robert Graham. The 25 year old had been trying to see his men through uncut barbed wire towards their objective when the enemy turned bombs and machine guns on them. ‘Your son was a splendid officer; steady, cool and brave,’ wrote one of his comrades. As the battalion retreated, 25-year-old 2nd Lieutenant Graham was left on the battlefield. His body, if recovered, was never identified and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Pier & Face 6a/6b.