The bloodiest battle in Britain's history

Fathers and sons from The South Lancashire Regiment were dying in the killing fields of northern France.

They fought at The Battle of the Somme - the bloodiest battle in Britain's history.

The attack was hailed as the great advance' - the day when the volunteers of Lord Kitchener's new army would finally tip the balance of the First World War against Germany and The Kaiser.

But for the regiment, which was mostly composed of soldiers from Warrington and Leigh, and which lost 5,550 men in the war, it brought colossal sacrifice'.THE regiment was spared the horrors of the first day on July 1, 1916, when almost 20,000 British soldiers were killed.

The 2nd battalion attacked at 6am on July 3 - but were shattered.

The regimental history records: "It is difficult to piece together an accurate story of events but the attacking companies were subjected to terrific machine gun fire and pinpoint shelling and forced to retreat."

One company, who would have started with around 200 men, could only muster one officer, one sergeant and eight men at evening roll call.

The 7th battalion was shelled for 72 hours as it tried to make its way to the front to attack on July 4, soldiers forcing their way through trenches crowded with the wounded from earlier assaults.

JH Pye Jones, the son of the vicar of Sankey, JR Jones, was killed, and Pvt Robert Riley, from Dale Street, lost a finger and wrote to tell his wife he had never witnessed such terrible fighting in his life'.

As the weeks wore on, the casualty lists mounted but the front line barely moved.

Warrington Library holds volumes of obituaries and other war news painstakingly compiled over 10 years by Latchford man David Forrest.

The August and September months are thick with death notices.

"Pvt R Gamble, from Dundonald Avenue in Stockton Heath, died of blood poisoning caused by his wounds.

Pvt Frank Chandler from Orford Lane was killed by a shell, but while wounded, tried to carry an injured chum' to safety.

Pvt George Smith, a 26-year-old Rylands employee from Scott Street, off Battersby Lane, was shot in the chest while repairing trenches"

His company Sgt Major wrote to his wife: "A sniper spotted us and your husband was the victim of this dangerous enemy.

"We did all in our power to comfort and soothe him but he died almost immediately. He was a good soldier, respected by all, and now he lives in a better world."

The mental stress of the battle is also glimpsed in letters saying men are suffering shell shock', or that they have broken down in health'.

Most letters home stress the dead did not suffer. But many soldiers must have endured great terror and agony.

A bloodstained letter found on a corpse was the only means of identifying Lance Sgt Thomas Ratcliffe from School Brow after he went missing on July 24.

The main offensive waned but the regiment was involved in renewed attacks in early September.

The 2nd and 3rd battalions assaulted the fortress village of Thiepval and the regimental history records another bitter failure.

"In spite of the elaborate preparations and the weight of the opening barrage, the waves of assaulting infantry were met by a murderous storm of machine gun fire as they left their trenches, with the result that none of the attacking troops were able to reach their objectives and the attack failed with very heavy casualties."

sbailey@guardiangrp.co.uk