1914 trio, 1st Battalion Hampshire Regiment, Wounded in Action 1916, most likely Redan Ridge, Somme on the 1st July.

Description 1914 trio, 1st Battalion Hampshire Regiment, Wounded in Action 1916, most likely Redan Ridge, Somme on the 1st July. 1914 Star (copy bar) 3-4500Pte A. Cripps. 1/Hamps.R; British War and Victory medals, 3-4500 Pte A. Cripps. Hamps.R. 3-4500 Pte Albert Cripps landed in France on the 12th November 1914, his MIC confirms entitlement to the Bar on his 1914 Star, and that he was serving in the 1st Battalion Hampshire Regiment. The 1st Battalion was a Regular Army unit stationed in Colchester on the outbreak of war in August 1914. The battalion was assigned to the 11th Brigade, 4th Division. With the division, the battalion joined the British Expeditionary Force and was sent overseas to France in August 1914, landing at Le Havre on 23 August. The 1st Battalion saw its first combat against the German Army at Le Cateau. The battalion served on the Western Front for the rest of the war, participating in many battles in 1914 alone such as the First Battle of the Marne, the First Battle of the Aisne, and the Battle of Messines. In 1914, on Christmas Day, men of the 1st Battalion participated in the legendary Christmas Truce of 1914 where British and German soldiers fraternised in No man’s land. In 1915, the battalion took part in the Second Battle of Ypres, famous for its use of poison gas. In 1916 it fought at Albert and Le Transloy, which was part of the larger Somme offensive Battle 1st July 1916 (Somme) In the opening phases of the Somme the great attack of July 1st 1916 on a 25 mile front began. The fourth were facing stronger defenses than anywhere else. They were to attack north of Beaumont Hamel where two redoubts and a quadrilateral trench were particularly strong. It was hoped that the Brigade would reach Munich trench 1000 yards behind the front line where supporting the 10th and 11th would go through it. At 7.20am 10 minutes before zero hour a large mine as blown up under the German redoubt Hawthorn Ridge. This gave away the exact time of the attack. After the heavy guns stopped firing the Germans had ample time to man there positions after being in deep undamaged dugouts. The Hampshire (leaving there trenches at 7.40) followed the East Lancashire who had already been almost wiped out. Very few Hampshire made it to the wire a few bombers were reported to have gotten into the German line, but the majority were brought down at or short of the wire. The survivors could only seek the poor shelter of the shell holes which pitted No Mans Land here they had to lie for hours until darkness fell . This was the 1st Hampshire’s worst experience of the war it had cost them 11 officers and 310 men killed and missing, 15 officers and 250 men wounded. With the group there is a set of service papers for an Albert Cripps who was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire in in 1879, he enlisted on the 15th November 1897 and served through to 14th November 1909 in the Hampshire Regiment, which shows no medal entitlement for this period. Needs further research. Condition – NVF