Soldier Record

I have in my possession two pencilled letters, one written on pages torn from a note book, written from the Front, during the battle of the Somme. They were sent to my Great Uncle Percy, in hospital, from his immediate commanding officers, congratulating him on his second award for gallantry.

My Great-Uncle, Percy Jennings, received two gallantry awards during his service in the First World War. When his daughter died a few years ago the souvenirs of his war service passed into my hands. These included his medals, among which were the Military Medal (MM) and the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM). There is also a Commendation for gallantry from his Divisional Commander. This is his story.

For a whole year, from June 1915 to June 1916 the First Battalion of the Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry, along with other units, occupied the village of Hébuterne. In December 1915 Percy was promoted to Lance Corporal. During one of a series of forward patrols into ‘no mans land’ on 15 May 1916, he was slightly injured and awarded the MM for his part in the action.

Later that year the Battalion was involved in the fighting on the Somme. At first light on the morning of 23rd July, 1916 there was one of those unfortunate incidents which were all too common in this kind of warfare. They had moved up to the front line four days earlier and his Company was ordered to take part in an attack which was part of an attempt to capture Pozière. The artillery bombardment which, as usual, preceded such an attack, went wrong and many shells fell short, causing casualties among the advancing troops. Because of this, Percy’s Company not only suffered casualties, but most of the men were unable to even reach the start line. Here Percy’s account differs from the official one! I have his copy of The First Buckinghamshire Battalion, 1914 - 1919 by Capt. P L Wright. The relevant page, which suggests that none of B Company took part in the attack, has been annotated by Percy. According to Percy (now a Corporal), his Section ‘pushed through our own shelling and got in on extreme left of Trench & held until relieved”. Only a much damaged sunken road separated them from the Germans, whose “several attempts (rather feeble) to dislodge us were easily repelled”. Eventually he managed to call up a Lewis gun, which “strengthened our position”. It was for his part in this action that he was awarded the DCM. The citation in the Supplement to the London Gazette (22 September) reads: ‘When all the officers of his company had become casualties he did fine work steadying the men and organising the defences against counter bombing attacks by the enemy’. He was also promoted to Sergeant. Perhaps more poignant than the official papers are these two hand written letters from his Captain and Lieutenant.

When he received the two officers’ letters, both dated 31 August, Percy was back in ‘Blighty’, probably being treated in Cardiff, having been wounded in a subsequent incident on 18 August, when the Battalion suffered heavy casualties. He lost the sight of one eye and I remember him with a glass eye! Later in life he became completely blind, ending his days in a St Dunstan’s Home.