1915 Star Trio Shropshire Light Infantry Delville Wood, Somme Casualty

1915 Star Trio correctly named to 17303 William Ernest Harding killed in action 24th August 1916 at Delville Wood on the Somme.

Harding served with the 5th Battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. Based on the known enlistment dates of soldiers and the regimental numbering system Harding enlisted in late 1914 and landed in France on 9th June 1915. He appears on a casualty list (wounded) for the 5th battalion, published in the Times on 2nd September 1915.  Four of the other men on that casualty list were admitted to the 18th General Hospital at Camiers on August 10th 1915, I can find no trace of Harding or the others in any extant medical records but it’s a safe assumption that he was wounded around that time when the battalion was in the Ypres area, the unit war diary notes a steady stream of casualties through August and September.

Harding doesn’t appear on the roll included in the unit war diary for October 1915, his wounds took him away and it’s unclear when he re-joined the battalion. It is certain that he was with the battalion on 24th August at Delville Wood when they part in an attack as part of 42nd Brigade with Beer Trench as their objective.  The unit war diary records that they occupied Beer Trench for a time but were forced to withdraw to the edge of the wood due to their right flank being unsupported. They list casualties as 11 officers and 194 other ranks of which Harding was one. The decision to withdraw was controversial and a copied memo from Brigade headquarters exists in the war diary asking for an explanation of various points. The reply is unfortunately not present. Whatever the rights or wrongs of the command decisions taken on the day William Ernest Harding aged 26 lost his life in the action. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

The medals themselves are in excellent condition and the ribbons have at some time been stitched into loops for display. Copies of the medal rolls, medal index card, the times casualty list and war diary entries are included as pictured.

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