Location 1 – Sheffield Memorial Park and Serre

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Directions – From Arras pick up the D919 to the south of the city and proceed through the villages of Ayette, Bucquoy and Puisieux. Serre is reached a few minutes further on. Pass through the hamlet and a few minutes later take a right turn at the four CWGC green signs to "Luke Copse British Cemetery" etc. There is a track that runs alongside the farm. The park and associated battlefield cemeteries are passed within a few hundred yards.

Practical Information – The track up to the Park is either very rough when dry or very muddy when wet – unless you have a 4x4, drive slowly and carefully. There is an area to turn and park in front of the tree line where there are a number of memorials. The Park is usually not busy so crowds are not a problem.

Historical Notes – Serre is inextricably linked with the infamous "Pals" battalions raised by Kitchener in the wake of the outbreak of war that were a key feature of many of the "New Army" divisions that arrived in France during 1915 and 1916. The "Pals" phenomenon was a unique product of the patriotic fervour that gripped Great Britain in the opening months of the conflict in which men from the same town or city who worked together could volunteer to fight together. They formed battalions within established regiments but with new sobriquets hinting at their true origins such as the "Hull Tradesmen", "Sheffield City" and "Accrington Pals". The 31st Division that was scheduled to attack and capture the village of Serre and form the northern flank guard on 1st July was entirely composed of these men from the industrial north of England. It would be their first time in action and, for many of them, it would be their last.

The British front line trenches, the shallow scrape of some of which can still be seen, ran along the front of the copse to the left, whilst the German front line was sited in the middle distance just beyond the battlefield cemeteries in the open fields to the right. At 7:20am on the morning of 1st July 1916, men of the 31st Division crept out into no-man's land from these copses and lay prone waiting for the signal to attack. As they did so their protective bombardment lifted from the German frontline to their second and support lines. This gave the German infantry the signal they were waiting for and they raced out of their deep dugouts to face the attack that they knew must come. Tragically for the young infantrymen, by the time the whistles blew the Germans were ready and waiting.

The copse where you parked the car is Mark Copse, the others being named Matthew, Luke and John, and the assault formation here was the 11th East Lancs, the "Accrington Pals". To its left, where the line of copses now continues northwards, was the 12th Battalion Yorks & Lancs, more commonly known as the "Sheffield City" Battalion. As they moved forward to advance it soon became clear that the shrapnel shells of the British field artillery had not sufficiently broken up the wire entanglements in front of the German positions. Whilst some scattered groups did succeed in breaching the wire where it had been smashed, others desperately and vainly searched for a gap. With the force of the attack stalled they made easy targets for the German defenders of the 169th Regiment. Within half an hour 2,000 men of the division had been hit. Despite further doomed attempts to restart the attack throughout the morning and afternoon the battle here was, to all intents and purposes, over. Altogether the 31st Division suffered 4,500 casualties – over half of the entire fighting strength of the division. The Accrington Pals and Sheffield City Battalions alone had suffered over 1,000 dead, wounded and missing. The tragedy of Serre and the collective outpouring of grief once War Office telegrams carrying the terrible news started arriving in northern homes, is a key feature of how the war is still remembered in the national consciousness.