They had been engaged in the heaviest fighting on the Somme since September 15, practically without a break, and many had paid the heaviest price – within five days the 9th Battalion had lost four officers and 44 men were dead, 27 were missing and nine officers and 219 men were wounded. This meant that 44 per cent of the battalion’s strength had been wiped out.
Even the young commanding officer, Col Bradford, 24, had been wounded when he was struck by shrapnel. It was a nasty wound, but he stayed with his men rather than seek treatment, meaning that he took many months to heal.
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Brigadier-General Roland Bradford.
A day before the assault on October 1, the British heavy guns began a bombardment of the German trenches. The Germans returned fire.
Ninety minutes before the Durhams were due to go over the top disaster befell the 6th Battalion. Its commanding officer, Major GE Wilkinson, was struck by shellfire and had to retreat to a casualty station, leaving it leaderless.
SEE MORE: NORTHERN PERSPECTIVES VIEW OF THE WITTON PARK STATUE ERECTED IN 2016 TO COMMEMORATE BRADFORD AND HIS BROTHERS
Into the breach stepped Col Bradford who swiftly and decisively led the two battalions into battle.
For 24 hours, “bomb fighting of a severe nature raged around” the DLI. Despite the heavy shelling they made it into the first German trenches. They saw off the enemy counter-attack and, by sending out patrols probed deep into the German defences – a maze of trenches known as ‘The Tangle’.
The British troops on either side of the Durhams appear not to have been so well marshalled and had not made such good progress, so after two days of constant fighting the battalions dug in and consolidated their gains, even as shells rained down on them.
In his report back to the 9th Battalion headquarters Col Bradford spoke of how the men had “fought conspicuously well and with great gallantry”. He wrote: “In all, we had 70 officers and men killed and 400 wounded…
“The men are all happy and fit and eager to meet the accursed Germans.”
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Carwood House in Witton Park, where the Bradford brothers spent their early years. The house still stands
Col Bradford was one of four fighting brothers, all born in Witton Park, near Bishop Auckland, where their tyrannical father was a colliery manager. When Roland was two the family moved to a farmhouse at Morton Palms, on the eastern edge of Darlington, and four years later into a large Victorian house in Milbank Road in the West End of town. This was the house Roland called home.
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Milbanke House, Milbank Road, Darlingotn, home of the Bradford brothers.
![The fighting Bradfords: the four brothers in the garden of their home at Milbank Road, Darlington, in 1914. From left: Roland Boys Bradford: awarded the Victoria Cross and the Military Cross; he became, at 25, the youngest brigadier‑general in the British Army and was killed at Cambrai in 1917; George Nicholson Bradford: Royal Navy lieutenant‑commander whose leadership in the Zeebrugge raid on St George’s Day 1918 earned him a posthumous Victoria Cross; James Barker Bradford: An officer in the DLI awarded the Military Cross for his actions on the Somme, before dying of wounds after a week‑long battle; Sir Thomas Andrews Bradford: The eldest and only surviving brother, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and twice Mentioned in Despatches, later becoming a knight and holding public offices in County Durham]()
The fighting Bradfords: the four brothers in the garden of their home at Milbank Road, Darlington, in 1914. From left: Roland Boys Bradford: awarded the Victoria Cross and the Military Cross; he became, at 25, the youngest brigadier‑general in the British Army and was killed at Cambrai in 1917; George Nicholson Bradford: Royal Navy lieutenant‑commander whose leadership in the Zeebrugge raid on St George’s Day 1918 earned him a posthumous Victoria Cross; James Barker Bradford: An officer in the DLI awarded the Military Cross for his actions on the Somme, before dying of wounds after a week‑long battle; Sir Thomas Andrews Bradford: The eldest and only surviving brother, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and twice Mentioned in Despatches, later becoming a knight and holding public offices in County Durham
On October 3, after nearly 20 days fighting on the frontline near Eaucourt L’Abbaye, what was left of the battalions was stood down. The men moved back to a training camp, where it rained heavily on their tents.
Col Bradford barely rested. He was designing, making and erecting a large wooden cross in memory of his fallen men. He was badgering those higher up the command chain to send his men a weekly parcel of treats – “of, say, polonies, cakes, kippers, condensed milk and a few socks”, he wrote. He was organising a battalion band.
As many of his men had Durham musical backgrounds he had campaigned for those at home in the county to send out spare instruments, and arranged shows with the new band supporting his theatrical group. He was doing anything that could make life better for his troops.
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Lt Col Roland Bradford of DLI awarded VC for bravery on October 1, 1916;.
Plus, he was planning their next attack.
Because of their success the DLI was tasked with capturing the Butte de Warlencourt – a prehistoric burial mound, 50ft high, that stood out like a sore thumb in the flatlands around the Somme.
It still does, beside the tree-lined D929 that runs dead straight through the flat fields on the northern bank of the river.
Its past gives it a presence, and it grabs the eye of passers-by as it looms over the landscape in much the same way that Roseberry Topping stares down on the Tees Valley.
The Germans were entrenched on top of it; the fields approaching it had been churned into a porridgey quagmire, and Col Bradford wondered whether the cost of capturing it would ever be worth it – it was so exposed that it attracted enemy fire, and it was such an obvious target that it would have been difficult for the British to hold.
He later wrote that the Butte – which is French for ‘mound’ – was “of doubtful value” and “of little use”.
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The Butte de Warlencourt, looming large over the flat fields of the Somme
“The Butte de Warlencourt had become an obsession,” he said. “Everybody wanted it. It loomed large in the minds of the soldiers in the forward area and they attributed many of their misfortunes to it. Newspaper correspondents talked about “that miniature Gibraltar”.
“It seems that the attack was one of those tempting and, unfortunately, frequent local operations which are so costly and which are rarely worthwhile.”
And it was the Durhams that would pay the cost.
As well as Bradford’s 9DLI on the left, the 8DLI were on the right and the 6DLI – recruited mainly from the Bishop Auckland area and rejoicing in the nickname of the ‘black buttoned bastards’ – were down the centre, like a football formation.
But it was so wet that their match was postponed for a fortnight as day after day it came down like stair-rods. The opening of November was a little drier, but a heavy shower before kick-off filled the trenches and ensured the field of play was as bad as any infantry ever faced.
“The muddy ground, torn by shellfire and churned into deep porridge by heavy rain, was from knee to thigh deep,” wrote Aycliffe historian Harry Moses in his book, The Fighting Bradfords.
Zero hour was 9.10am on November 5.
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Attacking the Butte de Warlencourt, drawn by Capt Robert Mauchley of the DLI
“The officers’ whistles sounded the advance,” wrote Lance Corporal Harry Cruddas of 6DLI. “Immediately the first wave mounted the trench, they were met by a terrific and annihilating fire and crumpled up like snow in summer.”
Even though they had to advance just 300 yards to the Butte, 6DLI could not make any headway. 8DLI fared a little better, but when they got within 30 yards of the mound, under heavy fire from the Germans in front, they were suddenly struck by British artillery from behind and Australian artillery from the side.
Those who were not killed outright fell from their wounds and drowned in the mud.
Perhaps because the other battalions took all the fire, 9DLI, led by Lt Col Bradford, made it out of their Maxwell Trench, across No Man’s Land and up to the top of the Butte within an hour.
But the Butte was a honeycomb of trenches and the enemy was ensconced as tightly as a nest of ants beneath a heavy stone in workings that had first been dug out during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
Lt Col Bradford wrote: “Over 100 German soldiers were lurking down in the dark warren of dugouts and tunnels beneath and around the Butte. So began a murderous game played out with bomb and bayonet, with little or no quarter on either side.”
Plus, reinforcements were able to reach the Germans.
They counter attacked at noon. 9DLI held on.
They counter attacked at 3pm, knocking 9DLI back – but still the Durhams held the Butte.
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The memorial to the DLI on top of the Butte de Warlencourt
“About 6pm the Germans made a determined counter attack preceded by a terrific bombardment,” wrote Lt Col Bradford. “A tough struggle ensued. But our men showed the traditional superiority of the British in hand-to-hand fighting, succeeding in driving out the enemy.
“The 9th DLI was now getting weak, but it was hoped that the Bosche had now made his last counter attack for that day.”
He hadn’t. Further reinforced, the enemy came again at 7.15pm, all but forcing the ‘Gateshead Gurkhas’ to relinquish their grip on the Butte.
“At about 11pm, battalions of the Prussians delivered a fresh counter attack,” wrote Lt Col Bradford. “They came in great force from our front and also worked round from both flanks. Our men were overwhelmed. Many died fighting, others were compelled to surrender. It was only a handful of men who found their way back to Maxwell Trench and they were completely exhausted by their great efforts and the strain of the fighting.”
Back where they had begun, the Durhams counted the cost. The 6th and the 8th battalions had lost, in one way or another, about 1,000 men between them. 9DLI’s figures are more precise and of a similar magnitude: 42 killed, 230 wounded, 157 missing.
It later transpired that in total, 273 Durham men had died.
And all for the Butte that was worth b*gger all.
The survivors stayed in the frontline trenches around the Butte until they were withdrawn for recuperation at a rest camp at Millencourt on November 16.
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The Victoria Cross
There, on November 25, they received an announcement: Roland was to receive the Victoria Cross for leading the two battalions into battle on October 1.
The men joyously chaired their young colonel around the camp – although he modestly said it was recognition for them all.
His citation told of how the 6DLI’s commander had gone down injured, causing the men to “become dangerously exposed at close quarters to the enemy. Raked by machine gun fire, the situation of the battalion became critical”.
But, said the citation, Col Bradford “asked permission to command the exposed battalion in addition to his own”. When permission was granted, “he at once proceeded to the foremost lines”.
“By his fearless conduct under fire of all description and his skilful leadership of the two battalions, regardless of all danger, he succeeded in rallying the attack, and captured and defended the objective.”
It concluded that by his “most conspicuous bravery and good leadership in attack, he saved the situation”. For that he was awarded the nation’s highest award for military gallantry.
He became the youngest recipient of it in the First World War and when his brother, George, was also awarded the VC for his naval bravery in 1918, they became the only brothers in the war to ascend such a pinnacle.
But Roland could barely be bothered to collect it. He stayed on the Somme with his men that Christmas and got them a special lunch of pork. He stayed with them through the winter, despite picking up another little wound, developing new tactics and leading them into battle. He stayed with them despite receiving the devastating news that on May 10, 1917, his brother James was killed fighting with 18DLI.
Perhaps that insight into mortality softened him a little because at the end of the month he gave in to pressure to return to England to receive his VC.
“I made a hard fight to get out of it, but the General said he could not disobey a direct order from the King,” he wrote.
So on June 2, at Hyde Park in London, George V was able to present this remarkable soldier with his richly deserved award.
It was a huge occasion – 350 military medals were presented, including 11 VCs, watched by 600 hospitalised soldiers and thousands more interested people.
“For the convenience of the onlookers a booklet had been prepared in which each recipient was numbered and the number was displayed as the heroes marched up to the platform,” said The Northern Echo. “Two VCs, Capt A White, Yorkshire Regiment, and Lt-Col Roland Bradford, Durham Light Infantry, were kept by the King chatting for some moments.
“During the ceremony, four or five aeroplanes passed over the enclosure. They were acting as aerial guard to the king.”
Immediately afterwards Roland dashed up to Darlington to see his mother, Amy, and his brother’s new widow. The town mayor wanted to make a song and dance of ‘wor’ war hero’s homecoming, but Roland refused such ‘pomp and ceremony’ and threatened to take the first train to London if anything was in the offing.
He didn’t stay long, and as he left his home in Milbank Road he must have known there was a good chance he would never see it again.
And so it was.
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Roland Bradford.
Back on the Western Front, in September 1917, he led 9DLI on what his commanding officer described as “an excellent raid full of originality and thought”. He had planned it so well that on November 4 he was promoted to Brigadier-General – at the age of 25 he remains the youngest member of the British Army to hold this exalted rank.
It didn’t last long. He led his men into the Battle of Cambrai, on the Somme, then fell back for rest and recuperation.
On the morning of November 30 he left his headquarters to visit his men. By early afternoon he hadn’t returned and a search party was sent out.
He was found lying dead: shrapnel from a stray shell had pierced his spine and flukishly killed him outright.
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The Northern Echo of December 5, 1917, reporting on the death of Brig-Gen Roland Bradford
He is buried in Hermies Cemetery, a small, quiet, immaculately tended graveyard from the Bapaume to Cambrai main road. By the gate in its low brick wall is a metal cupboard containing a visitors’ book. Many of the messages have been left by the people of Darlington and south Durham who have been to see his last resting place.
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Chris Lloyd with the grave of Brig Gen Roland Boys Bradford
When I last visited, one of the most recent messages read simply: “Our hero.”
![THE Germans finally retreated from the Butte de Warlencourt on February 24, 1917, allowing the British to clamber up its slopes. On its chalky peak, they erected three rudimentary wooden crosses – one for each of the three Durham battalions who have fought so valiantly, and at such cost, in November 1916 to capture it. In 1926, the crosses were taken down and brought home, in lieu of the men who had lost their lives. One went to St Andrew's Church in Bishop Auckland; another went to the Church of St Mary and St Cuthbert in Chester-le-Street, and the third was positioned in Durham Cathedral.In July 2016, to mark the Battle of the Somme, the three Butte crosses were brought together in the cathedral's DLI Chapel where they stand arm to arm just as they had once stood on top of the hillock overlooking the D929 were so many Durhams, fighting hand-to-hand, had died exactly 100 years ago.]()
THE Germans finally retreated from the Butte de Warlencourt on February 24, 1917, allowing the British to clamber up its slopes. On its chalky peak, they erected three rudimentary wooden crosses – one for each of the three Durham battalions who have fought so valiantly, and at such cost, in November 1916 to capture it. In 1926, the crosses were taken down and brought home, in lieu of the men who had lost their lives. One went to St Andrew’s Church in Bishop Auckland; another went to the Church of St Mary and St Cuthbert in Chester-le-Street, and the third was positioned in Durham Cathedral.In July 2016, to mark the Battle of the Somme, the three Butte crosses were brought together in the cathedral’s DLI Chapel where they stand arm to arm just as they had once stood on top of the hillock overlooking the D929 were so many Durhams, fighting hand-to-hand, had died exactly 100 years ago.
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Before his death in November 1917, Roland Bradford had ordered thousands of these Christmas cards for his men in the trenches
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The Bradford sculpture in the Witton Park memorial garden was made by sculptor Ray Lonsdale and unveiled in 2016. Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT
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The unveiling of the Bradford memorial garden at Witton Park Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT.
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Unveiling of the Bradford memorial stone in the new garden in Witton Park by the Lord-Lieutenant of Durham, Sue Snowdon, in 2016
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