Charles Saunders

A Second Lieutenant with the 15th Battalion , Charles died on 1st of July 1916 at the age of 28.

Charles was born at Lowestoft on 30 January 1888, a son of Benjamin and Maria Saunders. He was baptised at Saint Margaret’s Church, Lowestoft, on 30 March 1888. In 1891 they lived at 133 High Street, and this was still their home in 1901. By 1911 they were living at 28 Lyndhurst Road.

In 1911 Charles worked as a bank clerk, for Barclays Bank, at Beccles and lived at Hermon, Waveney Road, Beccles.

Charles married Alma Calver in 1915, this registered in the Wangford district. After Charles' death Alma lived in Beccles and then at Kessingland. She married Percy Stannard in 1925. 

Charles volunteered and enlisted in the Army. He joined the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, service number 23069. He was already a Lance Corporal when he arrived in France, on 17 July 1915, to join the 6th Battalion. Within months he had been promoted to Acting Sergeant. 

Charles was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the West Yorkshire Regiment on 28 November 1915. He was posted to the 13th (Reserve) Battalion. In 1916 he was posted to the 15th (1st Leeds) Battalion. He joined the Battalion, in France, on 19 June 1916 and was posted to D Company for duty. 

Charles was killed in action on 1 July 1916. The 15th Battalion’s War Diary gives the following details:

7.30 a.m. Battle of the Somme commenced.
The attack (at Serre) was launched in successive waves. Every wave was met by a very severe sweeping machine-gun fire. There had been an hour’s intense artillery bombardment of the enemy’s front lines and a ten minute intense ‘hurricane’ trench mortar bombardment but when the advance was made the enemy front line was thick with men. . . Large numbers of our men were casualties long before reaching the German wire. Some were reported to be over the front enemy trenches and in their first objective. Our casualties were 24 officers (15 killed) and 504 men (233 killed).

A soldier in the 15th Battalion, and survivor of the attack, Private A.V. Pearson, is quoted, in Martin Middlebrook’s book about the First Day of the Somme, as saying:

The name of Serre and the date of 1st July is engraved deep in our hearts, along with the faces of our 'Pals', a grand crowd of chaps. We were two years in the making and ten minutes in the destroying.