L/Cpl 24623 Herbert Leeson

• Age: 29
• From: Birkenhead, Cheshire
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Saturday 1st July 1916
• Commemorated at: Danzig Alley Cem, Mametz
  Panel Ref: IV.T.7

24623 L/Corporal Herbert LEESON, 18^th Battalion, KLR.

Herbert was born in Birkenhead about 1887.SDGW states he was born in Birkenhead, but the most likely birth record was in Liverpool to an unmarried mother. 

Prior to the war Herbert had been employed by Messrs Alfred Holt (Blue Funnel Line) at their Birkenhead branch

Herbert enlisted on the 05th January 1915 in Liverpool joining the 18th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 24623.

He was billeted in the hutted accommodation at Lord Derby’s estate at Knowsley Hall. On 30th April 1915 the 18th Battalion alongside the other three Pals battalions left Liverpool via Prescot Station for further training at Belton Park, Grantham. They remained here until September 1915 when they reached Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain. He arrived in France on 7^th November 1915.

Having been educated in France and being proficient in the language, he acted as an interpreter for his Battalion.

Herbert was killed in action during the attack at Montauban on the 01^st July 1916, he was 29 years of age. 

18^th Battalion Diary

At 6.30am the artillery commenced an intensive bombardment of the enemy’s trenches. Zero Hour – 7.30 am – the battalion commenced to leave their trenches and the attack commenced. The attack was pressed with great spirit and determination in spite of heavy shelling and machine gun enfilade fire which caused casualties amounting to 2/3rds of the strength of the Battalion in action. The whole system of German trenches including the Glatz Redoubt was captured without any deviation from the scheduled programme. Consolidated positions and made strong points for defence against possible counter attacks.

Graham Maddocks provides more detail concerning the events of the day:

As the first three waves began to move forward towards the German reserve line, known as Alt Trench and then on to the Glatz Redoubt itself, they suddenly came under enfilading fire from the left. This was from a machine gun which the Germans had sited at a strong point in Alt Trench. The gun itself was protected by a party of snipers and bombers, who, hidden in a rough hedge, were dug into a position in Alt Trench, at its junction with a communication trench known as Alt Alley. These bombers and snipers were themselves protected by rifle fire from another communication trench, Train Alley which snaked back up the high ground and into Montauban itself. The machine gun fire was devastating and it is certain that nearly of the Battalion’s casualties that day were caused by that one gun.  

Lieutenant Colonel Edward Henry Trotter wrote in the conclusion of his account of the day’s action:

I cannot speak to highly of the gallantry of the Officers and men. The men amply repaid the care and kindness of their Company Officers, who have always tried to lead and not to drive. As laid down in my first lecture to the Battalion when formed, in the words of Prince Kraft:

“Men follow their Officers not from fear, but from love of the Regiment where everything had always and at all times gone well with them”.   

Joe Devereux in his book A Singular Day on the Somme gives the Casualty Breakdown for the 18^th Battalion as Killed in Action 7 Officers and 165 men and of those who died in consequence of the wounds 3 Officers and 19 men a total of 194 out of a total loss for the four Liverpool Pals Battalions of 257.  

Herbert's death was reported in the Birkenhead News on 02^nd September 1916: 

Official news has been received of the death in action of Pte. Herbert Leeson, of the King's Liverpool Regt., which he joined in January 1915. Having made his home with Mr.and Mrs. Hughes, of 9 Briardale-road, for a number of years, he became very popular,and was highly esteemed in the town, being a member of St.Joseph's Roman Catholic Church,North-road. He was 29 years of age, and was employed by Messrs. Alfred Holt (Blue Funnel Line), Birkenhead branch. Pte. Leeson, having been educated in France, was the interpreter to the regiment, and all the boys went to him if they wanted to converse with the French people whom they came in contact with. His death will be a sad blow to all his chums and his many friends in the town. Pte.Leeson was killed in the great push that has been going on for the past two months, and in which his regiment has taken a noble part. 

[9 Briardale Road, Birkenhead referred to in the article was probably just his digs, it was the home of a married Welsh couple Robert Owen and Elizabeth Hughes]

Herbert now rests at Dantzig Alley British Cemetery, Mametz (Plot IV, Row T, Grave 7).

The village of Mametz was carried by the 7th Division on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, after very hard fighting at Dantzig Alley (a German trench) and other points. The cemetery was begun later in the same month and was used by field ambulances and fighting units until the following November. The ground was lost during the great German advance in March 1918 but regained in August, and a few graves were added to the cemetery in August and September 1918. At the Armistice, the cemetery consisted of 183 graves, now in Plot I, but it was then very greatly increased by graves (almost all of 1916) brought in from the battlefields north and east of Mametz and from certain smaller burial grounds.

Dantzig Alley British Cemetery now contains 2,053 burials and commemorations of the First World War. 518 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 17 casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials record the names of 71 casualties buried in other cemeteries, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

Herbert's Medal Card indicates his medals were returned.  

Herbert is commemorated on the war memorial of Alfred Holt and Company, Wharf Department which is in the custody of the Liverpool Scottish Museum.            

We currently have no further information on Herbert Leeson, if you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.