Lieut Basil Withy

• Age: 30
• From: West Hartlepool, Durham
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• D.O.W Sunday 2nd July 1916
• Commemorated at: La Neuville Brit Cem Corbie
  Panel Ref: I.A.47

Basil Withy was born in West Hartlepool, on the 31st January 1886, the third son of Henry Withy, managing director of Furness Withy & Co. and his wife Mary Forrest Withy. His father was also a Justice of the Peace and at one time was Mayor of Hartlepool 

The 1891 Census finds Basil, aged 5 living with his parents and four siblings at Grange House, West Hartlepool. His father is a 38 year old ship builder born in Bristol, whilst his mother is a 35 year old born in Seaton Carew. His siblings, all born in West Hartlepool are listed as: Vivian aged 10, Henry D. aged 9, Ernest aged 6,  and Ethel M. aged 2. Also listed in the household are two servants; Mary A Waters 22 and Elizabeth Dawson 24.

At the time of the 1901 Census Basil is listed as a 15 year old pupil at Uppingham School. His parents and four siblings are living at Brantford House, Blakelock Road, West Hartlepool. His siblings listed in the property are; Henry D. aged 19 and an apprentice marine engineer, Ernest aged 16 and a shipbuilders junior clerk, Ethel M. aged 12 and Rachel M. aged 9. THere are also two servants declared in the household.   

His mother died on 11th September 1909. 

Basil is not found on the 1911 Census which finds his widowed father living with three of his children, Ernest 26 and employed as an agent for an India rubber manufacturer, Ethel Mary 22 and Rachel Madeline 19, at Brantford House, West Hartlepool. There are also three servants present in the household. His father declared that he had been married for 30 years and six of his seven children had survivied.

Basil was educated at Uppingham School, and at Strathclyde University. On completion of his education he served an apprenticeship with his father's shipping firm which qualified him as a naval architect. For many years before the war he was employed by Messrs. Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton as a naval architect in their Scientific Department. 

Basil enlisted at St George's Hall in Liverpool on the 01st September 1914 joining the 17th Battalion as Private No 15140 and posted to the 18th Battalion Battalion King’s Liverpool Regiment. He is described as being 5' 10 tall, weight 171lbs with a dark complexion, brown eyes and dark hair. His religion is stated as Church of England. His potential as an officer was duly noted and he was granted a commission the day after his enlistment and had been appointed Machine Gun officer before corssing to France on the 06^th November 1915 as part of the 18th Battalion advance party.

He was granted leave to the UK between 12th - 23rd May 1916. 

He took part in the fighting on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, 01^st July 1916, when his Battalion’s objectives were to capture the German front and support trenches and the German heavily fortified position known as the Glatz Redoubt to enable the capture of the village of Montauban. The trenches were quickly taken but the attack on the Glatz Redoubt was held up by a concealed machine gun position, rifle fire and grenades, with many casualties on both sides. Basil Withy was fatally wounded in the abdomen and left hand, in action with No 4 Company and admitted to 96 Field Ambulance. He died from the effects of his wounds in 21 Casualty Clearing Station (Corbie) the following day, 02nd July.

The events of the day when Basil received his wounds are detailed in the 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 days 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. 

In an interview given to the late Graham Maddocks (author of the book "Liverpool Pals), in 1984, former Private 16400 Private S  R Steele described how he found what he thought was the dead body of Lieutenant Withy some 30 minutes after the battle started, motionless, with no obvious wounds but with a broken glass vial in his hand and a metal box containing other complete ones by his side. He didn't appear to have any visible wounds on him, but Steele believed him to be dead. It would appear that Basil was not in fact dead at this time and had taken morphine, often carried by officers, to ease the pain from his wounds and had lapsed into unconsciousness. This is borne out by the fact he actually died from his wounds the following day, in No. 21 Casualty Clearing Station, in Corbie, some ten miles from Montauban.

His death was reported in the press:

Lieut Basil Withy

The youngest son of Mr Henry Withy, shipbuilder, West Hartlepool, is reported to have died on July 2nd of wounds received while in action with the Liverpool Regiment. After being educated at Uppingham and serving an apprenticeship with the Messrs. Furness, Withy and Co. Ltd., he was for some time with Messrs. Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton, where before the war he was engaged as a naval architect in the firm's scientific department. After the outbreak of war, he did excellent work with the Dumbarton Red Cross organisation, and later on enlisted as a private in the Liverpool Regiment, in which he was granted a commission. 

Basil now rests at La Neuville British Cemetery and buried beside him is a German soldier Heinrich Eghorn, of the 7th Kompanie 6. Bayeriche Reserve Infanterie-Regiment who died on the the 03rd July. It was this German Infantry Unit which was defending Montabaun on the 01st July 1916.

In April 1916, No.21 Casualty Clearing Station came to La Neuville and remained there throughout the 1916 Battles of the Somme, until March 1917. La Neuville British Cemetery was opened early in July 1916. Most of the burials date from this period, but a few graves were added during the fighting on the Somme in 1918. Neuville British Cemetery contains 866 Commonwealth burials of the First World War. There are also 27 German war graves. The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

He left estate valued at £5,049 15s 1d based on average earnings this is now worth about £1,370,000 as of 2016.

Basil is also commemorated on the Following Memorials:

Hall of Remembrance, Liverpool Town Hall, Panel 35

West Hartlepool War Memorial

All Saints Church, Stranton, Hartlepool 

Hartlepool Rugby Football Club

Strathclyde University now University of Glasgow   

His brother Vivian died in strange circumstances in 1922, his body was found in the yard of the Star and Garter Hotel, Middlesborough. The verdict was "Death from a fall from a window".

His father died on 30th May 1922 leaving estate valued at £86,315 19s. 10d (based on average earnings this is worth around £23,400,000 as of 2016). 

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