Christopher Young. 14778, Pte. 7th. Bn. King’s Own RLR, wounded Dardanelles 1915, KIA 21st July 1916, Bazentin-le-Petit Wood, France.

Christopher was from "Overigge" a local farm, now called "Overidge". The farmer, in prewar days, was Anthony Young. Christopher is reported to have joined the army by November 1914.

Overridge.

The Parish Magazine of October 1915 reports, "Everyone has been glad to see Christopher Young of Overridge Farm looking so well after his wound. He was hit in the left shoulder, and the bullet penetrated downwards almost to his lung, but was successfully extracted, and is now his prized possession. He was moved from the Dardanelles to the hospital in Malta, thence to Bristol, and now home for a few days leave." The King's Own 6th Bn. fought at Gallipoli.

In the summer of 1916 7th King's Own Royal Lancasters were heavily involved in the Somme battles. They formed part of the 56th Brigade, 19th (Western) Division .

"Christopher was confirmed at the front on 20th June by Bishop Gwinne, (Bishop L. H. Gwynne, Deputy Chaplain General) because, to use his own words, "you never know if you will come back.""

Bishop Gwynne, whose duties included assigning Padres to their units.

He wrote to the Vicar of Cartmel shortly before his death, "Although we have no chance of getting to Church I did not forget to read the Bible which I always carry about with me, and I am trusting to God to protect me through this terrible war.....I often think about the kindness shown towards me by the people of Cartmel when I was home from hospital.

On 30th June the 7th (Service) Battalion, King's Own moved from the pleasant surroundings of Henencourt Wood and at 7.30am took up support positions on the Tara-Usna Line for the Ovillers attack. On 3rd July they took over the line at La Boiselle and at 8.30am on 4th July, with Stokes mortar and machine gun support the 7th Bn led 56th Brigade's attack which cleared La Boisselle, apart from a few ruins, by 2.30pm, an advance of about 300yds. They were relieved and retired to the Tara-Usna line on the 5th.

The Battalion then moved up to the support line on the 6th and attacked at 8.15am, after a 15min delay, on the 7th July 1916. Together with the 9th Welsh, the King's Own advanced following a barrage, to get close to the objective, 300yds away, before the barrage lifted. The bombardment was successful, but through a timing error, the infantry walked into it with great loss and confusion. They quickly reorganised and attacked again at 9.15am, with the addition of the 6th Royal Wilts. The enemy trenches, running SW and then W from Bailiff Wood and another running toward the NE end of La Boisselle, were taken along with 400 prisoners. The cost to the King's Own was 150 casualties.

The Battalion was relieved and went to Albert on the 8th July and Henencourt Wood on the 9th.

The South-west corner of Bazentin-le-Petit Wood, July 1997

Wednesday 19th July was a cloudy 70° F when the King's Own moved, at one hour's notice, to support trenches at the SW edge of Bazentin-le-Petit Wood. They were led to the front line in error and had to return to the support trenches. The episode cost forty-seven casualties. The next day was spent burying the dead and cleaning out dug-outs. Two hundred men were given the task of digging a new jumping-off trench for the next attack. One of the officers in charge was killed while marking out the line and enfilade fire prevented the work being completed. Daybreak saw work resume but 2nd-Lt. Blackie was wounded. The following night, under the orders of the Officer Commanding 7/Loyal North Lancs., the operation continued. Three men were killed, nine wounded and one missing. One was Christopher, shot dead by a sniper.

Two days later (23/7/1916) the Battalion moved to Mametz Wood and by the "25th Bazentin-le-Petit Wood had become carpeted with corpses." (“The Battle of the Somme. A Topographical History.” Gerald Gliddon.. Alan Sutton. 1987).

On the night of 30th-31st July, at Bazentin-le-Petit, James Miller of the 7th King's Own won the Victoria Cross. After being mortally wounded he delivered a very important message, on returning with the answer he dropped dead at the recipient's feet.

Christopher Young has no known grave and is commemorated high up on Pier & Face 12B of the Thiepval Memorial. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and inaugurated by the Prince of Wales in 1932, it carries the names of 73,357 missing of the Somme, who fell between the arrival of the British in 1915 and the German retirement in 1917.