William Mossop
William Mossop. 6882. Corporal. 2nd. Regt. South African Infantry, KIA 12th April 1917, Fampoux, France, age 38yrs.
Corporal W. H. Mossop was the brother of Clement. William was married, his wife was Mrs. M. Mossop, Masons Farm Cottage, Graftly Green, Sandway, Kent. His officer wrote, "he was a very good and reliable soldier."
The Battle of Arras began on 9th April 1917 in a sleet storm. Canadian and Highland troops captured the whole of Vimy Ridge. The advance slowed and, as German resistance stiffened, casualties increased, in some of the most savage fighting of the whole war. The South African Infantry Brigade, which formed part of the 9th (Scottish) Division, commanded by Major-General H.T. Lukin attacked, with the 4th Division, north of the River Scarpe.
4th Division's 10th Infantry Brigade, comprising the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders and 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers, attacked from Fampoux towards the heavily defended Chemical Works at Roeux on the 11th April 1917, with disastrous results. By the end of the day 2nd Seaforths had ceased to exist, and the other units involved had been decimated
Fampoux Main Street, Summer 1997.
The next day, 12th April, after a miserable night in the open, the South African Brigade were given similar orders. Brigadier-General Maxwell, in command, was appalled and attempted to change them, but communications were cut.
The infantry attack was delayed to allow time for a heavy bombardment of the Chemical Works, which did not materialise. The sun finally shone, as two companies of the 2nd South Africans and two Scottish formed up in the main street in Fampoux, at about 4pm. They were observed by the Germans and an intense bombardment ensued. In a very short time half the men were casualties.
The South African Brigade was almost destroyed by the shell fire. A few dazed soldiers attempted to advance behind a field artillery barrage. The barrage moved far too quickly. Fit troops could not be expected to keep pace with it, the exhausted South Africans had no chance. They left the shelter of the village to be met by machine gun bullets from the untouched Chemical Works. The barrage had again missed its target and left the German front-line intact. The attack was a total failure and the Brigade virtually annihilated.
Corporal Mossop had been killed and the South African Brigade almost ceased to exist. Its identity was preserved but it took no further part in the fighting at Arras. William Mossop is buried close to where he fell, in Brown's Copse Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Plot III, Row D, Grave 20.
The cemetery is situated in fields near the Arras-Douai railway line between Fampoux and Roeux, on the line of the attempted advance. William shares a headstone with an Argyll and Sutherland Highlander, killed in May, right at the end of the battles.
Since my visit to Brown's Copse I have been contacted by his grandson (who saw my name in the Visitors' Book), David Moore, a Royal Marine for 26 years, and now a teacher in the South of England. He has Corporal Mossop's medals and memorial plaque, also photographs taken in South Africa in the early years of the century. David informs me that his mother has a photograph of his grandfather, but will not show it as he looks too haggard.
The family say that William fought in the Boer War and was a builder with an established business, in Bloemfontein, before 1914, actually building the Town Hall, now a museum. He rejoined the army to avenge his brother's death. This seems unlikely, as William was in England when Clement died, according to the Parish Magazine report shown above. He fought in the dreadful 1916 battle in Delville Wood, when he was one of the very few who emerged unscathed. From 14th to 20th July over 3,100 officers and men of the South African Brigade fought in that place. Only 780 soldiers survived, 143 fit enough to remain in the line. There were four dead to each man wounded.