Percy George Boswell was 22 years old when he was killed in the first hour of the Battle of the Somme. He had been commissioned as a Second Lieutenant only ten months earlier in the 8th Battalion, the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
For most of June 1916 the 8th King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry trained for the Battle behind Albert. On 29 June they moved up into trenches running along the eastern edge of Authuille Wood. The following day, Boswell wrote a final letter to his father in Streatham, London, that he hoped would never be sent. In a determined but optimistic note, he tried to reassure his father that he would be fine but ‘in case the unexpected [did] happen’, he wanted him to know that he was happy and believed he was doing his duty.
On the left of the 8th Division’s line, the 8th King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry were positioned roughly midway between The Nab and Ovillers. They were to attack over a long, gentle slope into strong German positions containing well-sited machine guns. The battalion’s first wave advanced under cover of the British guns, suffering relatively few casualties as they entered the German first line. Behind them, however, over half of the second wave was cut down as they crossed the 320m of no man’s land. All 25 officers, including Boswell, were either killed or wounded.
Confused fighting continued all day, until the British troops withdrew to their original trenches at the end of the afternoon. The 8th King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry suffered nearly 550 casualties – 80% of their attacking strength. Percy Boswell is today commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
