The Bone Factory of Bellicourt

Send us Fan MailOn the 29th of September 1918, men from the Staffordshire Brigade successfully smashed through the German lines in the most heavily defended area of the Western Front, around the canal at Ricqueval.It was a remarkable success for a Brigade so unfairly criticised for its actions at Gommecourt in 1916 and was a fine example of planning, coordination, and derring-do.  The battle didn't go entirely the Allies' way.  Men from the 107th American Infantry suffered more casualties that day than any other US Battalion during the entire War, and the tanks supposed to support the attack were destroyed and rendered largely useless. We hear about one of the most iconic pictures of the Great War, the actions of the man known as the Tally Ho VC, and the macabre discovery in the south entrance of the Bellicourt tunnel that propagated rumours about the existence of "the Bone Factory".