Thomas Alexander Ritchie

Killed in Action on the 07 or 08/08/1918 at the Battle of Amiens

Thomas' Signalling Company were attached to the 174th (2/2nd London) Brigade, 58th (2/1st London) Division. The Division received a warning order on the 01/01/1917 that it would soon depart for France. The units crossed the Channel from Southampton and Boulogne from the 20th January and completed concentration at Lucheux on the 8th February. Thomas was Killed in Action during the opening day of the Allied counter-offensive of 1918 (the CWGC have the date of Thomas' death as 07/08/1918 but his Army Register states 08/08/1918) at the Battle of Amiens, 8th - 17th August 1918 : The British Fourth Army attacks alongside French forces further south and scores a notable victory and a deep advance from Amiens: Ludendorff calls the 8th August "the black day of the German Army". German forces were still on the offensive in July 1918, but they didn't know that the Allied soldier numbers were on the rise. More American and British troops came to France to support the war effort, having been transferred from other campaigns. Even though the German troops knew they were going to be forced into the defensive position by August, they thought the French would attack in Rheims, or Flanders, while the British would attack near Albert. They didn't even take Amiens into consideration. The Allied troops only moved around at night to disguise their movements from the enemy, while keeping an equal number of troops in all positions. They attacked in numbers around the rumoured areas the Germans believed the attack was coming from, causing the German soldiers to withdraw from Amiens and respond to the counter-offensives. They withdrew troops from Lys, and when the attack came on August 8th at 4.20am, the Germans only had six divisions on the front with two reserves. Due to the fast advance of the armies, the British trenches that had previously been on the front lines were left behind as they gained more territory. At points in the battle, the two enemy lines were within 500 meters of each other. The use of gas was low as the Germans were unaware of how big the attacking Allied forces were. The Germans were taken by surprise and didn't even begin firing back for five minutes, and when they did the Allied forces had left their positions. The British Third Army had almost no effect due to the lack of armoured support, but the Fourth Army troops pushed deep into German territory with around a thousand tanks. The British Fourth Army captured 13,000 prisoners, and the French took another 3,000. By August 27th official reports stated the Allies had captured almost 50,000 soldiers and 500 guns. Thomas is listed as SIGNALLER on the Coatbridge Memorial. See photos for Thomas' Medal Index Card, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his CWGC Grave Registration x 2, his Headstone Report x 2, another photo of Thomas' Grave, Querrieu British Cemetery, Thomas' Pension Records x 3, the Royal Engineers Cap Badge and a photo of German Prisoners of War captured during the battle.