THOMAS LEONARD MAYBRICK
26 November 1884 - 30 July 1916
At School 1895 - 1897
L/Cpl 23628 17th The Kings (Liverpool) Regt
Thomas was born in Manchester and in 1891 aged 6 was living at 18 Brunswick Road, Withington, with father Thomas, a Master Hydraulic Packer, mother Julie, elder sister Ethel and a domestic servant. In 1897 Thomas left School to go to King William's College on the Isle of Man. By 1901 the family had moved to 64 Alexandra Road South and Thomas aged 16 was working as an insurance clerk. In 1906 Thomas went to work in South America eventually settling in Punta Arenas in Chile. He returned to England in 1911 for 4 months then went back to Chile in April 1912. Following the outbreak of war, Thomas came back to England in November 1914 to enlist. On the passenger list he is described as "merchant", describing his improvement in status.
By this time the family had moved to Southport, and Thomas enlisted in Liverpool, joining the 17th Battalion, The Kings (Liverpool) Regiment, one of the "Pals" Battalions. His medal rolls refer to him as Leonard Maybrick suggesting this was his preferred name to distinguish him from his father. His service records have not survived but from his number, 23628, it appears he enlisted in late November/early December 1914, (23552 27 November 1914, 23789 10 December 1914).
In November 1914, the 17th Bn were based in an old watch factory in Prescot, near St Helens, which had been converted into a barracks. Training was undertaken at Knowsley Park, a short march away, the estate of Lord Derby who was responsible for the raising of the Liverpool Pals Battalions. (Right: Lord Derby with David Lloyd George). In early 1915 it became apparent that trench warfare was going to be faced by the Pals and, as there was no available land nearby, arrangements were made
with Lord Derby to practice the use of picks and shovels on his land. This was viewed with some suspicion by some Pals as they thought they had been duped into digging Lord Derby's land for virtually nothing! However, this had been recognised by the Earl and he paid £1,000 into a special Comrades' Fund to provide comforts for the troops as a gesture of goodwill. Training continued until 30th April, when the Liverpool pals Battalions were transferred to Belton Park Camp at Grantham in Lincolnshire. On 27th August the War Office formally took them over as fully trained and equipped units of the British Army and orders were received to proceed to Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain for the final part of their training in England. On 7th November
the Battalion left Salisbury Plain at 7.10 am., arriving at Folkestone at 12.20 p.m., and embarking on SS Princess Victoria at 3.00 p.m. On arrival at Boulogne at 5.00 p.m. the Battalion marched to Ostrohove rest Camp for the night and the following morning entrained for Pont Remy. Marching eastwards, the Battalion billeted at Bellancourt for a week, then moved on to Vignacourt for a further 9 days, before arriving to billets at Beaumetz and Prouville, where they stayed until 16th December. Then came their first training in the trenches at Englebelmer and Auchonvillers, under the instruction of the 2nd Royal Irish Rifles and 1st East Lancashire Regiment.
In January 1916 the Battalion marched to Suzanne and then proceeded to trenches at Maricourt where they relieved the 20th King's Liverpool Regiment. Initially the Battalion war diary notes generally "situation normal", with some minor shelling of trenches and rear positions which did not cause much damage. It does however refer to 3 privates being accidentally killed by the premature explosion of a rifle grenade. Later in the month, however the shelling became noticeably heavier and casualties were suffered.
In mid February the Battalion were relieved in the front line and moved to billets at Daours on the outskirts of Amiens. Here they provided working parties for the Royal Engineers. At the end of the month they returned to the Maricourt trenches until the middle of March when they proceeded to billets in Franvillers, some 10 kilometres west of Albert, for a period of rest. On 28th March they moved to Etinehem Camp, where they stayed throughout the month of April, being employed in building huts in the camp for kitchens and latrines, and other work around the camp. At this time the War Diary notes that the village of Etinehem was out of bounds on account of measles, however on 8th April it was noted that A Company had to return to camp from work on the Maricourt defences owing to an outbreak of measles, and they were then isolated in camp!
May found them back in the Maricourt trenches and on the 5th they took over the Maricourt Defences where they worked under the Royal Engineers on the various keeps and supporting points in the Defences, deepening trenches, constructing fire bays and steps and putting up wire. On 11th May the Battalion relieved the 19th Battalion in the front line. Over the next 2 days considerable enemy artillery fire was suffered in support of an enemy raid on the sector on the Battalion's right and 2 officers were wounded, 5 OR killed and 8 wounded. At the end of May, the Battalion moved to reserve areas north of Amiens to train for the forthcoming advance scheduled for 29th June. On 18th June the Battalion returned to the Maricourt Defences and thence on 26th June to the front line in preparation for the assault. The artillery was heavily bombarding the enemy who in turn retaliated, while the weather deteriorated, much rain falling which rendered the trenches very difficult. The enemy artillery caused serious casualties, 21 OR killed and 72 wounded. The weather caused the advance to be postponed for 48 hours to 1st July.
The Battalion was on the extreme right flank of the British Army, bordering the French Army, and the assault commenced at 7.30 a.m. The war Diary reports "some shelling but very slight infantry resistance and but little machine gun fire encountered, the work of our artillery having been very effective on the German trenches. The objective was taken at 8.30 a.m., the French on our right gaining theirs at the same hour." Casualties up to noon were only 3 officers and 100 OR wounded. It has been suggested that the reason that the resistance was so minimal was that the French Army was equipped with many medium and heavy howitzers, the shells of which were able to penetrate dugouts and blow away the German wire. Certainly the further away from the French that the British Troops were, the more severe casualties were suffered. Immediately on reaching their objective the Battalion began to consolidate their position while the 90th Brigade passed through to take Montauban. The Battalion was relieved on 4th July and proceeded to the rear area for rest and cleaning up. During their time in the consolidated position the Battalion had been subjected to shelling and suffered 11 OR killed and 28 wounded. After a brief period of rest, on 9th July, the Battalion returned to the original British trenches north of Maricourt and received orders to reinforce the troops fighting in Trones Wood, which at that time was thickly wooded with virtually impenetrable vegetation. A & B Companies went into the wood and
managed to establish a footing and dig in, forming a solid defensive position, which held out against the German counter attacks. The Battalion was relieved on 13th July by the 54th and 55th Brigades of the 18th Division. Ensuring the parts of the wood they had captured were securely held enabled the 54th and 55th to clear the wood by the morning of the 14th. Casualties had been heavy, 2 Officers killed and 5 wounded, 19 OR killed, 79 wounded and 28 missing.
After a week of rest, during which reinforcements of 5 Officers and 114 OR arrived, the Battalion was once more preparing to advance, this time on Guillemont, in support of the 19th and 20th Battalions. On the night of 29th July the Battalion moved up to their assembly positions in the British held part of Maltz Horn Trench, where they suffered shelling of gas and high explosive. At 4.45 a.m. the attack began. There was a very thick mist, which hindered the artillery spotters who could not see what effect the bombardment was having. As a consequence many Germans moved out of the trenches, which the artillery was ranged on, into cover in No Man's land, where they awaited the assault. The War Diary comments" The attack was pushed home to the objective in places but in the main was held up by machine gun fire from hidden machine guns. Fighting continued all day swaying backwards and forwards until by 6 p.m. about 300 yards in depth had been gained and consolidated all along our front."
Guillemont was not reached and the 89th brigade suffered horrendous casualties. The attack was conducted where the British and German trenches were in places a mile apart, and as the fog lifted the advancing troops were easy targets for the defenders. Some of the brigade reached Guillemont but were in so small numbers it was impossible to consolidate their gains and they were forced back. Some time during this action Thomas "was killed by a sniper" according to local press reports. The Battalion reported casualties of 4 Officers killed and 11 wounded, O.R. 56 killed, 130 wounded and 95 missing, many of whom were killed.
Thomas's body was never found or identified and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, Pier and Face 1D8B.
It is likely that his body lay between the new British and German lines and was destroyed by shellfire in the ensuing battles.
The Memorial bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.
The Hulmeian – December 1916
Killed in Action
