Corporal Francis Rand

Corporal Francis Rand, 11th ( Service ) Battalion, Border Regiment. He was killed in action in France on 1st July 1916 on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and is buried in Bouzincourt Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France. He fell in the attack on the strong German positions Authille Wood where in the face of intense machine gun fire the Battalion had over 500 casualties. Some men reached the German front line trenches but under constant artillery fire were forced to withdraw.  This Unit was a ” Pals ” Battalion and was known as the ” Lonsdales ” after Hugh Lonsdale 5th Earl of Lonsdale who raised the Battalion in September 1914. The photo shows troops crossing a wide “no mans land ”  with very little cover on the fateful morning which cost the British Army nearly 60,000 casualties