Headstone of Able Seaman J. Wilkinson at Martinpuich Cemetery, Martinpuich, France. Wilkinson died March 25, 1918, age 24. © 2013 by John M. Shea
[In/To] the Memory ofR/257 Able SeamanJ. Wilkinson, RNVRDrake Battn. R.N.D.25th March 1918 Age 24Who was buried by the enemy in Martinpuich German Cemetery No. 1 but whose grave is now lostNot forgotten by Father, Mother and all at home
"The whole of the troops holding the British line south of the Somme were now greatly exhausted, and the absence of reserves behind them gave ground for considerable anxiety. As the result of a conference held by the Fifth Army Commander on the 25th of March, a mixed force including details, stragglers, schools personnel, tunneling companies, Army troops companies, field survey companies, and Canadian and American engineers, had been got together and organized by General Grant, the Chief Engineer to the Fifth Army. On the 26th of March these were posted by General Grant . . . [who] was directed to hand over command of his force to General Carey.Except for General Carey's force there were no reenforcements of any kind behind the divisions which had been fighting for the most part continuously since the opening of the battle."
Excerpt from General Douglas Haig's July 1918 account of Operation Michael, the German Somme Offensive, and the first of five German drives in 1918 to end the war in victory. On March 21, German troops hit the British line, striking the Third and Fifth Armies. The Third Army held, but the Fifth did not, and the Third had to retreat to maintain contact. In the first three days, German commander Erich Ludendorff's forces drove the British from 700 square miles of territory that had been gained and held at great cost.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. VI, 1918, pp. 69–70, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
1918-03-25, 1918, March, Carey's force, Carey's Force, General Carey, Carey, J. Wilkinson
