PRIVATE 37277 CHARLES EDWARD LAYFIELD, 11th BATTALION WEST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT.

PRIVATE 37277 CHARLES EDWARD LAYFIELD, 11th BATTALION WEST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT. KILLED IN ACTION 7th JUNE 1917 AGED 21

Courtesy Linda Layfield

In the Spring of 1917 as the Arras Offensive petered out, the British High Command turned their attention to planning a new summer offensive on the Western Front. The Allies were still looking for the elusive breakthrough, the Arras campaign had in the end failed and the French Nivelle Offensive on the Chemin des Dames had ended in disaster and mutiny. The French Army could no longer be relied upon to sustain an attack and the onus for offensive action now rested with the British. Fear of a total French collapse pursued field Marshall Haig to propose a new attack in the Ypres area.

However, before such an operation could be undertaken the Messines Ridge would have to be taken. The ridge although rarely exceeding 80 metres in height ran south of the Ypres and in the flat featureless terrain of the area afforded views across the British Lines. The Germans had captured the ridge in 1915 and despite numerous attempts by the British to retake it the feature remained in German hands.

In 1916 British, Canadian and Australian miners had begun to construct mines under the feature which they packed with explosive. By the Spring of 1917 the mines had been completed and thousands of tons explosives buried beneath the German lines where they would be detonated as part of an attack on the Messines Ridge. The operation was noted for its meticulous planning and rather than expansive aims it had only limited objectives: to take the ridge.

The attack was planned to commence in the early hours of the 7th June and in the days preceding the assault troops practiced their role in the operation. At 3.10am in the darkness of the early morning the mines were detonated and the ridge erupted killing 10.000 German soldiers. The attacking British Infantry dashed forward with an attendant creeping artillery barrage the fighting lasted all day but the plan was an astonishing success with only light casualties.

The 11th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment had been tasked with the capture of a notorious feature called Hill 60 at the northern end of the Messines Ridge. In reality it was a man made spoil heap but previously unsuccessful attempts to take it had cost many thousands of British lives. On this day the detonation of an enormous mine beneath it enabled the battalion to reach its summit with less than 40 men killed. However, 21 year old Charles Layfield was one of those who lost their lives.

Charles was one of ten children of James and Frances Layfield who ran Willow Hill Farm north of the village of Denton. Educated at the village school before the war he worked with his parents on the family farm. Conscripted into the army in 1916 he was part of a draft of reinforcements who arrived with the 11th West Yorkshires in early 1917. Part of 'C' company he would have been amongst the first to go over the top in the attack on Hill 60.

Private Charles Edward Layfield has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing. He is remembered on the memorial plaque at St Helens Church Denton and on the memorial in Ilkley.