Join us for our talk ‘Sailors on the Somme’ by Stewart Kilby.

Formed by Winston Churchill in August 1914 from various Royal Navy and Royal Marine units, The Royal Naval Division of 8 battalions saw service in Belgium that year. In 1915 the Division fought at Gallipoli, and in 1916 the Division was redeployed back to France where it took part in the final phase of the Battle of the Somme. Stewart Kilby’s talk will cover the Division’s part in that great offensive, in which it advanced along the River Ancre to take Beaucourt. The fighting was ferocious and the casualties were heavy.