A British War Medal to the Royal Fusiliers; Somme KIA

A British War Medal to the Royal Fusiliers; Somme KIA; (GS-9675 PTE. C.E. DRYHURST. R. FUS.). Naming is officially impressed. Original ribbon, light contact, cleaned, near extremely fine.   Footnote: Charles Edward Dryhurst was the son of Edward J. Dryhurst and Minnie Dryhurst of Spring Wood, Chesterton, Newcastle, Staffordshire, England. He was with the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, when he was Killed in Action during the Battle of the Somme, on July 23, 1916, at the age of 18. He is remembered with honour on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France, Panel Reference: Pier and Face 8 C 9 A and 16 A. On July 1, 1916, supported by a French attack to the south, thirteen divisions of Commonwealth forces launched an offensive on a line from north of Gommecourt to Maricourt. Despite a preliminary bombardment lasting seven days, the German defences were barely touched and the attack met unexpectedly fierce resistance. Losses were catastrophic and with only minimal advances on the southern flank, the initial attack was a failure. In the following weeks, huge resources of manpower and equipment were deployed in an attempt to exploit the modest successes of the first day. However, the German Army resisted tenaciously and repeated attacks and counter attacks meant a major battle for every village, copse and farmhouse gained. At the end of September, Thiepval was finally captured. The village had been an original objective of July 1st. Attacks north and east continued throughout October and into November in increasingly difficult weather conditions. The Battle of the Somme finally ended on November 18th with the onset of winter.