GRAHAM Arthur Thomas 2/Lt

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Surname: GRAHAM;

Forename(s): Arthur Thomas;

Initials: AT;

Rank: 2/Lt;

Previous Number: 22686;

Previous Regiment: MGC;

MGC Branch: Infantry;

MGC Unit: 117 Coy;

Other MGC Unit Served (1): 127 Coy;

Other MGC Unit Served (2): 42 Bn;

How killed: KIA;

Where: France;

When killed: 27-Mar-1918;

Other Data: death noted in war diary 42 Bn
Uncle of MGC OCA member Arthur Graham, Banbury.
EmmaGee No17, Feb 1989
22666 WARRANT OFFICER CLASS 2 THOMAS GRAHAM. enlisted in 10th (Service) Battalion The Royal Fusiliers in August 1914, but transferred to 16th (Service) Battalion The Rifle Brigade. As Sergeant he disembarked in France with his battalion on 8 March 1916.
In May 1916 he transferred to the MGC, as the acting Company Sergeant Major of 117th MG Coy. He was appointed CSM on 16 July 1916.
Thomas was commissioned Second Lieutenant on 25 July 1917. In September 1917 he joined 127th MG Coy, 42nd Division, which became “C” Coy, 42 Battalion MGC, and with that unit he was killed in action in late March 1918.

“Mr Graham enlisted in the 10th (Service) Bn The Royal Fusiliers, known for a time as 'The Stockbrockers', in August 1914. The Bn was raised by the Lord Mayor and City of London on 21 Aug 14, part of 'K2'. It was recruited from business staff in the City. In Sep it joined the 54 Bde, 18 Div, but in Oct became Army Troops 18 Div. Then in Mar 15 went to 111 Bde, 37 Div on Salisbury Plain. On 30 July 15 landed in Boulogne, but by then Mr Graham had left the unit.
He transferred to the 16th (Service) Bn The Rifle Brigade (St Pancras) on 27 June this Bn had been raised by the borough of St Pancras on 2 Apr 15 by Parliamentary Recruiting Committee. On 19 Jul 15 was taken over by the War Office. It moved to Hurly Park, Winchester in 117 Bde, 39 Div. Then in Sept to Marlborough Lines Aldershot, thence to Witley in Nov 15.
In Jan/Feb 16 the Div was to fire the general musketry course in Aldershot, rifles had only been issued a few days before and the weather was bad, nevertheless, orders were received that the course was to be fired without delay.
The Div was to be inspected by the King on Hankley Common on 14 Feb, and a rehearsal was held on the 23rd, but heavy falls of snow caused the inspection to be cancelled. Sgt Graham landed in Le Havre on 8 Mar 16 with his Bn.
The 117 MG Coy was formed at Grantham and disembarked at Le Havre on 16 May 16, and joined it's Bde near Bethune on 18 May 16.
On the 27 May, Graham transferred to The Machine Gun Corps, 117 Coy, as acting CSM and was appointed Company Sergeant Major on 16 July 1916.
A year later he left the Coy having been appointed a commission, and in Sept 17 joined the 127 MG Coy, 42 (East Lancashire) Division.
This MG Coy had been formed in Egypt on 14 Mar 16, from the MG Sections of the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Manchester Regt, after Gallipoli.
On the 28 Feb 1918 the 125, 126, 127 and 268 MG Coys united to become the 42nd Bn The Machine Gun Corps, and the Coys retitled A, B, C and D.
The 21 Mar 18, saw the start of the German assault on the Third and Fifth Armies. The 42 Div was a Reserve Div under GHQ and placed behind the Third Army, some twenty miles behind the front line.
Both 2Lt Graham and Lt Richard Gale (later General Sir Richard Gale), of the 42nd Bn MGC were rushed by bus into the storm centre, which had already sucked in the Reserve 40th and 19th Divs. They debussed many miles behind the line and had to march, which took twelve hours.
Richard Gale wrote: "We heard no fighting, nor had we seen any formed bodies of troops; but what we had seen appalled us. Dumps of kits and valises lay on the side of the road, disorganized transport amd guns were moving to the rear, all intermingled with pathetic groups of refugees. Canteens had been abandoned and their stores of spirit rifled. This was a retreat with all the horrors of panic. There was, as far as we knew, nothing behind us and the Channel ports, save this wretched rabble that seemed to have lost all cohesion and the will to fight." He added," As is often the case, the closer we got to the battle the less the panic."”
On the 25 Mar the forces necessary to stem the German advance north of the Somme began to thicken and gather in strength as Haig's reserves arrived. The fresh 42nd and 62nd Divs provided a formidable 'breakwater in the sector most immediately menaced. The Germans found the 42nd Div a tougher enemy than some of the other worn British units, Lt Gale's (and 2Lt Graham's) machine gunners dug into position with the 10th Manchesters. They had a totally open field of fire and let the Germans come well within range before letting fly with belt after belt from their Vickers. "In spite of their casualties, wave after wave came on," wrote Gale, "and the slaughter was terrible. Eventually, with incredible bravery, some succeeded in reaching us, and to my amazement the magnificent Lancashiremen rose up to a man and with rifle butts and in some cases, bare fists, they attacked the Germans. The enemy wavered and then fled."
The 10th Manchesters beat off eight mass attacks by the Prussian Guard that day. Gale's guns each fired twenty 250 round belts in their support. The water in the barrel cases boiled.
The 42 Div held the northern buttress of a zone about to be further strengthened by the 62nd Div.
By the 26th, what had been the most dangerous spot on the front of the Third Army now appeared to have been sealed, from the left by the 42 and 62 Divs and ANZAC troops. On the 27 Mar the Guards Div on the right had established communications with the 42 and 62 Divs, both strong formations, which had in turn linked up with the 4th Australian Bde and the New Zealand Div.
However, on the 27 Mar 1918, 2Lt Arthur Thomas Graham, was killed in action, his death was note in the War Diary of the 42nd Bn The Machine Gun Corps.

References :
"See How They Ran" by William Moore, 1970, Samson Books.
"Call To Arms" by Richard Gale, 1968, Hutchinson.
"The Kaiser's Battle" by Martin Middlebrook, 1978, Allen Lane.;

Other Notes: GRAHAM, Second Lieutenant, ARTHUR THOMAS, 42nd Bn. Machine Gun Corps (Inf). 27th March 1918. Age 24. Son of Mrs. Eliza Graham, of 135, Rathcoole Gardens, Hornsey, London. Bay 10. Arras Memorial - Pas De Calais, France.;

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