Pte 16336 Norman Frank Roberts

• Age: 20
• From: Seaforth, Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Saturday 1st July 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

16336 Private Norman Frank ROBERTS, 18^th Battalion KLR.

Norman Frank Roberts was born in Seaforth in the second quarter of 1896 he was the only child of Frank, and his wife Catherine (nee Holme), who married at St Philip's Church, Litherland in 1889.

The 1901 Census shows the family are living at 21 Seaforth Road, Seaforth, Liverpool. Norman is 4 years of age and lives with his parents. His father is 35 years of age and employed as a boot maker - shopkeeper born in Hawkhurst, Kent, whilst his mother is 31 years of age and was born in Liverpool. They also have a servant Margaret Hall aged 20. 

The family are still at 21 Seaforth Road at the time of the 1911 Census. Frank is 14 and is a schoolboy and living with his parents. His father is recorded as a 45 year old boot maker (dealer) and his mother is 42 years of age and assisting in the family business. They advise that they have been married for 21 years and have had one child.  

Norman enlisted at St George's Hall in Liverpool on 02^nd September 1914, giving his age as 19 years 32 days (this is at odds with his birth records and is indicitive that Norman lied about his age in order to enlist as he was 18 years old when he enlisted), his occupation as clerk and his next of kin as his father at 10 St John’s Place, Waterloo. He was described as being 5' 8" tall, weight 152lbs, 36" chest with a fresh complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He religion is stated as Church of England. 

From the 23^rd September 1914 he was billeted at Hooton Park Race Course and remained there until 03^rd December 1914 when they moved into the hutted accommodation at Lord Derby’s estate at Knowsley Hall. On 30th April 1915 the 18th Battalion alongside the other three Pals battalions left Liverpool via Prescot Station for further training at Belton Park, Grantham. They remained here until September 1915 when they reached Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain. 

He crossed to France with his Battalion on board the SS Invicta on 07th November 1915 and on the 20th January 1916 he was attached to 112^th Trench Mortar Battery.

He was killed in action at Montauban on 01^st July 1916, aged 20.

18^th Battalion Diary

At 6.30am the artillery commenced an intensive bombardment of the enemy’s trenches. Zero Hour – 7.30 am – the battalion commenced to leave their trenches and the attack commenced. The attack was pressed with great spirit and determination in spite of heavy shelling and machine gun enfilade fire which caused casualties amounting to 2/3rds of the strength of the Battalion in action. The whole system of German trenches including the Glatz Redoubt was captured without any deviation from the scheduled programme. Consolidated positions and made strong points for defence against possible counter attacks.

Graham Maddocks provides more detail concerning the events of the day:

As the first three waves began to move forward towards the German reserve line, known as Alt Trench and then on to the Glatz Redoubt itself, they suddenly came under enfilading fire from the left. This was from a machine gun which the Germans had sited at a strong point in Alt Trench. The gun itself was protected by a party of snipers and bombers, who, hidden in a rough hedge, were dug into a position in Alt Trench, at its junction with a communication trench known as Alt Alley. These bombers and snipers were themselves protected by rifle fire from another communication trench, Train Alley which snaked back up the high ground and into Montauban itself. The machine gun fire was devastating and it is certain that nearly of the Battalion’s casualties that day were caused by that one gun.  

Lieutenant Colonel Edward Henry Trotter  wrote in the conclusion of his account of the days action:

I cannot speak to highly of the gallantry of the Officers and men. The men amply repaid the care and kindness of their Company Officers, who have always tried to lead and not to drive. As laid down in my first lecture to the Battalion when formed, in the words of Prince Kraft:

“Men follow their Officers not from fear, but from love of the Regiment where everything had always and at all times gone well with them”.    

Joe Devereux in his book A Singular Day on the Somme gives the Casualty Breakdown for the 18^th Battalion as Killed in Action 7 Officers and 165 men and of those who died in consequence of the wounds 3 Officers and 19 men a total of 194 out of a total loss for the four Liverpool Pals Battalions of 257. 

His death was reported in the Liverpool Daily Post on 21st July 1916: 

Also in the Liverpool Evening Express on 25th July 1916:   

"Private Norman Roberts of the Pals,was killed by a machine gun bullet on the first day of the British advance. He was the only child of Mr. And Mrs.Roberts, 10, St.John's place,Waterloo, and was in his 21st year. Before joining the Pals on the outbreak of war young Roberts was employed by Messrs.L.Connolly and Co., Stanley-street."  

The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.

On 01st August 1932 the Prince of Wales and the President of France inaugurated the Thiepval Memorial in Picardy. The inscription reads: “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.”

He is also commemorated on the following Memorials: 

Waterloo Civic Memorial

St Matthew's Parish Church, Stanley Road, Bootle.

Bootle School for Boys (now in Bootle High School, Browns Lane, Bootle)