Pte 17087 Frank Prescott

 
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. At the outbreak of war Frank was employed as a clerk in the offices of Elder Dempster and Co Shipping Line. in Liverpool. 

Whilst in training Frank went "Absent without Leave" (he was absent between 8th and 9th September) and lost two days pay. On the 4th October he was appointed unpaid Lance-Corporal which was converted to paid Lance-Corporal on 02nd December 1915. Frank left the UK on the 20th January 1916 as part of a reinforcement draft on board the SS Onward. It is known he joined 30 Infantry Base Depot (Etaples) on 21st January 1916 and didn't join the 18th Battalion until 13th February. The following month he reverted to Private at his own request.

During the attack at Montauban on 01st July 1916, Frank was wounded in the back and head and shattered his femur. He was initially treated at 96 Field Ambulance, then transferred to 21 Casualty Clearing Station (Corbie) on the 03rd July and subsequently admitted to St John Ambulance Hospital in Etaples. On the 18th July, his mother wrote to the War Office asking for a warrant and permission to visit her son in France - she stated that her eldest son had been killed -  - it isn't known if approval for the visit was given.

Frank died of his wounds in the hospital on 25th July 1916 and now rests at Etaples Military Cemetery, France.  

During the First World War, the area around Etaples was the scene of immense concentrations of Commonwealth reinforcement camps and hospitals. It was remote from attack, except from aircraft, and accessible by railway from both the northern or the southern battlefields. In 1917, 100,000 troops were camped among the sand dunes and the hospitals, which included eleven general, one stationary, four Red Cross hospitals and a convalescent depot, could deal with 22,000 wounded or sick. In September 1919, ten months after the Armistice, three hospitals and the Q.M.A.A.C. convalescent depot remained.

The cemetery contains 10,771 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, the earliest dating from May 1915. 35 of these burials are unidentified. It is the largest CWGC cemetery in France, and was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

Frank's brother Herbert Prescott was also killed in the attack on the 01st July 1916. He now rests at Dantzig Alley British Cemetery  

The 18th Battalion Diary outlines the action in which Frank was wounded and Herbert was killed:

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. 

The story of the two brothers and the anguish of the family captured the attention of the press:


Details of the grievous loss of two sons was covered in the Liverpool Echo on 27th July 1916, under the heading, 

“Two Sons Gone”: 

"Private Frank Prescott of the “Pals”, second son of Mr. and Mrs. John Prescott, who reside at Melling Lane, Maghull, has died in hospital in France from wounds received in action on July 1.  Prior to the outbreak of war he was in the employ of Elder, Dempster & Co. His eldest brother, Private Herbert Prescott, who was killed on July 1, was formerly employed at the ‘Liverpool Echo’ Office.”