Private 16174, Maurice William Emsden, 9th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment

Private 16174 Maurice William Emsden

The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, (15th – 22nd September)
The 9th Suffolks were in 71st Brigade, 6th Division.  On the first day of the battle the Division was tasked with attacking a German strongpoint called the “Quadrilateral” which was “absolutely bristling with machine guns” according to the History of the Suffolk Regiment.  The attack began at 0620 hours but the 9th Suffolks were supporting the 9th Norfolks and weren’t required to advance until 90 minutes later.   On leaving the trenches the 9th Suffolks were subject to intense machine gun and artillery fire making it impossible to advance.   They dug themselves in still under heavy artillery fire but were relieved just before midnight.
Maurice was born in Somersham in 1889 but by 1911 the family was living at 30 Waveney Road in Ipswich.  Maurice worked at Packards factory in Bramford where the family had also lived for a few years.
He was killed in action on the 16th September and has no known grave.  He is commemorated on the Ipswich and Bramford War memorials, Packard factory memorial (see portrait) and at Thiepval.