Born on 4th August 1889 John Harry was the eldest son of Harry and Mary E Langley. The family lived at 246 Uttoxeter Old Road, Derby.  Harry senior was employed as a Clerk at the County Asylum, and was obviously well off as the family had two live-in domestic servants.

On 29th October 1900 John and his younger brother Reginald were enrolled into the Senior School in Shipston.  The School Register notes the boys’ father as being a Hotel proprietor at the Bell Inn. The Register also notes that their previous schooling took place in Solihull.   The 1901 census confirms their address as being the Bell Hotel, Sheep Street, Shipston-on-Stour, Worcestershire. On the 12th June 1903 John left school at the age of thirteen.

John enlisted in Leamington Spa and arrived in France after the 31st December 1915 with the 22nd Battalion (City of London Regiment) Royal Fusiliers as a replacement for men wounded or killed.

On the 1st April 1917 the battalion was in billets at Fiefs and they remained there until the 7th April when they marched about 8 miles to the south west to La Thieuloye. Here they remained until the 10th April when they marched about 15 miles to Maroeuil near Arras, and prepared to go into the trenches the following day. On the afternoon of 11th April they relieved the 1st/6th Gordon Highlanders from some old German front line and reserve trenches. On the 13th they moved to relieve a Battalion of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps in the front line, but only stayed there for just over a day and on the night of the 14th/15th they returned to the old German trenches and relieved the 7th Royal Fusiliers.

Their stay lasted until the 17th April when they moved out to billets at Bray where they rested until the 24th. They returned to the Trenches in front of Oppy Wood on the night of the 25th/26th April 1917.

 

On the night of the 27th/28th the Battalion moved out of the front line and arrived in their resting position at 04:30 on the 28th April.  Here they were reinforced with a number of men from the 1st King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Reports say that the men were extremely tired at this time and that the stores had been heavily shelled. It was also reported that the German defences where they were to attack were still intact.   The attack started at 4am on the 29th April following an intense artillery barrage lasting six minutes. 

On arriving at the German wire the men found that it was indeed intact, and as they struggled to find their way through, the barrage lifted from the German frontline allowing the Germans to start their defence. 

At this time the Battalion came under heavy rifle and machine gun fire.  On the right some men from B Company eventually did get into the German trenches and bombed their way along the trenches in what the war diary describes as very desperate fighting.

The Germans then counter-attacked at one end of the trench and when men were brought from the other side in support they counter-attacked at that end as well. Meanwhile on the left D Company lost three platoons to rifle and machine gun fire when the German wire stopped them, the few survivors returned to their start point.

Number 13 platoon however did make it into the German trenches and started to bomb their way along it meeting heavy opposition all the way.

Unfortunately these men ran out of bombs and were driven back to their original start point as well. By this time it was about 9am and very few of the 22nd Royal Fusiliers were left. The rest of the day was spent in a series of attacks by other Battalions and counter-attacks by the Germans. 

John Langley was killed in this action and his body was not recovered.  He is commemorated on the Arras Memorial in the Faubourg-d'Amiens Cemetery at Arras, and is remembered on both the Town and Council School Memorials.

Mike Wells