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2^nd Lieutenant
CYRIL JAMES TART
Royal Engineers 

by

 Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Edward De Santis, MSCE, P.E., MinstRE
(April 2024)

Figure 1. 2^nd Lieutenant Cyril James Tart, R.E.
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum) 

1.  INTRODUCTION 

2^nd Lieutenant Tart served in the 219^th (Glasgow) Field Company, R.E. in the 32^nd Division during the Great War of 1914-1918.  He was one of the 3,949 casualties suffered by the division and one of the 450 casualties suffered by the Royal Engineers on 1 July 1916 during the British offensive on the Somme.[1]  His company was heavily engaged on the first day of this battle, but he was the only man in his company to be killed.[2]  

2.  FAMILY INFORMATION AND EARLY LIFE

Family Information[3]

Cyril was the son of James Tart (1863-1933), an estates manager in Birmingham, and Harriet Matilda Tart, née Leake (1864-1928).  The Tarts also had three daughters and two additional sons, one of whom also served in the Great War as a Private in the Army Service Corps.[4] 

Early Life

Cyril James Tart was born in Handsworth, an inner-city area of Birmingham on 14 November 1889.  Historically, Handsworth was in the county of Staffordshire, as shown in the 1911 Census of England and Wales. 

In September 1906 Cyril entered King Edward’s School in the Aston area of Birmingham.  He entered what was known as the “modern school” studying a curriculum focused on sciences rather than on classics.  His Master was A.S. Langley, later Commander A.S. Langley, C.M.G., RNVR, a chemistry teacher who pioneered smokescreen technology for the British Army.[5]        When Cyril graduated he placed 8^th out of 14 in his class. 

After leaving King Edward’s School, Cyril attended the University of London where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering in 1909 at the age of 20.  After receiving his degree he worked for 12 months as a Clerk to the Estates Committee of the Birmingham City Council.  Obtaining this position may have been with the help of his father who was an estate manager in Birmingham.  Apparently wanting to move on to bigger and better things, and to use some of the engineering knowledge that he gained while in University, he moved to the Borough Surveyor’s Office, Southend and then to the Admiralty where he worked as a temporary draughtsman at Rosyth Dockyard in Fife.[6]  Construction of this dockyard by civil engineers Easton, Gibb & Son had commenced in 1909. At the time, the Royal Navy was strengthening its presence along the eastern seaboard of Great Britain due to the ongoing naval arms race with Germany.  

The 1911 Census of England and Wales shows Cyril, age 21, living with his parents and siblings in Handsworth, Birmingham, Staffordshire.  His occupation is listed in the census as Civil Engineer working for the city of Birmingham.  About this time Cyril was also admitted to the Institution of Civil Engineers.[7]   

When the war started in August of 1914 it is obvious that Cyril Tart felt obliged to join the forces as so many young men in the United Kingdom did at that time.  As a Civil Engineer he believed that his experience could best be used by the Corps of Royal Engineers, so with that thought in mind he resolved to find a way to gain a commission in that corps. 

3.  COMMISSIONING AND TRAINING 

Commissioning 

Tart had developed a rapport with the President of the Institution of Civil Engineers as a result of his work in the field and his membership in the organization.  Benjamin Blyth II had been the President of ICE during the period from November 1914 to November 1915, so it most likely was to him that Tart requested a recommendation for his commission.[8]  With the recommendation of Mr. Blyth, Tart was granted a commission as a 2^nd Lieutenant (on probation) in the Royal Engineers on 21 September 1915.  The probationary nature of his commission was undoubtedly due to the fact that he had no prior military training or experience.  There is no record to indicate that he had been a member of the University of London’s Officers Training Corps (O.T.C) and he had not attended the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich.  His only qualifications to serve as an officer in the Royal Engineers would have been his credentials as a Civil Engineer with a university degree in that field.

Figure 2.  Benjamin Blyth, II.
President of the ICE, November 1914 – November 1915.
(Image courtesy of the ICE web site) 

Training 

Following his commissioning it is most likely that 2^nd Lieutenant Tart proceeded to the School of Military Engineering (S.M.E.) at Chatham, Kent to receive training as an engineer officer.  Given the need for officer replacements in France and Flanders, Tart’s training would have been a short course in field fortifications, construction, surveying, telegraphy, and tactics.  In just under six months after receiving his commission he completed his training at Chatham and was posted to the 219^th (Glasgow) Field Company, a company in the 32^nd Division.

4.  POSTINGS AND CAMPAIGN SERVICE

The 32nd Division was largely comprised of locally raised units often known as “Pals”. It was a predominantly Northern Division, although locally raised units from Birmingham and Bristol were also in the structure.  The units had been moved in May 1915 to concentrate in Shropshire, but Prees Heath was found to be too wet for training and the brigades instead moved to Yorkshire (Wensley and Richmond, with use of the firing ranges at Strenshall). It was not until 21 August 1915 that the division moved for final training and firing practice at Codford on Salisbury Plain.[9] 

In November 1915, while Tart was in his second month of training at the S.M.E., the 32^nd Division’s units (14^th, 96^th and 97^th Infantry Brigades) received warning to deploy to France.  2^nd Lieutenant Tart joined the 219^th Field Company on 8 March 1916 while the company was located in the vicinity of Dernancourt and Albert, and he was posted to No. 1 Section in the company.[10]   

Figure 3.  2^nd Lieutenant Tart with Men of No. 1 Section, 219^th Field Company, R.E.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com) 

In addition to the 219^th Field Company, the other engineer units of the 32^nd Division included the 206^th (Glasgow) Field Company, the 218^th (Glasgow) Field Company and the 32^nd Divisional Signal Company.  To provide further field engineering support the division also could rely on its pioneer battalion, the 17^th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers.  This battalion had joined the division as the divisional pioneer battalion in June 1915 and was with the division for all the time that 2^nd Lieutenant Tart was serving in France.

Pioneer battalions were essentially infantry with light military combat engineer skills and equipment,  located at the very forward edge of the battle area.  They were used to develop and enhance protection and mobility for supported troops and to deny it to the enemy.  They constructed defensive positions, command posts and dugouts, prepared barbed wire defences and on occasion breached those of the enemy using devices like the Bangalore Torpedo.  Their skills and capability were broad, from building, construction and maintenance to road and track preparation and maintenance. They could also, and did quite often, fight as infantry.

Pioneer battalions were used on a large scale on the Western Front. Because of its largely static nature, there was a much heavier reliance on field defences and the provision of mobility support to get troops, weapons, ammunition, rations and stores up to the front and casualties out.  Roads and railways needed to be built maintained and repaired.  While these were also engineer tasks, engineers alone could not meet the heavy demand, while riflemen were always needed at the front. Therefore, pioneer battalions were raised to meet the needs of both and trained to support both engineers and infantry.

Between March and the end of June 1916, the 32^nd Division was not involved in any major actions; hence, the 219^th Field Company performed general field engineering duties for the division.  The company supervised the construction and maintenance of trenches and dug-outs and the storage of ammunition in the trench system, although most of the work was done by the infantry occupying the trenches.  The company moved a number of times while the division’s command prepared for the large offensive on the Somme.  On 1 April 1916 the company moved to Dernancourt where, on 19 April, Tart received word that he had been confirmed in the rank of 2^nd Lieutenant and was no longer on probation.  He was posted from the Supplementary Army List to the Regular Corps List on that date. 

On 1 June 1916 Tart’s company was at Bouzincourt while plans were still underway for the Somme offensive and the date for the offensive was set for 1 July.  For the initial assault on that fateful day, Tart and No. 1 Section of the 219^th Field Company was attached to the 97^th Infantry Brigade, while the rest of the company remained in divisional reserve in the Blighty Valley dugouts.[11]  Blighty Valley was the name given by the Army to the lower part of the deep valley running down south-westwards through Authuille Wood to join the River Somme between Authuille and Aveluy.

The 97^th Infantry Brigade consisted of the following battalions:[12]

·         11^th Border Regiment (The Lonsdales)

·         2^nd King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

·         16^th Highland Light Infantry (Glasgow Boys’ Brigade)

·         17^th Highland Light Infantry (Glasgow Commercials)

At 0530 hours on 1 July, Tart and his section joined the 97^th Infantry Brigade in preparation for the assault at 0730 hours.  At 0723 hours the 17^th  HLI crawled out into No Man's Land until they were 40 yards from a section of German line called the Leipzig Redoubt.   At zero hour they went over the top, rushed the German front line, took shelter in a chalk quarry just behind it, and established a new British front line along a line of trench called Hindenburg Strasse.

To the north, however, the attack on Thiepval failed.   Attacking round the southern edge of the village, the Newcastle Commercials of the 96^th Infantry Brigade ran forward (following a football kicked out of the trenches); four German machine guns, trained on the few gaps in the wire, killed or wounded all but 11 of them, and the unit never reached the German front line.   Directly opposite the village, the initial rush of the Salford Pals, also of the 96^th Infantry Brigade, was more successful.   About 100 of them took the German trench, and moved on towards the village, leaving it for their support troops to mop up the remaining German troops.   The remaining German troops, however, turned out to be huge numbers of German soldiers, who - leaving the deep dug-outs which the artillery fire had failed to destroy - drove back the British support troops and cut off the advance British party; they were last seen trying to get back to the British lines.

When the 17^th HLI tried to advance further,  they were cut down by German machine-gun and artillery fire.  At 0830 hours, the 11^th Border Regiment was ordered to leave Authuille Wood and attack, but they sustained heavy casualties as they crossed No Man's Land, and few managed even to reach the 17^th HLI.  Later in the day the survivors crawled back to the British front line. 

At 1345 hours the Officer Commanding, 219^th Field Company received a message from 2^nd Lieutenant Tart.  This was the only communication that the OC had from No. 1 Section until 2 July, when the section struggled back and joined the company.  Owing to the severe treatment met by the 2^nd Battalion, KOYLI during the assault, the section had been split up on the advance and never reached its destination.  The message from Tart indicated that his section had taken up its position in Kintyre Trench at 0530 hours with the KOYLI.[13] 

From the company’s War Diary entries it is obvious that the 32^nd Division’s assault was a disaster with units being separated and suffering numerous casualties.  2^nd Lieutenant Tart may still have been alive at about 1345 hours when his message reached his OC, but then all communication with No. 1 Section was lost for the remainder of the day.  As indicated above, survivors from the infantry battles crawled back to the British front line in disarray and on 2 July remnants of No. 1 Section struggled back to join the remainder of the company; however, 2^nd Lieutenant Tart was not among those who struggled back.  Tart had been killed by an artillery shell in the attack on the German line. [14]  He was the only man in the company to be killed on that day![15]  Oddly, there is no notation of his death in the unit War Diary.  He had been buried in a field grave at Authuille (see Map 2 in the Appendix), but on 28 September 1931 his body was exhumed and reburied at Serre Road Cemetery No. 2, Grave XL. J. 14.  The exhumation report shows that he was originally buried with a locket, which was then returned to base and presumably forwarded to his family.

5. MEDALS, AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

On 6 August 1920 Tart’s British War Medal and Victory Medal were authorized, although no date of issue is shown on his Medal Index Card.  In September 1922 Cyril Tart’s British War Medal and Victor Medal were issued to his father, presumably along with his Memorial Plaque.

Figure 4. The Medal Index Card of
2^nd Lieutenant Cyril James Tart, R.E
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com) 

Figure 5.  The British War Medal and Victory Medal.
(Image from the author’s collection)

NOTE: The medals shown above are not those of 2^nd Lieutenant Tart.  They are presented here for illustrative purposes only.

Figure 6.  2^nd Lieutenant Cyril James Tart, R.E.
(Courtesy of the Tart Family Tree)

MAP 1

Figure 7. The Infantry Attack Plan, 1 July 1916. 

MAP 2

Figure 8.  32^nd Division Position (Aveluy – Authuille). 

REFERENCES: 

Books 

MIDDLEBROOK, M.  First Day on the Somme.  W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York, 1972. 

Census 

1911 Census of England and Wales. 

Civilian Documents 

1. Obituary, King Edward’s School.

2. Roll of Honour, King Edward’s School.

3. University of London Student Record, p. 219.  

Family Tree 

Ancestry.com: Cyril James Tart. 

Internet Web Sites 

1. The Long, Long Trail: The History of the 32^nd Division.

 https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/32nd-division/

2. The Long, Long Trail: Field Companies of the Royal Engineers.

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-corps-of-royal-engineers-in-the-first-world-war/field-companies-of-the-royal-engineers/

3. Lives of the First World War: Cyril James Tart.

https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/4357563

4. King Edward’s School

https://kes.org.uk/RollofHonour/biogs/tart-cyril-james.html

5. Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Cyril James Tart.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/609991/cyril-james-tart/

6. U.K. Civil Engineers List, 1818-1930.

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3787/?geo_a=r&geo_s=uk&geo_t=us&geo_v=2.0.0&o_iid=62817&o_lid=62817&o_sch=Web+Property

7. Rosyth, Fife, Scotland Dockyard Employee Book, 1892-1967.

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61425/

8.      Lists of Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_Institution_of_Civil_Engineers 

London Gazette 

1. Supplement to the London Gazette, 20 September 1915, p. 9302.

2. Supplement to the London Gazette, 19 April 1916, p. 4113.  

Military Documents 

1. Medal Index Card, Cyril James Tart.

2. Medal Index Card, Stuart George Tart.

3. Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Serre Road Cemetery, p. 104.

4. Commonwealth War Graves Commission Memorial.

5. Royal Engineers Medal Roll: British War Medal and Victory Medal (Cyril James Tart)

6. Royal Army Service Corps Medal Roll: British War Medal and Victory Medal (Stuart George Tart).

7. 219^th Field Company War Diary.  

Periodicals 

Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers.  The Royal Engineers Journals.  Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, Kent, 1925-1932.

 ENDNOTES: