John Elson Carpenter, Private 29037, 7th Ballation, Somerset Light Infantry was with the 20th Division, British 5th Army and died on Saturday 23rd March 1918, probably between Jussy and St Simon, on the south-west bank of the St Quentin canal. The memorial at Pozières (500m south-west of Pozières on the Albert-Pozières road, D929) commemorates the missing soldiers of the 4th and 5th Divisions of the British Army in 1918 and records the names of over 14000 soldiers who have no known grave. These are engraved on over 100 panels, arranged by Army unit. John Elson Carpenter's name appears on the top half of panel 26, with other privates of the Somerset Light Infantry. The officers appear on the bottom half of panel 25. Taken from History of the 20th Division, Chapter 11, p240, "German Offensive on Somme": Many soldiers of the 7th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry were trapped by the Germans on the SW bank of the St. Quentin canal, between Jussy and St Simon, on 23rd March 1918. The Germans were pushing the British army westwards towards Amiens and on 23rd March, they burst across the canal at Jussy, at the junction of the 20th and 14th Divisions and came up behind the Somersets, isolating them from the 7th battalion headquarters, which fell back towards Annois. Of the four Companies of the Somersets, three were stranded by the canal and one escaped to Annois. "The three companies on the canal were eventually surrounded, but they fought on until all ammunition and bombs were spent before the survivors fell into the hands of the enemy."
David John Carpenter