Lot Essay
Private P.J. Rideout was killed in action on the Somme on 13.8.1916, while serving with the 7th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment. Having endured the nightmare task of clearing the dead after 37th Brigade's failed attack on the 'First Day of the Somme' - and four days of standing in water-filled trenches - the Battalion went into action at Ovillers. Meeting 'strong fire and heavy bombing' in an assault on 12.7.1916, it sustained 169 casualties, Private Rideout among them (See Westlake's British Battalions on the Somme).