PAUL Morrisoe has a list of names.

Eighteen men of the Herefordshire Regiment pitched by fate into one of the most brutal fights of the First World War.

Sgt Charles William Davies, Pte W King, Pte Harry Price, Pte Alec Lewis, Pte Harry Wilkins, Pte S Cowdell, Pte C Cowdell, Pte Frank Tarbath, Pte T Williams, Pte D Owens
Pte E Nicholas, Pte H Smith, Pte C Bedell, Pte A Haines, Pte C Haynes, Pte J Seager, LCpl G Bounds, Pte T Brookes.

Paul needs to know more about these men so he can salute them a century on.

As founder of Wheels on the Western Front, Paul is ready to make next year’s ride personal, driven by the spirit  of those 18 men on his list - and the others with them he is still to know.

Wheels on the Western Front began in 2014 with Paul’s idea of  cycling to the front to raise money for charity.

The ABF, The Soldiers' Charity liked the idea and worked with Paul to create an event which raised £122,000 last year.

Next year it will raise money as a commemoration of the Somme. Another ride is planned in 2018 to mark the Armistice.

Paul, long interested in links  between his home county and the Battle of the Somme, had little to work with until he came across the story of Redan Ridge in a book called “Redan Ridge the Last Stand” by Herefordshire author Peter Weston.

In September 1916, over 200 men from the 3rd Battalion of the Herefordshire Regiment were transferred to the 11th Borderers to make good losses from the initial attacks of the Somme campaign.

Within weeks, 54 of those Herefords would perish in the final battle of the 1916 Somme operation fought on Redan Ridge.

The site of that fight is near a village called Beaumont Hammel and operation was to capture the two German trenches known as Munich and Frankfurt.

An initial attack went well and Munich trench was taken, but taking Frankfurt proved too much and a German counter attack pushed the British back to their own lines cutting off 120 men - which would have probably included some of these men from the Herefordshire Regiment attached to the Borderers, in Munich trench.

These men held out against an entire German brigade for eight days, when they eventually surrendered only 15 were able to walk out - hungry, shell shocked and out of  ammunition.

“I feel that the men from Herefordshire should be honoured by the County. Next year Wheels on the Western Front will pass Redan Ridge and I would like to lay a wreath there in honour of these fallen heroes,” said Paul.

“It would be interesting to find out if there are any surviving relatives of those who fought at Redan Ridge and find out what they know about their relatives, and if they would like to contribute towards the cost of a wreath.

“It would also be welcomed if the people of Herefordshire would like to support the event either by sponsorship or by joining as a cyclist,” he said.

Last year, on the centenary of the start of  the war, 54 cyclists, Paul included, cycled 350 miles in five days from Wellington Barracks London to Compiegne, France, where the armistice was signed – raising and amazing £122,000.

Next year’s Somme ride will follow the route of Kitchener’s new 4th Army.

The target is 100 cyclists raising £250,000 between them.

- Relatives of the Herefords at Redan Ridge can contact Paul on Email paul.morrisroe@live.co.uk or 07904 362684

To sponsor Paul go to www.justgiving.com/Paul-Morrisroe1/

For more on the event or to register as a cyclist visit: www.greenjerseycycling.co.uk/somme-cycle

Information on ABF The Soldiers’ Charity at: www.soldierscharity.org