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Tyne Cot Memorial
The Memorial forms the North East boundary of Tyne Cot Cemetery, Passchendaele, West Flanders some 6 miles North East of Ypres. The Memorial takes the form of a semi-circular wall with three apses of which the central one is a Memorial to the men of New Zealand who fell in October 1917. The Tyne Cot Memorial commemorates almost 35,000 men lost in the Ypres Salient from 15th August 1917, some 33,707 British and one Newfoundlander and 1,179 New Zealanders. The names are inscribed in panels listed under the Regiment in which the casualty served, the Regiments following the order of precedence, under the title of each Regiment by ranks and under each rank alphabetically. First come Commands and Staff, Marines and Navy, Cavalry and Yeomanry Regiments, Artillery and Engineers, then the Foot Guards and Infantry and other Corps and Services. The Memorial was designed by Sir Henry Baker with sculpture by Joseph Armitage and F V Blundstone being unveiled by Sir Gilbert Dyett in July 1927.
Commemorated here and on the listed Village War Memorial
Brinklow Village Memorial
Private Archer Colledge
2/8th Royal Warwickshire Regiment
Killed in Action 3rd September 1917
Churchover Village Memorial
Private Harry Richard Hirons
199th Company Machine Gun Corps
Killed in Action 10th October 1917
Pailton Village Memorial
Private Alfred Hill
1/5th Battn Royal Warwickshire Regiment
Killed in Action 4th October 1917
Monks Kirby Village Memorial
Private John William Southam
8th (Service) Battn Royal Iniskilling Fusiliers
Killed in Action 16th August 1917
Wolston Village Memorial
Corporal George Chapman Yeomans
1/6th Battn Royal Warwickshire Regiment
Killed in Action 6th July 1916
Brandon Village Memorial
Private George Bostock
Machine Gun Corps
Killed in Action 26th October 1916
Commemorated here
Private No. 295442 Thomas Fitzgerald 2/4th (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers) London Regiment killed in action 26th October 1917 aged 22 years. Private Fitzgerald is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing which forms the north-east boundary of Tyne Cot Cemetery, Belgium.
Thomas Fitzgerald was the son of Patrick and Emma Fitzgerald.
In March, 1901 the family lived at 234 Rushmore Road, Clapton Park, Hackney. Patrick, a House Painter, was aged 44 and had been born in Ireland. His wife Emma was 41 born in Hackney and the children were Albert aged 10 years, Emma 8, Thomas 5 and Maurice 2 all born in Hackney. Thomas Fitzgerald’s youngest sister Florence Elizabeth was born later in 1901. Thomas enlisted at Hackney Baths whilst residing at Clapton Park. By the early 1920s Patrick and Emma Fitzgerald had moved to of 47 Overbury Street, Clapton, London.
Private Fitzgerald served first with the 19th Battalion the London Regiment, Number 5927, almost certainly the 1/19th (County of London) Battalion. St. Pancras and when serving with that Battalion he was wounded. He did not go to France until some time after the 31st December 1915 although the Battalion as part of 141st Brigade, 47th Division had been in France since March 1915. Whilst serving with the 1/19th as part of the reorganisation of Territorial Force numbering, his service number changed to No. 612246. Probably after recovering from his wound, Private Fitzgerald was transferred to the 4th Battalion of the London Regiment, in fact the 2/4th (City of London) Battalion, being allocated No. 295442.
The Battalions in the first line of the London Regiment went to France at varying dates eventually becoming part of the 56th Division which assembled in France in February 1916. The first second line battalions served mainly in the 2/1st London Brigade as part of 2/1st London Division but in April 1915 the 173rd (3rd/1st) Brigade was formed to replace the 2/1st Brigade. The original 2/1st, 2/2nd, 2/3rd and 2/4th Battalions were disbanded by June 1916 having served in Malta, Gallipoli from October 1915 then Egypt. On disbandment the 3/4th Battalion of the London Regiment became the 2/4th and was in consequence part of 173rd Brigade 58th Division.
The 2/4th Battalion of the London Regiment was therefore, in 1917, part of the 173rd Infantry Brigade in the 58th Division, a second line Territorial Force. The other battalions in the Brigade were the 2/1st, 2/2nd and 2/3rd. The 174th and 175th Brigades made up the Division which had been warned to depart for France in January 1917 units crossing from England from the 20th January 1917 concentrating at Lucheux south west of Arras on the 8th February 1917. Battalions from the Division were attached to units of the 46th (North Midland) Division at Gommecourt for trench instruction. The first major engagement for the 173rd Brigade, and especially the 2/4th Battalion, was in mid May 1917 at the Battle of Bullecourt. The Brigade was consolidating the old Australian position to the east of Bullecourt and was subjected to continuous German shelling. The operations report of the Brigade refers to very heavy shelling of front and support lines on the night of the 13th May, heavy bombardment of the British front lines with shrapnel and high explosive throughout the 14th, all Signal communications being broken by a direct hit on the signal dug-out which killed the personnel and destroyed all instruments so that all communications had to be by runners. The Division’s involvement ended on the 17th May suffering casualties of 85 officers and 1,853 men.
From the 1st August 1917 to the 23rd August the 2/4th Battalion was concentrated in the area between St. Pol to the North, Doullens to the South and Arras to the East at Izel le Hameau, Denier and Ambrin primarily training although Brigade sports were enjoyed on the 18th and 20th the Battalion winning the Brigade cup. Drafts of Other Ranks arrived and then on the 24th August the Battalion marched to Aubigny North West of Arras and entrained for the Ypres Salient arriving at Poperinghe on the morning of the 25th August to march to Dirty Bucket Camp, one of the largest camps in the Salient with huts and tents covering several square miles, the camp being East of Poperinghe and West of Vlamertinghe with the period to the end of the month being devoted again to training.
The Third Battle of Ypres was the major British offensive in Flanders launched on 31 July 1917 and continued until November. The ultimate aim was the destruction of German submarine bases on the Belgian coast but encouraged by the success on the 7th June 1917 when the 2nd Army smashed the ‘impregnable’ German defences along the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge General Sir Douglas Haig believed that the German Army was close to collapse and prepared for a conventional breakthrough attempt. The Battle was not designed merely to rob the Germans of command of the high ground surrounding the salient by capturing the immediate ridges, and Passchendaele Ridge and Klerken Ridge beyond that, but to thrust north-east to Roulers and Thourout and then swing due north towards the Belgian coast.
After a 10 day preliminary bombardment a total of 12 divisions attacked on 31 July 1917 along an 11 mile front east of Ypres. However the Germans had had time to prepare a defence in depth and held off the main British advance around Menin Road and restricted attackers to small gains around Pilkem Ridge. Attempts to renew the offensive over the following days were hampered by pouring rain turning the Flanders lowlands into a muddy swamp so no major attacks could be made until 16th August when the Battle of Langemarck produced minor gains for the British coupled with heavy casualties. A series of small-scale advances began on the 20th September with an attack along a narrow front, the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, and two further attacks on 26 September (Polygon Wood) and 4th October (Broodseinde) established British possession of the ridge east of Ypres. These costly gains although coupled with heavy casualties led the British High Command to believe that the German defence was almost exhausted and despite worsening rain decided to continue attacks towards Passchendaele. Attacks on 9th October (Poelcapele) and 12th October (First Passchendaele) made little progress towards the Ridge as the attackers floundered in the mud. Haig persisted with three more assaults in late October on the Ridge and the operation was finally called off when Passchendaele village was seized by Canadian and British infantry on 6th November 1917.
By 30th April 1917 Haig had selected Sir Hubert Gough to conduct the Ypres offensive and 5th Army H.Q. was finally established on 1st June 1917. He was mainly responsible for the attacks from 31st July to August 1917. Failures in particular in an attack on the 16th August led to a decision to replace Gough by Sir Herbert Plumer in the key Gheluvelt Plateau sector and on the 24th August it was agreed that the Army boundaries between the 2nd and 5th Armies would be changed with all formations on the Plateau coming under Plumer’s control and until the enemy was cleared from the Plateau, Plumer would direct the general course of the campaign.
At the end of August 1917 Sir Herbert Plumer and his Chief of Staff Charles Harington delivered to GHQ the plan which envisaged a series of advances by 2nd Army of about 1500 yards until the strongpoints and woods, Nonne Boschen, Glencorse Wood, Inverness Copse, Polygon Wood and Tower Hamlets on Gheluvent Plateau was captured from the enemy. In between each step of the attack a pause of 6 days was required to bring up artillery and supplies. On the left of 2nd Army, 5th Army was to attack in a similar fashion to capture the complex of fortified farms and pill boxes on the St. Julien Spur. The line from which the attack was to be launched was some 3 miles East of Ypres running from the South below Shrewsbury Forest North to the Ypres – Staden railway when it turned North West into the area of the French First Army. The attack was to be made by Six Divisions from Second Army, 19th Division to provide flanking fire in support of 39th, 41st and 23rd Divisions, then came the 1st and 2nd Australian Divisions with the Army boundary between 2nd and 5th Armies running about half a mile below the Ypres – Roulers railway. Five Divisions from Fifth Army were to attack simultaneously, just above the Ypres – Roulers Railway the 9th then the 55th Divisions, then the 58th Division, then the 51st Division attacking approximately on the line of the Strombeek with the 20th Division providing flanking fire at the far North. The major element however was going to be the artillery, with Second Army having 575 heavy and 720 field guns for the attack on a 5000 yard front, the Fifth Army having about 300 heavy guns and 600 field guns for a similar front with a lavish supply of ammunition. The first task of the artillery was to destroy the enemy strongpoints, concrete machine-gun posts, pillboxes and fortified farmhouses and neutralize the enemy artillery. To further protect the attacking infantry there was to be both a creeping barrage and barrages ahead of the creeping barrage so that in effect the whole area to be attacked by the British forces was to be under continuous artillery fire for the duration of the attack.
The two divisions of XVIII Corps (Lieut.-General Sir Ivor Maxse) involved in the operation were the 58th Division (commanded by Major General H. D. Fanshawe) and the 51st (Highland) Division (commanded by Major General G. M. Harper) whose task was to gain a footing on the Gravenstafel and Poelcappelle spurs which ran westwards from the main Passchendaele – Staden Ridge. The 58th Division had to advance 1000 yards to capture strongpoints on the western extremity of Gravenstafel spur, the object being to secure a satisfactory “jumping off” place for an attack against Poelcappelle, and to secure positions in the valley of the Steenbeck from which artillery could cover that attack. The 51st Division, attacking to the North of the 58th Division, had to gain a footing on the Poelcappelle spur. Attacking to the South of 58th Division was the 55th (West Lancashire) Division from V Corps (Major General H. S. Jeudwine).
All attacking formations received extensive training over models of the German defences. All were told that they had to follow a layered barrage of shrapnel, high-explosive and machine-gun fire up to their objectives which were then to be prepared for defence to face the German counter-attacks. The 2/4th Battalion had at the end of August 1917 moved to Browne Camp near Poperinghe to begin a period of training from the 1st to the 8th September. On the 1st September the Battalion’s Transport lines were shelled with 26 other ranks being wounded, one of whom later died, and 8 horses killed with 5 being wounded. On the 9th September the Battalion moved to Reigersberg Camp on the road between Brielen and Ypres about half a mile west of the Yser Canal with two Companies forming working parties on cable lines which work continued until the 12th September, the next day this work changed to carrying parties and then later on the 13th the Battalion moved to the East side of the Yser Canal Bank in Brigade support. Working parties were found from the 14th to the 17th September with 1 officer and 2 other ranks killed, and 1 officer and 5 other ranks wounded. On the 18th September the 2/4th Battalion relieved the 2/3rd Battalion in the line North East of St. Julien when the Operation Orders for the attack on the 20th September were issued. A Time Table for the intensive creeping barrage was issued with Companies to form up on an assembly line 100 yards in the rear of Springfield (a scattering of ruined houses on the road from Langemarck to Zonnebeke) to a position in the rear of Janet Farm to the south. Covering parties were to be sent out in front of the assembly positions. The first objective was about 400 yards in front and was to be attacked in three phases, the first following the barrage as close as possible was to locate any German strong points to be mopped up by the following troops. Next the Battalion was to attack The Cemetery, (on the west of the Langemarck-Zonnebeke road north of Winnipeg Cross Roads) Hebus and Winnipeg Cross Roads and the third phase required platoons to send forward covering parties whilst the remaining troops consolidated the Blue Line, the right hand company to establish a link with the 55th Division with the left company doing likewise with the 174th Brigade which had been attacking in a South East direction.
The barrage would halt for an hour before beginning again with 50 yard lifts to the Brown Line, efforts to be made to get patrols forward to occupy the ground and strengthen the position on the Ridge itself with parties to endeavour to establish a liaison post with 174th Brigade at Arbre on a track below Marine View. A Special Party consisting of a platoon from “D” Company was to move from the Blue Line under the barrage to assist with the capture of Schuler Farm by attacking the farm from the North, this party to be working with a Tank but not to wait if the Tank was delayed. The Order included locations for 4 Vickers Machine Guns, 3 in shell holes (one of these being in rear of Winnipeg Cross Roads on the road from St. Julien) and the fourth at Nebus coupled with instructions for liaison with Aeroplanes.
The preliminary artillery bombardment of the German positions began on the 13th September increasing in volume as the 20th September approached but the German forward position was of course not a single trench line but a pattern of pill-boxes, fortified shell holes and farmhouses. The bombardment did not silence all of the German guns which continued to fire on the British batteries for most of the period of the bombardment and remained to fire on the British infantry as they got ready for the actual attack and as they crossed no man’s land.
During the night of the 19th September as the troops from the assaulting brigades began to move up to the assembly positions rain began bringing to an end a three week spell of fine weather and turning the ground to mud, the shell holes beginning to fill with water.
The assembly positions for the troops from both divisions was east of the Steenbeck, between St. Julien and Langemarck, the low ground being not only muddy but also pitted with shell holes filled with water from the obstructed channels of the Steenbeck and its tributaries. From Langemarck just south of the Ypres – Staden Railway marking the boundary between the 5th Army and the French First Army the old road to Zonnebeke ran in a south- easterly direction and a small strongpoint in front of the road was an objective of a platoon from the 2/4th Battalion of the London Regiment. The platoon commander had brought his platoon forward to attack in the first wave and they had to wait for zero hour in shell-holes some 50 yards from the objective, the stench described as horrible, the place a mess of filth and slime and bones and decomposing pieces of flesh.
By 3 a.m. on the 20th September the 2/4th assembly was complete: zero hour was 5.40 a.m. when the Battalion attacked and in stark terms the War Diary simply records “all objectives taken and held. Enemy counter attacks repulsed.”
By 8.25 a.m. the Divisional objective and a favourable jumping off line for the next offensive with good observation towards Poelcappelle and up the valleys of the Lekkerboterbeek and Lauterbeek was achieved. Units from the 174th Brigade attacked moving south-eastwards up the rising ground of the Gravenstafel spur and had cleared strong-points in front of Vancouver Farm but met with resistance from Hubner Farm which was eventually outflanked, Cluster House, Clifton House and Olive House were captured and so was Wurst Farm the final objective, establishing a line of Marine View, Genoa, Hubner and Flora Cottage being consolidated with 2/4th Battalion on the right flank and 9th Royal Scots from 51st Division on the flanks. . The line had been advanced about 1,000 yards. The holding attack by the 2/4th Battalion had achieved its purpose, to attract the enemy’s attention, but the additional task given to a platoon to assist in the capture of Schuler Farm on the right boundary of the 58th Division’s sector with the help of a tank failed, as it stuck in the mud before arrival at the scene, and the platoon of infantry was held up by machine-gun fire from the farm which was not in fact captured until the next day by units from the 55th Division.
German counter-attacks were expected and about 5.30 p.m. large parties of the enemy were seen moving down the western slope of the main ridge about a mile in front of the new line of the 55th, 58th and 51st Divisions. In the 58th Division’s sector in the centre machine-gun and Lewis gun fire was opened at about 6 p.m. on the enemy about 1500 yards away estimated at about 2000 in number and their numbers were considerably thinned by rifle fire until the survivors of the German attack reached a point about 650 yards from the outposts of the British line when the artillery barrage came down causing the enemy to stampede back to their lines.
One of the casualties of the 2/4th Battalion on the 26th October 1917 was Lance Corporal William Bolton who was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The Citation in the London Gazette of 6th February 1918 records “For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He entered an enemy machine-gun emplacement and found eight of the enemy who refused to surrender. He attacked them single-handed and killed them all, capturing a machine gun. He also captured an enemy officer and one other prisoner. He showed courage and initiative of a high order.” As the attack on the 26th October failed, it is likely that it was during this action on the 20th September that William Bolton’s conduct won him the D.C.M.
In the period 20th-25th September the casualties in the 58th Division were 19 officers killed and 36 wounded, 237 other ranks killed, 773 wounded and 171 missing.
The 2/4th Battalion had 4 officers killed, 7 wounded, with 54 other ranks killed, 192 wounded and 21 missing. The four officers were attached to the 2/4th Battalion, three from the 13th and one from the 19th Battalions of the London Regiment Regiment and none have any known grave.
On the 21st/22nd September the 173rd Brigade was relieved by the 175th Brigade and the Battalion arrived at Dambre Camp on the 22nd September moving on the 27th to Drake Camp before leaving on the 30th September from Vlamertinghe to the Nordausques area, arriving on the 1st October at the village of Zouafques about 10 miles North West of St. Omer and about 8 miles West of Watten and most of the period until the 20th October was devoted to training. On the 6th October a draft of 129 Other Ranks arrived from Base (88 from the Army Service Corps) with a further draft of 62 the next day. On the 15th October four 2nd Lieutenants arrived from Base including 2nd Lieutenant Hugh Langton. On the 23rd October the Battalion moved forward again going by train to Siege Camp.
On the 4th October 1917 a relatively dry spell came to an end, the weather broke and between the 4th and 9th October 30 millimetres of rain fell, with the result that most of the actual battle area became a lake with mud beneath across which passage was only possible on wooden duckboard tracks and if men or pack animals slipped off the planks they could drown in the mud.
Nonetheless on the 4th October the 48th (South Midlands) Division took the west part of the village of Poelkapelle and on the 9th October the rest of the village itself fell to units from the 11th Division but there had been hardly any advance towards the Passchendaele Ridge and it was agreed that the attack should be renewed on the 12th October. Objectives of 2,000 – 2,500 yards were set, there was no serious preliminary bombardment and effectively no creeping barrage so the troops set off but most did not get very far, massed German machine-guns on Bellevue Spur and Crest Farm and in pillboxes causing enormous casualties whilst in particular men from the 9th Division became literally stuck in the mud and were shot. This, the First Battle of Passchendaele, was a costly disaster, some 13,000 casualties with no gain of ground.
On the 12th October General Plumer was of the view that owing to the rain and bad state of the ground operations on Second Army front should cease but at a conference at Cassel on the next day Haig announced that Second Army was to be reinforced by the Canadian Corps and Fifth Army by 1st and 63rd (Royal Naval) Divisions with the high ground about Passchendaele the next objective and with that in British hands the remainder of Passchendaele Ridge would fall. It was conceded that a long bombardment would be required and that the Canadian Corps (Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Currie) would attack the Ridge itself. General Currie made it plain that he would not launch an attack until artillery was available in force which meant a two week delay and also the Ridge being some 1,500 yards from the British front line his Corps would capture the Ridge in three 500 yard steps with intervals of 5/6 days between each of these stages.
On the 25th October 1917 the 2/4th Battalion moved from Siege Camp up to the Yser Canal Bank when its Operation Orders for the attack on the 26th October were issued. The 58th Division was to attack with one Brigade only, the 173rd, the 2/2nd and 2/3rd to capture the first objectives and the 2/4th in support the final objective being principally the high ground about Whitechapel and Papa Farm, Whitechapel being on the Poelcappelle to Spriet road and Papa Farm to the south of that road. “D” Company was to form a defensive flank “as far south as the ground would allow” towards the Lekkerboterbeek and the Divisional Boundary with the 63rd Division. Strong posts were to be constructed at Hinton and Papa Farms and at Whitechapel. The Battalion would leave the canal bank at 11 a.m. to go forward to Hurst Park to a duck board track with platoons moving forward at 10 minute intervals to a point where guides would move companies to the assembly area.
On the 25th October, with a clear sky, observation showed that the artillery had cleared many thick rows of barbed wire but the pill boxes on the Flandern line were still intact. The 3rd and 4th Canadian Divisions were tasked with taking parts of the Flandern line whilst on the flanks on the right Australian troops and on the left the 63rd and 58th and then the 57th Divisions would mount supporting attacks. A vivid description of the problems faced by the 170th Brigade from 57th Division when they attacked records “We went over with our rifles and Lewis guns bound up with flannel to keep the mud out, and with special cleaning apparatus in our pockets, but you can’t clean a rifle when your own hands are covered an inch thick!”
58th Division, now commanded by Major General A B E Cator, began its advance from East of the remains of the village of Poelcappelle, then a cluster of tree stumps, pill boxes and bits of brick sticking out of the mud with a pile of stones marking the position of the former church. The right of the line was on the Lekkerboterbeek stream with the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division attacking on the right of the 58th Division, the left of its sector being the Lekkerboterbeek, both Divisions effectively seeking to advance up the valley of that stream, a stream which had been reduced to a wide morass in the past weeks of artillery bombardments. The 173rd Brigade was the attacking Brigade with the 2/2nd and 2/3rd leading the 2/4th in support and 2/1st in reserve. By 2 a.m. on the morning of the 26th October all battalions were in position. Rain had begun to fall at midnight and continued until 540 a.m. when the advance began in heavy rain over what had become because of the bombardment of enemy positions during the previous 48 hours a mass of shell-holes flooded to a depth of several feet around which the troops had to pick a path and attempt to keep up with the creeping barrage.
The 173rd Brigade was in fact advancing into a series of machine-gun nests with the terrain so bad that troops in the leading waves sank in the mud which was always knee deep which checked progress to a crawl of less than a yard a minute, the barrage was lost, though covers were used for the rifles it was found almost impossible to fire them owing to the mud which collected on the rifles as the men fell in and out of shell-holes waist deep in water and the men fell back, if they could, to the starting line or were cut off. Even so the 2/2nd Battalion managed to capture three of the blockhouses at Cameron House. The 2/3rd advanced to Spider Crossroads on the Poelcappelle – Schaap Balle road where totally exhausted and under heavy German machine-gun fire they came to a halt. 170th Brigade from the 57th Division to the left of 173rd Brigade had been initially successful capturing Mendling and Rubens Farms but from there no fresh advance was possible because of the very heavy German machine-gun fire from all sides. When a German counter-attack developed with the left flank exposed the attacking battalions were forced back to their start line. The 2/4th London sent up in support attacked in weather and ground both being described as absolutely filthy, the objectives were not taken but “D” Company held foremost posts until also forced back. The ground gained by 63rd and 58th Divisions was “derisory” at a cost of 2,000 casualties.
The 58th Divisions losses were 5 officers killed, 28 wounded and 4 missing, with 94 other ranks killed, 561 wounded and 669 missing.
The 2/4th Battalion lost 11 officers, 2nd Lieutenant Hugh Gordon Langton being killed in action and 2nd Lieutenant Robert Ingram Richards died of his wounds on the 27th October 1917 the remainder being wounded. In Poelcappelle British Cemetery there is a total of 7,478 U.K. and Commonwealth burials of which 6,321 are unidentified but special memorials commemorate 8 casualties believed to be buried among them, one being 2nd Lieutenant Hugh Langton. Unusually the personal inscription on his headstone provided by his parents is a piece of music, he being a gifted violinist who had studied with some of the best teachers in Europe. He had only joined the Battalion on the 15th October when the Battalion was at Zouafques in the Pas-de-Calais. 2nd Lieutenant Richards has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.
The 2/4th Battalion had a total of 51 soldiers killed in action on the 26th October none of whom have any known grave and all are commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. A further 11 soldiers from the 4th Battalion were killed whilst attached to the 2/3rd Battalion of the London Regiment and another killed whilst attached to the 2/2nd Battalion and all again are commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, as set out below.
No. 295454 Private George Algar,
No. 282515 Corporal Stanley Frederick Bannister,
No. 283347 Private Henry Alfred Benge,
No. 282504 Private Albert Bishop,
No. 282051 Lance Corporal William Henry Bolton D.C.M.,
No. 283305 Private Wallace Henry Bough,
No. 295456 Lance Corporal Horace Ralph Bourne,
No. 295485 Private Herbert Charles Brightman,
No. 282125 Lance Corporal Henry Broadley,
No. 282085 Private Harold Bryce,
No. 295318 Private David Burrage,
No. 283358 Lance Corporal James Cable,
No. 283601 Private George Chilton,
No. 295320 Private George Frederick Cleaver,
No. 295422 Private Sidney Frank Collins,
No. 295473 Private Austin Jenkins Cox,
No. 295137 Sergeant William Crosby,
No. 283835 Private George Nathaniel Crouch,
No. 295354 Lance Corporal Charles Frederick Edgeworth,
No. 282399 Lance Corporal John Evans,
No. 295444 Private Walter Field,
No. 295442 Private Thomas Fitzgerald,
No. 22123 Private William Charles Flowers,
No. 282690 Private Eric Cyril Goodey,
No. 295023 Private Albert Leslie Hancock,
No. 29545 Private George Henry Hunt,
No. 281551 Lance Corporal Thomas William Major,
No. 295077 Lance Corporal Guy Philip Manwaring,
No. 280387 Private Ernest Horace Markwick,
No. 283302 Private Thomas Joseph Martin,
No. 295024 Private John William Mudd,
No. 281398 Private Joseph Mutler,
No. 281852 Private Percy Thomas Norbury,
No. 280973 Private Percy Harry North,
No. 281961 Lance Sergeant George Ewart Pattenden,
No. 295424 Private William Andrews Petrie,
No. 282498 Private Sidney Thomas Petts,
No. 280334 Private Edwin George Polley,
No. 282120 Private Charles Potton,
No. 295037 Private Albert Povey,
No. 282507 Lance Corporal John Reed,
No. 283778 Private George William Richards,
No. 282407 Lance Corporal Archibald Robinson,
No. 295513 Private Percy Roseveare,
No. 282894 Private William James Sidery,
No. 295288 Private Frank William Sims,
No. 283468 Private Hugh Maurice Skinner,
No. 283649 Private William Henry Slack,
No. 295376 Private Christopher George Smart,
No. 295356 Lance Corporal Charles William Elias Smith,
No. 283648 Private Henry Albert Smith,
No. 295516 Private Joseph Sullivan,
No. 295434 Private Arthur Frederick Taylor,
No. 283036 Henry Taylor,
No. 83388 Private William Frederick Taylor,
No. 282521 Private George Thain,
No. 283908 Private Frank Tilley,
No. 283428 Private Albert Tucker,
No. 280316 Private Ernest Turvey,
No. 295297 Private Arthur Walker,
No. 283884 Private Frederick Walker,
No. 283828 Private Leonard Webber
No. 295067 Private Willliam Joseph Wilson.
A further five soldiers from the 2/4th are buried, two No. 295493 Private Thomas James William Devonshire and No. 295341 Private Nathaniel Huitt, in Poelcapelle British Cemetery, a concentration cemetery made after the Armistice by graves from the battle-fields and three, No. 295441 Private Walter Ibotson Smith, No. 282344 Lance Corporal Frederick Charles Spencer M. M. and No. 282433 Private Henry Tarrant in Cement House Cemetery, Langemarck. Three soldiers from the 2/4th Battalion died of wounds almost certainly from the action
on the 26th October, No. 295523 Private Edward Goodwin died of wounds on the 27th October and is buried in Mendinghem Military Cemetery, as is No. 281903 Private Harry Thurlow who died of wounds on the 28th October. Mendinghem Cemetery is at Proven near Poperinghe and is one of three in the area given a name which reflects the work of Casualty Clearing Stations, the others being Bandaghem and Dozinghem. Finally on the 3rd November 1917 No. 285399 Private John Coombes died of wounds and is buried in Wimereux Communal Cemetery. The Cemetery is 3 miles North of Boulogne and was an important hospital centre.
Thomas Fitzgerald was one of those killed in action in this attack.
On the 30th October 1917 the Canadian Corps advanced 500 yards to establish a position on the southern edge of Passchendaele for the final assault whilst again on their left flank the 63rd Division and the 58th Division again made only slight progress up the boggy slope on either side of the Lekkerboterbeek. Up to their knees in mud the men were unable to follow the barrage and were caught in that of the enemy’s artillery. The 63rd and 58th Divisions sustained 2,000 casualties and no ground gained.
Of the operations on the 26th and 30th October 1917 Major General A B E Cator listed a number of reasons for failure, difficulty in maintaining communication – messages sent back by runners who got bogged down and were shot – a majority of company signallers were hit – pigeons saturated in mud and water could not fly – no contact aeroplane went out. The ground was impassable – if infantry advanced upright they were an easy target whereas if they advanced on all fours the men were exhausted in minutes. The barrage was ineffective and troops were unable to keep up with it whilst hostile machine-gun fire was very effective. The only Lewis gun which succeeded in getting into action was useless in minutes because of the mud, and for the same reason all uncovered rifles were useless, covered rifles useless in ten minutes. Neither fire nor movement was possible and any prospect of success in these conditions was nil.
Passchendaele village fell to the Canadians on the 6th November but Haig wanted more and a further attack on the 10th November resulted in a gain of 200 yards but with rain falling in torrents and with the Canadians suffering 12,000 casualties since the 26th October and no reserves Haig had no choice but to call a halt. But Passchendaele was described as a really untenable position against a properly organised attack, nothing could be done to make the line then held a really satisfactory defensive position and the British must be prepared to withdraw from it if the Germans showed signs of a serious and sustained offensive on that front.
Thomas Fitzgerald was awarded the bronze Victory and the silver British War Medal.
No. 20162 Private John William Upex 6th Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment killed in action 20th October 1917 and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, Tyne Cot Cemetery, Passchendaele, West Flanders.
John was the second son of John and Louisa Jane Upex . He was born in 1893 and in 1901 was living with his parents and 2 sisters and 3 brothers at 17 Robinsons Yard Warmington, a village between Oundle and Peterborough in Northamptonshire. In 1911 the family remained almost certainly at the same 7 roomed property in Warmington which may have been “tied” to John Upex’s job as a Farm Labourer. Harry aged 20 was working as a Contractors Labourer whilst John William was 18 and employed like his father as a Farm Labourer as was the next brother Arthur 16. The eldest son Harry died of wounds and is buried in Spy Communal Cemetery.
John enlisted in Coventry.
The Battalion landed in France on the 26th July 1915 as part of 54th Brigade, 18th Division, the other battalions in the Brigade being the 11th Royal Fusiliers, 7th Bedfordshire Regiment and 12th Middlesex Regiment.
Private John Upex landed in France on the 20th October 1915 joining the Battalion in the Somme sector in the area Meaulte/south of Fricourt.
The Division participated in the Battle of the Somme, the 6th Battalion reinforcing other battalions in the 54th Brigade in Pommiers Redoubt west of Montauban on the 1st July 1916 and remained in the sector until the 18th November 1916 in trenches near Mouquet Farm.
The Division arrived in the Ypres sector in early July 1917 going first to the neighbourhood of Dickebusch, some 3 miles SW of Ypres. On the night of the 7th July the 55th Brigade relieved units of the 30th Division in the trenches in the Sanctuary Wood area, the 54th Brigade in support went into huts at Dickebusch whilst the 53rd Brigade which was to attack on the 31st July remained in training at Steenvorde. From about the 13th July most of the troops from both the 54th and 55th Brigades were engaged in digging, fetching and carrying in the preparing of the front-line system with 9 officers being killed and 29 officers wounded, 171 other ranks killed and 655 other ranks wounded most being casualties of German shell-fire.
On the 31st July the 18th Division was in support of 30th Division and the task of the 53rd Brigade was to leap-frog the 30th Division when the first objective which included Glencorse Wood was taken but in fact the western edge of the wood was still held by the enemy. The 54th Brigade was in the rear areas around Dickebusch. The 30th Division infantry by a tragic mistake had wheeled to their left and assaulted Chateau Wood rather than Glencorse Wood so the leading units of the 53rd Brigade found themselves fighting against the fully-prepared enemy for ground which should have been taken which caused the offensive in the Glencorse Wod region to be held up for several days.
On the 10th August the Division was again to attack using the 55th and 54th Brigades in the general Glencorse Wood area when the 7th Bedfordshire took Glencorse Wood but the marshy and muddy ground meant only isolated posts could be established. The Division was relieved on the 13th August by the 56th Division except for the 53rd Brigade which remained in the front line sector until the night of 17/18thAugust 1917 when the Division was back in the Wormhoudt area for recreation and baths.
In early October 1917 the 18th Division went back to the front line but this time in the area of Poelcapelle which had been the site of severe fighting so that by the 4th October the 48th (South Midland) Division had taken the western part of the village and on the 9th October the 11th Division fought their way up the main street passing the church which had enough stones left one upon another to be a conspicuous object amid the cluster of rubbish-heaps once the homes or shops of the long-evicted inhabitants to capture the rest of the village. There were no front trenches just a zigzag of scattered shell-holes and the only way to cross the oozy wilderness was to follow the tracks of semi-submerged duckboards.
The 18th Division was to attack on the 12th October and on the night of the 10th October the 55th Brigade led the way forward to relieve the 32nd Brigade of the 11th Division. On the 11th October it rained all day and at 5.20 a.m. on the 12th October the British barrage opened but was met with a German counter barrage. The 55th Brigade was to lead the attack with the 53rd Brigade behind in support, advancing with the left on the southern outskirts of the remains of Poelcappelle attacking in an Easterly direction to secure German strong points including Meunier House and Tracas Farm. The attack failed mainly because of the dreadful conditions so bad that many men stuck in the mud and were too exhausted to reach the lining-up tape. As well the German barrage was much heavier on the south side of the village and there was withering machine gun fire from the German strongholds at The Brewery to the East of Poelcappelle on the road to Spriet and from Helles House to the north east of the Brewery. “The volume and intensity of the machine-gun fire encountered ….. were far heavier than on any recent battle day.”
18th Division was to renew the attack on the 22nd October with the 53rd Brigade, the objective being the Brewery. While the 53rd Brigade prepared for the next assault the Divisional Artillery pounded away at the enemy and units of the 54th Brigade remained in the sector south east of Poelcappelle but both were shelled at every hour and towards the 20th October the artillery duel between British and German became more intense, on the 17th the Germans put down a 15 minute barrage every hour from 4 a.m. until dawn.
In the period between the 12th and the 22nd October 1917 the Battalion’s casualties Private John Upex apart were 11 of whom 3 were killed in action and the remaining 8 died of wounds.
No. 17083 Private Charles Braggins died of wounds on the 19th October 1917 and is buried in Mendinghem Military Cemetery.
No. 43314 Private Albert Lester Dawson died of wounds on the 19th October 1917 and is buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery.
No. 48319 Private Albert Edward Edwards died of wounds on the 19th October 1917 and is buried in Minty Farm Cemetery.
No. 32268 Private David Gentry died of wounds on the 21st October 1917 and is buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery.
No. 25444 Private Frank Albert Groom died of wounds on the 20th October 1917 and is buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery.
No. 24438 L/Corporal Frederick Edward Harper died of wounds on the 21st October 1917 and is buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery.
No. 10261 Private Frank Geoffrey Hood was killed in action on the 18th October 1917 and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.
No. 13140 Private James Miners died of wounds on the 21st October 1917 and is buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery.
No.40890 Private Clarence John Smith was killed in action on the 20th October 1917 and is buried in Poelcapelle Military Cemetery.
No. 204798 Private John Ward died of wounds on the 2st October 1917 and is buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery.
No. 40493 Private Charles Henry Woodman was killed in action and is buried in Cement House Military Cemetery.
Private John Upex was probably killed by German shelling. He was awarded the Victory and British War Medals and the 1915 Star.
The 18th Division’s 53rd Brigade attacked on the 22nd October 1917 and then on relief moved North to the Houthulst Forest area north of Ypres.
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