LCpl F Fisher VC; 13th Battalion (Quebec Regt) Canadian Expeditionary Force,KIA 24th April 1915 and Pte P McDonnell;2nd Battalion The Royal Dublin Fusiliers,KIA 26 April 1915

LCpl Fred Fisher VC

An extract from “The London Gazette,” No. 29202, dated 22nd June, 1915, records the following:-”On 23rd April, 1915, in the neighbourhood of St. Julien, he went forward with the machine gun, of which he was in charge, under heavy fire, and most gallantly assisted in covering the retreat of a battery, losing four men of his gun team. Later, after obtaining four more men, he went forward again to the firing line and was himself killed while bringing his machine gun into action under very heavy fire, in order to cover the advance of supports.” For this he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the first Canadian soldier of the war to do so.

This man,bravest of the brave,is remembered on Panels 24-26-28-30 of the Menin Gate Memorial.

View form Menin Gate Memorial.May 09

Private Peter McDonnell

The McDonnell brothers from Dublin suffered a poignant and sad fate.Peter (42) was killed by shellfire near St Julien on 26 April 1915,while his brothers John(22) and Patrick(32) were killed while fighting side by side at Mouse Trap Farm on 24 May 1915.

Peter is listed on Panels 44 and 46 of the Menin Gate Memorial. 

Major TP Lees;9th Battalion The London Regt (Queen Victoria’s Rifles), KIA 21 April 1915 and Second Lieutenant HG Morris; 2nd Battalion The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry,KIA 23 April 1915

Major Thomas Prior Lees

As he lead a small carrying party towards Hill 60 on the 21st of April 1915 Major Lees met a platoon of Bedfords who had been forced from their position.Lees’ own men were not fully equipped for battle,they had no bayonets,but he realised the situation was critical and so rallied the remnants of the Bedfords with his own troops and set about recovering the taken trench.The venture was successful but Lees was killed by the enemy who were less than 10 yards away.

His Commanding Officer ,Colonel Shipley,wrote to his family “He died like a hero,having retaken and made good a position of primary importance… I believe his death to have been instantaneous,as he had a bullet mark through the head and was wounded on the chest.His gallant charge is as he would have wished it, to the assistance of the Bedfords (Lees was a native of Bedford). The last words I heard him speak as he led his company off into the trenches were, “Now remember,if any one is wounded the others  must carry on,not stop with him; if I am hit,go on….”

He is remembered on Panel 54 of The Menin Gate Memorial.

View of ramparts and moat from Menin Gate Memorial.May 09

Second Lieutenant Henry Gage Morris

On the 22nd of April the Germans began their second offensive of Ypres.Using poison gas for the first time the German 2nd Army had punched a massive hole in the northern flank of The Salient.This gap was between the French at Boesinghe and the Canadians at Polecappelle.It seemed as if the road to Ypres and therefore the Channel Ports lay open.

Sealing the gap meant a series of counter-attacks and bloody battles between St Julien and the Yser Canal and it was during these that 17 year old Henry Morris was killed.He is listed on Addenda Panel 58 of the Menin Gate Memorial

Pte F Sharp;1st Battalion The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent) Regiment,KIA 17 April 1915 and Pte FJ Blake;1st Battalion,The Bedforshire Regiment,KIA 19 April 1915

Private Frederick Sharp

On 17 April 1915 the British attacked Hill 60 with a view to taking the position.At 1905 local time 5 mines were detonated under the summit and as the debris settled C Coy of the 1st Royal West Kents attacked the hill,cheering as they went.

The hill and the positions there-upon had been almost demolished by the mines and the British quickly took the trenches and set about preparing their own defences.Sgt Stroud of  C C oy takes up the story: “We met with almost no resistance when we got into the German trenches,the effect of the explosions having killed or stunned the enemy.We found a German officer partly buried and some of the men at once began to dig him out.He rewarded them,when released,by drawing his revolver and shooting one of them.Needless to say he met his just desserts.”

The records of The Royal West Kents show only one casualty with a date of death of 17 April 1915: Pte Frederick Sharp.It must be assumed that he was the unfortunate Good Samaritan of Hill 60.His name is now commemorated on Panels 45 and 47 of The Menin Gate Memorial.

The Menin Gate Memorial, May 09

Private Francis James Blake

Hill 60 was barely bigger than a football field and at one point the Germans brought more than 500 guns to bear upon it.That units not only survived but fought in this hell is astonishing.

One such unit was the 1st Bedfords.They fought to hold Hill 60 during the 19th,20th and 21st of April 1915.Reduced to a fighting reserve of just 20 men they ran forward to support the line and almost certain annihalation.One of their officers,a Lt Webb, was heard to cry out:  ”Anyway it will be a glorious death.”

The 1st Bedfords lost 421 men killed,wounded and missing on the slopes of Hill 60.One of those was Francis Blake from Luton who had been killed by a shell on the morning of the 19th of April.His name can be seen on Panels 31 and 33 of The Menin Gate Memorial.

Private Alexander Russell;1st/9th Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders,KIA 8 April 1915 and Corporal William Patterson;1st Regiment South African Infantry,KIA 10 April 1918

Pte Russell

Born in 1871 in Perthshire, Alexander Russell had enlisted in 1900 in The Black Watch and fought in the Boer War.At the end of 1902 he was declared unfit for further service overseas and invalided back to the Regimental Depot in Perth.He was finally discharged in 1912 and sought employment in the Singer Works in Kilbowie.However he maintained ties with military life by signing up as a piper with the Dumbartonshire Territorials.

When war broke out in 1914 he immediately enlisted again,this time into the Argylls. As a piper, he would also have been employed by his battalion as a medic and while bravely attending to a wounded comrade in No Man’s Land he was himself shot and killed.This brave man is remembered on Panels 42 and 44 of The Menin Gate Memorial.

The Menin Gate Memorial,May 2009

Cpl Patterson

William Patterson was a veteran of the South African Brigade. He had served throughout the war,being wounded in the slaughter at Delville Wood and had also survived the disaster at Marrieres Wood.

Unfortunately he did not survive the Battle of the Lys.He was killed leading his men near the entrance to Messines village. His name is listed on Panels 15,16 and 16a of The Menin Gate Memorial

Private A Duncan;Manitoba Regiment,Canadian Expiditionary Force,KIA 5 April 1916 and Rifleman HG Adams;1st/18th(Irish)Battalion,The London Regiment,KIA 7 April 1917

Private A Duncan

After a series of attacks in the period 27 March – 3 April the British forces had finally secured a position which provided observation of the German lines.However this position was very precarious and the job of improving the defences fell to the 6th Brigade of the 2nd Canadian Division.The scene was hellish with no continuous trenches,no parapets,water,mud and dead and wounded British soldiers all around.

From the 4th of April the Canadians were shelled incessantly and their losses were one man in two. By the 5th of April the situation had become extremely critical,the 27th Battalion had virtually ceased to exist and the 28th were sent to relieve them.As they did the Germans struck and in less than 3 hours they had recovered all the ground they had lost between 27 March and 3rd April.

The Canadians lost 1373 men in a 14 day period in early April 1916,among them Private A Duncan.He is remembered on Panels 24,26,28 and 30 of The Menin Gate Memorial

Menin Gate Memorial,Feb 09

Rifleman HG Adams

Following a highly successful raid on German positions opposite Ravine Wood on 20 February 1917 a similar operation was planned on the 7th of April.However the Germans had learned their lesson and were not about to allow a repeat.

As the 18th London Irish attacked in the Hill 60 sub-sector the Germans began shelling them and soon brought up reserve troops.The casualties from the resultant fighting were heavy on both sides and while the Irish did manage to capture 18 prisoners they did so at a cost of  160 officers and men. One of those men was Henry George Adams from Rotherhithe,whose name can be seen on Panel 54 of the Menin Gate Memorial.

Second Lieutenant GGD Boddy;4th Battalion The Royal Fusiliers,KIA 28 March 1916 and Private HA Southgate DCM;2nd Battalion The Suffolk Regiment,KIA 30 March 1916

Second Lieutenant Boddy

During the attack on St Eloi the 4th Royal Fusiliers were caught by heavy machine gun fire as soon as they left their parapets. They were also hampered by massive craters which had been left by the mines detonated prior to the attack.The Fusiliers veered off course as a result and the attack became very disjointed. Lieutenant George Boddy was killed in the initial assault.His name is now listed on Panels 6 and 8 of the Menin Gate Memorial.

Menin Gate Memorial, Feb 09

Private Hiram Ashford Southgate DCM

As the 2nd Suffolks attacked near St Eloi they realised that part of a trench on the right edge of their sector was still held by the Germans.Lieutenant HP Gardam led a party of bombers to clear this but after 20 yards came under heavy machine gun fire and were repulsed.

Private Southgate,recently awarded the DCM,attempted to storm the main barricade in the position but was cut to pieces almost instantly.Hiram Ashford Southgate is now listed on Panel 21 of the Menin Gate Memorial.

Private Walter Green;1st Battalion The Wiltshire Regiment,KIA 12 March 1915 and Lieutenant Charles McKinnon Thompson;1st Battalion The Northumberland Fusilier,KIA 27 March 1916s

Walter Green,Panel 53, The Menin Gate Memorial

Private Green

The 1st Wiltshires, along with the 3rd Worcesters,were part of the first major offensive of the war at Neuve Chappelle .They were to attack Spanbroek Mill at Wijtshaete.On the morning of the 12th of March the British guns were unable to observe their own fire due to the misty conditions.As a result the bombardment was postponed but then the mist began to clear.

However favourable reports of advances to the south at Neuve Chappelle ensured that the attack would go ahead.As the 2 battalions rose from the trenches and waterlogged positions they were massacred by machine gun fire.A small party of the Worcesters made it into German positions but had to abandon them later that night.The Wiltshires never made it that far.

The Worcesters lost 47 killed,99 wounded and 32 missing. The Wiltshires lost 29 killed,45 wounded and 12 missing.

One of those killed was Walter Green of Wallop near Salisbury.Walter had survived the Boer War but was killed in the mire at Spanbroekmolen.His body was found and buried nearby by his comrades but lost in later fighting.  His name is  recorded on Panel 53 of the Menin Gate Memorial.

Last Post Plaque,Menin Gate Memorial

Lieutenant McKinnon

General Plumer ,Commander of the 2nd Army,decided that an attack should be made to recover the Bluff which had been lost on 14 February 1916.The units which were ordered to accomplish this were the 4th Royal Fusiliers and the 1st Northumberlands.

At 0415 on the 27th of March six mines were blown under the German positions which the 2 British units soon rushed.The position was taken quickly thanks to the dazed state of the defenders but the Germans were masters of recovering quickly and counter-attacking. The vicious fight soon became a battle of hand-grenades and bomb throwing.Eventually the Northumberlands  repulsed the Germans and hold their hard fought positions.

Among this killed was Lieutenant Charles Thompson,he had been killed in the bomb fighting around the mine craters.His name is listed on Panels 8 and 12 of The Menin Gate Memorial.

Lieutenant HG Evan-Jones;1st Battalion The Welch Regiment, KIA 16 February 1916 and Private HJ Smith;7th Battalion The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry KIA 10 March 1916

Hilary Gresford Evan-Jones, KIA 16 February 1915

Lieutenant Evan-Jones

Joining the Welch Regiment in October 1910 and promoted to Lieutenant in November 1911 Evan-Jones served with the 1st Battalion in England,The Mediterranean and India. He fought at the front with his battalion from January 1915 and was killed in action near Ypres on 16 February 1915. He had greatly distinguished himself as a bomb thrower. Writing home to his family in a letter before he was killed he gave this account:

“I made 2 expeditions by myself with some bombs,which I dropped into the German trenches. During my first one,I met a German gentleman,apparently on the same job as myself.My revolver accounted for him all right. We were only about 2 feet apart.I think,if anything,I am rather enjoying myself. Cold feet are the worst part of the show,but my men are such rippers,it makes up for lots.I hate having them hit,though otherwise its quite cheery.I had a singsong in my trench the other evening,which rather annoyed the Germans.I have been favourably reported for going out and throwing those bombs.It was really quite a simple thing to do,and I think people are making rather an unnecessary fuss about it all. “

Hilary Gresford Evan-Jones’ name is listed on Panel 37 of The Menin Gate Memorial.

Menin Gate Memorial,February 2009

Private Smith

From the regimental history of the DCLI:

“Life in the trenches during March was horrible. The weather did its best to make things utterly miserable – frost,rain,sleet and snow coming alternately.After heavy snow had fallen,the sun would come out and melt it,filling the trenches with snow water.The enemy was also extremely active…As an instance of the damage done bu his shellfire,a machine gun and its whole team – with the exception of an NCO, who is reported to have wandered “dazed and wounded” into the lines of another unit ,was buried by the burst of a shell on 10 March”.

Harold James Smith,a 23 year old factory worker from Birmingham,lies entombed in the muddy fields of The Ypres Salient.His name is recorded on Panel 20 of The Menin Gate Memorial. 

Private S Riley;10th Battalion The Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment),KIA 14 February 1916 and Private A Miles;7th Battalion,The Lincolnshire Regiment,KIA 15 February 1916

Menin Gate Memorial at night,February 2009

Private Riley

The 10th Battalion of The Sherwood Foresters left their billets in the Ramparts on the 13th of February 1916 when it moved to positions north-east of the Ypres Commines Canal.On the 14th of February the Germans shelled these positions and at 1740 hours exactly they detonated a mine under trench 31.

Sam Riley was killed instantly by the explosion but his body was recovered by his friend Private Charlesworth;sadly it was lost in later fighting and Sam’s name is now upon Panels 39 and 41 of the Menin Gate Memorial.

Private Miles

From “Rutland and the Great War”:

Alfred Miles,son of Mr and Mrs Harry LE Miles of Belmisthorpe,he was born at Selston,Notts on 30 June 1893. The family came to Belmisthorpe in 1900 and he was educated at Ryhall and the Stamford Endowed Schools. He was apprenticed in June 1909 to Messrs Blackstone of Stamford as an ironmonger and completed his apprenticeship on 30 June 1914. He enlisted on 4th September, a month after the war broke out,and trained at Tulworth Bovington,in Dorset,and in Winchester. He went to the front on July 14tb 1915 and took part in the trench warfare then being carried on. He was killed on the 15th of Ferbruary 1916 under the following circumstances as narrated by Lieut. AWS Cowie,formerly classic master at Stamford Grammar School,who performed one of the unrecorded acts of bravery in trying to assist Pte Miles after he received his mortal wound,and was himself shot in the shoulder whilst with him,but managed to get to a dressing station. The 7th Lincolnshires had been holding what was known as International Trench,and were relieved by another regiment. A few hours later the trench was captured by the Germans,mainly through the explosion of mines,and the 7th Lincolnshires were recalled to retake the trench. After fierce fighting they were so reduced in number that it was necessary to call for reinforcements, and Pte Miles was sent with a message to headquarters. In order to get there as quickly as possible,it was necessary to go along a trench which was dominated by enemy snipers posted on a high embankment called The Bluff,on which were a number of snipers who could fire straight in the trench.Pte Miles kept steadily on his way until he came to a part of the trench which had been blown in by the terrific bombardment,and it was whilst climbing over the debris which filled the trench that he was shot,dying later that day.Beyond the attempt of Lt Cowie,his comrades were unable to render any assistance owing to the sniper’s fire. When a party could eventually recover the body,they had to bury him in the trench where he fell.

Sadly,Alfred Miles’ body was lost forever and his name is listed on Panel 21 of the Menin Gate Memorial.

Lieutenant OJ Addyman;1st Battalion The East Yorkshire Regiment,KIA 4 February 1915 and Private W Nunn;1st Battalion The Suffolk Regiment,KIA 5 February 1915

Menin Gate Memorial,February 2009

Lieutenant Addyman

The Palingbeek Nature Reserve is now located in the area of The Bluff where there was a stretch of trench known as International Trench.This was so named because of the the many different nationalities of soldiers who lay rotting in the trench walls or were beneath its duckboard floor.The 1st East Yorks were ordered to take this position but before the attack even started a shell plunged into C Coy HQ,killing Oscar Haddyman and also Captain Wilkinson.

Oscar James Addyman was buried nearby but after the war his body could not be located so his name is now on Panels 21 and 31 of The Menin Gate Memorial.

Private W Nunn

Private Nunn has the unfortunate distinction of being the first battle casualty suffered by the 1st Suffolks during the Great War. He had the back of his head shot out by a sniper at Verbrandenmolen while he was making breakfast.His name is listed on Panel 21 of The Menin Gate Memorial.