J.H.Mcdade, 9th Loyal North Lancs and 12th Batt tank corps

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Finally got a bit of time to report on tracing my grandfathers war time exploits. We [the mrs and myself], spent a week in Ypres and a weekin Albert.

He was shot through the shoulder on 10th August 1917,in the attack on Westhoek, he survived, and was sent back to Englnd to recover.

When the Loyals went over the top on the 10th ,they would have gone to the front line via Jaffa Drive trench, the trench is outlined below, and in the second attachment, i was actually stood in Jaffa drive trench looking up to the front line, just short of the houses of Westhoek village., More to follow shortly,

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Heres looking up jaffa drive trench, up loader not working properly,!

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This is bellaweard ridge, looking towards Hooge, the german trenches ran along the top of the ridge, these were taken before the attack on Westhoek.

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Just to clarify the first pic, the thin blue line is jaffa trench, the maroon line is the British front line, the purple line is the German front line, and the green line is the british positions after the attack. The flags on the german side of the trenches are their strong points ,and the flags on the British side are the first aid posts,,

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The medical details for dealing with the wounded are outlined in the two maps below.

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This is the red lodge today, formerly the first aid post behind Westhoek,, then Railway Wood just in front of Bellawearde ridge

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When we were in Ypres, we stayed in the Poorthuis 'Belfry' self catering apartment. It was superb, 1 min walk from the main square, top class furnishings , plus a garage space for 10 e a day, [well worth it!!!]. V highly recommended.

Being our first visit, we visited all the usual places, Tyne cot, Yorkshire trench, hooge, but really enjoyed Hill62 and the Santuary Wood museum, i could have spent all day looking at the 3d pictures in the old periscope picture viewing machines,, some of the pictures were horrific, but made you realise the true horror of the war as you dint see these type of pictures in the war books etc.

As formy grandad, he went back to the UK, spent 2 weeks in Colchester hospital, a further couples of weeks in Waltham Abbey, then a short home leave before volunteering for the Tank Corps. He was attached to the 12 battalion , 'c' company, and was sent back to France on 27/12/17.Details and pictures of his tour of the Somme to follow,