Pte 3107 Matthew Strong B Company 1/4 Ox and Bucks

[Chris B]

Matthew, my great uncle, was in Oxford Trench which runs North from Anton's Farm, a little above Ploegsteert Wood, when shot by a sniper. He was buried that evening as the 1/4th withdrew through the wood to Romarin. The attached grave registration report from 1920 refers to finding his name on a  "memorial cross nailed to tree" at or near Rifle House Cemetery in the wood The grave was lost and he is named on the Ploegsteert Memorial.

 

[BarbaraG]

Does the note on CWGC pages for Headstone suggest there might have been a Memorial Cross??

[Chris B]

Hello Barbara 

 

My thought is that the ref to a 'memorial cross', given that this was found in 1920 nailed to a tree, indicates some type of wooden board or marker that could have been put on the grave when Matthew was buried on the evening of 27 April 1915. Rifle House, although quite a small cemetery had been in use for burials since November 1914 and was on the route through the wood that 1/4th would probably have passed on their withdrawal to Romarin that night.  A report 13 May 1915 in the Banbury Advertiser says that he was buried at 10.30 that night by his brother Fred, a corporal from B Co. and a chaplain.

 

The 1/4th returned to the area on 28 April but this time a little to the South of Oxford Trench,  from Prowse Point to the Birdcage in the wood.The OBLI Chronicle mentions heavy shelling April 30, May 1,and May 5, plus light shelling May 3 and May 4. On May 6 it mentions "A few shells round Rifle House; 1 man wounded". The shelling of the wood continues just about every day throughout May and early June when the 1/4th were redeployed North of Prowse Point before finally leaving the area on June 17.

 

Clearly he was not in a known marked grave at the time of the 1920  grave registration report and I can only assume that the position of his grave would have been obliterated at some point probably through shelling, leaving just the memorial cross near the  grave site. Alternatively, but I think much less likely,  it may be that someone, possibly his brother Fred, returned to burial site some time between 27 April, and 17 June, failed to find the grave and nailed a/the memorial cross to a nearby tree. Fred born 18 Sept 1892  survived the war, dying in June 1964. My grandmother Winifred Maud, Matthews younger sister was not aware that anyone from the family had ever visited Ploegsteert area after WW1.

 

Regards

 

Chris B