Duke of Cambridge's Own-Middlesex Regiment

[eastender]

Dear all

can anybody help me with the following query?

My relative a private in the 3rd Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment died of his wounds on the 07 Oct 1915.

I understand he is buried at Abbeville Communal Cemetery. Is it possible that anybody can point me in the right direction as to what battle/event could have led to his wound.

Thank you for any help that is offered,

Eastendgirl.

[Bob Coulson]

3RD Middlesex were part of 28th Division who fought at the Battle of Loos late Sept early Oct 1915.

Bob.

[bmac]

Between the 29th September and 1st October the 3/Middx were involved in heavy fighting at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, part of the Battle of Loos. They were relieved on the 1st having lost 6 officers killed, 2 wounded and 24 other ranks killed, 189 wounded and 88 missing.

Two days were spent at Beuvry and two at Annequin when they went up to the reserve trenches before moving to billets in Bas Rieux. They then spent several days digging trenches for instructional purposes.

Abbeville was an important stop on the rail evacuation routes to Le Havre, Le Treport, etc. and No. 2 and 5 Stationary Hospitals were located there. I would guess your relative was wounded in the fighting at Hohenzollern and succumbed either en route to a channel port or in one of the hospitals at Abbeville.

[eastender]

3RD Middlesex were part of 28th Division who fought at the Battle of Loos late Sept early Oct 1915.

Bob.

Thankyou for this information I had read a little about this particular battle, so I will now read some more

Kind Regards, Ann(eastendgirl)

[eastender]

Between the 29th September and 1st October the 3/Middx were involved in heavy fighting at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, part of the Battle of Loos. They were relieved on the 1st having lost 6 officers killed, 2 wounded and 24 other ranks killed, 189 wounded and 88 missing.

Two days were spent at Beuvry and two at Annequin when they went up to the reserve trenches before moving to billets in Bas Rieux. They then spent several days digging trenches for instructional purposes.

Abbeville was an important stop on the rail evacuation routes to Le Havre, Le Treport, etc. and No. 2 and 5 Stationary Hospitals were located there. I would guess your relative was wounded in the fighting at Hohenzollern and succumbed either en route to a channel port or in one of the hospitals at Abbeville.

Thankyou very much for taking the time to give me such a full reply-I had thought that this may have been the particular area of fighting, but as there were so battalions/divisions etc I was getting a little confused. Private L W E Sheppard was my mother's cousin. He was 19 when he died. His father was later killed in the London bombing in WW 2.

Kind Regards, Ann(Eastendgirl)

[bmac]

Private L W E Sheppard was my mother's cousin. He was 19 when he died.

Ann,

Pleased to be of help, there is some more detail of the fighting in the Middlesex's history if you want it.

Coincidentally my mother's cousin also died, missing on the first day of the Somme. Dreadful warning: researching what happened to him has resulted in a 470 page book!! Take care where this interest leads

[Papineau]

Unusual that he is burie at Abbeville, when he was seemingly wounded at Loos. I would have expected to find him at Bethune or Chocques.

A little bit about Loos here:

http://www.battlefields1418.com/loos.htm

and on the same site on the Middlesex:

http://www.battlefields1418.com/regiment014.htm

[bmac]

Unusual that he is burie at Abbeville, when he was seemingly wounded at Loos. I would have expected to find him at Bethune or Chocques.

Would not the evacuation railway line from Bethune then run through Abbeville via St Pol and Frevent? He did die six days after they were withdrawn from action and might have been on his way to Le Havre for repatriation.

[eastender]

Unusual that he is burie at Abbeville, when he was seemingly wounded at Loos. I would have expected to find him at Bethune or Chocques.

A little bit about Loos here:

http://www.battlefields1418.com/loos.htm

and on the same site on the Middlesex:

http://www.battlefields1418.com/regiment014.htm

Thankyou for replying, and for posting the links for further information, Ann

[Papineau]

Would not the evacuation railway line from Bethune then run through Abbeville via St Pol and Frevent? He did die six days after they were withdrawn from action and might have been on his way to Le Havre for repatriation.

It's possible of course, but beyond Bethune and Chocques, I would have presumed the next stop to be Boulogne, as far as medical arrangements are concerned? The Medical History volumes may shed some light on it. Perhaps he died of something specific, which is why he went to Abbeville; maybe the medical arrangements there offered specific treatment not widely available elsewhere?

[bmac]

The Somme I appreciate but Le Havre evacuated over 50% of casualties in the first week and even received casualties initially treated in hospitals at other evacuation points. At least in 1916 it seems to have been the evacuation port 'of choice'.