Number of battles

[Boreenatra]

Not WW1, but has anyone seen more than 14 battles on a headstone. This is at Hatfield Peverel. Regards Steve.

[Take on me]

That is a lot of battles! Reminds me of Chaucer's Knight, always fighting. Getting back to the Great War a British soldier of the original BEF might fight at Mons, Le Cateau, the Marne, the Aisne, First Ypres, Second Ypres, Neuve Chappele, Aubers Ridge, Loos, the Somme, Arras, Third Ypres, the March 1918 German Offensive, the April Flanders Offensive, the Champagne Offensive and the numerous battles of the Hundred Days (Amiens, Hindenburg Line, Sambre etc). That is easily over 14 battles and you have to add the intermittent trench raids that went on throughout the Western Front even when a major battle was not in progress. Such a record would be quite astonishing and almost impossible, but the BEF was a very large army by 1918 so it might just be possible.

Equally a French or German soldier could have a similar record, although one could add Artois and Champagne in 1915 as well as Verdun to the list. Yet I doubt that there was anybody who could have fought in all.

Does anybody know of such a warrior?

JGM

[Graham Stewart]

Tremendous - the 5th of Foot, which later was to become the Northumberland Fusiliers.

"Quo Fata Vocant"

Graham.

[Graham Stewart]

These would have been very familiar to him.

Graham.