Name
Frederick James Webb
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
10/08/1917
31
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Sergeant
G/4665
The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
7th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL
Panel 11 - 13 and 14.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
NA
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial,
St Mary's Church Roll of Honour (Book), Hitchin
Pre War
He was born in Guildford in Surrey, but lived in Hitchin where he enlisted in January 1915. Before joining the army he had been a Police Constable in Hitchin.
His home was at 26, Balmoral Rd, Hitchin and he was married to Florence Webb of 91, Balmoral Rd., Hitchin, Herts. They had two sons.
Wartime Service
He joined the 7th (Service) Battalion of the Regiment and was given the Regimental Number G/4665. This Battalion was one of the Kitchener Army Battalions and was formed in Guildford in September 1914. It landed at Boulogne on the 27th July 1915 and formed part of the 55th Brigade in the 18th Division of the II Corps in the 5th Army.
On the 26th September 1915 he was a private soldier and was wounded in the right shoulder at Loos and was sent to the 16th Hospital at Le Treport. After his recovery he re-joined the Battalion and within two years had been promoted to Serjeant and had taken part in various engagements. He was reported missing on the 10th August 1917 and in June 1918 it was confirmed that he had been killed in action.
On the 10th August 1917 he took part in the Third Battle of Ypres in the follow-up attacks after the Capture of Westhoek. The 7th Battalion had already been in the front line for a week and the men were exhausted. Nevertheless at 1.30am in the morning of the 10th August 1917 they were seen by German sentries crossing the morass of broken trees and mud to the ridge at Stirling Castle south east of Hooge. A little later the Battalion was attacking on a 400 yard front along the eastern edge of Inverness Copse but having been seen assembling, came under severe shell and machine-gun fire even before zero hour. This became so severe that they were likely to become enveloped and had to fall back as it proved impossible to send reinforcements to them. The casualties in just a few hours were severe with the loss of 10 officers and 272 other ranks which was more than a quarter of the fighting strength.
Acknowledgments
Adrian Dunne, David C Baines, Jonty Wild
