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Age-42

127, Sugden Road, Battersea

First Battle of Ypres

Between 21st October and 22nd November, 1914 a desperate fight took place around the Belgium city of Ypres, the first of three major battles that were to be fought there during the course of the war. British troops entered Ypres in October. The 1st and 2nd Divisions plus the 3rd Cavalry Division had made their way up from the Aisne as part of the “Race to the Sea”, whilst the 7th Division came west to Ypres after Antwerp had fallen. The Germans knew that Ypres was the gateway to the Channel ports and that these were vital to Britain’s war effort so they poured reinforcements into the area. The fighting fell into three distinct battles; the Battle of Langemarck, 21-24 October, the Battle of Gheluvelt, 29-31 October and the Battle of Nonne Bosschen, 11 November. Ypres did not fall to the Germans but its defence during these two months resulted in the destruction of much of the old regular British Army.

Like many other branches of the British Army, the Military Police, divided into Mounted or Foot Corps, expanded rapidly during the first World War. Each division had a contingent of Military Police attached whose  duties included traffic control and enabling manoeuvre on the battlefield, the handling of prisoners of war, the maintenance of law and order, surveillance and close protection duties. Most of their work took place behind the lines but sometimes they found themselves in the front line and the Corps suffered nearly four hundred casualties during the war.

One of these casualties was Arthur Toole who was killed, probably by shell fire, on 21st October, 1914 while at Zonnebeke near Ypres.