Current Information:

Born-Poplar

Caudry Old Communal Cemetery, France

Le Cateau 26^th August 1914

By the evening of the 25th August, after their withdrawal south following the Battle of Mons on 23rd August, II Corps of the BEF, commanded by General Smith-Dorrien, had reached Le Cateau, in France. They had been retreating, but still fighting rearguard actions for two long days and they were done in. The Commander-in-Chief, Sir John French ordered them to continue the next day but Smith-Dorrien chose instead to stand and fight.  He reasoned that with the Germans on their heels a retreat would be disastrous without first halting the enemy advance. So, on the next day II Corps turned and faced the enemy. The town of Le Cateau saw little of the actual fighting on 26th August, the main actions taking place along the line of the road running between Le Cateau and Cambrai. A fierce battle ensued when the Germans began an artillery bombardment at dawn. Their infantry followed up in the wake of this barrage and became the targets of both the British artillery and infantry. The Germans were held at bay until the afternoon but by then they were threatening the flanks of II Corps which withdrew, whilst the enemy reorganised. British casualties for the day, killed, wounded or taken prisoner, were nearly 8,000.

During the evening 26th August the11th Hussars of 1 Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division sent out patrols to discover if here were any enemy troops along the route down which II Corps were retreating and clashed with German cavalry patrols while other elements of 11th Hussars came under shell-fire near Busigny station. Herbert Hull was one of their casualties. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission have recorded the date of his death as 21st Nov 1915 but by then, 11th Hussars were in billets some distance behjind the lines at Bayenghem. In addition he is buried in a cemetery close to Le Cateau.