Current Information:

Age-19

22, St Paul's Place, Canonbury

Born-Holborn

By June, 1918, the British Army were flexing their muscles again and probing the German defences along the line they had reached during their attack on the Lys in April and May. One example of this was when, on the night of 14th/15th June, 9 Brigade and 76 Brigade, both of 3rd Division, carried out a surprise attack on a 2 mile front between the River Lawe and the hamlet of La Pannerie, two miles north of Béthune. It was known that the German wire was weak here and the attack, which was well supported by a machine-gun and artillery bombardment, penetrated to a depth of 450 yards, capturing all its objectives and taking 175 prisoners. It was hoped that this operation would be assisted by moonlight but clouds prevented that from happening but this did not affect its success. The enemy was clearly not expecting this attack and very little resistance was met.

4th Royal Fusiliers of 9 Brigade took part in this attack. They had moved forward to the front line from their billets in Chocques on 13th June and on the following night attacked at 11.45pm in 2 lines with a third following behind, mopping up anything that had been overlooked. As soon as the objectives had been reached the new positions were consolidated and defended. All accounts, including the Battalion Diary point out that there was only minimal opposition but nevertheless the battalion ended up with a casualty list of 11 killed and 83 wounded. William Toye was one of those who lost their lives.