Current Information:

Born-Deptford

5th Division, which included the 1st Royal West Kent battalion of 13 Brigade, had been heavily involved in the Battle of La Bassée for most of October, 1914, but on the 1st November, when they were hoping for some well earned rest, they were instead sent north to the Messines Ridge, to the south of Ypres in Belgium, where I Corps of the British Army was being hard pressed by relentless enemy attacks and desperately in need of assistance. The villages of Messines and Wytschaete had already been captured by the Germans so 1st Royal West Kent moved up in support of the cavalry who were forming a new defensive line, They spent most of the first two weeks of November either in support trenches or in billets in Neuve Eglise and although not in the front line, they suffered some casualties from the heavy shelling that they had to contend with on a daily basis. One of these was William Page who was killed on 11th November.