Current Information:

Age-21

Enlisted-London

Bailleul Communal Cemetery, France

The Race to the Sea - September-October 1914

By the middle of September 1914, the Aisne battlefield had stagnated into trench warfare and in order to break this impasse, both sides tried to outflank each other in a general movement northwards. Moving up through Picardy, Artois and Flanders, the race was over by 19th October when the North Sea was reached. The Western Front, a line of trenches stretching from Belgium to Switzerland, was now a reality. Initially it was the French army that conducted this movement whilst the British Expeditionary Force remained on the Aisne but by 6 October British reinforcements were needed to help beat off German attacks around Lille. They moved north and along with reinforcements from Britain, they took up new positions in Flanders, on the left of the Allied line and much closer to the Channel ports.

The 1st Lifeguards, of 7th Cavalry Brigade, 3rd Cavalry Division made their way north from the Aisne and by mid-October were operating near the village of Osstnieuwkerke, a few miles north-east of Ypres. On 19th October they advanced towards the Staden-Roulers railway line near Hooglede but as they approached the railway and a level crossing they came under heavy fire which forced them to retire. At 5am on the following day, 20th October, they marched to form a line at Westroosebeke but with the enemy artillery again proving to be too strong the brigade fell back to St Julien and Poelcapelle. Frederick Moore died from wounds on 21st October  but it is not known exactly when he was wounded.