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Enlisted-Hammersmith

On 5th February, 1916, 7th London of 140 Brigade, 47th Division, moved into the trenches in the Loos sector of the front line where they remained until 14th February. Although the fierce fighting here associated with the Battle of Loos in September and October of 1915 had subsided it was still a vey active sector of the Western Front with both sides engaged in mining operations and the ever present artillery duels. On 9th February, the Royal Engineers blew a mine by a sunken road near The Copse, the crater of which was immediately occupied and consolidated by men from 7th London. The German response came at 7am on the morning of 14th February when they exploded their own mine close by. 10 men, one of whom was Henry Feast, were immediately killed by the force of the explosion but, according to the Battalion History, prompt action by others prevented the Germans from occupying the crater that was formed and that the party of about 50 of the enemy who rushed towards it were summarily dealt with by a Lewis gun crew. For reasons as yet unknown, they were commemorated on the Arras Memorial to the Missing rather than the nearby Loos Memorial.