Current Information:

Age-39

8, Chant Terrace, Custom House

Ste Marie Cemetery, Le Havre, France

John Jennings, died from wounds on 4th October, 1916, after having been sent back to a base hospital on the coast but it is not known when, nor in what circumstances he was wounded. Artillery men faced many dangers and during the course of the war nearly 50,000 of them were killed. Their gun batteries were targeted by the enemy’s guns which accounted for many of their casualties. Others were sent forward to act as ‘spotters’ which meant going forward to the front line and signalling back to the guns necessary changes in target and other vital information. Keeping the batteries supplied with ammunition was a dangerous task as the enemy guns would target the known supply routes, especially at night. Brigade Diaries rarely shine any light on casualties sustained, unless of course they were officers and even then information is sparse. 

180th Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery was attached to 16th Division which arrived in France in December, 1915 and had been involved in the fighting on the Western Front since that date, including the Battle of the Somme in the summer and autumn of 1916.