Current Information:

51, Bassingham Road, Earlsfield

40th Division, including 13th East Surrey of 120 Brigade, landed in France at the beginning of June, 1916 and after the requisite period of trench warfare instruction, the division took over the front line in the old Loos battlefield, near Lens. On 12th September, 13th East Surrey moved into the front line here in the Maroc sub sector where they stayed until 19th September. At this time this was one of the quieter parts of the Western Front while the battle raged further south on the Somme but there were still dangers for those in the front line from enemy artillery fire which was a constant threat to life and limb. The Battalion Diary for 17th September recorded that the Germans sent over a number of ‘rum jars’,  a sort of trench mortar, and aerial torpedoes but it makes no mention of any casualties. But there were at least four men from 13th East Surrey who were killed on this day, one of them being Frederick Perry.