Current Information:

Age-19

4, Rosslyn Road, Barking

Calvaire (Essex) Military Cemetery, Belgium

On 5th April, 1915, the 2nd Essex battalion of 12 Brigade, 4th Division moved into trenches near Ploegsteert, in Belgium where they remained until relieved on 9th April. The battalion diary recorded that things were quiet on 7th April, not a view that would have been shared by William Raven who was killed on that day. The attrition rate among British soldiers on the Western Front was on average 300 each day and 60% of these were as a result of shellfire. When not involved in an actual battle it was either shell fire or a sniper’s bullet that caused most deaths and injuries.