Current Information:

Age-19

26, Longcroft Road, Camberwell

Y Farm Military Cemetery, Bois-Grenier, France

On 8th  December, 1914, the 2nd Royal West Surrey (Queens) battalion of 22 Brigade, 7th Division, marched to trenches at La Bouteillerie, near Fleurbaix, where they stayed until relieved on 15th December. The communication trenches leading to the front line here were in a very bad state with mud up to one’s knees in places. So bad were these trenches that men preferred to make their way forward above ground and risk being shot rather than get stuck in the mud in these ditches. During the night of 14/15th December, a party of 1 officer and 23 men set out at midnight to raid the enemy trenches opposite and bring back a prisoner for identification purposes. This they managed to do but on being spotted they had to run a gauntlet of fire in order to get back to their own lines and not all of them made it. One of their casualties was Daniel Heib who was killed.