Current Information:

Born-Hampstead

Poelcapelle British Cemetery, Belgium

On 13th November, 1917, 12th Middlesex of 54 Brigade, 18th Division  moved into the front near the Houlthulst Forest, on the northern edge of the Ypres salient. The fighting that had been raging around Ypres that summer and autumn, better known as the Battle of Passchendaele, had just finished but the rain kept falling, the mud was ubiquitous and the line that they took over was a series of wired shell holes rather than anything resembling a standard trench. As they moved up, they experienced some heavy shelling in the vicinity of a stream called the Steenbeek, where a bridge had been destroyed, thereby making progress even more difficult. Two men from ‘C’ Company were killed and several more wounded at this stage. They were also bombed by a German aeroplane during their journey, but eventually at 10.20pm they had reached their destination. Here they remained until 16th November having to contend with low flying aircraft and regular periods when their line was shelled. George Morgan was killed on 14th November.