Geburtsdatum: 28/07/1884

Geburtsort: King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, Vereinigtes Königreich

Beruf: Landwirt / Bauman / Ökonom

Land: England, Vereinigtes Königreich

Truppe: British Expeditionary Force

Rang: Private

Dienstnummer: 2049

Einberufung datum: 04/05/1915

Einberufung ort: Hounslow, Middlesex, England, Vereinigtes Königreich

Einheiten:  —  King Edward's Horse, 1st Bn.  (Letzte bekannte Einheit)

Sterbedatum: 30/10/1917

Sterbeort: No. 61 Casualty Clearing Station, Dozinghem, Westvleteren, Belgien

Todesursache: Verwundet

Alter: 33

1914-15 Star Medaille — 30/08/1920

British War Medal Medaille — 30/08/1920

Victory Medal Medaille — 30/08/1920

Wilfred Holditch Bristow was born in King’s Lynn, Norfolk. He was the son of Henry Barnes Bristow, British consul in China. Before the War Wilfred Holditch immigrated to Alberta, Canada, where he had bought a farm. In 1915 Wilfred returned to England to enlist in the British Expeditionary Force. Wilfred Holditch Bristow joined the King Edward’s Horse. Most of this Cavalry Regiment’s officers and men were Britons who had settled or seen service in the colonies of the Empire. During the Third Battle of Ypres Wilfred Holditch Bristow served as a private in the King Edward’s Horse 1st Battalion, which was attached to XVIII Corps.

During the month of October the 1st King Edward’s Horse was stationed in the village of Watou. As the terrain didn’t allow and the situation didn’t require mounted patrols, the men were frequently deployed as dispatch riders or were employed on traffic control duty. On the 4th of October 1917, during the Battle of Broodseinde, troops of the 1st King Edward’s Horse were ordered to deliver dispatches for the 48th Division and the 11th Division, who attacked between Poelkapelle and Passendaele. From the 16th onwards the troops were ordered to regulate traffic on the crowded roads to the frontlines. These supply routes were well known by the Germans and were frequently shelled by their artillery.

It’s plausible that Private Wilfred Holditch Bristow was wounded while delivering dispatches from the front or that he sustained wounds while being employed on traffic control duty. Private Wilfred Holditch Bristow was evacuated to No. 61 Casualty Clearing Station in the village of Westvleteren, where he died of his wounds on the 30th of October 1917. He was buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery.

Corps Troops: 1 King Edward's Horse , (The National Archives, KEW (TNA), WO 95/737/1). https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14303 Weitere Quellen

McCarthy C., The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account, (London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995), pg. 101. Verwendete Quellen

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/620013

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=ff3a44df-8191-40a4-b002-d49cd79edbdb

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/505200