Year of birth: 1892

Place of birth: Millom, Cumberland, England, United Kingdom

Last known residence: 25 Beaufort Street, Liverpool South, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom

Profession: Crane Driver

Religion: Church of England

Country: England, United Kingdom

Force: British Expeditionary Force

Rank: Private

Service number: 11765

Enlistment date: 28/11/1914

Enlistment place: Liverpool, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom

Units:  —  King's (Liverpool Regiment) 4th Bn.  (Last known unit)

Date of death: 25/09/1917

Place of death: Carlisle Farm, Belgium

Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Age: 25

1914-15 Star Medal

British War Medal Medal

Victory Medal Medal

Irving Bragg was the son of Elizabeth and John Bragg. He was born around 1892 and lost his father at an early age. Before the war, Irving worked as a railway crane man - and lived in Liverpool. In November 1914, Irving enlisted in the British Army. He was a part of the 4th Battalion The King's Liverpool Regiment (98th Brigade, 33rd Division).

Irving was killed on 25 September 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele, just before the start of the Battle of Polygon Wood. The 98th Brigade, which included the 4th Battalion King's Liverpool Regiment, occupied an area running from the edge of Polygon Wood in the north to Veldhoek in the south. In the early morning of 25 September, the Germans launched attacks on the area where the 98th Brigade had taken positions, as well as on the regions occupied by the 100th Brigade and the Australian 5th Division. The 4th Battalion King's Liverpool Regiment held out: several German attempts to break through were repelled with rifle and machine-gun fire.

The losses of the 4th Battalion King's Liverpool Regiment were 25 killed, 47 wounded and 18 missing. The latter group included 25-year-old Irving. His body was not found or identified after the war. His name is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

4th Battalion the King's (Liverpool Regiment),(The National Archives, KEW (TNA), WO 95/2427/1). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

98 Infantry Brigade (The National Archives, KEW (TNA), WO 95/2425/2). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

British Army World War I Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), WO372). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

British Army World War I Service Medal and Awards Rolls, 1914-1920 (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), WO 329). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901 (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), RG13). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911 (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), RG14). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

Everard Wyrall, The History of the King's Regiment (Liverpool), Vol III 1917-1919,(Uckfield: the Naval & Military Press Ltd, RidgewoodIndustrial Park, 1935), 520-523. Sources used

Graham Seton Hutchinson, The Thirty-third Division in France and Flanders 1915-1919 (Uckfield: the Naval & Military Press Ltd, RidgewoodIndustrial Park), 67. Sources used

McCarthy, Chris. Passchendaele: The Day by Day Account (Londen: Arms & Armour Press, 1995), 112-113. Sources used

Soldier' Effects Records (National Army Museum, Chelsea (NAM) 1901-60; NAM Accession Number: 1991-02-333). https://www.nam.ac.uk/ Sources used

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/842731

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=2f1c8b91-37b6-464e-af6d-801d5c09435f

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/467003