Capt
Gordon Doulton East
Information about birth
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Year of birth: 1888 |
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Place of birth: Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England, United Kingdom |
General information
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Profession: House Surgeon |
Army information
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Country: England, United Kingdom |
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Force: British Expeditionary Force |
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Rank: Captain |
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Service number: / |
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Units: — Royal Army Medical Corps (Last known unit) |
Information about death
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Date of death: 31/07/1917 |
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Place of death: Canada Farm, Belgium |
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Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
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Age: 29 |
Cemetery
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Canada Farm Cemetery Plot: II Row: E Grave: 16 |
Distinctions and medals 2
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British War Medal Medal |
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Victory Medal Medal |
Points of interest 1
| #1 | Place of birth |
My story
Captain Gordon Doulton East served in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was attached to the 3rd Grenadier Guards Battalion, part of the 2nd Guards Brigade of the Guards Division working with the 3rd, 4th or 9th Field Ambulance. These three regiments were the Field Ambulances that were part of the Guards Division.
On the 31st of July 1917, the Battle of Pilckem Ridge started, which initiated the Third Battle of Ypres. The 3rd Grenadier Guards were positioned at the front line, together with the 1st Coldstream Guards, the 1st Scots Guards and the 2nd Irish Guards. The 3rd Grenadier Guards’ starting position was just left of the Staden Railway, at Pont de Boesinghe, east of Boesinghe. They advanced together with the 2nd Grenadier Guards at 7.15 a.m. in support of the 1st Scots Guard and 2nd Irish Guards. They could advance to Vulcan Crossing, after the capture of blockhouses on the Ypres-Staden Railway Line, from which came heavy machine gun fire.
The Field Ambulance medical units operated very close to the front line and took care of wounded soldiers, often under heavy German fire. The wounded soldiers were transported from Boesinghe to Bleuet Farm and Canada Farm. They men of the Royal Army Medical Corps endured heavy conditions, such as German artillery and machine gun fire and the muddy ground which complicated the transport of injured soldiers.
We believe Captain Gordon Doulton East was wounded, while tending to wounded soldiers in the area east of Boesinghe, between Bleuet Farm and Vulcan Crossing, on the 31st of July 1917. He was evacuated to Canada Farm a farmhouse used as a dressing station. Captain Gordon Doulton East succumbed to his wounds at the dressing station and was buried at the Canada Farm Cemetery 8.5 kilometres north-west of ypres.
On the 31st of July 1917, the Battle of Pilckem Ridge started, which initiated the Third Battle of Ypres. The 3rd Grenadier Guards were positioned at the front line, together with the 1st Coldstream Guards, the 1st Scots Guards and the 2nd Irish Guards. The 3rd Grenadier Guards’ starting position was just left of the Staden Railway, at Pont de Boesinghe, east of Boesinghe. They advanced together with the 2nd Grenadier Guards at 7.15 a.m. in support of the 1st Scots Guard and 2nd Irish Guards. They could advance to Vulcan Crossing, after the capture of blockhouses on the Ypres-Staden Railway Line, from which came heavy machine gun fire.
The Field Ambulance medical units operated very close to the front line and took care of wounded soldiers, often under heavy German fire. The wounded soldiers were transported from Boesinghe to Bleuet Farm and Canada Farm. They men of the Royal Army Medical Corps endured heavy conditions, such as German artillery and machine gun fire and the muddy ground which complicated the transport of injured soldiers.
We believe Captain Gordon Doulton East was wounded, while tending to wounded soldiers in the area east of Boesinghe, between Bleuet Farm and Vulcan Crossing, on the 31st of July 1917. He was evacuated to Canada Farm a farmhouse used as a dressing station. Captain Gordon Doulton East succumbed to his wounds at the dressing station and was buried at the Canada Farm Cemetery 8.5 kilometres north-west of ypres.
Sources 2
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3 Battalion Grenadier Guards , (The National Archives, KEW (TNA), WO 95/1219/1). https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14303 Further reference |
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McCarthy C., The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account, (London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995), pg. 29-31. Sources used |
More information 3
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/435627 |
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Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=deeaa3db-573c-46c9-9875-f21b2229f560 |
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Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/2419617 |