Pte
Lewis Roy Gordon (Roy) Haycock

Information about birth

Date of birth:
19/03/1895
Place of birth:
Brightwater, Tasman, New Zealand

General information

Profession:
Farmer

Army information

Country:
New Zealand
Force:
New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Rank:
Private
Service number:
11661
Enlistment date:
11/01/1916
Enlistment place:
Trentham, Wellington, New Zealand
Units:
 —  Canterbury Regiment, 2nd Bn.  (Last known unit)

Information about death

Date of death:
12/10/1917
Place of death:
Bellevue 's, Graventafel, Belgium
Cause of death:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Age:
22

Memorial

Distinctions and medals 2

British War Medal
Medal — 20/10/1921
Victory Medal
Medal — 28/08/1922

Points of interest 3

#1 Place of birth
#2 Enlistment place
#3 Place of death (approximate)

My story

Private Lewis Roy Gordon Haycock was part of the 12th company of the 2nd Battalion Canterbury Regiment, 2nd New Zealand Brigade, New Zealand Division. His battalion took part in the First Battle of Passchendaele on 12 October 1917. The 2nd and 12th companies of the 2nd Battalion Canterbury Regiment went forward on the night of the 10th/11th with the 2nd Otago battalion and dug in near Korek and Boethoek on the Graventafel Spur. On the 12th of October the 2nd Otago Battalion attacked the first objective around Bellevue, but the advance was stopped by machine gun fire from German pillboxes located on at the Graventafel-Mosselmarkt road. The 2nd and 12th companies of the 2nd Canterbury Battalion were called up from reserve and tried to flank the pillboxes in Bellevue, but failed due to the heavy fire from the German pillboxes and the lines of barbed wire. After both attacks had failed the advance crumbled and men still in the field came under machine gun and sniper fire. Private Lewis Roy Gordon Haycock was reported missing after the attack and later reported killed in action. His notebook (dated 1917) did find its way back to his relatives in New Zealand despite the fact that he was missing. How this happened remains a mystery, but it's not unlikely that he gave the notebook to a friend or chaplain before the battle (his last entry was made on the 10th) to safeguard it in case something happened to him. This person could have returned it to New Zealand.

Files 1

Sources 7

Chris McCarthy, Passchendaele : The Day-by-Day account, 2018, 128-131.
Sources used
CWGC
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/847649/haycock,-lewis-roy-gordon/
Sources used
David Ferguson, The History of the Canterbury Regiment N.Z.E.F. 1914-1919, 1921, 196-198.
Sources used
Edward Latter, Marching Onward: the history of the 2nd Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, 1992, 72.
Sources used
NZ-project
http://nzef.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=110904
Sources used
Richard Palmer, The life and death of a New Zealand soldier in World War One, 2015, 139 -143.
Sources used
the Long, Long Trail
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/
Sources used