Year of birth: 1890

Place of birth: Anerley, Surrey, England, United Kingdom

Profession: Clerk

Country: England, United Kingdom

Force: British Expeditionary Force

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Units:  —  The Rifle Brigade, 6th Bn. attd. Trench Mortar, 59th Bty.  (Attached)

Date of death: 21/09/1917

Place of death: Eagle Trench - Winterstellung, Langemark, Belgium

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

Age: 27

1914-15 Star Medal

Victory Medal Medal

John Gurney Abbott of the 6th Rifle Brigade was attached to the 29th Trench Mortar Battery. The 59th Trench Mortar Battery, part of the 59th Brigade and 20th Division took part in the Battle of Menin Road on the 20th of September 1917. The 59th Battery was to take 't Goed ter Vesten Farm and Eagle Trench. They advanced as far as 't Goed ter Vesten Farm but they were not able to take Eagle Trench in its entirety, due to machine gun fire. A small portion remained in enemy hands, forming a salient. John Gurney Abbott died on the 21st of September, probably consolidating the new front line.

Inglefield V.E., The history of the Twentieth (Light) Division (London, Nisbet & Co., 1921). Sources used

Lloyd's Firm, Portraits of Lloyd's Men Whose Names Appear on Lloyd's War Memorial (London, Lloyd's Firm, 1920) Sources used

McCarthy Chris., Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account (London, Unicorn Publishing Group, 2018). Sources used

The London Gazette, 16 March 1917, p. 2639. Sources used

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/845618

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=6ffd6239-bb96-47e7-8af7-e89d335afae1

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/2380