Date of birth: 02/03/1883

Place of birth: Shadwell, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Profession: Baker

Country: England, United Kingdom

Force: British Expeditionary Force

Rank: Rifleman

Service number: R/37849

Enlistment place: Stepney, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Units:  —  King's Royal Rifle Corps, 9th Bn.  (Last known unit)

Date of death: 22/08/1917

Place of death: Château Wood, Belgium

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

Age: 34

British War Medal Medal

Victory Medal Medal

Joseph, a baker from Stepney, Middlesex, now a part of Greater London, was killed during the Battle of Passchendaele. He was married to Edith Louisa Atkins, with whom he had six children.

Joseph was drafted in 1916 and joined the 9th Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps, part of the 42nd Brigade and the 14th (Light) Division.

On the night of the 17th and the 18th, the 14th (Light) Division relieved the 56th Division south of the hamlet of Westhoek. The 9th King’s Royal Rifle Corps was positioned at Jabber Trench in Westhoek on the left flank of the division.

At 7 a.m. on the 22nd the 14th (Light) Division attacked astride the Menin Road. The 9th King’s Royal Rifle Corps remained static and didn’t partake in the attack. But the battalion was subjected to very heavy shelling. Especially the reserve company in Château Wood took the full brunt. The shelling continued in intervals until the battalion was relieved on the night of the 24th and 25th of August.

Jospeh, 34, was killed in action on the 22nd of August 1917, leaving behind a wife and six children. Jospeh has no known grave and is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

Ancestry http://www.ancestry.co.uk Sources used

CWGC https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1635107/mersh,-joseph/ Sources used

The long long trail https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/ Sources used

War Diaries https://www.nmarchive.com. Further reference