Pte
Robert Henry Payne
Information about birth
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Year of birth: 1886 |
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Place of birth: Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, United Kingdom |
General information
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Profession: Machinist / Machine Operator / Machine Minder |
Army information
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Country: Scotland, United Kingdom |
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Force: British Expeditionary Force |
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Rank: Private |
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Service number: 265374 |
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Enlistment place: Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom |
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Units: — Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 1/1st Bn. (Buckinghamshire) (Last known unit) |
Information about death
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Date of death: 16/08/1917 |
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Place of death: Hillock Farm, St. Julien, Belgium |
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Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
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Age: 31 |
Distinctions and medals 3
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1914-15 Star Medal |
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British War Medal Medal |
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Victory Medal Medal |
Points of interest 3
| #1 | Place of birth | ||
| #2 | Enlistment place | ||
| #3 | Place of death (approximate) |
My story
Private Robert Henry Payne was born in 1886 in Edinburgh, Scotland to Robert Payne and Caroline Louisa Harriss, a family of eight children. On the 7th of November 1909 he married Edith Turney in Islington and had two daughters, Doris Elsie and Constance May. Prior to enlisting he lived in Aylesbury with his family and worked as a machine minder.
On the 16th of August 1917, his battalion participated in the battle of Langemarck. It attacked from positions on the Steenbeek stream towards the Zonnebeke-Langemark road. The Gloucester regiment was on the right, the ¼ Ox and Bucks on their left and the ¼ Royal Berks in support. Companies “A” (left) and “B” (right) of the battalion were in the first two waves. “C” and “D” Companies were in the last two. The first objective was a line running through Hillock Farm. The second objective was the Zonnebeke-Langemark road, dominated by Springfield Farm.
The advance began at zero hour, 4.45 a.m. Due to the muddy terrain, the men lost the barrage even before they could reach the German first Line. Without the cover of the barrage, the 1/1st Battalion came under heavy machinegun and rifle fire. The leading wave was almost entirely annihilated. The situation was checked. The situation only changed when "D" Company of the third wave arrived. What followed was man to man fighting at the German positions on the St-Julien - Hillock Farm Road.
“A” Company, on the left, came under heavy fire when they skirted the slight ridge east of the Steenbeek stream. They were fired upon from reinforced positions at Hillock Farm and two gunpits, west of the Farm. Only sixteen men of the leading wave reached the gunpits. The second wave got pinned down, due to fire from Maison du Hibou and Triangle Farm. Only a handful of men reached the objective at Springfield Farm. By 7 a.m. the entire advance had been checked. An hour later Germans were seen massing near the Keerselare Crossroads. At 10 a.m. the Germans attacked Triangle Farm, but the attack was repulsed. At 9.30 p.m. the Germans launched another counterattack near Hillock Farm, compelling the British to retreat from the area, back to the Steenbeek. The battalion was eventually relieved at night.
Private Robert Henry Payne was one of the 54 men of the battalion who were killed in action on that day. He fell between the British assembly line west of the Steenbeek running from the South of the hamlet of Saint-Julien to the Regina Cross intersection and the fields around the Hillock Farm - Saint-Julien Road.
On the 16th of August 1917, his battalion participated in the battle of Langemarck. It attacked from positions on the Steenbeek stream towards the Zonnebeke-Langemark road. The Gloucester regiment was on the right, the ¼ Ox and Bucks on their left and the ¼ Royal Berks in support. Companies “A” (left) and “B” (right) of the battalion were in the first two waves. “C” and “D” Companies were in the last two. The first objective was a line running through Hillock Farm. The second objective was the Zonnebeke-Langemark road, dominated by Springfield Farm.
The advance began at zero hour, 4.45 a.m. Due to the muddy terrain, the men lost the barrage even before they could reach the German first Line. Without the cover of the barrage, the 1/1st Battalion came under heavy machinegun and rifle fire. The leading wave was almost entirely annihilated. The situation was checked. The situation only changed when "D" Company of the third wave arrived. What followed was man to man fighting at the German positions on the St-Julien - Hillock Farm Road.
“A” Company, on the left, came under heavy fire when they skirted the slight ridge east of the Steenbeek stream. They were fired upon from reinforced positions at Hillock Farm and two gunpits, west of the Farm. Only sixteen men of the leading wave reached the gunpits. The second wave got pinned down, due to fire from Maison du Hibou and Triangle Farm. Only a handful of men reached the objective at Springfield Farm. By 7 a.m. the entire advance had been checked. An hour later Germans were seen massing near the Keerselare Crossroads. At 10 a.m. the Germans attacked Triangle Farm, but the attack was repulsed. At 9.30 p.m. the Germans launched another counterattack near Hillock Farm, compelling the British to retreat from the area, back to the Steenbeek. The battalion was eventually relieved at night.
Private Robert Henry Payne was one of the 54 men of the battalion who were killed in action on that day. He fell between the British assembly line west of the Steenbeek running from the South of the hamlet of Saint-Julien to the Regina Cross intersection and the fields around the Hillock Farm - Saint-Julien Road.
Sources 6
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"The First Buckinghamshire Battalion 1914-1919", Wright P.L., London and Aylesbury, Hazell, Watson & Viney LD, 1920, pg. 69-80. Sources used |
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"The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account", McCarthy C., London, Unicorn Publishing Group, 2018, pp. 54-55 Sources used |
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Ancestry https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ Sources used |
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CWGC https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1636389/robert-henry-payne/ Sources used |
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The Long, Long Trail https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/ Sources used |
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War Diary, 1/1st Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, August 1917 http://www.nmarchive.com/war-diary-result/2763-3653/page/0 Sources used |