Informations service militaire

Pays:
Angleterre, Royaume-Uni
Force armée:
British Expeditionary Force
Rang:
Private
Numéro de service:
G/39250
Unités:
 —  Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), 2nd Bn.  (Dernière unité connue)

Informations sur décès

Date de décès:
04/10/2017
Lieu de décès:
Jetty Wood, Belgique

Cimetière

Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood
Parcelle: VI
Rangée: B
Tombe: 10

Distinctions et médailles 2

British War Medal
Médaille
Victory Medal
Médaille

Mon histoire

Private Herbert Barley served in the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) 2nd Battalion, part of the 91st Brigade, of the 7th Division.

On the 4th of October 1917 the 7th Division participated in the Battle of Broodseinde, a phase of the Third Battle of Ypres. The Division advanced with two Brigades, the 20th Brigade on the left and the 91st on the right. They advanced from positions just northeast of Polygon Wood. Their objective was the Broodseinde Ridge and the Beselare-Passchendaele Road. The attack of the 91st Brigade was carried by the South Staffordshire Regiment 1st Battalion and the Manchester Regiment 22nd Battalion. The Manchester Regiment 21st Battalion was in reserve around the Butte in Polygon Wood.

In the late night of October the 3rd the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) 2nd Battalion, who had only recently arrived in Flanders, also moved up to the frontline near Polygon Wood. They spend the night in a camp near Surbiton Villas along the Menin Road. They stayed there till noon on the 4th of October 1917. When the Battalion was ordered to move to a position in reserve and dig in near the Butte, in Polygon Wood.

Here the Queen’s were exposed to very heavy shelling, and were unable to dig a greater depth than two feet owing to the presence of water near the surface. At about 5 p.m. “B”, “C” and “D” Companies were placed at the disposal of the South Staffordshire Regiment 1st Battalion. “C” and “D” Companies were sent to Jetty Trench with orders to dig in and hold themselves ready for a counterattack. “B” was moved to Jolting Houses to form a defensive flank if the 21st Division was held up.
The Battalion was relieved on the night of the 6th and 7th of October 1917.
Private herbert Barley was killed in action on the 4th of October 1917, near Jetty Wood. It is possible that he was killed by the heavy German shelling in Polygon Wood where the Battalion was ordered to stay in reserve. His remains were exhumed after the war and reinttered in Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood.

Fichiers 2

Sources 5

"History of the Queen 's Royal Regiment", Wylly H.C.,Gale & Polden, sd, p.112-116
Sources utilisées
"The third Ypres Passchendaele the day by day account", MacCarthy C., Arms & Armour in 1995, p. 98 - 100
Sources utilisées
CWGC
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/480105/barley,-/
Sources utilisées
The Long, Long Trail
http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/
Sources utilisées
War Diary Queens Royal West Surrey 2nd Bn
http://www.nmarchive.com/
Autre référence