Année de naissance: 1897

Lieu de naissance: Crewkerne, Somerset, Angleterre, Royaume-Uni

Profession: Etudiant

Pays: Angleterre, Royaume-Uni

Force armée: British Expeditionary Force

Rang: Second Lieutenant

Numéro de service: /

Unités:  —  Prince Albert’s (Somerset Light Infantry), 4th Bn. attd. 8th Bn.  (Attaché)

Date de décès: 31/07/1917

Lieu de décès: Beek Wood, Belgique

Cause du décès: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Âge: 20

British War Medal Médaille — 15/04/1921

Victory Medal Médaille — 15/04/1921

Second Lieutenant Edward William Richmond Blake served in the Prince Albert’s (Somerset Light Infantry), 4th Battalion. On the 2nd of June 1917 he joined “D” Company of the Prince Albert’s (Somerset Light Infantry), 8th Battalion, part of the 63rd Brigade, of the 37th Division. He was attached to this unit, as this Battalion was to take part in the Battle of Pilckem, the opening stage of the Third Battle of Ypres.

The 37th Division attacked with the 63rd Brigade on the 31st of July 1917. It advanced from the vicinity of Oosttaverne towards the Ypres–Comines Canal. The attack was mostly a feint attack. Its aim was to compel the Germans to disperse his resources on a larger front.

At 3.50 a.m., zero hour, the 4th Middlesex and a company of the 8th Lincolns, advanced to the line July Farm-Rifle Farm. Four hours later, at 7.50 a.m. the second phase of the attack was launched with the 8th Lincolns and the 8th Somersets. “D” Company of the 8th Somersets had to clear Beek Wood. This was in fact a cluster of enclosures. “D” Company was cooperating with two companies of the 8th Lincolns on the left and “A” and “C” Company on their right. “A” Company soon reached the Western outskirts of Beek Wood and dug in. In the meanwhile two platoons of “D” Company were sent forward to clear the Beek Wood area from German defenders. The Somersets encountered heavy resistance in the enclosures and at 1.50 a.m. it was reported that the remainder of the two platoons were pulling back and that 2nd Lieutenant Blake had been killed while trying to clear Beek Wood. Posts were established at the Northwestern and Southwestern corners of the enclosures. Blake’s platoon had suffered heavy casualties in Beek Wood and many wounded couldn’t be evacuated.

The Germans saw an opportunity to counterattack the battered Somersets and by 8 p.m. Germans were seen massing to the East of the enclosures. However they were soon dispersed with help of the artillery. Under the cover of darkness the units consolidated their positions at night.

Second Lieutenant Edward William Richmond Blake was killed in action on the 31st of July 1917. His remains were never identified, possibly because he was left behind in the enclosures, as his platoon was forced to withdraw. The frontlines in the area remained static for the greater part of the offensive and Beek Wood would remain in German hands. Second Lieutenant Edward William Richmond Blake is remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial. He was 20 years old.

8 Battalion Somerset Light Infantry (The National Archives, KEW (TNA), WO 95/2529/2). https://nationalarchives.gov.uk Autre référence

McCarthy, Chris. Passchendaele: the Day-by-Day Account (Londen, Unicorn Publishing Group, 2018), pg. 20-21. Sources utilisées

Wyrall E., The Somerset Light Infantry 1914-1919 The History of The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) 1914-1919 (London, Methuen & co. LTD, 1927), pg. 194-197. Sources utilisées

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/928054

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=03e455be-f5c3-4fb2-bde4-47a5fe77e383

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/376043