Date de naissance: 02/03/1883

Lieu de naissance: Shadwell, Middlesex, Angleterre, Royaume-Uni

Profession: Boulanger

Pays: Angleterre, Royaume-Uni

Force armée: British Expeditionary Force

Rang: Rifleman

Numéro de service: R/37849

Incorporation nom de lieu: Stepney, Middlesex, Angleterre, Royaume-Uni

Unités:  —  King's Royal Rifle Corps, 9th Bn.  (Dernière unité connue)

Date de décès: 22/08/1917

Lieu de décès: Château Wood, Belgique

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

Âge: 34

British War Medal Médaille

Victory Medal Médaille

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 utilisées

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

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

War Diaries https://www.nmarchive.com. Autre référence