Geboortejaar: 1881

Geboorteplaats: Liverpool, Lancashire, Engeland, Verenigd Koninkrijk

Beroep: Schilder/ Behanger

Land: Engeland, Verenigd Koninkrijk

Strijdmacht: British Expeditionary Force

Rang: Private

Service nummer: 269746

Eenheden:  —  King's (Liverpool Regiment), 1/7th Bn.  (Laatst gekende eenheid)

Datum van overlijden: 20/09/1917

Plaats van overlijden: Iberian Farm, België

Doodsoorzaak: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Leeftijd: 36

British War Medal Medaille

Victory Medal Medaille

Private Alfred Cartlidge served in The King’s (Liverpool Regiment) 1st/7th Battalion part of the 165th Brigade of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division. The 20th September 1917 was the first day of the Battle of Menin Road (20-25 September), part of the Third Battle of Ypres. The 55th Division attacked with two Brigades. The 164th Brigade on the left and the 165th on the right of the divisional front. The 165th advanced with the 1/7th King’s on the right and the 1/9th King’s on the left; the 1/5th and 1/6th Kings were in support. There were two objectives allotted to the 1/7th King’s. The first was a line running through Iberian Farm, Irma Farm and Kaynorth to the Zonnebeke stream. The right flank of the Battalion was resting on this stream. Their second objective was a line running approximately north and south from (and including) Delva Farm. The Battalion would attack in four waves. “B” Company on the right, “C” Company on the left. “A” Company would follow “B” on the right and “D” Company would advance behind “C” on the left. “B” and “C” Companies would go straight to the second objective, while “A” and “D” would attack the first objective.

At zero hour, 5.40 a.m. the 1/7th King’s advanced behind a creeping barrage. The Battalion soon came under German machinegun fire coming from concrete strongholds at Iberian, Kaynorth and Hill 35. The Battalion suffered casualties. Progress was immensely difficult. The Battalion had to advance along the bank of the Zonnebeke stream, which was utterly destroyed by the unceasing artillery fire. The destruction of irrigation channels like the Zonnebeke stream resulted in the inundation of the area, as the rainwater couldn’t be irrigated. The No Man’s Land was a boggy marshland honeycombed with shell holes, filled with water. This caused the lines and waves to become mixed up. While the first waves were held up by the German Pill-boxes at Iberian and Kaynorth the supporting waves pushed on and reinforced the leading waves. Notwithstanding the reinforced waves, it proved to be nigh impossible to take the German strongpoints. The German crossfire prevented all further progress. Most of the fighting took place round Iberian Farm. Several attempts to storm the German strongpoint failed. The strongpoint finally fell at 6.45 a.m. with the assistance of machineguns, rifle grenades and bombs. About the same time the German strongpoint at Kaynorth was taken, with the help of the South-Africans from the 9th Division, who advanced on the right of the 55th Division.

The first objective was completely taken by 7 a.m. Once the objective was consolidated the 1/7th Battalion reorganized and moved on to the second objective. The second attack on Delva Farm encountered only slight opposition. The objective was taken by 8.30 a.m. A line was established north and south of the farm and two strongpoints were constructed, one at the farm and another between Delva Farm and the Zonnebeke stream. The successful attack by the 55th Division had however, not been made without heavy losses: The King’s in particular suffered severely. The 1/7th King’s lost three officers, two officers died of their wounds and four officers were wounded. In other ranks the 1/7th lost 61 men, 166 men were wounded, 12 were missing and 3 died of their wounds.

Private Alfred Cartlidge was one of the 61 men of The King’s (Liverpool Regiment) 1st/7th Battalion who fell in the Battalion’s attack on Iberian, Kaynorth and Delva Farm on the 20th of September 1917. Private Alfred Cartlidge’s body was never recovered. He is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

McCarthy C., The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account, (London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995), pg. 76-79. Gebruikte bronnen

Wyrall E., The History of The King's Regiment (Liverpool) 1914-1919 Volume III, (London, Edward Arnold & Co., 1935), pg. 514-515. Gebruikte bronnen

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1628236

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=ff57caa1-ad4b-4fe3-afd7-7974dbda8d09

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/738030