Geboortejaar: 1892

Geboorteplaats: Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Engeland, Verenigd Koninkrijk

Beroep: Arbeider

Land: Engeland, Verenigd Koninkrijk

Strijdmacht: British Expeditionary Force

Rang: Private

Service nummer: G/15345

Dienstneming plaats: Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Engeland, Verenigd Koninkrijk

Eenheden:  —  Royal Sussex Regiment, 12th Bn.  (Laatst gekende eenheid)

Datum van overlijden: 31/07/1917

Plaats van overlijden: Mouse Trap Farm, België

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

Leeftijd: 25

British War Medal Medaille

Victory Medal Medaille

Private George William Adlard served in the Royal Sussex Regiment 12th Battalion, part of the 116th Brigade of the 39th Division. The 39th Division was to participate in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, on the 31st of July, the first day of the Third Battle of Ypres.
The Division attacked with two Brigades plus one in support at Zero hour, 3.50 a.m. The 116th Brigade advanced on the right of the divisional front with the 11th, 12th and 13th Royal Sussex and the 14th Hampshire Regiment. The 117th Brigade on the left consisted of the 16th Sherwood Foresters, the 17th King’s Royal Rifle Corps; the 16th Rifle Brigade and the 17th Sherwood Foresters were in support. The 118th Brigade was in support with the 1/6th Cheshires, 1/1st Hertfordshires and 4/5th Black Watch; The 1/1st Cambridgeshires were in support. The attack of the Division was also supported by eight tanks.
The 12th Royal Sussex attacked from positions near the hamlet of Wieltje at Cross Roads Farm. The Battalion had three objectives. Their first objective, the Yellow Line, were parts of a trench system called Caliban Trench, Calliban Support and California Trench. To reach the second objective, the Red Line, the Battalion had to push through the remnants of the German Trench System and capture Caliban Row, part of Caliban Reserve. The third objective, the Blue Line (roughly from C.17.c.7.0. to C.17.c.0.4.), were what remained of California Reserve and a trench running Northeast of Mouse Trap Farm.
The 12th Royal Sussex was the first Battalion of the 116th Brigade to attack. At 3.50 a.m. the Battalion moved forward behind a British barrage. The Battalion succeeded in taking and consolidating all their objectives. The battered German frontline and support and reserve trenches were quickly taken with only slight casualties. The Germans had expected an attack and had left most of the frontline and had established positions in strongpoints at the reserve trenches, in order to split up the advancing British troops. The attack of the other Battalions which passed through the 12th Royal Sussex was halted in front of the town of Sint-Juliaan at the Albrecht-Stellung, the first of the Germans fortified defense lines at the Ypres salient. The 12th Royal Sussex suffered about 62 casualties. One officer was killed, another was wounded and the Battalion lost about 60 other ranks, who were either wounded or killed. Private George Willaim Adlard was one of men of the 12th Royal Sussex who was killed in action in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge. He was buried at the Buffs Road Cemetery North East of the town of Ieper.

McCarthy C., The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account, (London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995), pg. 26-27. Gebruikte bronnen

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/451549

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=38618279-336a-4733-9d1c-a6c261c80cc9

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/199760