Current Information:

Age-38

Born-Charlton

Bois-des-Angles British Cemetery, Crevecoeur-sur-l'Escaut, France

October 1918 was a month which saw the Allies pushing the Germans back all along the Western Front and liberating towns, villages and whole areas, which had been under German occupation for four long years.  At 5.10am on 8 October, 1918, the British launched an offensive on a 20 mile front between St Quentin and Cambrai when three British Armies, backed by 82 tanks, advanced 3 miles and captured 10,000 prisoners and 150 guns. After 24 hours of fighting the Hindenburg Line was overrun in its entirety and the enemy were in full retreat.

On 8th October, 37th Division with some of the 12th Tank Battalion attached, attacked on the the Third Army front pushing eastwards from a position about six miles south of Cambrai. Zero hour was at 4.30am at which time 111 Brigade advanced behind an artillery barrage along the divisional front towards their first objective, the Beaurevoir Line. The 10th Royal Fusiliers battalion were in the vanguard with 13th King’s Royal Rifle Corps in the line on their right, guarding the flank. They encountered two strong belts of wire which the artillery had not destroyed and which were defended by machine-guns in concrete emplacements. After some heavy fighting with many casualties, 10th Royal Fusiliers forced their way through and went on to occupy the support trenches of the Beaurevoir Line. The advance of 13th King’s Royal Rifle Corps was held up when German troops re-occupied their front trench and there was then a hard fight to break through this obstacle. This they managed and were then able to join up with 10th Royal Fusiliers and extend the new front line through which 112 Brigade then advanced to continue the attack. There were many casualties among the units of 111 Brigade which had been shelled though the night in their assembly positions and then had had a hard struggle to break the enemy’s resistance. One of those who lost their lives was George Mann of 10th Royal Fusiliers.