Current Information:

Enlisted-Westminster

Houplines Communal Cemetery, France

The 16th London (Westminster Rifles) battalion arrived in France in November 1914 and joined 18 Brigade, 6th Division. On 1st January, 1915, they moved into the front line opposite the village of Frelinghien on the French-Belgian border just to the north of Armentières, where they remained for the rest of the month with a system of reliefs whereby individual companies moved back for 4 day periods of rest.  On 8th January, after some heavy rain, the parapets of their trenches collapsed and some had to be evacuated, namely those close to the River Lys. The men then had to work hard, day and night to repair the others while the enemy continued sniping and shelling. At some stage of the day Philip Tibbs was killed.