Current Information:

Born-Peckham

Ypres Town Cemetery

First Battle of Ypres

Between 21st October and 22nd November, 1914 a desperate fight took place around the Belgium city of Ypres, the first of three major battles that were to be fought there during the course of the war. British troops entered Ypres in October. The 1st and 2nd Divisions plus the 3rd Cavalry Division had made their way up from the Aisne as part of the “Race to the Sea”, whilst the 7th Division came west to Ypres after Antwerp had fallen. The Germans knew that Ypres was the gateway to the Channel ports and that these were vital to Britain’s war effort so they poured reinforcements into the area. The fighting fell into three distinct battles; the Battle of Langemarck, 21-24 October, the Battle of Gheluvelt, 29-31 October and the Battle of Nonne Bosschen, 11 November. Ypres did not fall to the Germans but its defence during these two months resulted in the destruction of much of the old regular British Army.

By the middle of October, 7th Division were in the Ypres area and preparing to advance on Menin from Zonnebeke. On 18th October, 1914, the 2nd Bedfordshire battalion of 21 Brigade advanced along the Ypres-Menin road but were stopped by enemy fire when about 10 kilometres out of Ypres and fell back to Gheluvelt where they entrenched. They tried to advance on Menin again on the following day but once more were stopped by the enemy. On 20th October, 2nd Bedfordshire were holding reserve trenches near Veldhoek where they remained for the next 6 days with minor adjustments being made to their position according to the demands of the fighting. On 23rd October two of their companies were sent forward to fill gaps in the line and suffered heavy casualties in the process.  Samuel Stiles died from wounds on 24th October.