Current Information:

137, Malvern Road, West Kilburn

Noyon Communal Cemetery, France

After the opening battles of the war at Mons on 23rd August, 1914 and Le Cateau on 26th August, the British Army (BEF), in conjunction with the French Army, began a retreat that took them all the way back to the River Marne, 200 miles to the south. With the Germans in hot pursuit they were forced to fight a series of rear guard actions as they fell back in extremely hot weather. The Great Retreat, as it became known, came to an end on 5th September, 1914 when the allied forces attacked along the River Marne and drove the Germans back to the River Aisne. 

The 48th Heavy Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery were attached to the 3rd Division and had been in action during the Battle of Le Cateau on 26th August, 1914, before joining the retreat. Rowland Smith was killed in action on 28th August, but as yet there is no further information concerning his death.