Current Information:

35, Floyd Road, Charlton

Cuinchy Communal Cemetery, France

On 30th January, 1915, the 2nd Coldstream Guards of 4 Brigade, 2nd Division, left their billets in Bethune and moved into the front line astride the La Bassée canal at Cuinchy where there had been some recent heavy fighting and where there was still a great deal of shell and sniper fire taking place. During the morning of the following day, 1st February, the enemy attacked the advanced trench by the railway with bombs (grenades) and forced an evacuation of these positions causing the left hand company to fall back. The battalion counter-attacked but were unable to regain these lost positions while at the same time sustaining rather heavy casualties and it was not until the artillery had unleashed a heavy bombardment that the trenches were retaken. Among the 72 casualties suffered by the 2nd Coldstream Guards in this brief but fierce action was William Alder who was killed.