Current Information:

11, Welbury Street, Dalston

Rue-David Military Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France

On 11th January, 1915, the 2nd Yorkshire battalion of 21 Brigade, 7th Division were relieved from the front line and moved back to billets in Brigade reserve at Fleurbaix. From here they provided work parties for various tasks until they moved back into the trenches on 20th January.

These tasks meant either providing carrying parties to take supplies of all kinds to the front line or working at trench digging, road making, railway laying and host of other tasks, sometimes under command of the Royal Engineers. The activities usually took place at night and were often very dangerous. Harassing artillery and machine-gun fire from the enemy would be kept up intermittently throughout the night designed to disrupt the work as much as possible. Tracks along which carrying parties had to travel to reach the front line were known to the German gunners and targeted accordingly. Many a soldier met his death while employed on a working party as was quite likely the case with Albert McNair on 19th January.