Current Information:

Born-Chelsea

Lievin Communal Cemetery

For most of the autumn of 1918, 47th Division, had been fighting the Germans further south, on the battlefields of the Somme but at the end of September they moved north to the area around the town of Lens which the Germans had occupied since 1914. The 6th London battalion of 140 Brigade went into billets in the small village of Les Brebis just behind the front line between Mazingarbe and Grenay and then, on October 2nd, they moved forward into support positions north west of Lens. Two days later the battalion moved into the front line, relieving 8th London . After another period in reserve in the Bois de Riaumont, 6th London moved forward to the new front line that took the form of a series of outposts on the west bank of the Canal de la Haute Deule, a waterway that runs north and east of Lens.

By this stage of the war the Germans were in retreat on all fronts and the men of 6th London witnessed the fires and explosions as the Germans tried to destroy as much as Lens as they could before abandoning it. But would they defend Lens? That was the question uppermost in the minds of the British. If they were to stand and fight, the the British forces opposite the town would have a fierce struggle on their hands. Both Lens and the canal in front of it were well defended and getting across the water could prove both difficulty and costly. Patrols sent out by 6th London found more than enough evidence of the enemy’s strength.

On the night of 14th October, 1918, under cover of fog a German raiding party attacked one of the outposts manned by men from 6th London and inflicted heavy losses on them. Ten men were killed and fourteen were wounded before the Germans returned to their own lines, taking even more with them as prisoners. John Bradford was one of those from 6th London who were killed on this day.