Current Information:

CWGC-J PITMAN

Born-Richmond

Woods Cemetery, Belgium

The 1st East Surrey battalion was part of 14 Brigade, 5th Division, which, earlier in the year had been involved in fierce fighting at Hill 60 in the southern part of the Ypres salient. After the fighting died down 5th Division remained in the sector just to the south of Hill 60 and from May until the end of July, 1st East Surrey were one of the units holding the line here and subject to the usual routines and dangers of trench warfare. German artillery was of course active but it was snipers that accounted for many of the deaths and injuries sustained here and this may well have been the cause of the death of William Pitman who was killed on 27th June.

By this time of the war, 1st East Surrey had been in France or Flanders for ten months. Of the 1000 officers and men who had arrived in France in August 1914 there were now only 100 survivors. The rest had been either killed, wounded, taken prisoner or transferred to other units and the battalion consisted mainly of fresh drafts and replacements.