Military History

Edmund was listed as being killed in action on 8th May 1915 during the Second Battle of Ypres. The following description of the events of that day are courtesy & © of the Gwent Western Front Association.

8th May 1915 – Monmouthshire’s Black Day

On May 8th, the 3rd Monmouths were in the front line at Frezenberg, on the tip of the Ypres Salient. Following a three hour bombardment, which had begun at 5.30 a.m., thousands of German infantry launched three separate attacks on the British trenches. They too fought heroically to hold the line, sustaining appalling casualties in the process. Yet, heavily outnumbered, supported only by a handful of old and worn-out artillery pieces and with no possibility of reinforcements, it became clear that the 3rd Monmouths were in an impossible position. They were ordered to withdraw to a support line 400 yards back. Even then a small group refused to give ground and fought on until they were totally overwhelmed.

Meanwhile, a mile to the north, the 1st Monmouth’s faced an equally horrendous experience.  At 4 a.m. the Germans launched a fierce artillery and gas attack on the line.  This was followed by waves of infantry, attacking across no-man’s land in broad daylight.  The 1st Monmouths put up fierce resistance but, with only makeshift trenches, inadequate barbed wire defences and little artillery support, their position soon became untenable. By noon the Germans had infiltrated the British lines to the right of the Monmouthshires, leaving them in grave danger of being surrounded.  A German call to surrender was met with a defiant shout of “surrender be dammed” from Captain Harold Edwards.  A fighting retreat was organised and a new line consolidated.

On both parts of the front, ground had been given but the line had not been broken.

Great heroism had been displayed but the cost had been terrible. By the end of the day, of the 83 officers and 1020 men who had arrived in the Ypres Salient with the 3rd Monmouths, only 4 officers and 131 men were left unscathed.  During the second Battle of Ypres 259 officers and men from of the battalion had been killed and approximately 500 wounded.  Most of these casualties had taken place on 8th May.    Of the 588 men of the 1st Monmouths in the trenches on 8th May, 439 were killed, wounded, missing or prisoners by the end of the day.

During the course of the battle all three battalions of Monmouthshires had lost their commanding officers. Colonel Robinson (1st Mons) had been killed while rallying his men on May 8th, Colonel Cuthbertson (2nd Mons) and Colonel Worsley Gough (3rd Mons) were both wounded and sent back to Britain.  As a result of their heavy losses, from May until July, the three battalions were merged into one.