Military History

Frederick has been previously wounded in Sep 1916 and was returned to the front in Feb 1917.

He is listed as being killed in action on 16 Apr 1918 and the Battalion Report on Operations for 15th/18th April is transcribed below:

The following is a brief report of the action taken by the Battalion under my command which was commanded during the first three days by Capt G.H.B. Warburton In the operations around Meteren during the period 15th/18^th April 1918.

I regret very much, owing to very heavy casualties amongst Officers, I am not in a position to give as much detail as I would like. The Adjutant, Assistant Adjutant and Intelligence Officer became casualties.

At 9.0pm on the 14th inst the Bn moved forward to a position lying along the road South of Meteren approx. X.20.6.5.0 & X.21.a up to 16.d. The 5^th Scottish Rifles were on the right and the Tank Corps on the left. The next 24 hours in this position are fairly quiet.

On the afternoon of the 15th inst at 5.0pm the Bn left the Asylum, Bailleul and proceeded to position north of Meteren in support of the 19th Infantry Brigade. The Bn was heavily shelled and had many casualties while in the support position.

At 5.0am on the 16^th inst O.C. C Coy reported to Bn Hdrs that the Tank Corps had evacuated the position in the front lines on his left without letting him know. Two platoons were at once sent forward by Capt Warburton to try and fill the gap but did not succeed in reaching the position before the enemy launched its attack.

At. 5.30am the enemy attacked very heavily without much bombardment and succeeded in penetrating the line through the gap left by the Tank Corps at 16.c. B Coy on the right stood fast and the left of the line was withdrawn and reformed on line 20.b.5.0 to K.15.d and so on through the village. It was then discovered the left front Coy (C) had practically disappeared. The new position was taken up by two platoons of ? Coy.

At 11.0am on the 16^th inst the enemy attacked the right of the Battalion line at X.20.b, the attack was repulsed with loss to the enemy.

At 6.0pm on the 17^th inst the enemy heavily attacked the line in front of Far, X.15.c.2.9. This attack was successful and he succeeded in occupying the farm. The French came to our assistance by counter attacking and were entirely successful in entirely restoring the line. The remainder of the day was fairly quiet.

At about 6.0pm during the attack on the farm the enemy succeeded in surrounding D Coy Hdrs where the following officers were holding a conference: Capt G.H.E Warburton – Adjutant; 2^nd Lt G.C. Gibbs – Intelligence officer; Lieut D.H.P ? C Coy commander;  2^nd Lt C.R. Fraser Coy Officer; 2^nd Lt Marrion Lewis Gun Officer.

Capt G.H.E Warburton and 2^nd Lt G.C. Gibbs made a desperate effort to fight their way out and I regret to say were both killed. As the other officers have not been seen since I presume they have been captured. The death of Capt G.H.E Warburton is particularly regretted since he had just handed over Command to me just prior to coming back for a rest when he went forward to D Coy Hdrs.

The remnants of the BN were relieved on the night of 18/19^th inst and marched back to Boschepe. Total casualties during operations 20 officers and 469 other ranks.

I will forward in due course names of certain officers, N.C.O’s and men whom I wish to bring to the notice of G.O.C for gallantry and good work during the operations.