Military History

Theatre

Action/Battle/Other

Third Battle of the Aisne

Place of Death

 

 

Medals

Medal Citation (if app)

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Enlisted Date/Place

February 1917 at Rugby

Previous Regiments/Units

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Circumstances Leading to Death (Normally from War Diary)

The battalion were in the front lines at Gernicourt Wood just south of the River Aisne when the whole brigade/division front was attacked by the German army on the first day of the Third Battle of the Aisne, part of the German Spring Offensive. Two days later the battalion had been pushed back more than 10km to a position near Ventelay. Between the 27th and 29th May the battalion suffered casualties of 623 men. On the 1st June the whole of 8th Division was so depleted that it was withdrawn from the lines and during the battle the allies were forced in som places to retreat some 55km before various counter attacks drove the Germans back. In the wider battle on the morning of 27 May 1918, the Germans began a bombardment of the Allied front lines with over 4,000 artillery pieces. The British suffered heavy losses, because French General Duchene was reluctant to abandon the Chemin des Dames ridge, after it had been captured at such cost the previous year, and had ordered them to mass together in the front trenches, in defiance of instructions from the French Commander-in-Chief Henri-Philippe Petain. Huddled together, they made easy artillery targets. The Germans were successfully halted by the Allies at the Marne on 6 June 1918. Duchane was sacked for his defiance and failure to follow orders.

Gernicourt Wood	La Ville-Aux-Bois British Cemetery

Birth Date & Place

Baptism Date & Place

Parents

William and Annie Bloxham of Brickyard Cottage, Ufton

Wife & Marriage

Children

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Occupation(s)

• 1911 - School

Schools & Colleges

 

Address History

• 1900 - Bascote Heath (baptism record)
• 1911 - 21 Ufton, Southam
• 1917 - Brickyard Cottage, Ufton, Southam

Other Information

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