George Howells

George Howells the eldest o f six childre n wa s born i n 1887 a t Bro mstead near to Gnosall; the son o f Thomas a farm labourer and his wife Emma. In November 1905 the 18 years old George attested for the 3 rd V olunteer Battalion North Staf fordshire Regiment, this battalion was a forerunner o f the T erritorial Army that was introduced 1908. A t the time o f his enlistment h e was employed a s a groom b y Dow age r Lady Salt a t W eep ing Cross, Stafford. The 191 1 census records that George is employed a s a game keeper . However , in 1912, now age 24 he decided on a career change and enlisted at Shrewsbury into the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. After trainin g a t the depot, h e was posted t o the 1 s t B attalion who were based a t T ipperary i n Ireland. At t he outbreak of the Grea t War 1914 the 1st Ba ttalion King’ s Shrop shire Light In fan try (1/ KLS I) was part o f 16th Infantry Brig ade , 6th Division. The battalion was quickly mobilised and travelled to Fra nce arriving a t the port o f S t Nazaire on 10 th September 1914. V ery soon after arriving in France 1/KSLI was in action fighting the Germans a t the River Aisne. During this battle, which lasted from 10 th to 13 th September British and French forces attempted to capture the heights o f the Chemin de s Dames abo ve the River Aisne. Th e attack di d no t s ee the Germans removed fro m the heights no r coul d the Germans dislodge the British, what did happen was the first def ensive trenches were dug. I n the aftermath o f the battle 1/KLSI held and defended positions on the Chemin des Dames t o the north o f the River Aisne until 22 nd Sep tember 1914. On 1 st Oct obe r the battalion took over trenches half a mile t o the west o f Vailly. These were then held until 12 th October when 1/ KLS I was replac ed b y French tr oop s . This first dep loyment had been a trench holding ope ration, the type o f deployment that would featur e for much o f the war f or 1 / KLSI. In those few weeks 1/KLSI lost 3 killed and 7 wounded. Between January and May 1915 1/KSLI remained i n the Armentieres sector continuing its trench holding ope rations. During these five months o f relative quiet 1/KSLI suffered 3 1 killed and 6 7 w ounded mainly fro m artillery and s niping includi ng G eorge Howells wh o is recorded a s killed i n action o n 10 th March 1915. He i s buried i n Ration Farm Military Cemetery a t L a Chapelle – D’Arm enti eres.

George Howell s

Private 9809 – 1 s t Ba talli on King’ s Shro ps hire Lig ht Inf antry Di ed of W ounds 10 th Marc h 191 5 – aged 28 Buri ed at Rati on Farm Military Ce metery at La C ha pel le

Ration Farm Military Cem etery at La Chapelle – D’Arme ntieres. History informa tion For much of the war , Ration Farm was just over 1 kilometre behind the front line at the end of a communication trench. The first cemetery , Ration Farm Old Military Cemetery , was begun in Febru ary 1915, close besid e the far m buildings. It was used until October 1915 chiefly by units of the 6th Division and at the Armistice it contained 73 graves. In April 1923, these graves were moved into Plot VI of the present cemetery , at the request of the French authorities. The pres ent cemetery was begun ( as Ration Farm New Military Cemetery) in October 1915 and remain ed in use until October 1918. It was very gre atly inc reased after the Armistice when graves were bro ught in fro m i solated sites and small cemeteries on the batt lefield, including: - CHAPEL F ARM CEMETERY , FLEURBAIX, which was 2 kms West of Bois Grenier . It contai ned 11 British gr aves of 1915 and 1916. FERME-DU-BIEZ MILIT AR Y CEMETER Y , La Chapelle D'Armentieres, which was 2 km s South East of that village. It contained 36 British graves of 1915 and 1918. For the most part, Plots I to V contain the original burials. Among the isolated graves brought in were many of Australian soldiers who died in the Attack at Fromelles on 19 July 1916 . There are now 1,313 Commonwealth servicemen of the First W orld W ar buried or commemorated in the cemetery . 677 of the burials are unidentified, but there are special memorials to six casualties know or believed to be buried among them.