45954. Corporal William Edsall
“C” Company, 13th. (Service) Battalion, Durham Light Infantry. Formerly Private, Northamptonshire Regiment, and 12030. Private, 21st. (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (2nd. Tyneside Scottish). Born 1887 in The Strand, London. Unmarried and a Clerk by Trade. Enlisted in London on 11th. August 1914, just 1 week after England declared War on Germany.
Embarked from England to France on 31st. May 1915
Transferred to England (V.D.H.) aboard H.S. “St. Andrew” reported by O/C 5 Gen Hosp Rouen
Embarked Folkestone 15-7-16
Disembarked Boulogne 15-7-16
Attached to 13th. D.L.I. in the Field on 22-7-16 in France
Transferred to 13th Bn Durham L.I. and allotted New Regtl . No. 45954 in The Field. 13.9.16.
Prom: Cpl. In The Field. 17.10.16
70 F.A. Scabies. In The Field. 28.4.17
50 N.C.C.S. Scabies. In The Field. 29.4.17
To duty. In The Field. 12.5.17
71 F.A. Gonorrhea to 10 C.C.S. In The Field.
O/C Bn. Apptd. A/Cpl. with pay. France. 14.10.18
Died of Wounds on Friday 25th. October 1918, aged 31, on No. 17 Ambulance Train, France, during the Advance to Victory
Death report dated 25.10.18. by O/C 41st. Sty. Hosp. France
Died from Wounds received in Action, during The Battle of The Selle, on Friday 25th. October 1918, just 17 days before the Armistice was signed. Buried in Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Somme, France, Plot XV, Row BB, Grave 2. Brother of Mr. T. H. Edsall of 134 Mercers Road, Tufnell Park, London. William was 1 of only 2 Servicemen with the surname “Edsall” to have Fallen during The Great War, the other being a Canadian. 3 of William’s Comrades from the Battalion also Fell on this day.
SERVICE HISTORY SHEET
Home From 11.8.1914. To 30.5.1915. 293 Days
France From 31.5. 1915. To 13.10.1915. 176 Days
Home From 14.10.1915. To 13.7.1916. 273 Days
France From 14.9.1916. To 12.11.1917. 1 Year 122 Days
Letter from William’s brother:
134 Mercers Rd
Tufnell Park. N.19.
London
5 Nov. 1918
C/O i/c No 1 Infantry Records
York
Sir
D.L.I/8184
I have today received the notification of the death of my brother Private Wm. Edsall 45954 13th Bn. Durham Light Infantry. Has was however sent to an old address 64 Gt. Percy St. Kings X. London. N. I understand the telegram was sent there on Saturday last week was not taken in and I shall be greatly obliged if you could have this telegram or a copy sent to my new address at the top of this page. I might mention that in a communication received from my brother dated 22 October he stated that he was a “Corporal”.
Yours faithfully
T. H. Edsall
William’s Headstone inscription reads: “AT REST NOW”
The Battle of The Selle, 17-25 October 1918, saw the British force the Germans out of a new defensive line along the River Selle that they had been forced to take up being forced out of the Hindenburg Line. The battle of Cambrai-St. Quentin, 27 September-9 October 1918, had been Haig’s contribution to Marshal Foch’s great autumn offensive, designed to force the Germans out of the Hindenburg Line. It had succeeded, but the Allied advance had then slowed in the face of increasing German resistance, and by 10 October the Germans were taking up a new position on the River Selle, close to Le Cateau.
The British needed two weeks to prepare to attack the new position. Cambrai-St. Quentin had been a costly battle – the British had suffered 140,000 casualties during the battle, and needed time to reorganise and to bring up their artillery.
On 17 October Rawlinson’s Fourth Army attacked on a ten mile front south of Le Cateau. Their aim was to reach a line between Valenciennes and the Sambre and Oise Canal. From there the key German railway centre at Aulnoye would be in artillery range. The Fourth Army attack made slow progress – after two days the right wing had made the biggest advance, a move of five miles.
The attack was then widened. By the evening of 19 October the First Army (Horne) had fought its way into a position where it could take part in an attack north of Le Cateau. Early on the morning of 20 October the First and Third Armies attacked north of Le Cateau. By the end of the day they had advanced two miles. In earlier battles that would have been a dangerous distance to have moved, and would have placed the British right in the middle of the German fighting zone, but the fighting had moved out of the German fortified zone and into open country, and the Germans had only had ten days to build up their defences on the Selle.
Early on 23 October Haig launched a night attack with all three of his British armies, the First, Second and Fourth. This time the British advanced six miles in two days. The British were now twenty miles behind the rear line of the Hindenburg Line, and the Germans were on the back foot. They formed another new line between Valenciennes and the Sambre, but that line was penetrated on 4 November (battle of the Sambre), after which the speed of the Allied advance increased. The British advanced as far between 4-11 November as they had between 27 September and 3 November, and as the war ended the Canadians liberated Mons.
Barry Jenkins