Lost in No-Man's-Land: The Missing of WW1

throughout the first world war literally tens of millions of servicemen were engaged in fighting across the globe with a staggering 9 million making the ultimate sacrifice devastating as it was to lose a loved one most in the years after the war had a place to go and remember their fathers sons and brothers but by no means all when the guns finally fell silent in 1918 more than a million families were left simply not knowing what had become of their fallen Sons The Missing of the Great War this is the remarkable story of the search for just one such man who fell in 1915 on the Western Front John Kipling was just 17 years old when war was declared the only son of Rudyard Kipling the author of The Jungle Book and one of Britain's leading literary figures John had come from a truly privileged background growing up at the imposing family home batemans in leafy Sussex he'd know many great figures throughout his childhood but when the storm clouds of War gathered over Europe in 1914 John like so many others was eager to do his bit known by many today as Jack thanks to his father's poem and the film my boy Jack starring Daniel Radcliffe he was in fact always known as John possessing extreme short-sightedness he was rejected for military service by both the Army and the Navy in 1914 and it took his father's repeated intervention with powerful friends to finally secure him a commission underage in the prestigious Irish guards by the time John finished his training in mid-1915 the Great War had evolved into a brutal new form of combat trench warfare content with their territorial gains the Germans had adopted a defensive posture digging strong well-constructed trenches thus forcing the Western allies to take up the offensive across these very fields in September The Joint alloy plan to force the Germans from France that summer came in the form of two major attacks one around the Champaign region to be conducted by the French and a second across the pan flat Artois region led by the British it was to this area that John Kipling and so we must go let's take a closer look today the southern boundary of the six mile long loose Battlefield pronounced locally as loss can be clearly identified by two large spoil pyramids dominating the skyline known as the double Cress year this feature was actually here at the time but much smaller with only this low shelf being present in 1915. nearby was the loose Crest year running into the village of loose itself the head of which was a Structure known to troops as Tower Bridge due to its similar shape to the London Landmark to the north of the village was a small chalk Quarry and wood and a series of mining buildings known as Pui 14 beasts they sat along a north-south running Road behind the German front lines leading to the mining Village of ULU and then north of that to the German Hill Villages of N and oshila Min before reaching the labase canal marking the northern limit of the loose Battlefield but to really understand the Battle of loose and the search for John Kipling we need to be able to read a wartime trench map the area on each trench map was first divided into large rectangles identified by a capital letter each of these squares was then subdivided into 36 smaller numbered squares with every Square representing an area of ground measuring one thousand by one thousand yards these numbered squares were further subdivided again into four quadrants a in the top left B in the top right C in the bottom left and D the bottom right with each one measuring 500 by 500 yards inside these smaller squares were a series of ten graduated marks running from the bottom left of the square the process being that the first number of a coordinate was the distance along the base from the left and the second number the distance up the square also from the bottom left thus an area can be divided into a number of smaller squares just 50 yards across so for example the area known as The Lone Tree was to be found at coordinates g17 c93 it was located right here accurate to 50 yards so all along this front six British divisions would attack on the morning of the 25th September with the aim of breaking through the German lines also available for the fight were a number of newly arrived units including the second Battalion Irish guards amongst their 900 strong Battalion was 18 year old second lieutenant John Kipling about to see battle for the very first time so how can we gather more information about John Kipling in today's digital era one useful tool we can turn to is find my past this platform is a valuable resource for uncovering details about individuals especially those who served in the first World War searching for John Kipling using his name along with place and year of birth we get a lot of Records to choose from of interest is the 1911 census which shows us that three years before the outbreak of War John was not at the family home abatements but rather was a 13 year old Border at the nearby Saint Albans Preparatory School in rottingdean a further record from final pass fast newspaper archive which contains millions of pages of historic print dated 23rd of September 1914 announces that John along with the son of Mr Andrew Bona law a prominent politician have successfully joined the military confirming Jon's commission into the Irish guards according to the official history of the Irish guards written by none other than rajar Kipling himself John's Battalion arrived in France on the 17th of August 1915 just as preparations for the big push were underway John who had only just turned 18 wrote to his father regularly dear father got your two letters of the 16th post for which many thanks the post was delayed owing to submarines playing around in the channel we work like fiends if we get two hours for meals and stand easies in a day we think ourselves damn lucky usually getting up at 4am and going to bed about half past nine in the evening we move off again I believe on Tuesday I've done enough about marching in the last month to sicken me of it for life it is simply indescribable by the way next time you're in town would you get me an identification disc as I've gone and lost mine I think you can get me one at the stores just an aluminum disc with a string through it and it is a routine order that we have to have them well so long old things yours ever John early on the morning of the 25th September 1915 John and his men were awoken by the sound of a terrific bombardment as British guns slammed shells into the German trenches all across the loose front moments later their new secret weapon chlorine gas was released from thousands of cylinders dug into British trenches the clouds being followed by British instrument advancing with distinctive gas hoods across no man's land the results were very mixed in the South around loose Village real progress was made with troops of the London Irish Battalion famously kicking a football across No Man's Land into enemy trenches their fight would continue all day and well into the night at the end of which loose was in British hands in the center of the line around ULU things went differently despite some early success by the time the British managed to reach this road they came under withering machine gun fire and suffered tremendous casualties in the north things were worse still with the wind blowing South North rather than the required West East much of the British gas blew into the faces of their own troops causing hundreds of casualties in other areas men Advanced alone being badly hit by fire from the formidable Hoenn Solomon Ridout as the 25th Drew to a close thousands lay dead and the battle was far from over that night behind the British Lines John managed to hurry a few words home dear father just a few lines as we start off tonight the Frontline trenches are nine miles off from here so it won't be a very long march this is the great effort to break through and end the war the guns have been going all day without a single stop funny to think one will be in the thick of it tomorrow and one's first experience of shelf are not in the trenches but in the open we marched 18 miles last night in the pouring wet it came down in sheets steadily they are staking a tremendous slot on this great advancing movement if it succeeds the war won't go on for long this will be my last letter most likely for some time as we won't get any time for writing this next week well so long oldies dear love John the 26th September dawned over something of a horror scene with the cries of thousands of wounded no man's land living long in the memory of all who were present that day two fresh divisions were pushed forward new Kitchener troops the first citizen soldiers to see action the results were horrific and sadly all too predictable inexperienced troops launched across flat ground covered by well-sighted machine guns men that thousands more fell in just a few hours in an area which became known to the Germans as the field of corpses despite the awful events of the 26th the 27th still presented an opportunity for Allied planners this time in the more successful Southern sector by now the lines had moved to look something like this with John and the second Irish guards being moved up in preparation for the attack their objectives were as follows to advance from the newly held British line here at an oblique angle across these Open Fields and capture chalk pit wood the Quarry next to it and the buildings known as pre-14 beasts this meant crossing over 600 yards of open ground against unknown German opposition for the men of number two company and John's 5 platoon it will be a case of keeping momentum pushing on and stopping for nothing finally at 4 pm the allotted start time and under cover of renewed artillery bombardment whistles blue and the Irish guards Rose from their positions and advanced across these very field towards the waiting enemy things went well at first with the men advancing at a steady Pace towards the chalk pit but upon reaching the wood a storm of enemy fire erupted from hidden machine guns to front and flank and within moments hundreds of men have been hit the fight descended into chaos as small groups led by the few remaining officers pushed forwards towards the buildings at pre-14 but the enemy fire was simply too heavy and the Irish guards fell back stumbling through the shattered wood towards their start line by the time the last survivors reached safety they had lost more than 300 men 18 year old John Kipling was nowhere to be seen it was not until four days later that news of the attack finally reached home a simple telegram informing Jon's mother carried that he was missing in action reportedly rudyard's reaction upon hearing the news was to let out a curse like that of a dying man now commenced a period of time that is often overlooked in the tragic story of the Great War the not knowing so many families shared that awful fate throughout the war and the torment each morning of watching as the postman passed by no news today in some ways the kiplings were more fortunate than most they had influential friends across Europe and they set about finding out whatever they could with a fanatical Zeal rajyard and Carrie wrote letters and sent telegrams worldwide to high-powered friends even arranging leaflets to be dropped over German lines in hopes of finding news all to no avail it wasn't until wounded Irish Guardsmen started to appear in the hospitals of Britain that some information could finally be found but in the confusion of that day it was often unclear and even contradictory the first authoritative news came from Captain bird John's commander in number two company who wrote to Rudyard on the 12th of October he described seeing John leading his platoon near pre-14 of my men say they saw your son limping just by the red house one said he saw him fall someone run to his assistants probably his orderly he's also missing I am very hopeful that he is a prisoner your son behaved with Greek calendar and coolness and handled his men splendidly I trust that your good anxiety may be laid by news of a safety soon about the same time news of John's disappearance hit the national press and the Kipling family's plight became well known a look back at the fight my past archive reveals a flavor of what the public learned at the time by December many accounts of that day in short pit would have reached the kiplings from men who were there each describing John as acting bravely but none offered any concrete answer to their question was he alive perhaps the most authoritative account came from a Guardsman bow who claimed to have seen Jon during that fighting and told Rudyard Kipling's friend and fellow author Ryder Haggard that he had seen him at the time the Irish guards withdrew stumbling back towards his lines trying to bandage a horrific wound which had shattered the lower part of his face leaving nothing visible below his mustache it was a horrific account the details of which haggar did not pass on to his friend one more report came in a year later in which a sergeant Farrell claimed to have seen Jon's shot through the head whilst firing his revolver into pre-14 Farrell said he carried John some 50 yards to the Northwestern edge of chalk pit wood here he left him believing at the time that John was dead or at least beyond help Roger and Carrie were understandably devastated by this seemingly first-hand account of Jon's death but never truly gave up hope until after the Armistice when the last prisoners of war came home John Kipling was not amongst them unknown to The Grieving parents on the 23rd of September 1919 almost five years since John was last seen a party of men from the 18th labor company with the awful task of searching the old front lines for the Fallen stumbled across the remains of a soldier on the loose battlefields after close inspection they learned that they were looking at the body of a lieutenant of the Irish guards but could it be John the key surviving record relating to the Discovery is this one a concentration and re-burial Report relating to all of those recovered by the 18th labor company on that day according to the report the unknown officer of the Irish guards was discovered at coordinates G25 c68 which when superimposing this on the modern Battlefield is actually over three miles away from where John was last seen in fact it's so far back it can't even be seen on the map at the time so surely it can't be him but is this record correct it's an odd location to find So Many Bodies as there was no fighting in square G25 in 1915 or any other time though of course there was shell fire so we need to explore further as we know John was last seen around grid Square h25c not G25 but on the mapping chart here letters g and H are next to each other opening the possibility that an error could have been made by the officer in charge of recording locations who thought he was in Grid G not h but if that were to be the case then every entry on this page which all showed G25 must also be incorrect so by exploring what we know of the other identified men here three of them and how they died maybe we can find a clue the first known man is private P glaber of the 15th Battalion London regiment killed according to the cross on his grave on the 11th of October 1915. the problem is when searching for his name no private labor appears no one of that name was killed with that Battalion in the war but by cross-referencing his service number which is unique to the man in this case 2829 we find that a private P blaber of that Battalion with the same service number was killed although on the 9th of November 1915 this is in fact the correct man so now turning to his unit's War diary a daily record of where the Battalion Saw Service we find that his unit was moving up to the front line via a trench known as chalk pit alley on the day in question into grid Square h25c what about the second Soldier this is private McGee of the sixth Royal Irish regiment killed on the 6th of June 1916. this is far more intriguing his Battalion War diary tells us on the day in question the sixth Royal Irish were in the front lines and suffered a severe shelling during which time a Dugout took a direct hit killing two men who were unable to be recovered the location trenches near point 14 bis grid Square h25c but can we be certain that an error has been made let's look at the last man private T MacPherson a Canadian with the service number 633732 Canadian records are especially useful as they contain something called the circumstances of death register in this case private McPherson's record reveals the following exhumed from isolated grave at a junction of trenches known as Railway alley the location h25c 4513 this is a very specific reference accurate to five yards and when cross-reference to a trench map clearly indicates his burial was also in h25c so with at least two of these men killed in the immediate vicinity of h25c being nowhere near g25c we can say with confidence that the unknown Lieutenant of the Irish guards was in fact found at H25 c68 the very place where Jon had last been seen but could it be someone other than John Kipling further searches tell us that the second Irish guards only fought in this precise location at one time in the Great War September 1915 and only lost significant numbers of men on one day the 27th September that day seven officers fell three of whom were amongst the missing at the end of the war second lieutenant Thomas pagnum Law saying Lieutenant Francis Clifford and John Kipling But Here Lies an issue the body discovered was that of a lieutenant a different rank distinguishable as they wore two Pips on their shoulders as opposed to just one for second lieutenant and the body discovered was clearly identified as a lieutenant but all three missing men were second lieutenants or were they in fact records revealed that Jon had actually been promoted several months earlier though the entry had yet to appear in the London Gazette after which time an officer would normally put up or add new Badges of rank but did John know about this new Rank and if so was he wearing it on the day of his death well here lies an unsolved mystery when he wrote home on the 19th September asking for a new identity disk he clearly asked for it to read second Lieutenant not Lieutenant furthermore he also wrote home on the 25th and didn't mention any promotion which he likely would have done it being an important milestone for a young officer perhaps John's commanding officer did inform him of his promotion before going over the top and he had a chance to change his rank that morning we will never know finally what about the other two Irish guards officers missing that day further research tells us that both were certainly second lieutenants and that pakenham law was in fact wounded and died in hospital and was buried near the Lone Tree the site of an aid post on the 27th almost certainly it's not him finally German Red Cross records tell us that saying Lieutenant Francis Clifford the other missing man was actually taken prisoner alive on the 27th and died that day in German hands later being buried near the village of Santo Goose some way behind the German lines so it can't be him either knowing now that the only missing Irish guards officer of the second Battalion to fall in that area without a known burial location was John Kipling changes things dramatically we will never know for sure and modern policy of the Commonwealth wargraves commission doesn't permit exclamation from a formal grave for DNA testing so is it possible that the soldier who lay under an unknown headstone for decades is in fact John well in 1992 after extensive research the Commonwealth warwaves commission reviewed the case and agreed 77 years after he fell in action the inscription adorning The Headstone of that Unknown Soldier was changed an 18 year old John Kipling was finally officially recognized as the man buried in plot 7 Row D Grave 2 at St Mary's Advanced dressing station in France sadly like so many parents neither Rudyard nor Carrie Kipling ever learned of the location of their loved one's grave both dying in the 1930s with their lifelong search unfulfilled but remarkably we do know that in 1924 on one of their many trips back to where their boy was last seen rajar Kipling did visit this Cemetery walked these rows of headstones and who knows perhaps he stopped at this very spot and wondered for a moment if he was looking at his son's grave thanks for taking the time to watch this video we hope you found it interesting we want to offer a special thanks to our sponsors for my past whose records prove vital in understanding the story of John Kipling for those with their own family connection to the first world war it really is an incredible resource offering extensive collection of military records that Encompass a Global Perspective making it a key source of British Army records online the vast Archive of British and Irish newspapers ranging from the 18th century to the 2000s was a vital tool for telling John's story if you'd like to trace your own family history in war or peace we highly recommend it and if you're curious you can explore it the free 7-Day trial with further information available in the video description below that's all this time thanks again and we'll see you soon

Channel: Battle Guide

Views: 639,280

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Id: Z9LORNN7o3Y

Length: 22min 55sec (1375 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 04 2023