Edward Kerr

Killed in Action on the 22/08/1918 at Monchy-au-Bois during the Battle of Albert (phase of the 2nd Battles of the Somme)

The Battalion arrived at Le Havre on the 24/08/1914 and were part of the 8th Brigade, 3rd Division when Edward fell at Monchy-au-Bois during the Battle of Albert, 21st - 23rd August 1918. This was a phase of the Second Battles of the Somme, 21st August - 3rd September 1918 : British Third and Fourth Armies commence offensive operations on the same ground over which the 1916 Battle of the Somme was fought. They make a deep advance. Douchy-les-Ayette was in German occupation from October, 1914 to the 21st March 1917. In March 1918, the enemy advanced as far as the Communal Cemetery, and held it for a few days. The village was never completely evacuated by the inhabitants. It contained a German Cemetery of 380 graves, now removed. The British Cemetery was begun in August and September, 1918, by the 3rd Division Burial Officer; and the 81 graves then made are scattered among eight Rows in what are now Plots II and IV. It was enlarged after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the battlefields of Arras and the Ancre and from other burial grounds. There are now over 700, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, nearly one-third are unidentified and a special memorial is erected to an Officer of the Lincolns believed to be buried among them. Edward is also remembered on the Stewarts and Lloyds plaque (British Tube Works Panel). See photos for Edward's Medal Index Card, his CWGC Grave Registration x 2, his Headstone Report, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, Edward's Pension Records x 2, Douchy-les-Ayette British Cemetery, the Royal Scots Fusiliers Cap Badge and the 3rd Division Order of Battle x 12 (the Division Edward was with when he fell). Finally, SEE PHOTOS x 10 FOR THE BATTALION WAR DIARY 1st JULY - 31st AUGUST 1918. The War Diary for the 21st, 22nd and 23rd August states - "See report for operations *With 8th Brigade Diary". I`m unable to find this Diary and there is no published History of the 3rd Division.