John McConnell

Killed in Action on the 02/04/1918 during the 1st Battles of the Somme 1918

The Lord Strathcona's Horse was part of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade, 3rd Cavalry Division. The Brigade joined the Division on the 13/03/1918. The Division took part in the Battle of St Quentin, 21st - 23rd March 1918, the actions at the Somme crossings, 24th - 25th March 1918 and 2 days after John's death the Battle of the Avre, 4th April 1918. John was Killed in Action during the 2nd week of the German Spring Offensive in 1918. The was part of the The First Battles of the Somme, 21st March - 5th April 1918 (Offensive in Picardy) : After transferring very large forces from the now-collapsed Eastern Front, the German Army commits to a series of large-scale offensives. The first, Operation Michael, strikes the British Fifth and Third Armies. A deep advance is made and inflicts large losses, although the second phase, Operation Mars, at Arras on the 28th March, is soon held. In the crisis, the Allies decide at Doullens to appoint French General Foch as co-ordinator, and soon enough, as Generalissimo. Before enough French and British reserves are finally assembled to hold the German advance before it captures the critical railway junctions at Amiens. John is also remembered in the Canadian WW1 Book of Remembrance (see photos). See photos for John's Attestation Papers x 2, his Medical History, his name on the Vimy Memorial x 2, myself at the Memorial in 2012, John's Service / Pay Records x 18 and the Lord Strathcona's Horse Cap Badge.