West Hill Cemetery - TrustNews March 10
While researching the background of some of the people buried in West Hill Cemetery for the Trust’s pamphlet “A peaceful place to rest” I failed to discover the eventual fate of Captain Edward Lawrence MC DCM.
My original informant told me that there was no record of his service after he was transferred from the 1st to the 10th Battalion of The Northumberland Fusiliers. Now thanks to the staff of that now disbanded Regiment’s Museum at Alnwick Castle, the ultimate fate of this brave man has been uncovered.
On the 23rd March 1918, the 10th Battalion had been withdrawn from the front line “all grimy, bearded and dead weary, but absolutely unconscious of any question of defeat”, and were accommodated in a hutted camp near the village of Mercatel, not far from Bapaume.
By the 27th they were back in the front line. Captain Lawrence was then commanding ‘X’ Company. The Germans started shelling the Battalion’s position at 3 a.m. on the 28th. The battle that followed was one of desperate fighting, and the order ‘No retirement’ was obeyed to the letter. The enemy fire eventually was turned on to ‘X’ Company sector, and Lawrence and his second-in-command, Lieutenant Rose, were both killed. The casualties inflicted on the Company were very heavy and by dark on that day ‘X’ Company had ceased to exist.
No record of Captain Lawrence could be found in the Battalion’s War Diaries, which is unusual, as it was customary to record the death of officers as they occurred. It seems incredible that so little is known or written about this very brave man. Nowhere is then any indication as to why his memorial stands in West Hill Cemetery. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records show him as having “No known grave”, but his name does appear on the Arras Memorial (Bay2-3) in the Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery.
More detail of his earlier service can be found in the Trust’s booklet “A Peaceful Place to Rest” which is available from the Trust’s office (manned on Monday and Wednesday mornings). You can also view this booklet on this website: "A peaceful place to rest".