Len was born in the village of Combe Martin, in North Devon, England in 1895. He was the son of Matthew Darch and Sarah (nee Rooke), who lived at Glenwood, Combe Martin.Len had three brothers, Theo, Bert and Wilf, and one sister, Aileen, who married my Uncle Albert in 1919, and therefore became my Auntie Aileen.
Len joined the 1st/7th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment, and was sent to France to fight in WW1, also known as The Great War. 1/7th Battalion Worcestershire Regt was part of 144th (Gloucester & Worcester) Brigade. This photo may have been taken when he first volunteered.
Herbert Leonard Darch, Private 202233, probably took part in the ‘Pursuit of the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line’ (14 March – 5 April 1917), but on Monday 24 April 1917, at the young age of 21, he was killed in action at Gillemont Farm.
His life is comemmorated with honour on the Thiepval Memorial, Thiepval, Department of the Somme, Picardie, France, Plot: Pier and Face 5 A and 6 C. As there is no grave, his body was not recovered. His remains are probably still lying where he fell in a farmer's field.
Also on this Remembrance Day I am remembering
John Turnbull Chandler, my mother's cousin who was killed in France in 1917. You can read his story here.
RIP.
ReplyDeleteSo many families left to grieve. Which is true of all wars. The family left behind also pay a high price.
Me gustan la imágenes que pones,,,un saludo desde Murcia.
ReplyDeleteSo many lost...all war is awful, but this one was particularly disgusting. I have visited Thiepval - 70,000+ men who have no known grave on one side of the conflict in one part of the war. It is hard for us to comprehend. And we should always remember.
ReplyDelete...Remembrance Day, I've always enjoy this name. Wishing you peace on this and every day.
ReplyDeleteWe will remember them.
ReplyDeleteThat's so nice and thoughtful for you to remember and honour him like this.
ReplyDeleteVery nice and very thoughtful and I'm reminded again what a waste war is and the only reason we have wars is because we somehow get conned by people who want to lead us into fighting other people. I was not in combat but served a total of eight years in the U.S. Navy (on active duty and reserve duty) - entering service shortly after the end of the Korean conflict - I was quite young! When da Trumpf starts talking war and rattling nuclear sabres, I have a tremendous urge to strangle the SOB, especially since he never served or fought anything tougher than a hangnail on a golf course.
ReplyDeleteInteresting history and a nice post. Nothing good ever comes from war.
ReplyDeleteSo many young lives taken. There's been a commemoration going on here since September in the evenings with names of the dead from 1917 projected onto a building close to the war memorial. Those two names would have been among them.
ReplyDeleteSo many wasted lives! A touching tribute.
ReplyDeleteSo many young lives lost Shammi.. it's devastating that it's still happening today!
ReplyDeleteP.s. re the last post, fresh baked bread is irresistible 😀
So many lost in So many wars.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad there is a day of remembrance for all.
It is always so interesting to read personal stories of those whose sacrifice was total. Thank you for this. God bless.
ReplyDeleteHappy belated birthday, Shammie.
ReplyDeleteI was going to post that as part of my response but it didn't seem appropriate for The Lest We Forget.
Those pancakes in my post were huge and no I couldn't even eat half of them....they were tasty though.
Important they are Remembered, and so personal for you when you know the history of someone fallen.
ReplyDeleteA lovely tribute. Wars bring such loss and grief.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing I can add.
ReplyDelete