THOSE REMEMBERED ON THE FALFIELD WAR MEMORIAL WHO DIED DURING THE 1914-18 WAR
THOSE REMEMBERED ON THE FALFIELD WAR MEMORIAL WHO DIED DURING THE 1914-18 WAR
WILLIAM EWART ALFRED DAVID ORGAN
WILLIAM EWART ALFRED DAVID ORGAN



Date Born
Circa 1896
Birth place:
Falfield
Date of Death:
2nd December 1917
Fate:
Killed in action
Duty Location:
France and Flanders
Buried:
Unknown.
Remembered at the Cambrai Memorial.
The Cambrai Memorial stands on a terrace in Louverval Military Cemetery, which is situated on the north side of the N30, south of Louverval village. Louverval is 13 kilometres north-
The Memorial commemorates more than 7,000 servicemen of the United Kingdom and South Africa who died in the Battle of Cambrai in November and December 1917 and whose graves are not known. Sir Douglas Haig described the object of the Cambrai operations as the gaining of a ‘local success by a sudden attack at a point where the enemy did not expect it’ and to some extent they succeeded. The proposed method of assault was new, with no preliminary artillery bombardment. Instead, tanks would be used to break through the German wire, with the infantry following under the cover of smoke barrages. The attack began early in the morning of 20 November 1917 and initial advances were remarkable.
However, by 22 November, a halt was called for rest and reorganisation, allowing the Germans to reinforce. From 23 to 28 November, the fighting was concentrated almost entirely around Bourlon Wood and by 29 November, it was clear that the Germans were ready for a major counterattack. During the fierce fighting of the next five days, much of the ground gained in the initial days of the attack was lost. For the Allies, the results of the battle were ultimately disappointing but valuable lessons were learned about new strategies and tactical approaches to fighting. The Germans had also discovered that their fixed lines of defence, no matter how well prepared, were vulnerable.
The Cambrai Memorial was designed by H Chalton Bradshaw with sculpture by C. S. Jagger. The memorial stands on a terrace at one end of Louverval Military Cemetery. The chateau at Louverval was taken by the 56th Australian Infantry Battalion at dawn on 2 April 1917. The hamlet stayed in Allied hands until the 51st (Highland) Division was driven from it on 21 March 1918 during the great German advance, and it was retaken in the following September. Parts of Rows B and C of the cemetery were made between April and December 1917 and in 1927, graves were brought in from Louverval Chateau Cemetery, which had been begun by German troops in March 1918 and used by Commonwealth forces in September and October 1918. The cemetery now contains 124 First World War burials.


Regiment:
2nd/6th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment
Rank:
Private
Service No:
266672
Military Information:
2/4th (City of Bristol) Battalion Territorial Force and 2/6th Battalion Territorial Force
Sept 1914 Both formed in Bristol and then moved to Northampton to join the 183rd Brigade of the 61st Division.
April 1915 Moved to Chelmsford.
Feb 1916 Moved to Salisbury Plain.
24.05.1916 Mobilised for war and landed in France and engaged in various actions on the Western Front including;
During 1916
The Attack at Fromelles.
During 1917
The Operations on the Ancre, The German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line, The Battle of Langemarck, The Cambrai Operations.
20.02.1918 Disbanded in France.
Medals Awarded

The 1914/15 star campaign medal of the British Empire for his service in World War One.
This Star is identical to the 1914 Star in every respect except that the centre scroll bears the dates “1914-

Eligibility for the Victory Medal consisted of having been mobilised, fighting, having served in any of the theatres of operations, or at sea, between midnight 4th/5th August, 1914, and midnight, 11th/12th November, 1918. Women who served in any of the various military organisations in a theatre of operations were also eligible.

The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the 1st World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in silver and 110,000 in bronze, the latter awarded to, among others, the Chinese, Maltese and Indian Labour Corps
The 1914/15 Star, the Victory Medal and the British War Medal were sometimes irreverently referred to as Pip, Squeak and Wilfred. With Pip representing either the 1914/15 Star or the 1914 Star, only one of which could be awarded to a soldier, Squeak represented the British War Medal and Wilfred represented the Victory Medal.
MEMORIAL PLAQUE
The Next of Kin Memorial Plaque is a bronze plaque approximately 11 cms or 4½ inches diameter with the name of someone who died serving with the British and Empire forces in the First World War. This was issued to the Next of Kin of the casualty along with a scroll. They were posted out separately, typically in 1919 and 1920, and a ‘King’s message’ was enclosed with both, containing a facsimile signature of the King.
The immediate next of kin of all who died serving with the British and Empire forces in the First World War were eligible to receive the plaque and scroll. With nearly a million dead for the British Army alone, the plaques are today still commonly found; the fragile scrolls survive less often. Some of those recorded by plaques and scrolls were not eligible for service medals, for instance, those who did not serve overseas but who died in service through accident or illness.

Parents:
Henry William and Eliza Annie Organ of Falfield, Gloucestershire
Other Information:
In the 1901 and 1911 census William was living in Falfield. His father was a Postman and his mother looked after to Sorting Office in Falfield. From the census and baptism records the Organ’s were a large family with a total of thirteen children, five boys and eight girls or which ten are buried in St George’s churchyard.
Beatrice Millicent | Gwendoline Annie | Winifred Mary | Arthur |
Ruby Violet | Gerald Organ | Eli Edwin | Phylis Mildred |
Elton Ernest | Ida Blanche | Edith Gertrude | Hilda Eliza Margaret |
Raymond Richard |
Credits: St George’s Church Baptism and Burial Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Ancestry website, forces-
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