Additions will be checked before being published on the website and where possible will be forwarded to the person who submitted the original entries. Your contact details will not be forwarded, but they can send a reply via this messaging system.
please scroll down to send a message
Capt. Frederick George Coxen
British Army 40th Battery Royal Field Artillery
from:Tootingham, London
My grandfather Frederick Coxen joined the RFA as a reservist around 1907 and was called into active duty August 4th, 1914. By 1907 he had achieved the rank of Bombardier and when he was called to active duty he served in the newly created 40 battery which was part of the 43rd Brigade, first corp. He went over to France with the BEF in 1914 and fought in the battles of Mons, Marne, Anise, first Ypres, Neuve Chapelle, and second Ypres.
During the war he received a field promotion to 2nd Lieutenant and by the end of the war he held the rank of Captain. During the first part of the war he was in charge of establishing observation posts and maintaining telephone communications between the gun batteries and the observation posts. He kept a journal that has been handed down to me and I've created a website where I post excerpts.
I'm in the process of self publishing a book based on my grandfather's war journal and how it helped me try to keep a promise he made with three fellow soldiers but failed to keep. The four chums made a promise with each other that if one or more of them survived the war then those that survived would find the families of those that didn't make it back and tell them how and when their loved ones died. My grandfather was the only one that survived but he failed to keep his promise. I've spent the last two years trying to locate relatives with only marginal success. If anyone had a relative that served in the RFA, 43rd brigade, I would like to find out move information about those that served, especially those from the 40th battery.
