223939 Rflmn. Francis Cyril Taylor British Army 1st Btn. Monmouthshire Regiment from:Rhiwderin, Monmouthshire (d.8th May 1915) Immediately following the outbreak of World War 1 in August 1914, Francis Taylor volunteered for the Army. Although, at age 17, he was legally too young, he was not truthful about his age and since he was over 6 feet tall at the time had little trouble convincing the recruiting officer. He was aided in this deception by his mother who had accompanied him to the recruiting station and supported his statement of age, an act which she regretted for the rest of her life.
He joined the 1st Battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment a unit of the Territorial Force with its HQ in Stow Hill, Newport. They proceeded to France on the 13th of February to join 84th Brigade in 28th Division. Both the 1st Battalion and 2nd Battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment landed at Le Havre on 14 February 1915.
In mid-March 1915 the battalion was sent into the front line near Ypres.
When the warring armies dug in during the winter of 1914-1915, the Allied lines developed a large bulge around the Belgian town of Ypres. This was the infamous "Ypres Salient" and the lay of the land meant that the British forces in this area were surrounded on three sides by the opposing German armies. On 22nd April the Germans opened a furious artillery bombardment at 5pm followed by the release of Chlorine gas.
Unprotected against gas, French troops fled in panic, creating a major breach in the Franco-British lines. Rushing forward to close the gap, The 1st Canadian Division overcame the immediate crisis. However, German attacks continued and by 1st May British troops began to withdraw to a new defensive line closer to Ypres itself.
The opening of an intense German artillery bombardment on 4th May marked the beginning of another stage in the battle, causing heavy casualties amongst the troops defending the Frezenberg Ridge, and on 6th May the 1st Monmouths received orders to move up to the front line. Reaching the front line on 7th May in darkness they took over badly damaged trenches and began a desperate attempt to make repairs before dawn
On 8th May, with the 2nd Battalion to the north and the 3rd Battalion to the south, all three battalions of the Monmouths were in the line as dawn broke. The British defenders were massively outnumbered, both in terms of infantry and artillery. Intense German artillery fire was followed by powerful infantry attacks and in the centre of the defensive ring around Ypres the order was given to retire. As British troops pulled back, a gap opened up in the line. It now fell to those units to the north, including the 1st Monmouths, to face German attacks from both their front and from their flank.
Finding themselves in the middle of a storm of shellfire and machine gun fire, the Monmouths lost contact with both their artillery and headquarters. As the scant British artillery support faded, officers of the battalion HQ moved forward to direct the desperate defence. The adjutant, Captain Dimsdale, was killed in an attempt to lead a counter attack, as was the second in command, Major Williams. The Monmouths were now in danger of being overwhelmed and an attempt to provide reinforcements failed as those sent forward were decimated by shellfire.
The situation was critical as the Monmouths attempted to hold off attacks from their front and deal with Germans who had taken over the trenches to their right. Captain Edwards attempted to organise a flank using a communication trench, but was soon almost surrounded. Called on to surrender and uttering the phrase which became part of regimental history, "surrender be damned," he was last seen firing his revolver at his attackers, a scene commemorated in the painting in the entrance of Newport Civic Centre.
The battalion commander, Colonel Robinson, now gave the order for the Monmouths to be pulled back from the front line to form a flank against the German attacks from the right, after which he too was shot through the neck and killed. It was now the afternoon and the situation was clearly hopeless.
With no alternative before them other than annihilation, the remaining isolated groups of the Monmouths pulled back to their support trenches. From these reserve trenches The Monmouths and the Royal Irish Rifles were able to hold off further German advances. With this, the involvement of the 1st Monmouths in the Second Battle of Ypres came to an end and the remains of the battalion were withdrawn to Brielan the following day. Here the extent of the casualties suffered became clear: of the 23 officers and 565 other ranks who had left Brielen on 7th May, 3 officers and 126 other ranks returned.
Cyril Taylor died during this battle. His body was never identified. Along with over 54,000 other British and Commonwealth officers and men who died at Ypres and who have no known graves he is memorialized on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres.
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