239013 Pte. Frederick Joseph Hearn British Army 15th Btn. Hampshire Regiment from:Portsmouth (d.5th Aug 1917) Fred Hearn enlisted in December 1915, his battalion was a part of 41st Division 122 Brigade and took part in the Battle of Flers on the 15th of September 1916) as a part of the Somme Offensive that had commenced on 1st July 1916. The village was taken with the help of four tanks. The Battalion suffered nearly 300 casualties.
The 15th Battalion were further engaged in the Somme area before being transferred to the Ypres sector on 20th October 1916.
Frederick Hearn was killed with the Battalion whilst engaged at the 3rd Battle of Ypres, Passchendaele, on 5th August 1917. The Battalion's objective was the village of Hollebeke, Fred would have 'gone over the top' at 3.50 am on the 31st of July 1918, advancing behind the artillery creeping barrage the objective was the village of Hollebeke. The village was taken; the battalion were able to occupy trenches in the immediate vicinity of the village. The Battalion War Diary gives an account of attempts by the Germans to re-take Hollebeke on 5th August under cover of a thick mist, successfully taking nearby Forret Farm.
A counter attack was put in by the 15th Hampshire and 12th East Surrey regiment, the counter attack was a success and some 17 prisoners taken.
What is clear from the war diaries is how depleted the above Battalions were after 6 days of fighting.
Fred is commemorated on the Menin Gate, his body was never recovered.
I was able to visit the Menin Gate in 2015 and pay my respects. Fred was 23 years old at the time of death. He was my great uncle on my mother's side.
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