25th October 1914 On this day: Anti Aircraft defence added at Adeer   In late October 1914 two Quick Firing 6-pdr Hotchkiss guns for anti-aircraft defence were emplaced on the perimeter of the Ardeer Explosives Factory.  Wounded Enemy renews attack   As dawn broke the enemy launched another attack on line held by the 1st Leicesters on the railway embankment around La Houssoie station. Around the level crossing to the south, D Coy were overwhelmed and about 100 men were taken prisoner. By 9am the British had regained their lost trenches and a bitter hand to hand fight ensued at the level crossing with the Germans engaging heavy weapons. The line was held throughout a day of fighting. Amongst the casulaties was 6602 Private Albert Swann, his deathw as reported in the Grantham Journal on the 28th of November 1914: "Yesterday week, Mrs Swann, of Seaton, received an official communication that Pte. Albert Swann, 6602, Leicestershire Regiment, was killed in action, and the sympathy and regret of the Army Council was expressed with the widow in her loss. Further information also came on Friday to Mrs Swann, who was visited by Mrs J. Faulks, of Langham, a sister of the deceased, and who had been communicating with relatives at Leicester in order to ascertain the facts. A brother of Mr Percy Garner, 115, Freeman-road, North Leicester, had written:- "I saw a shell hit your poor cousin Albert Swann. It either knocked him right into the earth or blew him into fragments, as nothing was ever seen of him again. I was talking to him less than five minutes before he was hit. He had been talking about his baby." The cousin who sent this sad news from the front stated that he was saved himself only by a miracle. They were close friends, and the one spared was very much affected by his cousin’s sad end. Another eye-witness, a wounded Leicester from the same Company, who has returned from France to England, asked if he knew a man named Albert Swann, replied:- "I should think I did. Poor fellow! I saw him killed, a sight I never shall forget the longest day I live. A shell hit him and blew him into thousands of bits." It appears that Pte. A. Swann was killed on Oct. 26th at the battle of Armentieres. Deceased served in India three years, and his nine years in the Reserve virtually expired in October, the month he was slain. He was an agricultural labourer, aged 36, and his aged parents reside at Bisbrooke. The widow, for whom great sympathy is felt, is left with two children, the youngest, a daughter, referred to above, having been born since her father had rejoined his regiment." Albert Swann is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial. His surname on the memorial is recorded as "Swan" and his date of death in the register is stated as 25 October 1914. The same spelling of his surname as Swan also appears on his Medal Index Card, but the war memorial inside All Hallows’ Church at Seaton in Rutland states his name as Albert Swann. Fighting Tigers - Matthew Richardson Further Action   E Battery 3rd Brigade RHA Wytschaete. Same as before - one section left out war diaries  Reinforcements and Appointments  Enemy attacks on wet night  Very Wet Day  Murder  An Unnerving Effect  A Little War News  In Some Tight Corners  Rain Again  On the March  Very Wet Day  In Action  On the March  Enemy Attacks  Under Shellfire  Holding the Line  Further German attacks repulsed  Enemy Artillery  Refreshments  Guns in Action  In Reserve  Ambulance Train  Stragglers  In Reserve  Church Parade  Trenches  More Attacks  Equipment  Orders to stand to arms.  Considerable Firing  Enemy Positions  Strong German attack  Enemy Break Through Can you add to this factual information? Do you know the whereabouts of a unit on a particular day? Do you have a copy of an official war diary entry? Details of an an incident? The loss of a ship? A letter, postcard, photo or any other interesting snipts? If your information relates only to an individual, eg. enlistment, award of a medal or death, please use this form: Add a story.

Killed, Wounded, Missing, Prisoner and Patient Reports published this day. This section is under construction.

Want to know more about 25th of October 1914? There are:35 items tagged 25th of October 1914 available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Remembering those who died this day, 25th of October 1914. Sgt. Alexander Francis Alcock. 2nd Btn. Border Regiment Read their Story. L/Cpl. William Jeffs. 1st Btn. D coy Leicestershire Regiment Cpl. Williams Henry Moreby. DCM. 1st Btn. Read their Story. Pte. James Sainsbury Mould. 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment Read their Story. Pte. William John Nixon. 1st Btn. Leicestershire Regiment Read their Story. Cpl. Charles Stephen Pearson. 47th Battery Royal Field Artillery Read their Story. Pte. Percy H. Wright. 1st Btn. Norfolk Regiment Pte. Percy Patricia Wright. 1st Battalion Norfolk Regiment Add a name to this list.

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