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Pte. Thomas Charles Morris
British Army 230th Brigade Royal Field Artillery
from:Derby
I believe my grandfather, Thomas Morris received a commendation in 1918 at Ridge Wood Ypres, with a young officer named Anthony Strutt who lost his life that day 28th April 1918. Can anyone please help me to confirm this?
Editors Note: The action mentioned on the 28th April 1918 happened during the last great German Spring Offensive which almost succeeded and moved the allied front line back to pre Somme 1916 positions.
The officer who died was Lieutenant Anthony Herbert Strutt, 16th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment). A notice in local paper in Belper reported: "Lieutenant Anthony Herbert Strutt 16th (Chatsworth Rifles) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment) Died of wounds at Vermoorzeele Belgium on Saturday 27th April 1918 aged 22. Extract from the Battalion History. On the 27th April Ridge Wood and Voormezeele were part of the frontline and we fought what amounted to a rearguard action all day. This was our final day in the trenches as we were to be relieved that night. It is therefore with regret to record the last casualty among our original officers. During the relief while leading the remnants of us out of the firing line Lieutenant A H Strutt was mortally wounded. Anthony is buried in the Brandhoek New Military Cemetery No 3 Belgium."
At that time a lot of units were mixed in desperate rearguard fighting and Thomas probably assisted in getting the mortally wounded officer out of the combat zone. Access to war diaries might help or possibly the Regimental Museums for both units. Medal card search reveals he was awarded the British War and Victory Medals, but make no mention of any other citation, however that is not conclusive as many such incidents were not transcribed and the cards were completed manually with many names mis-spelt.
