TAYLOR, JOHN WILLIAM
Private
M/225505
Army Service Corps Unit Text: 884th Motor Transport
Company. Secondary Unit Text: attd. XIX Corps
Died 19 August
1917 aged 20
Son of Walter and Mary Ann Taylor,(nee Smith) of
"Corbridge", Lyme Regis Rd., Banstead, Surrey.
John William Taylor
was the fifth son of Walter and Mary Ann. The other siblings were Walter,
Thomas, Kenneth, Joseph, Elsie,and younger brother Fred. In 1901 the
family lived at 17 Mint Cottages and Walter senior was a coachman.
Private Taylor served with a Motor Transport Company. Often called
Ammunition Parks, they operated dumps, or stores, of ammunition. This
included the larger calibre of artillery shells which required special
handling equipment, smaller shells, mortar rounds, grenades and small arms
ammunition too.
XIX Corps in the form of the 15th, 16th, 36th and
61st Divisions were involved in the Battle of Langemarck, a village north
east of Ypres in Belgium. The battle took place over three days - 16th to
18th of August 1917. Private J W Taylor died on the 18th or the following
day and it is likely that he was wounded during this phase of the Third
Battle of Ypres and lost his life shortly afterwards. It may seem strange
to describe this event as 'fortuitous' but it is almost certainly the
reason that Private Taylor has a known grave unlike so many of his
comrades.
The immediate tactical aim of the offensive was the
recapture of high ground from which the German artillery could observe and
accurately bombard targets in the vicinity of Ypres which was in Allied
hands.
The exceptionally wet August weather had turned parts of
the Ypres battlefield into a quagmire as many of the vital drainage
channels of this low-lying area of Belgium were completely destroyed by
the British and German shelling. The whole area turned into a sea of mud
and blood that became known as Passchendaele, named after a local village
where some of the heaviest fighting took place.
The attack to
capture the village of Langemarck from the Germans was masterminded by the
British commander in chief Sir Douglas Haig. He was reportedly unaware of
the heavy rains and thickening mud which bogged down the Allied infantry
and artillery and despite advice to the contrary he proceeded with the
planned offensive.
On August 16, at Langemarck, to the west of
Passchendaele, four days of fierce fighting resulted in a British victory;
the number of casualties was very high in proportion to the small gains
made.
By the time their son was killed, Walter and Mary Ann Taylor
had moved to 'Corbridge', Lyme Regis Road, a property that they were able
to buy using money sent home by their sons.
 The family grave is in Banstead Churchyard and the
headstone shows the following:
Walter Taylor, died 23rd April
1923, Aged 70
Mary Ann Taylor, his beloved wife died 23rd June
1951, aged 89
Son, John W. Taylor who fell in France, 18th
August1917, aged 20 years
Private John William Taylor is
buried at the
WHITE HOUSE CEMETERY, ST. JEAN-LES-YPRES, Belgium.
Grave Reference:I. A. 24.
Source : Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Family history
from Gill Marlow, grandaughter of Walter Taylor (junior).
Army
Service Corps Motor Transport Company website
Western Front Association website
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