Frederick Reginald Johnson DCM
Private 62889 57^th Coy.,
Machine Gun Corps (Infantry)

Division 78
Extension

Frederick Reginald Johnson  was the only son of Arthur and Louisa Johnson,  of  99, Elm Park Road, Reading.  He is commemorated on his parents grave.  His name appears on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing.  Panel 154 to 159 and 163A..  He died on 21^st  September 1917, aged 24.

At 5.40am on 20^th September 1917 what was subsequently called the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge began. New tactics by the British limited objectives to what could be taken and held.  The artillery planning was precise and troops advanced behind a creeping barrage.  South of the Menin Road the advance was successful in the face of heavy German resistance.  Inverness Copse, Glencourse Wood, Veldhoek and part of Polygon Wood were taken on the 20^th September.  The German strong point of Tower Hamlets held out until 23^rd September.  There was severe fighting and much loss of life on both sides with the Allies repulsing counter attack after counter attack.  The ground was churned up and German air attacks made carrying casualties even more difficult.  Many injured men and the bodies of the dead were lost  in barrages and artillery fire from both sides.  It is not known exactly when or how Frederick Johnson met his death but his body became on of the 34,888 of the Missing named on the Tyne Cot Memorial

The 1911 census indicated that he assisted his father in the family Bakery.

Alfred James Jarman
Private 231149 Dorset Yeomanry (late Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars)

 Division 67
Extension 

Alfred James Jarman,  was the third son of  Mr and Mrs J. T. Jarman of 21, New Road, Reading, and the husband of Elizabeth Gwendoline Jarman, of 14, Wood Street, Eastville, Bristol.  He is commemorated on the headstone of what is believed to be the grave of his brother and sister, number 13930.

It is not clear whether he was killed in action at Warvillers or whether he died of wounds.  The date of his death is given as August 10^th 1918.   Alfred Jarman is buried at Caix British Cemetery, location I. A. 11.

Caix was occupied by British troops in March 1917 and lost in the German spring offensive in March 1918.  The village was recaptured on 8^th August 1918 by Canadians.  The Cemetery was made after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the battlefields and smaller cemeteries.  It is possible that Alfred Jarman was originally buried in Cayeux Chateau German Cemetery, as twelve cavalry men, were buried there in August 1918 by the Canadians.