Private 37898 Joseph William Andrews

Killed in Action on Thursday, 4th October 1917, age 20.
Commemorated on Panel 90 to 92 and 162 to 162A of Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

7th Bn., South Staffordshire Regiment. 33rd Brigade of 11th Division.

Son of Eli and Mary Andrews.
Born: Tipton, Enlisted: Wolverhampton, Resident: Tipton.

First landed France & Flanders, post 31st December 1915.
Medal entitlement: British War Medal, Victory Medal.
Soldier's Papers at National Archives did not survive.

Commemorated on the Tipton Library Memorial.
Commemorated here because he appears on a Tipton memorial.

Link to Commonwealth War Graves Site: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/846162/

Genealogical Data

1901 Census
8 Brown Lion Street, Tipton, Staffs.
Eli Andrews (28, Boat Loader at Colliery, born Tipton), his wife Mary (28, born Tipton), Edward (6, born Tipton), and Joseph William (4, born Tipton).

1911 Census
37 Queens Road, Tipton, Staffs.
Eli Andrews (38, Coal Miner, born Tipton), his wife Mary (38, born Tipton), and their 2 children: and their 2 children: Edward (16, Labourer in Iron Works, born Tipton), and Joseph William (14, Labourer in Iron Works, born Tipton).

Personal Data

After Joseph's death, his outstanding army pay and allowances amounted to £2/7/5d (2 pounds, 7 shillings and 5 pence); this was paid to his mother, Mary, in May 1918. His War Gratuity was £3/0/0d (3 pounds exactly), this was also paid to his mother in November 1919. The value of the War Gratuity suggests that Joseph had enlisted within the previous 12 months.

Action resulting in his death

Joseph was posted to the 7th Battalion, South Staffs. On 4th October 1917 the 7th South Staffs attacked at Poelcapelle as part of the 3rd Battle of Ypres. The attack was moderately successful, but the 7th South Staffs were not allowed to follow-up their success. 42 men of the 7th South Staffs are recorded as being killed in action on the 4th October. Joseph, like most of these men, has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

The Battle of Poelcappelle. From "The History of the 7th South Staffs Regiment"
During the night the forming-up tapes were put out, always a trickish job. By 4.40am the battalion was formed up for the attack. Zero hour was timed for 6am precisely, and so we had an hour and 20 minutes to wait on a typical autumn morning in Belgium; a thin drizzlig rain and a cold breeze. As was expected, the enemy put down his accustomed protective barrage just before dawn, but we suffered no losses on the forming-up tapes.
Our barrage opened at 6am precisely, and we were glad to be up and doing after the long, cold, anxious wait. The enemy was resisting by distributing his forces to a great depth; his forward area was mainly defended by small nests in consolidated shell-holes generally supported by one or more machine-guns or else by larger and stronger posts centring round a concrete pill-box defended by machine-gunners.
The first and second objectives were reported captured at 8.55am; casualties had not been severe, and were all due to machine-gun and rifle fire. Further casualties were suffered from snipers and it was hard on our men that they could not go on and exploit their success. At 6.45pm the enemy was seen advancing, but it was a very half-hearted attempt.

Newspaper Cuttings

None.