James Joseph McHugh

The Battalion arrived at Le Havre on the 13/08/1914 and were part of the 1st Guards Brigade, Guards Division. James fell at the Battle of Poelcapelle on the 09/10/1917. This was part of the The Battles of Ypres (3rd Ypres), 31st July - 10th November 1917: the Battles of Ypres, 1917.. The British finally got what they had wanted since 1914 : the opportunity to attack at Ypres and breakout of the confines of the salient of trenches around it. Often known as the 3rd Battle of Ypres or Passchendaele, the offensive began with encouraging gains but terrible summer weather soon bogged it down. By August the offensive was clearly failing in its objectives and had descended into attritional fighting. New techniques by both sides led to agonisingly slow forward movement for the British, at enormous cost in casualties to both sides. Bad weather in October led to the battlefield becoming an impossible quagmire. Until July 1917, the village of Boesinghe (now Boezinge) directly faced the German front line over the Yser canal, but at the end of that month, the Battle of Pilckem Ridge pushed the German line back and Artillery Wood, just east of the canal, was captured by the Guards Division. They began the Cemetery just north of the wood when the fighting was over and it continued as a front line cemetery until March 1918. James was reburied in Artillery Wood Cemetery (see photos). See photos for James' Medal Index Card, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his listing in the Ireland Casualties WW1, another photo of James' Grave, his CWGC Grave Registration x 3, his Reburial Form, his Headstone Report x 2, James and family names on the 1911 Ireland Census x 2, Artillery Wood Cemetery, James' Pension Records x 3 and the Irish Guards Cap Badge. James' grave inscription reads "IN FOND REMEMBRANCE R.I.P". Finally see photos for the Castlederg War Memorial x 3. James' name (listed as Joseph) was added to the Memorial in November 2001.