Family :

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

31 July - 10 November 1917. By the summer of 1917 the British Army was able for the first time to fight on its chosen ground on its terms. Having secured the southern ridges of Ypres at Messines in June, the main attack started on 31st July 1917 accompanied by what seemed like incessant heavy rain, which coupled with the artillery barrages conspired to turn much of the battlefield into a bog. Initial failure prompted changes in the high command and a strategy evolved to take the ring of ridges running across the Ypres salient in a series of 'bite and hold' operations, finally culminating in the capture of the most easterly ridge on which sat the infamous village of Passchendaele. The Official History carries the footnote ?The clerk power to investigate the exact losses was not available? but estimates of British casualties range from the official figure of 244,000 to almost 400,000. Within five months the Germans pushed the British back to the starting line, which was where they had been since May 1915.

Detail :

2Lt William Ward ODELL 9th Bn KIA 4/10/17: 2nd Lieut. 3rd Battalion The Sherwood Foresters, 5.9.1916: joined 9th Battalion 8.12.1916: Wounded, 19.12.1916 ST Pierre-Divion: Killed in Action 4.10.1917 at Poelcappelle, M.C., British War Medal, Victory Medal: No known grave, commemorated Tyne Cot Memorial, Passchendaele, Belgium. ODELL was a 36 year old married vicar's son from Small Heath in Birmingham ODELL MC Citation: William Ward: 2nd Lieut: 9th Battalion: London Gazette 17.9.1917, For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in taking out a patrol at a critical moment and gaining very valuable information, which resulted in bodies of the enemy who were massing for attack being dispersed by our artillery fire. Throughout all operations he has consistently displayed the utmost courage and coolness. (Killed in Action 4.10.1917). On 4 Oct 1917 the 9th Foresters attacked Poelcapelle village in what is officially known as the Battle of Broodseinde (part of the 3rd Battle of Ypres). Cpl Fred Greaves of the 9th Foresters won the VC in the village that day in what turned out to be a successful but costly attack. The Bn lost 15 Officers and 234 ORs. ODELL was missing presumed dead. 2/Lt W W Odell joined the Battalion on 18/11/1916 and would have spent November and December in and out of the trenches around St Pierre Divion on the Somme. He would have taken part in the Battle of Messines in June 1917. The Battalion moved into trenches at Ypres on 15th July 1917 and 33rd Brigade would hold a Corps front until the Battle of Pilckem on 31st July. The 9th Battalion were in the front line or be in reserve trenches for this period. The front line was Canadian Trench in the area of Track X cemetery. The Battalion HQ was at Essex Farm and the 'reserve' trenches were at La Belle Alliance. A number of 9th Bn men are buried in La Belle Alliance Cemetery as this was a front line one at the time. The Battalion was shelled heavily with HE and Gas as the Germans knew a large attack was coming and wished to disrupt it. His M.C. was won on 8th June 1917. Sadly the war diary did not mention when but a report on 8th says -' 8.50pm, 200 or 300 men were seen to come over the ridge and were checked in our barrage. Later charged by a small party of our troops and driven back. This would tie in with the citation.

Masonic :

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• The (UK) National Archives
• Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
• ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Additional Source:

• Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
• Researcher : Bruce Littley