Family :

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The Second Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902, South Africa.
• 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 :

He served as a Corporal in the Hertfordshire Volunteers in the Boer War and was an active member of Hertford Town Council and the town’s youngest ever Mayor, aged just 34, in 1912.

PAGE, Frank, Lt Colonel, 1/1 Hertfordshire Regiment Frank Page was a respected and dynamic senior officer. His battalion was engaged on the first day of the Third Battle of Ypres wich culminated in the assault on Passchendaele Ridge 4 months later. WAR DIARY 31-7-17. About 3.50am the Battalion moved forward in 4 lines behind the 116th & 117th Inf. Bdes. east of the river STEENBEEK. Up till this time the casualties had been very slight indeed but as the Battalion advanced from the STEENBEEK toward the LANGEMARCK line (the Battalion objective) casualties grew heavier from sniper and machine gun fire. However the Battalion continued advancing. About half way to the objective some of No.3 Coy came upon a German strong point which they gallantly charged, capturing or killing most of the garrison and sending the remainder back as prisoners. On reaching the enemy wire this was found to be practically undamaged (expect in one place) & very thick. 2/Lieut MARCHINGTON & a handful of men of No.3 Coy got through the only gap and got into the enemy trench & killed a lot of Germans. The remainder of the Battalion, being unable to get through the wire and suffering severe casualties from enfilade Machine Gun fire & the Germans making a strong counter attack from our left flank about this time, had to fall back having suffered exceptionally heavy casualties. The remnants of the battalion subsequently dug themselves in in line with the 1st Cambs Regt. on the west side of the STEENBEEK. Casualties to Officers were: Lt. Col. F. PAGE D.S.O., Captain S.H. LOWRY M.C., Captain A.R. MILNE, 2/Lts GALLO, SECRETAN, SCOTT & MACINTOSH killed. Estimated casualties to the other ranks were 29 killed, 5 missing believed killed, 132 missing, 68 wounded & missing, 223 wounded & 2 died of wounds, making a total of 459 casualties to other ranks. Died of wounds; Officers 2, OR's 6. Missing; Officers 9, OR's 120. Wounded; Officers 8, OR's 180.

Frank was killed at St Julien during the third Battle of Ypres on 31st July 1917. He had been trying to bring reinforcements across the Steenbeck, a boggy surface of several yards that had once been a drainage ditch. Of 600 Officers and Men, 240 were killed that day and 230 injured. The official report states Frank was hit by shrapnel but his body was never recovered.

Frank was a popular and respected leader who cared deeply for those under his command; Lieutenant E.S.Cranley described him as "a most, painstaking and efficient officer, who spared no effort to make his men fit for whatever might be required of them; ever alive to the wants of his men, he would never think of food for himself until he was sure that the men in his company had been provided for".

See more at: Hertfordshire Regiment Museums.

He is remembered on the Menin Gate at Ypres, as well as war memorials at Hertford, All Saints Church and the Richard Hale School. In his obituary in the Hertford Mercury, he was described by a fellow officer as "a valiant and successful leader; an example to all who follow; a truly Christian warrior."

Masonic :

The contribution record of the lodge in the ledgers at the United Grand Lodge of England shows Frank employed as a Manufacturer and resident in Hertford at the time of his initiation. His war service is recorded and that he was "Killed in Action 31.7.17."

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