Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Memorial: | Tyne Cot Memorial | ||
| 2. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.133 | |
Awards & Titles: | |||
Family :
Son of the late Dr. W. R. Roe and Mrs. W. R. Roe, of The Red House, Belper Rd., Derby; husband of Ethel Mary Roe, of 49, Newport Rd., Stafford.Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: 2/1 Honourable Artillery Company |
2/1st Battalion Formed at Finsbury on 2 September 1914. Moved to Belhus Park, going on in November to Blackheath, February 1915 to the Tower of London, August to Richmond Park, November to Wimbledon, January 1916 to Orpington, July to Tadworth (Surrey), and returned to Tower in September 1916. 3 October 1916 : landed at Le Havre and placed under command of 22nd Brigade in 7th Division. November 1917 : moved with Division to Italy. |
| Action : The Battles of Ypres 1917 (Third Ypres, or Passchendaele) |
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 :
Attested for Service at Derby on the 20th November 1915 to serve in the Reserve, but was mobilised on the 5th May 1917 and posted. He was listed missing and presumed dead on the 9th October 1917. Service No. 10827, Private in the 2nd Honourable Artillery Company.
Probate confirms the date: ROE Robert Arnold of 190 Porter-road Derby private in the Honourable Artillery company died 9 October 1917 in France or Belgium on active service Probate Derby 19 September to Ethel Mary Roe widow. Effects £453.
An article in the Derby Daily Telegraph on the 20th December 1920 publishes an article about the dedication of a War Memorial at St. John's does not declare any name, but does declare the memorial was unveiled by "Master Denis Roe, son of the late Private Robert Arnold Roe, H.A.C., an earnest worker in St. John's parish..."
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Arboretum No. 731 E.C. | Derbyshire |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
12th September 1906 | 12th December 1906 | 13th February 1907 |
Bank Clerk resident at Friargate, Derby when made a Freemason in 1906. War service recorded in the contribution record, ended by the annotation "Killed in Action 9th Oct 1917." His familial brother Fred Harcourt Roe was initiated into the Lodge a year earlier.
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