Service Life:

Campaigns:

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

Fought on 9th and 10th May 1915 and intended to support the French attacks near Arras, this battle was notable for the remarkable bravery of infantry having to cope with inadequate planning, poor artillery support and not least a very competent enemy that had learnt the lessons of Neuve Chapelle just two months before. It also highlighted the problems of quantity and quality in artillery shell supply - a symptom of the general unpreparedness of Britain to fight a major European war, and not really rectified until well into 1917. Possibly one of the least known but most heartbreaking battles of the war, fought in an attempted pincer attack around the village of Neuve Chapelle with the intention of securing the 'high' ground that dominated the approaches to Lille.

Detail :

The Reading Old Boys Lodge Record Book shows that Giles Ayres, aged 27, a Coal Merchant of Harlech, Derby Road, Reading, was initiated on 6 December 1911, passed on 3 January 1912, and raised 3 April 1912. It records him as resigning from the Lodge on 6 January 1913, with the comment Will rejoin later then Killed in the War 1914-18. His medal index card in the National Archives shows that he entered France & Flanders on 17 March 1915, so he had less than two months at the front. His medals were claimed by his father, FW Ayres of 24 Craven Road, Reading. The 2/Lincolns were in support of 2/Rifle Brigade and 1/13 London Regiment (Kensingtons) at the Battle of Aubers Ridge. They were ordered to cross no mans land and despite severe casualties secured a position in and behind the German breastwork defences. For reasons that were never properly explained, some of the Lincolns, Kensingtons and Rifle Brigade started retreating towards their own lines and in the confusion the retreat was taken up by others. It seems quite possible that some Germans, with an excellent command of English, had shouted the 'retire' order to great effect. Aubers Ridge was a disappointing defeat for the British. Over just two days about 11,500 casualties were sustained. The book Old School Ties: Educating for Empire and War tells us that on May 8th 1915, 2nd Lieutenant Giles Frederick Ayres of the 3rd Battalion, the Dorset Regiment closed a letter to his parents with the words I am going over the top of the parapet with the shout of 'School' on my lips and then pray that God's Will be done. He was killed leading his men in an attack on the German trenches the following day. Ayres was actually attached to the 2/Lincolns who had suffered dreadfully at Neuve Chapelle two months earlier - no doubt the reason for his attachment. He was killed at the battle of Aubers Ridge as 2/Lincolns pushed up in support of the initial failed assault.

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