Parish Local History

	Stoke Climsland Parish
	WW1 Memorial Project

Edwin Charles Serpell was born in Venterdon on 8th March, 1887, the third son of Samuel and Mary Serpell. The family is listed in the 1891 (parents, 3 sons, 2 daughters) and 1901 (parents, 4 sons, 3 daughters) censuses (images below) for Venterdon. Samuel Serpell was a carpenter and came from a family long-established in the Stoke Climsland area (see the excellent website of Nick Serpell, www.serpell.org , for more details of the Serpell family history).

We have no details of his life in Venterdon. We can assume that he was a pupil at Stoke Climsland school and, from his obituary (image below), it is apparent that he attended the Wesleyan Methodist church in Venterdon.

In 1913, when he was 26, he emigrated to Canada, leaving Bristol on the 3rd June 1913 bound for Montreal. He sailed on the Royal Line steamship Royal Edward (image below). On the ship's manifest (image below), his occupation is given as 'engine driver'. This probably referred to a steam engine at a local quarry or mine. From Montreal, Edwin moved and settled in Edmonton, Alberta and it was there that he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Edwin enlisted in the army on 1st July 1915, which coincided with the formation of his regiment, the Alberta or Edmonton regiment. From his attestation papers (images below), we gain the following personal information. His occupation is given as gardener, he is 5' 5" in height, with a clear complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair. He is a non-conformist and has a scar on his left forefinger. His unit was in England (Shorncliff, Kent) before transferring to Ostrohove Camp at Bolougne in October 1915. Subsequently Edwin Serpell found himself in the Albert region of France in October 1916 taking part in the First Battle of the Somme (image below).

The Battle of the Ancre Heights of 1 October-11 November 1916 was part of the wider First Battle of the Somme. It was fought on the left of the British line of the Somme, with the aim of pinching out a German salient on the Ancre River created by the limited British advances further along the line. The attack was to be launched by the Reserve Army, which held the front on either side of the Ancre. This necessitated the capture, in full, of intricate defensive positions which had repeatedly blocked the way to the vital high ground during the September earlier fighting in September: Schwaben Redoubt, Stuff Redoubt and Regina trench.

At 3:15 p.m. (zero hour) on October 1, the Canadian forces once again tried to take Regina Trench, in a downpour along a front that stretched for more than a kilometre. Artillery had bombarded the Trench, but as the troops advanced they found that the barbed wire defences had not been cut and the German machine guns had survived equally unscathed. Casualties were high. The uncut German wire proved a formidable obstacle. One company was practically wiped out in no man’s land. Part of another reached its objective, but was there overpowered and perished to the last man. The Canadians had an advance of nearly half a mile to their objective - the portion of Regina Trench between the East and West Miraumont roads. Attacking in three waves, each of eighty men extended at five yards’ interval, they had advanced a quarter of a mile when they ran into an intense German artillery barrage and heavy rifle and machine-gun fire. Then came the bitter realization that the enemy’s wire entanglements were virtually unharmed. “From this moment,” records a regimental account, “the attack failed” Less than fifty men reached Regina Trench, and these could not be reinforced either from support battalion or brigade. After a sharp fight with bayonet and bomb, all survivors were forced to withdraw to their original trenches. In the centre the 25th Battalion was charged with capturing “at all cost” the greater part of Kenora Trench and the corresponding section of Regina Trench beyond. “To do this”, reported the CO. later, “I had 200 all ranks and 12MGs., counting the Brigade MGs.” He ordered his two leading waves to push on past Kenora Trench directly to the final objective. Enemy fire cut them down, however, and only thirty reached the wire in front of Regina Trench. Finding what protection they might in shell-holes and hastily dug ditches, they waited out the daylight under steady machine-gun fire. Then they fell back to Kenora, which a following company had secured to within 140 yards of the junction with the main position. Before the day ended more than half the attacking force had become casualties. It was the same bitter story of defeat on the Brigade left, where the 24th Battalion’s objective was some 300 yards of Regina Trench, including the important junction with Kenora. (Abridged from Nicholson, G. W. L. 1962. Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War: Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1919).

Against the mayhem described above, the Alberta/Edmonton regimental war diary for the first few days of October has some very succinct entries about the actions seen:

Oct.1st: Battalion warned for action and prepared to move to Front Line. Raining & cold.

Oct.2nd: Battalion moved to Front Line and relieved elements of 8th Can.Inf.Brigade.

Oct.3rd: Battalion relieved in Front Line by the 11th Cheshire Regiment and moved back to billets in Albert, having suffered 63 casualties, 14 killed, 49 wounded during tour of 2nd and 3rd. Weather very bad and men greatly fatigued on their relief.

Edwin's obituary in the Cornwall and Devon Post on 28th October 1916 (image below) states that he fell on 3rd October and his entry on the CWGC site mentions that he was killed in action on October 4th. It is likely, therefore, that he died on the 4th from wounds received on the 3rd. The full obituary reads:

PTE. SERPELL OF VENTERDON: Official notice has been received of the death of Private Edwin Serpell, aged 29 years. Deceased, who was in the Canadian Infantry, came across about 18 months since and had been in France since July 1916. He fell in action on the Somme on October 3rd. Private Serpell was much respected and especially will his loss be felt in the village, and the Wesleyan Sunday School, Venterdon, of which he was a member from childhood. His even temper and transparent goodness remains as 'lessons in life' for all the young people of his acquaintance. At the Sunday morning service the organist (Mr. T.Mutten) played 'O Rest in the Lord' in memoriam morning and much sympathy is felt for Mr and Mrs Serpell and family.

Edwin was buried in the Courcelette British Cemetery (image below) at Grave Reference VII.D.6 (image below). Courcelette is a village some 10 kilometres north-east of the town of Albert, just off the D929 road to Bapaume. The Cemetery, signposted in the village, is approximately 1 kilometre west of the village on the south side of a track from the secondary road from Courcelette to Pozieres.

As well as being remembered on the Stoke Climsland war memorials, Edwin is also commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (image below), the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and on Page 160 of the Canadian First World War Book of Remembrance (image below)

Here are some images relating to Edwin Serpell. Hover over each one for a description and 'double click' to enlarge the thumbnail.