Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Memorial: | Artillery Wood Cemetery | ||
| 2. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.132 | |
| 3. Memorial: | The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour | 8A GQS | |
Awards & Titles: | |||
Family :
Son of Col. Francis W. Pixley, V.D., and Elizabeth Mary Pixley, of Wooburn House, Wooburn, Bucks.Education & Career :
He was educated privately and at Eton College before matriculating at Merton in 1907.
Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: 4th Battalion Grenadier Guards |
4th Battalion Formed at Marlow. Moved overseas 14 July 1915. 19 August 1915 : attached to 3rd Guards Brigade, Guards Division. 8 February 1918 : transferred to 4th Guards Brigade, 31st Division. 20 May 1918 : transferred to GHQ Reserve |
| 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 :
He was killed in action near Houthulst Forest, during the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), on 12th October 1917 aged 29.
He is buried at Artillery Wood Cemetery, near Boezinge, Belgium and is also commemorated on the war memorials at the Muthaiga Club, Nairobi, Kenya and St Paul's Church, Wooburn.
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Apollo University No. 357 E.C. | Oxfordshire |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
- | - | - |
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