Commemorated:

1. Grave:Wimereux Communal CemeteryVI. D. 30A.
2. Book:The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918Pg.132
3. Memorial:The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour22A GQS
    

Awards & Titles:

 

Family :

Son of Albert and Clara Purnell; husband of Lilian B. Purnell, of 19, Commodore St., Mile End, London.

Service Life:

Campaigns:

Unit / Ship / Est.: 62nd Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery 

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.

Masonic :

TypeLodge Name and No.Province/District :
Mother : Friars No. 1349 E.C.London

Initiated
Passed
Raised
1st May 1916
20th November 1916
15th January 1917
 

Tea Dealer. "Died June '17"


Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

Additional Source:

Last Updated: 2021-01-02 16:16:31