Description
5th battalion Kings Shropshire Light Infantry Casualty group
1914-15 Star, 11537 L.Cpl L. Horner Shrops.L.I.; British War and Victory Medals, 11537 Pte L. Horner Shrops L.I.; Memorial Plaque, Lancelot Horner. (Note holes drill in plaque at approx 12.00 and 6.00.
Lancelot Heldon Horner was the son of William Heldon Horder and Lilian Ellen Horner of Howard Street, Norwich.
He landed in France on the 22nd May 1915.
He was Killed in Action on the 24th January 1916 aged 23, whilst serving with the 5th battalion and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.
The 5th (Service) Battalion, King’s Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI), part of the 42nd Infantry Brigade within the 14th (Light) Division, landed in Boulogne, France, on 22nd May 1915. The battalion was rapidly plunged into the meat-grinder of the Ypres Salient in Belgium, arriving near Hooge and the Menin Road.
The summer of 1915 was defined by brutal trench warfare. On 30th July 1915, the 5th KSLI found themselves directly adjacent to the infamous Battle of Hooge Crater, where German forces used liquid flame-throwers (Flammenwerfer) against British troops for the first time. The Shropshires endured furious shellfire and launched counter-attacks to stabilize the shattered front line.
The battalion’s most devastating action of this period occurred on 25th September 1915 during the Second Battle of Bellewaarde Farm. Tasked with a diversionary assault at Railway Wood to draw German reinforcements away from the main British offensive at Loos, the 5th KSLI went “over the top” at 4:20 AM under a fierce bombardment.
The Shropshires fought heroically, storming across No Man’s Land and rapidly capturing the German first and second-line trenches. However, the units on their flanks were held up by uncut barbed wire and machine-gun fire. Isolated and enfiladed from both sides, the KSLI’s position became an untenable death trap. Forced to withdraw to their original lines under a deluge of artillery, the battalion suffered catastrophic casualties: 3 officers and 41 other ranks were killed, with over 380 wounded or missing—a staggering 55% casualty rate.
Following Bellewaarde, the heavily depleted battalion spent the miserable winter of 1915–1916 holding waterlogged, freezing trenches near Elverdinghe in the northern Ypres sector. By 24th January 1916, they were enduring routine mortar exchanges and rebuilding their strength with new drafts, having been fully blooded into the grim realities of the Western Front.
Amidst freezing winter conditions, the Shropshires worked tirelessly to rebuild collapsing trench parapets and clear deep mud. They conducted routine troop relief rotations and aggressive scouting patrols, maintaining strict vigilance against potential German raids while steadily absorbing new reinforcement drafts to rebuild their strength.
Condition – GVF, note mounting holes drilled in plaque.
NOTE: Sorry we cannot accept payment by PayPal for this item, We can accept payment by Credit / Debit Card, Bank Transfer or Cheque.
