Frederick George Knight

Birth	1887, Upper Froyle, Hants
Parents	Son of James & Emma Knight, Ackender Road, Alton, Hants.
Residence	Basingstoke
Occupation	Butcher

Enlisted	Basingstoke, Hants
Regiment	1st Battalion, Hampshire Regiment
Regimental No:	25322
Rank	Private
Service Record

Death	4th October 1917, killed in action, aged 30
Theatre of War	France & Flanders
Commemoration	Poelcapelle Cemetery
Medals	Victory Medal, British War Medal

Frederick Knight was born in Upper Froyle, in June 1887, the son of James and Emma (née Lovell) Knight, and, at the time of the 1911 Census, Frederick was a butcher and the family were still living in the village. Later, his parents would move to Ackender Road, Alton. On 4th August 1913 Frederick married Flora Elsie Simpson and the couple moved to Basingstoke. They were living at 13 Drapers Terrace at the time of Frederick’s death. By the time the Imperial War Graves Commission (later to be re-named Commonwealth War Graves Commission) were contacting next of kin, his wife had remarried and was Flora Heilbron, living at 72 Winchester Road, Basingstoke. Frederick enlisted in Basingstoke and served as 25322 Private Frederick Knight with the 1st Battalion Hampshire Regiment. The 1st Battalion, as part of the 11th Brigade, 4th Division, went from Colchester with the original Expeditionary Force. It fought throughout the whole war in France and Belgium, and won the name of ‘The Stone Wallers’.
Frederick was killed in action in France on 4th October 1917, aged 30. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He is laid to rest in Poelcapelle Cemetery, France, Grave XXXIV.F.10.
Frederick George Knight is also commemorated on the Basingstoke War Memorial, along with 233 others killed during the Great War or who died of illness and injury following the conflict.
This extract from the Report on Operations of 1st Battalion, Hampshire Regiment was written on 4th October 1917, the day Frederick Knight was killed.
Troops were formed up on assembly positions by 2am. About 5am the enemy commenced shelling intermittently the line of DOUBLE COTTS, increasing the intensity until Zero Hour. At 6am our troops commenced advancing behind our barrage. They met with very slight shelling and machine gun fire from the enemy, but our barrage is reported to have been very ragged and responsible for most of the casualties suffered during the actual advance. About 30 prisoners and one light machine gun were captured in KANGAROO TRENCH. The line of BEEK VILLAS was reached at 6.51am without any serious opposition. Battalion Head Quarters moved to LOUIS FARM about 11am When the pause of one hour occurred my right support Company pushed through my Right Assaulting Company, but coming into our own barrage were compelled to fall back. About 1pm heavy enemy machine gun and rifle fire came from the left flank. The enemy shelled heavily with 8” guns our old front line about LOUIS FARM. It was noticed that the 10th Brigade on the left flank were retiring. This retirement was eventually checked on the line of LOUIS FARM and was carried forward to approximately its original position by the 1st East Lancashire Regiment. About 3.30pm orders were received to advance the line to STRING HOUSES, but about 4.30pm an officer of the Rifle Brigade informed me that the original objective was going to be taken by the Rifle Brigade on the right and the Warwicks on the left. About this time the 10th Brigade again retired but were carried forward by the advance of the Rifle Brigade and the Warwicks. About 6.30pm the 10th Brigade were again reported to be retiring, thus leaving the situation on the left flank uncertain. During the night a Company of the Rifle Brigade, supported by a Company of the East Lancashire Regiment, were put out to form a defensive flank on the left facing North. This Company connected up with my Company on the left. Casualties: Officers Other Ranks Killed 4 36 Wounded 8 182 Missing - 25
As you can read above, this had been a difficult day with many of the casualties caused by our own artillery
Frederick’s grave in Poelcapelle Cemetery. All the CWGC headstones were identical whether an officer or a private. All are equal in death