Begrafenis Rifleman Frederick Adams

Burial service for Rifleman Frederick Adams - Passendale - 16/10/2024

A burial service for Rifleman Frederick Adams of 2nd Battalion The Rifle Brigade, killed in action on 19 November 1917 took place at Passchendaele New British Cemetery on Wednesday 16 October 2024.

Rifleman Frederick Thomas Adams was born in Brighton, Sussex, on 25 April 1891. He was the eldest son of two children born to Walter Adams and his wife Sarah Ann. Frederick enlisted into the Rifle Brigade on 1 March 1909. He had previously worked as a clerk and had served with a territorial unit of The Royal Army Medical Corps. On 10 July 1909, Rifleman Adams was posted to 3rd Battalion The Rifle Brigade. His first Good Conduct Badge was awarded on 1 March 1911. His second Good Conduct Badge would have been awarded on 1 March 1914.

At the outbreak of the First World War on 4 August 1914, 3rd Battalion The Rifle Brigade was stationed in Cork, Ireland. The battalion embarked at Southampton on 8 September 1914 and sailed onboard the SS Lake Michigan for France. They disembarked in St Nazaire on 12 September. Having been involved in the Battle of the Aisne and subsequent figthing, Rifleman Adams was wounded in the left knee by a piece of schrapnel, in the Bois-Grenier area, south of Armentières, on 25 October 1914. He was evacuated back to the UK and treated at 3rd London General Hospital in Wandsworth.

Rifleman Adams was discharged from hospital on 30 November 1914. On 8 July 1915, he was deemed unfit for war service but suitable for clerical work. On 26 June 1916, Rifleman Adams was transferred to 2nd Garrison Battalion The Northamptonshire Regiment. On 12 June 1917, Rifleman Adams returned to The Rifle Brigade and was posted to 6th (Reserve) Battalion. On 3 August 1917, he joined 2nd Battalion The Rifle Brigade in the field in Belgium.

On 17 November 1917, 2nd Battalion The Rifle Brigade moved into the frontline north of Passchendaele. They were heavily shelled during the relief and that night. They remained in the fronline on 18 November under shell fire. The battalion received order to establish a line of posts in a straight line from Vox Farm. During the night they advanced their line in the centre to strengthen it. They were heavily shelled again on 19 November and were relieved that night. Rifleman Adams was posted as missing, and his death was accepted as having occured on or since 19 November 1917. He was commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

In 2018, the remains of a soldier of the Rifle Brigade were discovered during roadworks in Passchendaele. He was found with two chevrons, indicating that he may have either held the rank of corporal or that he may have been wearing or been in possession of two Good Conduct Stripes. After extensive research carried out by the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre and DNA testing, the soldier was identified as Rifleman Adams. On Wednesday 16 October 2024 Rifleman Adams was remembered and his remains were laid to rest.

Created after the Armistice next to the 's Graventafelstraat, which links Ypres to the village of Passchendaele, Passchendaele New British Cemetery was formed by the concentration of battlefield cemeteries and isolated graves from Passchendaele and Langemarck. It was in this same area that Rifleman Adams was discovered. There are more than 2,100 burials and commemorations of the First World War in this cemetery, mainly those killed in the autumn of 1917, of whom 1,600 remain unidentied.