WW1 British Army Death Plaque WALTER HERBERT JACOB 2nd Casualty of the Middlesex Regt
Pte Walter Herbert Jacob (14761), 2nd Btn Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex) Regiment KIA - from Wood Green
Walter was born in Wood Green Middlesex in 1896 and he was killed in action at the age of 18 on 23rd November 1914 almost immediately that he and the regimemt reached the front - after 2 days.
His parents were Wlilliam Alfred and Mary Elizabeth Jacob, living in Enfield Middlesex at the time of his death. He was single and with no children at the time of his death.
He was a member of the BEF, enlisting at Mill Hill on 26th January 1914 before the start of the war. Before enlisting he was a casual labourer. He was first posted on 24"h April 1914.
The 2nd Btn Middlesex landed on 7th Nov at Le Havre and the War Diary details that they reached the trenches on the 21st November based at Rue de Bacquerot near Bethune.
The next entry in the War Diary on 24th November details the death of 1 officer and 1 private (Jacob) in the trenches at La Finque. The regiment had lost its first member on 17th November so Walter was either the 2nd or 3rd casualty of the war for the entire Middlesex regiment.
He was posthumously awarded the 1914 "Mons Star as well as WW1 War and Victory medals. The whereabouts of his medals is unknown.
Supplied with some research material which includes 2 pages from the battalion War Diary which mentions his death.
