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For Evermore World War Casualty Stories

Able Seaman John Moon

Image: Able Seaman John Moon (courtesy of the Moon family)

John Moon was one of four brothers born into the devout Strict and Particular Baptist Moon household in Southborough, Kent.

Before the First World War, the devout young John worked as a bootmaker by trade, but he enlisted, aged eighteen, in September 1915.

Initially joining the 5th Nelson Battalion and posted to the eastern Mediterranean, John was among the 20,000 or so recruits surplus to the Royal Navy’s ship requirements.

An Infantry Division of three naval and one Royal Marine brigade was formed using these men. These land-based formations would fight alongside the British Army but used traditional naval ranks and structures.

John’s service record shows he served in the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF) in the ill-fated Gallipoli Campaign. However, John arrived in the Dardanelles toward the end of the campaign in October 1915, after which he bounced around various Aegean Islands until his transfer to the Anson Battalion in March 1916.

With the Ansons, John landed in France in May 1916, taking up positions across the Pas-de-Calais.

On 10 August, John’s unit was in support trenches stretching south from the village of Bully-Grenay, to an area known as Cap de Pont. On the 14th, it took up positions in trenches just west of Angres, a village (now a suburb) on the outskirts of Lievin, which was still in German hands.

The battalion War Diary is very different from most Army diaries, in that it lists the death of individual Other Ranks. It describes how the "Enemy were active with Small Minenwerfer and Aerial Torpedoes" and then lists "No. Z.L 3438 Able Seaman Moon killed and 2 O.R. wounded.”.

In a letter received by the family, Chaplain, Rev. W. E. F. Rees stated:  

"I am deeply grieved the death of your son John, who was killed on the 14th of August by a German shell in the front trenches. I took the funeral service, in which your son was accorded full military honours, and his comrades and officers attended. He was buried in a cemetery close behind our trenches, and his name has been placed above the grave. 

“After the war we shall able to tell you the exact spot of the grave. May God comfort you in your great loss."’

Sadly, this was not the only letter the Moon household had received. All four of the Moon brothers were killed during the First World War. His brother, Charles, was killed on the same day as John.

John was just 18 when he was killed in action. He is buried at Tranchee de Mecknes Cemetery, Aix-Noulette.

Major Anders Frederick Emil Victor Schau Lassen VC

Major Anders Schau Lassen VC (Public domain)

Scores of non-Commonwealth personnel volunteered for service with the armed forces of the British Armed Forces in the World Wars.

In the case of the Second World War, volunteers from countries under Nazi occupation joined up to continue the struggle on land, air, and sea.

Among their number was Major Anders Schau Lassen.

Born in Denmark on the Høvdingsgård estate to parents Emil and Suzanne Schau Lassen in September 1920, Anders served with the Danish merchant marine before the Second World War came calling.

Anders arrived in England shortly after the outbreak of war and it was not long until his native Denmark fell under the Nazi yoke.

He joined British special forces, enlisting in the Commandos. As part of No.62 Commando, Anders was part of the Small Scale Raiding Force organised under the Special Operations Executive (SOE). 

With No.62 Commando, Anders took part in Operation Postmaster: the capture of three neutral Spanish ships at Fenando Po (modern-day Bioko) in the Bay of Guinea. For his part in Postmaster, Anders, who had been commissioned as an officer, was awarded the Militar Cross.

After No.62 Commando was disbanded, Anders joined the Special Boat Service (SBS). With this new special forces unit, Anders served in northwest Europe, Crete, the Aegean, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Italy. He was awarded two further bars to his Military Cross for his work between September 1943 and February 1944.

On the night of 8/9 April 1945, Anders was a temporary Major in the SBS when, as part of Operation Roast at Lake Comacchio in northern Italy, he performed the deeds that saw him awarded the Victoria Cross for heroism:

“In Italy, on the night of 8/9 April 1945, Major Lassen was ordered to take out a patrol of one officer and seventeen other ranks to raid the north shore of Lake Comacchio.

“His tasks were to cause as many casualties and as much confusion as possible, to give the impression of a major landing, and to capture prisoners. No previous reconnaissance was possible, and the party found itself on a narrow road flanked on both sides by water.

“Preceded by two scouts, Major Lassen led his men along the road towards the town. They were challenged after approximately 500 yards from a position on the side of the road. An attempt to allay suspicion by answering that they were fishermen returning home failed, for when moving forward again to overpower the sentry, machinegun fire started from the position, and also from two other blockhouses to the rear.

“Major Lassen himself then attacked with grenades and annihilated the first position containing four Germans and two machineguns. Ignoring the hail of bullets sweeping the road from three enemy positions, an additional one having come into action from 300 yards down the road, he raced forward to engage the second position under covering fire from the remainder of the force. Throwing in more grenades he silenced this position which was then overrun by his patrol. Two enemy were killed, two captured and two more machine-guns silenced.

“By this time the force had suffered casualties and its firepower was very considerably reduced. Still under a heavy cone of fire Major Lassen rallied and reorganised his force and brought his fire to bear on the third position. Moving forward himself he flung in more grenades which produced a cry of "Kamerad". He then went forward to within three or four yards of the position to order the enemy outside, and to take their surrender.

“While shouting to them to come out he was hit by a burst of Spandau fire from the left of the position and he fell mortally wounded, but even while falling he flung a grenade, wounding some of the occupants, and enabling his patrol to dash in and capture this final position.

“Major Lassen refused to be evacuated as he said it would impede the withdrawal and endanger further lives, and as ammunition was nearly exhausted the force had to withdraw.

“By his magnificent leadership and complete disregard for his personal safety, Major Lassen had, in the face of overwhelming superiority, achieved his objects. Three positions were wiped out, accounting for six machine guns, killing eight and wounding others of the enemy, and two prisoners were taken. The high sense of devotion to duty and the esteem in which he was held by the men he led, added to his own magnificent courage, enabled Major Lassen to carry out all the tasks he had been given with complete success.”

Major Lassen’s body was recovered and he was later interred at Argenta Gap War Cemetery.

Ensign Vera Leigh

Image: Ensign Vera Leigh (Public domain)

While the courage and sacrifice experienced by all members of the armed forces in wartime is incredible, very few went above and beyond the call of duty like the secret agents of the Special Operations Executive.

SOE operatives worked deep within enemy territory on secret missions of espionage and resistance. Their work was incredibly dangerous, even by the standards of wartime, with an exceptionally high risk of capture and death.

Of the 30 female SOE agents put into the field, half lost their lives in the line of duty: one to illness; the others were executed in concentration camps.

Leeds-born Vera Leigh was one of the fallen female SOE operatives of the Second World War.

Vera had entered the world of high fashion after school, partnering with two friends to open to the Grand Maison Rose Valois in Paris in 1927. 

With the fall of France in May 1940, Vera fled the French capital for Lyon where, with the help of her fiancé Charles Sussaix, she planned to leave for England.

Instead, Vera became deeply involved in the escape lines: escape routes for Allied servicemen out of occupied France organised by the French Resistance. Vera helped escapees for two years before finally fleeing to Britain via Gibraltar in late 1942.

Vera was quickly recruited by SOE. Confident and capable, Vera was described as “very satisfactory to teach” by her instructors.

Vera was dropped into Northern France on night of 13/14 May to help create the “Inventor” resistance circuit to support the larger, Paris-based “Prosper” network.

As a courier, Vera was sent all over Northern France, relaying messages between hidden radio operators and Prosper group members.

Eventually, Vera was settled in Paris, moving into an elegant apartment in the 16th Arrondissement, under the assumed name Suzanne Chavanne.

Enjoying life as a Parisienne again, Vera threw herself into Paris. The French capital was unusually calm during the occupation, although many suffered in silence. Still, the threat of brutal German reprisals against resistance, and a not insignificant minority of collaborators, gave the City of Lights a dark undercurrent.

This was proven with the betrayal of “Prosper” by double agent Roger Bardet in October 1943.

Prosper’s ringleaders, including Vera, were rounded up and arrested on October 30 1943.

From there, Vera was sent to Freznes Prison, France, where several other women SOE agents were being held prisoner. The group of female spies were then sent to Karlsrhue, Germany before they began their final journey to Natzweller-Struthof Concentration Camp.

Vera, alongside SOE agents Andree Burrel, Sonia Olschanezky and Diana Rowden, were each taken to individual cells before being moved to the camp crematorium and asked to strip under the pretence of a medical exam. 

The ladies were then injected with phenol under the guise of a typhoid vaccine and knocked unconscious. Each agent was then fed into the crematorium and burned to ash.

Vera was 41 years old at the time of her murder at Natzweller-Struthof Concentration Camp. As she has no known grave, she is commemorated on the Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial.

Serjeant David Gallaher

Image: Serjeant David Gallaher in his All Blacks kit (Public domain)

Generations of sportsmen saw their sporting careers cut short on the battlefields of the First World War.

From cricketers to footballers and pioneers of rugby, sportsmen great and small fought and fell during the Great War, including New Zealand rugby legend, David “Dave” Gallaher.

Dave was born in Ramelton, Ireland and emigrated to New Zealand alongside his parents and siblings in 1878. The Gallahers initially settled in Katikati in the Bay of Plenty but, by 1890, the family had moved to Auckland.

It was in Auckland that Dave began his storied rugby career. Standing at an imposing 6ft, at a time when the average British soldier was 5ft 6, the burly labourer was an intimidating, powerful player.

Turning out for Ponsonby and Auckland, Dave made 26 competitive appearances at club level between 1896 and 1909, including an appearance in the first-ever Ranfurly Shield match (The Ranfurly Shield is New Zealand’s chief domestic rugby trophy).

Dave’s playing career was interrupted when he joined the Sixth New Zealand Contingent of the Mounted Rifles in January 1901 for service in the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa.

David served in South Africa between March 1901 to March 1902, electing to stay behind when the Sixth returned to New Zealand. Dave transferred to the 10th New Zealand Contingent but didn’t see active service with his new unit and returned to New Zealand in August 1902.

During this time, David resumed his rugby career. He was selected for the All Blacks in 1903, with his first cap coming against Australia.

In 1905, David was selected for the All-Black’s “Originals” for a tour of the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and North America. This was the first official international tour undertaken by the New Zealand national rugby team.

The Kiwis played 35 tour matches and were only defeated once in controversial circumstances by the Welsh national side in a game dubbed “The Match of the Century”.

Following a triumphant return home, David concluded his playing career. He had earned 36 New Zealand caps and countless domestic honours. David continued to serve as a selector for Auckland and the New Zealand national team.

David was above age for military service by the time of the First World War, working as a storeman for the Auckland Farmers Freezing Company.

His young brother, Company Sergeant Major Douglas Gallaher, had served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, had been killed in action with the 11th Australian Battalion near Fromelles on 3 June 1916.

Some believe David signed up in order to gain revenge for his brother’s death. Others, such as biographer Matt Elliot, instead suggest David enlisted via a sense of loyalty and duty.

With the 2nd Battalion, Auckland Regiment, New Zealand Division, Gallagher served at the Battle of Messines and Broodsiende in the wider Battle of Passchendaele.

David was fatally wounded by shrapnel that cut through his helmet during an attack at Broodsiende. He was 43 years old.

Today, David, a titan of New Zealand rugby, is buried at Nine Elms Cemetery.

Lieutenant Alan McLeod VC

Image: Lieutenant Alan McLeod VC (IWM)

Born on 20 April 1899, Canadian Alan McLeod seemed destined for a military career.

He had originally enlisted in the 34th Fort Garry Horse in 1913 aged just 14.

Alan attempted to enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on the outbreak of the Great War but was turned away for being underage. 

After being turned away multiple times, he was finally accepted into the Royal Flying Corps Canada in Toronto on his 18th Birthday.

It appears Alan had a natural flair for flying. Within just three hours, he was flying solo. He accrued 50 hours of solo flight time in his logbook by the time Alan graduated from flight school. 

Alan reached the Western Front on 20 August 1917.

Landing in France, the young aviator was first attached to No.82 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps (RFC). His youth came back to haunt him again when, after his commanding officer found out his new pilot was just 18, he was transferred back to England for night patrol duties with No.51 Squadron.

Alan was transferred once again, this time to No.2 Squadron, with which he would begin to fly combat missions on the Western Front. He flew his first in December 1917.

With gunner Lieutenant Comber, Alan claimed his first aerial victory in January 1918. The pair dispatched a Fokker Dr.I aircraft, as well as an enemy observation balloon, for which they were mentioned in despatches.

On 7 March 1918, Alan was patrolling with a fresh gunner/observer, Lieutenant Arthur Hammond, when he engaged and shot down an enemy triplane.

The pair were immediately set upon by a swarm of eight enemy aircraft. In the ensuing chaotic sky-high clash, Alan and Arthur managed to shoot down three of their assailants.

The two RFC crewmen were wounded by machine gun bullets in the dogfight. To make matters worse, their aircraft was aflame as burning fuel spilt over the canvas airframe.

Alan immediately pushed his burning plane over into a steep side-slip. Flames licking his body, Alan then leapt out on the plane’s left wing while holding the joystick hard to the right in a low crouch.

Using his left hand, Alan punched a hole in the fabric fuselage and grabbed the rudder-wire. Now perched precariously on the wing of his aircraft, Alan managed to guide the burning plane back to friendly lines.

In doing so, Alan was not only able to guide his stricken aeroplane back to relative safety, but he was also able to stop the flames burning Lieutenant Hammond.

Amazingly, Alan and Arthur both survived this incredible ordeal. Alan had been wounded three times. Arthur had been hit six times and lost a leg as a result but was awarded a Bar to his Military Cross.

For his part, Alan was awarded the Victoria Cross, having originally been Distinguished Service Order.

Alan was sent home to Stonewall to recuperate but sadly contracted Spanish Flu and passed away, aged 19, on 6 November 1918.

Alan was buried in the family plot in Stonewall with a private headstone. In 2017, a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone was erected at the plot, alongside a bronze plaque explaining his VC-winning action.

A day after his death, Dr David Christie of Westminster Church, WInnpeg, penned a tribute to the bold airman, as published in the 7 November edition of the Manitoba Free Press:

“Alan McLeod was the finest flower of chivalry. The old days of knighthood are over, but for the very fairest blossoms of the spirit of knighthood the world has had to wait till the 20th Century. It was these dauntless boys who have saved civilization. 

“The heroism of the Crusades pales before the incredible and quiet courage of such boys who gave us a new interpretation of Calvary. 

“I saw Alan within a few hours of his death. He faced the last enemy with the same joyous confidence with which he started on what he called the very happiest part of his life. 

“For our children's children names like Alan McLeod's will be written in letters of splendour in the annals of Canada.”

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How can you find stories on For Evermore?

At the time of writing, over 5,000 stories on For Evermore – but we’ve made it easy to find and read those that interest you.

We have several browsing options that split the stories into different categories. You can filter your search results by:

• Conflict – First & Second World Wars
• By Job/Role – Army, Air Force, Navy, Merchant Marine or Civilian War Dead
• Nationality – British, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, Indian, South African, and non-Commonwealth

We’ve also created a few themes to group our stories with:

• Victoria Cross Holders – Winners of the British military’s highest award for valour
• Pre-war Sportsmen/women – Rugby players, footballers, cricketers and athletes who competed on the track and pitch and fought on the World Wars’ battlefields
• Women at war – From female aviation pioneers to vital nurses, WRENS, WAAFs and more, discover the stories of the women integral to the war effort
• Post Office – Members of the Post Office Regiment who lost their lives in the Great War
• Art & Literature – Learn of the great painters, poets, writers and musicians who served and sadly fell during the World Wars

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It’s open to the public to share their family histories and the tales of the service people commemorated by Commonwealth War Graves so that we may preserve their legacies beyond just a name on a headstone or a memorial.

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