Private William Forbes

Private William Henry Forbes, 16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry ( Manitoba Regiment ). He died of wounds on 27th April 1915 during the Second Battle of Ypres aged 35. He was the son of Arthur  and Mary Forbes  of Mellerstain and is buried in Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery, Hazebrouck, France. His Headstone is inscribed ” One Of the Best Sadly Missed “.  Before the War he had lived in Vancouver and was employed by the Canadian Pacific Railroad as a Water Inspector. The artist’s illustration tries to depict the intensity of the fighting during the Battle when the Canadians repulsed several German assaults. The Germans had first used poison gas on the Western Front on the 22nd April and it took a desperate defence to hold the line. The photograph shows troops trying on their rudimentary gas masks.