Captain John Kelsall

Captain John Lindsay Kelsall, M.I.D., ” B ” Battery, 86th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. He was killed in action near Zillebeke in Belgium on 28th August 1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres, aged 26.  He was the son of Henry and Mary Kelsall of Bothdene House, Bowden and Moss Side Estate, Rochdale and was a native of Crieff, Perthshire. He was educated in Crieff and Marlborough College, Wiltshire where he was a member of the Officers Training Corps. From there he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Army Service Corps on 28th August 1914 and later transferred to the R.F.A. in 7th February 1917 with the rank of Captain. He is buried in The Huts Cemetery, Dikkebusch, Flanders, Belgium. Two thirds of the graves are artillerymen as there were many gun positions nearby. His Headstone is inscribed ” He Died At His Guns Heartening His Men At Zillebeke Lake”. The main weapon of the Field Artillery was the 18 pounder gun which was mostly used in an anti infantry role using high explosive and shrapnel shells. The photograph shows  gun Batteries in action.