Herbert Handscomb
David Handscomb, a relative of Herbert Handscomb, has ascertained that the entry in Canon Procter's book is in error in stating that Herbert Handscomb was killed in action, aged 34, on March 23rd 1918 at Offoy.
Herbert Handscomb in fact died on April 2nd 1918 aged 33 years, and is buried in the Communal Cemetery at Foreste, Aisne with 22 other soldiers.
A commemorative stone in the cemetery bears the inscription:
TO THE MEMORY OF THESE 23 SOLDIERS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE
WHO DIED IN 1918 AS PRISONERS OF WAR,
AND WERE BURIED AT THE TIME IN THIS CEMETERY,
BUT WHOSE GRAVES ARE NOW LOST.Herbert Handscomb's Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty Details can be viewed here.
He may well have been severely wounded and thought dead by his comrades whilst in action on March 23rd 1918, but instead taken prisoner by the advancing Germans.
The error in his date of death is repeated on the First World War Memorial located in the Church.