Lives of the First World War

Private Maxwell Green No 1 Company, Honourable Artillery Company Pte Green was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School, Hampstead and the University of London before joining the Commercial Union Assurance Company (Foreign Fire Department). On the outbreak of war in August 1914, he enlisted with No 1 Company Infantry and was posted to the Western Front in January 1915. Aged, 19, he was killed instantaneously when he was shot in the head in the trenches at Ypres on 21 April 1915. A keen naturalist and ornithologist, Pte Green compiled notes of wildlife on the Western Front, with the probable intention of writing an article for publication. On 11 April 1915, a few days before his death, he recorded that birds and animals seemed to have accustomed themselves to the fighting but was particularly distressed to witness a pigeon being killed by shellfire. Pte Green is buried at Voormezeele Enclosure No 3 Cemetery.