Lives of the First World War

The Great Act Of Heroism Of Privates H. G. F. Mead, J. W. Otton And A. S. S. Spencer, Of The 4th Battalion Middlesex Regiment. On November 5th 1914, near Neuve Chapelle, about six oclock in the evening, Private Mead heard a man crying for help and fort water. The cry came from the direction of a German trench, which earlier in the day had been taken by the 1st Connaught Rangers, who, however, had subsequently been compelled to abandon it. Private Mead immediately left his trench and ran across the open to the spot whence the cry had come, and found Lance-Corporal Ely lying badly wounded in the German trench. He raised the wounded mans head and poured some water down his throat, and then finding that he could not lift him over the parapet alone, he went back, fetched two of his comrades, Privates Otton and Spencer. They succeeded in carrying Ely to within a few yards of the British trench when the Germans saw them. Both Mead and Otton were killed instantly, but Spencer succeeded.

A Birth Certificate