Name
Joseph Benjamin Cannon
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
26/10/1917
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
232627
London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers)
(5737) 2nd (City of London) Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
POELCAPELLE BRITISH CEMETERY
XLII. F. 9.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Not on the Sawbridgeworth memorials
Pre War
Joseph Cannon was born in February 1885 to parents Charles and Louisa who lived in Clay Lane (West Road). By 1911, the family had moved to Bow, East London. Joseph was still living with his parents and he was a ‘Cigar Sorter and Packer’.
Joseph was recorded as being born in Sawbridgeworth and living in Bow, London when he enlisted Poplar.
Wartime Service
Conscripted in 1916, by 1917, Joseph Cannon was serving with the 2nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) on the Western Front.
On 9 October, Joseph’s unit took part in the attack at the Battle of Poelcapelle and took many casualties. This was a part of the wider Passchendaele offensive. The rainfall at this time was up to an inch per day, and conditions were atrocious, with many wounded being left for up to a week in the open, untreated.
Joseph Cannon’s date of death is given as 26 October 1917. However, his unit was not in action that day. It is quite possible that he was struck by a random shell.
Joseph Cannon is buried in the Poelcapelle British Cemetery, Belgium.
Acknowledgments
Jonty Wild, Douglas Coe
