COOMBE Oscar

Appears in the Worcester/Worcestershire Roll of Honour Book for army casualties located in Worcester Cathedral.

The following report appears in Berrow’s Worcester Journal, 14th November 1914:
Worcester Guardsman Killed
It is announced that Oscar Lionel Coombe, 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards, eldest son of Harry and Sophie Coombe, Crown Street, Barbourne, Worcester, aged 23, has been killed in action near Ypres.

The following information has been researched by Geoff Hill:
1911 Census
36 Crown Street, Barbourne, Worcester
Oscar Coombe, grocer’s porter
At the same address: Harry Greene (father), auctioneers clerk, mother and 1 brother

The 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards was a Regular Army battalion so Oscar Coombe was a professional soldier in 1914. He enlisted in January 1913, when his trade was recorded as a ‘sign writer’.

On the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 the 2nd Battalion, which was in the 4th Brigade, 2nd Division (I Corps) of the British Expeditionary Force was amongst the first to embark. They took part in the early stages of the fighting and were involved in the battle of Mons and the Retreat, with actions at Landrecies, Villers Cotterets and subsequently The Battle of the Marne. They were later involved significantly at the First Battle of Ypres, notably at Polygon Wood.

On 29th October 1914 the 2nd Grenadier Guards were in action in and around Gheluvelt, towards the end of the First Battle of Ypres. The 31st October was when the British Army was pushed back by the Germans seeking to break through and to reach the Belgian coastal ports.

On 31st October, when Oscar Coombe was killed, the Grenadiers were led forward to help stem the enemy advance. They went into the trenches proceeding through shell and gunfire. They got into the trenches just in time to receive the attack from a large number of German soldiers.

Oscar Coombe has no known grave, the photograph available shows his name on the Ypres Menin Gate Memorial.