LCpl Ralph Frank Geary

Ralph Frank Geary was born in 1884 in South Weald, the son of a local carpenter. He grew up with his four brothers and learned his father's trade after he left school. In 1907 he married Ida and the couple moved to North Road Avenue in Brentwood, where they started a family.

In 1912 he moved his family to Finchley, where he had got a job working with his brother, Arthur. In December 1914 he left that job to enlist in the army.

Ralph became part of the Royal Engineers, perhaps because of his carpentry background, and spent six months in the UK training. He went to France on 12th June 1915 and served without incident until for the next three years.

By 1918 he was part of the 98th Field Company, and was stationed on the front line at Chemin des Dames, in trenches along a ridge overlooking German lines. Unexpectedly, on 27th May 1918 there was a sudden German bombardment of the ridge by over 4000 artillery pieces. This was followed by poison gas and finally a vast German infantry assault - the crippled allied forces could not hold them back, and over a hundred thousand German troops would eventually flood through this breach in the front line. This was the start of the Third Battle of the Aisne, and it was a disaster for the allies.

Somewhere in the middle of this initial attack, Ralph was killed. He is buried at Hermonville Military Cemetery and remembered on the Brentwood War Memorial.