Pte. John Thomas Astridge

Maple Copse Cemetery

Zillebeke, near Ieper

Belgium

Born in Wandsworth, England, October 1885, John was a florist at the time of attestation into the 21st Battalion in Kingston, Ontario, in early November 1914.

Having had 4 years of previous military experience, in the 41st Battalion, further papers signed in August 1915, saw John in the 8th CMR, until that regiment was absorbed into the 4th CMR in January 1916.

At the time of John's loss, on May 12th, 1916, the 4th CMR was in the front line in the Sanctuary Wood and Zillebeke Dugouts area, when, in the early hours of the 11th, heavy and sustained enemy shelling fell upon the front line, communication and support trenches, leaving several men dead from 'A', 'B' and 'C' Companies. Whilst John managed to avoid injury through this bombardment, he was subsequently struck down by a sniper's bullet on the 12th.

Pte. John Astridge is one of 12 men of the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles known to lie at rest in Maple Copse Cemetery, near Sanctuary Wood, Ieper.

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Headstone image and biography excerpt courtesy of 4cmr.com