LANCE SERGEANT ELEAZAR
JOHN SQUIRE
Service No: 200349 1/4th
Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment.
Killed in Action
28/9/1917 in Mesopotamia, Iraq.
Commemorated at
BAGHDAD (NORTHGATE) WAR CEMETERY Country: Iraq
Certificate: SQUIRE, EJ – courtesy of Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Eleazar John Squire was born in Chideock in 1891 and was the son of Alfred Squire (b:1855) and Sarah Squire (nee Shute) (b:1856). He hadtwo brothers Joseph and William Alfred and three sisters Christina, Sarah (1881-1882) who died after a scalding accident and is buried at St.Giles, Chideock and Mercy (1883-1920) who moved to Lyme Regis. Joseph was named after his Grandfather – Joseph Squire (1888-1961). In the 1901 Census his father’s occupation is Estate Foreman and they are living at Bay Cottage, Main Road, Chideock. The 1911 Census shows them living at Glendale, North Chideock where his father is Manor Bailiff and Eleazar is working as a Gardener presumably on the Manor Estate. His brother William Alfred (1885-1973) also served in the Royal Engineers but in Signals. He was a Post Master in Bridport and moved to Walditch.
Eleazar joined the 1/4th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment where he became a Lance Sergeant. He was killed in action of 28thSeptember 1917 inMesopotamia, Iraq. He was commemorated at the Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetary and also on The Chideock War Memorial.
Historical
Information
In 1914, Baghdadwas the headquarters of the Turkish Army in Mesopotamia. It was the ultimate objective of the Indian Expeditionary Force ‘D’ and thegoal of the force besieged and captured at Kut in 1916. The city finally fell in March 1917, but the position was not fully consolidated until the end of April. Nevertheless, it had by that time become the Expeditionary Force’s advanced base, with two stationary hospitals and three casualty clearing stations.
The North Gate Cemetery was begun In April 1917 and has been greatly enlarged since the end of the First World War by graves brought in from other burial grounds in Baghdad and northern Iraq, and from battlefields and cemeteries in Anatolia where Commonwealth prisoners of war were buried by the Turks.
At present, 4,160 Commonwealth casualties of the First World War are commemorated by name in the cemetery, many of them on special memorials.
Unidentified burials from this period number 2,729.
Location
Information
Baghdad(North Gate) War Cemetery is located in a very sensitive area in the Waziriah Area of the Al-Russafa district of Baghdad. The main entrance to the cemetery is located opposite the College of Arts and the Institute of Administration in Baghdad University and adjacent to the Iraqi Cigarette Factory in Waziriah Area and the Press of Ministry of Defence.
Visiting
Information
NOTE: Whilst the current climate of political instability persists it is not possible for the Commission to manage or maintain its cemeteries and memorials located within Iraq. Alternative arrangements for commemoration have therefore been implemented and a two volume Roll of Honour listing all casualties buried and commemorated in Iraq has been produced. These volumes are on display at the Commission’s Head Office in Maidenhead and are available for the public to view.
The Commission continues to monitor the situation in Iraq and once the political climate has improved to an acceptable level the Commission will commence a major rehabilitation project for its cemeteries and commemorations.
Extract from the Family Bible of the Squire family