William Henry Lowe Jordan

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Grave/Memorial:  		Jordan, William H

5 March 1886, St. James, Norfolk

William Lowe & Rachel (née Jordan)

1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards

5456

L/Corporal

29 October 1914, Belgium, age 28

Zantvoorde British Cemetery, Zandvoorde, Arrondissement Ieper, West
Flanders, Belgium: Memorial Panel 22 		   

Biography:
William Henry Lowe Jordan was born on 5 March 1886 in Norfolk. He was the son and eldest child (of ten) of William Lowe and
Rachel Elizabeth (née Jordan).

At the age of 16, William enlisted in the Royal Hussars but was claimed out by his parents. He then enlisted in the Dragoon Guards
but was again claimed out.
"Claiming out" from enlistment means submitting a claim to have one's enlistment deemed invalid and to be discharged from military service. This is typically
done when there are grounds to believe the enlistment was not valid, such as a defect in the attestation process, or if a false statement was made during the
enlistment process.

On 5 March 1904, his 18th birthday, William enlisted with the Coldstream Guards. He presumably signed up for 7 years (plus 5 as
a reservist) – in the 1911 census he is described as a soldier but, when he married a year later, he was an ‘ex-soldier’. He left the
colours in December, 1911.

In 1912, William married Flory May Hampton, of Warwick Lane, St John’s. William and Flory lived at Witley, Surrey. William
worked for two years as labour master at the Hambledon Workhouse. He then became a touring guide under the Royal
Automobile Club.

When war broke out, William, having remained as a reservist, was immediately called up. With his regiment, he was posted to the
Western Front, in August 1914. On the 29 October 1914, during the first battle of Ypres [At the First Battle of Ypres, the 1st battalion was
virtually annihilated: by 1 November down to 150 men and the Lt Quartermaster], he was reported as ‘missing in action’. Flory received
confirmation of this on 19th February the following year. The exact circumstances of his death were never known – Flory received
his identification disc from the War Office in January 1917.

William Henry Lowe Jordan is believed buried in the Zantvoorde British Cemetery, Zandvoorde, Arrondissement Ieper, Belgium.
He is commemorated on panel 22 of the Kruiseecke German Cemetery Memorial.



On 30 October 1914, the village of Zantvoorde (now Zandvoorde) was held
by the 1st and 2nd Life Guards, numbering between 300 and 400 men. It was
bombarded for over an hour with heavy guns and then taken by the 39th
German Division and three attached battalions. The whole front of the 3rd
Cavalry Division was driven back to the Klein-Zillebeke ridge. The village
could not be retaken and remained in German hands until 28 September 1918.

Zantvoorde British Cemetery, designed by Charles Holden, was made after
the Armistice when remains were brought in from the battlefields and nearby
German cemeteries. Many were those of soldiers who died in the desperate
fighting round Zantvoorde, Zillebeke and Gheluvelt in the latter part of
October 1914.

There are now 1,583 servicemen of the First World War buried or
commemorated in the cemetery. 1,135 of the burials are unidentified.