My name is Michael LoCicero . I am currently writing a book about a forgotten military operation that occurred in December 1917 after the official conclusion of the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). see battle synopsis
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While doing research in Belgium (July 2003), I came across a memorial wreath at Tyne Cot Cemetery (see photo attached). It commemorated 2nd Lieutenant William Thomas Ridgway of the 11 Border Regiment. He was listed as missing in action on December 2, 1917. I was successfully able to locate the particulars of Lt. Ridgway's parents (Fredrick Robert Ridgway & Annie Sophia Aris of Buckingham Rd.) on your Tingewick Families website.
The wreath was from his nephews and nieces, initially assumed to be the children of Wiliam's sister Elsie May Fry née Ridgway. However we now know the wreath was laid by his brother Fred Ridgway and his children.
I will never forget the day we discovered the wreath. We were surveying the battlefield site north of Passchendaele. At dusk, we went to Tyne Cot. While walking along one of the memorial panels, I spotted the wreath. I was very surprised to see the date Lieutenant Ridgway went missing, and the photo. I was gazing at the face of a casualty of my forgotten operation. Obviously, one family's tragedy was still remembered. This episode has been my main inspiration to continue researching and writing an account of what happened on the Passchendaele - Westroosebeke sector in early December 1917.
Since then, I have been awarded a grant to do more research in the UK (July 2004). I also have received some recognition from a number of US & UK scholars for the originality and publication potential of my manuscript - "A Moonlight Massacre: The Night Operation on the Passchendaele Ridge, December 1 / 2, 1917." It is based on primary source documents, British and German regimental histories, diaries, and published sources gathered from the National Archives of the UK, National Army Museum, IWM, Churchill College, Cambridge,