GUNNER JOHN HENSHALL
ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY
23RD APRIL 1918 AGE 32
BURIED: ABEELE AERODROME MILITARY CEMETERY, BELGIUM
John Henshall's inscription comes from the last line of 'In Memoriam A.H.' the poem Maurice Baring wrote in memory of his friend Auberon Herbert, Captain Lord Lucas RFC, who was killed on 3 November 1916. Baring asserts that it is well with those who mourn:
... because they know,
With faithful eyes,
Fixed forward and turned upwards to the skies,
That it is well with you,
Among the chosen few,
Among the very brave, the very true.
John Henshall was a lace designer from Shardlow in Derbyshire, the second youngest of his parents' seven children. He joined the army in 1916 and served with the 84th Battery Royal Field Artillery. He was killed in action near Mont Rouge whilst the battery was under the orders of the French IX Corps and covering the French infantry.
Originally buried in the churchyard at Boesheppe, his body was reburied in May 1919.