Fragment of rock or pebble, Langemarck, West Flanders, 1917

A memento collected by Major Henry Francis Newdigate Jourdain (1872-1968), Connaught Rangers, at Langemarck, 2 September 1917.

Following the outbreak of World War One (1914-1918), Jourdain took command of the 5th (Service) Battalion of the Connaught Rangers. The unit was soon sent to Gallipoli and fought there, before serving in Salonika and Palestine before it was sent to the Western Front. It fought at Messines Ridge, before fighting in the Passchendaele campaign. Langemarck was the focus of the second Allied attack of the 3rd Battle of Ypres between 16 and 18 August 1917.