Between 1914 and 1919, 1,634 babies born in England and Wales were named in memory of the First World War. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and The National Archives today reveal the forgotten stories of those given the name “Passchendaele” to encourage others to look into their own family connection to the War.

At least 10 babies were named after the battle that lasted between 31 July 1917 and 10 November 1917. At 3.50am on 31 July, Gough’s Fifth Army launched an attack over a 15 mile front. Despite initial successes, the attack soon became bogged down, hampered by rain which turned the battlefield into liquid mud. By the end of the offensive, the Allied forces had sustained over 320,000 casualties; German losses are estimated to be between 260,000 and 400,000.

While many of the war inspired names have passed out of use, some families have continued the tradition. The Government’s call for descendants of the men and women who took part in Passchendaele, Third Battle of Ypres earlier this year unearthed the stories of two people with links to the children named ‘Passchendaele’.

Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Karen Bradley said:

Those killed or injured in the battlefields of the First World War are still remembered and it is very touching that so many people were honoured in the names of their children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren. It is fitting, that in its centenary year, we are uncovering the forgotten stories that link people to Passchendaele and I encourage everyone to look into their past and discover more about their families experience in the First World War.

Ella Passchendaele Maton-Cole, aged 19, was unaware of the story behind her unusual middle name until researchers at The National Archives were able to trace it back to Gunner Frederick Fuller, a cousin of Ella’s great-great grandmother. Frederick was killed on 30 September 1917 during the Battle of Passchendaele; his cousin named her new born daughter Florence Mary Passchendaele, and her next born son, Frederick, in memory of him. Upon his death, Frederick’s sister was sent a letter from his Commanding Officer:

This feeling, I can assure you, is shared also by all the men in the Battery, for he was respected by all… But it must be remembered that all these happenings are witnessed by the eyes of the Maker, who does all things for the best. I was in charge of the party of men who carried him to the dressing station and I can certainly assure you he was perfectly calm and collected. He was known as the coolest man in the Battery

Robert Passchendaele Oswald was named in honour of his uncle Thomas Oswald, who was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for extinguishing camouflage that was on fire, despite being under intense enemy bombardment.

The London Gazette records that Thomas:

Set a magnificent example of pluck and fearless devotion to duty.

Thomas’ brother George named his next born son Robert Passchendaele, just months after the end of the battle.

The research has shown that the most common war inspired baby name of the period was ‘Verdun’ which was given to 901 children. Other major battles feature on the list with 15 babies named ‘Somme’ after the battle that claimed 57,470 British casualties on the first day alone, and a further 71 named ‘Ypres’.

Ambassador Chris Campbell has certainly kept busy as he visited various Dominican institutions and universities to deliver speeches on BREXIT and Global Britain. This comes at a moment of ever growing interest on BREXIT and the opportunities it might bring to the Dominican Republic. Certainly, the UK wants to be a Global Britain – a true partner to the European Union but also a country that reaches beyond the borders of Europe and goes out, into the world, to build relationships with old friends and new allies alike. With this in mind, invitations poured into the Embassy to hear more about the topic.

On 3 April 2017, Ambassador Campbell was interviewed for an hour on Dominican National Television (on Channel 4, which is a State Owned Channel and is highly viewed by Dominican Audiences). There he spoke about BREXIT and future possibilities and opportunities between Dominican Republic and the UK. Likewise, on that same day, he gave a speech in FUNGLODE, a Dominican NGO and political think-tank. His speech was live-tweeted from the British Embassy’s Twitter account.

Ambassador Campbell highlighted Global Britain once again on 6 April, when he was invited as the Keynote Speaker for the International Business Week 2017 at Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE). More than 100 people attended this event and it was widely reported on in the Dominican press.

More recently, on 19 June, Ambassador Campbell visited the Universidad Pedro Henriquez Ureña (UNPHU). The event was extremely well attended by undergraduate and postgraduate students. There, he mentioned that the UK will continue to look at markets around the world, including Dominican Republic, where there is growth potential and it will want to make it as easy as possible to do business together. This prompted great interest and questions from the audience.

Finally, on 20 June, the Ambassador delivered a speech in the Dominican Ministry of Defence. There, the auditorium was at its full capacity. Once again, Ambassador Campbell spoke about Global Britain, the UK’s role as a world champion of trade and the promotion of UK values around the world.

Ambassador Chris Campbell’s message was clear: United Kingdom wishes to emerge from BREXIT stronger, fairer, more united and more outward looking than ever before, as a fully independent, sovereign country, and as the champion of free trade. To deliver that, it needs stronger commercial and political relations around the world with countries such as the Dominican Republic. This is a great opportunity to strengthen the existing bonds between both countries – it must not be wasted!

Press Contact

Miriam Stern

Miriam.Stern@fco.gov.uk

Priti Patel visited members of 32 Engineer Regiment today, as they prepare to deploy in support of the UN Peacekeeping mission in South Sudan.

The deployment of 162 British personnel from Catterick Garrison in Yorkshire will increase the number of UK military in South Sudan to approximately 400.

These troops are primarily split between Malakal and Bentiu in the north of South Sudan, where they are providing engineering and medical support at UN camps and helping to develop logistical routes to improve the delivery of humanitarian aid, a vital task in a country where movement by road is virtually impossible due to a lack of infrastructure.

International Development Secretary Priti Patel said:

The brave members of our Armed Forces are a credit to our country and ahead of their deployment to the UN peacekeeping mission to save lives in South Sudan, I’m delighted to have met men and women from 32 Engineer Regiment.

The situation on the ground in South Sudan is catastrophic and a man-made disaster. Conflict and instability has led to grotesque levels of violence and persecution, and Britain is leading the way in providing life-saving and emergency food, water and medicine to those in need.

The engineering and medical expertise of our deployed British soldiers will make a real difference, bringing skills that the UN desperately needs to protect innocent people in this terrible conflict.

Britain can stand tall in the world, with the dedication of our Armed Forces helping to save lives, rebuild South Sudan and bringing stability and peace to the people who live there.

Priti Patel learns more about the UK’s support to the UN Peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. Picture: Matt Lower/DFID

In South Sudan, 6 million people face the daily reality of going without enough food and water and nearly 4 million people have been forced from their homes because of ruthless violence and widespread sexual assault.

The International Development Secretary visited South Sudan in April to urge parties to the conflict stop the spiral of violence, end the atrocious human rights abuses and allow urgently needed aid to reach those in need. This followed intense fighting between Government and opposition forces and restrictions on access for humanitarian organisations trying to deliver lifesaving supplies.

The UK is the second largest bilateral provider of lifesaving humanitarian assistance in South Sudan and is the leading provider of health and education services. This year the UK will provide 500,000 people with food, safe drinking water for more than 300,000 people, and with other donors is providing nutritional supplements to over 100,000 children and pregnant women.

Notes to Editors

• The UK was one of the first major donors to respond to the UN’s appeal to South Sudan – pledging less than 24 hours after the appeal was launched – and we are leading the way by making sure millions of people in South Sudan get urgently needed food, water and medicine, as well as longer term support to provide much-needed education.
• We are providing £100 million of humanitarian assistance to South Sudan this year. This will provide food for over 500,000 people, safe drinking water for over 300,000 people, emergency health services for over 100,000 people and support for 650,000 people to build their livelihoods.
• The UK has also matched £10 million of the public donations to the DEC’s East Africa appeal which has raised £60 million since its launch.
• Over half a million new refugees arrived in Uganda in 2016, 88% of them from South Sudan – more than crossed the Mediterranean into Europe. Around 2,200 arrive each day. There are now nearly 1 million South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda.

Update on the housing commitment to residents who lived in Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson & Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida

UK and Japan press conference

Thank you very much, Fumio.

I’m actually absolutely delighted to be back here in Japan and thank you for the warm welcome that you have given us. I went for a run this morning, as I do when I’m in Tokyo, anticlockwise around the Imperial Palace and I want you know I was overtaken by absolutely everybody, of all ages. Well everybody was running much faster than me but my ego can survive this because yesterday I saw a robot, a Japanese robot, that could run faster than me and so I’m full of admiration, I know what an amazing place this is. What an amazing, inventive, dynamic economy Japan is.

But what we’re trying to do here today, Fumio and I, is to build on that relationship and that partnership and I’ve no doubt at all that it is going to get stronger and stronger. I’ve seen some fantastic examples of UK exports to Japan. A Honda Civic, by the way made in Swindon that I drove yesterday. And Japanese investments in the U.K. contrary to some of the gloomy stuff that you might see in some of the media, Japanese investments in the U.K. are at record high since the Brexit vote last year and I have no doubt at all that we are going to build a fantastic relationship with our friends and partners in the EU. We’re leaving the EU but we’re not leaving Europe. And one that allows us to continue to build our commercial and economic relations with Japan.

As you’ve mentioned Fumio, we share the same values and we share the same security threats, we face the same foes including from terrorism and indeed North Korea. And I want to stress that Britain stands shoulder to shoulder alongside Japan in our steadfast determination to stop North Korea’s persistent violations of United Nations resolutions. Two weeks ago we saw the test of an ICBM, unquestionably an ICBM, that landed in the Sea of Japan in what can only be called a reckless provocation. We all need to increase the pressure on Pyongyang through diplomacy and sanctions and that must include China using its influence to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table.

The UK has been in the forefront of that effort whether it’s the United Nations Security Council, or with our friends and partners in Europe and again here today in Japan. The threats that confront us are global and so our cooperation between the UK and Japan is now truly global. Britain and Japan work hand in glove in the UN Security Council on issues ranging from Syria to South Sudan. In Africa we’re working together on de-mining projects in Angola and we jointly trained peacekeepers in Senegal. Last year, The Royal Air Force sent typhoon fighters to Japan where they became the first non US Air Force to exercise alongside their Japanese counterparts. And I’m delighted that Britain is going to be using our expertise in hosting London 2012 to help ensure Japan Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games are just as successful, as I’m sure indeed that they will be.

Counterterrorism and cybersecurity, our particular focuses of our cooperation both between government and business and as an example of the growing UK Japan cyber cooperation, I welcome the signing yesterday of a strategic partnership between the UK company Darktrace, and NEC Networks and System Integration, Corporation.

Fumio, thank you for welcoming us today and thank you for the friendship and the partnership between us. This is a unique relationship between the U.K. and Japan. We have no other relationship like this. This is a partnership between two democracies, and by the way two constitutional monarchies, two island nations that share a great deal. Not just our belief in free-trade, our belief in democracy, but of course our joint belief in the rules based international order which we uphold.

Thank you very much everybody and thank you Fumio for welcoming us today.