John,
I join with Pete in expressing thanks for the trouble you have taken to let us have sight of your travel photographs. I note from your photos that the Le Cateau crossroads now has a "traffic roundabout" in place. I also surmise that the gate giving access to the Memorial must have been unlocked at the time of your visit, which was not always the case on my visits, necessitating willing hands in my party to get me over the gate and its railings without injury.
You will have noticed in your photograph taken in Le Cateau Mil. Cem., that in the row behind the grave of Captain Brodribb is the grave of 2nd Lt. C.W. Robertson whose date of death I initially assumed to be in August 1914. However, on closer inspection I realised that the inscription gave this officer's death as August 1916.
It would seem that Lt. Robertson was in the 17th Manchesters and not in the 3rd battalion as quoted by the CWGC. He was reported as MIA 10th - 11th July 1916 (Trones Wood ?) and later as a POW, dying in enemy hands on 22nd August at Le Cateau, I must assume of wounds received when in action.
Your photograph of the Forester's House indicates that considerable alterations and refurbishment have taken place, making it very "visitor friendly" for those wishing to view the cellar in which Owen and other officers and men of the 2nd Manchesters occupied in late 1918 prior to the battalion's attack over the nearby Sambre-Oise canal. Regards. PhilipG.
