30th Mar 1918. Fatal Flying Accident in Rugby

FATAL FLYING ACCIDENT AT RUGBY.

The death took place at the Brookfield Nursing Home this (Tuesday) morning of Mr H N Van Duzer, an officer in the American Flying Corps, as the result of injuries received in an aeroplane accident on Sunday.

The deceased officer and another aviator had been flying over the town at a very low altitude, and at about 5.30, while they were over the Eastlands Estate, something apparently went wrong with Mr Van Duzers’ engine, which caused the machine to nose dive and crash to earth. Mr Van Duzer received shocking injuries to the head, arms and legs, and was conveyed to the Brookfield Nursing Home in an unconscious condition, from which he never rallied.

LOCAL WAR NOTES.

Pte W H Linnell, jun, R.E, son of Mr W H LINNELL, has been wounded in the leg.

Mr J A Middleton, son of Mr & Mrs Middleton, of Watford, near Rugby, has recently been gazetted Second-Lieutenant in the M.G Corps, after serving three and a-half years in Gallipoli and Palestine.

The death from wounds is reported of Lieut H C Boycott, Coldstreams, the International hockey full back. Boycott won many prizes at lawn tennis tournaments, was a brilliant cricketer, and a smart golfer, being the first secretary of the Northamptonshire Golf Club.

Sergt H Collins, son of Mrs Collins, 73 New Street, New Bilton, has been transferred from his interment camp at Wittenberg in Germany to Holland. Sergt Collins was taken prisoner of war in the early days, and had spent four Christmases in Germany. Food parcels have been regularly sent to him through the Rugby Prisoners of War Help Committee.

News has been received that Pte A W Bottrill, Coldstream Guards was killed in action on March 18th. Pte Bottrill, whose parents reside at 94 Bridget Street, was an old St. Matthew’s boy. He went to the front in the first month of the War, and was in the retreat from Mons and many of the subsequent heavy engagements, being badly wounded on two occasions. The Captain, writing to his friends, remarks : He has been all through the war without once going home, except on leave, which surely is a magnificent record. There are too few of our original Expeditionary force left to tell their glorious story, and now there is yet another gone.

THE GREAT GERMAN OFFENSIVE.
SLOWING DOWN.

Since Friday last week the British Armies on the Western Front have been fighting with traditional valour and endurance against the stupendous forces launched against them by the Germans in making their promised offensive movement. In the course of three or four days of the bitterest fighting, unprecedented in the annals of war, our front line troops had to give way in front of vastly superior numbers, but have systematically retired on prepared defences. The result is, we are on an average of 15 miles farther back on a frontage of 50 miles than when the attack commenced. There has never been in the history of the War a battle of such continued intensity, and the reason for this is very clear. There has not been one wave attack, but at least three, carried out on the German side by three relays of armies. The usual breathing space which has hitherto followed the most intense period of battle has been denied to our troops, for the simple reason that the German has no sooner exhausted on army than he has put in another, the fresh troops passing through the forces which have been exhausted and carrying on the battle without loss of time.

We are not for the moment interested in German losses. They have (remarks the well-informed London correspondent of the “ Birmingham Daily Post ”) undoubtedly been colossal. We cannot even console ourselves with the effect which those losses will have upon the people of Germany when they are revealed. The only thing which interests us is the question : “ Will the German succeed in breaking the British Army and destroying our power to continue the War ?” It is treason of the worst kind to rave about a British defeat. We are not defeated because we have given ground. We cannot be defeated until our Armies are broken. The German is defeated on the day the official despatch admits that he is checked and held. The German advance is perceptibly slowing, the intensely active front is becoming perceptibly restricted. Of the 96 divisions on the British front 73 have already been identified. Considerably more than a third of all the German’s strength in France is at Present in motion against our Armies, and that enormous force has been met, checked, and decimated by less than a third of the British Army. The people who draw comparisons between this offensive and the offensive against Italy or the big push against Russia are wide of the mark. In point of morale and armament of the defender there is no comparison. So far as reserves and readiness to meet the attack are concerned there is no comparison.

Thursday morning’s news was to the effect that the Allies are holding the line, and the fighting was more in our favour.

RUGBY FOOD CONTROL COMMITTEE.

At a meeting held on Thursday in last week there were present : Mr T A Wise (chairman), Mr H Tarbox (vice- chairman), Mrs Dewar, Mrs Shelley, Mrs Townsend, Mrs Peet, Messrs A Appleby, G H Cooke, C Gay, W A Stevenson, J Cripps, J H Meller, T A Smart, A Humphrey, R Griffin, and A T Watson.

Messrs Bluemel were given permission to purchase sugar for use in their factory canteen, which, it was said supplied meals to 300 workpeople daily.

The B.T.H Company applied for permission to purchase 40 lbs of sugar for the month ending April 20th for use as a lubricant for drawing wire in their lamp factory.—Mr Stevenson enquired how the company had obtained their sugar for this purpose in the past ?—The Executive Officer replied that they had been taking it from the supply allowed for their canteen, but he had informed them that this must not be done in the future.—Mr Stevenson enquired if the company would still be allowed the same quantity for their canteen ?—Mr Mellor said the past they had been drawing 3lbs per week from the canteen for this purpose, but the difficulty experienced in getting carbon for arc lamps had caused a great run on electric lamps, and an increased quantity of drawn wire was required, with the result that they were now using about 10lbs of per week for this purpose.—The permission was granted.

On the application of the L & N-W Railway Company, it was decided to allow the licensee of the Royal Oak, Brandon, to keep a quantity of tinned meat in stock for the use of fogmen.

A letter was read from the Divisional Commissioner with reference to the new wholesale price for milk, and suggesting co-operation between districts where similar conditions are uniformity of price. The Executive Officer read the price list as under :—April, 1s 3d ; May, 1s ; June, 1s ; July, ls 2d ; August, 1s 3d ; September, 1s 3d—average ls 2¾d.—In reply to a question, the Executive Officer stated that the resolution of the committee agreeing to the price remaining at 1s 9d per gallon till the end of April would have no effect, as it had not been confirmed by the Divisional Commissioner.—In reply to Mr Stevenson, it was stated that local committees had no control over wholesale prices.—The matter was referred to the Rationing Committee.

The Finance Committee reported that they had received £216 3s 1d from the Ministry of Food, which would meet all expenses incurred by the late Urban Committee up to December 31st. A cheque had been sent to the Urban Council for this amount, and it was decided to apply to the appointing authorities for a further grant.

SUGAR FOR JAM.
OUTLINES OF DISTRIBUTION SCHEME.

Following on the statement made by Lord Rhondda in the House of Lords with regard to the distribution of sugar for jam-making, the following announcement is made by the Sugar Department of the Ministry of Food :—

Forms of application can be obtained on and after March 23rd at the offices of the Local Food Control Committees, and must be returned on or before April 4th. Applications will considered only when they are made by persons actually growing the fruit which they wish to preserve. The form of application will require the applicant to state, among other things, the number of persons rationed for sugar as members of his household and the amount of fruit which he is likely to have available for preserving. The extent to which such applications can be met will be determined by the Director of Sugar Distribution in conjunction with the Local Food Committees.

Two classes of permit will be issued to applicants, one for soft fruit available between June 8th and July 31st, and the other for hard fruit available between August 1st and September 30th. “ Soft fruit ” will be taken to mean any fruits normally ready for preserving before the end of July, and in this category rhubarb may be included. “ Hard fruit ” will be taken to mean any fruits ready for preserving after July 31st, and in any area where vegetable marrows are usually preserved the local committee may in its discretion include them also in this category.

It has been decided that in no case shall the total amount of sugar for making jam for home consumption exceed 10lbs per head of the household. There will be many people, however, who will have fruit in sufficient quantities to enable them to use more sugar than this, and in these cases they will be invited to state what weight of fruit they are prepared to convert into jam on the understanding that they are to place the jam so made at the disposal of the local food committees at prices not exceeding the current wholesale prices.

It is most important that the application forms should returned on or before April 4th.

LOOKING AHEAD.
DISAPPOINTMENT FOR WEDDING PARTY.

Considerable amusement was caused at a meeting of the Rugby Food Control Committee on Thursday afternoon last week when a letter was read from a Craven Road grocer to the effect that a customer had ordered a 12-lb ham from him for a wedding which was to take place in few months’ time. He asked for permission to sell the ham, and keep it in stock until the event took place.—The Chairman (Mr T A Wise), in reply to Mr Mellor, stated that if the customer bought the ham he could possibly be prosecuted for hoarding. A person was not allowed go into a shop and buy what he wanted, and arrange with the trader to keep it in his warehouse until it was wanted, instead of the customer keeping it himself. That would get over the hoarding order at once : and, if they consented to this, it would open the door very wide.—Mr Cooke : If it means getting excess food we shall all be getting married soon.—The committee instructed the Executive Officer to reply that thy did not approve of the arrangement.

WOMEN’S INSTITUTES.

So many of these Institutes have now been started in Warwickshire, and have been so warmly received, that a County Federation has been formed in order to link them up together, and to co-ordinate the work generally. The first Federation meeting was held at Leamington last week, when a large number of delegates from the different villages where institutes have been successfully started attended. Lady Isabel Margesson, (hon secretary of the Worcestershire Federation), speaking on behalf of the London Federation Committee, explained the scheme. In her preliminary remarks Lady Isabel laid special emphasis on the revival of rural industries, and on the development of the whole of the rural life of the country. She pointed out that, although the great object of that development was Food Production, it was not restricted to that most important endeavour. The village institutes were the response of the women of the countrywide to the call to do their utmost for their own neighbourhood. Force and strength came from acting and meeting together, and results showed that every institute had its own character and individuality. Women’s institutes were NOT to interfere with, but to co-ordinate, the activities of a place. The Government concerned itself more and more with the homes and families of the land, and women’s institutes provided a homely organisation that could receive what the Government wished to give.

Several of the secretaries present spoke of the useful work done by the institutes, and Mrs Miller (Coundon, Coventry), gave an interesting account of a scheme in hand for promoting the toy-making industry.

The meeting, having unanimously decided to form a Federation for Warwickshire, proceeded to elect its officers and executive committee. Mrs Fielden (Kineton) was duly elected vice-president, the Mayoress of Leamington chairman, and Miss Bryson hon secretary.

The eight members of the committee proposed and elected were : Lady Likeston, Lady Nelson, the Mayoress, Mrs Fielden, Mrs Miller, Miss Fortescue, Miss Sargeaunt, and Miss Bryson.

It should be noted that anyone desirous of starting a women’s institute should apply to the War Agricultural Committee, Warwick. Once started, the institute is handed over to the care of the County Federation.

IN MEMORIAM.

BATCHELOR.—In memory of Pte. THOMAS BATCHELOR, of the 5th Royal Berks, who died of wounds in Germany, December 25, 1917.
“ God knows how we shall miss him,
And He counts the tears we shed,
And whispers, ‘ Hush, he only sleeps ;
Thy brother is not dead.’”
—Sadly missed by his loving Sisters Lizzie, Nellie, Ida, Hetty, and Beatie.

CLARKE.—In ever loving memory of Pte P. CLARKE, 31st T.R., who died in the Military Hospital at Dover, March 29th, 1917.
“ The flowers we place upon his grave,
May wither and decay ;
But the love we bear for him,
Will never fade away.”
—From father, mother, brothers, and Sisters at Kilsby.

TOMPKINS.—In memory of PRIVATE WILLIAM TOMPKINS, 24th T.R., dearly-loved youngest son of the late A. J. and Mrs Tompkins, Barby, died in Fulham Military Hospital, March 25th, 1917, aged 19 years.
“ Nobly he answered duty’s call,
And for his country gave his all.
A year has passed ; our hearts still sore,
Day by day we miss him more.
His welcome smile, his dear sweet face,
Never on earth can we replace.
—Sadly missed by his loving Mother, Brother, & Sister.

 

 

Keats, Bernard. Died 26th Mar 1918.

Bernard KEATES – or KEATS on the Rugby Memorial Gates – was born in Willenhall on 25 December 1898, registered as KEATES in Birmingham in Q1, 1899 and baptised as KEATS, on 26 January 1899 at St George’s, Birmingham, when his family were living at 8/4 St. George’s Street.

Both spellings of the surname seem to have been used indiscriminately, the family and enumerators adding the ‘E’, the military generally omitting it!

He was the third son of James Keates [b.c.1863 in Willenhall – a labourer] and Sarah, née Agus, Keates, [b.c.1873, also in Willenhall], whose marriage was registered in Wolverhampton in Q4, 1892.

The three eldest boys, Bernard and his two elder brothers, had been born in Staffordshire, but before 1901, the Keates family had moved to live in Rugby and was lodging at 28 Gas Street, Rugby. Bernard’s father was a ‘labourer carter’.

By 1911, the family had moved again and was living at 55 Pinfold Street, New Bilton, Rugby. His mother, now 38, was recorded as the ‘Head’ of the family – but was still enumerated as married, which she had been for 18 years, with five children, all still living – the three older boys, and now two girls, aged 8 and 4, who had been born in Rugby after the move from Staffordshire. Bernard was aged 11 and still at school. Their house had six rooms and they had two boarders. It is not known where Bernard’s father was as he seems to be missing from the Census.

There are very few on-line records of Bernard’s military career and no Service Records for him have survived. It seems that he enlisted in Warwick as a Private, No.35506 in the 1^st Battalion of the Duke of Edinburgh’s (Wiltshire) Regiment. The absence of a date that he entered a ‘theatre of war’ on his Medal Card, suggests that this was after the end of 1915. A commentary on the war service of the 1^st Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment gives an indication of where Bernard Keates may have served.[1]

In August 1914 the 1^st Battalion were based at Tidworth … On mobilization the 1^st Battalion left for France on the 13 August, taking part in the battle of Mons 10 days later and followed by the retreat from Mons. The ‘retreat ‘was a fighting withdrawal with a number of significant actions fought along that route. The battalion remained intact and ended the retreat on the outskirts of Paris. Once the line stabilized the battalion took part in the First Battle of Ypres, and Neuve Chapelle by which time they had lost 26 officers and 1000 men, the equivalent of a whole battalion. This was followed by trench duty at Hooge and then Kemmel where they remained for the remainder of the year.

[In 1915 -] The 1^st Battalion spent the first few months on the Messines Ridge engaged in Trench warfare until March 1915. In March they took part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, followed by several more months in Trenches in the Dickebusch area. In June they took part in two attacks on the German Trench system round Hooge Chateau, where the fighting was most severe. The next few months were spent in the trenches near Ypres, Hooge, alternating with rest periods in the ramparts at Ypres, itself under shell fire. In September they took part in a Major battle at Loos. In October together with the rest of their Brigade they were transferred to a New Army Formation, the 25^th Division to provide experience. They spent the remainder of the year in the trenches at Ploegsteert Wood. Christmas dinner was not eaten until the 1 January 1916.

It seems more likely that Bernard might have joined his Battalion in France in 1916.

At the start of 1916 the 1^st Battalion were in reserve at Papot. They remained here for three months when they went south spending three weeks near St Pol. After relieving the French at Vimy Ridge they spent two months engaged in trench warfare near La Targette. Unspectacular work but it still resulted in 82 casualties. In July the Battalion moved towards the Somme area. They did not take part in the attack on 1 July but did go into action at Thiepval on 4 July. On the 22 July together with the 3^rd Worcestershire Regiment, they assaulted and captured the Lepzig Salient, including the Hindenburg trench.   They withstood a number of counter attacks by the Prussian Guards all of which were beaten off. Other attacks followed together with more time spent in the trenches. In October they moved north and took up a position in the Ploegstreert where they were at the end of the year.

[1917 – ] The 1^st Battalion started the year in the area of Ploegsteert, being relieved mid January for a fortnights hard training. In February they carried out a daring daylight raid in conjunction with the 10^th Cheshire’s. The raiders won six Military Medals. In late February they were relieved by New Zealand units, spending the next seven weeks training. This was required due the reorganization of all battalions whereby each platoon became self sufficient in terms of weapon capabilities. The Army was starting to move towards mobile tactics. In April they took over some trenches from the Australians near Plogsteert. They went in and out of the lines until 7 June when the battalion took part in the attack on Messines Ridge. Two days later after hard fighting they had taken 148 prisoners and 7 machine guns,   but they had sustained 170 casualties.   One of the officers being awarded the Military Cross in this action was Captain R Hayward (later to win the Victoria Cross). This was a significant action because in taking this high ground it improved the situation in the Ypres salient, which had been overlooked by the Germans for most of the war. In July they moved to Ypres and had their first taste of mustard gas. At the end of July they took part in the attack on Westhoek Ridge remaining in the area under heavy shell fire until 5 August. After a short rest they returned to the Ridge to support other units under pressure from the Germans. On 10 September they moved south to join the First Army moving into the Givenchy Sector, near Bethune where they took up a position in October remaining for two months. At the beginning of December they were transferred once again, this time to the Third Army, to the Laqnicourt Sector near Bapaume. They were at this location at the end of 1917.

[1918 – ] The 1^st Battalion started the year in the Laqnicourt sector, North East of Bapaume remaining there for two months.

On 21 March 1918, the Germans launched a major offensive, Operation Michael, against the British Fifth Army, and the right wing of the British Third Army.   The artillery bombardment began at 4.40am on 21 March 1918, and hit targets over an area of 150 square miles, the biggest barrage of the entire war. Over 1,100,000 shells were fired in five hours.

On 21 March 1918 they [the 1^st Battalion] were in reserve at Achiet-Le-Grand when the German Army launched a major offensive. The battalion were in contact with the enemy for the next six days during which Captain Hayward MC won the Victoria Cross. By the end of this period the battalion was reduced to Company strength.[2]

It would appear that Bernard was wounded – presumably in that period when the Battalion lost so many men, between 21 and 25 March 1918 and was taken prisoner, and then died of his wounds, probably at a prisoner of war camp on 26 March 1918, although his date of death was also recorded as 24 March 1918 on some of the earlier records. He was buried in a German Cemetery, adjacent to the German prisoner of war camp, at the east end of the village of Oisy-le-Verger. This cemetery originally contained the graves of 24 prisoners of war from the United Kingdom, six from Italy and three from Russia, and 247 German soldiers. It was and about 5 miles north-west of Cambrai.

After the war, the British soldiers buried at Oisy-le-Verger were ‘Concentrated’ [exhumed, moved and reburied]. Bernard Keats’ ‘body naked’ was identified by a standard cross, and the German burial list and plan. There were no effects. Bernard was reburied in the Ontario Cemetery at Sains-les-Marquion in Grave ref: II. E. 15.   There was no personal message from his family on the memorial stone – it is possible that they could not be traced.

Sains-les-Marquion is about 2 kilometres south of Marquion, which is on the Arras to Cambrai road, some 14 kilometres from Cambrai. Ontario Cemetery is 1 kilometre due south of the village. The cemetery was made at the end of September and the beginning of October 1918, after the capture of Sains-les-Marquion (on the 27th) by the Canadian Division. It contained, in its original form, the graves of 144 soldiers from Canada and ten soldiers (or sailors of the Royal Naval Division) from the United Kingdom … It was enlarged after the Armistice by the concentration of graves, partly from the battlefields, but mainly from the many neighbouring German cemeteries, including … Oisy-Le-Verger German Cemetery, …

Bernard’s Medal Card showed that he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He is also remembered on the Rugby Memorial Gate, and as KEATES, B., on the New Bilton War Memorial by the chapel in Croop Hill Cemetery, Addison Road, Rugby.

 

RUGBY REMEMBERS HIM

– – – – – –

 

This article on Bernard KEATES was researched and written for a Rugby Family History Group [RFHG] project, by John P H Frearson and is © John P H Frearson and the RFHG, January 2018. It is dedicated also to the memory of Graham Gare who had chosen to undertake the research on this soldier before his untimely death.

[1]         http://www.thewardrobe.org.uk/research/history-of-regiments/the-duke-of-edinburghs-wiltshire-regiment-1881-1920-the-wiltshire-regiment-duke-of-edinburghs-1920-1959. Further details may be found in the Battalion War Diary, The National Archives, Piece 2243/3: 25^th Division, 1^st Battalion Wiltshire Regiment (1915 Nov – 1918 Jun), also available at www.ancestry.co.uk

.

 

[2]         http://www.thewardrobe.org.uk/research/history-of-regiments/the-duke-of-edinburghs-wiltshire-regiment-1881-1920-the-wiltshire-regiment-duke-of-edinburghs-1920-1959. Further details may be found in the Battalion War Diary, The National Archives, Piece 2243/3: 25^th Division, 1^st Battalion Wiltshire Regiment (1915 Nov – 1918 Jun), also available at www.ancestry.co.uk.

23rd Mar 1918. Daylight Saving, Arrival of “Summer Time”

DAYLIGHT SAVING.
ARRIVAL OF “ SUMMER TIME.”

We remind our readers that after midnight on Saturday, March 23rd, [?] on Sunday, March 24th, they must but their clocks FORWARD one hour.

It may for convenience be done when going to bed on Saturday night.

The period of saving has been extended this year five weeks, and will terminate on Sept. 29.

LOCAL WAR NOTES.

Cadet C Wright, son of Mr E Wright, of Long Lawford, who was sent home in July last (while on active service in France) for a commission, has been gazetted Second-Lieutenant in the 4th Batt. Royal Warwickshire Regt.

FOOD PARCELS OR MONEY FOR SOLDIERS AT THE FRONT.
SYMPATHY FOR DEAR FRIENDS AT HOME.

A letter which has a bearing on this subject comes from a Rugbeian in an Artillery Regiment on the Western Front. He writes :—

“ How good of you to send us a P.O. I happened to be ‘ stoney broke,’ and we had a feed that night. We can get things at our canteen very cheap. Can get a brand of tobacco for 5d per ounce which costs at home 8½d. I see you are all on the ration system in England. We live extremely well, and begin to feel sorry for all our dear friends at home having to go so short.”

It will, therefore, be seen that, as far as the Western Front is concerned, plenty of food can be procured, provided the men have the money. But in Egypt, and Mesopotamia it is probable that parcels of suitable food which will not suffer from climatic conditions will be more useful.

THE TRIBUNALS AT WORK.
RUGBY URBAN DISTRICT.

Thursday, March 14th. Present : Messrs J J McKinnell (chairman), L Loverock, T A Wise, W H Linnell, and W A Stevenson. Mr H P Highton was the National Service representative.

The case of a jersey manufacturer (31) was again considered.—The case had been adjourned for the man to be examined by the Volunteer Corps doctor. He had not received notice to submit to this examination, however ; and even if he was passed fit, he would not now be able to attend the drills, because since the case was last heard his wife had died, and he had one to look after his house. He was making Cardigan jackets for the War Office, and he had not done any civilian work since May. He had not tried to get a protection he thought it fairer to leave for the Tribunal to decide.—The case was further adjourned, and Mr Morson was directed to communicate with Capt C H Fuller. The man was also advised to approach the War Office with a view to obtaining protection.

Other results were :—Clerk, 23, single, B3, June 15th, and advised either to get work in a munitions factory as a clerk or on the land. Fruiterer, 41, married, June 1st, on condition that he took up work of national importance for three days a week. July 15th plumber, married, and wholesale grocer, 40 married. July 1st, blacksmith’s doorman, 33, married, and accountant clerk, 41, single. June 1st, church caretaker, 42, married, and printer’s machinist.

THE NEW SYSTEM OF ALLOCATING MEAT SUPPLIES.
A GILBERTIAN SITUATION.

At a Meeting of the Rugby Food Control Committee on Thursday afternoon a resolution was passed protesting against the new system of allocating stock to butchers by which the stock in a market is divided out amongst the whole of the towns in the scheduled area which are represented at the market. As a result of this system the Rugby butchers must attend every market in Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Herefordshire, and Shropshire before applying to the deputy meat agent for a further supply to make up their quota—a proceeding denounced by several members as wasteful and ridiculous.

(A report of the discussion will appear next week.)

THE PRIME MINISTER AND POTATOES.
APPEAL FOR A MILLION MORE ACRES.

A letter has been issued from 10 Downing Street for publication in the Press. It says :—“ I desire to impress upon all farmers and small growers the vital importance of increasing, to the utmost extent possible, the supply of potatoes this year. There is no crop under existing war conditions which can compare with it in importance as a food for either man or beast, and it would be quite impossible to plant too many potatoes this spring. . . . If we can get a million acres under potatoes in Great Britain this year the food situation will be safe, and farmers will have rendered an immense service to their country. The grower is in the front line of the fight against the submarine. He can defeat it if he chooses, but victory depends on his action and exertions during the next few weeks.—D LLOYD GEORGE.

THE DUNCHURCH ESTATE AGAIN ON THE MARKET.

Messrs May & Rowden, of London, in conjunction with Messrs James Styles & Whitlock, of Rugby, announce that they will sell by auction in June various portions of this property, extending to about 4,550 acres, including the whole of the parishes of Church Lawford and Kings Newnham and a portion of Dunchurch parish.

DEATHS.

MEREDITH.—November 20th, 1917, killed in action near Cambrai, OWEN WATKIN WYNN HARDINGE MEREDITH, 2nd Lieut. R.F.C., aged 24, the only and beloved child of the late Ven. Thomas Meredith, M.A., Vicar of Wolston and Archdeacon of Singapore, and of Mrs. Meredith, Park Road, Leamington.

IN MEMORIAM.

CHEDGEY.—In ever-loving memory of Sergt. PERCY JAMES CHEDGEY, Bitteswell, Lutterworth, who gave his life for his country in France on March 22, 1917.
“ To live in the hearts those we love is not to die.”

DODSON.—In loving of our dear son, Rifleman WILLIAM DODSON, who died of wounds, March 24th, 1915.
“ We loved him—oh ! no tongue can tell
How much we loved him, and how well.
His fresh young life could not be saved,
And now he lies in a hero’s grave.”
—From his loving Mother, Father, Brothers, & Sister.

FOX.—In memory of our dearly loved son, NORMAN H. FOX, killed in action, March 21st, 1915.
—From Father and Mother, who loved him better than life.

HADDON.—In loving memory of Lance-Corpl. C. F. HADDON, of the Winnipeg Rifles, who was killed at Vimy Ridge on March 29, 1917.—Not forgotten by loved ones at home.

LEESON.—In loving memory of our two dear lads, ALBERT (Bert), killed in action, March 20, 1917, and FRED ( Bob), missing since September 25, 1915.
“ Two of the best that God could send — Loving sons and faithful friends.”
—From Father, Mother, Brothers, Sister, & Hilda.

LANGHAM.—In loving memory of HAROLD F LANGHAM, who died of wounds in France on March 23, 1917.
“ He sleeps not in his native land,
But under foreign skies ;
Far from his friends who loved him best,
in a hero’s grave he lies.”
—From his Father, Brother and Sister.

MONTGOMERY.—In ever-loving memory of my dear husband, HERBERT MONTGOMERY, of 6 Oak Terrace, who was killed in Egypt on March 27, 1917.
“ A light from our household is gone.
A voice that we loved is stilled ;
A place is vacant in our home
Which never can be filled.
He bravely answered duty’s call,
He gave his life for one and all.”
—Deeply mourned by his sorrowing Wife and Children.

SALISBURY.—In ever loving memory of WILFRID, the dearly beloved son of Mr. and Mrs. E. Salisbury, 17 Clifton Road, who was killed while mine sweeping on March 25th, 1917.
“ A light has from our pathway gone,
A voice we loved is stilled ;
A place is vacant in our hearts
Which can never be filled.”
—From Father, Mother, Brothers, & Sister.

 

Wilson, Edwin Thomas. Died 23rd Mar 1918

Edwin Thomas WILSON’s birth was registered in Rugby in Q3, 1894 and he was baptised on 29 July 1894 at Bilton, Warwickshire, England, when his family were living in Victoria Street, New Bilton.

He was the eighth child of Ellis Wilson [b.c.1851 in Hillmorton – an upholsterer] and Sarah Jane, née Rotton, Wilson, [b.c.1860 in Birmingham], whose marriage was registered in Birmingham in Q4, 1876.

The three eldest children had been born in West Bromwich in about 1877, 1879 and 1883, and then the next two in Tipton in 1884 and 1886. Before 1887 when their next child was born, they had moved to Rugby, and for the 1891 census they were living at 11 Bridget Street, Rugby.

By 1901 the family had moved to live at 103 Victoria Street, Rugby, where Edwin’s father, Ellis was an ‘upholsterer and general dealer’. His father’s death was registered in Rugby in Q2, 1909 – he was 58.

By 1911, the family had moved again and was living at 65 Campbell Street, New Bilton, Rugby.   Edwin was a ‘Winder (Apprentice)’ presumably at (BTH) in Rugby as he was subsequently employed just before the war in the BTH Winding Department.

There are very few on-line records of Edwin’s military career and he changed Regiments as his career progressed. If a more detailed history is required his file is available at the National Archives.[1]

It seems that he enlisted early from BTH, and was probably one of the three ‘Wilsons’ who are listed in the Rugby Advertiser on 5 and 26 September 1914.

B.T.H. Company to the Rescue. – From the Works. This is an additional list of men who have left to join the Colours from August 27th up to and including September 2nd: … Wilson … Wilson …[2]

Recruiting at Rugby slows – Latest B.T.H. Recruits. – Since our last list of recruits from the B.T.H Works was compiled the following have enlisted: Works: …, Wilson, …[3]

Edwin’s Medal Card shows that he was initially a private No.21111 in the ‘Hussars of Line’, and then an Acting Corporal, No.G3/10243 in the East Surrey Regiment. It seems that this was for a fairly short time, as he was chosen for a commission, and two identical notices appeared in the Local War Notes in the Rugby Advertiser on 23 October 1915 and 22 July 1916.

Mr B Whitbread, only son of Mr Charles Whitbread, and Mr Eddy Wilson, youngest son of Mrs E Wilson, have been gazetted to commissions in the 12^th Reserve R.W.R.[4]

Mr B Whitbread, only son of Mr Charles Whitbread, and Mr Eddy Wilson, youngest son of Mrs E Wilson, have been gazetted to commissions in the 12^th Reserve R.W.R..[5]

The first notice agrees broadly with his Medal Card which noted that he was appointed to a Temporary Commission as a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment on 20 October 1915; the second may have appeared when the two new officers went overseas in 1916. Indeed 2^nd Lt. Basil Whitbread’s Medal Card does have a date when he went to France – 4 March 1916. However it seems that he was serving with a different Battalion, the 14^th, when he was killed in action on 22 July 1916, during the battle of the Somme.

The 12^th (Reserve) Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment was formed in Parkhurst (Isle of Wight) in October 1914 as a Service battalion, part of K4, and in November 1914, came under command of 97^th Brigade, original 32^nd Division. However, on 10 April 1915 it became a Reserve battalion and in September 1916, it absorbed into the Training Reserve Battalions in 8^th Reserve Brigade.[6]

At some date Edwin transferred from the 12^th Reserve Battalion into the 10^th Battalion – quite possibly when he went to France.

The 10^th (Service) Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment was raised at Warwick as part of the second of Kitchener’s new armies. The Battalion was assigned to the 57^th Brigade in the 19^th Division training on Salisbury Plain.   In December 1914 the Battalion was in billets for the winter and in March 1915 concentrated with its Division around Tidworth. Whilst some records suggest that the Battalion embarked for France and Flanders on 17 May 1915, other records have the division landed in France on 17 July 1915.   During the Battle of the Somme in 1916, the Battalion was in the operational area between 1 July and 7 August and between 7 October and until the end of that battle on 18 November 1916.

In early May 1917, the Local War Notes reported –

Second-Lieut E Wilson, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, son of Mrs Wilson, of Bridget Street, is in hospital at Rouen suffering from a broken leg.[7]

This was at about the time of the Battle of Arras but of course may have been due to a fall rather than enemy action!

The history of 19^th (Western) Division[8] shows that it was involved in 1917 in the following actions:

The Battle of Messines [7-14 June 1917]
The Third Battles of Ypres [from July 1917]
– The Battle of the Menin Road Ridge
– The Battle of Polygon Wood
– The Battle of Broodseinde
– The Battle of Poelcapelle
– First Battle of Passchendaele
– The Second Battle of Passchendaele

The following year, on 21 March 1918, the Germans launched a major offensive, Operation Michael, against the British Fifth Army, and the right wing of the British Third Army. The artillery bombardment began at 4.40am on 21 March 1918, and hit targets over an area of 150 square miles, the biggest barrage of the entire war. Over 1,100,000 shells were fired in five hours.

The formation for the British order of battle for that period, which was also known as the Battle of St Quentin (21-23 March 1918), included the 10^th Warwickshires which were near St. Quentin with the 19^th (Western) Division and the 57^th Brigade in the Third Army (under Byng). The Battalion was in action east of Beaumetz facing Doignies.

The Battalion Diary[9] devotes several pages to the actions from the opening of the German assault on 21 March, until Edwin’s death on 23 March 1918.   some extracts are given below.

21.3.18 – 5am – The Battn. was in rest camp in BARASTRE when the alarm was given by intense artillery fire; orders were given to stand to arms and extra S.A.A., bombs, rifle grenades, rations etc were issued; the Battn was ready to move by 5-45.am. Breakfasts were then served.

 11.50am – Orders to move to assembly positions were received … The following officers were present … B Coy: A/Capt. H. A. Hewett, in Command. 2^nd. Lt. E. T. Wilson … …

3.20am – The Battn. was ordered to move into position for a Brigade counter-attack on DOIGNIES; for this Battn. was in Brigade Reserve …

6.40pm – The remainder of the Brigade … launched counter-attack.

7.45pm – The line dug roughly followed the 120 contour …

22.3.18 – 8.50am – Ground close in front and behind line held by battalion was heavily shelled.

1.15pm – Shelling as at 9am … road by Bn. Hd. Qrs. was heavily shelled.

2.35pm – Bn. observers … reported that enemy were attacking …

23.3.18 – 2am – Orders received … our left must swing forward and establish two posts, … to block the S. Eastern exits from BRAUMETZ; the two left platoons of B Coy. were ordered to do this. … the Battn. was to hold its position to the last, and was not to reinforce the troops in the 3^rd system or to counter-attack should the enemy succeed in breaking into the 3^rd. system.

      7.30am – Batts. observers reported enemy massing W of DOIGNIES.

      8(?)am – An artillery officer reported … shortly coming into action … About 1½ hours later this officer again reported … that the guns were withdrawing.; the O.C. 10/RWarR protested … the artillery assistance was required and that the battalions had no intention of evacuating their positions. Apparently these guns fired very little if at all.

9.20am – D. Coy reported enemy cavalry on high ground …

9.25am – Battery … withdrew.

9.55am – 800 – 950 Germans debouched from S.E. of BESIMETZ. …

10.50am – … C Coy reported situation desperate on our left flank owing to withdrawal of all troops.

12.30am – VELU WOOD was occupied by the enemy.

12.30pm-1.30pm – Battn. was driven back to the road running E & W through J.26. where another stand was made…

3pm – The Battn. and machine gunners were ordered … to withdraw to Embankment … and then round the E & S sides of BERTINCOURT. … subsequently orders were received … to march to BAUCOURT, which was reached about 7pm.

Casualties were:- OFFICERS KILLED: 2^nd Lt R H Burningham and 2^nd. Lt. E. T. Wilson, 23-3–18 …Officers wounded – 9; Wounded and Missing – 2; Missing believed prisoner – 1. Other Ranks: killed – 33; Wounded – 191; Missing – 83.

Edwin, as noted, was killed in action on the third day of the battle on 23 March 1918, aged 23. Because of the intensity of the battle, with the Germans moving forward in strength, and in the confusion of the retreat and rearguard action, the bodies of many of those killed were never found or identified.

Edwin Thomas Wilson is remembered on Bay 3 of the Arras Memorial which is located at the entrance to the Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery in France. The memorial commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918, the eve of the Advance to Victory, and have no known grave. The most conspicuous events of this period … [and in Edwin’s case, sadly was] the German attack in the spring of 1918.

Edwin’s Medal Card showed that he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He is also remembered on the Rugby Memorial Gates, and on the BTH List of ‘Men who Served’, and the list of ‘Men who Gave their Lives’ as inscribed on the BTH War Memorial.

After Edwin’s death, on 24 March 1918 the 10^th Battalion RWarR was again manning a line somewhat further to the rear. The Battalion was involved in the Battle of Bapaume, the Battle of Messines, the Battle of Bailleul, the First Battle of Kemmel Ridge, the Battle of the Aisne, the Battle of the Selle, the Battle of the Sambre and the passage of the Grand Honelle. During these the allies finally held the German advance which had badly weakened German numbers and lost them many of their more experienced troops. The German advance had also overextended their supply lines, and from August 1918 the Allies were able to regroup and fight back. The 10^th Battalion ended the war on 11 November 1918, in the same formations, just west of Bavay, France.

In 1922, his mother, Mrs. S J Wilson was recorded on his Medal Card as living at 41 Bridget Street, Rugby.

 

RUGBY REMEMBERS HIM

– – – – – –

 

This article on Edwin Thomas WILSON was researched and written for a Rugby Family History Group [RFHG] project, by John P H Frearson and is © John P H Frearson and the RFHG, January 2018.

[1]       2nd Lieutenant Edwin Thomas WILSON, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, TNA file ref: WO 339/45499.

[2]         https://rugbyremembers.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/5th-sep-1914-rugbys-magnificent-response/.

[3]         https://rugbyremembers.wordpress.com/2014/09/27/26th-sep-1914-recruiting-at-rugby-slows/.

[4]         https://rugbyremembers.wordpress.com/2015/10/23/23rd-oct-1915-local-territorials-do-good-work/.

[5]         https://rugbyremembers.wordpress.com/2016/07/22/whitbread-basil-died-22nd-jul-1916/.

[6]         http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/royal-warwickshire-regiment/.

[7]       12th May 1917. Rugby Advertiser, 13 May 1917, https://rugbyremembers.wordpress.com/2017/05/13/12th-may-1917-food-economy-campaign/.

[8]       Information from ‘The Long Long Trail’.

[9]       War Diary, TNA Ref: Piece 2085/3: 10 Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment (1915 Jul – 1919 Mar), pp.506-513 of 517. Also available on Ancestry.co.uk.

Chant, George Frederick. Died 23rd Mar 1918

George Frederick CHANT was born on 28 January 1880, in Enfield, Middlesex, the son of Anthony Chant, a coachman from Yeovil, Somerset, and Ellen, née Vale, Chant who was born in Westminster.  George was baptised on 20 June 1880 at the Enfield Jesus Chapel, Enfield, when the family was living in Turkey Street.

In 1891 the family were living in ‘the cottage’ in Enfield, apparently not far from the ‘Spotted Cow’ beer house.  The family seems to have remained in Middlesex, but George was elsewhere and has not been found in the 1901 or the 1911 censuses.  It seems from a later report,[1] that he had served in the Army in the South African War, and may have still been a serving soldier overseas in 1911.

However, after his military service, he was one of the many workers who came to work in Rugby at the expanding British Thompson Houston (BTH) works in the years before the war.  Thomas moved to Rugby and went to work in the BTH Stores.  He married with Alice E. Welch, the marriage being registered in Rugby in Q2, 1915.  They later lived at 43 Union Street, Rugby.

Whilst his later obituary stated that he ‘… went out at once on August 15, 1914’, there is no qualification date on his Medal Card for when he went abroad, and he did not earn the 1914 or the 1914-1915 Star.  So this may be the date that he reported back, as a reservist, to the army in Rugby.  He was, latterly at least, Driver, No.88840 in the Royal Field Artillery.  There is no surviving Service Record, so the details of his service are unknown – and being in the Artillery it is less easy to plot his progress.  With no qualification date on his Medal Card, he probably remained in UK, and did not go abroad until 1916 or even later, although he had re-joined the colours in 1914.  It seems that George had a job with the Brigade looking after the Brigadier’s horses.  In March 1918, he was serving with the Royal Field Artillery, at the Headquarters, 4 Corps.

However, on 21 March 1918, the Germans launched a major offensive, ‘Operation Michael’,[2] against the British Fifth Army and the right wing of the British Third Army.  The German artillery targeted command and communications; then, the destruction of artillery; and then the front-line infantry.  The artillery bombardment began at 4.40am on 21 March 1918, and hit targets over an area of 150 square miles, the biggest barrage of the entire war.  Over 1,100,000 shells were fired in five hours.

Whilst the first bombardment of artillery positions was on 21 March, artillery attacks continued and George Frederick CHANT was ‘killed in action’ ‘by a shell which fell among a group of officers, men, and horses standing near the Brigade Headquarters’, on the third day of the battle, 23 March 1918, when he was aged 36.[3]  Because of the intensity of the battle, with the Germans moving forward in strength, and in the confusion of the retreat and rearguard action, the bodies of many of those killed were never found or indeed, were not identifiable.

George Frederick CHANT is remembered on Bay 4 of the Arras Memorial which is located at the entrance to the Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery in France.  The memorial commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918, the eve of the ‘100 days Advance to Victory’, and have no known grave.  [One of the] … most conspicuous events of this period … was the German attack in the spring of 1918.

The Rugby Advertiser reported his death in April 1918.
A South African Veteran Killed.   Mrs Chant, 43 Union Street, Rugby, has received news that her husband, Driver George Chant, R.F.A. has been killed by a shell which fell among a group of officers, men, and horses standing near the Brigade Headquarters.  In a kind letter conveying information, the Brigadier-General writes: – “I feel deeply for you and your young family in your great loss.  It is a great loss to me also, Chant had been with me since the early days of the War, and I had the greatest confidence in him.  He looked after the horses splendidly, and when I was busy with other things I felt I never need worry about them, and that Chant would do everything that was required.”  Driver Chant, who was 38 years of age, was employed at the B.T.H. when war broke out.  He was the first to volunteer from those Works, and went out at once on August 15, 1914, so that he had been all through the fighting.  He had previously served in the South African War, and gained two medals.[4]

His death was also reported in the Coventry Evening Telegraph,[5]

THE ROLL OF HONOUR.  Coventry and District Casualties. 
The following Coventry and district casualties are notified in the latest lists:
Killed.  … Chant, 88840, Dvr. T. (Rugby), R.F.A. …

George Frederick CHANT is also remembered on the Rugby Memorial Gates, and his name appears also appears as ‘CHANT G F’ on the list of ‘BTH Employees Who Served in the War 1914 – 1918’; and as ‘CHANT George F’ on the list of names on the BTH War Memorial when it was unveiled in 1921.[6]

His Medal Card showed that he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

The Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 showed that his back pay of £1-16-2d was paid to his widow ‘Alice E’ on 25 June 1918, and then his War Gratuity of £17, in two payments: £5-13-4d on 27 November 1919 and £11-6-8d on 25 February 1920.

 

 

RUGBY REMEMBERS HIM

 

 

This article on George Frederick CHANT was researched and written for a Rugby Family History Group [RFHG] project, by John P H Frearson and is © John P H Frearson and the RFHG, January 2018.

– – –

[1]      Rugby Advertiser, Saturday, 13 April 1918.

[2]      See: https://rugbyremembers.wordpress.com/2018/03/20/the-1918-spring-offensive-operation-michael/.

[3]      His age given by CWGC was 36, in fact, he was 38 as given in the Rugby Advertiser, and from his date of birth.

[4]      Rugby Advertiser, Saturday, 13 April 1918.

[5]      Coventry Evening Telegraph, Thursday, 16 May 1918.  The death in action of Lce.-Bdr. F. Ward, No.11115, (Rugby), who was also in the R.F.A., was notified in the same edition – he is not on the Rugby Memorial Gate.

[6]      Taken from the list published in the Rugby Advertiser, 4 November 1921.

Fretter, Charles James. Died 22nd Mar 1918

Charles James FRETTER was born in mid to late 1875 and was baptised on 30 April 1876, at St. Matthew’s church, Rugby.  He was the son of Samuel Fretter [b.c.1841 in Hillmorton – 1914] and Harriet née Tomkins Fretter [b.c.1848 in Dunchurch – 1912].  They had married in Dunchurch parish church on 20 November 1868.  Between 1861 and 1871, and probably soon after their marriage, Samuel and Harriet moved to Rugby, where their eldest daughter was born in early 1869.

In 1871, Samuel, a boot and shoe maker and his family were living at 12 West Leyes, Rugby, initially with his widowed mother.  There were then two girls, Elizabeth and Alice.  By 1881, after Charles’ birth it seems Samuel’s mother (Charles’ grandmother) had died, and Charles would later have two younger sisters and two younger brothers.

By 1891, the family were living at 44 Pennington Street, Rugby.  Charles was now 15, and was working as a milkman.  By 1901 the family had moved again to 38 Plowman Street, Rugby and Charles was now a general labourer.  By 1911 they had moved yet again, to 60 York Street, Rugby – Charles was 35, still single, and was now a general labourer in the building trade.

At some date Charles enlisted at Rugby as Private No.18034 in the 10^th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment.   The 10^th (Service) Battalion was raised at Warwick as part of the second of Kitchener’s new armies.  The Battalion was assigned to the 57^th Brigade in the 19^th Division training on Salisbury Plain.  In December 1914 the Battalion was in billets for the winter and in March 1915 concentrated with its Division around Tidworth.  Whilst some records suggest that the Battalion embarked for France and Flanders on 17 May 1915, other records have the division landed in France on 17 July 1915.

There is no embarkation date on Charles’ Medal Card, so he probably joined his Battalion later and went to France/Belgium with reinforcements after the end of 1915, and would not have been eligible for the 1914-15 Star.

During the Battle of the Somme in 1916, the Battalion was in the operational area between 1 July and 7 August and between 7 October and until the end of that battle on 18 November 1916.

The history of 19^th (Western) Division[1] shows that it was involved in 1917 in the following actions:
The Battle of Messines
The Third Battles of Ypres
– The Battle of the Menin Road Ridge
– The Battle of Polygon Wood
– The Battle of Broodseinde
– The Battle of Poelcapelle- First Battle of Passchendaele
– The Second Battle of Passchendaele

The following year, on 21 March 1918, the Germans launched a major offensive, Operation Michael, against the British Fifth Army, and the right wing of the British Third Army.  The artillery bombardment began at 4.40am on 21 March 1918, and hit targets over an area of 150 square miles, the biggest barrage of the entire war.  Over 1,100,000 shells were fired in five hours.

The formation for the British order of battle for that period which was also known as the Battle of St Quentin (21-23 March 1918), included 10^th Warwickshires which were near St. Quentin with the 19^th (Western) Division and the 57^th Brigade in the Third Army (under Byng).  The Battalion was in action east of Beaumetz facing Doignies.

Because of the intensity of the battle, and as the Germans were moving forward, many of those killed were never identified.  Charles was killed in action on the second day of the battle on 22 March 1918, aged 43.

In the confusion of the retreat and rearguard action, Charles’ body was either not found or not identified, and it was probably lost in the area that the Germans overran.  He is remembered on the Arras Memorial which is located at the entrance to the Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery in France.  The memorial commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918, the eve of the Advance to Victory, and have no known grave.  The most conspicuous events of this period were the Arras offensive of April-May 1917, and in Charles’ case, the German attack in the spring of 1918.

After Charles’ death, the allies held the advance which had badly weakened the Germans and overextended their supply lines, and they fought back.  The 10^th Battalion ended the war in the same formations on 11 November 1918, well to the east, just west of Bavay, France.

Charles James Fretter is also remembered on the Rugby Memorial Gates.  His Medal Card showed that he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.  The Medal Roll allocated him to the 11^th Battalion.

Various small amount of his outstanding pay was split between his brother and sisters.  His Gratuity of £9.00 was paid to his eldest sister, Elizabeth, on 12 December 1919 – she was now married.

 

 

RUGBY REMEMBERS HIM

– – – – – –

 

This article on Charles James Fretter was researched and written for a Rugby Family History Group [RFHG] project, by John P H Frearson and is © John P H Frearson and the RFHG, December 2017.

[1]      Information from ‘The Long Long Trail’.

Smith, Thomas J L. Died 21st Mar 1918

Thomas J L SMITH, having such a common surname, and probably having moved from some distance to work at British Thompson Houston (BTH) in Rugby, has not been specifically identified, although some parts of his life and his military career can be followed briefly in the records.

Before the war Thomas was working in the BTH Main Drawing Office, and this is later confirmed as his name appears as ‘SMITH T J L’ on the list of ‘BTH Employees Who Served in the War 1914 – 1918’; and as ‘SMITH Thomas J L’ on the list of names on the BTH War Memorial when it was unveiled in 1921.[1]

A search for births found nothing definitive, however a search for a marriage produced a registration in Rugby in Q3, 1914 [6d, 1583] between Thomas J L SMITH and a Nellie M Davis.

Further searches for Thomas – and indeed Nellie, with her almost equally common surname – in Rugby proved fruitless and it is likely that he was one of many workers who came to work in Rugby at the expanding British Thompson Houston works in the years immediately before the war.

Thomas joined up early, and indeed, the various dates could suggest that he may have already been a member of the territorial force.  On his Medal Card he is listed as Thomas J Smith, a Corporal, No.187, – a very early number – in the 1^st/1^st Warwickshire Royal Horse Artillery (Territorial Forces).  At a later date it seems he was transferred to the ‘Som Royal Horse Artillery’ – probably the Somerset Royal Horse Artillery – as No.618345 – a much later style number.

The Warwickshire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Warwickshire in 1908.  On the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many territorial members volunteered for overseas service and the unit was split into 1^st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2^nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units.

The 1^st Line battery was embodied with the 1^st South Midland Mounted Brigade on 4 August 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War.  Initially, the brigade moved to Diss, Norfolk and joined the 1^st Mounted Division.  Later in August, a concentration of mounted brigades was ordered to take place around the Churn area of Berkshire and the brigade moved to the racecourse at Newbury.

At the end of October 1914, the Warwickshire Battery departed for France, landing at Le Havre on 1 November.  The Warwickshire Royal Horse Artillery was the first Territorial Force artillery unit to go overseas on active service, spending the whole of the First World War on the Western Front, mostly with 1^st Cavalry Division and 29^th Division.

 

The ‘qualifying date’ i.e. the embarkation date on Thomas’s Medal Card, is 31 October 1914, thus it seems that he was indeed with the battery when it went to France on 1 November 1914.  He would thus have also qualified for the 1914 Star.

It is uncertain what Thomas’s movements were thereafter.  The activities of the 1^st/1^st Warwickshire RHA are well documented, however, Thomas’s Medal Card also includes the ‘Som Royal Horse Artillery’ – and a later service number: 618345 – and although also well documented they fought in different actions.  However, still with this same later number, Thomas is recorded by CWGC as being in “A” Bty. 298^th Bde., Royal Field Artillery.  When and why he might have transferred between these various batteries is uncertain – and no Service Record survives to record his movements.

Suffice to say he remained on the Western Front and at some date before late 1917 he had been promoted to Corporal and in later 1917, he won the Military Medal for bravery in the field.

His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Military Medal for bravery in the Field to the under mentioned Non-commissioned Officers and Men:-
… 618345 Cpl. T. J. Smith, R.F.A. (Rugby).[2]

… 618345 Cpl. T. J. Smith, R.F.A. (Rugby).[3]

Rather than outlining his possible movements and actions in three different Batteries, until any further information appears, one must assume that he was involved in a great many actions, and being in the artillery was less likely to be killed than as a front-line infantryman.  As mentioned the CWGC indicates that in March 1918 he was with “A” Bty. 298^th Bde. Royal Field Artillery.

On 4 April 1917, 298^th (N. Midland) Bde, RFA (TF) was re-designated as 298^th Army Brigade, RFA.[4]

During 1918, 298^th Brigade, RFA was an Army Brigade, RFA and from 28 February 1918 to 30 March 1918 it was supporting the 14^th (Light) Division of III Corps.[5]

However, on 21 March 1918, the Germans launched a major offensive,  Operation Michael against the British Fifth Army and the right wing of the British Third Army.  The German artillery targeted command and communications; then, the destruction of artillery; and then the front-line infantry.  The artillery bombardment began at 4.40am on 21 March 1918, and hit targets over an area of 150 square miles, the biggest barrage of the entire war.  Over 1,100,000 shells were fired in five hours.  It was possibly during this initial shelling of the British artillery positions early on 21 March 1918 that Thomas was wounded.

The Brigade War Diary indicates that on 21 March 1918 the Brigade was in positions in the Montescourt area.  Early that morning it was ordered to fire on a line between Sabliere Farm – Manufacture Farm.  The Brigade Wagon Lines were heavily shelled with 40 horses, one officer and four men killed and six wounded.[6]

It seems that after Thomas was wounded, in the opening of Operation Michael, he was evacuated to the 61^st (South Midland) Casualty Clearing Station which was stationed at Ham from January – March 1918,[7] and which started to receive casualties at 5.00 a.m. on 21 March 1918.[8]

Thomas would have been one of the early casualties, and was either already dead on arrival or died soon afterwards and he was buried adjacent to the Casualty Clearing Station.  The CWGC site states that he died on 21 March 1918.  There appears to be some confusion in the description on the CWGC site [unless there really was a pre-existing German cemetery on the site] however, it seems that the CCS were burying their dead, including Thomas, in what would later become the Muille-Villette German Cemetery, after the area was over-run.

The British soldiers buried in what became a largely German Cemetery at Muille-Villette were  ‘concentrated’ [exhumed, moved and reburied] in 1919.  The Ham British Cemetery was constructed next to and just behind the Muille-Villette German Cemetery, and the British graves were regrouped in this new cemetery, which explains the same map reference being used.

Thomas’s body could be identified as he was originally buried under ‘Foot Board: E55’ at ‘MR: 66D Q 2a 1-4’ from ‘Official Identity’.  He was reburied in Plot ref: I. E. 21 at the new Ham British Cemetery.  There was no age or personal family message on the gravestone.

Ham is a small town about 20 kilometres south west of St. Quentin … The British Cemetery is in the village of Muille-Villette.  In January, February and March 1918, the 61^st (South Midland) Casualty Clearing Station was posted at Ham, but on 23 March the Germans, in their advance towards Amiens, crossed the Somme at Ham, and the town remained in German hands until the French First Army re-entered it on 6 September 1918.  Ham British Cemetery was begun in January-March 1918 as an extension of Muille-Villette German Cemetery,[9] made by the Casualty Clearing Station.

In 1919 the British graves in the earlier and German cemetery were reburied in the new British Cemetery, together with those ‘concentrated’ from two other German cemeteries, and communal cemeteries and churchyards.

His death was recorded in the Rugby Advertiser, and also later in the Coventry Evening Telegraph.
‘Corpl T J Smith, of the Royal Field Artillery, who was formerly employed in the Main Drawing Office of the B.T.H, died from wounds on March 22nd.’[10]

‘The Roll of Honour, Warwickshire Casualties.  Rugby Men in Casualty Lists.  Three employees of B.T.H. to make the supreme sacrifice are: Corpl. T. J. Smith, R.F.A., Sapper E. Wagstaffe, R.E., and Pte. Alfred William Elson, Hampshire Regt., …’.[11]

Thomas J L Smith is also remembered on the Rugby Memorial Gates as well as on the BTH Memorial to those who fell, as noted above.  His Medal Card showed that he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, the 1914 Star and the Military Medal for ‘bravery in battle on land’.

On the back of his medal card is written, ‘N M Smith applies for her late husband’s medals 7.11.20’, which also confirms his marriage with Nelly M Davis.

 

RUGBY REMEMBERS HIM

– – – – – –

 

This article on Thomas J L Smith was researched and written for a Rugby Family History Group [RFHG] project, by John P H Frearson and is © John P H Frearson and the RFHG, January 2018.

 

[1]      Taken from the list published in the Rugby Advertiser, 4 November 1921.

[2]      Supplement, The London Gazette, 12 December 1917, p.13021.

[3]      Supplement, The Edinburgh Gazette, 13 December 1917, p.2569.

[4]      The brigade’s war diary for the period January 1916 to February 1916 can be found at The National Archives under WO95/3016.  Its war diary from March 1917 to February 1918 can be find under WO95/456.  Information from Dick Flory at http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/topic/168241-a298th-north-midlands-brigade-rfa/.

[5]      Information from ‘quigs1969’ at http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=694165.0; and from Dick Flory at http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/topic/192545-298-brigade-rfa/.

[6]      Information from ‘quigs1969’ at http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=694165.0; and from Dick Flory at http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/topic/192545-298-brigade-rfa/.

[7]      However the 61^st CCS Diary states that the CCS at Ham and their patients were evacuated by 23 March and the area was captured by the Germans.  One reference [http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk] suggests the CCS were also in Ham from March – April 1918, and then were at Vignacourt, although the War Diary suggests they had withdrawn.

[8]      WWI War Diaries, 1914-1920, Royal Army Medical Corps, 61^st Division, from www.ancestry.co.uk, p.290-291.

[9]      See comment in text above as to the sequence.

[10]     Rugby Advertiser, 12 April 1918, and https://rugbyremembers.wordpress.com/2018/04/21/20th-apr-1918-low-flying-aeroplanes/.

[11]     Coventry Evening Telegraph, Saturday, 20 April 1918.

 

Reeve, Frank Basham. Died 21st Mar 1918

Frank Basham REEVE was born in early 1888 in Rugby, and baptised on 31 March 1888 at St. Andrew’s church, Rugby.  He was the son of William (b.c 1848) and Caroline née Ince (b.c.1847) Reeve who had been born in Frankton, Warwickshire and in Essex respectively.  They had married in 1871, and their first child was born in Ryton on Dunsmore.

In 1891 the family was living at 33 Arnold Road, Frank was three years old and had six older and one younger sibling; his father was a baker.  By 1901, the family had moved to 158 Cambridge Street, Rugby, and by 1911 the family had moved again to 14 Cambridge Street, Rugby; Frank’s parents had now been married 40 years.  Frank was 23 and a ‘General Labourer’ at British Thompson Houston (BTH) in Rugby, where his elder sister also worked, in the ‘Lamp Dept.’.

It is uncertain exactly when he enlisted, but his name is included in a list of BTH employees who had joined up which was published in the Rugby Advertiser on 5 September 1914.

‘BTH – FROM THE WORKS. – This is an additional list of men who have left to join the Colours from August 27th up to and including September 2nd: … Reeve,…’[1]

He thus enlisted in Rugby between 27 August and 2 September 1914, as a Private No.11873, in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry [Ox and Bucks].  His initial Battalion is not definitely known, but his Medal Card has a reference to the 6^th Battalion as did his identity discs.  He would later be promoted to Lance Corporal.  His CWGC entry states that he was later in the 2^nd/4^th Battalion of the Ox and Bucks.

Frank’s Medal Card shows that he went to France on 22 July 1915, which would suggest that he was indeed with the 6^th Battalion Ox and Bucks, as they landed in Boulogne on that date.

6th (Service) Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was formed at Oxford in September 1914 as part of the Second New Army (K2).  After some initial training with very little equipment, they moved to Deepcut, near Camberley and then to Aldershot to join the 60^th Brigade of the 20^th Division.  In March 1915 they moved to Larkhill, Salisbury Plain.  On 22 July 1915 they mobilised for war and landed at Boulogne, and after trench familiarisation and training engaged in various actions on the Western front including in 1916: the Battle of Mount Sorrel, the Battle of Delville Wood, the Battle of Guillemont, the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, the Battle of Morval, and the Battle of Le Transloy.  In 1917: the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, the Battle of Langemarck, the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, the Battle of Polygon Wood, and the Cambrai Operations.

On 15 February 1918 the Army reorganised and Brigades were reduced from four to three Battalions.  The 6^th Battalion Ox and Bucks was disbanded at La Clytte and the remaining personnel transferred to the 2/4^th and 5^th Battalions, and the 14^th Entrenching Battalion.  It seems most likely that this was when Frank joined the 2^nd/ 4^th Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.

The 2^nd/4^th (Service) Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry had landed in France much later than the 6^th Battalion, on 24 May 1916, and had been involved in many of the actions in France and Flanders including in 1916: the Attack at Fromelles (the unsuccessful diversionary tactic during the Battle of the Somme), and in 1917: the Operations on the Ancre, the German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line, the Battle of Langemark, and the German counter attacks.

Soon after Frank transferred to the 2/4^th Ox and Bucks in 1918, he would have been involved in the opening of the Battle of St Quentin, when, on 21 March 1918, the Germans launched a major offensive, Operation Michael, against the British Fifth Army, and the right wing of the British Third Army.  The artillery bombardment began at 4.40am on 21 March 1918, and hit targets over an area of 150 square miles, the biggest barrage of the entire war.  Over 1,100,000 shells were fired in five hours.

The action on that first day, 21 March 1918 has already been described in some detail (see Operation Michael or consult other references.[2]).

An outline of the actions of the 2^nd/4^th Battalion at that date are included in the Battalion history.[3]

On the night of 18/19 March the Battalion went into the front line.  C Company was on the right, in front of Fayet; B Company, under the command of Wallington, was on the left, just south of Gricourt.  A went to Fayet itself and D Company, commanded in Robinson’s absence by Rowbotham, provided the garrison of Enghien Redoubt, which was a quarry near Selency Château; Battalion Headquarters also were at this redoubt.  During the night of March 20 a raid on the Battalion’s right was carried out near Cepy Farm by the 182nd Brigade.  It was successful.  German prisoners from three divisions corroborated our suspicion that the great enemy offensive was about to be launched.  From headquarters to headquarters throbbed the order to man battle stations.  Ere dawn was due to lighten the sky a dense mist shrouded everything and added a fresh factor to the suspense.

Early on March 21, only a short time after the Colonel had returned from visiting the front line posts, the ground shook to a mighty bombardment.  At Amiens windows rattled in their frames. Trench mortars of all calibres and field guns, brought to closest range in the mist and darkness, began to pound a pathway through our wire.  Back in artillery dug-outs the light of matches showed the time; it was 4.50 a.m. The hour had struck.  Our guns, whose programme in reply was the fruit of two months’ preparation, made a peculiar echo as their shells crackled through the mist. Some ‘silent’ guns fired for the first time.

On all headquarters, roads, redoubts, and observation posts the enemy’s howitzer shells were falling with descending swoop, and battery positions were drenched with gas.

In the back area the fire of long-range guns was brought with uncanny accuracy to bear against our rest billets, transport lines, and dumps.  Cross-roads, bridges, and all vital spots in our communications, though never previously shelled, were receiving direct hits within a short time of the opening of the bombardment.  The Berks had casualties at Ugny.  Some English heavy batteries, recent arrivals on the front and seemingly undiscovered by the enemy, were now knocked out almost as soon as they had opened fire.  The Artillery level crossing was hit by an early shell which blocked the road there with a huge crater.  Never in the war had the Germans flung their shells so far or furiously as now.

By daylight all front line wire had been destroyed, and our trenches everywhere were much damaged.  The mist hung thick, but the Germans did not yet attack.  About 9.30 a.m. the barrage was felt to lift westwards from Fayet and the fitful clatter of Lewis guns, firing in short bursts with sometimes a long one exhausting a ‘drum’, was heard.  In the front line showers of stick bombs announced the enemy’s presence.  Everywhere it seemed that quick-moving bodies in grey uniforms were closing in from either flank and were behind.  In the mist our posts were soon over-run.  Few of our men were left to rally at the ‘keeps’.  A messenger to A Company’s platoons, which had been stationed in support at the famous ‘Sunken Road’, found that place filled with Germans.  Before noon the enemy had passed Fayet and his patrols had reached Selency and the Cottages.

At Enghien Redoubt Battalion Headquarters had received no news of the attack having begun; the dense mist limited the view to fifty yards.  The earliest intimation received by Colonel Wetherall of what was taking place was enemy rifle and machine-gun fire sweeping the parapet.  At one corner of the redoubt some of the enemy broke in but were driven out by D Company with the bayonet.  Outside Headquarters the first three men to put their heads over were killed by Germans, who had crept close along the sunken road which leads from Favet to Selency Château.  The rifles and machine guns of the garrison opened up and gained superiority.  The defence, destined to last for many hours, of Enghien Redoubt proved an important check to the enemy’s advance and helped to save many of our guns.

At 12 noon, after several patrols had failed to find out whether the enemy had captured Holnon, the Colonel himself went out to see all that was happening.  He did not return, and shortly afterwards Headquarters were surrounded by the enemy, who had made ground on either flank.  Nevertheless till 4.30 p.m. Cunningham, the officer left in command, held out most manfully.  Of all the companies, Jones and less than fifty men had escaped capture.  They reached the ‘Battle Line’ of trenches east of Holnon Wood, and there joined the Gloucesters, who had not yet been engaged in the fighting.  The enemy, having captured Maissemy, Fayet, and Holnon, paused to reorganise as evening fell.

Towards evening on the 21st the Berks, who were in reserve when the attack started, were sent to counter-attack against Maissemy, which had been lost by the division on our left.  Near the windmill, which stands on the high ground west of the village, Dimmer, the Berks V.C. Colonel, was killed leading his men on horseback.  This local attempt to stem the German onslaught proved of no avail.  At 10.30 a.m. on March 22 the enemy, whose movements were again covered by mist, pressed the attack against the Battle Line.  Almost before the Gloucesters knew they were attacked in front, they found themselves beset in flanks and rear.

At noon the enemy from its north side had penetrated Holnon Wood.  Gloucesters and Oxfords fell back to join the garrison of the Beauvoir Line, all parts of which were heavily engaged by evening.  A gallant resistance, in which the Gloucesters under Colonel Lawson were specially distinguished, was made by the 184^th Infantry Brigade.  The General encouraged the defence in person.  But the line was too weakly manned long to withstand the enemy; though parts of it held till after 8 p.m. on March 22, before midnight the whole of this last Army Line had been lost.  The enemy had ‘broken through’.

The Battalion Diary[4] also provides a briefer summary of the actions on 21 March 1918.

March 2l – Our positions were subjected to a severe enemy bombardment commencing at 4.30 a.m., gas shells being freely used on our back areas and keeps.  At 9 a.m., under a heavy smoke barrage, a strong hostile attack was launched, penetrating the Forward Zone and surrounding Enghien Redoubt.  The garrison of the latter, D Company and Battalion H.Q., held out till 4 p.m., at which time, owing to casualties, they attempted to fight their way out.  The remainder of the Battalion (Captain G. K. Rose says they were less than 50 men.) attached themselves to 2/5^th Glosters.  Casualties: Killed, 5 other ranks; Missing, believed killed, Lieut. G. E. Bassett, 2nd Lieuts. R. G. H. Gough, W. H. Flory, C. C. Hall;  Wounded and Missing, 2nd Lieut. E. Little and 31 men; Wounded, 32 men;  Missing, Captain K. E. Brown, M.C., Captain C. E. P. Foreshew, M.C., Captain F. T. Cahill (M.O.R.C.U.S.A.), 2nd Lieuts. R. Ostler, J. Pett, C. H. Wallington, M.C., V. C. Gray, J. C. Cunningham, J. W. Mallett, F. A. Naylor, G. Shelley, G. V. Rowbotham, M.C., C. H. Leach, P. J. Sims, and 494 other ranks.  Total: 19 officers and 562 other ranks.  Later statistics show that of these 525 missing men, 407 were made prisoners, 54 of them being wounded.  The number of killed must therefore have been upwards of 120 men.

At some time on 21 March 1918, Frank Reeve was one of those ‘upward of 120 men’ ‘Killed in Action’.

Frank Reeve was originally buried, or his body was later found, probably near to where he fell at Map Reference ‘62B S. 5. a 0 7’, which was in Fayet, about two kilometres north-west of St. Quentin.  It was some way forward of the Enghien Redoubt which features in the above accounts of the defence of the area.  As there were another nine soldiers found at the same map reference this was probably a temporary battlefield graveyard or shell crater where they had been buried.  There was a cross marking one grave which tends to confirm this.

In 1920, Frank’s body was recovered and ‘concentrated’ [i.e. exhumed and re-buried].  He was identified by his identity disk which also gave his earlier 6^th Battalion.  The burial record was later amended to read 2^nd/4^th Battalion.  He is now buried in Chapelle British Cemetery, Holnon in grave ref:  II. I. 18.    Holnon is a village six kilometres west of St Quentin and south of the main road to Vermand and Amiens. … Chapelle British Cemetery, named from a wayside shrine, was made after the Armistice, by the concentration of graves of 1917-18 from the battlefields West of St. Quentin.

Frank Reeve was awarded the Victory and British medals and although his Medal Card includes the 1914-1915 Star, this appears to have been deleted – possibly it had not yet been issued – or there was confusion caused by his change of Battalion.  He is remembered on the Rugby Memorial Gate; on the BTH War Memorial, as Frank Reeves;[5] and on the list of BTH Employees ‘Who Served in the War 1914 – 1918’ – as F B Reeves.[6]

Frank’s father, William, predeceased him in 1914.  His mother, Caroline lived until she was aged 93, in 1940.  After the war she had lived at 168, Murray Road, Rugby.

After Frank’s death, the 2^nd/4^th Battalion Ox and Bucks were in action at the Somme Crossings, the Battle of Estaires, the Battle of Hazebrouck, and  the Battle of Bethune.  The allies held the advance which had badly weakened the Germans and overextended their supply lines, and then from August 1918 fought back.  The 2/4^th Battalion fought in the Battle of the Selle, and the Battle of Valenciennes, and ended the war S.E. of Valenciennes, France.

One of Frank’s elder brothers, Arthur Kimbell Reeve, an old boy of St. Matthew’s School,[7] also died in WWI and is also remembered on the Rugby Memorial Gate.  Born in about 1876, he served in the 13^th Battalion, Princess Charlotte of Wales’s Regiment (The Royal Berkshires).  He died on 4 March 1917, in Queen Alexandra Hospital, Dunkirk of spotted fever.  His life is recorded on ‘Rugby Remembers’ for 4 March 1917,[8] and further details of Arthur’s life were also provided in the Rugby Advertiser for 17 March 1917 are included in another article in ‘Rugby Remembers’.[9]

Arthur’s relatives placed two ‘In Memoriam’ notices in the Rugby Advertiser on the first anniversary of his death.[10]

REEVE.—In loving memory of Pte. ARTHUR KIMBELL REEVE, Royal Berkshire Regiment, who died in Queen Alexandra Hospital, Dunkirk, France, on March 4th, 1917.
“ Oh ! just to clasp your hand once more, Just to hear your voice again.
Here life to me without you Is nought but grief and pain.
Could I have raised your dying head, Or heard your last farewell,
The grief would not have been so hard For me who loves you well.”
—Sadly missed by his sorrowing Wife & Daughters.

REEVE.—In loving memory of my dear son, Pte. ARTHUR KIMBELL REEVE, who died in France on March 4th, 1917.
“ One year has passed since that sad day, When one we loved was called away.
God took him home, it was His will, But in our hearts he liveth still.”
—Deeply mourned by his sorrowing Mother, Brothers and Sisters.

 

 

 

RUGBY REMEMBERS HIM

– – – – – –

 

This article on Frank B REEVE was researched and written for a Rugby Family History Group [RFHG] project, by John P H Frearson and is © John P H Frearson and the Rugby Family History Group, December 2017.

[1]      https://rugbyremembers.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/5th-sep-1914-rugbys-magnificent-response/

[2]      Murland, Jerry, Retreat and Rearguard Somme 1918 – the Fifth Army Retreat, Pen and Sword Books Ltd, 2014, ISBN: 978 1 78159 2670, p.49.

[3]      Rose, G. L., The story of the 2/4th Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, available at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20395/20395-h/20395-h.htm#img185.  Chapter XIII – The Great German Attack of March 21.

[4]      Abstracted by http://www.lightbobs.com/24-tf-bn-oxf–bucks-li-1917-1918.html.

[5]      From a list of names on the BTH War Memorial when it was unveiled.  The list was published in the Rugby Advertiser, 4 November 1921.  See https://www.rugbyfhg.co.uk/bth-war-memorial.

[6]      https://www.rugbyfhg.co.uk/bth-employees-who-served-war-1914-1918-m-y.

[7]      https://rugbyremembers.wordpress.com/2017/04/07/7th-apr-1917-death-of-lieut-g-redmayne/

[8]      https://rugbyremembers.wordpress.com/2017/03/04/reeve-arthur-kimbell-died-4th-mar-1917/.

[9]      https://rugbyremembers.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/17th-mar-1917-high-french-honour-for-miss-ivens/

[10]     Rugby Advertiser, 9 March 1918.  Also see Rugby Remembers, 10 March 1918.

[11]     https://rugbyremembers.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/17th-mar-1917-high-french-honour-for-miss-ivens/

[12]     https://rugbyremembers.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/5th-sep-1914-rugbys-magnificent-response/

 

Horsley, Horace V. Died 21st Mar 1918

For some time it was uncertain who exactly ‘HORSLEY W H’ on the Rugby Memorial Gates might have been, and considerable research was undertaken initially into a William Henry HORSLEY who was born in about 1897, in Brownhills, Staffordshire, but had family roots in Ryton-on-Dunsmore. 

However, as further information came to light, particularly from the British Thompson Houston (BTH) memorials, and after several incorrect transcriptions and errors were unravelled, it was determined that it was Horace Horsley, who had been listed variously as ‘Horsley V. H.’ on the list of ‘those who served’ from BTH in Rugby; as ‘HORSLEY Horace’, on the list of those who ‘gave their lives’ from BTH, and on his ‘Medal Card’; and as ‘Horace HORSBY’ who was wrongly entered and remembered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).  There is presently no record of him having another initial, either V or W!  The ‘HORSLEY Charles’ who was also on the BTH list of those who ‘gave their lives’ turned out to be a wrongly spelled ‘HORLEY Charles’.

However, a rather chaotic family history did not make matters any easier!

= = =

Horace HORSLEY’s birth was registered in Q4, 1896 in Camberwell [1d, 879], London.  He was baptised on 5 March 1897 at St. James the Apostle, Lambeth.

He was the son of Freeman Henry Horsley who was born in about 1865, a grocer in Lambeth/Kennington, and his wife Kate, née Norton, Horsley, the daughter of Edwin J. Norton, a plumber – her birth was registered in Shaftsbury, Dorset in Q3, 1868.  Freeman and Kate’s marriage was registered in Lambeth in Q4, 1888.  The first born son in the Horsley family seems to have been named Freeman for several generations.

Horace’s memorial notice in 1918 (below) also mentions his brother ‘Freeman’ and seems to confirm that this is indeed the correct man.

It seems that the marriage was not a successful one.  There is evidence that Kate and her children moved away from London.  The eldest son, Freeman H Horsley, was born in Q3, 1889 in Newbury, although Horace was born later back in London.  In 1901, when he was four, Horace, and his now ten year old elder brother, Freeman, and their mother, Kate, 31, were living back in Kate’s birth town of Shaftesbury – she was though still enumerated as ‘married’.  Meanwhile, Horace’s father, Freeman, now 36, was still working in London, as a ‘fruitier’; but with a ‘Francis M Horsley’, aged 25 and born in Ilfracombe, whom he described as his ‘wife’.

In due course, Kate and her two sons moved to Rugby.  Why they moved to Rugby is uncertain – were there some connections with the other Horsley families in the area?  Or had they moved, as some families did, to take advantage of the educational opportunities for the two boys?  However, there are currently no records of which school the two boys might have attended.

By 1911 they were living at 14 Manor Road, Rugby.  Horace was now 14, and had already left school and was working as an ‘Office Boy – Electric Works’ – presumably at BTH.  By 1917 he was an apprentice.

In 1911, Horace’s father, Freeman, was 46, a  ‘Fruiterer and Florist’, living at 29 and 31 Craven Road, Lancaster Gate, Paddington, London W, and Frances Mary Rudall, aged 35, who was born in Ilfacombe, and who it seems had been his ‘wife’ in 1901 was now described as a ‘boarder’.  He also had a daughter, now nine years old, Vera Violet Horsley, living at the house.

Frances Mary Rudall/‘Horsley’ died in early 1916, aged 40, in Brentford, her name on the death registration being Frances M Horsley.  Freeman Henry Horsley died on 18 July 1931, with probate to Austin James Horsley, retired grocer, – presumably his younger brother – and William George Rudall, Salesman – presumably a relation of his sometime ‘wife’.  The effects were valued at £5638-6-10d, later re-sworn at £5811-11-11d, so he had been fairly successful in his business.

Horace’s older brother, Freeman Henry Horsley, married in 1914 with Constance E Inskip – the marriage was registered in Bedford, in Q2, 1914.  He was an electrician and thereafter known in the descendant family as ‘Pop’.

As mentioned, in 1911, the young ‘office boy’ Horace Horsley was living at 14 Manor Road, Rugby, and none seems to have a better claim to being ‘our’ W H Horsley.  The family were still listed as living in Manor Road in 1912 and 1913, but they were not listed in the Rugby Directory in 1914 or later.  With Horace in the army and his elder brother married, it seems that at some date his mother had become – or was already – ‘Mrs’ McFie, and had moved to 33 Albert Street, Rugby.[1]

The only early Horsley recruit under Lord Derby’s scheme was a Horace Horsley – although he is now listed in Albert Street – his mother’s address.  

Lord Derby’s Recruiting Scheme.  Local Enlistments under the Group System.  The following have enlisted at the Rugby Drill Hall under the Group system.  A considerable number of the men have enlisted under Reserve B for munition workers.  Single Men … Horsley, Horace, 33 Albert Street, Rugby.[2]

Whilst Horace ‘signed’ up in November 1915, in Rugby, he did not get called up until May 1917,[3] and became a Private, No.53906, in the 2^nd/7^th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment.  His Service Record no longer exists and his Medal Card gives no indication of when exactly he went to France, but a later report states that it was in November 1917.[4]

The 2/7th Battalion Territorial Forces formed in August 1914 in Manchester and in November 1914 joined the 199^th Brigade of the 66^th Division but remained in Lancashire until May 1915.  The Battalion moved to Crowborough in May 1915, and then in March 1916 they moved to Colchester and then in February 1917, mobilised for war and landed in France where the Division was involved in action on the Western Front including: the Operations on the Flanders Coast; the Battle of Poelcapelle; and the Third Battles of Ypres.

Horace probably arrived as part of reinforcements during or after the 3^rd Battle of Ypres.  Then during 1918 the Battalion was involved in the Battle of St Quentin, when Horace lost his life on 21 March 1918.

On the 21 March 1918, the 66^th Division was in the line at the Somme opposite the German offensive.  … the 2/7^th Manchester Battalion was in support at Broose Wood, this is located near the village of Hervilly and Hesbecourt.  The 2/5^th and 2/6^th Manchester battalions were close by and they too were caught up in the attack that morning.  The 66^th Division was basically wiped out in the Spring Offensive, the Division did not return to the front line until October 1918.[5]

Extracts from a ‘write up’ on the ‘1914-1918.invisionzone.com’ website gives a description of the day’s action.[6]

In the spring of 1918, a German attack had long been predicted and it was finally delivered in the early hours of 21 March.  It came after an intense artillery bombardment and the strength of the infantry attack was overwhelming.  Within hours, the British Army was undertaking a desperate fighting retreat along a wide front.  It is not surprising, therefore, that there are sparse details of the day recorded in the Battalion’s War Diary.  It records, however, that the enemy shelling started at 4.10am.

At 5.25, the Manchesters received orders, at camp in Montigny, to go to their battle stations and marched out at 6.10am to Brosse Wood to hold position.  Entered combat here.  It has not been possible to find any official details of the fighting but, by 6.30pm, the Battalion had been under severe attack for many hours.  The remnant, which was mainly a Company, fell back to redoubts in the Jeancourt valley where they passed a quiet night.  The remainder of the men, probably about 600, were dead, wounded or captured.

It seems that ‘… only 9 men of 92 killed on the day of the Michael offensive from the 2/7^th Bn. have a grave and apart from one, all in the region of Perrone.[7]

At some time during the fighting on 21 March 1918, Horace Horsley was one of the 83 ‘Killed in Action’, but with no known grave.  Because of the intensity of the battle, and as the Germans were moving forward, many of those killed were never found or formally identified.

Horace is remembered on the Pozieres Memorial.  Pozieres is a village 6 kilometres north-east of the town of Albert.  The Memorial encloses Pozieres British Cemetery.

The Pozieres Memorial relates to the period of crisis in March and April 1918 when the Allied Fifth Army was driven back by overwhelming numbers across the former Somme battlefields, and the months that followed before the Advance to Victory, which began on 8 August 1918.  The Memorial commemorates over 14,000 casualties of the United Kingdom and 300 of the South African Forces who have no known grave and who died on the Somme from 21 March to 7 August 1918.  The Manchester Regiment has some 500 names on the Memorial.

A report in the Rugby Advertiser provided must confirmatory information, and allowed the identity of the Horsley W H on the Memorial Gates – or who certainly should be on the Gates if that was another unidentified man – to be confirmed.

Mrs McFie, 33 Albert Street, Rugby, has now received official intimation that her son, Pte Horace Horsley, of the Manchesters, who was reported missing on March 21st, is now presumed to have been killed on that date. He was 21 years of age. At the time he joined up, in May, 1917, he was an apprentice at the B.T.H. He went to France in November of the same year, and was in the big fighting during the following March, when he lost his life.[8]

Horace was awarded the Victory and British medals.  It seems that it is he who is remembered as W H Horsley on the Rugby Memorial Gate; and possibly as V H Horsley and Horace Horsley on the BTH memorials.

On 16 November 1918, the Rugby Advertiser published the following –
HORSLEY.—In loving memory of Pte. HORACE HORSLEY, of “Scotia,” 33 Albert Street, Rugby, who was killed in action on March 21, 1918; aged 21[?] years.
“A loving son, a faithful brother
One of the best towards his mother
He bravely answered his country’s call
He gave his life for one and all
We pictured his safe returning
We longed to clasp his hand
But God has postponed our meetin
Till we meet in the Better Land.”
– From his loving Mother and brother Freeman.

Later the Battalion was in action at the Somme Crossings, and the Battle of Rosieres.  The Division suffered such considerable losses that in April 1918 it was reduced to cadre and then the 2/7^th was disbanded in France on 31 July 1918.

In later life, Horace’s mother Kate seems to have taken a trip to South Africa, as she arrived back from Natal on the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company Ltd.’s SS Arundel Castle at Southampton when she was 61, on 29 December 1930.  She lived until 1955 when her death was registered in the Daventry area.

RUGBY REMEMBERS HIM

– – – – – –

 

This article on Horace Horsley was researched and written for a Rugby Family History Group [RFHG] project, by John P H Frearson and is © John P H Frearson and the Rugby Family History Group, January 2018.

[1]      Rugby Advertiser, Saturday, 16 November 1918.

[2]      https://rugbyremembers.wordpress.com/2015/11/27/27th-nov-1915-lord-derbys-scheme/, from Rugby Advertiser, 27 November 1915.

[3]      Rugby Advertiser, Saturday, 16 November 1918.

[4]      Rugby Advertiser, Saturday, 16 November 1918.

[5]      http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/topic/76794-27th-batt-manchester-regiment/, by .ralphjd’.

[6]      http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/topic/76794-27th-batt-manchester-regiment/, by ‘John_Hartley’.

[7]      http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/topic/76794-27th-batt-manchester-regiment/, by ‘Aaron Nelson’.

[8]      Rugby Advertiser, Saturday, 16 November 1918.

 

Hardman, Charles Henry. Died 21st Mar 1918.

Charles Henry Hardman was born in Rugby in 1892. He was baptised on 13th Mar 1892 at Bilton Church.   He was the eldest child of James Hardman and Elizabeth née Giles who were married at St Matthews on 19th Oct 1890.

To start with, the family lived at 3 Vine Place, but by 1901, when William was 9, they had moved to Overslade. Father James was a Domestic Groom.

By 1911 James and Elizabeth Hardman had 7 children, four more sons and two daughters. They lived at 36 Union Street Rugby and Charles was an Engineers machinist at B.T.H.

The following year Charles married Margaret A Salmon (or Salman). They had two children: Annie E in late 1912 and George H in 1914. Margaret later lived in Leamington

Charles Henry Hardman was mobilised with the Howitzer Battery at the start of the war and arrived in France on 31st Mar 1915 as a gunner (no.134, later 840128) with the Royal Field Artillery. He served with the 56 Battery, first with the 44 Howitzer Brigade and then from 26 May 1916 with the 34th Brigade. He would have taken part in most of the major battles of the war., including Operation Michael.

Gunner Charles Henry Hardman died on the 21st Mar 1918. He must have been killed in the Battle of St Quentin, as the site of the cemetery where he is buried, Neuville-Bourjonval was lost to the Germans on the 22nd, not to be retaken until the following September.

He was buried in a communal grave and his stone states he was “buried near this spot.”

He is also remembered on the BTH Memorial.

Charles was the third of the Hardman sons to die. Walter died in 1915 and William in 1917.

James Hardman, of 9 James Street, Rugby, took part in the opening of the Rugby Memorial gates in 1922. He pulled a cord releasing the Union Jacks to reveal the gates.

Rugby Advertiser 17th Mar 1922

 

RUGBY REMEMBERS HIM