In Remembrance

October 26, 2017

In grateful Remembrance of those who served during World War I…

99 Years - In remembrance of those who served in the First World War — Top left to bottom right: George J Page, Redvers R Peel, Arthur Sutton, Jimmy Seeley, George Whittaker, William Milne, Walter Hawkins, Nelson Carter, John Fraser, Francis Stroud, Jackson Bacon, George Philip, William Bish, William Davies, Frederick Driffell, Donald Davis, Benjamin Southwell, Alfred Whybro, Frank Whybro, Walter Plume, Harry Whybro, William Brough, Fred Skuse, Sidney King, Walter Whybro, Frank Keeble, Charles Perry, Frank Prior, Frederick Laird, William Wood, Henry Whenham, Percy Bentley.

Jackson Bacon

Service Number: 3576
11th Essex Regiment

Private Jackson Bacon, born in 1895, enlisted at Warley in Essex. He was killed in action on the 28^th June 1917 near Loos, France.

Percy Bentley

5th Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

Captain Percy Bentley served in the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry from 1909. When the First World War broke out he was sent to France with his battalion in April 1915, in the 148th (3rd West Riding) Brigade of the 49th (West Riding) Infantry division. He was awarded the Military Cross (MC) on no less than four occasions, and also received his first Bar in September 1918, a second Bar in November 1918, and a third Bar in January 1919 for his actions at the Battle of Havrincourt in September 1918.

William Bish

Service Number: 3379
Royal Army Medical Corps

Private William Bish joined the Sherwood Forresters in May 1904, and served for three years, plus nine more in the Reserves. He was recalled when the First World War broke out, and he retrained as a medic and sent to France with the RAMC.

After the war, William joined the 5^th Huntingdonshire Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment of the Territorial Army, and eventually Warrant Officer in 1921.

Joseph Reginald Brookes

Service Number: 131835
59th Company Machine Gun Corps

Private Joseph Reginald Brookes was born in December 1899, He joined the 59^th Company of the Machine Gun Corps. He was killed in action on 15^th April 1918, aged 18.

William Brough

Service Number: 202258
Black Watch

Lance Corporal William Brough served in the Black Watch. He was killed in action on 30^th July 1917. The poem by Dundee War poet, Joseph Lee, talks about a mouth organ player, mentioning William in the footnote and showing his picture in the text.

Michael Thomas Brown

Service Number: 44116
Durham Light Infantry

Private Michael Thomas Brown, born in 1881, served in the Durham Light Infantry until he was killed in action on 21^st September 1917.

Nelson Carter VC

Royal Sussex Regiment

Company Sergeant Major Nelson Carter VC was born on 6 April 1887. From Eastbourne, he served in the Royal Sussex Regiment and was awarded the Victoria Cross for amazing acts of gallantry at Boars Head on 16^th June 1916. The Reserve Centre in Eastbourne is named in his honour, Carter Barracks. He was sadly killed in action on 30^th June 1916, aged 29.

Arthur James Cross

Service Number: L/10355
1st Royal West Kent Regiment

Private Arthur James Cross was born on 5^th May 1894. He served in the 8^th Battalion of the 1^st Royal West Kent Regiment until he was killed in action on 21^st March 1918, aged 23. He is remembered at Pozieres, and on the War Memorial in Beckenham, Bromley.

William John Darbourn

Service Number: 195384
Canadian Infantry, 5th Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles

Born 2^nd April 1889, Private William J. Darbourn was killed in action at the Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 10^th 1917.

William John Davies

Service Number: 2698
Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)

Private William John Davies served in France and Flanders, and sadly died of his wounds on 18^th July 1916, aged 22.

Donald Davis

Royal West Kent Regiment

Private Donald Davis was born in 1897. He served in the Royal West Kent Regiment and left service as a 2^nd Lieutenant.

Fredrick Cyril Driffill

Service Number: TZ/2343
Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, Hawke Battalion

Able Seaman Frederick “Syd” Cyril was born on 27^th August 1881 and enlisted in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve service on 12^th December 1914, aged 33, when he joined Collingwood Battalion in which he served until June 1915. Following this he served in Anson Battalion in Gallipoli, Nelson Battalion with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), and finally Hawke Battalion, also with the BEF before sadly being killed in action near Arras on 29^th September 1918. His body was never recovered. He was awarded the Military Medal posthumously for “Bravery in the Field” in February 1919. His name can be found on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial.

Andrew Dunlea

Service Number: 5111
Leinster Regiment

Private Andrew Dunlea served in the Leinster Regiment and was killed in action on 26^th April 1916.

Charles Fermoyle

Kings Royal Rifle Corps

Rifleman Charles Fermoyle was killed in action in the Somme in 1917.

Christopher Fermoyle

Royal Dublin Fusiliers

Corporal Christopher Fermoyle was killed in action at the Battle of St Julien in the second gas attack on 24^th April 1915.

John Fergusson Bruce Fraser

Service Number: 14158
16^th Highland Light Infantry

Born in 1898, Private John F B Fraser joined the Highland Light Infantry (HLI) when the call for more troops came in 1915. His battalion was known as “The Boys Brigade” Battalion, as it was made up of former and serving members of the Boys Brigade in and around Glasgow. He fought at the Somme, Beaumont, Hammel, Nieuport, Fayet, Passchendaelle, Cambrai, Baupaume, and Amiens. His main role was as a runner, caring for the horses, but he was deeply sad after his beloved horse “Captain” was killed.

Albert Gilbert

Service Number: 1248
Royal Fusiliers

Private Albert Gilbert was killed in action in September 1915.

Albert Goddard

Service Number: 12015
Sherwood Foresters

Recorded “Missing” on 6^th December 1914.

George Harris

Service Number: 13913
Worcestershire Regiment

Lance Corporal George Harris served at Gallipoli where he was injured. He returned to Liverpool to recover and died at the of 38. His death was attributed to his war wounds.

Walter Hawkins

Service Number: GS/17683
2nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers

Believed to have been born in 1899, Private Walter Hawkins of the 2^nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers was killed in action on 29^th September 1918. Sadly, as they had moved house his family didn’t hear of his death until one week before peace was declared.

Harry Haycock

Royal Worcestershire

Private Harry Haycock, born 14 January 1898, served in the Royal Worcestershire Regiment. He came back from the war “remote and never spoke of what he saw”. He remained proud and patriotic to the end.

James Henry Hodges

Service Number: L12967
Royal Fusiliers

Private James Henry Hodges, born in 1890, served in the Royal Fusiliers until he was killed in action on 25^th April 1915.

Sydney Samuel Ives

Service Number: 307131
Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regt.)

Private Sydney Samuel Ives was born on 4^th October 1887 and was killed in action on 22 March 1918. He is buried at Cambrin Military Cemetery in France.

Frank Sydney Keeble

8th Canadian Mounted Rifles

Born on 3rd December 1894, Private Frank Sydney Keeble volunteered for service while living in Canada. He had been sent there as a child by Barnardos as he had been orphaned. He returned to live in Kelvedon, Essex, after the war. He married, and had one son and one daughter. He died just six weeks following the birth of his son in 1923, just 27 years old.

Adam Kennedy

Service Number: 25502
Durham Light Infantry

Private Adam Kennedy of the Durham Light Infantry is believed to have been killed in action at the Somme, aged 50.

Charles Edward King

Service Number: 18720
2nd Wiltshire Regiment

Born on the 20^th of July 1895, Private Charles Edward King was killed one week in to the Battle of the Somme, on 8^th July 1916. He has no known grave.

Sidney James King

Service Number: G29945
Second Battalion, The Middlesex Regiment

Sidney James King was born on 3^rd June 1883. He survived a gunshot to the knees as well as a gas attack before being invalided out of the army in 1917. He lived with his injuries until 1937.

Frederick Laird

Service Number: 8976
1^st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment

Corporal Frederick Laird served in the 1^st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, but was sadly killed in action on 10 December 1914. He is shown in the top right of this photograph.

Charles Henry Leopard

Service Number: 204342
2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment

Signaller, Corporal Charles H Leopard, enlisted at the age of 16, and was posted to The Western Front two years later. He received a parchment certificate for “gallant conduct and devotion to duty” after working ceaselessly laying communication cables under enemy fire for a sustained period. He survived the First World War and served in the Home Guard in Hampton, Middlesex during the Second World War.

Mary McKinnon

Nurse

Sister Mary McKinnon was a nurse on the Hospital Ship, The Glenart Castle, which was torpedoed by a German U-Boat on 26^th February 1918 and sank as a result. Mary sadly drowned, and is remembered on a memorial stone close at Hartland Point.

William Johnstone Milne VC

16^th Battalion Canadian Scottish, Canadian Expeditionary Force

Born 21^st December 1892, Private William Johnstone Milne VC was an extremely brave man who twice used grenades to stop German machine gun crews from firing on his compatriates. Sadly, he was known to have been killed by enemy shortly after these brave actions which saved numerous men, and in the activity that followed, his body was lost. This was close to where the Vimy Ridge Memorial now stands.

The following citation was published in the London Gazette on 8^th June 1917:

“For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in attack. On approaching the first objective, Pte. Milne observed an enemy machine gun firing on our advancing troops. Crawling on hands and knees, he succeeded in reaching the gun, killing the crew with bombs, and capturing the gun. On the line re-forming, he again located a machine gun in the support line, and stalking the second gun as he had done the first, he succeeded in putting the crew out of action and capturing the gun. His wonderful bravery and resource on these two occasions undoubtedly saved the lives of many of his comrades. Pte. Milne was killed shortly after capturing the second gun.”

William Frederick Moore

King’s Royal Rifle Corps

Private William Frederick Moore, Rifleman, was born on 27^th May 1893. He served until he received injuries at Menin Road/Polygon Wood on 26^th September 1917, and was taken to a field hospital two days later.

Reginald Murray

Service Number: 214199
17^th Battalion (Transport) Scots Rifles
Captain

William Wilkinson Organ

Royal Garrison Artillery

Born on 21st April 1896, he initially served in the ranks and was taught to ride horses which they used to tow the artillery into action. He later trained as a gunner in the New Forest, Hampshire. He served with the Royal Garrison Artillery in the Ypres Salient, and accepted a commission so was put in charge of heavy artillery. He was discharged from service in mid-1919 having served with the army of occupation in Germany after the armistice. He left with the rank of acting Captain.

George John Page

Service Number: 81084
Royal Field Artillery and Royal Horse Artillery

Born in Erith in 1894, Driver George John Page enlisted in Woolwich, and served in France and Flanders. He is believed to have been killed at the second Ypres, most likely from a Chlorine Gas attack on 3^rd May 1915, aged 21. He was awarded 15 Star, Victory, and British Medals. He is commemorated at the Menin Gate.

Redvers Robert Peel

Service Number: 2387 and 96010
Lincolnshire Yeomanry and Machine Gun Corps

Born on 22nd March 1900, Private Redvers Robert Peel, enlisted underage and joined the Lincolnshire Yeomanry. He was fortunate to survive a troop ship sinking in 1915, which sadly took the life of his friend. He later transferred to the Machine Gun Corps (hence two service numbers). Redvers survived the war and later served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, as he was young enough to be called up again.

Charles Perry

Service Number: 2349
242nd Brigade Royal Field Artillery

Born on 21^st June 1896, Gunner Charles Perry is believed to have worked with horses that pulled the artillery guns during the First World War. During his service, he lost a friend who is remembered at Arras Memorial, which Charles Perry visited in his 80’s. He passed away on 24^th August 1990.

George Philip

Gordon Highlanders

Private George Philip was born around 1880 in Huntly, Aberdeenshire. He served in India and South Africa with the Gordon Highlanders. Whilst serving in the First World War, he was taken as a prisoner of war. He was later named the oldest veteran ‘on parade’ when the Gordons were granted the Freedom of Huntly.

Walter Plume

The Queen’s Royal West Surrey
Private

Frank Prior

1/4^th Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry

Born on 9 December 1897, Private Frank Prior joined the Army on 21 September 1914. He was discharged after suffering from ‘shell shock’ after being buried alive on 29 March 1915. However, he rejoined the Army and served in Ireland, Turkey, the UK, and India between 1922 and 1946, when he retired with the rank of Major.

James Ralphs

Service Number: 26661
6th South Lancashire Regiment

Private James Ralph served in the 6^th South Lancashire Regiment in Mesopotamia, now Iraq. He was recorded as “killed in action” on 10^th February 1917. He has no known, and was commemorated on the Basra Memorial. This memorial was moved by Saddam Hussein around 1997, but has since been destroyed. His only surviving memorial is on the local Cenotaph in Clayton, Manchester.

Alfred Talbot Richardson

Service Number: 65671
188^th Company Machine Gun Corps

Private Alfred Talbot Richardson served in the 188^th Company, and was sadly killed in action on 11^th November 1917.

Reginald Rudge

Service Number: 8321
2^nd Worcestershire Regiment

Born in July 1892, Private Reginald Rudge volunteered as a special reservist in 1908 with the 5^th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment, enlisting in to the regular army a year later. He volunteered for ‘Overseas Service’ at the outbreak of the First World War. He was reported ‘missing, presumed wounded’, and later, ‘presumed dead’, killed in action during the Battle of Festubert, France, on 16th May 1915. His body was never recovered and he is remembered on a panel at Le Touret Memorial Cemetery.

William John Rudge

Service Number: 18094
7^th Machine Gun Corps Company

Initially, Private William John Rudge joined the 3^rd Battalion Worcestershire Regiment in March 1910, and was subsequently drafted to France on 12^th August 1914 as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Cousin to Reginald Rudge (above), William, with 25 other men from his regiment joined the 7^th Machine Gun Corps on its formation on January 12^th 1916 at Ploogstreet. William died with the rest of the machine gun team when they were blown up by an enemy 6” HE (High-explosive) shell at around 8:30pm, 23 May 1917 during the first German attack on Vimy Ridge. He is buried at Ecoivres Military Cemetery.

Jimmy Seeley

1^st Battalion ‘The Vikings’ A (Royal Norfolk) Company
Sergeant

James Simpson

Service Number: Mersey Z/1831
HMS Lady Cory-Wright

Telegraphist James Simpson served in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and was a telegraphist on a requisitioned ship, the collier Lady Cory-Wright. They sailed from Plymouth in March 1918, bound for Malta, carrying mines and depth charges. The ship was torpedoed on 26 March 1918, off the Lizard with the loss of all hands except for a single survivor. James is remembered on the National Naval Memorial, Plymouth. His death devastated his family.

Fred Skuse

Service Number: 58015
Devonshire Regiment

Born 24^th January 1884, Private Fred Skuse served in the Devonshire Regiment until he was killed in action on 30^th March 1917.

Arthur Finlay Smith

Service Number: 27510
Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Field Artillery

Bombardier Arthur Finlay Smith was born in 1887 and joined the army in 1902. He served for three years, and a further nine years as a reserve, before being recalled in 1914. He survived the First World War despite being gassed. Sadly, he passed away from Emphysema in 1940.

Charley Snapes

Northamptonshire

Born on 4th August 1897, Charley Snapes, served in a Northamptonshire Regiment. Charley was wounded three times in the head during the war. He and three of his brothers served, and all were fortunate to return home.

Benjamin Southwell

Service Number: SE/2264
Royal Veterinary Corps

Private Benjamin Southwell served in Le Harve tending the horses, mules, and pigeons, during World War One. His great, great, grand daughter is now completing her veterinary training.

Alexander Stephenson

Service Number: 13921
Durham Light Infantry

Private Alexander Stephenson was born in 1892. Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, he is recorded as missing on 7^th September 1916.

Francis William Stroud

Service Number: 491510
1/13th Kensington Battalion, London Regiment

Drummer Francis William Stroud (pictured on the right above, with his brother Albert) was one of 11 children and lived in Fulham, London. He joined the 1/13th Kensington Battalion in Spring 1915 at the age of 18 and was posted to France on 2^nd September 1915. Francis’ battalion had a major role in the Battle of the Somme, and on 1^st July 1916 suffered 326 casualties. His regiment, now part of the 56^th (London) Division, fought off a determined German attack on Vimy Ridge in March/April 1918 which Francis survived. Sadly, Francis, and five other soldiers, were later killed by artillery fire, whilst providing assistance to the Royal Engineers on 8^th April 1918.

Arthur Sutton

Service Number: 301361
5^th (City of London) Battalion
Private

Thomas Charles Uhl

Service Number: G/5358
Queens (Royal West Sussex 2nd Battalion)

Private Thomas Uhl was killed in action on 14^th July 1916.

William Thomas Uhl

Service Number: 45235
Machine Gun Corps

Private William Uhl was killed in action on 25^th April 1917.

John Henry Vickers

Service Number: 277759
1/7th Manchester Regiment

Born in 1889, Private John Henry Vickers was a territorial soldier of the 1/7^th Manchester’s who paraded at Burlington Street, Manchester. He was a driver of horse and carts, and on 5^th April 1918, near Arras, his horse became trapped in hidden barbed wire. Sadly, John Henry was killed, along with his horse, as he tried to cut it free. He is buried in Bienvilliers Cemetery in France.

Henry Whenham

Service Number: L/10209
The Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs)

Born on 26^th October 1895, Private Henry Whenham, joined The Buffs, The Royal East Kent Regiment. At 11pm on Thursday 3^rd August 1916, Henry’s battalion took part in a night time attack on a German strongpoint near Ovillers. By the early hours of Friday 4^th August, the Buffs has successfully overpowered the strongpoint. However, Henry was one of 118 casualties, and was taken by Field Ambulance to Bouzincourt about 3 miles behind the lines. Sadly, he died as a result of his wounds the following day.

Joseph Whitbread

Royal Artillery

Sergeant Joseph Whitbread was a veteran of the 2^nd Boer War when the First World War broke out. He had already achieved an NCO rank and re-joined the Royal Artillery. It was after this stage he became a Sergeant. During his service, he participated in the Gallipoli campaign and was then sent to France until the end of the war. In the peacetime that followed, it is believed that he worked as the Head Porter at Guys Hospital, Southwark.