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Private 15632 Alexander MacIntosh |
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7th Bn, Leicestershire Regiment. Killed in action 30th January 1916, Aged 22. Buried Bienvillers Military Cemetery, I. A. 84.
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Alexander MacIntosh was born in Christchurch, Hampshire, in 1892, the son of James
MacIntosh, a Scot from Ross-shire, and his Welsh wife Helen (née Tedstone) who were
married in Downton, Wiltshire in 1889. Alexander had a younger brother Alfred and a younger
sister Honor. Alexander's father was slightly deaf and earned his living as a gardener. In 1901
the family lived at Hordle, Hampshire, but by 1911 they had moved to Careys in Brockenhurst.
Between 1911 and 1913 Alexander must have left home for Loughborough as on 7th January
1914 he married a Loughborough girl, Alice May Pidcock, at Loughborough Register Office
and at the time of his marriage he was an ironmonger's assistant for Clemersons Ltd. He was
also 'an energetic and much esteemed worker in connection with the Loughborough Adult
School' and a member of the Baptist Church. His parents later moved to The Gardens,
Wainsford, near Lymington, Hampshire, while his wife remained in Loughborough at 22
Wharncliffe Road. Alexander enlisted on 10th October 1914 at Leicester and was posted as Private 15632 to the 7th (Service) Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment. He had previously served with the Hampshire Territorials and was sent to Aldershot for further training. In April 1915 his battalion was moved to Cholderton on Salisbury Plain, and on 25th June they were inspected by King George V at Sidbury Hill. On 29th July 1915 they received orders to proceed to France. Although Alexander had been appointed a Lance Corporal on 5th March 1915 he was unfortunately deprived of his 'Lance stripe' in the field on 15th September - the reason for this remains unrecorded. Alexander was involved in various trench warfare activities on the Western Front in the Arras area for the remainder of 1915. On 30th January 1916 the battalion had just relieved the 9th Leicesters in the trenches at Bienvillers-au-Bois to work on support lines and communications. It was a very foggy day and the German parapet could only be seen from the salient. At 'stand-to' in the evening a man was found to be missing. A patrol of four men, including Alexander who like the other three men had nobly volunteered to look for their comrade together with an N.C.O. went out to search for the missing man at about 6.00pm. About three- quarters of the way across to the German wire a very large German patrol was encountered. The Germans opened fire and the 7th Leicesters patrol retreated, but before they had gone far Alexander was shot through the heart. Alexander was 22 when he was killed in action. He was buried in Bienvillers Military Cemetery, Grave I.A.84. His widow, Alice, was married again, in Loughborough, in 1922, to Edward Lester. |
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Corporal 235365 Horace Manley |
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8th Bn, Leicestershire Regiment. Formerly 255764 Leicestershire Yeomanry. Killed in action 27th May 1918, Aged 24. Commemorated Soissons Memorial, Aisne.
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Horace Manley was born in Derby in the summer of 1894. He was the son of Joseph Manley, a bricklayer, and his wife Rebecca (née Sharp) who were married on Christmas Day 1893 at All Saints Church, Ockbrook, Derbyshire. Horace had one sister Violet, born in 1895. By 1901 the Manley family had moved to Loughborough and were living at 41 New King Street, By 1911 Horace's father appears to have left his family and his mother, who was now employed as a hosiery linker in an underwear factory, was living with Violet at 6 Holland Street. Horace, meanwhile, aged 16, was working as a general servant at Thomas Jackson's farm in Hoton Hills. Some records suggest that Horace's father may have gone to Canada or the USA and remarried in Queen's, New York City, in 1925. Horace's mother, at any rate, was remarried to George H. Hoult in Loughborough in 1912 and subsequently lived in Southfield Road.
Horace joined the 8th (Service) Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment as Private 235365, having previously served with the Leicestershire Yeomanry as Trooper 255764. The exact dates when Horace left the Leicestershire Yeomanry and joined the Leicestershire Regiment and when he was sent to France are unknown as his service record has not survived. His medal record indicates that he was not sent abroad until sometime in or after 1916. He was certainly in Leicester in late 1915 or early 1916 as he married Mary Elizabeth Hutchinson of Enderby in Leicester at that time. Horace's service number with the Leicestershire Yeomanry also indicates that he was with the Yeomanry until at least April 1917 but whether he was sent abroad with the Yeomanry before joining the 8th Leicesters is also unknown. The war diary of the 8th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment unfortunately does not include details of when the battalion received batches of reinforcements after 1st April 1917. Horace could have joined the 8th Leicesters at any point after that date. In April 1917 the 8th Battalion was near Hamelincourt occupying the Outpost Line on the Hénin-Croisilles road until 13th April. The battalion then transferred to Bailleulmont for training before going into support at St. Leger. On 3rd May the battalion took part in an attack on the village of Fontaine-lès-Croisilles where casualties were high. After the attack the battalion bivouacked at St. Leger before going back into the line on 9th May. On 11th May the battalion marched to Berles-au-Bois for musketry training and practice in tactical schemes, brigade sports and inspections which lasted until the end of May. On 1st June the battalion marched to huts in Hamelincourt for additional training in bombing and rifle grenades and field exercises until 7th June. On the night of 7th/8th the battalion went into the trenches in the Hindenburg Line. From there they attacked the enemy on 15th June but were compelled to withdraw. They remained in the front line until 19th June when they returned to camp at Hamelincourt. A period of rest at Blairville then lasted until 1st July, after which the battalion returned to Hamelincourt. On 9th July 1917 the battalion was in the trenches near Croisilles before going into Brigade Reserve. After one more front line trench tour at Croisilles the battalion moved to Camp A at Moyenville for eight days training. Following this the battalion was in brigade Support in the forward area until 17th August when it moved to a hutment camp in Ervillers for training. On 25th August the battalion moved by motor bus to Barly and from there, on the following day, marched to Ambrines. Two further periods of training followed, firstly at Ambrines and then at Avesnes-le-Comte. On 16th September the battalion marched to Savy, entrained for Caestre and went into camp for more training. On 23rd September the battalion began a series of moves, firstly to Meteren, then by bus to Hallebast before marching to Sint Hubertushoek and from there to Ridge Wood south-west of Ypres. On 30th September they moved up to the front line at Polygon Wood. On 1st October the enemy attacked the 9th Leicesters who were nearby and got possession of their front line. The 8th Leicesters went to assist but the enemy made repeated attacks. Counter-attacks were hit by a heavy enemy barrage in the neighbourhood of Joist Farm. On the night of the 2nd/3rd October the battalion was relieved and marched to Scottish Wood Camp. On 4th October the 8th and 9th Battalions of the Leicesters were amalgamated because of their high casualty rate. On 5th October the combined battalion moved to railway dugouts at Zillebeke and on 7th they went into the front line. The weather was very wet, the men suffered severely in the open trenches and shell holes and on 8th and 9th October 53 Ordinary Ranks were killed or wounded. Relieved on 11th October the battalion moved to Anzac Camp where the combined battalion was restored to two units. On 12th October the 8th Battalion entrained at Ouderdom station for Ebblinghem and marched to Le Croquet. From here three days later the battalion moved by motor lorry to the Gheluvelt area on the Menin Road for six days of cable trench digging. The men worked under heavy hostile barrages, moving to and from the area under shellfire. Between 17th and 22nd October 86 Ordinary Ranks were killed, wounded or went missing. Five days at Camp A, Kruistraat crossroads, for reorganisation and training followed, after which the battalion went into Brigade Reserve in railway dugouts south-west of Zillebeke Lake to work on cable trenches. While moving into the front line on the night of 3rd/4th November the battalion suffered heavy casualties from a hostile gas shell bombardment and were withdrawn to Divisional Reserve at Camp A. Between 9th and 16th November the battalion completed another front line trench tour as well as four days in the support trenches at Zillebeke Bund. On 17th November they began a six-day march from Pioneer Camp near Scottish Wood to Coupigne for five days cleaning and reorganisation, and then marched to Monchy Breton. On 30th November the battalion was suddenly ordered to entrain at Savy for Cambrai in order to reinforce the line there on account of a large scale German attack. From Courcelles on 1st December the battalion moved into the support line and into the front line on the following day. Four more trench tours took up most of December and in between tours the battalion concentrated on improving the village defences of Epehy with barbed wire entanglements. From Epehy, on 4th January 1918, the battalion moved back to Middlesex Camp, Heudecourt, in Brigade Reserve. Between 11th and 20th January the battalion was in training at Haut Allaines and working on wiring and tunnelling at Saulcourt. Two more trench tours in bad weather when the sides of the trenches kept falling in completed the month. February 1918 included trench tours at Epehy, ten days at Noislains for training, digging a fire trench near Gurlu Wood, work on new aerodromes at Cartigny and near Nurlu and digging the main line of defence near Pezière. In early March it became clear that the enemy was preparing for a large-scale attack. On 21st March the Germans opened their Spring Offensive, advancing in formation and accompanied by a bombardment of every description. The battalion, still in the neighbourhood of Epehy, suffered heavy casualties on the front line between 21st and 23rd March. On the night of the 23rd March the battalion moved into a position north-east of Cléry-sur-Somme but was forced into a further withdrawal on the following day when the enemy began an outflanking action. After moving to Bray-sur-Somme, Chipilly, and then Bresle, the nucleus of the battalion moved to the chateau at Vadencourt while the remainder operated in the Bray-Chipilly-Morlancourt-Ribemont area. By 31st March the entire battalion, which had suffered 415 casualties since 21st March, was at rest in Allonville. On 1st April the battalion entrained at St. Roch station, near Amiens, for Hopoutre and proceeded by lorry to Monmouthshire Camp, near Dranoutre. Between 4th and 9th April they moved via Kemmel Shelters Camp, Curragh Camp near Westoutre and Ontario Camp near Reninghelst to Manawatu Camp near Zillebeke Lake. From 10th-13th April the battalion was in close reserve at Torr Top and Canada Tunnels before taking over the front and support lines for two days. On 15th they were ordered to withdraw to Forrester Camp near the Ypres-Kruistraakhoek road but when this was shelled, moved to the trenches. Between 18th April and the end of the month the battalion valiantly defended a line of posts, covering gaps wherever the enemy broke through. May began with a two-day break at Buysscheure for seven days of training, after which the battalion entrained at Wizernes for Serzy-Savigny. Training continued at Aougny and then at D Camp, Chalons de Vergeur near Bouvancourt. On 20th May the battalion went into the trenches east of the Aisne-Marne Canal between Cauroy and Cormicy. On 26th May the enemy began a heavy bombardment along the whole of the Aisne front and began penetrating the battalion's trenches.  Memorial, St. John the Baptist Church, Enderby Horace, aged 24, was killed in action on 27th May 1918 in the 3rd Battle of the Aisne. His body was never found and he is commemorated on the Soissons Memorial, Aisne. He is also remembered on the memorial at St. John the Baptist Church, Enderby and on the Carillon. Horace's widow, who lived at 103 Haddenham Road, Leicester, married Saxon H. Parker in the Leicester district in 1923. |
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Corporal 1229 Edward Manton |
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1/5th Bn, Leicestershire Regiment. Died of Wounds 26th March 1916, Aged 23. Buried Aubigny Communal Cemetery, I. A. 10.
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Edward Manton was born in 1893 in Loughborough, the only son of Richard Manton and Emma Manton (née Spray) who were married in Loughborough in 1892. Edward's father, who originally came from Holbeach, Lincolnshire, was a hot water fitter. Edward had five sisters: Harriett, Lucy, Florence, Edith and Sarah. In 1901 the family lived at 25 Old King Street, Loughborough but by 1911 had moved to 95 Station Street and by then Emma Manton's widowed father had joined the household. |
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Private 1027387 Henry Marriott |
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3rd Bn, Canadian Infantry (Central Ontario Regt.) Killed in Action 30th August 1918, Aged 42. Buried Valley Cemetery Vis-en-Artois, A. 10.
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Henry Marriott was born in Loughborough on 9th January 1876 and baptised on 2nd April 1876. He was the son of John Marriott and his wife Hannah (née Mimack, or Mimmack) who were married at the Church of St. Peter at Gowts, Lincoln, on 4th May 1857. Henry's father was originally a farm worker in Doddington, Lincolnshire, but later on he became a milk seller in Loughborough. Henry had one brother Joseph and two sisters Rhoda and Fanny. He also had a half-sister Mary Ann, born in the Lincoln Workhouse before his mother married John Marriott. By 1875 the Marriott family had left Doddington and was living at 75 Freehold Street in Loughborough.
By the early 1890s Henry was lodging at 147 Plodder Lane, Bolton, Lancashire, and working as a labourer for a Mr. Bridge. On 18th April 1893 he attested at Bury to join the 3rd (Territorial) Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers. He served as Private 9527 with them from 18th April 1893 to 28th July 1894. In 1894 Henry returned to Loughborough and settled at 8 Albert Terrace, High Street, Loughborough. On 23rd November 1899 Henry attested again, this time at Loughborough, to join the Leicestershire Regiment. Curiously he did not declare his previous service with the Lancashire Fusiliers. Now aged 23, still a labourer and with a tattooed cross on his left arm, he was sent to the Leicester Depot at Glen Parva and numbered as Private 5609. He was following the example set by his older brother Joseph who served with the Leicestershire Regiment and with the South Wales Borderers in Nova Scotia, Jamaica, Egypt and South Africa. On 4th February 1901 Henry was posted to the 2nd Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment and sent to the garrison in Egypt. On 31st January 1903 he was transferred to the 1st Battalion and posted to Fort St. George, Madras, India, at a time when the Raj was at the height of its power. Henry remained in India for over four years, returning to England on 9th November 1907 and transferring to Army Reserve. He was twice awarded a Good Conduct Badge. In late 1907 Henry married Emma Joynes in Loughborough, whom he had met through his sister Fanny who had married Herbert Joynes, Emma's brother. On 2nd January 1908 Henry and Emma emigrated to Canada, sailing from Liverpool to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the SS Dominion. In Canada they took up residence at 198 Queen Street, Campbellford, Northumberland County, Ontario. Henry was employed as a carpenter and labourer and their son Lawrence Herbert was born on 15th August 1912. Henry enlisted at Campbellford to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 28th September 1916 and joined the 235th Battalion as Private 1027387. He embarked on the SS Megantic at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 3rd May 1917. He arrived at Liverpool on 14th May and proceeded to West Sandling Camp, near Saltwood, Kent. He was immediately transferred to the 3rd Canadian Reserve Battalion and appointed an Acting Corporal. On 19th June he was transferred to the 134th Battalion, reverted to the rank of Private, and sent to Witley Camp in Surrey. On 6th March 1918 Henry was posted to the Canadian Base Depot in Etaples and sent to France. Five days later he left Etaples for the Canadian Corps Reinforcement Camp at Aubin Saint-Vaast and on 23rd March joined the 3rd Battalion (Central Ontario Regiment) of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the field at the Bois de Froissart near Hersin. After several days of physical training and one day 'Standing to' the battalion moved by bus to Mondicourt and on to Dainville. On 30th March they went into support near Beaurains and then into the front line until 4th April. Between 5th and 9th April the battalion moved from Dainville to Villers-au-Bois and on to Louez. From 12th-28th April they were in the front and support lines in the Fampoux section, after which they moved to billets in Maroeuil and provided working parties on a trench south of Anzin. The first days of May were spent at Maroeuil and Le Pendu and included instruction in wiring and games of football and baseball. The battalion then moved to Izel-lès-Hameau for further training (range firing, Lewis gun classes, signalling and attack practice) until 18th May. There was also a boxing tournament and the YMCA put on a cinema show. On 15th and 16th May the battalion took part at Ambrines in practice for a brigade tactical scheme. On 19th they returned to Louez for trench digging on the Arras West line and the men enjoyed bathing in the River Scarpe. May concluded with a battalion concert party, a flat oar being used as a stage. During June and the first part of July the battalion was based at Caucourt, in the area of Chelers and Magnicourt, and at Marne Camp, Agnez-lès-Duisans. During this time there were practices in tactical schemes, a rehearsal of night manoeuvres in the Berthonsart training area and Divisional sports at Tinques. Towards the end of June a flu epidemic broke out and on 29th June eighty-five cases were recorded, including the Commanding Officer. On Dominion Day (1st July) training was cancelled and the Duke of Connaught and numerous French generals attended a parade accompanied by the Brigade band. On 8th July the battalion began working on defence systems at Brunehaut Farm and between 12th and 15th July moved up to the front line by bus. During this trench tour they completed wiring and carried out numerous patrols on the enemy positions and were shelled by the enemy. On 18th July they moved back to Stirling Camp on the railway embankment and then to 'Y' Hutments. On 23rd July the battalion moved by train from Maroeuil to the area of Neuville-Vitasse and went into the front and support line on the following day. On 26th July the enemy dropped 600 Yellow Cross mustard gas shells on the front followed by trench mortars, scoring several direct hits. Relieved on the last day of July the battalion moved back to Berneville by bus, marched to Warlus and embussed for Beaufort. On 4th August they entrained at Petit Houvin for Rambures and travelled by bus to Boves Wood, south-east of Amiens. On 6th August they were ordered to move up to the Bois de Gentelles as soon as it was dark. The Battle of Amiens, also known as the 3rd Battle of Picardy began on 8th August and was the opening phase of the Allies' Hundred Days Offensive. It was a decisive Allied victory and a turning point in the war but it cost the 3rd Battalion numerous casualties in the action at Rouvroy-en-Santerre. For two weeks after the battle the battalion rested and underwent training at Folies before entraining at Prouzel for Tinques and travelling by bus to Dainville. On 27th August the battalion initially moved to assembly positions in the Telegraph Hill area, east of Beaurains, but this position was subsequently changed in preparation for an attack on the Drocourt-Quéant line. Henry was killed in action, aged 42, on 30th August 1918. He was buried in Valley Cemetery, Vis-en-Artois, Grave A. 10. Henry is remembered on the Campbellford War Memorial, Ontario, and on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial. |
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Private 8882 Joseph Marriott |
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1st Bn, Leicestershire Regiment. Killed in Action 27th October 1915, Aged 24. Buried Potijze Burial Ground, Ypres, EI. 2.
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Joseph Marriott, known as 'Joe', was born in Whitwick, Leicestershire in 1891, the son of James Walter Marriott and Emma Elizabeth Marriott (née Bowley and sometimes known as Emmeline) who were married in Loughborough in 1885. Joe was one of ten children in the family, but two died young. He had one surviving brother George and six surviving sisters Theresa, Alice, Winifred, Jane Ann, Mary and Eva. By 1901 the family had moved from Whitwick to Forest Street, Shepshed. In 1911 they were still in Shepshed, but at Mary's Place, Charnwood Road. They later moved to 17 Falcon Street, Loughborough. Joe's father was an agricultural labourer. |
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Major William Francis Martin |
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C Sqdn, 1/1st Leicestershire Yeomanry Buried Oosttaverne Wood Cemetery VI. H. 23.
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William Francis Martin was born in 1876 at Whitehaven, Cumberland, and baptised on 8th March 1876 at St. James's Church, Whitehaven. He was the younger son of Robert Frewen Martin JP, a civil engineer and the managing partner of Mountsorrel granite quarry, Leicestershire, and his wife Henrietta Susan (née Larken). William's parents were married on 30th October 1873 at the Church of St. John the Baptist, Burton-by-Lincoln.
The Martin family lived at The Brand, Woodhouse, Leicestershire, and William was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge. He joined the Leicestershire Yeomanry in 1897 and was gazetted 2nd Lieutenant in September 1898. He served in South Africa with the 7th Company of the Imperial Yeomanry in the Second Boer War, receiving the Queen's Medal with four clasps. In July 1901 he was made Honorary Lieutenant and in 1904 a Captain. The Leicestershire Yeomanry was headquartered in Leicester and C Squadron was based in Loughborough. In 1911 William became a Major in command of C (Loughborough) Squadron. Major Martin was a Director of the Mountsorrel Granite Company, his father having died in 1912, and he took an active part in public life in Leicestershire. He was also a member of the Cavalry Club and enjoyed hunting and shooting. He and his brother were both Freemen of the City of Leicester. Major Martin married Violet Anne Philippa, elder daughter of Colonel Walter Wynter of Woodhouse Eaves, Leicestershire, on 13th June 1912 at All Saints Church, Knightsbridge, London. Major and Mrs Martin lived at The Holt, Woodhouse. They had a son Robert Andrew St. George Martin (born 1914) and a daughter Diana Violet Anne (born 1913). The 1/1st Leicestershire Yeomanry was mobilised on 5th August 1914 and billeted in the village of Palgrave, Suffolk, until 1st November 1914. On 2nd November they entrained at Diss with the horses and travelled to Southampton Docks. They sailed for France, arriving at Le Havre the following day, and proceeded to No. 2 Rest Camp. On 4th November they entrained for St. Omer and marched to Esquerdes where they remained for four days to carry out bayonet and entrenching exercises. On 11th November they marched to Eecke to join the 3rd Cavalry Division and on the following day proceeded via Poperinghe to Bellewaarde Farm on the Hooge Road east of Ypres. Here they joined the 7th Cavalry Brigade and were sent to the support and reserve trenches. On 16th they moved to billets in Ypres where they were heavily shelled. From 17th - 21st November A and C Squadrons were in the advance, support and reserve trenches east of Zillebeeke and B Squadron was in dugouts near the Menin-Ypres road. From 22nd November to 4th December they were at St. Sylvestre near Caestre refitting and exercising while being on duty in General reserve. On 3rd December they paraded with the 7th Cavalry Brigade for an inspection by His Majesty the King. From 7th -17th December they were based at Oxlaere and then Berthen for drill and entrenching practice while again being in General reserve. On 18th December they moved to an area south of Hondeghem and the Caestre road. Here classes for reserve stretcher bearers and machine gunners took place. On 22nd December they moved to La Brearde where they remained until 2nd February 1915 for training in an advanced guard scheme, hand grenade and entrenching instruction, route marches and inspections. On 3rd February they were transported by bus to Ypres and marched to Zillebeke where they took over the front line trenches. They spent several days draining and improving the trenches amid enemy sniping. Relieved on 8th February they moved to billets in Ypres as part of the General reserve. On 11th February there was heavy shelling near their billets and on the following day they moved by bus back to La Brearde. Training took place there until 11th April. On 12th April they moved to Renescure and on 23rd April marched via Abeele to Godewaersvelde. On 24th they proceeded to Vlamertinghe before moving at night to Reninghelst. On 25th and 26th April they moved via Poperinghe and Watou to Forge, where they left the horses, and returned to Vlamertinghe. On 27th they were shelled out of their huts and bivouacked in a field. On 28th they moved to Abeele and over the next three days met up with the Brigade at Forge. In early May they left the horses at Vlamertinghe and marched to Hazebrouck before going by bus to Brielen near Ypres. On 12th May, as dismounted infantry, they took over the trenches north of the railway near Bellewaarde Farm and immediately became involved in the Battle of Frezenberg Ridge (otherwise called the 2nd Battle of Ypres). During this battle on 12th and 13th May the Leicestershire Yeomanry suffered 186 casualties. Major Martin, aged 39, was killed at the Battle of Frezenberg on 13th May 1915. Killed in the same trench as Major Martin were Major Leibert, Lt. Brooks, Troopers Hickling and Adams and Sgt. Burton. Major Martin was buried in Oosttaverne Wood Cemetery Grave VI. H. 23.He is commemorated on the Woodhouse Eaves War Memorial. He is also remembered on the Harrow School War Memorial website and on the Trinity College, Cambridge, War Memorial. Major Martin's older brother, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Edmund Martin, who was with the 1/4th Leicestershire Regiment, was wounded twelve days after his brother was killed but survived the war and in 1925 married the widow of Captain Lawrence Peel. |
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 Major W. F. Martin is seen here leading off C. Squadron,
in the Market Place Loughborough, on mobilization in 1914.
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Lance Corporal 7789 Charles Arthur Mee |
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2nd Bn, Leicestershire Regiment. Died of Wounds 14th March 1915, Aged 25. Buried Boulogne Eastern Cemetery III. C. 86.
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Arthur Mee, later known as Charles Arthur Mee, was born in Loughborough in 1889. He was the natural son of Clara Mee, a cotton operative, who died shortly after his birth and his father is unknown. Clara Mee was buried at All Saints Church, Loughborough, on 23rd December 1889 and Arthur was baptised on 19th March 1890, also at All Saints Church.
In 1891 Arthur was living with his widowed grandmother, Sarah Ann Mee, his aunt Edith Mee and his sister or half-sister Jemima Mee at 17 Canal Bank, Meadow Lane, Loughborough. Arthur's grandmother died in late 1891 and by 1901 Arthur was in the Loughborough workhouse. Arthur became a labourer. On 3rd October 1905 he enlisted with the Leicestershire Regiment as Private 7789. On enlistment he stated that his name was 'Charles Arthur Mee', the name by which he subsequently became known, and that he was 18 years and 11 months old, when in fact he was not quite 16 years old. Arthur seems to have partly assumed the identity of his brother or half-brother Charles who died, aged 20 months, in 1887. On enlistment Charles Arthur was sent to the Leicestershire Regiment Depot until 9th January 1906 when he was posted to the 2nd Battalion at Colchester. On 29th September 1906 he was posted to the 1st Battalion at Shorncliffe, Kent. On 5th February 1907 he was reposted to the 2nd Battalion and he embarked on the SS Plassy for India. Between 1907 and 1914 he served in Belgaum, Bellary, Madras, and Ranikhet. In 1913, while in Ranikhet, he was in hospital five times with hepatitis, dental problems, an abscess and congestion of the liver. In August 1914 Charles Arthur's battalion was in Ranikhet with the Indian Corps (Gharwal Brigade) in the Meerut Division and was ordered to proceed to France. The troops moved to Karachi, embarked on the SS Devanha and the SS Elephanta and sailed on 21st September. The battalion arrived at Marseilles on 12th October 1914 and stayed at La Valentine Camp. On 26th October they transferred via Orleans, Lillers and Calonne-Ricouart to the frontline trenches. For the next month they came under continued shellfire, bombing and sniping from the enemy but, nevertheless, continued to strengthen the trenches. They also took part in the operations connected with the Battle of La Bassée and were given breaks in billets at La Couture. On 23rd November the battalion was ordered to move to Gorre and took part in an attack on the enemy before returning to La Couture and further trench duty. On 24th December 1914 Charles Arthur was appointed a Lance Corporal. On 31st January 1915 Charles Arthur was admitted to No. 6 Casualty Clearing Station with appendicitis. He returned to duty on 11th February. He then took part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10th-13th March), during which he was shot in the thigh. He was sent to No. 13 General Hospital in Boulogne and died there from his wounds, aged 25, on 14th March 1915. He was buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, Grave III. C. 86. |
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Private W/164 Frederick Arthur Mee |
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13th Bn, Cheshire Regiment. Killed in Action 7th July 1916. Commemorated Thiepval Memorial, pier & face 3 C & 4 A. (his brother Albert Mee also fell see above) |
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Frederick Arthur Mee, known as Fred to his family and friends, was born in Loughborough in 1891. He was the son of Charles Mee, a machine turner, and his wife Ann Mee (née Stretton) who were married in Loughborough in 1873. In 1891 the Mee family lived at 17 Falcon Street, Loughborough and in 1901 in Ratcliffe Road. Fred had five brothers John, Charles, Ernest, Bernard and Clarence and three sisters Sarah, Rosetta and Mary. Fred's mother died in 1909 and in 1911 Fred, who was now a brass moulder in a foundry, and his brothers Albert and Clarence were living with their widowed father at 2 Canal Bank, Bridge Street, Loughborough.
In 1912 Fred married Emma Oliver in Loughborough and the couple moved to Port Sunlight in the Wirral where Fred had obtained employment at Lever Brothers' soap factory. Fred and Emma soon had two children, Irene and Alfred. On 1st September 1914 at a meeting convened by Gershom Stewart MP in the Gladstone Hall, Port Sunlight, 500 of Lever Brothers' employees volunteered to join up to what would become 13th (Service) Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment. By 7th September 700 employees had joined. All original members had W prefixes to their service numbers, and Fred became Private W/164. The 13th Battalion moved to Chester and joined 74th Brigade, 25th Division in Kitchener's Third New Army. The Division assembled in the area around Salisbury for training and the 13th Cheshires spent the winter in billets in Bournemouth. In May 1915 the Division moved to Aldershot for final instruction. The Division proceeded to France on 25th September 1915 and concentrated in the area of Nieppe in the Lys Plain not far from Dunkerque. Their first action was in defence of the German attack on Vimy Ridge in May 1916. They then moved to the Somme and joined the Battle just after the main attack, with 75th Brigade making a costly attack near Thiepval on 3rd July 1916. On 5th July the 13th Cheshires marched from Bouzincourt to La Boiselle where they went into the trenches. On 7th July 1916 the 13th Cheshires went over the top at La Boiselle into the attack at 8.05am in a square held three sides by the enemy. Zero hour was preceded by an intense half-hour bombardment which produced a heavy enemy reply. After suffering severe casualties the Cheshires reached their objective and consolidated and a number of prisoners and war material fell into their hands. Casualties on this day were very heavy, with 18 officers and 243 other ranks being killed. Fred Mee, aged 24, was one of those killed. Fred is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Pier and Face 3C & 4A, and on the Lever Brothers War Memorial in Port Sunlight on the Wirral. His brother Albert who was with the 9th Leicestershire Regiment died of wounds in October 1916. His brother Charles William who served with the 6th Worcestershire Regiment was severely wounded in 1914 and given a discharge. Fred's widow Emma was remarried in Port Sunlight in 1923 to Andrew G. King. |
  Memorial at Port Sunlight |
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Private 18112 George Walter Frederick Mee |
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10th Bn, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). Killed in Action 29th January 1916, Aged 17. Commemorated Loos Memorial, panel 57 - 59.
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George Walter Frederick Mee was born in Quorn on 27th February 1898. He was the son of
Francis Henry Mee, a carpenter who later became a car finisher, and Elizabeth Mee (née
Clarke) a machine hand. George's parents were married on Christmas Day 1889 in
Loughborough. In 1901 the Mee family lived at 68 Pinfold Street, Loughborough but later
moved to 23 Boyer Street. George had attended Desford Industrial School in Desford,
Leicestershire and he is listed at Desford in 1911, aged 13, as a stoker and part-time
schoolboy. In 1915 his family were at 55 Queen's Road, Loughborough. George had four
brothers James, Fred, Jack and Frank, and three sisters Florence, Eva and Mary. |
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Private 42164 James William Mellors |
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6/7th Bn. Gordon Highlanders. Died at Home 29th December 1921, Aged 22. Buried Loughborough Cemetery 20/210.
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James William Mellors was born in Loughborough in the early summer of 1899. He was the son of Ernest Mellors and his wife Mary Ann (née Hart) who were married in the Shardlow district in 1893. James's father was a blacksmith and in 1901 the family lived at 60 Derby Road, Loughborough. By 1911 they had moved to 15 Paget Street. James had two brothers John and Sidney and one sister Caroline. Another sister Sarah died, aged 2, in 1898.
On 30th December 1916 James was fined at the Petty Sessions for playing football in Queen's Park and wilfully damaging the turf. James's service record has not survived but it is likely that he enlisted when he was 18, in the summer of 1917. He joined the Gordon Highlanders, in the Army's 51st Highland Division, as Private 42164. His war medals were curiously issued under the name of 'John Mellors' but whether this was an error or whether that was the name by which he was known in the Army cannot be confirmed. James would have received some training at the Castlehill Barracks, Aberdeen. The date on which he was sent to France to join the 6th Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders is unknown but he may have been among the large batch of young reinforcements who joined the battalion near Béthune and Lillers at the end of March 1918. On 9th April the enemy launched a surprise attack at Armentières and the battalion was hastily moved to the area of Vieille Chapelle. A battle to hold the enemy back from the Lawe and La Bassée canals ensued. The conduct in this action of the reinforcements of eighteen and a half year old boys, none of whom had seen action before, was remarkable. They behaved with the firmness of veterans. The action continued on the following days, but the battalion suffered considerable losses. After the Battle of Armentières the weakened battalion lay at Busnes. Between 16th April and 4th May the battalion was at Witternesse for reorganisation and training. On 5th May the battalion moved by train to Acq. For two months spells in the line were followed by tours in support and in reserve at Ecurie Wood Camp. Sports and games were sometimes possible in the afternoons and performances by 'The Balmorals' in the evenings. In July the battalion was hit by the influenza epidemic. On 11th July they moved back to St. Michel, near St. Pol. On 14th July they marched to Pernes and entrained for Romilly-sur-Seine. They then marched to Chapillon, on the edge of the Forest of Rheims. On 21st July orders were received to advance through the Bois de Courton. On 23rd July the battalion took part in an attack between the Bois de Courton and the River Ardre and held new ground for three days. On 30th July the battalion was withdrawn to bivouac near Nanteuil and Oiry. On 3rd August the battalion entrained at Avize for Arras and for two weeks rested at Caucourt. On 18th August the battalion moved by light railway to Anzin and took up a support position in front of Athies. In a night attack on 21st August they seized two lines of enemy trenches. Three days later they moved to the forward position and were hit by an enemy mustard gas attack. The 6th Gordons led another attack on the enemy on 26th August. On 28th August the battalion moved back to Balmoral Camp. During September the battalion spent only nine days in the battle line, six of these being in support at Roeux. On 11th September they marched back to Athies and moved by light railway to Chateau de la Haie. Ten days were spent here in training while in Reserve. On 22nd September they moved to Duff Camp and on 29th into Reserve near Plouvain before being withdrawn to billets at Frevin Capelle on 2nd October. On 6th October the 6th Gordons were amalgamated with the 7th Gordons, both battalions being rather depleted, to form the 6/7th Battalion. This new unit was immediately moved by bus towards Cambrai. For four days they lay in trenches and dugouts near Quéant as the enemy began to retreat. The battalion then advanced to Escadoeuvres. By 12th October the battalion had taken over the line beyond Iwuy. The advance continued amid counter-action by enemy artillery and snipers. When relieved the battalion spent eight days in Iwuy and Thun St. Martin reorganising and refitting. They returned to the attack on 25th October, regained all the ground around Rougemont and established a line east of Famars. The Gordons defended this line until the enemy finally gave up. The battalion rested at Thun Leveqcue and were there when the Armistice was declared. They remained there until 7th January 1919 when they moved to Houdeng-Aimeries, Belgium, and demobilisation began. James returned to Loughborough but died, aged 22, on 29th December 1921. He was buried in Loughborough Cemetery Grave 20/210. James's older brother John, who served with the Sherwood Foresters, was wounded in action and discharged from the Army in 1915. He died in 1925. |
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James William Mellors Has no memorial on his grave. |
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Sergeant 865 William Kilgour Miller |
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1/5th Bn, Leicestershire Regiment. Died at Home 9th July 1916, Aged 57. Buried Loughborough Cemetery, 14/298.
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William Kilgour Miller was born in 1859 in the parish of St. Cuthbert's Church, near Princes Street, Edinburgh. He was the son of John Miller, who later lived at 9 East Montgomery Place, Edinburgh, and attended the Presbyterian Church.
William had already served with 1st Battalion of the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) for seven years when, on 22nd September 1883 at Ballincollig, County Cork, Ireland he attested to join the 2nd Dragoons of the Royal Scots Greys. He was 25 years old and had a tattoo of a Highlander and girl on his right arm, and on his left arm a tattoo of a shield. He secured his release from the Black Watch by a payment of £14 and joined the Royal Scots Greys in Ballincollig as Private 2512. He was appointed a Bandsman in the 2nd Dragoons on 1st July 1884, a position he held until 21st September 1890. In November 1883 he was sent to Piershill Barracks in north-east Edinburgh where he stayed for two years until October 1885 when he moved to Aldershot. On 27th November 1886 he married Kate Harrington, a farmer's daughter, in Farnham, Surrey. In August 1887 he was posted to Brighton for eleven months. In July 1888 he was sent to Ireland, firstly to Dundalk and then, in July 1890, to the Curragh. On 22nd September 1890 William transferred to Royal Scots Greys, 1st Class A Reserve, moved with his wife and two young sons James and William Kilgour Miller to Nottingham and joined the Nottingham City Police Force. He left the Army Reserve on 29th September 1895. His military papers record the following: 'Conduct very good. Habits regular and temperate' and that he had been awarded Royal Humane Society Medal for Saving of Life. Between 1893 and 1901 five daughters were born to William and Kate Kilgour Miller: Kate, Annie, Edith, Laura and Florrie. In 1901 the family was living at 3 Baden Terrace, Nottingham, and William was a musician with the Robin Hoods (a unit of the Volunteer Force of the British Army). Sometime between 1901 and 1909 the family moved to 88 Cobden Street, Loughborough as William had obtained employment as a fitter and electric furnace labourer at the Brush Electrical Engineering Company. On 16th April 1909 he attested at Loughborough, this time to join the 1/5th Leicestershire Regiment (Territorials) for four years. He was appointed Private 865 and was almost 50 years old. Between 1909 and 1911 he attended annual training camps at High Tor and Aberystwyth and was subsequently re-engaged in November 1912 and in February 1914. He played a clarinet in the band. William went to France with the 1/5th Leicesters on 28th February 1915 but two weeks later was sent to No. 11 Stationery Hospital at Rouen with bronchitis. He was transferred back to England on 22nd March 1915. William resumed military duties in Loughborough and was attached to the administrative centre of the battalion at the Loughborough Drill Hall. He was promoted to Acting Corporal on 1st May 1915 and to Acting Sergeant on 3rd July 1915. In March 1916, however, his health deteriorated and he was in Loughborough Hospital from 30th March to 11th April suffering from mitral stenosis. He died at home (44 Leicester Road, Loughborough) on 9th July 1916 from pleurisy and pneumonia, aged 57. A local newspaper report on William's funeral recorded that it was 'conducted by the Rev. Pitts, and deceased was accorded military honours. In addition to the family mourners there were present: Capt. Woods, Lieut. Harrison, Observation Posts, and men from the Drill Hall. At the conclusion of the service three volleys were fired over the open grave by a firing party from Glen Parva, and the bugler sounded the Last Post'. William is buried in Loughborough Cemetery Grave 14/298. He is remembered on the memorial in All Saints Church, Loughborough as well as on the Carillon. William's sons both had Army careers and served in WW1, James with the 2nd Dragoons of the Royal Scots Greys and William with the 1st Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters. Both survived the war. Two of William's grandchildren James Acquilla Kilgour Miller and John William Kilgour Miller served in the Royal Navy in the Second World War and both lost their lives [See Loughborough WW2 Roll of Honour ]. |
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Driver 820657 George Henry Mills |
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46th Div. Ammunition Col., Royal Field Artillery. Previously served as No. 399 Royal Field Artillery (T.F.) Died of Wounds 29th May 1917, Aged 20. Buried Bully-Grenay Communal Cemetery II. G. 10.
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George Henry Mills was born in Loughborough in late 1896 or early 1897. He was the eldest son of George Mills and his wife Hannah Maria (née Glasse) who were married at Emmanuel Church, Loughborough, on 10th November 1894. At the time of his marriage George Mills was a groom, but he later became a cab driver. George Henry had three brothers Wilfred, Harold and Eric and two sisters Lily and Mabel. In 1901 the Mills family lived at 1 Moor Lane, Loughborough, but they later moved to 80 Wellington Street. In 1911 George Henry, aged 14, was an iron turner at Cotton's hosiery machine works in Pinfold Gate. George Henry's service papers have not survived but it is known that he was mobilised with the local Territorials at the outbreak of war. Initially having been given the service number of 399 he joined the Royal Field Artillery as Driver 820657. He was part of the 46th (North Midland) Divisional Ammunition Column and was sent to France on 5th March 1915. At some point, probably in 1916, he became a gunner attached to a trench mortar battery in the 46th Division. During the Battle of Loos the 46th Division was decimated in an attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt on 13th October 1915. It was later involved in the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, where in the opening phase as part of VII Corps, the southern-most corps of the British Third Army, the Division took part in the diversionary attack at Gommecourt on the first day on the Somme, 1st July 1916. This was a catastrophic failure resulting in heavy losses. The event dogged the division afterwards with a poor reputation until 29th September 1918. George Henry, having survived the war for over two years, died of wounds aged 20, on 29th May 1917. He was buried in Bully-Grenay Communal Cemetery, Grave II. G. 10. His parents, who in 1917 lived at 80 Moor Lane, received a letter from a lieutenant as follows: 'I regret to have to inform you of the death in action of your son, Gunner G. H. Mills. He was going up to the guns, during an attempted enemy raid when a shell, which burst a few yards from him, mortally wounded him. Everything possible was done, but he died about ten minutes later. I can assure you that you have the sincere sympathy of the whole battery in your sad loss. He was one of the best men in the battery, popular with the officers and with his companions, and his loss is a blow to all of us. I trust that it is some consolation to you to know that he died doing his duty as a soldier'. |
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Private 8913 Arthur Monk |
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2nd Bn, Leicestershire Regiment.
Killed in action 25th September 1915, Aged 26. Commemorated Loos Memorial, panel 42 - 44.
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Arthur Monk was born in Loughborough in 1889, the son of Arthur and Mary Elizabeth Monk (née Broster). His father was a bell hanger and his parents were married in the Wirral in 1882. Arthur had two brothers Horace and Herbert and three sisters Edith, Annie and Doris. Another sister Hursilla had died, aged 16, in 1908. In 1901 the Monk family was living at 60 Russell Street, Loughborough. When Arthur Monk Senior died in 1909 his widow took a position as housekeeper to William Henry Young at 22 Factory Street, Loughborough. Her youngest children Edith, Annie, Doris and Herbert went with their mother to Factory Street and in 1911 are listed as boarders there. Arthur's brother Horace had married and was living at 36 Freehold Street, Loughborough. Mary Monk later moved to High Street, Quorn. Arthur himself had joined the 2nd Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment as Private 8913 and in 1911 was with his battalion in India. He served in various locations including Madras, Wellington, Bareilly and Ranikhet. When war broke out he 2nd Leicesters were brought from India to France as the British Battalion of the Garhwal Brigade of the 7th Indian Division. They arrived in Marseilles on 11th October 1914 and travelled north to the war zone. They were one of the units chosen to spearhead the allied assault at Neuve Chapelle (10th-13th March 1915). Along with their Indian comrades the 2nd Leicesters attacked the German position known as Port Arthur, near La Bombe crossroads. The Garhwal Brigade's Indian battalions were held up by uncut wire, but the 2nd Battalion of the Tigers led the attack on the right and smashed a way through or over all obstacles and quickly overwhelmed the enemy holding the trenches covering the village and woods at Neuve Chapelle. On 9th May, the Garhwal Brigade was used as a second wave in the first attacks of the Battle of Aubers Ridge, without success; they saw action again on the night of 15th May at the beginning of the Battle of Festubert where the leading battalions met heavy resistance and the attack was called off. The 2nd Leicesters spent the next couple of months alternately in the trenches or in billets while war training, in the area of Calonne and Vieille Chapelle north-east of Bethune. The corps was then rested in a quiet sector until it was deployed for the Battle of Loos. The initial attack at Loos was to be made by three divisions, with the Meerut Division leading the attack on the Indian front; Blackader's brigade, with two Gurkha battalions and the 2nd Leicesters, was on its right flank. Whilst the attack successfully crossed no-man's land under cover of the barrage, the right flank of the brigade was caught up in defensive wire, and only one battalion successfully made its way into the German trenches. Gas also affected some of the men and the smoke caused a dense fog, making direction difficult. From the 2nd battalion 72 men were killed, 217 wounded, 42 were gassed, and 96 were recorded as missing. Arthur, aged 26, was one of the men killed. Arthur is commemorated on the Loos Memorial Panel 42-44. |
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Private 3600 John Monk |
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1/5th Bn, Leicestershire Regiment. Killed in Action 13th October 1915, Aged 23. Commemorated Loos Memorial Panels 42-44.
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John Monk was born in Hathern in late 1893 or early 1894, the son of Frederick Watts Monk and his wife Ellen Elizabeth (née Dexter). His parents were married in Hathern in 1887. John's father was a hosiery framework knitter for most of his life but between 1911 and 1922 he became licensed victualler of The Royal Oak in Long Whatton. In her younger days John's mother was also a framework knitter. John had two older sisters Margaretta and Clarissa and between 1891 and 1901 the Monk family lived at Wide Street, Hathern and in 1911 in Derby Road, Hathern. By 1911 John, aged 17, was an apprentice lace draughtsman and in the summer of 1914 he married Sarah Ann Margaret Spencer (known as Margaret) in Hathern. The couple settled in Gladstone Street, Hathern, and in late September 1914 their first child, Neville, was born. Margaret later moved to 61 Cumberland Road, Loughborough. John attested into the Territorial Force to serve 4 years' service in the United Kingdom or abroad on the 6th January 1915 in Loughborough. He initially joined the 2/5th (Reserve) Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment as Private 3600 and was sent to join the battalion at Luton for training. In July 1915 the battalion moved to St. Albans and became part of the Army's 59th Division. On 16th August 1915 John was transferred to the 1/5th Leicestershire Regiment and went to France two days later. He joined his battalion in the Ypres Salient, near Zillebeke, where on 1st September 1915 in reply to an Allied bombardment, the Germans heavily shelled the Leicestershires' trenches causing many casualties. At the beginning of October the battalion was ordered to move towards Loos. On 12th October 1915 they travelled to the Hohenzollern Redoubt, arriving in Vermelles at 10.00pm. They spent the next eight hours in communication trenches. On 13th October 1915 during the attack on the Redoubt, part of the final stages of the Battle of Loos, the 1/5th Battalion was in reserve until just after midday, when they 'went over the top' and came under intense machine gun fire. John was killed, aged 23, during the attack. John is remembered on the Loos Memorial Panels 42-44, on the Memorial Cross in Hathern Cemetery, on the memorial in St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Hathern and on the memorial in the former St. Peter's Church building in Loughborough. John never saw his daughter Madie who was born early in 1916 and who died, aged only three in 1919. John's widow Margaret was married again in 1920 in Loughborough to George W. Gilbert and moved to 22 Leopold Street. |
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Corporal 1401 Harry Wood Moore |
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2nd Bn, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Killed in Action 25th September 1915, Aged 22.
Commemorated Loos Memorial, panel 22 - 25.
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Harry Wood Moore was born at High Street, Barwell, Leicestershire, on 5th November 1892, the son of George Moore and Annie Moore (née Wood). His parents were married at Barwell on 25th November 1888, and at that time his father was a shoe finisher. By 1901 Harry was with the family at Long Street, Atherstone St. Mary, Warwickshire, and his father had changed occupation - George was now a coal miner (hewer). By 1911 Harry's father had changed jobs again and was now a foreman in a shoe factory and living with his wife and three youngest children next to the Post Office in Stapleton, Hinckley. Leicestershire. Harry, meanwhile, had joined the army and was a Private with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Harry had three siblings: Amelia, Selina, and Cyril. (Six other siblings had died when young.) Harry also had four half-brothers whom he never knew by his father's second wife Mabel Holmes, an American from New Jersey. Harry's own mother had died in 1913 and his father had married again at Woodhouse, Leicestershire, in the spring of 1915. Harry's older sister Amelia, now Mrs. James Hall, lived at 6 Fox Yard, Wellington Street, Loughborough. When war broke out Harry's battalion was stationed in Malta. The battalion returned to England on 19th September, joined the 22nd Brigade of the Army's 7th Division and moved to Lyndhurst, Hampshire. After training they proceeded to Belgium, landing at Zeebrugge on 6th October 1914. Harry had now achieved the rank of Corporal. The 7th Division engaged in various actions on the Western Front, including the 1st Battle of Ypres and the Battles of Neuve Chapelle, Aubers, and Festubert, the 2nd action of Givenchy, and the Battle of Loos. Harry was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of Loos. |
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Private 40760 William Arthur Moorhouse |
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1st Bn. Leicestershire Regiment. Killed in Action 14th July 1918, Aged 23. Commemorated Tyne Cot Memorial panel 50 - 51.
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William Arthur Moorhouse was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, in April 1895. He was the second son of John Edward Moorhouse and Matilda (née Gallagher) who were married in Bradford in 1892. William's father was a machinery manufacturer's clerk who progressed to the position of manufacturer's bookkeeper. William had one brother Thomas and two sisters Ellen Marian (known as Marian) and Florence. In 1901 the family was living at 86 Maperton Road, Bradford. In late 1910 or early 1911, however, William's mother died, aged 40, and in mid-1911 William's widowed father was living with his four children at 2 Airedale College Terrace, Bradford. William's uncle Arthur Moorhouse and his aunts Martha and Florence were also in the household. Between 1911 and 1918 William's father moved to Holbeck, Leeds, and then to 78 Violet Street, Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyne.
In 1911 William was listed as a student. Between 1911 and 1915 he seems to have moved to 22 Duke Street, Loughborough, but it is not known what his occupation was during this time. Although his Army service record has survived some crucial parts of it, including his occupation on enlistment, have faded and are unreadable. William attested in Loughborough for war service on 10th December 1915. He joined the Leicestershire Regiment and was sent to Army Reserve. Mobilised on 25th January 1916 he joined the 2/5th Battalion as Private 4843. He was sent to France on 4th September 1916 to join the 1/5th Leicesters but was re-posted via Depot No. 12 to the 1st Battalion on 19th September 1916. He was now renumbered as Private 40760. When William joined the 1st Leicesters the battalion was fighting in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (15th- 22nd September) where it incurred grievous losses. The battalion was also in action in the Battle of Morval (25th-28th September). During part of the Battle of Le Transloy (1st October-5th November 1916) the 1st Leicesters were employed carrying up stores and providing stretcher and other parties for the front line troops. By 21st October the battalion was back in billets at Corbie where it entrained three days later for Sorel before moving over several days to Fouquières-les-Béthune in the La Bassée sector. Most of November was spent in training with one brief trench tour and December in the trenches at Cuinchy, with breaks at Beuvry and Christmas Day at Noeux-les-Mines. January 1917 was spent in turns in the trenches and at rest in Mazingarbe. From 1st to 21st February many raids on the enemy were carried out after which the battalion marched via Sailly Labourse to the Montmorency Barracks at Béthune. In March and April the battalion did trench tours on the front line north of the Double Crassier, Loos, with breaks at Philosophe. On 18th April a party from the battalion raided the German trenches and incurred 29 casualties. William was one of those wounded in the action. William was sent to No. 17 Field Ambulance in the Army's 6th Division and then to No. 58 Casualty Clearing Station at Lillers. On 20th April he was admitted to No. 16 General Hospital, Le Tréport, with shotgun wounds to his back and knee. After a period of convalescence he was posted to an Infantry Base Depot at Calais on 29th June. Between this date and 16th May 1918 William's location is unknown as the relevant notes on his service record have unfortunately deteriorated over time and are now unreadable. William rejoined the 1st Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment in the field on 16th May 1918. At this time the battalion was in Brigade support near Belgian Chateau, a mile and a half south-west of Ypres. Conditions were not good - the weather was very hot and gas was seeping from the ground in the dugouts causing sickness among the men. On 18th May the battalion was sent to the front and support lines in the Chateau Ségard sector, near Voormezeele. During this trench tour they experienced enemy gas shelling and heavy artillery fire at night. On 26th May they moved to the Ravine in Brigade support and on the following day the enemy began a heavy bombardment, including gas shells, of the support lines and back areas. From 30th May - 6th June the battalion was back in the front and support lines at Chateau Ségard. The enemy restarted shelling, including ordinary gas shells as well as those containing sneezing gas. Hostile aeroplanes were also very active. The battalion was relieved on 6th June, their relief being hampered by another hostile gas shelling attack, and moved to Dirty Bucket Camp, about two miles north-west of Vlamertinghe. Here, after inspections and cleaning up, the battalion provided working parties for the Vlamertinghe, Brandhoek and Poperinghe lines and also attended Lewis gun classes. On 13th June 120 men became sick with influenza and on the following day 60 men were sent to hospital. The battalion was moved to School Camp near Poperinghe for further training and cases of flu continued to appear. The sickness is likely to have been the so-called 'Spanish flu', the first cases of which appeared in Belgium around this time. On 20th June the battalion entrained at Proven for St. Omer and marched to Musketry Camp, Cornette. Here the men had four days' practice in rapid loading, trigger pressing and field firing. On 25th June the battalion entrained at St. Omer for Mendighem and marched to Rainsford Camp near Watou where training continued. Additional training took place in the Hagebaert area near Poperinghe until 5th July. On 6th July the battalion went into the trenches in the front line of the Dickebusch sector. The trenches here were in a very bad condition and owing to the proximity of Mount Kemmel all movements were easily observed by the enemy. All available men were used carrying materials to the front line, often amid enemy action. On 11th July the battalion moved into Brigade reserve in the same sector for night wiring work in the Vyverbeek line where progress was continuously hindered by hostile shelling. William was killed in action on 14th July, aged 23. His body was never found and he is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Panel 50-51. |
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Private 4351 Harry Mounteney |
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2/5th Bn. Durham Light Infantry. Died at Home 6th April 1916, Aged 26. Buried East Retford Cemetery A. J. 129.
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Harry Mounteney (or Mountney) was born in Loughborough in 1890, the eldest son of Thomas Mounteney (or Mountney) a general labourer, and his wife Mary (née Simpkin). Harry's parents were married in Loughborough in 1888. Harry had four brothers Herbert, Arthur, George and Walter and three sisters Emma, Ada and Clara. In 1890 the family home was at 2 Court B, Baxter Gate, Loughborough, in 1901 at 16 Bridge Street, and in 1911 at 29 Falcon Street. The family later moved to 5 Falcon Street. In 1911 Harry was a basket maker. Harry enlisted and joined the 2/5th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry as Private 4351. This battalion was a Reserve unit in the 63rd (2nd Northumbrian) Division of the Army. Divisional HQ was set up at Newcastle upon Tyne and took responsibility for coastal defences of the sector Seaham Harbour - Sunderland - Newcastle. Harry was based at Cramlington Camp, nine miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne and King George V inspected the Division at Newcastle on 20 May 1915. In November 1915 Harry was posted with his battalion to Retford, Nottinghamshire. Harry died at Retford Hospital on 6th April 1916, aged 26, and is buried in East Retford Cemetery, Grave A.J. 129. Harry's Company paraded at full strength at the funeral and followed the gun carriage which was also accompanied by the Battalion band, to the grave. The service was conducted by Major Lomax (Chaplain) and after volleys had been fired the Last Post was sounded over the grave. In addition to the family floral tributes, others were sent by Colonel Williams-Till and Officers, and the N.C.Os and men of the Company. |
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Private John Henry Mulholland |
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4th Bn, Worcestershire Regiment. Died at the General Hospital 22nd December 1920, Aged 42. Buried Loughborough Cemetery 11/186
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John Henry Mulholland was born in Loughborough in the early summer of 1878. He was the son of John Mulholland and his wife Mary Ann (née Winterbotham) who were married at the Catholic Chapel, Loughborough, on 6th July 1871. In 1881 John Henry's father was a labourer for Messenger and Company, plumbers, glaziers and glassfitters of Loughborough, and he later became a clerk and then cashier for the company. His mother worked in the hosiery trade.
John Henry had one brother Harry and four sisters Mary, Margaret Ellen (known as 'Nell), Theresa, and Kate. Two other siblings Elizabeth and Henry died young. In 1881 the family lived at 6 Buckhorn Square, Loughborough, but they later moved to 35 Shakespeare Street and then to 41 Broad Street. After John Henry's mother died in 1914 his father moved to 26 Burleigh Road. In 1891 John Henry was a grocer's errand boy but he later became an iron moulder for a company of hot water engineers. He did not marry. There are no surviving records relating to John Henry's service in the First World War. He served as a Private with the 4th Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment but his date of enlistment and service number are unknown. He does not appear to have been sent overseas and may have remained at Leamington Spa where the battalion was based in February 1915. John Henry was aged 36 when war broke out and it is possible that his health was not very robust. He died in the General Hospital in Loughborough on 22nd December 1920, aged 42. He was buried in Loughborough Cemetery, Grave 11/186. |
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John Mulholland Has no memorial on his grave. |
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Rifleman 3039 Frederick Lionel Nash |
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Killed in Action 25th April 1915, Aged 17. Commemorated Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial panel 54. |
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Frederick Lionel Nash was born in May 1897 in Woodford Green, Essex. He was the youngest son of Charles Herbert Nash and his wife Florence (née Manico) who were married on 1st June 1886 in Eynsford, Kent. Soon after their wedding Frederick's parents emigrated to Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon, USA. In 1879 Wallis Nash, a cousin of Frederick's father, had emigrated to Oregon to work on the Oregon Pacific Railroad Company, of which he subsequently became Vice-President. Charles and his new wife Florence Manico in turn settled out there in what was then a frontier town at the end of the Oregon Trail. Charles became the proprietor of the Fort Hill Dairy Company.
Frederick had three brothers Charles, Herbert and Victor and three sisters Florence, Millicent and Christobel. Charles, Herbert, Victor, Florence and Millicent were all born in Corvallis, Oregon. While the children were still young, however, the family returned to England and by 1901 were living at The Chestnuts, High Road, Woodford Green, Essex. Frederick's father then became a contractor for incandescent light bulbs but by 1911 he had become a steamship agent. Frederick and Herbert both attended Bancroft's School, Woodford Green. The family later moved to Maybank, Palmerston Road, Buckhurst Hill, Essex. With most of their children reaching adulthood Frederick's parents went with Frederick's youngest sister Christobel to live in St. Catherine's, Ontario, Canada, and Frederick's father became an estate agent and broker. Frederick was a frequent visitor to Loughborough where he had a number of close relatives on his father's side. His aunt Elizabeth Jane Gifford Nash had married Walter Chapman Burder, horticultural engineer and owner of Messenger and Co. His maiden aunts Edith and Frances Nash and his uncle Thomas Nash also lived in Loughborough, as did in retirement his paternal grandparents the Rev. Frederick Gifford Nash and Sarah Nash. Frederick enlisted on 10th September 1914. He joined the 1/12th (County of London) Battalion of the London Regiment, otherwise known as 'The Rangers', as Rifleman 3039. Although Frederick was by regulations too young to serve at the front when he enlisted he signed up for service overseas. Frederick initially trained at Crowborough. In October 1914 the battalion guarded the Waterloo-North Camp (Aldershot) railway and in December went to Roehampton. On 9th March 1915 Frederick travelled to France on the troopship Balmoral and was with his battalion in the cavalry barracks of Ypres by the 17th of that month. He became part of D Corps. The battalion was next to move into the line deployed in trench building around the Lindenhoek crossroads. Easter followed with an open air service conducted by the Bishop of London. The battalion then marched in the pouring rain to Bailleul. Out of the line in the days that followed a football match was arranged against the 9th Battalion Queen Victoria's Rifles. On 15th April the battalion was again ordered to the front to occupy trenches between Ypres and Zonnebecke. A few days later they were back again in bivouacs. The 2nd Battle of Ypres with its gas and Minenwerfer attacks had commenced. Canadians suffering from the first gas attacks streamed passed their post and the Rangers were ordered to march to St Julien and form a defence line against the advancing Germans. The whole front line was a series of craters but no formed body of German troops was encountered. The battalion, nevertheless, suffered three officer and eighteen other ranks killed by machine gun and artillery fire. Frederick was among the casualties, killed in action at Verlovenboek on 25th April 1915. He was still only seventeen years old and had been with the battalion in the field for just five weeks. Frederick's body was never recovered. Frederick is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Panel 54. He is also remembered on the memorial in the former St. Peter's Church building, Loughborough, and on the memorial of Bancroft's School. Frederick's brother Herbert, who served with the 1/12th (County of London) Battalion of the London Regiment, was killed in action in December 1915. His brother Charles who served with the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex) Regiment was severely wounded in 1917 but survived the war. His brother Victor, who served with the 23rd Battalion (Sportsman's Battalion) of the Royal Fusiliers was taken a prisoner of war in 1917 and also survived. |
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Rifleman 3094 Herbert Manico Nash |
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Killed in Action 21st December 1915, Aged 26. Commemorated Loos Memorial, panel 132. |
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Herbert Manico Nash was born in 1891 in Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon, USA. He was the son of Charles Herbert Nash and his wife Florence (née Manico) who were married on 1st June 1886 in Eynsford, Kent. Soon after their wedding Frederick's parents emigrated to Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon, USA. In 1879 Wallis Nash, a cousin of Herbert's father, had emigrated to Oregon to work on the Oregon Pacific Railroad Company, of which he subsequently became Vice-President. Charles and his new wife Florence Manico in turn settled out there in what was then a frontier town at the end of the Oregon Trail. Charles became the proprietor of the Fort Hill Dairy Company.
Herbert had three brothers Charles, Victor and Frederick and three sisters Florence, Millicent and Christobel. Charles, Herbert, Victor, Florence and Millicent were all born in Corvallis, Oregon. While the children were still young, however, the family returned to England and by 1901 were living at The Chestnuts, High Road, Woodford Green, Essex. Frederick's father then became a contractor for incandescent light bulbs but by 1911 he had become a steamship agent. Herbert and Frederick both attended Bancroft's School, Woodford Green. After leaving school Charles and Herbert both secured positions as bank clerks in the Bank of England. The family later moved to Maybank, Palmerston Road, Buckhurst Hill, Essex. With most of their children reaching adulthood Herbert's parents went with Herbert's youngest sister Christobel to live at 211 Ontario Street, St. Catherine's, Ontario, Canada, and Herbert's father became an estate agent and broker. Herbert was a frequent visitor to Loughborough where he had a number of close relatives on his father's side. His aunt Elizabeth Jane Gifford Nash had married Walter Chapman Burder, horticultural engineer and owner of Messenger and Co. His maiden aunts Edith and Frances Nash and his uncle Thomas Nash also lived in Loughborough, as did in retirement his paternal grandparents the Rev. Frederick Gifford Nash and Sarah Nash. When war broke out Herbert joined the 1/15th (County of London) Battalion of the London Regiment, otherwise known as the Prince of Wales Own Civil Service Rifles. As Private 3094 he was sent from Somerset House, London, to Bedmond, Hertfordshire, for training. In November 1914 the battalion moved to Watford. The battalion left Watford for Southampton on 17th March 1915 and crossed the Channel to Le Havre on four steamers Balmoral, City of Chester, Jupiter and Munich. Having disembarked they proceeded to No. 6 Rest Camp above Harfleur. On 19th March they entrained for Berguette and marched to billets in Cauchy à la Tour. Training took place here until 6th April. On 7th April the battalion left for Béthune and the forward area. On 8th April A and B Coys provided men for working parties in Cuinchy while D Coy went to the front line for 24 hours trench instruction by the 4th Guards Brigade. The other Coys then took turns for trench instruction. On 13th April the battalion moved into the front and reserve lines at Givenchy. Two more trench tours followed, with breaks at Béthune and Le Preol. On 24th April the battalion marched to La Beuvrière for two weeks' training and attack practice. On 8th May the battalion moved to Gorre and from 9th-25th May the battalion was on the fringes of the Battle of Festubert, holding the intermediate line. All lines were shelled by the enemy and the men were kept busy providing carrying parties and burying the dead. Early June was spent at Sailly Labourse and Les Brebis. Trench tours and working parties at Grenay and Fosse No. 7 de Béthune took up the rest of June and July, with breaks at Philosophe, Mazingarbe and Noeux-les-Mines. On 3rd August the battalion marched to La Beuvrière and remained there until 25th August resting and training. Another trench tour followed from 26th August until 3rd September, after which the battalion was involved in preparations at Hallicourt and Les Brebis for the Battle of Loos as well as undergoing sis days' drill at Houchin. During the Battle of Loos the battalion was in Brigade reserve holding ground between Double Crassier and the old British front line, and in the captured German front lines. In the night the men were busy wiring and burying the dead. On 30th September they were relieved and moved to Verquin for drill and route marches. In October the battalion returned to the Mazingarbe area and took part in the renewal of the Loos Offensive at Hulluch. During November, after four days' training at Aubrey Camp, the battalion returned to the front at Gavrelle. Between 9th and 17th November they were based at Roundhay Camp on the Arras-Bailleul road while providing working parties for the Royal Engineers. Over the following ten days the battalion moved via Ecoivres, Wanquetin, Gouy-en-Artois, Courcelles-le-Comte, Beaulencourt and Doignies to the Bourlon Wood area of the Hindenburg Line. Here they went immediately into action and suffered 211 casualties. As winter set in, the December of 1915 saw Herbert still in the line. This time it was in the vicinity of Lillers near Béthune. The fighting had now become a series of vicious skirmishes, hand to hand, trench by trench, trench raids and 'sapping' or digging towards the enemy front line. Herbert was killed in action, aged 26, on 21st December 1915 while lobbing a grenade into an enemy trench. It was said that he threw his bombs like a cricket ball some 45 yards, and, after his Officers and N.C.Os had been hit, he performed many deeds of gallantry before he met his death. Chas. M. Tucker, one of his friends wrote to Herbert's mother as follows: 'Your son was very popular with us all as he excelled in all games especially cricket and he was so modest and unassuming that I never heard anyone speak an unkind word against him. Nash was next to me during the night attack across the open and I was considerably helped by his perfect coolness under fire and courage in a critical position. All who had the privilege of knowing your son feel that they can never forget him'. Herbert is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Panel 132. He is also remembered on the memorial in the former St. Peter's Church building, Loughborough, and on the memorial of Bancroft's School. Herbert is also honoured on the memorial at the Bank of England.  Bank of England Memorial |
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Lance Corporal 40576 Arthur Needham |
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12th Bn, Prince of Wales's (West Yorkshire) Regiment Died of Wounds 4th May 1917, Aged 26. Buried Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery, Arras, V. D. 16.
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Arthur Needham was born in Shepshed in 1891, the son of Arthur Needham and his wife Maria (née Thurman) who were married at St. Botolph's Church, Shepshed on 19th May 1890. In 1891 Arthur's father was a woollen glove hand and his mother was a woollen glove stitcher and in 1891 the Needham family lodged with Miss Ann Tabb in Leicester Road, Shepshed. Arthur's father died in 1909 and his mother moved to Forest Road, Shepshed, with her children. Arthur Junior had one brother Thomas and five sisters Elizabeth, Kate, Emma, Mary Ann and Annie. Another brother John had died aged two. In 1911 Arthur Junior was an out-of-work shoe-hand while his mother worked as a charwoman. Arthur subsequently found work as a farm hand and in 1914 was living at 22 Mill Street, Loughborough. He married Rebecca May Smith, a shoe trade polisher, on 4th October 1914 at Emmanuel Church, Loughborough and their daughter Elizabeth May was baptised at Emmanuel Church on 2nd August 1916. Arthur enlisted in the summer of 1915 and joined the 12th (Service) Battalion of the Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire) Regiment as Private 40576. His service record has not survived but it is known that after preliminary training, he was sent to France sometime in 1916 or 1917. The 12th West Yorkshire Battalion received large batches of reinforcements in April, June, July, September and November 1916 and also in February and April 1917 and Arthur would have been in one of these groups. If Arthur joined his battalion in April 1916 he would have joined them in the area of Méteren and Locre in West Flanders where the battalion was doing tours in the front line trenches. In June he would have joined the battalion in the front line at Reninghelst or at billets in Bailleul. By early July the battalion had moved to Morlancourt, Somme, and was in action at the battle of Bazentin Ridge from 14th-17th July and at Longueval on 23rd July. In mid-August the battalion was heavily shelled south of Guillemont, and on 8th September heavily trench-mortared at Noeux-les-Mines. After a period of respite in billets at Petigny, Rupigny and Berquigny the battalion did trench tours at Serre until early December, with rest periods at Courcelles. January and February 1917 were mostly spent in training at Feiffes and Houvin-Houvieneul and training continued at Liencourt from 1st-18th March. On 27th March the battalion moved to Arras and were billeted in a cellar, Arras being heavily shelled. On 9th April the battalion advanced on Tilloy and achieved their objective despite determined enemy resistance before moving on to trenches near Monchy and going into the attack at Guemappe. They returned to the trenches near Tilloy in early May. It is not known at which point Arthur was wounded but he died from his wounds, aged 26, on 4th May 1917. By the time he died he had been promoted to Lance Corporal. Arthur was buried in Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery, Arras, Grave V. D. 16. He is remembered on the Shepshed War Memorial.  Shepshed War Memorial |
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Private 40788 Arthur Newbold |
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6th Bn. Lincolnshire Regiment. Died of Wounds 25th July 1917, Aged 30. Buried Essex Farm Cemetery Boezinge, II. H. 6.
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Arthur Newbold was born in 1886 in Loughborough, the son of Martha Newbold (née Wheldon). Martha had married Charles Newbold, a labourer, on 5th June 1876 at All Saints Church, Loughborough, but Charles had died in 1883 three years before Arthur was born. In 1891 Martha was living at 12 Factory Street, Loughborough, with William Newbold, the older brother of Charles Newbold, a machine labourer, and two daughters Jane and Elizabeth from her marriage to Charles Newbold. In the household were also Arthur, William and Ernest Newbold whose father(s) are unknown. By 1901 Martha was living at 21 Buckhorn Square, Loughborough, but without William Newbold who had moved to 20 Queen Street, Loughborough. She was earning her living as a charwoman and had four children with her, Arthur and Ernest Newbold, Albert (Lakin) Newbold and Florence Lakin Newbold. Arthur, aged 14, was an errand boy. On 5th July 1902 Martha Newbold married Arthur Lakin, a gardener and father of her two youngest children at All Saints Church, Loughborough and moved to 112 Freehold Street. By 1911 Arthur had moved away from Loughborough. He was employed as a brickmaker by Williamsons of Stamford, Lincolnshire and was in lodgings with the Collins family at 4 Crocks Court, Stamford. On 2nd October 1915 he married May Dennis in Stamford and on 28th June 1916 their daughter Rose was born at 6 School Terrace, Stamford. After Rose was born May moved with her daughter to 40 North Street, Stamford. In June 1916, Arthur enlisted with the Lincolnshire Regiment in Stamford, initially as Private 5972 with the 1/4th Battalion but on arrival at base camp was almost immediately transferred to and served with the 6th Battalion as Private 40788. He was most probably conscripted. The date on which he was sent to France is unknown as his service papers have not survived. The battalion's war diary, however, notes that the battalion received reinforcements in October and November 1916 and Arthur is likely to have been in one of these drafts. From October until mid-November 1916 the battalion was at Cramont, Somme, in training. On 14th November the battalion returned to the line in a wretched part of the battlefield, a ravine west of Beaucourt where the front line consisted largely of unconnected shell holes, full of mud and water. Here the battalion came under heavy fire. Further trench tours followed with rest periods at Engelbelmer until February 1917 when the battalion moved to Hanchy and Le Festel for railway construction. Between 9th March and 24th April 1917 the battalion was used for further railway work in the Authie Valley before returning to the front line at Louverval. In May, in the build-up to the Flanders Offensive, the battalion was moved to the Wytschaete sector of the line on the Ypres Salient. Between the 7th and 14th June the battalion took part in the Battle of Messines and incurred casualties of 6 Officers and 160 Other Ranks. After the battle the battalion was withdrawn for training at Nortleulinghem before being sent back into the St. Jean sector of the line at Ypres in mid-July. On 25th July 1917 Arthur, aged 30, died from gas shell poisoning, a shell having fallen into the dugout where he and some comrades were sleeping. He was buried at Essex Farm Cemetery, Boezinghe, near Ypres, Grave II. H. 6. Arthur's widow was married again in 1925 to Richard Henry Robinson of Stamford. Arthur's daughter Rose died, aged 13, in 1929. |
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Sergeant 10250 Bertie Newbold |
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6th Bn. Leicestershire Regiment. Killed in Action 9th June 1916, Aged 25. Buried Bienvillers Military Cemetery I. A. 26.
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Bertie Newbold was born in Loughborough in 1891, the son of Charles Newbold and Mary Ann Newbold (née Ward) who were married in Loughborough in 1870. Charles and Mary Ann had ten children, six of whom survived to adulthood. Bertie was their youngest child; he had four brothers Willie, Charles, John, and Arthur and one sister Martha. Bertie's father was a house painter and Bertie, unlike his brothers, joined his father in the painting and decorating business. The family lived at 15 Russell Street, Loughborough, until all the children except Bertie had left home. At this point Bertie's parents and Bertie moved to 30 Russell Street.
Bertie enlisted at Loughborough on 19 August 1914 and joined the 6th (Service) Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment as Private 10250. He was sent to Bordon, Hampshire for training. On 24 September 1914 he was appointed Lance Corporal. On 26 February 1915 he was promoted to the position of Corporal (unpaid). In April 1915 the 6th Battalion became part of the 37th Division of the Army and concentrated at Cholderton on Salisbury Plain. On 25th June the 37th Division was inspected by King George V at Sidbury Hill. On 22nd July 1915 the Division began to cross the English Channel and by 2nd August all units were concentrated near Tilques not far from St.Omer in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Bertie embarked for France on 29th July 1915. In September Bertie's battalion was sent to the area of Berles-au-Bois, south-west of Arras. The battalion remained in this area around Bienvillers and Bailleulmont until July 1916 and was engaged in localised operations seeking a tactical advantage. Having been confirmed in the rank of Corporal in February 1916 Bertie was simultaneously appointed as a Lance Sergeant, followed by another promotion to Acting Sergeant on 10th May 1916. Bertie was 25 when he was killed. Sergeant Moffat Ecob of the 6th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment wrote a letter to his parents describing the unfortunate deaths of Roland Austin, Frank Benskin, Bertie Newbold and Sidney Wade, all in the 6th Leicesters and all from Loughborough. Ecob had gone out to fetch a working party and on his return found that the dug-out at Saulty (13 miles south-west of Arras) where he had left his four friends had been hit by a shell, blowing it to pieces. All four men had been killed instantaneously. Bertie is buried in Bienvillers Military Cemetery, Grave I. A. 26. |
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Private L/7570 Arthur Newbon |
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4th Bn, Middlesex Regiment. Died of Wounds 14th December 1914, Aged 32. Buried Boulogne Eastern Cemetery III. B. 63. (his step brother Alfred John Parr also fell)
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Arthur Newbon, otherwise known as Arthur Newman, was born in 1883 to Charles Newbon, an engineering driller, and Sarah Jane Newbon of 107 Meadow Lane, Loughborough. Arthur's mother, however, unfortunately died in 1897. In 1900 Arthur's father was remarried to a widow, Elizabeth Ann Parr, and Arthur could have become part of the large blended family which lived at 19 Ratcliff Road, Loughborough. Now, as well as Arthur, his older brother James and his younger sister Mary Ellen there were three more boys from Elizabeth's first marriage, Alfred, Archie and John Parr. In addition there was Charles (the first of the eventual five children from Elizabeth's marriage to Charles Newbon) and an adopted daughter Mabel Barber. Arthur, however, was eager to be off. In the wake of his father's second marriage, on 3rd December 1900 Arthur, a brown haired blue eyed lad, attested for the Leicestershire Regiment. On being medically examined he was rejected as being 'of defective physique' and 'not likely to become an efficient militiaman'. Nothing daunted, on 23 July 1901, Arthur attested at Hounslow for the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) and was accepted. He was posted to the 6th Middlesex Regiment, a militia battalion, on 6th September 1901. His attestation form on this occasion gives the first indication of a possible change of surname, the Recruiting Officer writing down the name Newman. Arthur nevertheless signed the form as 'Arthur Newbon'. On another form, however, he signed his name as 'Arthur Newman'. Arthur next appears to have been transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, and subsequently to the 1st Battalion. His initial overseas posting was in 1902 to the Atlantic island of St. Helena where over five thousand Boer POWs were held, camped on 'Deadwood Plain' and 'Broad Bottom'. Arthur was awarded the Queen's South Africa Medal for his role in guarding these prisoners of war. He then served six years with the Middlesex Regiment in the East Indies. In 1911 Arthur was lodging in Coventry where he was employed as a labourer at a motor works. In July 1914, he married a widow, Kate Ryan (née Johnson) in Coventry, under the alias of Arthur Newman. When World War One broke out, Arthur was recalled and joined 'A' Company of the 4th Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, stationed in Devonport. They promptly left for France as part of the British Expeditionary Force, landing in Boulogne on the 14th August 1914. Arthur's battalion saw action in the Battle of Mons and its subsequent retreat, the Battles of Le Cateau, the Marne, the Aisne, La Bassée and Messines, and the First Battle of Ypres. Arthur died of wounds on 14th December 1914 in no.13 General Hospital, Boulogne. He left behind his wife of three months, Kate Newman of Gosford Street, Coventry, and a young step-daughter Kate. Arthur's stepbrother, Alfred Parr, also fell during the war. His gravestone bears the name 'Newman', rather than 'Newbon', and his medals (Boer War and World War One) were also issued in the name of 'Arthur Newman'. |
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Name has been spelt wrong
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Leading Stoker K/2 Arthur North |
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Royal Navy HMS Hampshire. Killed in Action 5th June 1916. Commemorated Portsmouth Naval Memorial panel 16.
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Arthur North was born on 11th November 1889 in Loughborough, the son of Arthur and Sarah North (née Hollingworth). His parents were married in Loughborough in 1880 and had seventeen children, eleven of whom survived to adulthood. Arthur had three brothers Edward, Harry and Isaiah, and seven sisters Jane, Sarah, Lilian, Lavinia, Catherine and Elizabeth (twins) and Evelyn. Arthur's father, Arthur North Senior, started out as a platelayer on the railway, became labourer for a horticulturer and in his later years a railway drayman. In 1891 the family lived at 8 Conery Passage, Loughborough, and by 1901 had moved to 116 Station Road. In 1911 Arthur's parents were living alone at 4 Dead Lane, all their children having left home. They later moved to 52 Regent Street, Loughborough.
Arthur had been working as a boilermaker's labourer when in January 1908, aged 18, he joined the Navy signing up for twelve years. He started his naval career as a Stoker 2 on HMS Nelson, a training ship. He then spent almost a year on HMS Essex, an armoured cruiser, towards the end of which he was promoted to Stoker 1. In June 1909 he was sent to HMS Blenheim, a Blake-class armoured cruiser, for almost six months before having a short break at the shore establishment HMS Victory II. In December 1909 he was sent to HMS Minotaur, a Minotaur-class armoured cruiser, where he remained until May 1912. This was followed by two months on the HMS Spartiate, a Diadem-class cruiser, and six months at HMS Victory I shore establishment. In 1913 Arthur served on HMS Aboukir, a Cressy-class cruiser, HMS Good Hope, a Drake-class armoured cruiser and HMS Europa, a Diadem-class cruiser. In January 1914 Arthur joined the HMS Hampshire, a Devonshire-class armoured cruiser and on 1st January 1916 was appointed to the rank of Leading Stoker. HMS Hampshire was assigned to the Navy's 7th Cruiser Squadron in January 1915 and was detached in November 1915 to escort shipping in the White Sea. She returned home in time to participate in the Battle of Jutland on 31st May 1916 with the 2nd Cruiser Squadron. During the battle she was never actually engaged and immediately afterwards was ordered to carry Lord Kitchener from Scapa Flow on a diplomatic mission to Arkhangelsk. On 5th June 1916 in a gale force storm one and a half miles off the coast of Orkney between Brough of Birsay and Marwick Head HMS Hampshire unfortunately hit a German mine laid by a U-Boat. The detonation holed the cruiser between bows and bridge and the lifeboats were smashed against the side of the ship when they were lowered. About fifteen minutes after the explosion HMS Hampshire sank by the bows, taking all but twelve on board with her. According to the Ministry of Defence the ship's full complement at the time of sailing was 655 men and 7 passengers who were Lord Kitchener and his staff. The bodies of over 100 officers and men were recovered from the sea and were interred into one common grave at the Lyness Cemetery, Hoy, Orkney. Arthur is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial panel 16 as well as on the memorial at St. Peter's Church, Loughborough, and on the Carillon. The Kitchener Memorial at Marwick Head, Orkney has been restored by the Orkney Heritage Society, with a new wall bearing the names of all those lost on HMS Hampshire. A tree for each man lost on HMS Hampshire has been planted by Woodland Trust Scotland in order to create HMS Hampshire Centenary Wood near Kirkwall Grammar School. Arthur's brother Driver Harry North who was wounded at Mons and taken as a Prisoner of War to Germany, survived the war. |
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 HMS Hampshire.
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Portsmouth Naval Memorial |
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Private 174355 Eric Arthur North |
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12th Coy. Canadian Machine Gun Corps. Died of Wounds 3rd August 1917, Aged 19. Buried Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery II. F. 7.
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Eric Arthur North was born in Loughborough on Christmas Day 1897 and baptised on 10th April 1898 at Holy Trinity Church, Loughborough. He was the only son of Arthur North, a baker, and his wife Harriet Ann (née Grant) who were married on 11th March 1897 at the Chapel, Tur Langton, Leicestershire. Arthur had two younger sisters Alice and Harriet Ida. In 1901 the North family lived at 25 Queen Street, Loughborough, but in 1910 emigrated to Canada. Eric's father travelled in advance and Eric, with his mother and sisters, sailed from Bristol for Quebec on the SS Royal George on 21st July 1910.
By 1911 the North family had settled at 271 Hunter Street, Hamilton, Ontario, and Eric, now 13, was employed as an office boy. Two years later he was a clerk and his family had moved to 801 King Street West. By 1921 the family had moved again to 52 Margaret Street, Hamilton, and Eric's father had become a sheriff. Eric enlisted on 10th September 1915 at Hamilton and joined the 12th Canadian Machine Gun Coy as Private 174355. The Company was attached to the 12th Infantry Brigade, 4th Canadian Infantry Division. By early June 1916 the Company had crossed the Atlantic and was training in Bramshott, Hampshire, with three Colt guns. One month later the Colt guns were withdrawn in favour of Vickers guns, with practice at Longmoor Range, south of Bordon. Eric landed in France on 12th August 1916. In early September the 12th Coy was sent to Kemmel in Flanders to support units of the Canadian Infantry Brigade in the front line. After this the Company moved to Houlle in the Pas de Calais for tactical training. Further training in map reading followed in early October before the Company was attached to the 10th Canadian Infantry in Destremont Trench, Albert. Here their guns took part in an action which resulted in the capture of Regina Trench, the Company incurring a number of casualties. For the last two weeks of November they stayed in the line at Albert before moving to Maisnil-lès-Ruitz until 21st December for rest, reorganisation and re-equipment. Christmas was spent at Cambligneul and on Boxing Day the Company went into the line at Gouy-Servins. Here they carried out many night-firing operations until 8th March 1917. After a brief respite at the Bois de Bouvigny the Company began a firing operation aimed at Hill 145, the highest point on the Vimy Ridge. The Company was then heavily involved in the Battle of Vimy Ridge (part of the opening phase of the Battle of Arras) which followed from 9th-12th April. After this battle the 12th Coy was withdrawn to Compigny Huts and provided a battlefield clearing party. On 24th April the Company was moved to the Zouave Valley where they remained in the line from May to August 1917, with breaks at Chateau de la Haie. The Company was in the area of Hospital Corner on 3rd August when Eric was wounded in action. He died the same day, aged 19. Eric was buried at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, Grave II. F.7. He is remembered on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and on the Carillon. |
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Private 15666 Percy North |
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7th Bn, Leicestershire Regiment. Died at Home of Pneumonia 21st November 1918, Aged 28. Buried Aylesbury Cemetery Buckinghamshire, Y. 56.
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Percy North was born in September 1890 in Loughborough. He was the son of Absalom North (known earlier as Absalom North Shelton) and his second wife Louisa (formerly Collins, née Parrott) who were married in Leicester in 1888. Percy had one full-blood sister Rose. He also had five half- brothers and one half-sister from his father's first marriage to Alice Webster (who had died in 1879): John, George, Herbert, William, Arthur and Sarah North Shelton. In addition he had three half-brothers and one half-sister from his mother's first marriage to Harry Collins (who had died in an accident while repairing a pump in a well at Hoton in 1878): George, Charles, William and Louisa Collins.
Percy's father was a hosiery machine worker. In 1891 Percy's parents, now using the surname of North, were living at 40 Duke Street, Loughborough, with Herbert, William, Hilda and Percy North and George and William Collins. By 1901 they had moved to 76A Nottingham Road and only Rose and Percy North and William Collins were now with them. Ten years later only Rose and Percy were still at home and Percy, now 21, was a turner in an iron works. Between 1911 and 1914 Percy was employed by the Bifurcated and Tubular Steel Works at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and went to live at 7 Beaconsfield Road, Aylesbury. Percy, who had previously served in the militia for five years, re-enlisted on 14th October 1914. He was sent to the Depot of the Leicestershire Regiment at Glen Parva and on 31st October was posted to the 7th (Service) Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment as Private 15666. He was then sent to join the battalion at Salamanca Barracks, Aldershot. Here the emphasis was on individual training, squad and platoon drill. At the beginning of 1915 the battalion began route marches and more strenuous training. In March the battalion moved into billets in the Andover area and in April to Cholderton on Salisbury Plain. On 25th June they were inspected by King George V at Sidbury Hill and on 29th July 1915 they received orders to proceed to France. The 7th Leicesters set sail for France from Folkestone on the SS Onward 'in utter darkness and complete silence'. There was no-one to see off the 110th Brigade as ships leaving full of 'Tommies bound for France' were no longer exciting. On 30th July Percy's battalion entrained at Pont-à-Bric for Watten and marched to Eperlecques. Over the next three days they moved via Lyne and Eecke to Locre and moved up in groups to the trenches near Kemmel for instruction. On 17th August they left Locre for Eecke, with one company going to dig near Armentières. On 23rd August the battalion entrained for Doullens and marched to Mondicourt where they remained until 29th August. On 30th August the battalion began moving to Bienvillers. The battalion remained in the area around Bienvillers and Bailleulmont until April 1916 and was engaged in trench tours and localised operations seeking a tactical advantage. When not in the trenches being subjected to enemy shelling the 7th Leicesters received intensive training in bombing, Lewis gunnery, visual signalling and a host of other activities. Percy, however, was recalled to England at the beginning of February 1916 and on 14th March attached to the Ordnance Works, Coventry, for duty. In 1916 his mother died in Leicester and his father moved to 112 Leopold Street, Loughborough. On 4th August 1918 Percy married Lucy Maud Chappell at St. Mary's Church, Walton, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. After the wedding Percy returned to work at Coventry. and his wife Lucy subsequently moved to 4 Stock Lake, Aylesbury. Percy died of pneumonia at the Warwickshire Military Hospital, Coventry, on 21st November 1918. He was only 28 and is likely to have been a victim of the influenza epidemic.  Aylesbury War Memorial Percy was buried in Aylesbury Cemetery, Grave Y. 56. He is commemorated on the war memorial in Holy Trinity Church and on the War Memorial in Market Square, Aylesbury. He is also remembered on the Carillon, Loughborough. Percy's daughter, Hilda Maud North, was born in Aylesbury, on 28th January 1919. |
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