Austin R
Possibly
Name: AUSTIN, ROBERT
Rank: Lance Corporal
Regiment: Royal Sussex Regiment
Unit Text: 11th Bn.
Age: 20
Date of Death: 31/07/1917
Service No: G/11619
Additional information: Son of Ephraim and Elizabeth Austin, of 23, Napier St., Norwich.
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 20. Memorial: YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=925925
There is a picture of Robert on Norlink
norlink.norfolk.gov.uk/02_Catalogue/02_013_PictureTitleIn...
The accompanying notes read:-
Lance Corporal Austin was born at Norwich, 18th June 1897, the son of Mr. & Mrs. Austin, 23 Napier Street, Norwich. He enlisted on 10th May 1916 and was killed 31st July 1917. This photograph was donated by his mother.
The 3 year old Robert, born Norwich, is recorded on the 1901 census at 10 Chequers Yard, in the parish of St Michael Coslany. This is the household of his parents, Ephraim, (aged 42 and a shoemaker from Norwich), and Frances E, (aged 44 and a Brushmaker from Norwich). Their other children are:-
Ephraim…………….aged 10.……………born Norwich
Harry………………..aged 9.…………….born Norwich
Tuesday 31st July 1917 - Day 1
The First Stage of the Third Battle of Ypres began with The Battle of Pilckem Ridge. Third Ypres is more usually called the Battle of Passchendaele. Zero Hour was 3.50am.
St. Julian
39th Division
116 Bde
The Division was supported by eight tanks in it’s attack.
116 Bde attacked with 11th, 12th and 13th Bns, Royal Sussex Regt and 14th Bn, Hampshire Regt. 13th Sussex captured St. Julian with the aid of the brigades two tanks.
forum.irishmilitaryonline.com/showthread.php?t=11535
The Battalion lost a total of 150 Killed, Wounded or Missing on this Day.
battlefields1418.50megs.com/11sussex.htm
Contemporary views of the village
www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/9098?CISOROOT=%...
Barker F
Initially too many potential matches on the CWGC database
No match on Norlink
Possibles from the 1901 census
Frederick, aged u/1, 2 Home Street, Parish St Bartholomew, parents William & Eva (no obvious match 1911 census)
Frederick J, aged 2, Silver Road, Parish St James, parents Frederick & Agnes (Frederick John, still recorded Norwich, 1911 census)
Francis, aged 6, 104 Oak Street, Parish St Martins, parents William and Elizabeth. (still recorded Norwich, 1911 census)
Frank, aged 10, 15 Branford Road, Parish St James, parents Robert and Jemima,( recorded Bedford on the 1911 census)
New on the 1911 census
Fredrick, born Norwich, circa 1887
Probably, based on the census possibles.
Name: BARKER, FRANCIS FREDERIC
Rank: Rifleman
Regiment: King's Royal Rifle Corps
Unit Text: 9th Bn.
Age: 22
Date of Death: 18/08/1917
Service No: R/14432
Additional information: Son of William and Elizabeth Barker, of 104, Oak St., Norwich. Grave/Memorial Reference: I. E. 27. Cemetery: PERTH CEMETERY (CHINA WALL)
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=102964
The 6 year old Francis, born Norwich, is recorded at 104 Oak Street, in the Parish of St Martins at Oak. This is the household of his parents, William Robert, (aged 34 and a Shoe Finisher from Norwich), and Elizabeth (aged 36 and from Norwich). Their other children are:-
Har’d (??) Percy…………aged u/1.……………born Norwich
Hilda Clara……………aged 4.…………….born Norwich
William George………aged 7.……………..born Norwich
Battle of Passchendaele (Third Ypres)
Saturday 18th August 1917 - Day 19
Rainfall Nil
Hooge
14th Division
43 Bde
14th Div relieved 56th Div overnight.
43 Bde then launched a two battalion attack with 6th Bn, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry and 6th Bn, Somerset Light Infantry. The Somersets followed the barrage through Inverness Copse while the Cornwalls to the north came under fire from Fitzclarence Farm and L-Shaped Farm. They withdrew to Inverness Copse where two tanks came up the Menin Road in support. Three German attacks were driven off during the day.
forum.irishmilitaryonline.com/showthread.php?t=11535&...
(8th KRRC were part of 14th Division).
Button T E
Only T E Button on the CWGC database
Name: BUTTON, THOMAS EDWARD
Rank: Private
Regiment: East Surrey Regiment
Unit Text: 8th Bn.
Date of Death: 30/09/1916
Service No: 20319
Grave/Memorial Reference: Pier and Face 6 B and 6 C. Memorial: THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=762546
There is a picture of Thomas on Norlink, headed 8th East Surreys Regiment
norlink.norfolk.gov.uk/02_Catalogue/02_013_PictureTitleIn...
The accompanying notes read:-
Born at Norwich, 10th December 1892 and educated at Angel Road School. Enlisted in March 1916 and killed in action in France, 5th October 1916.
There is no other individual listed with the surname Button on the CWGC database who died on the 5th October 1916, so assume this is either a discrepancy on the Norlink notes or the CWGC information.
The 8 year old Thomas, born Norwich, is recorded on the 1901 census at 54, Langley Street, in the parish of St Bartholomew. This is the household of his parents, (aged 35 and a “Fitter Up in Boot Trade” from Yarmouth), and Rose, (aged 29 and from Norwich). Their other children are:-
Ethel………………….aged 4.…………….born Norwich
Fred…………………..aged 6.…………….born Norwich
Saturday 30th September 1916. Day 92
Thiepval
A German attack at dawn drove the East Surreys from the southern face and the West Kents from the western face of Schwaben Redoubt. A hand to hand fight ensued during which the East Surreys re-took the lost ground. The Hun held onto the western face. At 4pm the East Surreys attacked and took the northern face of the redoubt while the West Kents and two platoons of 7th Buffs failed to retake the west face. At 9pm the Germans attacked again and drove the East Surreys back to the entrance to Stuff Trench.
forum.irishmilitaryonline.com/showthread.php?t=9058&p...
Battalions War diary for the day
qrrarchive.websds.net/PDF/ES00819160914.pdf
Officers - 4 killed, 4 wounded, 1 missing believed killed.
OR’s - 43 killed, 234 wounded, 34 missing
The battalion seems to have been providing work parties prior to the 6th, October when it was withdrawn completely. Therefore looks most likely that Private Button died on the 30th, although given the high volumes of OR’s wounded, he may have succumbed to his wounds on that date.
Cletheroe A
Name: CLETHEROE, ALBERT CRISTMAS
Rank: Corporal
Regiment: Royal Field Artillery
Unit Text: "D" Bty. 95th Bde.
Age: 25
Date of Death: 20/11/1918
Service No: 876017
Additional information: Son of Mrs. A. E. Cletheroe, of 8, St. Lawrence Lane, Pottergate, Norwich.
Grave/Memorial Reference: II. A. 8. Cemetery: CAUDRY BRITISH CEMETERY
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=571592
No match on Norlink
The 8 year old Albert C, (born Norwich), is recorded on the 1901 census at 8 Chapmans Buildings, Old Palace Road, in the parish of St Bartholomew. This is the household of his parents, Albert, (aged 28 and a Wine Merchants Carter from Norwich), and Lavinia, (aged 30 and from Norwich). Their other children are:-
Dorothy………………aged 9.………….born Norwich
Frank…………………aged 3.………….born Norwich
Harry…………………aged 5.………….born Norwich
May…………………..aged u/1.………..born Norwich
The 95th Brigade RFA were the Divisional Infantry unit for the 21st Division.
www.21stdivision1914-18.org/wardiariesandresearch.htm
Cropley W
Name: CROPLEY, WALTER CHARLES
Rank: Corporal
Service: Royal Engineers
Unit Text: Signals
Secondary Regiment: Royal Garrison Artillery
Secondary Unit Text: attd. 78th Heavy Bty.
Age: 27 Date of Death: 03/04/1918
Service No: 253434
Additional information: Croix de Guerre (Belgium). Son of James and Eliza Cropley, of Norwich; husband of Marion Ellen Cropley, of 8, Distillery Street, Norwich.
Grave/Memorial Reference: C. 14B. Cemetery: BOIS GUILLAUME COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=121604
No match on Norlink
The Croix De Guerre was officially gazetted on the 16th April 1918.
www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/30631/supplements/4530/pa...
The 10 year old Walter, (born Norwich), is recorded on the 1901 census at 5 Fishers Lane, in the parish of St Lawrence. This is the household of his parents, James, (aged 61 and a Shopkeeper from Norwich), and Eliza, (aged 51 and from Norwich). They also have a son Frank, aged 13.
BOIS GUILLAUME COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
The extension adjoins Bois Guillaume Communal Cemetery. It was begun in March 1917 and most of the burials came from No.8 General Hospital, which was quartered at Bois Guillaume in a large country house and grounds.
www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=11901&...
Dugdale A E
Only A E Dugdale on the CWGC database
Name: DUGDALE Initials: A E
Rank: Pioneer
Service: Royal Engineers
Unit Text: 314th Railway Construction Coy.
Date of Death: 28/10/1917
Service No: 308022
Grave/Memorial Reference: II. F. 18. Cemetery: BELGIAN BATTERY CORNER CEMETERY
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=92754
No match on Norlink
This cemetery occupies a site at a road junction where three batteries of Belgian artillery were positioned in 1915. The cemetery was begun by the 8th Division in June 1917 after the Battle of Messines (although one grave in Plot III, Row A, predates this) and it was used until October 1918, largely for burials from a dressing station in a cottage near by. Almost half of the graves are of casualties who belonged, or were attached, to artillery units.
www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=8900&a...
The Great War Roll of Honour confirms this is an Arthur E.
The only match on the 1901 census is a 1 year old Arthur, born Norwich, and then residing at 117 Cowgate Street. However, that makes it unlikely that he would have died as a Pioneer in 1917.
The 1911 census has an Arthur Ernest, born circa 1881 Norwich, and still recorded in the District. However, the same individual does not appear to be on the Genes Re-united transcription of the 1901 census.
Durrant D G
Only D G Durrant on the CWGC database
Name: DURRANT, DUDLEY GARTON
Rank: Second Lieutenant
Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment
Unit Text: "A" Coy. 1st/5th Bn.
Age: 23
Date of Death: 16/08/1916
Additional information: Son of Ellen Mary Durrant, of "Cairnsmore", 6, Langley Avenue, Surbiton, Surrey, and the late Edward Durrant.
Grave/Memorial Reference: Pier and Face 5 A and 5 B. Memorial: THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=752447
There is a picture of 2nd Lt Durrant on this web-site, which also notes that he was “Killed in action 16th August 1916 - 1/5th Bn 'A' Company. Killed in the night attack on Pozieres Ridge. Aged 23. Born 28th May 1893, in Surbiton, Surrey. Son of Ellen and the late Edward Durrant, of Surbiton, Surrey. Listed on the Thiepval Memorial
glosters.tripod.com/1916off.html
There is nothing to obviously link the Durrant’s to Norwich - Dudley’s mother was from Wiltshire and his father from Chelmsford.
However, could be
Name: DURRANT Initials: D
Rank: Private
Regiment: Norfolk Regiment
Unit Text: 2nd Bn.
Date of Death: 30/11/1916
Service No: 8184
Grave/Memorial Reference: Angora Mem. 58. Cemetery: BAGHDAD (NORTH GATE) WAR CEMETERY
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=633279
No match on Norlink
The Great War Roll of Honour has this soldier down as a David, and gives his rank as Musician.
But the Genes re-united transcriptions of the 1901 and 1911 censuses has no obvious David Durrant with a Norwich connection. There is a Douglas Durrant on the 1901 census, but there is no Douglas listed on either the CWGC database or the Great War Roll of Honour.
Farrow F
Possibles
Name: FARROW, FREDERICK CHARLES
Rank: Private
Regiment: Norfolk Regiment
Unit Text: 1st Bn.
Age: 24
Date of Death: 25/10/1914
Service No: 317805
Additional information: Son of Mrs. M. A. Farrow, of 22, Foundry Bridge Buildings, Prince of Wales Rd., Norwich.
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 8. Memorial: LE TOURET MEMORIAL
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=859235
Name: FARROW, FRANK JOSEPH
Rank: Private
Regiment: Norfolk Regiment
Unit Text: 7th Bn.
Date of Death: 13/10/1915
Service No: 9208
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 30 and 31. Memorial: LOOS MEMORIAL
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2942213
Name: FARROW, FREDERICK
Rank: Private
Regiment: Norfolk Regiment
Unit Text: 1st Bn.
Date of Death: 23/04/1917
Service No: 20943
Grave/Memorial Reference: Bay 3. Memorial: ARRAS MEMORIAL
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1541839
No match on Norlink
Possibles from the 1901 census,
Frederic, aged 2 months, born Norwich, 31 Adelaide Street, parents Alfred and Catherine
Francis L, aged 7, born Norwich, 72 Dereham Road, mother Annie, maternal grandparents John and Catherine Boulger
Frederick, aged 8, born Norwich, now at 18 Moat Place, Gt Yarmouth, parents Samuel & Eliza
Fred, aged 10, born Norwich, 25 Egyptian Road, Bishops Bridge, parents George & Mary Ann
Frederick W, aged 22, born Norwich, Clerk Mustard Dept, Lock & Key Yard, parents Alfred & Sarah
What appears to be the baptism record of the 8 year old Frederick shown above took place on the 4th June 1893 at St Mary’s Ellingham. His date of birth is given as the 31st March 1893. His parents are Frederick Samuel and Eliza, ad the family address is given as Timber Hill, Norwich. The father works as a Saddler.
Given all that information, the prime candidate for a casualty with this name from Norwich is the 1st Battalion Man who died 25/10/1914. His age and additional information on the CWGC database would tend to tie in with the individual who was aged 10 on the 1901 census. However, whether it’s the same F Farrow who is commemorated at St Laurences is a moot point.
25th October 1914
From “The Doings of the 15th Infantry Brigade” by Brig-Gen Count Gleichen:
Oct. 25th._ Another lovely warm day of Indian summer. Also of many shells, some falling pretty close to our cottage. The Germans were seen making splendid use of the folds in the ground for driving saps and connecting up their heads into trenches getting nearer and nearer to our lines. And we could do nothing but shell them and snipe them as best we could, but with little result, for artillery observation-posts were almost impossible, and snap-shooting at an occasional head or shovel appearing above ground produced but small results. Three French batteries arrived during the morning and were put under Blanchard's orders in the swampy wood behind Givenchy. Some spasmodic attacks occurred on the trenches east of the village, and the French lost rather heavily; for the Germans got into some of their evacuated trenches and killed the wounded there. A speedy counter-attack, however, drove them out again. The Devons lost two officers (Besley and Quick) and ten men killed and thirty-eight wounded. At 4.50 P.M. I got a message saying large columns of the enemy had been seen by the French issuing from La Bassée and Violaines, and I was ordered peremptorily to be ready to counter-attack at once, with my whole force if required. Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien arrived alone an hour or so afterwards, and I pointed out our situation to him; he entirely concurred in my view, and heartened me up considerably by quite recognising the state of affairs and congratulating us, and especially the Devons, on sticking it out so well.
www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/22074/pg22074.txt
Fields H J
No obvious match on CWGC
No match on Norlink
Possibly
Name: FIELD, HERBERT JOSEPH
Rank: Corporal
Regiment: Norfolk Regiment
Unit Text: 1st/5th Bn.
Date of Death: 12/08/1915
Service No: 2490
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 42 to 44. Memorial: HELLES MEMORIAL
CWGC; www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=695991
However, the 1901 census has a 12 year old Herbert J Fields, born Norwich and recorded at 21 Lower Goat Lane, in the Parish of St Gregory. This is the household of his parents, James H, (aged 32 and a Licensed Victualler from Norwich) and Christianah M, (aged 32 and from Norwich). Their other children are:-
Edith M………………….aged 6.…………..born Norwich
George A………………..aged 8.………….born Norwich
The same individual does not appear to be on the 1911 census, but there is a Herbert Joseph Field who was born circa 1889 in Norwich, and who is still resident there.. He lives in a household that includes a James Herbert, (born circa 1869), an Edith Alice, (born circa 1895), and a “Cristianna” Mary, (born circa 1869).
To date I can’t find any other place laying claim to Corporal Herbert Joseph Field, so the balance of probability at the moment are that the H J Fields and he are the same man.
Among the hundreds of thousands of Allied troops sent to Gallipoli were two battalions of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, the 1/4th and the 1/5th (Territorial).
The Norfolks left Liverpool aboard the SS Aquitainia on 29 July and arrived at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli on 10 August 1915. Just two days later the 1/5th battalion were ordered to clear Turkish positions on the Anafarta Plain prior to the Allied advance. Their sister battalion, the 1/4th waited in reserve and were not involved in the events that followed. The outcome was typical of the poor planning which characterized the whole campaign. The attack was to be made in broad daylight without adequate maps against the well-prepared Turks, who were firmly dug in along a ridge of hills overlooking the bay. The enemy were armed with machine guns and supported by dozens of snipers, many of them teenage girls, camouflaged and hidden in trees. The Norfolk battalion was made up of 16 officers and 250 men and was led by a veteran of the campaign in the Sudan, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Horace Proctor-Beauchamp. As they left their positions, the 1/5th battalion were joined by hundreds of other British soldiers from battalions of the Suffolk and Hampshire regiments.
The attack quickly turned into a massacre. For some reason during the advance the Norfolks turned slightly to the right, opening up a gap between them and the other British troops from whom they had become separated. As the exhausted Norfolks fixed bayonets and prepared to charge the Turkish positions on the Kavak Tepe ridge they were picked off by snipers and mown down by machine gun fire. Lt-Col Beauchamp was last seen leading his doomed men into a burning forest from which they never emerged. As night fell the few survivors, wounded and exhausted, began to filter back to the British positions at Suvla Bay. The battalion War Diary held at the National Archives records the following under the date 12 August 1915:
"163rd Brigade made a frontal attack on strong Turkish position. 5th Norfolks on right met a strong opposition and suffered heavily. Lost 22 officers and about 350 men. Held our lines during the night in spite of heavy enemy fire."
In December 1915, as the Allies prepared to abandon the campaign, the Commander in Chief of the British forces, Sir Ian Hamilton, sent his "final dispatch from the Dardanelles" to the Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener. In it, he accounted for the loss of the Norfolks in the following way. I have underlined the words that seem to emphasize the inexplicable nature of the incident:
"in the course of the fight, there happened a very mysterious thing. Against the yielding forces of the enemy Colonel Sir H. Beauchamp, a bold, self-confident officer, eagerly pressed forward, followed by the best part of the battalion. The fighting grew hotter [and] at this stage many men were wounded or grew exhausted but the Colonel, with 16 officers and 250 men kept pushing forward, driving the enemy before him, nothing more was seen or heard of any of them. They charged into the forest and were lost to sight or sound. Not one of them ever came back"
Hamilton's account must have been based upon reports from British officers who had watched from a distance as the disaster unfolded. One of these was a brigade major, Lt-Col Villiers Stuart, who watched the Norfolk's attack through field glasses. He wrote
"On the evening of 12 August 1915 I was observing the low ground in the neighbourhood of Anafarta Ova, [at] a distance of about 2000 to 2500 yards, when, to my surprise I saw what appeared to be about a battalion of our troops advancing rapidly, and apparently unsupported towards the enemy positions on Kvak Tepe. Knowing that there was a considerable concentration of Turks in a gully, on the left flank of the advance, I anticipated trouble and got the two mountain guns, ready for action to try to protect the left flank of the advancing troops. Almost immediately the Turks debouched from their cover and attacked our men in the flank and rear. It was soon too dark to see the issue of the fight, but at the time I was afraid they would be destroyed."
The actual fate of the battalion was discovered in 1919 at the end of the war when the Commonwealth War Graves Commission began searching the battlefields at Gallipoli for the remains of soldiers. There an investigator discovered a cap badge belonging to a soldier of the Norfolk regiment hidden in sand 800 yards behind the Turkish lines at Suvla Bay. This led the commanding officer to write home triumphantly: "We have found the 5th Norfolks." When this news reached the War Office they sent a chaplain who had served during the campaign back to Gallipoli to investigate. The Rev Charles Pierrepoint Edwards examined the area where the cap badge had been uncovered and found a mass grave containing 180 bodies, from which the remains of 122 were identified as members of the "Vanished Battalion." The remains included those of their commanding officer, Lt-Col Beuchamp, who was identified by the distinctive shoulder flashes on his uniform. Of the 266 officers and men reported as missing, 144 remained unaccounted for, but a number of these had been captured and some had subsequently died in the notorious Turkish prison camps. A few had survived captivity to describe what had really happened, but their stories did not emerge until half a century later.
In his book The Vanished Battalion (1991) McCrery revealed new evidence that explained why the full facts discovered by the clergyman who visited the mass grave were not revealed in 1919. He found there was evidence of an official cover-up but this was not to hide evidence of an extraterrestrial kidnapping. In this case it was to conceal evidence of both a military blunder and a war crime. For it emerged that of the bodies discovered that many had been shot through the head as the Turkish soldiers did not like to take prisoners of war. His evidence was backed up by the story of a British survivor of the massacre, who testified before his death in 1969 that he had seen Turkish soldiers bayoneting wounded and helpless prisoners and shooting others in the wood where the battalion disappeared. The survivor escaped only because of the intervention of a German officer who saved his life and he spent the remainder of the war in a prison camp.
It appears that the Rev Charles Pierrepoint Edwards concealed this disturbing evidence in his report to the War Office so as to spare the feelings of the families and the King, who continued to believe their loved ones died gallantly in battle with the enemy. Furthermore, McCrery points out that Sir Ian Hamilton - the Allied commander responsible for the campaign - had an personal interest in making the disappearance of the battalion appear more mysterious than it actually was. His dispatch to Kitchener suggested the disappearance of the battalion was inexplicable. During the campaign the King personally telegraphed Hamilton asking about the fate of Captain Beck and his Sandringham company. McCrery asks:
"What was he to say? 'Sorry, but I've just sacrificed them all quite needlessly in yet another botched attack?' His best course of action, I believe, was to create an air of mystery and thereby stop any form of enquiry into their loss or his leadership."
Shortly after the disaster at Gallipoli Hamilton was relieved of his command and never offered another. In the years that followed, the story he had set loose would become transformed into a fully-fledged legend of the war and a UFO mystery that simply would not die.
This article was oringally published in UFO Magazine (UK) 2004
www.drdavidclarke.co.uk/vanbat.htm
Forkes A B
Name: FORKES Initials: A B
Rank: Trooper
Regiment: Household Battalion
Date of Death: 11/04/1917
Service No: 1439
Grave/Memorial Reference: G. 11. Cemetery: ATHIES COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=256890
(The Great War Roll of Honour identifies this soldier as Trooper Albert B Forkes)
Athies was captured by the 9th (Scottish) Division, which included the South African Brigade, on 9 April 1917, and from then it remained in Allied hands. ATHIES COMMUNAL CEMETERY contains one Commonwealth burial of the First World War. The adjoining COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION was begun immediately after the capture of the village and used by field ambulances and fighting units until May 1918, and again in September 1918.
www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=25201&...
Norlink has a Trooper Albert Bertie Forkes of the 2nd Life Guards, but the accompanying notes read:
Trooper Forkes was born 6th September 1886 and educated at Wymondham Council school. He enlisted on 23rd October 1916. He died from wounds received in action in France, 11th April 1917
norlink.norfolk.gov.uk/02_Catalogue/02_013_PictureTitleIn...
The only Albert Forkes listed on the Genes Re-united Transcription of the 1901 Census for England & Wales is a 14 year old Albert, born Wymondham, and recorded at Queens Street, Wymondham. Albert appears on the Wymondham Memorial.
www.flickr.com/photos/43688219@N00/2945548176/
My notes from the research done on that memorial are:-
At the time of the 1901 Census, Albert, a 14 year old Boot Shop Assistant, was living at Queens Street, Wymondham in the household of his parents, William, (aged 58, a boot maker), and Rhoda Forkes, (aged 54). Also in the household were siblings Earnest Forkes, (age 16, a Grocers assistant), Fred, (aged 12) and William, (aged 18 and a Brush Factory hand)
The Scarpe, Arras, Fampoux and Roeux (8th April to 14th May 1917)
The misfortunes of Britain's allies in 1917 dictated circumstances in which three major battles, Arras, 3rd Ypres and Cambrai, were planned and fought. The Household Battalion was involved to the hilt in all three. The French commander Nivelle was replaced by Marshals Foch and Petain in Spring 1917 after part of the French army mutinied. Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig launched the Arras offensive on Easter Monday 1917 to draw German attention away from the disaster which had overtaken the French army, further South. As a cavalry officer, he saw the mission of cavalry as the exploitation of the eventual break through in the trench war stalemate and put the 3rd Cavalry Division into the attack on the Hindenhurg Line at Monchy le Preux on Easter Monday, 9th April 1917. There was a general advance of the infantry north and south of the 45 foot wide, 6 foot deep Scarpe River flowing east to west through Arras. North of the Scarpe, the Household Battalion, as part of the 10th Brigade in the 4th Infantry Division were allotted the task of advancing along the swampy banks of the muddy little river on the hamlet of Fampoux, (formerly pop. 1,015 but now flattened and enemy held).
While their brothers of The 1st and 2nd Life Guards and Blues rode against barbed wire and machine guns with the 3rd Cavalry Division to Monchy, The Household Battalion stalked towards Fampoux with rifles and bayonets in the sleet. With them were the Warwicks, Seaforth and Royal Irish Fusiliers. It took the Brigade 11 days to take Fampoux and The Household Battalion lost 9 Officers and 166 non Commissioned Officers and Men killed in action. Ahead was the smaller but even more formidable German defence at Roeux at a bend in the river, one mile from Fampoux and 6,000 yards from the Hindenhurg Line itself.
www.maxwall.co.uk/army/history.htm
On the 1911 census, the 24 year old Albert Bertie is still recorded in the District of Forehoe, Norfolk, which covers Wymondham.
Griffiths L
Possible
Name: GRIFFITHS, LEWIS HERBERT
Rank: Second Lieutenant
Regiment: Norfolk Regiment
Unit Text: 12th (Norfolk Yeo.) Bn.
Age: 21
Date of Death: 11/09/1918
Additional information: Son of Herbert James and Eva Griffiths, of 72, Caernarvon Rd., Norwich.
Grave/Memorial Reference: VIII. O. 9. Cemetery: STRAND MILITARY CEMETERY
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=165177
No match on Norlink
'Charing Cross' was the name given by the troops to a point at the end of a trench called the Strand, which led into Ploegsteert Wood. In October 1914, two burials were made at this place, close to an Advanced Dressing Station, The cemetery was not used between October 1914 and April 1917, but in April-July 1917 Plots I to VI were completed. Plots VII to X were made after the Armistice, when graves were brought in from some small cemeteries and from the battlefields lying mainly between Wytschaete and Armentieres. The cemetery was in German hands for a few months in 1918, but was very little used by them.
The History of the Cemetery on the CWGC site lists a number of the small cemeteries that were concentrated into The Strand Military Cemetery, but only one contained the graves of those who fell in 1918.
LA BASSE-VILLE GERMAN CEMETERY, WARNETON (West Flanders), on the road from La Basse-Ville to Warneton, contained the graves of 68 soldiers from the United Kingdom and one from South Africa who died in German hands, April-August, 1918.
www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=16400&...
Its unlikely that captured troops , especially an officer, would be retained near the front line for any length of time, so its likely that the bodies buried would either have fallen while fighting and had not been recovered by their own side, or had succumbed to wounds encurred shortly before and had been taken prisoner.
While the War Diary of the 12th Norfolks shows them as being in the front line from the night of the 8th/9th September and were actively patrolling by day and night (“and mush useful information about the enemy was obtained”) until relieved on the night of the 13th /14th there is no mention of any casualties.
The 4 year old Lewis, (born Norwich), is recorded on the 1901 census at 63 Wellington Road in the Parish of St Thomas. This is the household of his parents, Herbert, (aged 33 and a “Setter out of Joinery” from Norwich), and Eva, (aged 28 and from Norwich).
Harris C T
Name: HARRIS Initials: C T
Rank: Company Quartermaster Serjeant
Regiment: Norfolk Regiment
Unit Text: 2nd Bn.
Age: 28
Date of Death: 30/09/1916
Service No: 6255
Additional information: Son of William and Emily Harris, of Norwich.
Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: XXI. W. 36. Cemetery: BAGHDAD (NORTH GATE) WAR CEMETERY
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=633722
No match on Norlink
The Great War Roll of Honour lists this man as Charles T. Harris, and his rank as Acting Sergeant.
The 13 year old Charles, (born Norwich), is recorded on the 1901 census at 150 Marlborough Road, in the parish of St James. This is the household of his parents, William, (aged 38 and a Brewers Servant from Norwich), and Emily, (aged 39 and from Norfolk). Their other children are:-
Alice………………aged 2.………….born Norwich
Arthur……………..aged 5.………….born Norwich
Elsie……………….aged u/1.……….born Norwich
Emily………………aged 18.………..born Norwich……Tailoress
Florence……………aged 17.……….born Norwich…….Tailoress
Gertrude……………aged 9.…………born Norwich
When war was declared Turkey decided to join in on the German side and this was to lead to three costly campaigns for the British, Gallipoli, Palestine and Mesopotamia. The first of these was the Mesopotamian campaign and it was launched in November 1914 from India. The Ottoman Turks at this time controlled much of the Middle East including modern day Israel, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The British intention was to come ashore in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) and to secure the oilfields around Basra before making any further exploitation. All the troops from this operation were drawn from India and 2nd Norfolks were one of these battalions. They were part of 6 (Indian ) Division that started to come ashore on the Faw peninsular on 6th November 1914. A division of the Indian army at this time was composed of both British and Indian personnel, the majority being Indian. Horace is recorded as having come ashore on 15th November after which the battalion was involved in several battles including the Occupation of Basra on 22nd November. From Basra the British pushed north along the Shat-al Arab waterway to Qurna which was at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and therefore a place of significant strategic importance. The British soldier found conditions in Mesopotamia very uncomfortable with searing heat, flies and, in the early stages, heavy rain that turned everything into a sea of mud. These conditions brought on sickness which, together with battle casualties, severely depleted some units.
With the Turks falling back everywhere the British commander decided to continue the advance in the hope of fomenting a general arab revolt against the Turks. The Norfolk’s division advanced along the Tigris and captured the towns of al Amara and Kut before pausing. All along the advance they had been getting further and further from their supply base at Basra and as they could only effectively be re-supplied by river their position in this respect became serious. However, with Baghdad as the prize Townsend, the British commander, decided to press on and they advanced along the river to a point some 25 miles from Baghdad at Cstesiphon where the Turks roundly beat the British and forced them to withdraw back to Kut. The Turks pursued them and besieged the town from 6th December 1915. Despite two costly relief efforts the garrison was forced to surrender on 29th April 1916, 146 days after they had withdrawn there.
The garrison of approximately 3000 British and 6000 Indians surrendered and began their long march into captivity in Turkey.
Many prisoners died on the long march north and the conditions at that time of year would have been unbearable and the Turks did not have a good humanitarian record toward prisoners.
www.oldbuckenham-pri.norfolk.procms.co.uk/pages/viewpage....
The following newspaper report appeared after letters were received from prisoners.
THE 2nd NORFOLKS PRISONERS OF WAR
To the Editor:
Dear Sir
May I correct one statement in the very interesting letter re 2nd Norfolk Regiment prisoners published in your paper to-day. The writer says that because Quartermaster-Sergeant Niblock had written from Affion Kara Hissar, probably the whole regiment are there. There are only 22 of the men at Affion Kara Hissar. This I have in a letter from an officer in that camp last week. As a matter of fact the men are scattered all over Asia Minor. So far we know the addresses of between 80 to 90 of them. These are at Bilemedix, Airan, Yarbachi Bagdadbaull, Yosgad, Castamouni, Tamara, Affion Kara Hissar and Brussa. By far the biggest number of these are at Yarbachi.
Yours faithfully,
Frances W. Burton
Secretary, Norfolk Regiment Prisoners of War Help Organisation.
www.stephen-stratford.co.uk/pte_wilby.htm
After the war ended. The War Graves Commission gathered the bodies of PoW’s from all over the region and re-interred them at the Baghdad North Gate Cemetery.
www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=57303&...
Holmes G H
Too many potential matches on CWGC
However Norlink has a Herbert Holmes of the 15th Royal Irish Rifles. There are no additional notes
norlink.norfolk.gov.uk/02_Catalogue/02_013_PictureTitleIn...
Name: HOLMES, HERBERT
Rank: Lance Corporal
Regiment: Royal Irish Rifles
Unit Text: 15th Bn.
Secondary Regiment: Norfolk Regiment Secondary Unit Text: formerly (5575)
Age: 21 Date of Death: 21/03/1918
Service No: 41421
Additional information: Son of Henry Alfred and Ann Holmes, of 82, Trafalgar St., Lakenham, Norwich.
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 74 to 76. Memorial: POZIERES MEMORIAL
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1582798
No obvious G H Holmes with a Norwich connection on the 1901 census. Of the 6 GH Holmes listed on the CWGC database, only one can be ruled out on the grounds of the additional information.
If we look for details of Herbert on the 1901 census, we find him, aged 4 and born Norwich, recorded at 82 Trafalgar Steet, in the parish of St Marks, New Lakenham. This is the household of his parents, Henry A, (aged 34 and a Hairdresser from Norwich), and Ann, (aged 31 and from Norwich). Their other children are:-
Arthur…………..aged 8.………….born Norwich
Ernest R………..aged 1.………….born Norwich
On 21 March 1918, Second Lieutenant Edward de Wind of the 15th. Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, who was from Ballycastle, County Down, was awarded the Victoria Cross for holding a strategically important post for 7 hours, repelling repeated attacks until he was killed
homepage.eircom.net/~tipperaryfame/ririfles.htm
It was during the First Battle of the Somme on 21 March 1918, at the Racecourse Redoubt, near Groagie, France, that for seven hours, Second Lieutenant De Wind held this important post and though twice wounded and practically single-handed, he maintained his position until another section could be sent to his help.
On two occasions, with two NCOs only, he got out on top under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire and cleared the enemy out of the trench, killing many of them. He continued to repel attack after attack until he was mortally wounded and collapsed.
www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regiments/6221.aspx
The 36th (Ulster) Division
Following the battles of the Somme, Messines and Cambrai the Ulster Division found itself badly under its established strength.
The Division's five kilometre front lent itself well to defence with a series of low ridges and valleys opposite St Quentin. On the first ridge behind the front line were three redoubts: Boadicea (on the left), Racecourse and Jeanne d'Arc. Behind them in the Battle Zone were three more: Ricardo, Quarry and Station.
Like all of the Divisions that had been moved into the area there was a lot more work to do than simply build redoubts and dig trenches. Roads and communications systems had to be prepared or improved; munitions depots established; everything was labour intensive and the manpower was in short supply.
On the opening day of the German offensive the Battle Zone trenches in some places were still only knee deep.
Racecourse Redoubt - 15th Royal Irish Rifles
At the village of Grugies 2nd Lieutenant Edmund de Wind a former soldier in the Canadian Infantry commanded the small garrison at Racecourse Redoubt.
The Germans were pressing westwards and the redoubt soon came under severe pressure. De Wind and his men held their own until the early afternoon when finally de Wind was killed. His body was never found and he is commemorated on the Pozières Memorial.
De Wind would be awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour but only after the war had ended and witnesses came home from captivity. He is also commemorated in his home town of Comber in County Down, and by Mount de Wind in his adopted Alberta, Canada.
The London Gazette dated 13th May 1919
For most conspicuous bravery and self-sacrifice on the 21st March 1918, at the Race Course Redoubt, near Grugies. For seven hours he held this most important post, and though twice wounded and practically single-handed, he maintained his position until another section could be got to his help. On two occasions, with two NCOs only, he got out on top under heavy machine gun and rifle fire, and cleared the enemy out of the trench, killing many. He continued to repel attack after attack until he was mortally wounded and collapsed. His valour, self-sacrifice and example were of the highest order.
War Diary of the 15th Bn Royal Irish Rifles: 21/22nd March 1918
The diary now deals with the movements of the Battalion details which consisted of transport, personnel of quartermaster's stores, personnel left out of action, other ranks arriving back from leave, from courses and from hospital, together with a draft of 100 other ranks which arrived today. The battalion itself was gone, killed wounded and prisoners. Captain PM Miller MC commanded the little party.
www.webmatters.net/france/ww1_kaiser_05.htm
Hopkins L
No obvious match on the CWGC database
No match on Norlink
No obvious match for a L Hopkins on either the 1901 or 1911 census with a Norwich connection.
Howes P V
Only P V Howes on the CWGC database
Name: HOWES Initials: P V
Rank: Private
Regiment: Norfolk Regiment
Unit Text: 8th Bn.
Date of Death: 25/04/1918
Service No: 43231
Grave/Memorial Reference: VI. D. 8. Cemetery: BOUCHOIR NEW BRITISH CEMETERY
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=308517
No match on Norlink
The Great War Roll of Honour lists this soldier as Percy V.
Three possibles on the 1901 census, all of whom have no middle initial \ name on the 1911 census.
Percy, (aged 3) born Norwich, at 8 Lewis Street, Parish St John the Baptist & All Saints, parents James & Susannah
Percy R, (aged 4) born Norwich, at 58 Grant Street, Parish St Bartholomew, parents William & Mary
Percy, (aged 8), born Norwich, at near Holt Road, Hellesdon, parents Harry & Riobina (??)
Bouchoir New British Cemetery
The village of Bouchoir passed into German hands on 27 March 1918 but was recovered by the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade on 9 August 1918. The New British Cemetery was made after the Armistice when graves were brought there from several small Commonwealth cemeteries and from the battlefields round Bouchoir and south of the village. Almost all date from March, April or August 1918
www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=31900&...
The 8th Battalion had officially ceased to exist by the time of the German Spring Ofensive, with men from the Battalion being allocated to either the 7th or 9th . However, as this only preceded the first phase of the German Spring offensive by a few weeks, its is perhaps not surprising that the official paperwork hadn’t caught up by the time of the second phase, when decimated British & Commonwealth units from the earlier attack were moved into a “quiet” sector, only to find it was the very place planned for the next German assault.
In one memoir there is talk of ex-8th Battalion men turning up as replacements for the London Regiment Battalion at the height of the second German offensive.
hastang.co.uk/pdf/Scouting%20on%20the%20Somme.pdf
Martin F
Too many without further information
No match on Norlink
Possibles from the 1901 Census
Frederick, (aged 4) born Norwich, at St Benedicts Back Lane, Parish of St Benedict, parents Benjamin & Laura
Frederick, (aged 15 - Brushmaker), born Southrepps, at 155 Armes Street. Parish of St Bartholomew, parents - only mother Elizabeth listed.
Frank I (aged 23 Grocers Assistant) born Warley Essex at 53 Pembroke Road, parish of St Thomas, married to Gertrude, father of Amy.
Possible
Name: MARTIN Initials: F E
Rank: Corporal
Regiment: Royal Berkshire Regiment
Unit Text: Depot Bn.
Date of Death: 15/01/1919
Service No: 11513
Grave/Memorial Reference: 54. 178. Cemetery: NORWICH CEMETERY, Norfolk
CWGC www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2803226
But 180 other possibles to a lesser degree.
