ANDREW THORNTON
ANDREW THORNTON
Staffordshire's Territorials and the Assault on the Hohenzollern Redoubt 13th October 1915
"Their Glory Shall not be Blotted Out" - Cemeteries and Memorials
The memorial to 46th Division can be found on the D39 Hulluch to Vermelles Road. The site of the Hohenzollern Redoubt can be seen from the memorial, which overlooks the farmland where the bodies of many soldiers killed in the attack still lie. The area where the Redoubt was built is now overgrown and is also sadly used by the local population as a rubbish tip. Apart from a few craters created during later fighting in the sector, very little evidence remains to indicate the ferocity of the battles that took place there. A modern version of the "Dump" can be seen behind the Redoubt, as well as the present-day "corons" of the Cite de Madagascar.
The remains of the Hohenzollern Redoubt
July, 1995
Approximately 400 men of 137th Brigade who were killed on the afternoon of 13th October have no known grave, although many lie unidentified in cemeteries in the area. Their names can be found on the panels of the Loos Memorial of the Missing at Dud Corner Cemetery. The South Staffordshire soldiers are commemorated on Panels 73 to 76, close to the Cross of Sacrifice, while the names of the North Staffords can be found on Panels 103 to 105. The dead of the Divisional Field Companies of Royal Engineers are recorded on Panels 4 and 5. The Loos Memorial commemorates over 20,000 officers and men who fell in the area from the River Lys to the old southern boundary of the First Army, east and west of Grenay, and who have no known grave. It covers the period from the first day of the Battle of Loos to the date of the Armistice.
The Loos Memorial to the Missing and Dud Corner Cemetery
April, 2000
The engraved names on the tablets that surround Dud Corner Cemetery reveal the extent of the losses sustained by the Staffords. It is impossible to include details of all of the men recorded on the memorial, but a representative selection has been included to illustrate the lives that each name represents:
7827 Lance-Corporal Alfred Benton was a member of the 1/5th South Staffords. He worked as a miner at East Cannock Colliery before the war and lived with his parents at 107 Hednesford Road in Cannock. He had joined "F" Company of the 5th South Staffords at Hednesford in 1911. One of his comrades, Private A. Woolley wrote that Benton was serving with one of bombing parties when he was killed during the attack on Big Willie.
1439 Sapper Walter Edwin Bickley served with 1/2nd North Midland Field Company, Royal Engineers. He lived with his parents at 121 High Street in Cheslyn Hay and worked as a miner at Great Wyrley Colliery. Bickley joined the Royal Engineers at Norton Hall on 6th August 1914. He had received shrapnel wounds in both thighs on 12th July 1915 while serving in the Armagh Wood sector, near Ypres. His brother, Ernest, worked at the same colliery as Walter and served with a Tunnelling Company of the Royal Engineers.
Second-Lieutenant Nigel Bishop was a platoon commander with "C" Company of the 1/5th North Staffords. He lived at Oulton House in Stone and had been educated at Rugby. Nigel Bishop worked for Bishop and Stonler Pottery in Hanley. He had joined the battalion in September 1914 and was commissioned into the 2/5th Battalion on 3rd November of that year. He had been posted to France to join the 1/5th Battalion in July 1915. His family received a letter informing them that he had been shot in the head during the attack and died instantly.
Second-Lieutenant Tom Vincent Dann served with "A" Company of the 1/6th South Staffords. He was born and educated in Bedford but was working at B. Gibbons Engineering Works in Dudley on the outbreak of the war. He joined the 6th South Staffords as a Private, serving initially with the 2/6th Battalion at Penn Hall. He received his commission in the 1/6th Battalion while serving in the ranks in Belgium. Tom Dann had married Ethel Gould, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. D. Gould, who lived in Lower Gornal, in October 1914.
Second-Lieutenant Alan Edward Green, of the 1/5th South Staffords, was born at Houghton in Huntingdonshire on 1st September 1895. He was educated at King's College Choir School in Cambridge and at Felsted School, where he was a member of the Officer Training Corps. Green was commissioned in the 5th South Staffords in April 1914 and served with "F" Company in Hednesford, where he was an articled pupil to a mining engineer. Second-Lieutenant Green's brother, John Leslie Green, was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps shortly after war was declared and also served with the 5th South Staffords before eventually becoming the Regimental Medical Officer to the 1/5th Sherwood Foresters. Captain Green was awarded a Victoria Cross posthumously for trying to save the life of an officer at Gommecourt on 1st July 1916.
2679 Private Stephen Lounds came from Tipton and served with "B" Company of the 1/6th South Staffords. In a letter written on 6th May 1915, he had tried to reassure his relatives and friends at home:
"Lily, I have just heard off Albert that your mother is worrying herself to death over us but tell her it goes hard with us when we here that they am put so much about but try and cheer her up as you know that someone as got to come and save there country and it was in our heart to join for true so tell her from me she as got two good lads who are fighting for there country and that they are in good health and hearty."
A cousin of Private Lounds, 16238 Private David Richards, who served with the 2nd South Staffords, is also commemorated on the memorial. He was killed when the Germans detonated a mine under his battalion's positions at Gibson Crater, near Cuinchy, on 24th November 1915. No trace of Private Richards, who was aged 17, could be found following the explosion.
Second-Lieutenant Walter Nelson served with "B" Company of the 1/6th South Staffords. He was a native of Warwick but was living and working in Paris when war broke out. He joined the French Foreign Legion and served with them for several months before transferring the British Army. He joined the 1/6th South Staffords in August 1915, while the battalion was serving in the Hill 60 sector. Walter Nelson was killed while trying to cut gaps through the barbed wire to allow his platoon to move forward. He was 45 years old.
2951 Lance-Sergeant Ernest Thomas had served with the 5th North Staffords for four years before the war. He had been employed at the Electricity Works at Burslem but had left the Potteries to work in Sheffield. Ernest Thomas rejoined the 5th North Staffords as a Private in September 1914 and was posted to the 2/5th Battalion. He was transferred to the 1/5th Battalion and went to France in March 1915 as a Corporal. Thomas was a bombing instructor and had been recommended for a commission by Lieutenant-Colonel Knight.
192 Company Sergeant Major Henry Washington had served for 25 years with the 1st Volunteer and 5th Battalions of the North Staffordshire Regiment. He lived at 241 Duke Street in Fenton with his wife and eleven children and worked at the Glebe Colliery. He was 43 years old when he was killed.
350 Sergeant Frank Wallbank had joined the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the North Staffords in 1906, transferring to the 6th North Staffords on the formation of the Territorial Force in April 1908. He lived in Rugeley and worked as a miner. He was also a member of his local Congregational Church and the Ancient Order of Foresters (Court 2003) in the town. While serving in Belgium, he had volunteered to join the 137th Brigade Mining Section. Together with 1206 Lance Corporal J. Cronise, who was wounded during the attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt, Wallbank had been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his courage in rescuing two tunnellers overcome by fumes from a mine shaft close to Hill 60. Following his death, his wife and baby daughter received a grant from the Cannock Miners War Relief Fund.
Six sets of brothers are known to have died on 13th October 1915 while serving with 137th (Staffordshire) Infantry Brigade - one pair with 1/5th South Staffords and four pairs and one set of three brothers in the 1/5th North Staffords. There are also two men who may have been brothers - 2873 Lance-Corporal Reginald Tonks and 2872 Private Roland Tonks. Both men came from Willenhall and have consecutive regimental numbers, but in the absence of any further information to confirm any relationship this has not been proven. The names of five sets of brothers can be found together on the memorial:
1/5th South Staffords:
9303 Private John Stephens and 9302 Private Richard Stephens
The brothers came from Wimblebury, a mining village near Cannock.
1/5th North Staffords:
2486 Private Alfred Barlow and 3699 Private Thomas Barlow
Sons of Matilda Barlow and the late Thomas Barlow, of 30, Meir Hay Road, Normacot, Stoke-on-Trent.
1323 Private Ernest Flannagan, 3478 Private James Flannagan and 2075
Private William Flannagan
All three brothers lived in Longton.
2207 Private Arthur Glover and 1000 Private Graham Glover
Sons of W. G. Glover, who lived at 65, Old Rd in Stone.
3022 Private George Parr and 3277 Private Reginald Parr
Sons of Harry and Sarah Ellen Parr, of 28, West St in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
1550 Private Arthur Dale and 1541 Private Fred Dale, two brother from Kidsgrove, were also killed on 13th October with the 1/5th North Staffords. An obituary notice for Fred Dale appeared in the "Staffordshire Weekly Sentinel on 13th November 1915:
"Unofficial information was received a few days ago that Private Fred Dale, 1st-5th North Staffordshire Regiment, son of Mr. M. Dale, School-lane, Kidsgrove, was killed in action on October 13th. The parents, however, continued to hope, but on Thursday the suspense was removed by official intimation that he had been killed. Pte. Dale was a member of the 1st-5th North Staffordshire Regiment at the outbreak of the war, and was then mobilised. His brother Arthur was also in the same regiment, but no tidings of him have been received from him since October 13th. Another brother, Charles, is in a Welsh regiment and is at present on furlough from France."
Fred Dale has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, but the body of Arthur Dale was found and identified after the war and is buried in the Canadian Cemetery at Neuville St Vaast, (Plot VIII, Row G, Grave 3).
Some of the youngest soldiers to die in the assault, and whose ages have been confirmed, are commemorated on the memorial. 3454 Private Thomas Roden and 3425 Private James Tunstall, who both served with the 1/5th North Staffords, were only 16 years old when they were killed. Private Roden's obituary in the "Staffordshire Weekly Sentinel" reported him as being aged 18 at the time of his death. However, the record provided by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission gives his age as 16. Since his next-of-kin had also provided details to the Commission for inclusion in their records, it could be speculated that Private Roden had lied about his age on enlistment. The youngest known Non-Commissioned Officer to die on 13th October was 8853 Sergeant Thomas Fenton, a Walsall soldier serving with 1/5th South Staffords, who was 19 years old. The youngest Corporal killed in the assault on the Hohenzollern Redoubt was 3538 Corporal Colonel Willis of the 1/5th North Staffords. Corporal Willis, who came from Fenton, was aged seventeen. Corporal Willis, Private Roden and Private Tunstall were officially too young to be on active service.
The bodies of a few men from the Staffords were recovered from the battlefield and buried by the Guards Division. The relatives of Sergeant James Morris of the 1/5th South Staffords and Private Harold Holgate of the 1/5th North Staffords received news that his body had been found and buried by the Scots Guards. Sergeant Morris was 34 years old and had been a member of the Volunteer Force and the Territorials for sixteen years. He had even had an operation to allow him to be fit enough to serve at the front. The Grenadier Guards recovered the body of Lance-Corporal William Fletcher of the 1/5th North Staffords, who had worked at Chatterley Whitfield Colliery prior to war. Company Quartermaster Sergeant Capping of the Grenadiers wrote to his family in Burslem to inform them:
"Corpl. Fletcher died like a hero in the gallant charge, and he is laid to rest with some more of his comrades. A nice prayer was read over them."
The 2nd Coldstream Guards recovered the body of Second-Lieutenant Sidney Allday, an officer in the 1/5th South Staffords. A map reference of the location of his grave was sent to the War Office and his family in Edgbaston was notified. However, when the then Imperial War Graves Commission began the work of clearing the battlefields and reburying the dead after the war, the bodies of the four soldiers were not located. They are commemorated on the Loos Memorial.
Few of the men killed on 13th October have known graves. For the most part, their bodies were found after the war and re-interred in cemeteries close to the battlefield. The soldiers buried at Loos British Cemetery include 8202 Private Ernest Mears of the 1/5th South Staffords (Plot XVI, Row H, Grave 16) and 3570 Private William Richards of the 1/6th South Staffords (Plot XV, Row G, Grave 19). Their bodies were removed from Barts Alley Cemetery, named after the communication trench in which the Collecting Station for casualties was established during the battle. It contained the graves of 38 soldiers from the United Kingdom, who fell, for the most part, in the Battle of Loos. There are nearly 3,000 soldiers either buried or commemorated in the cemetery.
 The grave of Pte. Walter Heames of the 1/5th North Staffords in St Mary's ADS Cemetery |
The bodies of more men of the Staffordshire Brigade can be found buried in the St Mary's ADS Cemetery, on the side of the D39 Hulluch to Vermelles Road, close the village of Hainse. The cemetery was formed after the Armistice, by the concentration of graves from the battlefield of Loos; the great majority of the graves are those of men who fell in September and October 1915. There are now nearly 2,000 casualties from the Great War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. Of these, over two-thirds are unidentified. At the rear of the cemetery is a row of eleven Special Memorial headstones commemorating soldiers from the 1/5th and 1/6th North Staffords who are believed to have been buried in the cemetery. Among these are 1719 Lance-Corporal Fred Mallett of the 1/6th North Staffords, (Row B, Grave 2) and 401 Private William Heames, of the 1/5th North Staffords, (Row B, Grave 7). According to his obituary in the "Staffordshire Weekly Sentinel", William Heames had the longest continuous service of any private soldier within the battalion. Other soldiers, whose bodies were recovered after the war, can be found buried at Cabaret-Rouge British Military Cemetery, the Canadian Cemetery at Neuville St Vaast, and Bully-Grenay Communal Cemetery Extension. |
Cemeteries were often opened near Advanced Dressing Stations and Casualty Clearing Stations close to the battlefield. Among these is Vermelles British Cemetery. This is located near the site of the Chateau, which was occupied by 1/3rd North Midland Field Ambulance during the assault on the Hohenzollern Redoubt. Among the men from Staffordshire units who died at the Chateau of their wounds and are buried in the cemetery are 7057 Private James Clifford, a soldier from Wednesbury who served with the 1/5th South Staffords, (Plot IV, Row J, Grave 34.) and 375 Acting Lance-Corporal William Martin of 1/1st North Midland Field Company, (Plot I Row K, Grave 17), who was killed on the night of 12th October.
Choques Military Cemetery was used by No. 1 Casualty Clearing Station between January 1915 and April 1918. Among the Staffords buried in the cemetery are Captain Leslie Cozens, of the 1/5th South Staffords, (Plot I, Row F, Grave 10) and 3140 Private Douglas Bowers (Plot I, Row G, Grave 47); 2795 Private Bernard Tandy (Plot I, Row G, Grave 56); and 2990 Private Herbert Towler, (Plot I, Row G, Grave 68), of the 1/6th South Staffords.
Lillers Communal Cemetery contains several men from the South and North Staffords who died in the Casualty Clearing Stations there. These burials include Second-Lieutenant Frederick Kendrick (Plot II, Row D, Grave 10) and 9343 Lance-Corporal Douglas Harper (Plot IV, Row D, Grave 1) of the 1/5th South Staffords; 2652 Private Sam Evans of the 1/6th South Staffords (Plot IV, Row D, Grave 9); and 2605 Private Charles Wright of the 1/6th North Staffords (Plot IV, Row C, Grave 48). 2121Private Bertie Leigh of the 1/5th North Staffords is also buried at Lillers (Plot IV, Row D, Grave 8). Stretcher-bearers from the Grenadier Guards had found him on the night of 15th October, lying grievously wounded in front of their trenches. He died four days later at No. 6 Casualty Clearing Station.
Other graves can be found at Sailly Labourse Communal Cemetery and Fouquieres Churchyard Extension. About 400 Great War casualties are buried at Fouquieres, of which 249 are men from 46th (North Midland) Division, which served in the area again between April 1917 to September 1918.
The author has compiled a nominal roll containing the names of officers and men of Staffordshire units who were killed during the assault on the Hohenzollern Redoubt, or subsequently died of their wounds in hospital either in France or the United Kingdom. Every endeavour has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. Where possible, the man's company and age have been included. The "home town" noted for each soldier is where he was living at the time of his enlistment. The following abbreviations have been used:
KIA - Killed in Action
DOW - Died of Wounds
W & Missing - Wounded and Missing
Bn HQ - Battalion Headquaters
M.G. - Machine Gun
Several sources have been used in the compilation of this list. The primary sources for the names of those killed were the relevant volumes of "Soldiers Died in the Great War", (see Sources), and also the records held by on Commonwealth War Graves Commission's "Debt of Honour" Internet database. The reader will note that the 1/6th North Staffords have almost complete information regarding the man's company, due to the survival of a list of casualties compiled for Volume 4 of the History of the battalion in the archives of the Staffordshire Regiment Museum. Additional information was obtained by referring to contemporary local newspapers, which published the obituaries of most of the men listed.
However, this has not been a straightforward task for several reasons. The volumes of "Soldiers Died in the Great War", although useful as a reference tool, should be treated with caution as far as being a definitive source. Several errors in the spelling of surnames and also of dates of death were noted while carrying out this research which had to be cross-referenced against other sources. The information provided by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is considered to be more reliable, although again errors in unit designations were encountered while using the "Debt of Honour" database. When there have been discrepancies in the information on a casualty, the details confirmed by more than one source have been used. A system for checking information provided by the sources was adopted by the author to try to ensure that the information about each casualty is as accurate as possible:
1. A list was compiled from the relevant volumes of "Soldiers Died in the Great War" of men killed between 13th-15th October 1915, when 46th Division was relieved, as well as men who died of wounds up to the end of December 1915.
2. This initial list was compared against information held by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to confirm regimental numbers, ranks and also the spelling of surnames. As the next-of-kin of the casualty sometimes provided further information, this source was considered to be more accurate when wishing to confirm these details.
3. A further check was made using the casualty reports printed in the local newspapers at the time. The first casualty lists relating to the assault on the Hohenzollern Redoubt appeared a mere ten days after the attack. Relatives of the casualty provided the personal information, but again the details were checked against the previous two sources.
4. Surviving service records and lists of casualties held at the Public Records Office and the Staffordshire Regiment Museum were consulted, but again inconsistencies were noted and checked against the other sources used.
There are a number of casualties who have been noted as "missing". In the case of the 1/6th North Staffords, this information is contained in the surviving casualty roll. For the other units, local press reports were used to confirm this information in the absence of any official sources. Three "other ranks" also do not have a regimental number listed. In two cases, the number recorded in both "Soldiers Died in the Great War", and by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, is the six-digit service number introduced for Territorial Force soldiers in early 1917. It has been surmised that the soldiers in question, Private William Henry Shaw and Lance Corporal Isaac Taylor, were probably posted as missing but not confirmed as having died in the assault. They were therefore issued with new numbers. Several men posted as missing after 46th Division's attack at Gommecourt on 1st July 1916 were also given the new six-digit service numbers. The regimental number for Private James Edwin Bateman is incorrectly recorded by both the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and in the North Stafford's volume of "Soldiers Died in the Great War".
Those soldiers who died of their wounds were checked using the same system for those noted as killed during the action. To confirm that the men had been wounded between 13th-15th October, local press reports and any surviving casualty rolls were used. Of those men who died of their wounds, the majority of those buried in France are in cemeteries used by Casualty Clearing Stations and Hospitals. Five men died after being evacuated to hospitals in the United Kingdom:
1279 Driver George Gough 1/2nd N.M. Fld. Coy. R.E. (St James' Churchyard, Norton Canes)
1900 Private Arthur Mollart 1/5th North Staffords (Kensal Green Cemetery, London)
7985 Private John Rowley 1/5th South Staffords (St Michael's Churchyard, Brierley Hill)
2955 Private Harold Segar 1/6th South Staffords (Bilston Cemetery)
7671 Private John Turner 1/5th South Staffords (Short Heath (Holy Trinity) Churchyard)
The funeral of Driver George Gough was reported in the "Cannock Advertiser" in December 1915. His unit, 2nd North Midland Field Company, Royal Engineers, had its Drill Hall in the village at Norton Hall and many local men were serving in France with the First-Line Company. George Gough had been shot in the right shoulder and the bullet had severed his spinal column. As a result of his wound, Driver Gough had been paralysed from the waist down. He had been evacuated to England and was in hospital at Gosforth when he died on 9th December. He was buried with full military honours in the churchyard of St James Church in the village. A firing party from the 10th Leicesters, based at the nearby Rugeley Camp, fired a salute over his grave, and a contingent of Royal Engineers was also present. The entire village was present at his funeral.
1/5th Battalion
The South Staffordshire Regiment
(Name Home Town Company Age Remarks)
Captain Leslie Cozens Walsall A 22 DOW 14/10/15
Captain William Millner Tettenhall B 38
Lieutenant Stanley Owen Allday Edgbaston 19
Lieutenant John Barnabas Hutton Walsall 24
Second-Lieutenant Alan Edward Green Cambridge B 20
Second-Lieutenant Frederick Howard Kendrick Handsworth 27 DOW 16/10/15
Second-Lieutenant Leslie Gardner Shaw Wolverhampton 25
7670 Private Joseph Allcock Shortheath D 24
9478 Private Joseph Attwood Brierley Hill
8008 Corporal Ernest Bangham Brierley Hill 18
7827 Lance-Corporal Alfred Benton Cannock B 20
8419 Private Oliver Billingham Cradley Heath 24
9592 Private Arthur Birkett Walsall A 18 DOW 24/10/15
7038 Private William Bond Walsall
248 Private John Bornforth Walsall
9464 Private Edward Brookes Brierley Hill
193 Private John Brookes Brierley Hill 30
9536 Private William Brookhouse Aldridge
7959 Private Frank Bryce Brierley Hill 20
9440 Private George Bushnell Walsall
163 Private James Butcher Brierley Hill
191 Private Alfred Butterworth Cradley Heath
8749 Private James Cater Walsall 31
8791 Lance-Sergeant Cecil Chard Walsall
9776 Private William Civil West Bromwich 31
9967 Private William Clark Old Hill
7057 Private James Clifford Wednesbury
7995 Sergeant William Collins Brierley Hill
9292 Private George Cook Cannock
8531 Private Horace Cowley Walsall
7260 Lance-Corporal Edward Coyne Walsall
8975 Private Ernest Cresswell Walsall
7772 Private Fred Dixon Walsall 23
8989 Private Arthur Dodman Bloxwich D 19
8199 Lance-Corporal Walter Evans Cannock Signal Section 30
8853 Sergeant Thomas Fenton Walsall D 19
9003 Lance-Corporal Charles Fox Bloxwich D 25
9994 Private Leonard Freeman Walsall
9432 Private Alfred French Walsall 35
9785 Private Samuel Gillard Dudley 19
8465 Private Charles Gordin Handsworth
9125 Private Thomas Griffiths Wednesbury
9534 Private Wallace Hackett Pelsall 18
9343 Lance-Corporal Douglas Harper Wednesbury DOW 16/10/15
9404 Private William Harris Walsall M.G. Section 27
9049 Private John Harrison Wednesbury
9098 Private Clifford Harold Hawkeswood Quarry Bank 20
9000 Private Isaac Hayward Bloxwich 30
9110 C.S.M. John Hayward Wednesbury
9991 Private Joseph Henden Rushall 27
9122 Private Ernest Henderson Wednesbury 19
8995 Lance-Corporal William Henton Derby
9734 Private Sidney Hill Aldridge 16 DOW 1/11/15
30 Private George Hodnett Wordsley
210 Private William Homer Birmingham
9531 Sergeant William Horton Walsall 23
9130 Private Percy Howard Wednesbury 24
7755 Private Wilfred Howell Birmingham 20
9129 Private Leonard Hunt Wednesbury 20
9002 Private John James Bloxwich D 26
9132 Lance-Corporal Charles Jones Wednesbury
7440 Private Thomas Jones Wednesbury 28
77 Private Charles Lankesheer Brierley Hill 18
8200 Private William Lewis Bridgtown 20 KIA 12/10/15
8077 Private Matthew Longdon Bloxwich
7976 Private Harry Lowe Kingswinford 21
12 Private David Meakins Blackheath
8202 Private Ernest Mears Bridgtown Signal Section 20
8308 Private Alfred Merrick Heath Hayes 20
7480 Lance-Corporal William Millerchip Walsall
8093 Private Charles Millington Bloxwich 21
9344 Private Harold Mills Selly Oak, Worcs 21
4167 Sergeant James Morris Walsall 34
5281 C.S.M. Aarron Moseley Wednesbury 28
9035 Private William Newell Darlaston 25
7652 Lance-Corporal Frank Newton Walsall
7788 Lance-Corporal Arthur Paddock Walsall M.G. Section 21
9441 Private John Parton Walsall 18
9054 Private Richard Pearson Brierley Hill
9971 Private Enos Pitchford Quarry Bank 26
8745 Lance-Corporal George Pitt Walsall 47 DOW 20/10/15
8162 Private Bernard Porter Walsall 19
8648 Private George Price Kingswinford A 19
5351 Private Fred Proverbs Rawnsley B 32
8000 Sergeant Benjamin Roberts Brierley Hill A 25
8452 Private Joseph Roberts Wednesbury C 22
9593 Private Samuel Round Aldridge 22
7985 Private John Rowley Brierley Hill 21 DOW 14/12/15
4728 Sergeant Christopher Russell Walsall 32
6745 Private George Sargent Bloxwich D 24
9169 Corporal John Shipley Walsall 21
69 Private James Sidaway Old Hill 19
9376 Private Joseph Simpson Brierley Hill A 18
9540 Lance-Corporal George Spencer Rushall
216 Private James Stanton Walsall
8081 Drummer Oswald Starkey Walsall D 19 Missing
9303 Private John Stephens Wimblebury 23 Brothers
9302 Private Richard Stephens Wimblebury 21 Brothers
8691 Lance-Corporal Clarence Stevens Brierley Hill
8972 Lance-Corporal Herbert Streeter Erdington 20 DOW 15/10/15
7350 Private Harry Taylor Bloxwich D 22
8867 Private Cyril Thompson Wolverhampton
9466 Private Albert Tortoishell Walsall D 29 DOW 1/11/15
9384 Lance-Sergeant Arthur Tomkinson Codsall
7671 Private John Turner New Invention DOW 27/10/15
9943 Private George Whitehouse Walsall 18
9451 Private George Whitehouse Walsall 34
9639 Private Solomon Wilding Old Hill 21
194 Private Percy Willetts Brownhills
8309 Private Richard Williams Wedges Mill B 20 KIA 15/10/15
7661 Lance-Corporal Arthur Willis Walsall 22
1/6th Battalion
The South Staffordshire Regiment
(Name Home Town Company Age Remarks)
Captain (Acting Major) Edwin Read Collisson Wolverhampton Bn HQ 28 Adjutant
Captain Edward Arthur Cresswell Wolverhampton B 32 W & Missing
Second-Lieutenant Tom Vincent Dann Dudley A
Second-Lieutenant Frederick John Illiff Burton-on-Trent C
Second-Lieutenant Walter Nelson Warwick B 45
3294 Private Alfred Adams Bilston
2390 Private Cyril Adey Wolverhampton 19
2387 Private Harry Arkinstall Tettenhall 18
2766 Private John Ash Wolverhampton
2824 Lance-Sergeant William Astle Wolverhampton 25
3277 Private Leo Bagshaw Wolverhampton 24
1784 Private Samuel Bagshaw Willenhall
2254 Private John Baker Willenhall KIA 14/10/15
2257 Private George Banks Willenhall
2082 Private Arthur Barratt Wolverhampton
2658 Private Ernest Bell Wolverhampton C 23
3347 Private William Bennett Bilston
2876 Acting Sergeant Edward Bishton Pattingham 22
2832 Private Joseph Blackburn Bilston 25
1538 Sergeant Charles Bloomer Wednesbury
1919 Private Charles Botton Bilston
2810 Drummer Richard Bouckley Wolverhampton
3140 Private Douglas Bowers Grendon, Northants 20 DOW 15/10/15
2701 Private Abner Bullock Wolverhampton
3074 Private Thomas Burton Bilston
3601 Private William Burton Wolverhampton
2871 Lance-Corporal Sydney Butler Tettenhall 22
2619 Private John Cartwright Gornal 22
1850 Drummer Frank Castree Bilston 18
2064 Private Bert Chester Willenhall 20
2192 Private Fred Cliffe Wolverhampton 20
2941 Lance-Corporal Henry Collier Handsworth 20
1906 Private Albert Constable Willenhall
1571 Private William Constable Wednesbury
1277 Private John Cooper Wednesbury
1256 Private William Coulson Willenhall 24
2308 Private George Cox Bilston
3818 Private Walter Cox Upper Gornal 28
1591 Lance-Corporal Bert Croft Bilston
2699 Private Bert Cross Wolverhampton
3227 Private Sampson Cross Essington
3801 Private Thomas Crudgington Walsall 35
2171 Private Isaac Davies Willenhall
3811 Private Ernest Dodd Wolverhampton 20
2335 Private James Dudwell Wolverhampton
3281 Private John Elwell Bilston 25
3103 Private Isaac Evans Wolverhampton
2652 Private Samuel Evans Wolverhampton 21 DOW 20/10/15
2936 Private James Fellows Bilston 25
2688 Lance-Corporal Samuel Forrester Wolverhampton
1184 Private Roger Foster Wolverhampton
2935 Private Wilfred Foster Bilston 23
2291 Private John Ratcliffe Garner Tettenhall 26
2392 Sergeant Percy Gerrar Stafford
2685 Private George Gobown Wolverhampton
3680 Private Henry Godson Wolverhampton A 25
2734 Private Harry Gooderidge Wolverhampton
2939 Private Edward Gough West Bromwich 22
2483 Private William Green Wolverhampton
1690 Private Rowland Griffiths Willenhall 23
2818 Private Thomas Hanstock Wolverhampton Missing
2957 Private Bernard Harman Wolverhampton
1709 Lance-Corporal William Hart Wolverhampton 19 DOW 21/10/15
1922 Private Arthur Hayward Bilston 21
2949 Private Basil Victor Hewitson Birmingham 19
2419 Private Samuel Hill Wolverhampton
3822 Private William Hill Wolverhampton
3299 Private Thomas Hill Bilston 22
3123 Private Albert Hollis Wolverhampton 22
2895 Lance-Corporal John Hopton Wolverhampton 21
2589 Private John Hough Wolverhampton 35
790 Sergeant Charles Hughes Willenhall
2662 Private Fred Hunt Woodsetton 25
2757 Private George James Wolverhampton
2648 Sergeant Thomas Jasper Wolverhampton 23
2629 Acting Corporal Joseph Jones Albrighton
1751 Private William Jones Woodsetton
3011 Private Leonard Lawson Wolverhampton
2473 Private Thomas Laxson Wolverhampton 26
3835 Private Edward Rutter Lewis Brewood 24
3715 Private John Lewis Wolverhampton
2595 Private Jeremiah Lloyd Wolverhampton
3362 Private Fred Lockley Wolverhampton 17
2679 Private Stephen Lounds Tipton B
3544 Private Thomas Lowe Tipton 28
2628 Lance-Sergeant George Lycett Albrighton
2822 Private Archibald Marr Wolverhampton 25
1975 Private Frank Mason Compton 26 KIA 12/10/15
2803 Private Sidney Chamberlain Millward Wolverhampton 24
3845 Private Thomas Millward Wolverhampton
3740 Private Patrick Newell Wolverhampton 24
3461 Corporal Charles Northall Wolverhampton
2623 Private James Bert Organ Bradley DOW 15/10/15
1757 Private William Payton Dudley
2865 Private Arthur Whateley Piper Birmingham
1250 Private John Pitt Willenhall
2277 Private Arthur Plant Bilston
3728 Private Alexander Ponder Colchester, Essex 36 DOW 13/10/15
1729 Acting Sergeant Walter Pope Tettenhall 20
2489 Lance-Corporal Henry Potter Tipton
3371 Private Thomas Pountney Bilston 28
2715 Private Harry Powell Wolverhampton 20
2775 Private John Powell Wolverhampton
3638 Private Fred Price Wolverhampton
2503 Lance-Corporal Norman Price Wolverhampton
3570 Private William Richards Walsall
1883 Corporal Reginald Rimmington Wednesbury
3443 Private Cyril Rogers Wombourne 17
3250 Private Robert Seager Bilston
2955 Private Harold Segar Ettingshall DOW 5/12/15
1987 Private Sidney Sheldon Tipton
3591 Private William Simner Bilston 20
2843 Corporal Fred Smith Wednesbury 28
1840 Private Matthew Smith Willenhall 36
2795 Private Bernard Joseph Tandy West Bromwich DOW 16/10/15
2742 Private Charles Taylor Dudley 19 DOW 14/10/15
2800 C.S.M. Christopher Taylor Wolverhampton 27
2649 Private James Thomas Willenhall D 20
3447 Private Albert Thomason Compton 26
3071 Private Harry Thompson Wolverhampton
3391 Private William Titley Bilston DOW 15/10/15
2873 Lance-Corporal Reginald Tonks Willenhall 26
2872 Private Roland Tonks Willenhall Missing
2990 Lance-Corporal Herbert Towler Wolverhampton DOW 17/10/15
3672 Private Richard Turner Wolverhampton 18
2423 Private Simeon Turner Bilston
1609 Acting Sergeant Fred Watson Wolverhampton C 20
3667 Private George Wylde Tipton 24
1/5th Battalion|
The Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment)
(Name Home Town Company Age Remarks)
Lieutenant-Colonel John Hall Knight V.D. Eccleshall Bn HQ 50 Missing
Captain James Hamilton Fleming Stone Bn HQ Adjutant
Captain Henry Ackroyd Ridgway Acton D
Captain Reginald Tavenor Johnson Barlaston B 36 W & Missing
Lieutenant Oswald William Boddington Stone Bn HQ M.G. Officer
Lieutenant Henry Robert Griffith Davies Alsager, Cheshire C 28
Lieutenant Frank Bertram Mayer Alsager, Cheshire B
Second-Lieutenant Nigel Bishop Stone C 23
Second-Lieutenant Charles Arthur Lowndes Chesterton A
Second-Lieutenant Percy Mellor Congleton, Cheshire D 21 Missing
3620 Private Fred Abbotts Burslem 32
3737 Private Mell Adlington Wolstanton 33
1602 Private Elijah Ainsworth Stoke Missing
3230 Private Ernest Alcock Hanley 29
2818 Corporal George Allen Longton
2918 Sergeant Cyril Allerton Blythe Bridge 24
3908 Private John Arnold Hanley
3929 Private Harry Ashmore Talke 20
1513 Sergeant Samuel Ashmore Talke D 22
2309 Lance-Corporal George Baggaley Longton 19
2060 Sergeant William Bagguley Fenton
3771 Private Ernest Ball Dresden
2387 Private James Barker Longton 17
2486 Private Alfred Barlow Normacot 23 Brothers
3699 Private Thomas Barlow Normacot 24 Brothers
Private James Edwin Bateman Burslem
2138 Lance-Corporal Harry Beard Longton 18
3660 Private Herbert Bennett Willowbridge 19
3578 Private Arthur Beresford Tunstall 20
3279 Private William Blakeman Swynnerton
3333 Private John Booth Biddulph Missing
2087 Private John Bould Longton 22
1470 Private William Bowler Burslem 23
3762 Private John Norris Brailsford Hanley M.G. Section 21
2076 Private Samuel Brain Longton A 19
2233 Private Harold Breeze Butt Lane 18
167 Sergeant Thomas Brookes Longton
2637 Private Lewis Brough Hanley 29
3307 Lance-Corporal Joseph Brown Woore, Cheshire
3989 Private John Brown Smallthorne
4020 Private Herbert Brunt Fenton
2365 Private William Buttress Hanley 21
3334 Private Jonathan Washington Caum Biddulph
3934 Private Anthony Campbell Burslem 21
3487 Private George Cartlidge Longton A 26
3938 Private James Casey Brown Lees 22
1715 Private Albert Caulcott Newcastle-under-Lyme
1705 Private Arthur Clarke Stoke
1538 Private Fred Clarke Tunstall
2359 Private William Clarke Stoke 24
2033 Private Alfred Clayton Stoke
3664 Private Samuel Colley Burslem 23
3881 Private Norris George Cook Newcastle-under-Lyme 19
3623 Private George Coomer Newcastle-under-Lyme 21
2678 Lance-Corporal Fred Cope Stoke
2319 Private Daniel Cotton Longton 23
2811 C.Q.M.S. Algernon George Couzens Stone 24
3815 Private John Cresswell Hanley 25
4017 Lance-Corporal Arthur Crompton Longport
2978 Lance-Corporal Arthur Cumberlidge Longton 24
1550 Private Arthur Dale Kidsgrove 21 Brothers
1541 Private Fred Dale Kidsgrove 19 Brothers
1690 Lance-Corporal Fred Daniels Hanley 23 DOW 16/10/15
4264 Private Percy Daniels Burslem
2850 Lance-Corporal Frank Davenhill Stone
2560 Private Joshua Davies Chesterton 19 DOW 16/10/15
2240 Private James Dawson Stone 19
3691 Private John Deacon Hanley 31 Missing
2504 Drummer Harold Deaville Hanley 20
1091 Private Ernest Dewsnap Trent Vale C 18
460 Private Robert Dillon Tunstall B 20
3931 Private Frank Downing Kidsgrove 20
1414 Private Percy Durber Chesterton
3961 Private George Dwine Smallthorne
3156 Private James Edwards Cobridge 20
2870 Lance-Corporal Arthur Ellis Alsager, Cheshire 27
2044 Private Thomas Endacott Hanley 18
3848 Private Fred Evans Smallthorne 23
613 Corporal Thomas Fitzjohn Stoke 25
3783 Lance-Corporal Harry Flackett Shelton 30
1323 Private Ernest Flannagan Longton Brothers
3478 Private James Flannagan Longton Brothers
2075 Private William Flannagan Longton Brothers
2898 Lance-Corporal William Fletcher Burslem
2627 Private Arthur Forrester Hanley 32
3712 Private George Foster Hanley
2528 Bugler Fred Forsythe Fenton A 19
2487 Private Richard Fullwood Longton
3018 Private Thomas Gilbert Stone
2139 Private Charles Gittins Penkhull
2207 Private Arthur Glover Stone 21 Brothers
1000 Private Graham Glover Stone 23 Brothers
3403 Private Paul Glover Cobridge M.G. Section 18
2819 Private Nathan Goodrum Downsham Market, Norfolk
2817 Private Ashworth Gough Hanley
4046 Private Sidney Grainger Fenton 23
3676 Private William Gray Hanley
1547 Private William Greenlough Kidsgrove
2641 Private Hugh Griffiths Newcastle-under-Lyme
3714 Lance-Corporal Fred Gwilliam Stoke 21
2686 Private Robert Hall Alsager, Cheshire B 24
3530 Private Thomas Hall Newcastle-under-Lyme 19
1480 Private George Hammonds Burslem DOW 19/10/15
2635 Corporal Joseph Hand Stoke
3956 Private Thomas Hand Stoke
3377 Private Harry Handley Hanley 21
3593 Lance-Corporal David Harrison Hanley
2937 Lance-Corporal Fred Hawley Fenton 24
3600 Private Ernest Hayes Fenton
3077 Private Arnold Haylett Burslem 20 DOW 25/10/15
401 Private William Heames Burslem
1536 Private Ernest Heath Butt Lane
2498 Private Fred Heath Fenton 19 Missing
3258 Private Jack Hill Longton 20
4013 Private Joseph Hodgkinson Norton-le-Moors
3580 Private John Hodson Dresden A 19
2856 Private Charles Holgate Hanley
3402 Private Fred Hood Burslem 26
2776 Private Charles Hudson Hanley 18 Missing
1682 Private James Hulme Longton
1493 Private John Humphreys Burslem 19
3511 Private Joseph Humphreys Burslem
2058 Private William Hurst Longton 23
2944 Lance-Sergeant Philip Irwin Stone 21 DOW 14/10/15
4072 Private Thomas Issard Hanley 20 DOW 15/10/15
1743 Private James Jennings Silverdale 22
2812 Private George Jones Stone
2339 Private John Jones Hanley
2688 Sergeant Sydney Jones Newcastle-under-Lyme 32
3954 Private Thomas Jones Hanley 30
1779 Private Thomas Johnson Newcastle-under-Lyme
3757 Private Charles Kelter Shelton 27
3366 Lance-Corporal William Kennerley Biddulph
1501 Sergeant Frank Kent Kidsgrove 35
2998 Lance-Corporal Harry Landon Hanley
3385 Lance-Corporal Charles Lane Newcastle-under-Lyme 22
2669 Corporal Lewis Latimer Longport
3031 Private Cecil Lawton Stoke
3872 Private Clarence Leckie Burslem 22
2155 Acting Sergeant William Leese Newcastle-under-Lyme D 20
2121 Private Bertie Leigh Hanley DOW 19/10/15
3344 Lance Sergeant Arnold Lewis Newchapel
3146 Private Duncan McClarence Dresden DOW 26/10/15
2912 Lance-Corporal Sydney Denny Marsden Stoke
2393 Private Fred Marshall Hanley 18
2940 Lance-Corporal Edward Massey Hanley 22
2659 Private John Matthews Bucknall 21
3892 Private Samuel Mellor Milton 19
3039 Private Edward Miller Hanley
454 Corporal Leonard Millward Burslem 38 Missing
1412 Private Fred Mitchell Newcastle-under-Lyme 23
3251 Private Christopher Mitford Alsager, Cheshire 22
1900 Private Arthur Mollart Burslem 19 DOW 26/11/15
4023 Private George Morgan Fenton
3658 Private Harry Morrey Hanley 19
2066 Private Edward Morris Longton
3343 Private William Morris Biddulph
2600 Private Gilbert Moulton Silverdale 19
1415 Private William Muston Knutton 34
927 Private William Nicholls Stone
3597 Private Harold Nixon Penkhull
3885 Private William Parkes Longton
3022 Private George Parr Newcastle-under-Lyme 25 Brothers
3277 Private Reginald Parr Newcastle-under-Lyme 21 Brothers
1479 Private Noah Pedley Burslem
3280 Private John Perks Swynnerton 27
3972 Private William Plant Smallthorne 19
2241 Private Lewis Plimmer Stone 20
3701 Private Alfred Powell Hanley Missing
3971 Private William Prosser Burslem 24 DOW 17/10/15
2177 Private Percy Ralphs Newcastle-under-Lyme 22
4068 Sergeant Fred Ratcliffe Porthill 23
3545 Private Harold Ravensdale Stoke
3520 Private John Reade Burslem 24
3353 Lance-Corporal John Reeves Brindley Ford 26
3245 Private Harry Ridge Longton B 25
3996 Private Thomas Rigby Lawton, Cheshire 22
58 Lance-Sergeant Arthur Roberts Shelton
3669 Private George Roberts Burslem
3492 Lance-Corporal David Robinson Biddulph
2614 Private Thomas Robinson Cobridge
3454 Private Thomas Roden Longton 16
2842 Private Philip Rowe Hanley 21
3442 Private Rowland Rowley Leigh 20 Missing
2247 Private George Rowson Stone 23
607 Sergeant Fred Sant Stoke 31
333 Private Charles Sharman Burslem
2716 Acting Corporal Robert Shaw Newcastle-under-Lyme
3792 Private Tom Shaw Crewe, Cheshire 28
2097 Private William Shaw Burslem 18
Private William Henry Shaw Fenton 20 Missing
3072 Private Harry Sheldon Shelton
4214 Private Albert Sherrat Burslem
3330 Private Robert Sherrat Biddulph 20 Missing
2700 Private William Sherry Stoke 22
3864 Lance-Corporal Benjamin Shorthouse Stoke
3038 Private Charles Shufflebotham Newcastle-under-Lyme 21
2428 Private Charles Henry Shufflebotham Goldenhill 19
2306 Private George Shufflebotham Cobridge 34
2180 Private Joseph Shuker Stoke 23
4058 Private Alfred Skellern Longton
1515 Corporal Alexander Smith Burslem 25 Missing
1575 Private James Smith Stone 21
1832 Private Robert Smith Tunstall
2765 Private Ralph Twist Snape Newcastle-under-Lyme 24 DOW 17/10/15
3219 Lance-Corporal Leonard Stokes Burslem
3639 Private Alfred Sutton Shelton
3396 Private Arthur Talbot Goldenhill
3244 Lance-Corporal Harry Talbot Longton C 25
2951 Lance-Sergeant Ernest Thomas Wolstanton 25
1333 Private John Thomas Longton
3905 Private James Tilestone Stoke
2081 Private William Tooth Longton 18
3733 Private James Townsend Stoke 31
2767 Private Harry Tudor Leek 21
3802 Private John Tunnicliffe Hanley
3425 Private James Tunstall Stoke 16
3199 Private Edward Turner Etruria 28
1070 Lance-Sergeant William Turnock Penkhull
1495 Private Alfred Tyler Burslem
1636 Private John Walker Fenton 19
1298 Sergeant Richard Walker Shelton 22
378 Lance-Corporal James Wardle Burslem 25
1428 Private George Warham Bignall End 23
1522 Sergeant Walter Washbrook Tunstall
192 C.S.M. Henry Washington Fenton 43
2774 Lance-Corporal William Webster Newcastle-under-Lyme 28
3572 Private Albert Wharton Tunstall
2583 Lance-Corporal John Whitehouse Tunstall 35
1725 Private John William Whitehouse Silverdale 22
2418 Private Thomas Whittle Newcastle-under-Lyme 18
2598 Private Elijah Williams Newcastle-under-Lyme
2940 Private Ernest Williams Burslem
4061 Private James Williams Silverdale 20
3538 Corporal Colonel Willis Fenton 17
3192 Private John Wilson Burton-on-Trent
3091 Lance-Corporal Fred Woodcock Burslem
3945 Private Henry Yarwood Smallthorne
2936 Private Alfred Yorke Alsager, Cheshire 24
1/6th Battalion
The Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment)
(Name Home Town Company Age Remarks)
Captain Oswald Joseph Bamford Uttoxeter B 38
Captain John Jenkinson Tamworth C 33
Second-Lieutenant Ostcliffe Harold Beaufort Oaklands Park 22
Second-Lieutenant John Blanchard 35
Second-Lieutenant Andrew Stewart Fox Beaconsfield, Bucks 21
Second-Lieutenant Horace Neville Hartley Stone 26
Second-Lieutenant John Philip Edmund Owens Burton-on-Trent
1648 Sergeant Leslie Cecil Atkinson Burton-on-Trent A 21
2329 Private William Bagnall Horninglow D 32
3072 Private Charles Bailey Burton-on-Trent A 25
2770 Private Sidney Bennett Burton-on-Trent A
1273 Private George Birch Burton-on-Trent A 22
1823 Private Joseph Blackwell Uttoxeter B
1430 Private Harry Bloor Uttoxeter B 31 W & Missing
1817 Private Fred Bott Lichfield C
2883 Private Charles Brearley Burton-on-Trent D Missing
2 C.S.M. John Lewis Brindley Burton-on-Trent A
1428 Private William Brough Uttoxeter B DOW 14/10/15
2844 Lance-Corporal Daniel Carlisle Burton-on-Trent D 18
2421 Private John Carvell Burton-on-Trent D
2182 Private Bertram Chilton Burton-on-Trent A 18 Missing
3364 Private John Christelow Burton-on-Trent A
2369 Private James Clack Burton-on-Trent A 18
1796 Drummer John Clarke Burton-on-Trent D 18
2119 Private Reginald Clarke Rugeley D 19
1981 Private Alfred Clewlow Stafford B W & Missing
1338 Lance - Sergeant Arthur Copeland Burton-on-Trent D
867 Sergeant George Cutler Burton-on-Trent D
1812 Private Harold Curzon Uttoxeter B
1506 Private James Deakin Rugeley D
3263 Corporal William Dennitts Bucknall B 20
2294 Private William Duffin Stafford B
3162 Private Bernard Eames Swadlincote, Derby C
2365 Private George Eaton Burton-on-Trent A 19
1857 Private Charles Edwards Burton-on-Trent A 21
2821 Lance-Corporal Leonard Ewers Horninglow C 23
104 Sergeant William Eyre Burton-on-Trent D 28
1196 Private James Fisher Rugeley D 28
2632 Lance-Corporal Fred Ford Willenhall B
3458 Private John Ford Burton-on-Trent B 23
2664 Acting Corporal James Perkin Fradley Uttoxeter B 38
2398 Private Harry Gadsby Burton-on-Trent A 23
3607 Private William Gent Woodville, Derby C 31
1762 Private Fred Geohegan Stafford B
1630 Private Percy German Burton-on-Trent A 21 DOW 17/10/15
2345 Private Harry Goodhead Burton-on-Trent A 18
40 Private John Gough Burton-on-Trent A DOW 14/10/15
2349 Private Harry Grimley Rolleston-on-Dove A 30
1405 Private Ernest Hall Lichfield C 26
2470 Private Thomas Wells Hallam Burton-on-Trent D 28
1431 Private John Hayes Uttoxeter B 19 Missing
1495 Private William Heath Burton-on-Trent D 22
1803 Private John Hodgkins Lichfield C
2344 Private Silvester Benjamin Hodgkins Burton-on-Trent A 21 Missing
2042 Private William Holley Stapenhill A 19 DOW 24/10/15
2673 Private William Holmes Uttoxeter B 27
2310 Private Rupert Inwood Burton-on-Trent D 19
3099 Private Joseph Jevons Burton-on-Trent D
3039 Private Francis John Kelham Stapenhill A 24
1818 Private Norman Lomas Tideswell, Derby D 25
1649 Private Samuel McMillan Burton-on-Trent A 19 W & Missing
3393 Private John Makin Burton-on-Trent D
1719 Lance-Corporal Fred Mallet Burton-on-Trent C 22
1643 Private Herbert Marler Burton-on-Trent A
2311 Private Walter Mayne Burton-on-Trent D DOW 19/10/15
1988 Private Frank Marsh Elford C 22 DOW 14/10/15
2224 Private Ernest Mason Amington C 19 DOW 15/10/15
1573 Private John Neale Lichfield C 23
3433 Private Alfred Neild Doveridge, Derby B
2072 Private Walter Neville Lichfield C
574 Sergeant William Norton Burton-on-Trent A W & Missing
2801 Private Fred Ottewell Burton-on-Trent D
2375 Private Ernest Plumb Tutbury A
3288 Private William Redfern Burton-on-Trent D Missing
2498 Private Herbert Richardson Uttoxeter B 23
1888 Private Thomas Richardson Tutbury A 21
2903 Private Percy Sawyer Burton-on-Trent A 18
2270 Private John Shale Stafford B
2544 Private Ernest Smith Tamworth C 29 DOW 22/10/15
2121 Private Arthur Smith Doveridge, Derby B
2508 Private Sampson Smith Uttoxeter B
2187 Private William Stockwell Burton-on-Trent A
2330 Sergeant Reginald Stone Burton-on-Trent A 26
2515 Private Sydney Stubbs Uttoxeter B 25
2424 Private Harry Sutton Burton-on-Trent D 28
2963 Private Walter Tack Burton-on-Trent D
2522 Private Bertram Taft Uttoxeter B 17
2472 Private Leonard Taylor Burton-on-Trent D
2362 Lance-Corporal Leslie Harry Tooby Burton-on-Trent A 25 Missing
2994 Private William Tyson Uttoxeter C 20
1953 Private Joseph Wainwright Tamworth C 21 Missing
350 Sergeant Frank Wallbank D.C.M. Rugeley B 29
1922 Private James Walters Stafford B
3026 Private Edward Washington Burton-on-Trent B
1523 Private Tom Williams Hopwas C
3367 Private Thomas Wilson Burton-on-Trent D
2823 Private William Witherow Burton-on-Trent B 19
2523 Private Charles Wood Uttoxeter B 40
3281 Private Joseph Woodhead Burton-on-Trent D 29
3157 Private Arthur Woodyet Burton-on-Trent C 28 Missing
3270 Acting Corporal Thomas Woolley Burton-on-Trent A 20
2971 Private James Worrall Tutbury B
2631 Private William Worrall Stafford B 29 DOW 16/10/15
2605 Private Charles Wright Lichfield C 40 DOW 15/10/15
Divisional Troops
46th (North Midland) Divisional Engineers
(Name Home Town Company Age Remarks)
Major Samuel William Tonks 1/1st N. Midland
Captain George Patterson 1/1st N. Midland
Lieutenant Burkett John Emery Harborne 1/2nd N. Midland 31
1293 Driver Harry Adams Heath Hayes 1/2nd N. Midland 20
572 Lance-Corporal George Badham Smethwick 1/1st N. Midland KIA 12/10/15
1369 Sapper William Ewart Bates Cannock 1/2nd N. Midland
1439 Sapper Walter Edwin Bickley Cheslyn Hay 1/2nd N. Midland 20
1510 Sapper George Coote Hoxton, London 1/2nd N. Midland 30
1279 Driver George Gough Norton Canes 1/2nd N. Midland 22 DOW 9/12/15
1415 Sapper William Gretton Cheslyn Hay 1/2nd N. Midland 19
547 Sapper William Lee Smethwick 1/1st N. Midland 21 KIA 12/10/15
1467 Sapper John Lockett Cheslyn Hay 1/2nd N. Midland 33
306 Sapper Sydney Lord Birmingham 1/1st N. Midland
375 Acting Lance-Corporal William Martin Smethwick 1/1st N. Midland 19 KIA 12/10/15
1749 Sapper Robert Peake Stoke 1/2nd N. Midland
1486 Sapper Moses Price Brownhills 1/2nd N. Midland 32
Lance-Corporal Isaac Taylor Pelsall 1/2nd N. Midland Missing
364 Sapper Albert Vaughan Smethwick 1/1st N. Midland 21 KIA 12/10/15
1481 Sapper William Wilkes Brownhills 1/2nd N. Midland 31 KIA 15/10/15
1397 Sapper Arthur Wright Brownhills 1/2nd N. Midland 23 Missing
1/3rd North Midland Brigade
Royal Field Artillery
(Name Home Town Battery Age Remarks)
Lieutenant Arthur Conway Osborne Morgan London 4th Staffordshire 30
1068 Gunner Herbert Brown West Bromwich 5th Staffordshire
1/3rd North Midland Field Ambulance
Royal Army Medical Corps
(Name Home Town Unit Age Remarks)
M2/048536 Driver Frank Lawrence Leicester Army Service Corps DOW 15/10/15
Sources
Letters and Diaries:
To save repetition in the text, the sources of the quotations from soldiers used in the narrative have been included below:
Abbreviations:
C.A. - The Cannock Advertiser
L.M. - The Lichfield Mercury
Sentinel - The Staffordshire Weekly Sentinel
W.Ob. - The Walsall Observer
1/5th South Staffords
Anonymous Sergeant W.Ob., 23rd October 1915
Private John Birch W.Ob., 6th November 1915
Private E. Martin C.A., 30th October 1915
Private Sidney Richards Diary (Mr. R. Richards)
Corporal Jack Shipley W.Ob., 23rd October 1915
Sergeant H. Smith W.Ob., 23rd October 1915
Lieutenant Norman Smith W.Ob., 23rd October 1915
1/6th South Staffords
Lieutenant-Colonel F. W. B. Law History of the 6th South Staffords
Lieutenant P. J. Slater History of the 6th South Staffords
Lieutenant-Colonel T. F. Waterhouse History of the 6th South Staffords
1/5th North Staffords
Private Joseph Barlow Sentinel, 30th October 1915
Private B. F. Boulton Sentinel, 23rd October 1915
Private R. Bruce Sentinel, 23rd October 1915
Private J. Harrison Sentinel, 30th October 1915
Private S. Orpe Sentinel, 13th November 1915
Private A. Preston Sentinel, 13th November 1915
1/6th North Staffords
Private B. Clarke L.M., 23rd October 1915
Private R. Holden Sentinel, 30th October 1915
C.Q.M.S. Martin Sentinel, 30th October 1915
Sergeant Caleb Norton Letter, 30th October 1915 (Staffordshire Regiment)
Sergeant Sydney Norton Letter, 16th October 1915 (Staffordshire Regiment)
Private C. C. Oram L.M., 23rd October 1915
Major E. W. Peach Sentinel, 30th October 1915
Lieutenant-Colonel R. F. Ratcliff Sentinel, 30th October 1915
Private F. Rogers L.M., 23rd October 1915
1/2nd North Midland Field Company
Sapper Aarron Foster C.A., 23rd October 1915
Sapper George Hawkins C.A., 30th October 1915
The Earl of Dartmouth W. Ob., 30th October 1915
Major General E. J. Montague-Stuart-Wortley WO95/2662
C.A., L.M., Sentinel & W.Ob., 23rd October 1915
J. S. Rowland (Mayor of Burton-on-Trent) Sentinel, 30th October 1915
H. E. H. Shaddick (Chaplain) L.M., 23rd October 1915
Captain W. W. C. Weetman History of the 1/8th Sherwood Foresters
Unpublished Sources
War Diaries:
All War Diaries are held at the Public Records Office, Kew.
Headquarters 46th (North Midland) Division (WO95/2662)
Headquarters C.R.A., 46th (North Midland) Division (WO95/2667)
Headquarters 137th (Staffordshire) Infantry Brigade (WO95/2683)
1/5th Bn, South Staffordshire Regiment (WO95/2686)
1/6th Bn, North Staffordshire Regiment (WO95/2685)
1/1st North Midland Field Company, Royal Engineers (WO95/2676)
1/2nd North Midland Field Company, Royal Engineers (WO95/2677)
2/1st North Midland Field Company, Royal Engineers (WO95/2678)
1/3rd North Midland Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps (WO95/2681)
The History of the 6th North Staffords - Volume 4 (Staffordshire Regiment Museum)
Published Sources
Newspapers:
The Cannock Advertiser (Cannock Reference Library)
The Express and Star (Wolverhampton Reference Library)
The Lichfield Mercury (Lichfield Reference Library)
The Staffordshire Advertiser (William Salt Library, Stafford)
The Staffordshire Weekly Sentinel (Hanley Reference Library)
The Tamworth Herald (Tamworth Reference Library)
The Walsall Observer and South Staffordshire Chronicle (Walsall Local History
Centre)
Books:
Anon: "Soldiers Died in the Great War" (War Office 1921)
The Royal Artillery
The Royal Engineers
The South Staffordshire Regiment
The North Staffordshire Regiment
A Committee of Officers: War History of the 6th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment (T.F.), (Heinemann, 1924).
Blore, J. and Sherratt, J. R.: "Over There" - A Commemorative History of the Old Leek Battery, (Martin Publicity, 1991).
Davies, F. and Maddocks, G.: "Bloody Red Tabs" - General Officer Casualties of the Great War, 1914-1918, (Leo Cooper, 1995).
Edmonds, J. E.: "Official History of the War - Military Operations: France and Flanders, 1915 - Volume Two, (HMSO, 1928).
Hills, J. D.: The Fifth Leicestershire - A Record of the 1/5th Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment, T.F. during the War, 1914-1919, (The Echo Press, 1919).
Hughes, L. and Dixon, J.: "Surrender be Damned" - A History of the 1/1st Battalion, The Monmouthshire Regiment, 1914-18, (Cwm Press, 1995).
Meakin, W.: The 5th North Staffords and the North Midland Territorials (46th and 59th Divisions) 1914-1919, (Hughes and Harber Ltd, 1920).
Sturland, I. P.: "Terriers", (Privately Published, 1983).
Thornton, A.: "Norton's Terriers" - A History of 1/2nd North Midland (later 466th) Field Company, Royal Engineers (T.F.) in the Great War, (Privately Published, 1996).
Vale, W. L.: History of the South Staffordshire Regiment, (Gale and Polden, 1969).
Warner, P.: The Battle of Loos, (William Kimber, 1976).
Weetman, W. W. C.: The Sherwood Foresters in the Great War - 1/8th Battalion 1914-1919, (Nottingham, 1920).
On-Line Resources
The "Debt of Honour" database of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, listing the details of places of burial and commemoration of all service personnel who died in both World Wars, can be found at: http://yard.ccta.gov.uk/cwgc/register.nsf
Click here for an email link to the author of this article, Andrew Thornton
Copyright © Andrew Thornton,
January, 2000.
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