Pte A Blincow, 2nd Suffolks, wounded Canal du Nord

44531 PTE. S. BLINCOW.  SUFF. R - wounded Battle of Canal du Nord, 27 September 1918

Sidney Blincow was a sheet iron worker from Tipton in Staffordshire. Born in 1899, he attested his willingness to serve aged 17 years 362 days at Tipton on 3 March 1917. 

He was probably mobilised on or around 26 April 1918, shortly after turning 19. He gave his next of kin as his mother, Alice Blincow and his physical development was noted as 'good'.  Having been seen by the recruiting medical board at Wolverhampton, on 27 April 1918 he was posted to the 5th (Reserve) Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment. His regimental number at this time is not known.

After a period of training and conditioning, including dental treatment (one filling) on 25 May, on 3 September 1918 he was posted from the 5th Battalion at Sutton-on-Sea to the BEF. He travelled via Dover to Calais, disembarking in France on 4 September 1918.

Pte Blincow was posted to 1/5th South Staffordshires for records purposes, then at 'K' Infantry Base Depot on 6 September 1918 was compulsorily transferred to the 2nd Suffolk Regiment (then part of 76th Brigade, 3rd Division) and given the new regimental number 44531.

It is not recorded when he joined the battalion in the field but based upon his date of entry into theatre, it would have been some time after the battalion's costly but successful attack on Gomiecourt on 23 August, and possibly as a replacement for one of the battalion's casualties in this attack.

"The village [Gomiecourt] was at the apex of a deep salient in the German front line. The defensive ring of fortifications that the Germans had placed around the village, showed that they valued its commanding position high up on a cup-shaped valley, from where they could see for a considerable distance back into the Allied lines behind the railway line.

The position was considered by some to be impregnable, but as the Suffolks came close to the fortifications, the Germans, seeing that the situation was hopeless, started to turn and run, but not before some held on to the bitter end; keeping their forward machineguns firing against their attackers." (Source: https://www.friendsofthesuffolkregiment.org/operation-legacy/previous/3#)

It is likely that Pte Blincow joined 'Y' Company, which had been one of the rear companies in that day's attack.  

He suffered a penetrating wound to the left shoulder on 27 September 1918, during the battle of the Canal du Nord. Having crossed the dry Canal du Nord before zero hour, his injury would have been incurred during his battalion's subsequent attack on Ribecourt and Flesquiéres. This involved passing through the 8th Brigade, who had spearheaded the attack in this sector, to take Flesquiéres with the 1st Gordon Highlanders, whilst 'Y' Company helped the Royal Fusiliers and 8th King's Own Royal Lancasters take the Brown Line south of Ribecourt.  

Major Denys Reitz, then second-in-command of the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers, traversed some of this ground after the battle and in 'The Great War - I Was There' commented "...I bore away towards Flesquiéres by way of the numerous rear trenches of the Hindenburg system.  These had all been taken by the successive assaulting columns and each trench was occupied by the men who had taken it. Everywhere lay hundreds of khaki-clad and field grey dead, and everywhere improvised dressing-stations were dealing with the wounded."

Pte Blincow was admitted to 57th (?)* Casualty Clearing Station the following day and then from 5th General Hospital transferred home on 1 October 1918 via the Hospital Ship Guildford Castle. He subsequently appeared on the War Office daily List for 5 November 1918.

*at that time at Mingoval, close to Aubigny and 12 miles southwest of Arras

After a period at Western General Hospital and a week's furlough, he was subsequently posted to 3rd Suffolks, with effect from 31 October. His Army Form W.3016 notes that he had previously been on the strength of Y Company, 2nd Suffolks.

Having been hospitalised with influenza from 4 January 1919, he was discharged to Cambridge hospital, Aldershot for dispersal on 24 January 1919. His Soldier's Protection Certificate was issued at Clipstone on the same day. His address on discharge was 33 Bradley Lane, Coseley, near Bilton, Staffordshire and his medical category was given as A1.

For his service,  he was entitled to the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

WW1 Victory Medal Pte S Gray 10th Warwickshire Regiment, killed in action 23 October 1918

6303 PTE. S. GRAY 10th

ROYAL WARWICKSHIRE REGIMENT died 23 October 1918

Sydney Gray, born in All Saints, Birmingham circa 1892, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick George Gray, of 312, Park Rd., Hockley, Birmingham. As of 1911 the family consisting of Frederick, a tortoiseshell worker, Mary Ann and four children, Elsie, Nellie, Lizzie and Sydney, then aged 18 and employed as a turner.

Pte Gray served with the 10th, 16th, 1/6th, 11th and 1st Battalions, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. At the time of his death he was serving again with the 10th battalion.

The 10th battalion was formed in Warwick as part of Kitchener's Second New Army (also known as 'K2') and moved to Salisbury Plain where it joined the 57th Brigade of the 19th (Western) Division. In March 1915 the battalion moved to Tidworth and on 17 July 1915 it mobilised for war and landed in France, Pte Gray (as witnessed by his 1914-15 Star medal roll entry) embarking with it.

Depending upon the timing of his posting from the 10th to the 16th battalion, this would have put him in line to take part in actions including:

During 1915

The Action of Pietre. 

During 1916

The Battle of Albert, The attacks on High Wood, The Battle of Pozieres Ridge, The Battle of the Ancre Heights, The Battle of the Ancre. 

A medical record dating from early March 1918 says that as of that date Pte Gray (by then serving with the 1st Battalion) had served one year and six months with the field force. Assuming this is not an error, this would suggest that after a break in service he returned to the France and Flanders theatre circa September 1916 and may give a clue as to when one of his inter-battalion transfers (possibly 10th to 16th or 16th to 1/6th) took place.

If with the 1/6th, this may have put him in line to take part in the following actions:

The Battle of the Ancre Heights, The Battle of the Ancre. (both parts of the Battle of the Somme 1916) and, during 1917, the German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line, and the Battles of Langemarck, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, and Poelcapelle, all phases of the Third Battle of Ypres. 

Certainly Pte Gray was wounded circa early October 1917, possibly in the course of the above Battle of Poelcapelle, as he was accordingly listed as wounded on War Office Daily List No. 5412, Report Date 9 November 1917 (there was typically a gap of one month between a man becoming a casualty and his name appearing on a list - this allowed time to notify the family, etc). He may have been with the 1/6th battalion at the time, transferring after recovery to the 11th battalion. This was probably the 'old wound - slight' for which he was hospitalised in March 1918. For his wounding he was entitled to wear a "Wound Stripe" as authorised under Army Order 204 of 6 July 1916, the terms of this award being met by being named in this list.

The 11th Royal Warwickshire was disbanded in France on 7 February 1918 at Wardrecques, as part of a wider manpower-driven reorganisation of the British Army on the Western Front which took place at around this time. In the absence of better information, it is a reasonable inference that Pte Gray's transfer to the 1st battalion took place at this point. Certainly, by March 1918 he was serving with 'C' Company of the 1st battalion. On 9 March 1918 he was hospitalised as witnessed by an entry in the admission and discharge register for 18th General Hospital; he was admitted from no 8 Casualty Clearing Station to which he had been admitted the previous day with 'Old wound, right buttock, slight'. Pte Gray, by the aged 25, appears to have been subsequently evacuated from 18th GH by ambulance train and it may have been after this point that he was posted back to his old battalion.

Meanwhile, the 10th battalion during 1918 took part in the following actions:

The Battle of St Quentin, The Battle of Bapaume, The Battle of Messines, The Battle of Bailleul, The First Battle of Kemmel Ridge, The Battle of the Aisne, The Battle of the Selle, The Battle of the Sambre and the passage of the Grand Honelle. On 11 November 1918 it ended the war in France, west of Bavai.

Returning to the 10th battalion at some point after this flaring-up of his old wound, Pte Gray was killed in action, aged 26, with the 10th battalion on 23 October 1918. The Battle of the Selle (17 - 26 October 1918) took place as the Allies continued the advance after the Second Battle of Cambrai, recapturing French villages one by one as the German forces retreated to the north-east. The battalion took part in operations on the 20th, crossing the River Selle in the early hours and successfully taking the high ground to the east, thereafter remaining in the front line and consolidating. On 23 October two companies of the battalion were ordered to secure positions on the Les Fourrieres-Vendegies-St Martin Road. Both operations were hastily organised to take advantage of local successes and whilst the first went in with limited artillery support, the second went in with no support at all. Nevertheless both were successful (the first attack also taking 56 prisoners) and the 10th Royal Warwicks were relieved from their new positions by the 11th Suffolks on the night of 23 October. It is likely that Pte Grey was killed in one of these operations, one of 137 men of the battalion who became casualties (19 killed) in operations between 18 and 23 October 1918. Having no known grave, he is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial. This memorial bears the names of over 9,000 men from the forces of Great Britain and Ireland and South Africa who fell in the period from 8 August 1918 to the date of the Armistice in the Advance to Victory in Picardy and Artois, between the Somme and Loos, and who have no known grave. His financial effects and War Gratuity went to his father Frederick. His next of kin/dependant for pension purposes was his mother Mrs Mary Ann Gray, 312 Park Road, Hockley, who was pensioned for 6/- weekly from 27 May 1919. His full entitlement is the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal, which his next of kin would probably have received between October-November 1919 and October-November 1920, respectively.

28074 PTE R. H. PARRY Royal Army Medical Corps killed in action 10 November 1917

28074 PTE R. H. PARRY Royal Army Medical Corps killed in action 10 November 1917

Robert Henry Parry was born in 1895 in Llanddeinolen Caernarvon, to Robert and Hannah Parry, later of 2, Cefn Coch, Gallt-Y-foel, Cwm-Y-glo, Carnarvonshire. As of 1911, aged 16, he was living at home with his father and elder sister, and employed in the slate industry. He enlisted in the army, and served with the Royal Army Medical Corps with the 13th Casualty Clearing Station and 141st Field Ambulance. He first entered the Egyptian theatre of war in August 1915, probably with the former, for which he was entitled to the 1914-15 Star.

An extant military hospital admissions and discharge register entry (albeit with his name incorrectly given as 'Perry, R H') from 19th General Hospital, Alexandria, indicates that as of December 1915 he was serving with 13th Casualty Clearing Station, also in Egypt. This record confirmed his age as 21, Months with Field Force as 2 months and Years Service 1 year 2 months. He was admitted with Debility around 5 December 1915 and after five days' treatment in Ward G he appears to have been transferred via the Hospital Ship Dongola to Glymenopoulo Convalescent Camp. He was a Methodist. (Archive Reference MH106/1229 refers).

Having been transferred at some point following his recovery, circa August 1916 according to other sources, Pte Parry was serving with 141 Field Ambulance when he died on 10 November 1917 (somewhat unusually for a Lijssenthoek casualty, described as 'killed in action').

The Herald Cymraeg newspaper contains the following information: "Mr and Mrs Robert Parry , Cefn Coch, Gallt y Foel have received news that their son Pte Robert Henry Parry has been killed in France on 10th November aged 23 years. He joined the RAMC at the outbreak of the war and was one of the first to join the Ambulance Brigade from this area. He went to Purfleet on 7th November 1914 and to Colchester Hospital August 1915.He went over to Gallipoli and then to Egypt. In August 1916 he went to France. Last September he went to 14th Field Ambulance Brigade. He was killed while carrying the wounded. A shell struck two of them and he was killed instantly" (Source: username 'Hywyn', Great War Forum)

At the time of Pte Parry's death the 141st Field Ambulance was based at Irish Farm, north-northwest of Ypres. The unit handled 2 sick and 197 wounded casualties on 10 November. After discussing the distribution of additional officers and other ranks attached from the infantry battalions of the 1st Imperial Division for stretcher-bearer duty, the War Diary notes "Capt F.Jefferson RAMC and Capt C.R. MacLeod and 8 O[ther] Ranks proceeded at 4-30a.m. from Irish Farm to the A[dvanced] D[ressing] Station at Somme Redoubt for duty". It adds "The following casualties in the personnel of this Unit occurred on this date....No:28074 Private R.H.Parry., RAMC. Killed in action." It seems likely that Pte Parry was one of the 8 men detailed with Captains Jefferson and MacLeod and was killed whilst on stretcher-bearer duty (see also additional notes below). Privates Proctor and Beeton, wounded, and Private Poole, missing believed killed, were probably wounded in the course of the same duty.

He is buried at LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY, plot XXII, row HH, grave number 28. His headstone bears the poetic inscription "CWSG YN NISTAW FEDD Y GWRON TI GEI BELLACH WISGO'R GORON DEUED COR ASGELLOG FFRAINC UWCH DY LWCH I GANU CAINC". Touchingly, this appears to have been arranged (and may have been composed) by his elder sister, Miss Annie Parry. Robert Henry's financial effects and War Gratuity were paid to his father, Robert.

Initials

R H

Full Name

PARRY, ROBERT HENRY

Date of Birth

1895

Age

22

Birth Place

LLANDDEINIOTEN, CARNARVON

Nationality

British

Resided Place

CARNARVON

Date of Death

10 Nov 1917

Fate

Killed in Action

Information

Parents: Robert and Hannah Parry, of 2, Cefn Coch, Gallt-Y-foel, Cwm-Y-glo, Carnarvonshire.

Rank Name

Private

Service Number

28074

Duty Location

France And Flanders

Died in Active Service

Yes

Service

British Army

Regiment

royal army medical corps

Battalion

141st Field Amb

The following additional notes and translations are kindly provided by Great War Forum user 'Hywyn':

Is on the Roll of Honour of those chapel members serving their country in the 1915-17 Yearbook for Cefnywaen MC [Calvinistic Methodist Chapel].

The same yearbook lists that he fell on the battlefield whilst carrying wounded soldiers on 10th November 1917 aged 23 years. He is buried at Lyssenthoek near Poperinghe, Ypres.

Pte Robert H Parry Cefn Coch, Gallt y Foel is home on leave. He has been away for over two years and has served in the Dardanelles and Egypt. He was in France before coming home on leave. (Herald Cymraeg 26/6/17)

Sad news received of the death of Pte Robert R Parry RAMC, only son of Mr Robert Parry aged 25 years. He enlisted soon after war broke out. (Y Genedl Gymraeg 20 11 1917

Mr and Mrs Robert Parry, Cefn Coch, Gallt y Foel have received news that their son Pte Robert Henry Parry has been killed in France on 10th November aged 23 years. He joined the RAMC at the outbreak of the war and was one of the first to join the Ambulance Brigade from this area. He went to Purfleet on 7th November 1914 and to Colchester Hospital August 1915. He went over to Gallipoli and then to Egypt. In August 1916 he went to France. Last September he went to 14th Field Ambulance Brigade. He was killed while carrying the wounded. A shell struck two of them and he was killed instantly. (Herald Cymraeg 27/11/17)

Last Sunday at Cefnywaen a memorial service was held for Pte Robert Henry Parry, Galltyfoel, son of Mr Robert Parry. He was with the RAMC for over two years and had assisted in 900 operations. (Y Genedl Gymraeg 11 12 1917)

WW1RN Silver War Badge Stoker II D Bedwell HMS Berwick & Centurion, from Norwich. Mental infirmity

WW1 Royal Navy Silver War Badge issued to D Bedwell, Stoker Class II, lived Catton, Norwich admitted to Asylum after the war

Silver War Badge 33330 was issued to Bedwell, D, Stoker Second Class, and was issued by HMS Pembroke on 20 November 1918.

Unfortunately neither the Royal Navy SWB applications list nor the issue list give Stoker Bedwell’s service number. However, there is only one Bedwell with the initial ‘D’ in the RN medal roll and likewise only a single Bedwell with the initial ‘D’ in the Royal Navy Registers of Seamen’s Services 1848-1939. He can therefore be firmly identified with Donald H Bedwell, Service Number K 50438, who was awarded the Victory Medal and British War Medal for World War I service.

As set out in his Royal Naval service record, Donald Hector Bedwell was born on 9 March 1900 in Norwich, Norfolk. He first saw service aged 18 years 6 days upon mobilisation as Stoker Service Number K50438, and was allocated to HMS Vivid II, which represented the Stokers and Engine Room Artificers School in Devonport. His Last Service Date was 18 December 1918 (which would broadly agree with the issue date of the Silver War Badge) and his Last Ship Served On was recorded as Vivid II.

Stoker Bedwell saw active service on HMS Berwick (a Monmouth class armoured cruiser) from 29 June to 18 August 1918, and on HMS Centurion (a King George V class battleship) between 12 September to 4 November 1918, so probably saw most of his service in the North Sea. His service record indicates that he was Discharged for ‘mental deficiency’; since he was awarded the King's Certificate that would suggest that this was considered to be either attributable to, or aggravated by, active service (The award of the Silver War Badge is not mentioned in his service record but it follows that if he was eligible for the King's Certificate, he was eligible for the SWB). He was awarded naval prize money of £2 15s, presumably for prizes taken whilst aboard Berwick or Centurion.

There is a Royal Naval medical treatment at Sea and on Land 1914-19 record for a ‘Ronald Bedwell’, 18, Stoker aboard HMS Centurion, admitted on 23 October 1918 with mental debility and discharged back to duty on 5 November 1918, passing through Hospital Queensferry. This is presumably the same man, a mistake having been made in the transcription (there is no ‘Ronald Bedwell’ recorded in the Royal Navy Registers of Seamen’s Services 1848-1939).

Donald H Bedwell was the son of John W Bedwell (a fireman on the tramways) and Ruth Bedwell in Norwich, the family living in the parish of New Catton Christchurch. John would have been circa 29 and Ruth about 32 when their son was born. The family were living at 170 Philadelphia Lane and remained there at least until 1911, by which time the schoolboy Donald Bedwell was 11 and his father employed as a main & service labourer for a gas manufacturer). By this time the family had grown to include Blanche Bedwell (9), Elsie Bedwell (8), and Florence Bedwell (also 8).

After his naval service, Donald Bedwell was committed 0n 9 December 1918 to Norwich City asylum, this presumably related to his discharge reason. He was pensioned at 8s 3d a week for one year.

Donald Bedwell’s death was registered, aged 35, in the first quarter of 1936 in the St Faiths Registration district of Norfolk.

241144 Pte Cunningham 1/5th East Lancashire Regiment, wounded June 1917

241144 Pte Cunningham 1/5th East Lancashire Regiment, wounded June 1917

William Cunningham, born in 1892, was a coal miner, having worked prior to his enlistment for J Hargreaves, Reedley Pit, Burnley. He lived in Burnley, Lancashire, where he married Margaret Ann Murray on 4 October 1915. They had one son, John. William stood 5 feet 3 ½” tall upon discharge and was described as having a fresh complexion, blue eyes, and dark brown hair. He enlisted for the duration of the war at Burnley on 23 December 1914. Having attested for and been embodied in the 5^th East Lancashires on 23 December 1914, he spent approximately seven months training with ‘A’ Company of the 2/5^th East Lancashires and was posted to the 1/5^th with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force on 2 July 1915. He landed at Gallipoli on or about 18 August 1915, most probably being sent as a reinforcement in light of the battalion having lost two-thirds of its strength due to death, injuries or sickness. He served as a Private under the regimental numbers 2569 or 3309 and then 241144 in the 1/5^th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment in Gallipoli and Egypt from 2 July 1915 to 11 March 1917, and then in France from 12 March to 17 May 1917. He was regimentally employed as a bomber. He was wounded, suffering a Gun Shot Wound to his Chest, neck and right arm (any penetrating wound, in this case possibly a shrapnel wound) on 28 April 1917. At this time the battalion was at Nobescourt Farm, Roisel, ten miles north-west of St Quentin, primarily involved in furnishing working parties, and it seems likely that it was in the course of one of these that Pte Cunningham was wounded. He was sent home to join the strength of 193 Territorial Force Depot on 18 May. Subsequent to being posted home his commanding officer with the 1/5^th filled in his Particulars as to Character, noting that Pte Cunningham was sober, reliable and intelligent, had shown special aptitude for employment as a miner (being useful with a spade), and was a good soldier.  Pte Cunningham had a couple of Absent Without Leave charges on his Regimental Conduct sheet including being late to report at tattoo on being posted to his Reserve battalion. After a temporary attachment from the 4^th East Lancashires to the 17^th (Transport Workers) Battalion, Scottish Rifles, he was re-posted to and then transferred from ‘C’ Company of the 4^th (Reserve) Battalion at Scarborough to the Army ‘P (T)’ Reserve (to return to his occupation as miner) on 27 July 1918. He was aged 25 years 9 months at this time, having served 3 years and 217 days in total. His military character was given as ‘very good’ notwithstanding three charges on his regimental conduct sheet for absence (one from the 2/5^th at Southport, one from the 1/5^th at Suez, and the aforementioned one before reporting to the 4^th), and one for leaving a fatigue without permission whilst with the 1/5^th at Suez. He was subsequently pensioned at 27/6 for one month, followed by 5/6 for a further 48 weeks, for a 20% disabling gun shot wound to the neck. He was then discharged under paragraph 392 xvi (a) of King’s Regulations on 10 February 1919.  His post-discharge address was 54 Anna Street, Burnley, Lancashire. In August 1920 he was awarded a final gratuity of £48 15s. He would have received his British War Medal and Victory Medal in October 1921.

 

28747 Pte Newstead, Essex R, Somme Oct 1916 casualty

28747 Pte Newstead Essex R WIA Somme October 1916 Victory Medal

Henry Newstead was born circa 1885 and lived in Dover. He attested his willingness to serve under the Derby Scheme in early December 1915 before presumably spending some months on the Army reserve. Possibly, like 28739 Ernest Birrell (who attested his willingness to serve on 12 February 1916) he was mobilised circa 31 May 1916, passing through the 3^rd (Reserve) Battalion, the Essex Regiment, and then potentially not going overseas until September-October 1916.

 

He served overseas with the 11^th Battalion (raised September 1914 and from October 1915 serving overseas in France with the 18^th Brigade of the 6^th Division). Inte first half of September the battalion was out of the line training, practising assaults, undergoing inspections etc, principally at Vignacourt and then Sailly le Sec.  Depending upon when he joined the battalion, he could have taken part in action during the Battles of  Flers-Courcelette and Morval in September 1916, in the latter of which the battalion took the sunken road in front of Les Boeufs, taking practically no casualties and capturing 200 prisoners 12 trench mortars. Subsequently the battalion worked under constant shell-fire to consolidate the position digging a firing trench 40years in front of the sunken road with four communications trenches running back to it. Upon relief, the battalion spent 30 September and the first six days in October out of the line at Ville-sur-Ancre, occupying itself with Church Parade, inspection, training and a field day, prior to proceeding via Meaulte and a bivouac to the front line where it remained from the evening of 8 October to the 10^th when it was relieved and proceeded to Trones Wood, having incurred 47 casualties in the 2 ½ days due to consistent shelling day and night. After two days in Trones Wood, furnishing carrying parties each night, the battalion returned to its previous trenches and assembly trenches were dug behind the front line whilst the shelling continued. At 5.35am on 15 October the battalion made an attack towards Mild and Cloudy Trenches and it is almost certainly in the course of that attack that he was wounded, passing through the Field Ambulance and ending the following day in the hands of the Casualty Clearing Station.

 

The battalion war diary narrates the attack as follows: “At 5.35 AM A & D Coys attacked, C Coy was to form a defensive flank. B Coy was held in reserve. The first objective of the attack was a trench running from N.21 central to MILD Trench about N 21 d 4 6. The second objective was from Point in CLOUDY Trench N 21 d 7 7 to N 21 b 6 1 & back 100 yds to left to N 21 b 4 0. The 2/D.L.I. were attacking on our right. Our objectives were reached, but owing to the failure of the attack on the right, the German bombed down the trench which was our final objective & our men in their second objective were surrounded & were not seen again. Our casualties were 3 officers killed, 2 missing, & 4 wounded. O.R. killed 13 wounded 76 wounded & missing 13 missing 62. The battn consolidated the position then held & were relieved that night by 14/D.L.I. On relief proceeded to bivouacs in TRONES WOOD.”

 

Most probably representing one of the 76 wounded other ranks referenced in the war diary, Pte Newstead was admitted to No.34 Casualty Clearing Station, Grovetown, Meaulte, on 16 October, under Index Number of Admission 26399 with Gun Shot Wounds, Right Arm and Back. The accompanying record gave his age as 31, Months with Field Force as 1 month, and Years Service 1 year and 6 months, which would accord with the assumptions given above about his date of entry to theatre. Presumably after some basic care to stabilise his condition he was transferred to Sick Convoy (No. 5 Ambulance Train) the same day

The record confirmed his unit as C Company, 11th (Service) Battalion, Essex Regiment,  6th Division, and also confirmed his religion as Church of England.

 

Accordingly, he was listed as Wounded under War Office Daily Casualty List Report Date 22 November 1916 and was thereby entitled to wear a "Wound Stripe" as authorised under Army Order 204 of 6th July 1916 (the terms of this award being met by their naming in this list.)

 

Henry was discharged as no longer physically fit for war service under paragraph 392 xvi of King’s Regulations, owing to wounds, on 28 March 1917, and pensioned at 18/9 weekly from 29 March. With his surname incorrectly recorded as “Lewstead” or “Mewstead” he was issued with silver War Badge number 37923.

 

97745 Spr Ernest Jones, Royal Engineers, German Spring Offensive 1918 casualty Ernest Jones, born circa 1885, was from Portsmouth. He married Bessie Rose (nee Burns) on 22 March 1913 and the couple had two children, Mabel Agnes and Lily Maud. By 1915 the family were living at 185 Westfield Road, Portsmouth and Ernest was working as a woodwork machinist. Attesting his willingness to serve at Portsmouth on 1 May 1915, aged 29 years 10 months, he served in the Royal Engineers under the Regimental Number 97745, seemingly joining the same day and then being accepted by the Officer Commanding Depot Companies, Royal Engineers at Chatham on 14 May. His Descriptive Report on Enlistment noted his height as 5 feet 8 1/22 and his chest measurement (girth when fully expanded) at 36”. He was recorded upon attestation as a Sawyer and graded ‘Superior’. Subsequent assessments considered his skill with machinery for sawing up timber, planning and moulding machines, morticing and tenoning machines, and band saws. After passing through the Billeting Battalion, 155th Field Company (a Field Company of the 16th (Irish) Division), and No.2 Depot Company , he was transferred to the British Expeditionary Force on 3 July 1916 to serve on the Western Front. A fit man (medical category ‘A’ on enlistment), given this and his skill-set it seems most likely that he was posted to one of the RE Field Companies, possibly in one of the divisions of the Third or Fifth Armies. Spr Jones was wounded on 24 March 1918, suffering a gun shot wound to the back and head for which he was later pensioned. This date coincides with the opening dates of the Battle of Bapaume and the Battles of the Somme Crossings, both phases of the German Spring Offensive 1918, and it is quite likely that he was wounded in the course of one of these battles. He was listed as Wounded in War Office Daily List No. 5555, Report Date 2 May 1918 and thereby entitled to wear a "Wound Stripe" as authorised under Army Order 204 of 6th July 1916, the terms of this award being met by being named in this list. The list confirmed his Next of Kin Address as Highbridge (his wife is recorded as having moved to 2 Prospect Place, Highbridge). He was evacuated to the UK thereafter, passing through 2 Western General Hospital. He was subsequently posted to the 2nd Reserve Battalion, RE. Passing through No.1 Dispersal Unit at Fovant on 8 February, he was transferred to the Army ‘Z’ Reserve upon demobilisation and then pensioned for one year after discharge for a 20% disabling wound at 5/6 a week, commencing 8 March 1919. His postwar address was Oakwood House, London Road, Portsmouth. He would have received his British War Medal and Victory Medal, his full entitlement, probably some time after May 1920. He sadly died due to an accident on 18 November 1920. His widow, Bessie Rose, later made a pension claim, which was refused owing to cause of death. She was residing at 56 Burlington Road, Portsmouth at this time.

97745 Spr Ernest Jones, Royal Engineers, German Spring Offensive 1918 casualty

Ernest Jones, born circa 1885, was from Portsmouth. He married Bessie Rose (nee Burns) on 22 March 1913 and the couple had two children, Mabel Agnes and Lily Maud. By 1915 the family were living at 185 Westfield Road, Portsmouth and Ernest was working as a woodwork machinist. Attesting his willingness to serve at Portsmouth on 1 May 1915, aged 29 years 10 months, he served in the Royal Engineers under the Regimental Number 97745, seemingly joining the same day and then being accepted by the Officer Commanding Depot Companies, Royal Engineers at Chatham on 14 May. His Descriptive Report on Enlistment noted his height as 5 feet 8 1/22 and his chest measurement (girth when fully expanded) at 36”. He was recorded upon attestation as a Sawyer and graded ‘Superior’. Subsequent assessments considered his skill with machinery for sawing up timber, planning and moulding machines, morticing and tenoning machines, and band saws. After passing through the Billeting Battalion, 155th Field Company (a Field Company of the 16th (Irish) Division), and No.2 Depot Company , he was transferred to the British Expeditionary Force on 3 July 1916 to serve on the Western Front. A fit man (medical category ‘A’ on enlistment), given this and his skill-set it seems most likely that he was posted to one of the RE Field Companies, possibly in one of the divisions of the Third or Fifth Armies.

Spr Jones was wounded on 24 March 1918, suffering a gun shot wound to the back and head for which he was later pensioned. This date coincides with the opening dates of the Battle of Bapaume and the Battles of the Somme Crossings, both phases of the German Spring Offensive 1918, and it is quite likely that he was wounded in the course of one of these battles. He was listed as Wounded in War Office Daily List No. 5555, Report Date 2 May 1918 and thereby entitled to wear a "Wound Stripe" as authorised under Army Order 204 of 6th July 1916, the terms of this award being met by being named in this list. The list confirmed his Next of Kin Address as Highbridge (his wife is recorded as having moved to 2 Prospect Place, Highbridge). He was evacuated to the UK thereafter, passing through 2 Western General Hospital. He was subsequently posted to the 2nd Reserve Battalion, RE.

Passing through No.1 Dispersal Unit at Fovant on 8 February, he was transferred to the Army ‘Z’ Reserve upon demobilisation and then pensioned for one year after discharge for a 20% disabling wound at 5/6 a week, commencing 8 March 1919. His postwar address was Oakwood House, London Road, Portsmouth.

He would have received his British War Medal and Victory Medal, his full entitlement, probably some time after May 1920.

He sadly died due to an accident on 18 November 1920. His widow, Bessie Rose, later made a pension claim, which was refused owing to cause of death. She was residing at 56 Burlington Road, Portsmouth at this time.