St John the Baptist Loughton the Memorial to the Parishioners Who Lost Their Lives in the Great War 1914 -1919 Written in Commem

St John The Baptist

Loughton

The Memorial to the Parishioners who lost their lives in

The Great War 1914 -1919

Written in Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of The Great War

2014

The Choir Memorial

Preface

The modern media has placed in the public domain so much information about the Great War that the subject requires little further comment here. The written history of this war can be described, more or less, in three phases. The first, usually memoirs and unit histories, written soon after the Armistice were often positive about the war. After 1928, when the great surge of anti-war literature hit the market, including the now famous poets, the so called ‘lions led by donkeys and butchers and bunglers’ genre held sway. In some cases it still does, much influenced by the writings of Sir Basil Liddell Hart and others. Much later, when access to the archives became available, a new breed of historians, the ‘revisionists’, grew in significance: authors such as John Terraine, the lead writer in the BBC’s mid 1960’s work The Great War. Other influentional revisionists must include Professors Peter Simkins, Gary Sheffield and John Bourne, all of the University of Birmingham’s Centre for First World War Studies, and now with The University of Wolverhampton.

The late Richard Holmes CBE TD, the very well-known writer and TV historian, described himself as ‘a cautious revisionist’. This was sensible advice for both the serious student and the recreational military history reader. Each of the three genres of Great War historiography has a contribution to make to our understanding of this most significant conflict. It has been refreshing to note the ‘cautious revisionary’ approach taken by most of the media in this anniversary year of 2014.

The intention of this research is to give some background to lives, and deaths, of the former Parishioners commemorated within St John The Baptist Loughton. One regret is that, nationally, those who died where just under 12% of the men that were called to serve. We rightly honour the memory of our war dead, if however, the national statistics are extrapolated proportionally to our Parish War Dead, there must have been so many more men from the Parish of St John’s Loughton who served and returned home to resume their lives, and perhaps their worship, here for whom there is no memorial or record.

Just a word about the soldiers themselves: they were no different from us in intellect, understanding or emotion, but almost certainly less well-informed than we are today. There was no television, few had radios, and the newspapers included much anti-German propaganda and spy stories. There was a genuine fear of a possible invasion, just as there was again in 1940.1 The officers who led these men tried to do their best, regardless of any class attitudes they may have had. Of course there were mistakes: it has been said that no battle plan can survive after contact with the enemy, but there was too, a rapid growth in learning and

1 See, for example see Andrew, Christopher [2009] The Defence of the Realm – The Authorized History of MI5, (Allen Lane, London), pp.29-53 for official concerns over the German threat and newspaper reports.

3 development in weapons and tactics that led to the final victory on both the Western Front and in the Middle-East.

The ordinary officers and men who volunteered, like many of those commemorated on our War Memorial, did so because, as it was so eloquently expressed in Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels about an earlier war:

Some came mainly because we were bored at home and this looked like it might be fun. Some came because we were ashamed not to. Many of us came because it was the right thing to do. 2

For many men, and probably some from Loughton, the Army provided for them better clothes and regular food, and made them fitter than they had ever been in their lives so far.

Counter-factual history is not for the serious student, but asked if the Great War was worth it for Great Britain, then, with the situation that presented itself when the German Army invaded Belgium in August 1914, most historians think it was. As it has been subsequently found, Great Britain is not easy to defend once the coast- line opposite is in enemy hands, or our population has been infiltrated by terrorists. Great Britain’s security would have been greatly undermined in 1914- 1918 by a German dominated North West Europe.

For an introduction into unravelling some of the myths of the Great War, and there are many, Gordon Corrigan’s Mud, Blood And Poppycock is well worth reading.3 A very readable, single-volume account of the war is Jeremy Paxman’s Great Britain’s Great War.4 There are, of course, so many other titles from which to choose.

This research is not complete; hopefully more can be added as further information is discovered. If anyone does have any information on these men, or their families, please get in touch so that it can be added as we update what we already think we know.

I am indebted to Rosemary Wells, who ‘pointed me in the right direction’ with some of the properties, and to Jessica Bostock for her diligent proof reading. Any mistakes, however, are entirely my responsibility.

Dr Roger E Salmon, November 2014. [roger [email protected]]

2 Shaara, Michael [1974], The Killer Angels (Ballantine Books, New York), pp.29/30. 3 Corrigan, Gordon [2003], Mud, Blood And Poppycock, (Cassell, London). 4 Paxman, Jeremy[2013], Great Britain’s Great War, (Viking – an imprint of Penguin Books, London).

Charles William Arnill

The Royal Fusiliers

Charles William Arnill was a member of of the choir, he was a post clerk for a wholesale clothes establishment before joining the army. His birth was registered in Epping in the September Quarter 1895.5 In 1911, then aged 15, he lived in Pump Hill with his father William, a farrier, and his mother Mina. Charles had a sister aged 16, and two brothers, Leonard aged 13 and Frank aged 12. Mr and Mrs Arnill had had one other child who had died.

Pump Hill – today.

5 http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/contents/familyhistoryguidepart3 - ‘The indexes were compiled for each quarter of the year (January-March, called the March quarter; April-June, called the June quarter; June-September, called the September quarter, and October-December, called the December quarter). The quarterly system stopped in 1984, in which year annual indexes started being compiled instead’.

Charles enlisted in London as a Private into the 4th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers with the Service Number of 10860. This number is of little help in fixing his date of enlistment as the numbering system in this unit was changed. He died of wounds on 8 March 1916; he was 20 years old. Charles is buried in the Poperinghe Military Cemetery in grave number I.F.29.

‘A’ Company of the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (9th Brigade, 3rd Division) in Mons Town Square 22 August 1914.6

The 4th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers was part of the pre-war Regular Army and Charles may have enlisted in 1914, when he was 18 years old, at the start of the Great War. He was certainly a volunteer; conscription came into force 2 March 1916, and Charles died 8 March 1916 in Flanders.

The 4th battalion was based at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight in 1914 and landed at Le Havre 13 August 1914 as part of the 9th brigade, 3rd Division of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Without knowing exactly when Charles enlisted it is impossible to know in what actions he took part. The 4th Battalion are famous for the BEF’s early encounter with the German Army at Nimy Railway Bridge in which a later Loughton resident, Private Sidney Godley, became the first non- commissioned soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross.

There are no records to show for how long Charles suffered from his wounds before he died. Poperinghe was the site of a large military hospital serving the wounded from what was known as the Ypres Salient.

6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:4th_Bn_Royal_Fusiliers_22_August_1914.jpg accessed April 2013.

The grave of Sidney Godley VC – Loughton Cemetery.7

Henry Charles Bartrip

The Essex Regiment

Henry Bartrip, Service Number 7885, a Lance Corporal in the 2nd Battalion of the Essex Regiment, was known as Harry: he had enlisted in Ilford and later served with the 12th Brigade, 36th Division.8 Harry joined sometime between January 1903 and June 1904 and had been a regular soldier.

7 Authors collection 2013. 8 Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

Harry’s birth was registered in Epping in the December Quarter 1884. Harry married Eliza in Reigate in the December Quarter 1908 (Eliza seems to have been known as Dolly), and they had a daughter Harriet Mary, born in Reigate in December 1908, and a son, Thomas Henry, born in Epping in March 1910. In 1911, aged 27, Harry lived in Rose Cottage, Baldwin’s Hill and he worked as a general labourer for Epping Forest Corporation.

Rose Cottage, Baldwin’s Hill – today.

Harry, probably a Reservist and recalled to the Colours on the outbreak of war, was killed in action on 9 April 1915. He is buried in Calvaire (Essex) Military Cemetery in grave number I.L.11.

The 2nd Battalion was in Chatham in August 1914, part of the 12th Brigade, 4th Division of the BEF and landed at Le Havre on 28 August. The 12th Brigade was attached to the 36th (Ulster) Division ‘for the purposes of giving instruction’ from 5 November 1915 until 3 February 1916.9 Harry was killed before this ‘attachment’ took place so the 12th Brigade was still serving with the 3rd Division.

The Battalion later fought at the Second Battle of Ypres, really four battles, starting on 22 April which was after Henry had been killed. The 4th Division was commanded by Major General H F M Wilson and the 12th Brigade (1st Kings Own, 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers, 5th South Lancashire (TF), 2nd Royal Irish and 2nd Essex) was commanded by Brigadier F G Anley.

9 http://www.1914-1918.net/essex.htm accessed April 2013.

Fredrick Beckett Bennett

The Royal Army Medical Corps

Fredrick Beckett Bennett enlisted for army service at Chelsea. He served with the 2nd/6th London Field Ambulance (Territorial Force) Royal Army Medical Corps attached to the 2nd/3rd London Field Company, Royal Engineers. Fredrick was a Private and his Service Number was 2063. He was born in Loughton in 1896, and in 1911 was living with his father, Frederick Adolphus, an Estate Coal Merchant, and his mother Mary Ann; they lived in Loughton in a house called, [what looks like] Barlcofeci. Frederick junior was their eldest son; he had three sisters and two brothers who in 1911 were:- Grace Rhoda (13), Ellen Emma May (11), Harold Beckett (9), Bruce Beckett (7), and Annie Kathleen (3).

Frederick was killed in action on 3 May 1916 and is buried in grave number III.E.23 in the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez.

T Clarke

Essex Yeomanry

Identifying T Clarke is not definite. http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Essex/Loughton.html [Spelt CLARK on Soldiers Who Died in The Great War (SDGW) and CWGC] lists a Sergeant Thomas Clark aged 26, of The Essex Yeomanry, part of the 8th Cavalry brigade, 3rd Cavalry Division, who was killed in action age 32 on 14 May 1915. Born in Bentley, Hampshire,

Thomas enlisted in Loughton, but was a resident of Farnham and was the son of Charles and Mary Ann Clark, of 3, Wayside Cottage, Churt, Farnham, Surrey. Sergeant Clark has no known grave and is commemorated on Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial - Panel 5.

This is Albert ‘Smiler’ Marshal of the Essex Yeomanry, perhaps a colleague of Clark’s, who was wounded by a mine blast in 1915, whilst serving dismounted in the trenches.10

T. Clarke was clearly a member of the Parish of St John The Baptist Loughton, but why he was in Loughton when he was resident in Farnham may never become clear. Clarke, or Clark, must have had a clear connection with Loughton to have been commemorated on the both the church and town memorials.

10 Http://www.google images/Essex+yeomanry accessed July 2014.

John Thomas Clarke

The Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Fusiliers

J T Clarke, a member of the choir, was born and lived in Loughton.11 John enlisted as a Private at Epping, and first joined the Norfolk Regiment with the Service Number 27526. He later served with the 10th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers (County of London Regiment) with the Service Number G/66145. John was killed in action in ‘France and Flanders’ on 28 October 1918, age 27.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) records John Thomas Clark, Service Number 66145 (as above), but as aged 25, of the 10th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers (as above), but losing his life 23 October 1918. He is buried in grave V.C.4. - the Romeries Communal Cemetery Extension. John is recorded as the ‘son of Daniel and Emily Clark, of Loughton; husband of Elizabeth Clark, of 9 Beech Terrace, Loughton, Essex’. A marriage of J T Clark’s was recorded in Epping in the September Quarter 1915; Elizabeth’s surname is Warren. A birth under the name Elizabeth Mary Warren was registered in June 1892 (aged 23 therefore in 1915) and two births were registered for an Elizabeth Warren in June 1896 (aged 19 therefore in 1915). Either of these women could have become Mrs Clarke

There is, however, some more confusion. The King’s Green War Memorial records J T Clark’s death as 1915 not 1918, and spells the name without an ‘e’ as does the CWGC. There is no birth registered with the spelling of Clark with an ‘e’ within an appropriate time frame. A John Thomas Clark’s birth is registered in Epping in the December Quarter 1893; this does not align exactly with the other records as John Clarke was recorded on the census of 1911 as a domestic gardener, single and age 20. He was the son of William, a plate-layer, and Emily Clarke of 2 Railway Cottages Chigwell Lane, Loughton.12 He lived with his two siblings, Herbert (24), a blacksmith’s striker, and Amelia (15). Amelia Elizabeth’s birth is registered in Epping District in the June Quarter 1896, this would align with the census, and the surname is again spelt without an ‘e’. Herbert Henry’s birth is registered in the June Quarter 1886, the surname is with an ‘e’, and this registration would make him 24 as with the 1911 records

11 Soldiers Who Died In the Great War (SDGW). 12 http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Essex/Loughton.html agree with this interpretation; April 2013.

9 Beech Terrace - today

Railway Cottages – today.

Charles Arthur Curtis,

The Northumberland Fusiliers

Charles Curtis was born in Netswell, Essex, and was a farm servant aged 24, and a single man in 1911; he lived in Stony Path, Baldwin’s Hill, Loughton with his widowed mother Mrs Annie Tucker and his sister, 28 year old Amy Curtis, who was a nurse. Living with them were Annie Tucker’s grandchildren, Annie Curtis (6), born in Leyton, as was Amy Curtis (3) and Ethel Curtis (6) born in Kentish Town; there was also a ‘nurse child’ Victoria, aged 5 living with them from Horley, Surrey. In the December Quarter 1911 Charles married Eva Susan and they lived in 113 York Hill, or Eva moved to that address later.

Charles Curtis joined the army in Woolwich and served as a Private in the 8th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers, as did Edward Prior (see later) from Lower Road just down the hill from Stony Path. Charles Curtis had the Service Number 39333. He died of wounds in ‘France and Flanders’ on 15 August 1917, aged 30. Charles is buried in Mendinghem Military Cemetery in grave number IV.E 34. In the Commonwealth War Graves Registry Charles is recorded as the son of Mrs Curtis of England’s Lane.13

The 8th (Service) Battalion was part of the so-called New Armies (K1), and was formed in Newcastle in August 1914. It is not known when Charles enlisted, but the Battalion fought in Gallipoli in 1915, was in Egypt in January 1916, and France from July 1916.14

13 CWGC. 14 http://www.1914-1918.net/northfus.htm accessed April 2013.

Stony Path Cottages – today.

William Chalk

The Coldstream Guards

William Chalk was a Private in the Coldstream Guards, Service Number 16330. He was born Dunmow in the September Quarter 1885, lived in Loughton, and enlisted at Epping. There were a number of the Chalk family living in Epping district. A William Chalk’s marriage is registered in Epping in the December Quarter 1907.

William was killed in action 3 August 1917 in ‘France and Flanders’ and is buried in Bleuet Farm Cemetery, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Plot I. Row E. Grave 25.

F Dickens

Royal Irish Rifles

F Dickens, a member of the choir, has also been difficult to identify. The King’s Green Memorial commemorates his death in 1918, but has no other information.

No F Dickens’ births are registered anywhere nearby except for a number in the east London area; a similar situation exists with marriage registrations.

A John Dickens birth was registered in Epping in the March Quarter of 1897 and at age 14 was, in the 1911 Census, recorded as at school. John was the son of William, a domestic gardener, and Mary Ann of Baldwin’s Hill. This would have put John very much of military age – 21 - in 1918. He could possibly have been known by a different forename or ‘nick-name’. But no death is recorded with CWGC.

There is one F Dickens in SDGW with an Essex connection – Frederick Ernest Dickens, who was the son of Charles and Abigail Dickens of Hawkins Hill, Little Stampford, Braintree. Frederick, Service Number 42223, was a Rifleman with the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles. He was killed, aged 19, on 16 August 1917 and is commemorated on Panel 138-140 of the Tyne Cot Memorial. Frederick is NOT commemorated on the Little Stampford War Memorial or the Braintree and Bocking War Memorial. These facts may well indicate that it was this F Dickens who was the resident of the parish.

Quite why an Essex man was serving with the Royal Irish Riles is impossible to know, there may have been a family connection. The 13th (Service) Battalion was raised in County Down in September 1914 from Down Volunteers. The battalion moved to Seaford in July 1915 as part of the 108th Brigade, 36th Ulster Division, and then to Boulogne in October. In November 1917, after Frederick was killed, the battalion amalgamated with the 11th Battalion, which suggests that both units had been seriously depleted by casualties. In 1917 the Battalion fought in the Battle of Messines, The Battle of Langemarck, The Cambrai Operations and The

15 capture of Bourlon Wood.15 The Battle of Langemarck took place from 16 – 18 August when Frederick was killed; the 21 Battalions of the Regiment lost over 7,000 men during the conflict.

Men of The Royal Irish Rifles – The Somme 1916.16

A W Freeman

The Buffs ( East Kent Regiment)

Albert Walter Freeman was a Private in the 7th Battalion The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) with the service Number G/23859. Albert is recorded as having been born in and a resident of Loughton. He was killed in action on 3 August 1917, probably at the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), and has no known grave. Albert is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial Panel 12 and 14.17

15 http://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/unit-info/305/ accessed July 2014. 16 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Ulster_Rifles accessed July 2014. 17 CWGC and http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Essex/Loughton.html

The 7th Battalion was raised in Canterbury in September 1914 and served in France from July 1915. The Battalion saw action in most of the major battles around the Somme and Ancre in 1916, and in 1917, the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line; and then in Flanders, the battles Pilkem Ridge, Langemarck and Passchendaele.18

Frank George Bausor Freeman

The Royal Regiment of Artillery

Frank Freeman was 30 years old when he was killed in action in ‘France and Flanders’. He was a Corporal, Number L/21367, (L indicates WWI enlistment) in ‘A’ Battery, 173 Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery; Frank had previously served with the Royal Horse Artillery. He was killed in action on 21 March 1918 and is commemorated on Panel 7 to 10 of the Pozieres Memorial and therefore has no known grave.

Frank Freeman lived in Loughton before enlisting for the army in Shoreditch east. The 1911 Census records him as Frank BANSOR Freeman, single, then aged 24 and boarding with Frederick James Wilson, a letter carrier, his wife Alice and their three sons aged 16, 12 and 9 all living at 124 Forest Road Loughton. Frank appeared to have an older sister living there too; Muriel Minnie aged 26, working as a cashier, both she and Frank were born in Latchingdon.

The Commonwealth War Graves Registry records Frank as the son of the late George and Ada Freeman and the husband of Daisy Freeman of 10 Stag Lane Buckhurst Hill. Frank and Daisy Ratcliffe (possibly Daisy Kate Ratcliffe born in Romford), were married in the June Quarter 1917.

18 http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/buffs7-gw.php accessed 2.10.2014

124 Forest Road - today.

C A Fry

The Essex Regiment The Suffolk Regiment

Captain C A Fry, the Essex Regiment, attached to the Suffolk Regiment – source The War Illustrated Vol.10.

C A Fry has also been difficult to identify conclusively. Officers had no Service Numbers. No C A Fry births are registered anywhere in England between 1868 and 1902. The King’s Green Memorial commemorates his death in 1918. Charles Augustus Fry, aged 58 and a Captain in the 6th Battalion of the Essex Regiment, but attached to the 2nd Garrison Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment, died in 1918 on 2 April. Captain Fry is buried in grave III.A.2 in Les Baraques Military Cemetery, Sangatte. The 1911 Census records a Fry family living in High Beech Road Loughton. The head of the household was Charles, a ‘police pensioner’ and Essex

County Council Cattle Inspector, Eliza (perhaps she liked to be known as Elsie, or vice-versa) was his wife. Eliza and Charles had four daughters, Emily Mary (29), Lucy Ella (24), Alice Maud (15) and Lilian Violet (14); they also had two sons; Albert James (23) in the Royal Navy and Alfred, aged 19, a despatch clerk for a chemical maker.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records that Charles was the son of the late Reverend Canon Charles and Mrs Fry of Holy Cross, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, (and, therefore, Captain Fry might have been born in Ireland) and husband of Elsie M Fry of Church Manor, Bishop’s Stortford, who may have moved there after the 1911 Census or after Captain Fry’s death.

(http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Essex/Loughton.html - agrees with this detail, probably from the same source).

High Beech Road – today.

George Henry Greenaway,

16th County of London Regiment Westminster Rifles Archibald Greenaway Henry’s brother who survived the War.19

George H Greenaway, a member of the choir, was born in Loughton in late 1896, and in 1911 was residing at 34 York Hill.

34 York Hill – today.

19 Picture source - London Newsquest.

Henry was aged 14 then and lived with his father, Alfred, a bricklayer, and his mother, Maria. George had two older brothers, Horace age 20, a salesman, and Archibald age 18, a railway clerk (see illustration above), and a younger brother, Ernest aged 10, and at school. George was employed as an Education Clerk for the County Council and enlisted as a Rifleman in Westminster into the 16th Battalion of the London Regiment (Queen’s Westminster Rifles). He was a Rifleman (private) with the Service Number 4065, and joined between April and May 1915. George died on 25 June 1916 aged 19 and is buried in Plot 2. Row L. Grave 7A in Le Treport Military Cemetery. The 1/16 Battalion was a Territorial Regiment and was mobilised on 4 August 1914, the day war was declared, at Queen’s Hall Buckingham Gate Westminster, and arrived in France 3 November and became part of the 18th Brigade, 6th Division. At the time of George’s death the battalion was with the 169th Brigade, 56th (1st London) Division. The Division was deployed in the area of the Somme and was later involved in the Somme Offensive, but George had died just before 1 July 1916 when the Offensive took place.

A queue of recruits at the HQ of the Queen’s Westminster Rifles.20

20 http:// Google images accessed 27.08.14.

Ernest Everett Hibling

The Essex Regiment

Ernest Hibling was born in Peterborough in the March Quarter 1883, the son of Mr and Mrs Edward Everett Hibling of Jesmond Dene, Dogs Thorpe Road, Peterborough; he lived in Loughton and enlisted for the army in Epping. Ernest was a private, Service Number 40193, in the 2nd Battalion of the Essex Regiment. He was killed in action in ‘France and Flanders’ aged 33 on 12 December 1916, and although he has no known grave, Ernest is commemorated on the Pier and Face 10 D of the Thiepval Memorial. It is not known exactly when Ernest enlisted; the 2nd Battalion landed in Le Havre on 28 August 1914 and had been engaged in many battles of the war prior to the Battle of the Somme of the summer and autumn of 1916. It would appear that Ernest had survived this battle, only to be killed shortly afterwards. The Somme offensive closed on 18 November 1916 ‘the day the first winter snow appeared’.21 (There is one recorded marriage under the name of Ernest Hibling – to Miss Bennet in Doncaster in the December Quarter 1915).

Thiepval Memorial.22

21 Corrigan, G Mud, Blood and Poppycock, p.296. 22 Author’s Collection.

Ernest Houchin

The Bedfordshire Regiment The Machine Gun Corps

Ernest Houchin, choir member and Parishioner, was born in Woodford and lived in Loughton. Ernest was the son of Walter and Eliza Houchin, of 9 Lower Road (now the site of a dry cleaning shop and block of flats). Ernest enlisted in Waltham Abbey, first into the Bedfordshire Regiment, with the Service Number 8959, later to serve, still as a private, in the 97th Company, The Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) with the Service Number 73537. His original service number tends to indicate that Ernest had been serving with the Bedfordshire Regiment since 1907, when he would have been 18 years old. Ernest died of wounds in ‘France and Flanders’ on 23 December 1917, age 28, probably received at the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). He is buried in Mendinghem Military Cemetery, Poperinge, West- Vlaanderen, Belgium. Plot VI. Row BB. Grave 33.

The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was formed by Royal Warrant on October 14, 1915 in order to create a specialist unit. Previously machine gunners were in sections of infantry battalions (two guns per battalion until February 1915, when this was doubled to four). Machine gunners from these battalions transferred to the MGC on its formation and were soon equipped and standardised with the Vickers machine gun.

Vickers machine gunners wearing anti-gas helmets near Ovillers, Somme July 1916.23

23 http:// www. 1914-1918.net/mgc.htm accessed 27.08.14 – see this site for tactics and technical details.

E Kimm

Middlesex Regiment

E Kimm is commemorated on the Choir Memorial, but not on the King’s Green Memorial, therefore was almost certainly not a resident of Loughton.

Only four deaths with the name ‘Kimm’ are recorded by the CWGC and only one with an ‘E’ in the forenames. Thomas Ernest Kimm is the closest, being the son of Thomas Frederick and Beatrice Kimm of Stoneycroft, Brimsdown, Enfield Highway.

Thomas Ernest Kimm, with the Service Number G/378, was a signaller in the 11th Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment. Thomas died, aged 20, on 4 November 1915 and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial Panel 99-101.

The 11th (Service) Battalion was a formed in August 1914 in Mill Hill and served in ‘France and Flanders’ from June 1915 until February 1918, when it was disbanded.

Thomas Ernest Kimm was almost certainly a casualty of the Battle of Loos.

Percy C Letch

The Royal Regiment of Artillery

Percy Letch was a gunner with the 122 Heavy Battery, the Royal Garrison Artillery. He enlisted in Epping with the Service Number 74202. Percy was born in Boreham,

Chelmsford in 1891, and in 1911 was living in The Street, Boreham: he had two siblings, Sydney, in 1911, aged 22, and Tilly Florence aged 9, the grandchildren of Henry and Mary Letch. Percy married Miss E A King in the December Quarter 1913 in the Chelmsford area.

Percy died of wounds in ‘France and Flanders’ on 10 November 1916, aged 23, and is buried in grave number II.H.13 in Pozieres British Cemetery, Ovillers-La Boisselle. He was survived by his wife who later (March 1919), married Willie Lynes to became Mrs E A Lynes of 3 Manor Cottages, Boreham.

9.2 inch howitzers in action on the Western Front.24

Charles Sergeant Jagger's magnificent 1925 memorial to the Royal Regiment of Artillery of 1914- 1918, situated at Hyde Park Corner in London.25

24 http://www.1914-1918.net/siege-battery-index.htm accessed April 2013. 25 http://www.1914-1918.net/cra.htm accessed April 2013.

William John Patient

The Northamptonshire Regiment

William Patient was born in Loughton in the June Quarter 1887, the son of Alfred and Mary A Patient in the Parish of St Mary The Virgin. In 1911 William had four siblings: Harriet (12), Alfred (10), Benjamin C (6) and William (3). Sometime in late 1911 William married. The 1911 Census recorded William as ‘a soldier’ visiting Henry Patient, a farm labourer, and his wife Dinah; they had four children: Alfred (5), Annie (3), Emily (2) and Jon age 3 months, and lived in Pump Hill. William was the husband of Ellen Beatrice Patient, of 24 Ash Green, Loughton.

Pump Hill – today

Ash Green – Baldwin’s Hill.

William enlisted as a Private at Warley, and was serving with “A" Company, the 1st Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment with the Service Number 9579 26 when he was killed in action in ‘France and Flanders’ on 23 October 1914, aged 27. He has no known grave and is commemorated on Ypres Menin Gate Memorial. William was a regular soldier; his Service Number indicates that he joined between April 1912 and January 1913. The 1st Battalion had been stationed at Blackdown, Aldershot and landed at Le Havre 13 August 1914. The Battalion fought at Mons and the subsequent retreat, and the Battles of the Marne, Aisne and First Ypres, where William almost certainly was killed.

The Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres.27

26 SDGW. 27 Author’s Collection.

A W Pead

The Essex Regiment

The King’s Green Memorial commemorates his death as 1915 in the section of the memorial that was a later addition, but http://www.roll-of- honour.com/Essex/Loughton.html has no information. https://www.forces-war- records.co.uk have no deaths of that name recorded for any branch of the Armed Services. The 1911 Census throws no light on Mr Pead either.

The CWGC lists Frederick Pead, who could be Arthur known as Fred, but lists his year of death as 6 April 1918. Frederick Pead was a Sergeant in the Essex Regiment.

George Pether

The Manchester Regiment

George Pether was born in the June Quarter 1888, the son of William and Rose Pether of the Parish of St Mary The Virgin. By 1911 George was a bricklayer’s labourer, as was his older brother William. Rose had been widowed and worked as a charwoman. They lived in Baldwin’s Hill with his sisters Rosa, a general domestic, age 20, Jane (16) and Bess (9) and his little brother Thomas (6).

George enlisted as a private soldier in Epping and served with the 2nd/5th Manchester Regiment with the Service Number 44963.28 George was killed in action on 9 October 1917 and has no known grave. He is commemorated on Panel 120 to 124 and 162 to 162A and 163A of the Tyne Cot Memorial.

The 2nd/5th Manchester’s was formed in Wigan in August 1914 as part of the Territorial Force. The battalion did not go to France until February 1917. From the date of George’s death and the place of his memorialisation, it seems likely that he and his battalion were involved in the battle known as Third Ypres or Passchendaele. It was during this battle, on 4 October 1917, that Ludendorff, the German commander, described it as the ‘the blackest day of the German army’.29 53,000 British soldiers lost their lives in this battle; Tyne Cot, with 12,000 graves, is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the world.30

Edward Prior

The Northumberland Fusiliers

Edward Prior was aged 14 and at school when the 1911 Census recorded him as the son of Henry, a domestic coachman, and Annie Prior of 7 Lower Road, Golding’s Hill, Loughton. A choir and Parishioner, Edward had been born in Loughton in the June Quarter 1897 and had several siblings; Alfred George (22) a butcher, Ernest Charles (16) a domestic under gardener, Herbert, a domestic page, Francis (12), Walter (10) and Elsie Maud (7).

As with Arthur Curtis, with whom he may have been friends (see above), Edward joined the 8th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers, and his Service Number was 44648. Edward, a private, was killed in action in ‘France and Flanders’ on 16 August 1917, aged 20, and is buried in Enclosure No.4 VII.B.24 of the Bedford House Cemetery Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

28 http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Essex/Loughton.html - state 2/15 accessed April 2013. 29 Corrigan, Mud, Blood and Poppycock, p.354. 30 Ibid., p.355.

Both Loughton men lost their lives within a day of each other; Arthur died on 15 August 1917 and Edward Prior was killed in action on 16 August 1917.

George Edward Randall

George Edward Randall was born in Norwich during the September Quarter 1892. He almost certainly married a Miss Brown in the March Quarter 1913, and they lived in Loughton; he was a private soldier in the 1st/14th Battalion of the London Regiment (London Scottish) with the Service Number 2093. His Service Number indicates that George enlisted in early 1914, certainly before the outbreak of war. The 1st/14th was formed from the Volunteers in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. It was an unusual battalion of the British Army before the Great War because, to join the unit a soldier had to be either Scottish, or of Scottish descent, he also had to pay a joining fee, the money being used for regimental funds. Before 1914 this fee was ten pounds, an enormous sum; it was done to ensure that the men who joined the rank and file of the regiment were from Middle Class families and not from the back streets of London. The battalion had only just arrived at annual camp on Salisbury Plain when war was declared on 4 August 1914. They were roused from their beds the first night they were there and marched back to the station to return to London and prepare for mobilization.31 It is possible that George got home for just the one night before returning to barracks where training began with route marches with ever increasing weights in the men’s packs. Being a Territorial unit, the men had to volunteer to serve abroad; the regimental history records that not all the men did so. It was a popular regiment, and on the outbreak of war was almost at full establishment; unusual for Territorial battalions which were normally under-strength. It was said to be one of the best equipped and that the regimental funds ensured that the London Jocks were the only battalion in the army with the latest Vickers Machine Guns. This may have been so, but as with other units, the battalion left London still deficient in some supplies and equipment, including rifles with incompatible ammunition, a fact not discovered until going into action. Before going to France,

31 http://lib.militaryarchive.co.uk/library/infantry-histories/library/The-Lonon-Scot accessed 10.09.14.

31 the men undertook further training near Watford; this was expected to take place for some time, but after month the unit was ordered abroad.

The Battalion proceeded to France, landing at Le Havre on 16 September 1914 and by 28 October were concentrated at St Omer. On 30 October they took reserve position on the front line at Hooge Woods; the next day moving to St Eloi to reinforce the cavalry units holding the line; then on towards the Wytschacte Massines ridge where they advanced to action in extended (five paces) order. At the top of the ridge there was little cover to protect them from the German rifle fire and heavy shelling. The battalion closed on the German positions and casualties began to mount, and so the battalion fought at Messines, in the First Battle of Ypres, on Halloween 1914, where George was killed. The total battalion losses were reported to be 394 of all ranks, later some were found among the wounded or had been taken prisoner. The 1st/14th Battalion was the first Territorial infantry battalion to see action in the Great War, and it did so without its machine-guns and with defective rifles.32/33

George was killed in action on 1 November 1914 and has no known grave. George Randall is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) memorial on Panel 54.

32 http://greatwarphotos.com/tag/london-scottish/ accessed 10.09.14. 33 http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/londonrgt14-gw.php accessed 10.09.14. http://lib.militaryarchive.co.uk/library/infantry-histories/library/The-Lonon-Scot accessed 10.09.14.

A Corporal of The London Scottish 1912.34

34 http://greatwarphotos.com/tag/london-scottish/ accessed 10.09.14.

W J Rose

The London Regiment

Walter James Rose was born in Ongar in the June Quarter 1881 and was the son of Thomas Edward Rose of High Street, Ongar. W J Rose lived in Loughton and was a Rifleman in the London Regiment (5th Battalion - London Rifle Brigade) when he died in ‘France and Flanders’ on 25 May 1918 aged 37, possibly as a result of illness rather than wounds. He had the Service Number 318260, but had previously served with the 9th County of London Regiment (Queen Victoria’s Rifles) with the Service Number 5981 indicating that Walter joined the Battalion between March and May 1916 and was almost certainly conscripted.35 W J Rose is buried in the Cologne Southern Cemetery, grave reference VII.C.4.

35 http://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/5th-city-of-london-bn-rifle.htm accessed 10.09.14.

R Rosier

The Royal Regiment of Artillery

The King’s Green Memorial commemorates his death in 1915 in the section on the Memorial that was added later. http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Essex/Loughton.html lists no information on Mr Rosier. Research has found, from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, only one Rosier with ‘R’ initials, and with an Essex ‘connection’ :-

Lieutenant James Erle Radcliff Rosier died on 20 September 1916, aged 23. He had served with ‘A’ Battery, 245 Brigade Royal Field Artillery. James was the only son of James and Rose Rosier of 41 Meteor Way Westcliffe-on-Sea. James was born in Stoke Poges and was educated at St Paul’s School, Hammersmith and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge; he graduated with Honours and is buried in grave I.F.13. Bouzincourt Communal Cemetery Extension.

Frank Reynolds

The Sherwood Foresters

(Nottingham and Derbyshire Regiment)

Second Lieutenant Frank Reynolds was the son of Rebecca Ann Reynolds and the late Walter Reynolds of ‘Highclere’ 14 Snakes Lane, Woodford Green. Frank died

35 aged 24; the date recorded is 13 September 1916, but The King’s Green Memorial commemorates his death as 1915. Frank served in ‘D’ Company, Second Battalion The Sherwood Foresters (Nottingham and Derbyshire Regiment) and was attached to the 71st Trench Mortar Battery. The Regiment was engaged in the Battle of The Somme and it seems likely that Frank was one of the many deaths resulting from those various engagements.

Lieutenant Reynolds is buried in grave XII.J.9. at Guillemont Road Cemetery, Guillemont.36

Robert Shannon

The Royal Army Medical Corps

Robert Shannon was a Yorkshireman, born in Long Westgate, Scarborough in 1896 and at some time adopted by Nathan Turner and his wife Mary Ann, who in 1911, lived in Railway Cottages, Chigwell Lane. Nathan was a platelayer, Robert became a Carman. For whatever reason, perhaps as a Carman he was on his travels, Robert enlisted in Ipswich, Suffolk as a Private, Service Number 1978 in the 88th (1st/1st East Anglian) Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps. Robert may have already been a Territorial Soldier in this unit prior to 1914. This Field Ambulance was said to have had training activities in and around East Anglia, including Romford.37

Each Army Division had three ‘Field Ambulances’, in theory, one for each Brigade in the Division, tasked with caring for up to 150 casualties. The organisation of the army medical services was for stretcher bearers and ‘medics’ to ‘go forward’ to collect casualties and to bring them back to the various levels of treatment centres. Depending on their wounds and condition, the wounded might be patched

36 http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Essex/Loughton.htm. 37 http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80011216 accessed 25.09.14.

36 up and returned to duty from a Regimental Aid Post – the nearest to the front line – or sent further back, to an Advanced Dressing Station, or further back still to a Main Dressing Station and then to Casualty Clearing, hospital and perhaps eventually home.38

The 88th Field Ambulance served with the 29th Division from January 1915. The Division left Avonmouth on the Aragon and the Allaunia via Malta and Alexandria between 16 and 22 March 1915 and landed at Cape Helles on 25 April.39 The 88th set up an advanced dressing station in Gully Ravine.

Robert was killed in action probably somewhere near there on 7 August 1915 and is buried in Pink Farm Cemetery, Helles in grave number IV.A.10.

Robert’s parents’ later address is recorded as Bower Vale Epping.

For an oral testimony of a stretcher bearer from Robert’s unit who served with him in Gallipoli listen to http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80011216. For a recent addition to the military history of Gallipoli see Peter Hart’s [2011] Gallipoli, Profile Books, London,.

William George Stubbings

The Essex Regiment

William Stubbings was born, lived and enlisted into the army in Loughton, and was also killed in action in the Gallipoli Campaign on 30 May 1915. William served as a Private, Service Number 9912, in the 1st Battalion of the Essex Regiment and has no known grave. William is commemorated on the Helles Memorial on Panel 144 to

38 http://www.1914-1918.net/fieldambulances.htm accessed 25.09.14. 39 http://www.1914-1918.net/29div.htm and http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80011216 accessed 25.09.14.

150 or 229 to 233. William’s Service Number indicates that he enlisted before 23 March 1914, before the outbreak of war.

Like Robert Shannon’s Field Ambulance unit, the 1st Essex was also part of the 29th Division and took part in the initial landings at Cape Helles on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The 1st Essex landed, as part of 88 Brigade, on ‘W’ Beach at around 0830 on 25 April 1915 and was straight into the attack against Hill 138, they were pushed back, but helped to stabilise a front line.40

Ernest Saville

King’s Royal Rifle Corps

Ernest Saville lived in Loughton having been born Ernest Henry in High Beech in the March Quarter 1878; he was 40 years old when he was killed in action in ‘France and Flanders’ on 23 October 1918. Ernest had enlisted in Hounslow, Middlesex as a Rifleman in the 13th Battalion of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, Service Number 46747. He was married in the March Quarter 1907 and Mrs L E Saville of Ferrocroft, England’s Lane, Loughton survived him.

Ernest is buried in grave C.8. in the Beaurain British Cemetery.

40 Hart, P [2011], Gallipoli, (Profile Books, London), pp.137/138.

These cottages are named Reyntots Croft 1901 – it seems likely that Ferrocroft was one of the adjacent groups of cottages.

It is not possible to determine Ernest’s enlistment date from his Service Number, but it seems likely from his age and marital status that he was a conscript. Conscription became law on 27 January 1916; the upper age was 41, the unmarried men were called first and the call-up was extended to married men on 25 May 1916.41

The 13th (Service) Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps was a part of Kitchener’s Third New Army. The battalion saw much action in France in 1918; it fought on the Somme, the Aisne, the Hindenburg Line, and the final advance in Picardy.42 In October 1918 the Battalion was attacking ‘on the Masnieres-Beaurevoir line south of Cambrai’,43 it may have been in this area that Ernest was killed.

C E Skinner and P Skinner

C E Skinner and P Skinner are commemorated on St John’s Choir Memorial. The King’s Green Memorial, however, does not commemorate them; therefore the Skinners were probably not Loughton men. Were they related, brothers, cousins, or a father and son who joined the choir and then the Services? The CWGC records the deaths of several men, listed below, with the name Skinner and the initials C E. and P, but, so far, this information throws no light on establishing who the Skinners were that sang in the choir.

Major Charles Edwin died 13 January 1920 aged 35 of the Royal Field Artillery, commemorated on the Haidar Pasha Memorial and is buried at Novorossisk New

41Corrigan, [2003] Mud, Blood, And Poppycock, (Cassel, London), pp.73/74. 42 http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/kingsroyalriflecorps13-gw.php accessed 25.09.2014. 43 http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030000591 accessed 25.09.2014.

Cemetery. Charles was the son of Charles Edwin Skinner of East Anglican School Bury St Edmunds.

Charles Edward, Private, Service Number 2671, B Coy, 3rd Battalion London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers). Died 20 November 1915 and is buried in Grave D145, Alexandria (Chatby) Military and War Memorial Cemetery, the son of Mr G Skinner 59 Chester Road Kennington.

Charles Edward, killed in action in ‘France and Flanders’ 9 August 1916, aged 25 and a Private with 7th Suffolk Regiment, Service Number 15628; enlisted in Cambridge, the son of Ellen Skinner, of New Wimpole, Royston, Herts, and the late Charles Skinner. His brothers F Skinner and Harry Skinner also fell. He is commemorated on Pier and face 1 c and 2 A, Thiepval Memorial

Charles Evan, Private, Service Number 20138 of the 2nd Battalion East Surreys. Charles died 5 November 1918, aged 38 and was the son of Mrs R Skinner, of 51 Webber Street, Blackfriars. Charles is buried in grave 438 Mikra British Cemetery, Kalamaria.

------

Percy, Private, Service Number 58352 of the Devonshire Regiment, later transferred to 102380 6th Infantry Labour Corps and died 13 August 1918. Percy was the son of William Skinner, Clapham and is buried in grave reference XIII.C.9B Brookwood Military Cemetery.

Sub-Lieutenant Philip John Lancelot, HMS Formidable, Royal Navy, died 1 January 1915 and was the son of Charles and Kathleen Skinner. Sub-Lieutenant Skinner is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial, Panel ref 8.

Robert D Tibbs

SS Persia from a postcard at Aden c.190044

Robert Dunham Tibbs was born in West Ham (in Essex at that time), in 1893. Not much is known, at present, about Lieutenant Tibbs, listed on the Indian Army Reserve of Officers.45 Robert Tibbs lost his life at sea on 30 December 1915, and is commemorated on the Chatby Memorial, on the eastern side of Alexandria, Egypt. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission explains that the Chatby Memorial commemorates the deaths of 986 servicemen who lost their lives when hospital or transport ships were sunk in the Mediterranean Sea, or they died in transit to the hospitals in Alexandria and were buried at sea.

Robert Tibbs was a passenger on the SS Persia travelling to Bombay;46

A defensively armed passenger vessel out of Tilbury, for Port Said, Aden and Bombay, torpedoed and sunk 30 December 1915 off Crete, with the loss of 334 lives. Among the dead were 21 officers and one NCO of the United Kingdom and Indian forces.47

The ship was sunk by a torpedo fired from German U Boat U-38 at 13.10, without warning, or provision for the passengers. 176 passengers did survive. The sinking of SS Persia attracted much media attention, not only as an atrocity of German unrestricted submarine warfare, but because two of the survivors were Lord Montagu of Beaulieu and his secretary, and mistress, Eleanor Thompson. The ship was also carrying a large quantity of treasure.48 The U Boat was captained by Christian August Max Alhmann Valentiner, who later commanded a U Boat Group until 1945; he died in 1949 of a lung disease. As SS Persia was clearly carrying soldiers, it does seem that it was a legitimate military target for Valentiner to attack.

44 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Persia_(1900) accessed 1.10.2014. 45 CWGC. 46 Susan Tomkins - Archivist to Lord Montagu of Beaulieu; email correspondence 03.10. 2014. 47 CWGC. 48http://www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire/content/articles/2008/05/20/sspersia_montagu_feature.shtml accessed 1.10.2014.

Christian August Max Alhmann Valentiner49

An exhibition at Buckler’s Hard includes artifacts from SS Persia.50

Leonard Oliver Douglas Webb

The Essex Regiment

Leonard Oliver Douglas Webb is recorded by CWGC as having been born and having lived in Loughton. No record of either his or his brother’s births have been located as recorded in the Epping District. There is no Leonard ‘Oliver’ births recorded at all anywhere around the relevant period, however a registration in the Ipswich District may be relevant. Leonard was the brother of Henry William Webb of 23 Staples Road, Loughton. Leonard was 25 years old (born around 1892 which aligns

49 http://www.digitalsilver.co.uk/TimeGun/fate-sspersia.html accessed 1.10.2014. 50 http://www.bucklershard.co.uk/attractions/maritime-museum accessed 1.10.2014.

42 with the Ipswich registration), when he was killed in action fighting in ‘‘France and Flanders’’ with the Essex Regiment on 22 April 1917. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial on Panel 85 to 87. Leonard’s Service Number was 32463 and he enlisted at Warley,51 after 21 July 1916,52 where the 11th (Service) Battalion had been formed in 1914. The battalion had landed in France in August 1915. From 27 October 1915 the battalion was part of the 18th Brigade, 6th Division.

The following is summarized from the Battalion War Diary on the day Leonard was killed.53 The battalion was involved in what is known as The Battles of Arras, 9 April – 4 May 1917.

On 22 April the battalion took part in an assault on ‘Nash Alley’. The assaulting companies – each of about 70 men left the front line (Novel Alley) at 07.57. - B and D companies attacking across a frontage of 350 yards. Each Company had two waves, about 50 yards apart. C company was in support and moved up as soon as the assaulting companies moved off.

B Company, under Captain Fison, reached its objective, captured a machine gun and killed its crew and 20 other German soldiers. A German counter attack around 09.30 was beaten off. B Company sustained 20 casualties.

D Company, under Lieutenant Silver, achieved most of its assigned objective – this part of the front line was strongly held. Severe fighting took place and eventually one of the two German machine-guns was bombed out of action. When the supply of bombs was exhausted, the Essex lads retired in good order, supported by their Lewis gunners. 50 German soldiers were killed and 5 taken prisoner; D Company sustained 50 casualties.

The Bombing Platoon of C Company was sent in support, but were ‘put out of action’ by German artillery.

A Company, of three platoons, moved up, with one platoon holding Nash Valley to the right of B Company, one platoon to the left of D Company, and the third held in support in the ‘Sunken Road Trench’.

German shelling continued all day, although the diary records that ‘except for Artillery fire… things were fairly quiet until 4 p.m.’ The Companies were gradually resupplied with bombs and ammunition. At 4 p.m. a heavy German bombardment and counter attack commenced and eventually the companies were forced back. Heavy casualties were sustained during the counter

51 http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Essex/Loughton.html accessed 1.10.2014. 52 http://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/essex-regiment-numbers-from-1914.html accessed 02.10.2014. 53 TNO file:///E:/Downloads/WO-95-1616-1_3%20(2).pdf accessed 2.10.2014.

attack and at 5p.m. only about 60 men were holding Novel Trench. Reinforcements were sent from other units.

At the time the diary entry was recorded, the estimated battalion casualties were 10 officers and 250 other ranks. One Officer, G F Deane was killed, the other officers were wounded. The number of dead among the other rank casualties is not recorded here, but Leonard Webb from Loughton was among them, he had not been a soldier for very long.

23 Staples Road – today.

‘The ‘Triple’ - Pip, Squeak and Wilfred’

The 1914 or 1914/1915 Star, British War Medal, The Victory Medal

‘They were inspired by victory and joined by death; such is the lot of the soldier and the glory of the brave’

‘Lest We Forget’