Wellington Remembers 1914–1918

159 48973 Private Samuel George Snape Lancashire Fusiliers Born on 16 August 1898 at Wrekin Road, Wellington, Shropshire Lived at 126 Wrekin Road, Wellington Killed in action 26 April 1918 aged 19 in France Remembered on the Loos Memorial; panels 45 & 46

His story Samuel George Snape was the fourth son of John Walter Snape and Martha Ann Rawlings, who were married at Stone, in Staffordshire in 1886. Five years later John, a shoemaker, and Martha were living at Woodbine Cottages on Wrekin Road in Wellington with their first three children, Alfred, born in Stone, and Alice and John, both born in Wellington. In 1901 the family was living in Wrekin Road and John was working as a labourer in a timber yard. The family had grown considerably to include Arthur, Annie, Mary and Samuel. John was still a shoemaker when three of the children were baptised at All Saints church on 25 November of that year. Samuel was born on 16 August 1898 at Wrekin Road, and his father gave his occupation as shoemaker journeyman when the birth was registered. By 1911 three more children completed the family, and 12-year-old Samuel was still at school. John was working as a general labourer. Samuel first enlisted for service with the Royal Engineers, in Newport, probably in March 1915 when he would still have been 16 years old. This is supported by a report in the Wellington Journal. Officially, he should have been 18 to enlist and 19 to serve abroad, so it appears that he was keen to sign up to serve his country, and ‘manipulated’ his date of birth in order to be accepted. He was assigned to the 3rd Special Battalion as a driver with the number 91026. The Special Brigades of the Royal Engineers were formed in response to the use of chemical weapons, and the battalion’s role was to handle gas discharge from cylinders and smoke from candles. The gas used, codenamed ‘White Star’, was phosgene mixed with chlorine. It was odourless and without taste and could be inhaled by its victims for a considerable time without Special Brigade men being noticed.

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There is a specific reference in military records to 91026 Driver Snape, S G in a Court of Enquiry held at Letter L Company Headquarters after the unexplained death of another man in his company on 26 December 1916. Samuel is listed as Witness number 5, and his evidence states: I went into Pioneer Jones’ hut at 6 p.m. I stayed till 7.15 p.m. When I went into the hut, pioneer Jones was lying on one bed and Pioneer Wilson on the other. I stood between the beds. About 6.15 p.m. Pioneer Wilson rolled off the bed and fell face downwards on the floor. Pioneer Jones and I were going to lift Pioneer Wilson back on the bed, but Pioneer Wilson said he was alright, and we were to leave him alone so we left him just as he fell. I then sat on the bed where Pioneer Wilson had been lying. When I went into the hut at 6 p.m. there was a white enamel cup filled with rum. I drank most of it. I saw no other rum at all. Pioneer Wilson was lying very drunk on the bed before he fell and did not have any rum while I was in. Pioneer Jones had some of the rum along with me. From the Royal Engineers, probably in the autumn of 1917, Samuel moved to the 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers, a Territorial Force battalion, part of 164th Brigade in the 55th Division. 1918 held no respite, as the battalion fought in the Battle of Hazebrouck and Estaires in the first half of April. After the Battle of Hazebrouck, the battalion was relieved by the 1st North Lancashire Fusiliers, and there is a gap in the regimental diary until the beginning of May. The brigade diary gives more detail about what happened in that week. On 25 April two parties had gone off to establish posts at Finchley and Orchard Road where they came across the enemy in force at the old front line and were driven back. There followed more severe fighting and the men of the 164th Brigade were forced back, suffering several casualties, including an officer of th2/5 Lancashire Fusiliers killed and three other ranks wounded. The following day one company of 1/4th and one of 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers under a barrage attempted to capture the front line and craters. The brigade diary tells us; ‘After very hard hand to hand fighting in which we took about 40 prisoners the Lancs . Fus . were not able to clean up the Left flank and after 6 hours of fierce fighting the enemy launched a heavy counter attack and our men had to fight their way slowly back to our original front line.’ The casualty report for the day included, for the 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers, one officer wounded and three men killed. Samuel George Snape was one of those three killed. His body was never recovered, and he is remembered on the Loos Memorial. At the time he was killed, his father, and three brothers were also serving with the colours. Samuel had been in the army for three years, and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. His £14 war gratuity payment was paid to his mother, Martha. His older brothers all enlisted in the army; Alfred (known as Fred to his nieces) and Arthur are both remembered by the family as having badges on the lower arm of their uniforms, so could have been of some rank. John served in the Royal Defence Corps and transferred to the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry in July 1917. He died aged 39 in Wellington in 1928; their father died there just months later.

Acknowledgements: Old Bancroftians Association from Bancrofts School, Woodford Green, Essex for image of the RE Special Brigade men.

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