Category: Remembered with Honour

My relatives or their spouses who were casualties of World Wars One and Two.

Heroic Actions of Cecil Martin in WWI’s Croisilles Battle

Private Cecil Edward Augustus Martin (service number G/12130) served with the 2nd Battalion, Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), and was killed in action on 2 April 1917 during operations near Croisilles on the Western Front.

He is buried in Croisilles British Cemetery in the Pas‑de‑Calais, France, where his grave lies among those of many comrades from the 7th Division who fell in the same fighting.



Early Life and Family

Cecil Edward Augustus Martin was born in Barham, Kent, in 1883, his birth registered in the Bridge district (volume 2A, page 781, line number 49). He was baptised at St John the Baptist, Barham, on 21 August 1883, confirming his roots in this rural East Kent parish.

He was the son of George Martin, an agricultural labourer and later an army pensioner, and his wife Isabella (née Hawkins), who married at St Mary Northgate, Canterbury, in 1878. The family moved between Surrey, Jersey, and Kent with George’s army service before settling in The Street, Barham, where several of Cecil’s siblings were also raised.

In the 1891 census Cecil appears as a scholar in Barham, living on The Street with his parents and siblings, reflecting a modest village upbringing in the Kent countryside. By 1901 he was still in The Street, Barham, recorded as a 17‑year‑old (the report notes him as 19) working as an errand boy, a typical occupation for a young man moving from school into casual employment.

By the 1911 census he is listed at Derringstone, Barham, near Canterbury, employed as a general labourer, a flexible role that could embrace farm work, building, and other manual jobs as required. No spouse or children are recorded in the individual report, and later notes describe him as having no wife or offspring, suggesting that Cecil never married and left no direct descendants.

Born, baptised, and brought up in Barham, Cecil Martin was very much a son of rural East Kent.

Reconstructed from civil registration and census records



Military Service with the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment)

The individual report records Cecil’s military service between about 1908 and 1917, with his enlistment age given as twenty‑three and his theatre of war as Western Europe. He enlisted at Canterbury and served as Private G/12130 in the 2nd Battalion, Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), known formally as the Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey), the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army after the Royal Scots.

The Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey) traced its origins to 1661 and saw service across the British Empire before the First World War. In 1959 it amalgamated with the East Surrey Regiment to form the Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment, and through later amalgamations its lineage today is carried by the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment.

At the outbreak of the First World War, the 2nd Battalion of the Queen’s was stationed at Pretoria in South Africa. On 27 August 1914 it embarked from Cape Town for England, arriving at Southampton on 19 September 1914 and moving to Lyndhurst to join the 22nd Brigade of the 7th Division. On 6 October 1914 it was mobilised for war, landing at Zeebrugge and quickly entering the fighting on the Western Front.

The battalion and its division fought in some of the hardest‑fought early battles of the war, including the First Battle of Ypres in 1914, where the 7th Division suffered such heavy casualties that it took until 1915 to rebuild its strength. In 1915 the 2nd Queen’s took part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the Battle of Aubers, the Battle of Festubert, the second action of Givenchy, and the Battle of Loos, forming part of the British effort to break the German lines in northern France and Flanders.

On 20 December 1915 the battalion transferred to the 91st Brigade within the 7th Division. In 1916 it fought on the Somme in the Battle of Albert, the Battle of Bazentin, the Battle of Delville Wood, the Battle of Guillemont, and subsequent operations on the Ancre, enduring prolonged trench warfare and repeated assaults against the German defences. Cecil’s service in the Western European theatre would have placed him amid this cycle of attack, consolidation, and attrition.

As a private of the 2nd Queen’s, Martin marched and fought with the 7th Division in many of the British Army’s hardest campaigns on the Western Front.

Summary of divisional operations 1914–1917



The 2nd Battalion at Croisilles, April 1917

In early 1917 the German Army withdrew to the strongly fortified Hindenburg Line, abandoning some forward positions. The 7th Division, including the 2nd Battalion, Queen’s, advanced to follow up this retreat and was tasked with attacking and capturing the village of Croisilles, south‑east of Arras, as part of these operations.

Croisilles British Cemetery’s historical summary notes that the 7th Division attacked Croisilles in March 1917 and took it on 2 April 1917. Plots I and II of the cemetery were begun between April 1917 and March 1918, initially to bury those killed in and around the village during the fighting, and later extended after the Armistice when graves were brought in from neighbouring battlefields and smaller burial grounds.

Other accounts of the 2nd Queen’s and 91st Brigade describe how the battalion moved forward from assembly positions to assault German positions covering Croisilles, suffering heavy casualties in the process. The majority of the dead from the 2nd Queen’s who fell on 2 April 1917 are buried in Croisilles British Cemetery, particularly in Plot I, Row A, underlining the intensity of the fighting on the day Cecil was killed.

Thus, at the time of his death, Private Martin’s unit was serving as part of 91st Brigade, 7th Division, attacking Croisilles against strong German opposition during the wider Arras–Hindenburg Line operations of spring 1917. His burial in Croisilles British Cemetery, close to the village the division captured on 2 April, ties his personal story directly to this key phase of the war on the Western Front.

On 2 April 1917 the 2nd Queen’s helped take Croisilles; many of those who fell that day, including Cecil Martin, now rest together in the British cemetery on the village’s edge.

Derived from Croisilles cemetery history and 7th Division accounts



Circumstances of Death

The individual report records that Cecil Edward Augustus Martin was killed in action on 2 April 1917 in France. This date coincides exactly with the day on which the 7th Division captured Croisilles, linking his death to the assault that secured the village from German control.

The cause of death is simply given as “Killed in Action”, with no surviving personal account in the report to describe the precise circumstances. However, the concentration of 2nd Queen’s graves from that date in Croisilles British Cemetery, together with divisional histories, strongly suggests that he fell during the attack or in the immediate fighting around the village’s defences.



Burial and Commemoration

Private Martin is buried in Croisilles British Cemetery, Pas‑de‑Calais, France, in grave I.A.19, as recorded in his individual report and corroborated by independent genealogical research. The cemetery lies to the south‑west of the village centre, off the road to St Léger, and today contains over 1,100 Commonwealth burials and commemorations from the First World War.

According to the cemetery history, most of the soldiers buried there belonged to the Guards, 7th and 21st Divisions, reflecting the units engaged in the fighting for Croisilles and the subsequent German offensives and Allied counter‑attacks in 1917–1918. Plots I and II, in which Cecil’s grave is located, were made between April 1917 and March 1918, after which further graves were concentrated there from surrounding battlefields and smaller cemeteries.[web:43]

His Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry can be accessed via the CWGC database: CWGC casualty details for Private C. E. A. Martin. A further genealogical summary, including his parents and siblings, is available at Faded Genes: Cecil Edward Augustus Martin 1883–1917.



Legacy and Descendants

The individual report records no spouse and no children for Cecil Edward Augustus Martin, and independent research similarly finds no evidence that he married. His immediate legacy therefore rests with his parents and siblings, with the Martin and Hawkins families of Barham and Canterbury preserving his memory privately in the years after the war.

More broadly, his story forms part of the collective legacy of the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), whose battalions fought from Tangier in the seventeenth century through the major campaigns of the First World War. As one of many ordinary soldiers from rural Kent who served and died with the 2nd Battalion on the Western Front, Cecil represents the deep contribution of small villages like Barham to Britain’s war effort.

For descendants of his wider family, resources such as Ancestry and other genealogical databases can be used to reconstruct the Martin and Hawkins lines in greater depth, drawing on the civil registrations, census entries, and military sources referenced here. In this way, Private Cecil Edward Augustus Martin’s short life—rooted in Barham and ended at Croisilles—can be placed within a richer family and regimental narrative.

Sources

  • Individual report for Private Cecil Edward Augustus Martin (family tree compilation, including birth and baptism details, census entries for Barham and Derringstone, enlistment age, unit, medal entitlement, and Croisilles British Cemetery grave reference I.A.19).
  • Commonwealth War Graves Commission – casualty record for “MARTIN, –”, Private G/12130, 2nd Bn., Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), Croisilles British Cemetery, grave I.A.19: CWGC casualty details.
  • Faded Genes – “Cecil Edward Augustus MARTIN 1883–1917” (family reconstruction with parents George Martin and Isabella Hawkins, census addresses in Barham, enlistment at Canterbury, and confirmation of Croisilles grave reference): Faded Genes: Cecil Edward Augustus Martin.
  • Croisilles British Cemetery, Pas‑de‑Calais – cemetery history and description (noting capture of Croisilles by 7th Division on 2 April 1917, and creation of Plots I–II for those killed in and around the village): Croisilles British Cemetery.
  • The Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey) – regimental history and lineage, including service as the senior English line infantry regiment and later amalgamation into the Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment: National Army Museum overview The Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey) and Wikipedia entry Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey) (with supporting summary at Wikiwand).
  • Accounts and profiles of Croisilles fighting and 2nd Queen’s casualties (used for context on 7th Division’s attack on Croisilles on 2 April 1917 and the concentration of 2nd Queen’s graves in Croisilles British Cemetery): London War Memorial and related Arras/Croisilles material at London War Memorial – online resource.

The Story of George Henry Hayward: From Kent to the Frontlines

Private George Henry Hayward, born in Kent in 1878, served in the 6th Battalion of the Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). He died from wounds on 28 March 1918 in France during the German Spring Offensive, and is remembered at Doullens Cemetery and various local memorials. He left behind a wife and child.

George Henry Hayward: A Detailed Biography

Private George Henry Hayward, G/28586, 6th Battalion, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), was a Kent‑born agricultural labourer who became an infantryman in the British Army and died of wounds in France on 28 March 1918 during the German Spring Offensive. [1][2][3] He is buried at Doullens Communal Cemetery Extension No. 1 on the Somme and is remembered on local memorials in Lowestoft and in regimental histories of the Royal West Kents. [1][4][3]

Early Life and Family

George Henry Hayward was born before 28 April 1878 at Hastingleigh, Kent; his birth was registered in the March quarter of 1878 in the Elham registration district (volume 2A, page 966). [1] He was baptised at Elmstone, Kent, on 28 April 1878, the son of Thomas Hayward and Frances Camilla (née Mills), linking him to a long‑established rural family in east Kent. [1]

The 1881 census records George, aged 3, living with his parents in Elmsted, Kent. [1] By 1891 the family had moved back to Hastingleigh, where George, aged 13, is listed in The Street as an agricultural labourer, reflecting the early age at which many village boys entered farm work in Victorian rural Kent. [1]

Early Life and Family (Marriage, Work and Children)

By 1901 George was still in Hastingleigh, living at Bishop Cottages in The Street and working as an agricultural labourer, a pattern that continued into the 1911 census where he appears as a general labourer at Bishop Cottages. [1] On 21 September 1901 he married Beliza Maud Tuthill at Hastingleigh (marriage registered Elham district, volume 2A, page 1767), anchoring him firmly in the local community through both birth and marriage. [1]

The couple had at least one child, William Thomas Hayward, noted in the individual report, and by 1918 the family was living at Grove Cottages, Grove Road, Carlton Colville, near Lowestoft, Suffolk. [1][5] Contemporary biographical notes from Lowestoft describe George as a native of Hastingleigh who had moved to the east coast for work, taking up residence at Grove Cottages with his wife Beliza Maud and their family before joining the Army. [1][5]

Military Service

George enlisted at Canterbury, Kent, joining the Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) and being allocated the service number G/28586. [1][3] He served in the 6th (Service) Battalion, a New Army battalion raised at Maidstone in August 1914, which joined 37th Brigade, 12th (Eastern) Division and landed in France in early June 1915. [1][2][6]

The 6th Royal West Kents saw heavy action throughout the war. In 1915 they fought at the Battle of Loos and at the Quarries near Hulluch; in 1916 they took part in the Somme battles of Albert, Pozières and Le Transloy; in 1917 they were engaged in the Arras offensive at the First and Third Battles of the Scarpe and at Arleux, as well as in the Cambrai operations, including the Tank Attack and the fighting at Bourlon Wood. [1][2][6] In early 1918 the battalion, still with 12th (Eastern) Division, faced the full weight of the German Spring Offensive in the Somme sector and around the River Ancre. [1][2][7]

Circumstances of Death

The individual report records George’s death as 28 March 1918 in France, his fate noted as “Died of Wounds”. [1] Detailed divisional histories and contemporary summaries explain that on 25 March 1918 the 12th (Eastern) Division, as part of V Corps, was holding defensive positions on the west bank of the River Ancre north of Albert, with 6th The Buffs and 6th Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) holding the front line from Aveluy Wood to Mesnil‑Martinsart. [1][2]

On 27 March the division repelled several strong German attacks, including low‑level strafing by aircraft, but remained in place despite heavy losses. [1][2][7] The attack was renewed on the morning of 28 March – the First Battle of Arras 1918 in British terminology – when German forces again assaulted along the Ancre and further north; at Aveluy the 6th Royal West Kents were pushed back on the left before the line was re‑established by counter‑attack, and the division as a whole suffered 1,634 casualties in holding the German advance. [1][2][8] George’s death from wounds on that date almost certainly resulted from injuries sustained in this intense fighting around Aveluy and the Ancre valley, either on 27 March or in the renewed attacks on 28 March. [1][4][3]

Burial and Commemoration

After his wounding George was evacuated to medical care in the rear area and died in France, being buried in Doullens Communal Cemetery Extension No. 1, Somme, France, in grave V.D.6. [1] The cemetery contained several casualty clearing stations, and many of those interred there were soldiers who had been brought back from the Somme and Ancre battlefields for treatment, which accords with George’s recorded cause of death as “Died of wounds”. [1][4]

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry records him as “HAYWARD, GEORGE HENRY, Private G/28586, 6th Bn., Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), died 28 March 1918, aged 40, Son of Thomas and Frances Hayward, native of Hastingleigh, Kent; husband of B. M. Hayward, of Grove Cottages, Grove Rd., Carlton Colville, Lowestoft.” [1][4][3] A Find a Grave memorial (ID 56532564) reproduces these details and marks his grave within the cemetery, while local Lowestoft remembrance projects list him among the “People of Lowestoft 1914–45” as a private of the 6th Royal West Kents, service number G/28586. [1][5][4]

Legacy

Within family research, George is identified with a FamilySearch profile under ID LCK4‑Y1R, tying him into the broader Hayward and Mills family network originating in Hastingleigh and the Elham district. [1] His medal entitlement includes the British War Medal, Victory Medal and Memorial Death Plaque, typical for a soldier who served overseas and died in action, and his story appears in genealogical and regimental websites dedicated to the Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). [1][6][3]

Local history initiatives in Lowestoft and Carlton Colville remember him as “George Henry Hayward of Grove Cottages, Grove Road, Carlton Colville, Private, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), died 28 March 1918, France, G/28586”, connecting the Somme grave at Doullens back to the Suffolk street where his widow Beliza Maud and their son William Thomas lived. [1][5][4] Through CWGC records, regimental histories and community memorials, Private George Henry Hayward’s service with the 6th Royal West Kents and his death in the First Battle of Arras 1918 remain part of both Kentish and Lowestoft remembrance of the First World War. [1][2][3]

Key External Links

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-George-Henry-Hayward.pdf
[2] 12th (Eastern) Division https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/12th-eastern-division/
[3] The Queens Own Royal West Kent R https://www.janetandrichardsgenealogy.co.uk/Pte%20G%20H%20Hayward.html
[4] George Henry Hayward https://ourfallen.lowestoftoldandnow.org/grove-road/1918-03-28/george-henry-hayward
[5] People of Lowestoft 1914-45 https://ourfallen.lowestoftoldandnow.org/full/msword?page=10
[6] The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment https://www.janetandrichardsgenealogy.co.uk/QORWK%20C%20T%20Atkinson.html
[7] Gowerton County School War Memorial – WW1.Wales https://ww1.wales/other-counties/glamorgan-memorials/gowerton-county-school-war-memorial/
[8] WW1 Home News in March 1918 http://lynsted-society.co.uk/research_ww1_home_news_1918_03.html
[9] Sergeant Thomas Harris VC MM http://www.hallinghistory.co.uk/community/halling-historical-society-18475/sergeant-thomas-harris-vc-mm/
[10] Roll of Honour – Kent County Association of Change Ringers https://kcacr.org.uk/association/ww1/roh/
[11] WW1 Roll of Honour – Ernest Cheeseman of Teynham http://lynsted-society.co.uk/research_ww1_casualties_cheeseman_e.html
[12] How to find a photo of a grandfather who died in WW1? https://www.facebook.com/groups/1117523195087247/posts/2701175966721954/
[13] Lives of the First World War https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/1802494
[14] Battle of Arras (1917) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arras_(1917)
[15] “IF YOU SHED A TEAR” https://www.merseamuseum.org.uk/MMPDFs/IYS_PART3.pdf
[16] MCMXIX (1914-1919) ADAMS, JOSEPH. R https://www.ryebritishlegion.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Rye-RoH-v8-Jan-23.pdf
[17] pdpubs book pagemaster https://pembrokeandmonktonhistory.org.uk/documents/memorialbookfinalpagemaster.pdf
[18] Godalming, Charterhouse School – World War 1 Surnames H https://www.roll-of-honour.com/Surrey/GodalmingCharthouseSchool-WW1-H.html
[19] George W. Hayward – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Hayward
[20] https://www.stokesubhamdoncouncil.com/shared/attac… https://www.stokesubhamdoncouncil.com/shared/attachments.asp?f=5d5f6938-900d-4431-b7cf-f4573c121fe1.docx&o=HAWKINS-Charlie.docx
[21] whaley bridge war memorial http://www.dustydocs.com/link/5/25105/181320/monumental-inscriptions-roll-of-honour.html

The Life and Sacrifice of William Edward Wiffen

Private William Edward Wiffen, born in 1890 in Thanington, Kent, served with the 10th Battalion of The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) during World War I. He was killed in action on 26 March 1918 in the Battle of Bapaume and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, as his grave remains unknown.

William Edward Wiffen: A Detailed Biography

Private William Edward Wiffen, G/7709, 10th (Service) Battalion, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), was a Kent farm worker from Wincheap, Thanington, who was killed in action in France on 26 March 1918 during the Battle of Bapaume in the German Spring Offensive. [1][2][3] With no known grave, he is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Bay 2. [1]

Early Life and Family

William Edward Wiffen was born in Wincheap, Thanington, near Canterbury, in the March quarter of 1890; his birth was registered in the Bridge registration district (volume 2A, page 819). [1] He was baptised at Ss Nicholas, Thanington, on 2 February 1890, the son of John Wiffen and Harriet (née Richards), placing him in a long‑established Kentish working‑class family. [1]

The 1891 census shows William, aged 1, living with his parents at Wincheap, Thanington. [1] By 1901 the family remained in the same area, recorded at 69 Wincheap Street/Thanington Within, with William, aged 11, still at home. [1] In 1911 he appears at 1 Ada Road, Wincheap Street, Thanington Within, described as a “Cow Man”, indicating employment in dairy or cattle work on a local farm—typical agricultural labour in pre‑war rural Kent. [1]

Early Life and Family (Home and Status)

By 1915 William was still living at 1 Ada Road, Wincheap Street, Thanington Within, confirming continuity of residence in the Canterbury area into his mid‑twenties. [1] There is no evidence he married or had children; the individual report lists no spouse or offspring, and contemporary records treat him as a single man. [1]

Within family‑history research he is recorded under FamilySearch ID GMYZ‑HNX. [1] This genealogical linkage situates William within wider Wiffen and Richards kinship networks in east Kent, emphasising the local roots of a man whose life would end far from home in Picardy.

Military Service

William enlisted at Canterbury between 1914 and 1915, joining The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) for service on the Western Front. [1] He was posted to the 10th (Service) Battalion, known as the “Battersea Battalion”, and given the service number G/7709. [1][2] The 10th Battalion had been raised on 3 June 1915 by the Mayor and Borough of Battersea as part of Kitchener’s New Army and placed in 124th Brigade, 41st Division. [1][2][3]

After training at Aldershot (Stanhope Lines) from February 1916, the battalion landed at Le Havre on 6 May 1916 and entered the line on the Western Front. [1][2][3] It saw heavy fighting during the 1916 Somme offensive, notably at the Battle of Flers–Courcelette and the Battle of the Transloy Ridges, and in 1917 took part in the Battle of Messines, the Battle of Pilkem Ridge, the Battle of the Menin Road and operations on the Flanders coast. [1][2] In November 1917 the 10th Queen’s moved to Italy, serving on the River Piave and in the Monte Grappa sector to bolster Italian resistance after Caporetto, before returning to France on 5 March 1918. [1][2][3]

Military Service (Spring 1918)

Back in France, the 10th Battalion rejoined 124th Brigade, 41st Division, just as the German Spring Offensive (Operation Michael) began on 21 March 1918. [1][4][5] The division, part of IV Corps, Third Army, was soon engaged in withdrawal fighting as German forces struck along the old Somme sector, pushing British units back across the 1916 battlefields towards Bapaume, Bray and Bucquoy. [1][6]

Divisional summaries quoted in the report note that by 23 March 1918, 41st Division had withdrawn to Beugny (Beugnetre), and on 24–25 March continued a fighting retreat towards Favreuil and Sapignies under intense pressure. [1][7] Units such as the 12th East Surrey Regiment and 15th Hampshire Regiment are recorded fighting rearguard actions and counter‑attacks around Bihucourt and Bihucourt Wood, while the remnants of the division were pulled back to Bucquoy to reorganise after 26 March. [1][8] As part of the same brigade and division, the 10th Queen’s would have been in this maelstrom of withdrawals, counter‑attacks and hastily improvised defensive lines.

Circumstances of Death

William’s date of death is given as 26 March 1918, with cause “Killed in Action” and theatre “France and Flanders”. [1] This places his death in the closing stages of the First Battle of Bapaume (24–25 March 1918) and the subsequent withdrawal of the Third Army to the line Bray–Albert–Hamel–Puisieux–Bucquoy, where General Byng ordered his troops to “Hold on. At all cost!” [1][6] Contemporary accounts of the battle describe exhausted British units conducting rearguard actions, counter‑attacks and stand‑to positions around Bihucourt, Favreuil, Sapignies and Bucquoy as the German advance continued. [1][8]

Although the battalion war diary is not quoted in the report, the timing suggests that William fell either during the rearguard actions and counter‑attack at Bihucourt Wood on 25 March or in the subsequent fighting as the battered 41st Division was relieved and pulled back towards Bucquoy. [1][7] The fact that he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial indicates that his body was either not recovered or not identified amid the chaos of the retreat and German advance. [1][4]

Burial and Commemoration

William Edward Wiffen is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Bay 2, in the Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery at Arras, which honours almost 35,000 British, South African and other Commonwealth soldiers who died in the Arras sector from spring 1916 to August 1918 and have no known grave. [1] His Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry reads: “WIFFEN, WILLIAM EDWARD, Private G/7709, 10th Bn., The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), who died on 26 March 1918, son of John and Harriet Wiffen, of Wincheap, Canterbury, Kent.” [1][4]

A Find a Grave memorial (ID 124967151) reproduces these details and associates him with the Arras Memorial, providing a focal point for family and researchers. [1] He was entitled to the British War Medal, Victory Medal and Memorial Death Plaque, recognising his overseas service and death in action. [1] The “First World War – On This Day” project and casualty listings for 26 March 1918 also include “G/7709 Private William Edward Wiffen, 10th Bn. The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment)” among the fallen, confirming his place in the wider record of that day’s losses. [9][10]

Legacy

His life is woven into the broader story of the Wiffen and Richards families of Wincheap and Canterbury. [1] Local memory would have associated him with the rural community of Thanington, where he worked as a cowman before the war and where his parents continued to live after his death. [1]

Regimental histories of The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) and studies of the 10th (Service) Battalion (Battersea) note that the battalion lost 44 officers and 640 other ranks killed or missing, and 60 officers and 2,200 other ranks wounded over its wartime service, underlining the heavy toll paid by this New Army unit. [2][3] William’s name on the Arras Memorial stands alongside those of comrades from Battersea and across Britain, representing a Kent farm worker who answered the call, fought through the Somme and Ypres campaigns, and died in the desperate fighting of March 1918 as the British Army struggled to contain the German Spring Offensive. [1][4][5]

Key External Links (for WordPress)

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-William-Edward-Wiffen.pdf
[2] Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) – The Long, Long Trail https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/queens-royal-west-surrey-regiment/
[3] 10th (Service) Battalion, Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10th_(Service)Battalion,_Queen’s(Royal_West_Surrey_Regiment)(Battersea) [4] Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey) – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen’s_Royal_Regiment(West_Surrey)
[5] File:The German Spring Offensive, March-july 1918 Q6595.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_German_Spring_Offensive,March-july_1918_Q6595.jpg [6] [PDF] The history of the Second Division, 1914-1918 https://archive.org/download/historyofsecondd02wyra/historyofsecondd02wyra.pdf [7] 19th Middlesex Regt – Soldiers and their units – Great War Forum https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/8204-19th-middlesex-regt/ [8] Official Despatch France and Flanders 21st December 1918 http://lynsted-society.co.uk/Research_WW1_Despatch_1918_12_21%20France%20and%20Flanders.html [9] 2031 died on this day: Tue 26/03/1918 – First World War – On this day https://firstworldwaronthisday.blogspot.com/2018/03/2031-died-on-this-day-tue-26031918.html [10] Today’s Fallen Heroes Tuesday 26 March 1918 | PDF – Scribd https://www.scribd.com/document/374791734/Today-s-Fallen-Heroes-Tuesday-26-March-1918 [11] Lives of the First World War https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/4738293 [12] Search for “Wiffen” in lastname | Lives of the First World War https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/searchlives/field/lastname/Wiffen/filter/?page=2 [13] Search for “The Royal West Surrey Regiment” in unit | Lives of the … https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/searchlives/field/unit/The%20Royal%20West%20Surrey%20Regiment/filter/span%5B/?page=91 [14] Second Battle of Bapaume – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Bapaume [15] Search for “Surrey” in unit | Lives of the First World War https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/searchlives/field/unit/Surrey/filter/span%5B/?page=407 [16] 10th (Service) Bttn. Queens Regt. (Battersea Bttn. – Soldiers and … https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/23694-10th-service-bttn-queens-regt-battersea-bttn/ [17] Leopard Antiques Antique Silver http://www.leopardantiques.com/object/stock/list/periodgroup?index=1061&metadataVVVorderby=saleprice+DESC%2Cavailable+DESC%2Ccreated+DESC
[18] Sapignies German Military Cemetery – Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/176980366188274/posts/1923070131579280/
[19] Bourne End Auction Rooms | Buckinghamshire Auctions https://www.bourneendauctionrooms.co.uk/catalogue/lot/cfad5a60c9cc9f057dbff03ef112439a/DF552CF371F2E3A723B4EBDB4BF38E80/antiques-collectors-sale-incorporating-clocks-watches/
[20] Leopard Antiques Small Collectables https://www.leopardantiques.com/object/stock/list/category_uid/12?index=220&metadataVVVorderby=saleprice+DESC%2Cavailable+DESC%2Ccreated+DESC
[21] The Villagers: Tamblin to Wright http://www.meltonww1.co.uk/index.php/the-people/t-to-z

Biography of John Thomas George: Military Medal Recipient

Private John Thomas George, M.M., was a brickfield labourer from Milton Regis who served in the East Surrey Regiment during World War I. He was killed in action on 25 March 1918, commemorated on the Arras Memorial, and awarded the Military Medal for bravery, reflecting his significant contribution to the war effort.

John Thomas George: A Detailed Biography

Private John Thomas George, M.M., service numbers 20161 (Middlesex Regiment) and 25419 (East Surrey Regiment), was a brickfield labourer from Milton Regis, Sittingbourne, who served with the 12th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, and was killed in action in France on 25 March 1918. [1][2][3] He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Bay 6, and is further distinguished by the award of the Military Medal for bravery in the field. [1][4][5]

Early Life and Family

John Thomas George was born in the Milton Regis registration district, near Sittingbourne, Kent, before 5 February 1893; his birth was registered in volume 2A, page 200, line 106, to parents Stephen George and Harriett Amelia (née Richards). [1] He was baptised at Holy Trinity, Sittingbourne, on 5 February 1893, confirming the family’s connection to that parish and to the local Anglican community. [1]

By the 1901 census John, then aged 8, was living at 5 Cross Lane, Milton, Milton‑next‑Sittingbourne, recorded as the son of Stephen and Harriett George. [1] In 1911, aged 18, he was still at Cross Lane, Milton Regis, described as a brickfield labourer, reflecting the local brick‑making industry that dominated employment in the Sittingbourne area at that time. [1]

Early Life and Family (Marriage and Home)

On 13 April 1914 John married Ethel Elena Ridden at Holy Trinity with St Paul, Milton‑next‑Sittingbourne; the marriage register lists witnesses William Mossman and Harriett Mossman, indicating close family or community ties. [1] No children are recorded in the individual report, suggesting that the couple either had no surviving issue or that any children were not captured in the compiled data. [1]

By 1918 John’s address is again given as 5 Cross Lane, Milton Regis, confirming that he and Ethel continued to reside in his parental home area during his service. [1] This continuity of address, together with his local trade as a brickfield labourer before enlistment, roots his story firmly in the working‑class community of Milton and Sittingbourne. [1]

Military Service

John enlisted at Canterbury and initially served in the Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment) as Private 20161, before later transferring to the East Surrey Regiment as Private 25419. [1][3] His final unit was the 12th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment – the “Bermondsey Battalion” – a Kitchener “Pals” battalion raised in Bermondsey which landed in France in May 1916 as part of 122nd Brigade, 41st Division, for service on the Western Front. [1][4][2]

The 12th East Surrey Battalion saw heavy fighting in many major battles: the Somme (including Flers–Courcelette), Messines, and the Third Battle of Ypres, where it took part in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge and the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, as well as Operations on the Flanders Coast in 1917. [1][4][6] In November 1917 the 41st Division, including the 12th East Surreys, moved to Italy, helping to bolster the Italian front after Caporetto, before returning to France in March 1918 just as the German Spring Offensive opened. [1][7][6]

Military Service (The Military Medal)

John was awarded the Military Medal (M.M.), a level 3 gallantry decoration instituted on 25 March 1916 for non‑commissioned officers and men of the British and Commonwealth forces who showed acts of gallantry and devotion to duty under fire. [1] The award entitled him to use the post‑nominal letters “M.M.” after his name and was regarded as the other ranks’ equivalent of the Military Cross awarded to officers. [1]

His M.M. was announced in the London Gazette issue 30312, dated 25 September 1917 (gazetted 28 September 1917), under “His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to award the Military Medal for bravery in the field to the under‑mentioned Non‑Commissioned Officers and Men”. [1] The entry lists “J. T. George, 25419, Private, East Surrey Regiment, 12th Battalion, British Expeditionary Force” and notes France as the theatre of war, confirming that his act of bravery occurred on the Western Front, probably during the 1917 actions of the 41st Division at Ypres or on the Flanders coast. [1][3]

Circumstances of Death

John’s date of death is recorded as 25 March 1918, in France, with the cause given as “Killed in Action”. [1] At that time the 41st Division, to which the 12th East Surreys belonged, had recently returned from Italy to the Western Front and was caught in the opening phase of the German Spring Offensive (Operation Michael), particularly the First Battles of the Somme (1918) and specifically the Battle of St Quentin (21–23 March 1918) and the subsequent fighting withdrawal. [1][7][8]

Secondary accounts of the 41st Division’s movements in early 1918 describe how units were thrown into the line near St Quentin and along the Somme, facing intense artillery bombardments and massed infantry attacks that overwhelmed forward positions and forced rapid retreats under fire. [7][6] While the battalion’s exact war diary entry for 25 March 1918 is not quoted in the compiled report, the timing of John’s death – two days after the main St Quentin assault – suggests he fell during the chaotic rearguard fighting and counter‑attacks as British forces attempted to stabilise the line east of Arras and Bapaume. [1][9][6]

Burial and Commemoration

John has no known grave and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Bay 6, which honours nearly 35,000 servicemen of the British, South African and other Commonwealth forces who died in the Arras sector from spring 1916 to August 1918 and who have no known burial. [1] The Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry records him as “GEORGE, JOHN THOMAS, M.M., Private, 25419, 12th Bn., East Surrey Regiment, formerly 20161 Middlesex Regiment, who died on 25 March 1918, son of Stephen and Harriett Amelia George; husband of Ethel Elena George, of 5, Cross Lane, Milton Regis, Sittingbourne, Kent.” [1][2]

A Find a Grave memorial (ID 124980307) reproduces his CWGC details and associates him with the Arras Memorial, providing a modern digital focus for family and researchers. [1] His medal entitlement is noted as the Military Medal, Victory Medal, British War Medal and Memorial Death Plaque (“Dead Man’s Penny”), reflecting both his gallantry and his standard service in the British Expeditionary Force. [1][5]

Legacy

His service is documented in genealogical platforms such as FamilySearch under ID GM54‑CN2 and in the Imperial War Museums’ “Lives of the First World War” database, which lists him under both Middlesex Regiment and East Surrey Regiment entries. [1][3][5] These resources connect the name on a memorial wall in Arras back to the specific streets of Milton Regis and to living descendants who continue to preserve his memory.

The combination of his Military Medal award, his service in a notable “Pals” battalion, and his death in the maelstrom of the 1918 Spring Offensive places Private John Thomas George, M.M., among the many decorated but often little‑known soldiers whose courage under fire helped sustain British front‑line positions during some of the most critical phases of the war. [1][4][6] His commemoration on the Arras Memorial, and online through CWGC and related sites, ensures that his name and gallantry remain part of both local Sittingbourne history and the wider narrative of the East Surrey Regiment in the Great War. [1][4][2]

Key External Links

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-John-Thomas-George.pdf
[2] Second World War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Surrey_Regiment
[3] Lives of the First World War https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/1325791
[4] East Surrey Regiment – The Long, Long Trail https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/east-surrey-regiment/
[5] Search for “John Thomas” | Lives of the First World War https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/searchlives/John%20Thomas/filter/?page=100
[6] Biographical Notes 1 – Tring Local History Museum https://tringlocalhistorymuseum.org.uk/morehistory/Memorial/Biog.%20Notes%201.htm
[7] 12th (Eastern) Division – The Long, Long Trail https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/12th-eastern-division/
[8] Battle Honour ST QUENTIN – German Spring Offensive 1918. https://www.royal-irish.com/events/battle-honour-st-quentin-german-spring-offensive-1918
[9] 12th (Eastern) Division – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_(Eastern)Division [10] 12th East Surrey Regiment – Soldiers and their units https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/18005-12th-east-surrey-regiment/ [11] We remember John Charles Monk – Lives of the First World War https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/3089991 [12] Battle of St Quentin Canal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_St_Quentin_Canal [13] War Memorials – WW1 – Surnames S https://eehe.org.uk/40926/warmemorialssurnamess/ [14] Cap Badge Identification Please From IWM March 1918 Photo https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/307435-cap-badge-identification-please-from-iwm-march-1918-photo/ [15] Search for ” John Thomas” | Lives of the First World War https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/searchlives/%20John%20Thomas/filter/?page=42 [16] The Fallen of the Layer Parishes in Two World Wars http://www.layerchurches.org.uk/wwfallen.htm [17] Tribute To Brummies Who Served in World War One Casualty … https://www.scribd.com/document/320080974/Tribute-To-Brummies-Who-Served-In-World-War-One-Casualty-Listing-Friday-04-August-1916 [18] [PDF] Servicemen living near North Sheen Recreation Ground who were … https://e-voice.org.uk/fonsr/assets/documents/list-of-ww1-heroes-near-nsrg [19] [PDF] Bill Griffiths – Wotton Heritage Centre https://www.wottonheritage.com/FCKfiles/File/First_World_War_Heroes_of_Wotton_under_Edge.pdf [20] Thursday 21 March 1918 – First World War Casualties https://astreetnearyou.org/date/1918/03/21 [21] 12th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment (Bermondsey) – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th(Service)Battalion,_East_Surrey_Regiment(Bermondsey)

Sapper Stanley Frederick Rumsey: A War Hero’s Story

Sapper Stanley Frederick Rumsey, 541095, 432nd Field Company, Royal Engineers, born Maldon, Essex, 1872, a Chilham house painter and husband of Mary Ann with four children, was killed in action near Jeancourt, France, on 25 March 1918 during the German Spring Offensive; commemorated on the Pozières Memorial, panels 10–13.

Stanley Frederick Rumsey: A Detailed Biography

Sapper Stanley Frederick Rumsey, 541095, 432nd Field Company, Royal Engineers, was a Maldon‑born house painter who became a combat engineer in the British Army and was killed in action during the German Spring Offensive on 25 March 1918 near Jeancourt, France. [1][2][3]

Early Life and Family

Stanley Frederick Rumsey was born in 1872 in Maldon, Essex, a historic port on the River Blackwater. [1] By about June 1907 he had moved to Kent, marrying Mary Ann Hogben in the Ashford registration district (volume 2A, page 1761); together they had four children: William James, Katherine Alice, Nellie Grace and Edwin Ernest Rumsey. [1]

In the 1911 census, Stanley, then aged 39, appears as head of household at The Lees, Chilham, Kent, working as a house painter, a skilled trade requiring physical strength and technical care in preparing and finishing buildings. [1] This role established him as the main provider for his young family in a rural village south‑west of Canterbury. [1]

Military Service

During the First World War Stanley enlisted in the Royal Engineers for service in the Western European theatre and was given the rank of Sapper with service number 541095. [1][4] He served in 432nd Field Company, Royal Engineers, a field company attached to 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division, responsible for essential engineering tasks such as trench construction, road and bridge building, demolitions and defensive works under front‑line conditions. [1][2][5]

432nd Field Company deployed to France in March 1917 and remained continuously on the Western Front into early 1918, supporting infantry operations and often working under shellfire while maintaining positions and preparing defences. [1][2] Sappers like Rumsey were regularly exposed to danger as they operated in forward areas, repairing infrastructure and creating obstacles to hinder enemy attacks; he qualified for the British War Medal and Victory Medal in recognition of his active overseas service. [1][6]

Circumstances of Death

Stanley was killed in action on 25 March 1918 at Jeancourt, in the Aisne (Picardie) region of France, during the first days of the German Spring Offensive, also known as Operation Michael. [1][2] The offensive began on 21 March 1918 with a colossal artillery bombardment against the British Fifth and Third Armies, followed by assaults by specially trained stormtroop units that broke through weakened British lines and forced a rapid, chaotic retreat across much of the front. [1][7][8]

Accounts of 66th Division’s experience describe how its forward units, including 432nd Field Company, attempted to hold or delay the German advance around Jeancourt and the Somme crossings, destroying bridges and conducting rearguard actions as they fell back. [1][2][3] On 24–25 March the engineers were used in an infantry role as well as in demolitions, coming under intense fire; it was in this desperate fighting that Sapper Rumsey, aged about 46, lost his life, although the exact manner of his death—artillery, small arms or close combat—remains unknown. [1][3][9]

Burial and Commemoration

Stanley has no known grave. Instead, his name is commemorated on the Pozières Memorial on the Somme, on Panels 10–13, which bear the names of more than 14,000 British and South African soldiers of the Fifth and Fourth Armies who died between 21 March and 7 August 1918 and have no known burial. [1][10][6] The memorial, which encircles Pozières British Cemetery, was unveiled on 4 August 1930 and serves as a major monument to the missing of the German Spring Offensive and subsequent fighting. [1][10][6]

His Commonwealth War Graves Commission record (Casualty 1587787) lists him as “Sapper STANLEY FREDERICK RUMSEY, 541095, 432nd Field Coy., Royal Engineers, who died on 25 March 1918, aged 46, husband of Mary Ann Rumsey.” [1][6] He is also commemorated in local and digital rolls of honour, including the Trafford War Dead site, which records his unit as “Royal Engineers, 66th Division, 432nd Field Coy.”, and on the “A Street Near You” database of First World War casualties. [4][11]

Legacy

The death of Stanley Frederick Rumsey left his widow Mary Ann and their four children without their husband and father, a loss felt long after the armistice of November 1918. [1] His entry in family‑history records (FamilySearch ID G3LH‑HQX) link him to wider genealogical narratives that ensure his name continues to be remembered within the extended family. [1]

Historically, Rumsey’s service and death highlight the critical but often under‑recognised role of Royal Engineer field companies in front‑line operations. [1][5] Their work in constructing and destroying infrastructure made them central to both defence and retreat, particularly during the mobile battles of March 1918 when 432nd Field Company struggled to hold Jeancourt and delay the German advance. [1][2][3] Through the Pozières Memorial and numerous online resources, Sapper Stanley Frederick Rumsey is remembered as one of the many skilled tradesmen turned combat engineers whose sacrifice contributed to the eventual Allied victory in 1918. [1][10][6]

Key External Links (for WordPress)

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-Stanley-Frederick-Rumsey.pdf
[2] A Trip to Remember https://www.marple-uk.com/remembered.htm
[3] 66th Division-THE BATTLE OF ST. QUENTIN 21 March 1918 https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/story/42444
[4] Stretford Surnames WW1 https://www.traffordwardead.co.uk/index.php?sold_id=s%3A14%3A%221472%2Cstretford%22%3B&letter=R&place=stretford&war=I&soldier=Rumsey
[5] Royal Engineers https://robertstjohnsmith.com/tags/royal-engineers/
[6] Pozières Memorial (CWGC) – Remembering the Fallen https://www.ww1cemeteries.com/pozieres-memorial.html
[7] German Spring Offensive 1918 – National Records of Scotland (NRS) https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/learning-and-events/first-world-war/german-spring-offensive-1918/
[8] German spring offensive – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_spring_offensive
[9] Stanley Frederick Rumsey https://www.traffordwardead.co.uk/index.php?sold_id=s%3A14%3A%221472%2Cstretford%22%3B&letter=R&place=&war=&soldier=Rumsey
[10] Pozières British Cemetery & the Pozières Memorial https://thebignote.com/2016/08/03/pozieres-british-cemetery-the-pozieres-memorial/
[11] Sapper Stanley Frederick Rumsey https://astreetnearyou.org/person/1587787/Sapper-Stanley-Frederick-Rumsey
[12] From the Rideau to the Rhine and back : the 6th Field … https://ia903201.us.archive.org/11/items/fromrideautorhin0000weat/fromrideautorhin0000weat.pdf
[13] 7Coy1918 http://www.shiny7.uk/7Coy1918.html
[14] The capture of Jeancourt in March 1917 https://derbyshireterritorials.uk/2021/12/12/the-capture-of-jeancourt-in-march-1917/
[15] Today’s Fallen Heroes Monday 25 March 1918 | PDF https://www.scribd.com/document/374787954/Today-s-Fallen-Heroes-Monday-25-March-1918
[16] Western Front https://www.royalnavaldivision.info/gallerywf_cambrai.htm
[17] yC-NRLF http://www.20thengineers.com/images/ww1-20thEngineersBook.pdf
[18] Stanley Frederick Rumsey https://www.traffordwardead.co.uk/index.php?sold_id=s%3A14%3A%221472%2Cstretford%22%3B&letter=&place=&war=I&soldier=Rumsey
[19] Sheet1 http://www.greatwarci.net/members/spreadsheets/ians-roll-of-honour-database.xls
[20] 225 Field Company Royal Engineers https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/43800-225-field-company-royal-engineers/
[21] Royal Engineers – First World War Casualties – A Street Near You https://astreetnearyou.org/regiment/135/Royal-Engineers
[22] Huntingdonshire – Ramsey https://www.roll-of-honour.com/Huntingdonshire/Ramsey.html
[23] 57144-0.txt https://www.gutenberg.org/files/57144/57144-0.txt

The Story of Edward Godden: A Royal Fusilier’s Journey

Private Edward William Godden, a gardener from Mersham, Kent, enlisted in October 1914 and served with the 8th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. He was killed in action on 24 March 1916 during trench warfare near Vermelles, France. Buried in Vermelles British Cemetery, he is commemorated for his sacrifice in World War I.

Edward William Godden: A Detailed Biography

Private Edward William Godden, no. 7126, 8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), was a gardener from Mersham, near Ashford, Kent, who enlisted in October 1914 and was killed in action in France on 24 March 1916. [1][2][3] He lies in Vermelles British Cemetery, Pas‑de‑Calais, and is commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. [1][4][5]

Early Life and Family

Edward William Godden was born in the East Ashford registration district in the December quarter of 1891 (volume 2A, page 773), the son of Alfred Godden and Jane (née Gower). [1] He was baptised at St John the Baptist, Mersham, Kent, on 1 November 1891, confirming the family’s residence in this rural parish just south‑east of Ashford. [1]

In the 1901 census Edward appears at The Street, Mersham, aged 9, described as a scholar and son in his parents’ household. [1] By 1911 he was still living in The Street, Mersham, aged 19, single, and working as a gardener, a typical occupation in a village environment where estate and domestic gardening provided regular employment. [1] Within the wider family tree he is recorded as a first cousin three times removed of the compiler, linking him closely to local Godden and Gower kin. [1]

Early Life and Family (Physical Description and Character)

Surviving enlistment data give a brief physical sketch of Edward. He was recorded as 5 feet 6½ inches tall, with grey eyes and brown hair, features typical of many men of his generation but made distinctive by the precise measurements preserved in recruitment registers. [1][6] The Surrey Recruitment Register, cited in external research on “G” surnames, confirms that “E. W. Godden” was born in Ashford, attested at Epsom on 21 October 1914 and joined the Royal Fusiliers, aligning exactly with the details in the individual report. [1][6]

Although no personal letters or anecdotes are quoted in the compiled material, this combination of village upbringing, gardening work and early voluntary enlistment suggests a man accustomed to physical labour and outdoor life, who responded promptly to the wartime call for recruits. [1][6]

Military Service

Edward enlisted at Epsom, Surrey, on 21 October 1914, joining the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) as a private, with the number G/7126 (often rendered simply as 7126). [1][6] He was posted to the 8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, a New Army battalion raised in 1914 which became part of 36th Brigade in the 12th (Eastern) Division. [1][2][3]

The 12th (Eastern) Division assembled in England and moved to France in late May and early June 1915, taking over a sector of the line in the Loos area and gradually becoming involved in front‑line fighting. [1][2] The 8th Royal Fusiliers fought in the Battle of Loos in September 1915 and remained in the Loos–Vermelles–Hohenzollern Redoubt area over the winter of 1915–16, a sector characterised by mining, trench raids and frequent artillery and trench‑mortar bombardments. [4][2][3]

Military Service (Hohenzollern Redoubt and Vermelles)

In early 1916 the 12th (Eastern) Division was ordered to carry out operations against the Hohenzollern Redoubt, a strongly fortified German position near Loos. [4][5] On 2 March 1916 British tunnellers exploded a series of large mines under the German lines, and the 8th and 9th Battalions, Royal Fusiliers, led the assault into the crater field, capturing new and existing craters and sections of trench at heavy cost; the 8th Royal Fusiliers alone suffered some 254 casualties in that initial attack. [4][7][8]

Following this, the division continued to hold the line from the Quarries to Hohenzollern Redoubt throughout March, facing repeated German counter‑attacks, intense trench‑mortar fire and heavy shelling, particularly around the villages of Vermelles and the approaches back towards Annequin and Noyelles. [4][2][5] From 2 to 19 March the 12th Division sustained more than 3,000 casualties, and by the time it was relieved in late April total losses in the sector exceeded 4,000 men, underlining the severe attrition suffered by Edward’s battalion and brigade. [4][2]

Circumstances of Death

Edward’s date of death is recorded as 24 March 1916, with the theatre noted as France and Flanders and the cause as “Killed in action”. [1] At this date the 8th Royal Fusiliers and 36th Brigade were still holding trenches near Vermelles and in or around the crater fields created during the Hohenzollern Redoubt action, enduring continuous shelling and localised fighting even after the main assault period earlier in the month. [2][9][3]

A closely related narrative for another 8th Battalion casualty, Private Arthur Henry Noden, notes that the battalion was in the trenches near Vermelles in March 1916, suffering casualties from artillery and sniper fire rather than from major set‑piece attacks. [9] Given Edward’s burial at Vermelles British Cemetery and the timing of his death shortly after the main Hohenzollern operations, it is likely that he was killed either by shellfire or during routine but dangerous trench‑holding duties in that sector, part of the persistent day‑to‑day toll of front‑line service. [1][4][2]

Burial and Commemoration

Unlike many of his comrades on the Western Front, Edward has an identified grave. He is buried at Vermelles British Cemetery, Pas‑de‑Calais, in plot II, row N, grave 23. [1] The Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry records him as “GODDEN, E. W., Private, 7126, 8th Bn., Royal Fusiliers, who died on 24 March 1916, son of Alfred and Jane Godden, of 12, Mersham St., Ashford, Kent.” [1][5]

The cemetery, established near the front‑line positions held by the 12th (Eastern) Division and others, contains many burials from the Loos and Hohenzollern sectors of early 1916, and Edward’s grave stands among those of fellow infantrymen and support troops who fell in the same period. [4][5] A Find a Grave memorial (ID 56589100) reproduces his CWGC details and locates his grave within Vermelles British Cemetery, providing an online point of reference for relatives and researchers unable to visit the site in person. [1]

Legacy

His place of origin – Mersham Street, Ashford – remains a key part of local remembrance in Kent. [1][6] His service with the 8th Royal Fusiliers links him not only to the history of that famous City of London regiment but also to the specific story of the 12th (Eastern) Division’s costly operations at the Hohenzollern Redoubt in March 1916. [1][4][3]

Modern regimental and historical summaries of the Royal Fusiliers note the role of the 8th Battalion within 36th Brigade, 12th Division, and its participation in Loos‑sector operations, ensuring that the actions in which Edward fought and died remain part of the wider narrative of the Great War on the Western Front. [2][3][8] Through his named grave at Vermelles, his CWGC record, and digital memorials, Private Edward William Godden is remembered today as one of the many young Kent men whose lives were given in the grinding trench warfare of 1916, months before the Somme battles shifted the British focus further south. [1][4][2]

Key External Links

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-Edward-William-Godden.pdf
[2] 12th (Eastern) Division – The Long, Long Trail https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/12th-eastern-division/
[3] Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) – Vickers MG Collection … https://vickersmg.blog/in-use/british-service/the-british-army/royal-fusiliers-city-of-london-regiment/
[4] Hohenzollern Redoubt action, 2–18 March 1916 – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohenzollern_Redoubt_action,_2%E2%80%9318_March_1916
[5] Hohenzollern Redoubt – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohenzollern_Redoubt
[6] War Memorials – WW1 – Surnames G https://eehe.org.uk/40914/warmemorialssurnamesg/
[7] Hohenzollern Redoubt Facts for Kids https://kids.kiddle.co/Hohenzollern_Redoubt
[8] 3 British underground mines explode under German trenches. Early … https://www.reddit.com/r/ww1/comments/132hg6g/3_british_underground_mines_explode_under_german/
[9] Pvt Arthur Henry Noden (1894-1916) – Find a Grave Memorial https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56589748/arthur_henry-noden
[10] Officers 8th Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers http://www.dublin-fusiliers.com/battaliions/8-batt/personnel/officers/officers-8-bn.html
[11] Men of the Northumberland Fusiliers in St Eloi, France, March 1916 … https://www.facebook.com/veteransfoundation/posts/men-of-the-northumberland-fusiliers-in-st-eloi-france-march-1916-we-will-remembe/1067739755383993/
[12] Lancashire Fusiliers – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancashire_Fusiliers
[13] How-to Blog Post Template https://www.kbspas.com/brl/8th-battalion-leicestershire-regiment-1916
[14] Casualty Details https://www.fadedgenes.co.uk/CWGC_Frederick_Godden.pdf
[15] Royal Dublin Fusiliers 8th Battalion – Great War Forum https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/148751-royal-dublin-fusiliers-8th-battalion/
[16] (E ROYAL FUSILIERS http://agiusww1.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/The-Royal-Fusiliers-in-the-Great-War-H-C-ONeill.pdf
[17] Noor’s Royal Dublin Fusiliers humble collection – Page 3 https://www.omsa.org/forums/topic/noors-royal-dublin-fusiliers-humble-collection/page/3/
[18] Obits https://glosters.tripod.com/regobitsp.htm
[19] London Regiment – The Long, Long Trail https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/london-regiment/
[20] The 23rd (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (First Sportsman’s) A … http://www.gutenberg.lib.md.us/2/0/3/7/20377/20377-8.txt
[21] 8th Btn Royal Fusiliers – WD Missing? https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/316361-8th-btn-royal-fusiliers-wd-missing/

Exploring the Military Service of Joseph Chidwick

Joseph Thomas Chidwick, born in Dover in 1887, served as a Private in the 2nd Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment during World War I. He died in France on 22 March 1918 during the German Spring Offensive and is commemorated on the Pozières Memorial, reflecting the fate of many lost servicemen.

Joseph Thomas Chidwick: A Detailed Biography

Private Joseph Thomas Chidwick, no. 32046, 2nd Battalion, Prince of Wales’s Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment), was born at Dover, Kent, in early 1887 and was killed in action in France on 22 March 1918. [1][2][3] He is commemorated on the Pozières Memorial to the Missing of the Somme and also remembered in online databases dedicated to First World War casualties. [1][4][3]

Early Life and Family

Joseph Thomas Chidwick was born in Dover, Kent, before 27 April 1887, his birth registered in the Dover registration district (volume 2A, page 1003, line 226). [1] He was the son of Francis Thomas Chidwick and his wife Mary Ann, née Marsh, and was baptised at St John Mariner, Dover, on 27 April 1887, confirming his family’s ties to that parish and to the town’s maritime community. [1]

By the 1891 census Joseph was living at Hougham, Kent, recorded as a four‑year‑old son in his parents’ household. [1] This rural parish just outside Dover suggests a childhood spent between town and country, typical of working families whose livelihoods were connected to both agricultural and urban employment. [1]

Early Life and Family (Work and Home)

In the 1901 census Joseph appears back in Dover at 130 Clarendon Place, aged 14, still living as a son in the parental home and working as an under gardener, probably in domestic service or on a local estate. [1] By the 1911 census he is at 9 Montrose Cottages, Manor Road, Maxton, Dover, his occupation given as carter, indicating experience with horse‑drawn transport and local delivery work. [1]

By 1915 Joseph, then aged about 28, was recorded at 31 Kitchener Road, Dover, as head of household (“self”), still rooted firmly in the town where he had been born and raised. [1][4] A later service‑record abstract from the Dover War Memorial Project confirms this address and describes him as a carman, underlining his status as a skilled working‑class man employed in transport before joining the Army. [4]

Military Service

During the First World War Joseph served in the Prince of Wales’s Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment), the county regiment which recruited mainly from South Lancashire but also absorbed men from other parts of Britain as the war progressed. [1][5] His specific unit is given as the 2nd Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment, and his rank as Private, with the regimental number 32046, placing him among the wartime drafts that reinforced the regular battalion on the Western Front. [1][3]

The 2nd Battalion South Lancashire Regiment was a regular battalion which went to France in August 1914 and served continuously on the Western Front. [6][7] Sources describing the regiment’s Great War service show that by early 1918 the battalion was engaged in front‑line duty in France and Belgium and was caught up in the German Spring Offensive launched on 21 March 1918, a massive assault along the Somme front. [6][8] Contemporary and later summaries of the battalion and associated units note heavy casualties during this period, with fighting and withdrawals through places such as Lagnicourt, Albert and other villages east of the old Somme battlefields. [9][10][7]

Circumstances of Death

Joseph’s individual report gives his date of death as 22 March 1918, in France, with no specific battlefield named. [1] On that date the German Spring Offensive (Operation “Michael”) was in its second day, with British units forced into rapid retreat, suffering large numbers of killed, wounded and missing as they attempted to hold rearguard positions and delay the enemy advance. [10][8] A modern roll of casualties for 22 March 1918 lists “Private 32046 JOSEPH THOMAS CHIDWICK, South Lancashire Regiment” among the fallen of that day, confirming his death in action. [2]

Other sources relating to the 2nd Battalion South Lancashire Regiment and to men killed or taken prisoner on 22 March 1918 suggest that the battalion was engaged in defensive and delaying actions in the battle zone around the Somme sector, though detailed battalion‑level war diaries for that exact day are not cited in the brief secondary summaries available. [9][7] The fact that Joseph has no known grave and is commemorated on the Pozières Memorial indicates that his body was either not recovered or could not be identified after the fighting, a common fate in the chaos of the March 1918 retreat. [1][3]

Burial and Commemoration

Joseph has no known grave and is therefore commemorated by name on the Pozières Memorial, which honours more than 14,000 British and South African servicemen who died on the Somme between 21 March and 7 August 1918 and have no known burial. [1][3] His entry in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database records him as “Private JOSEPH THOMAS CHIDWICK, 32046, 2nd Bn., South Lancashire Regiment, who died on 22 March 1918, France, commemorated on the Pozières Memorial”, confirming the unit and date of death. [1]

An associated memorial entry on Find a Grave (Memorial ID 16081789) also preserves his details, ensuring continued online remembrance. [1] The Dover War Memorial Project includes him under reference “13582 – Chidwick Joseph Thomas – South Lancashire Regiment” with details of his pre‑war trade as a carman and home address at 31 Kitchener Road, Dover, linking the name on a distant battlefield memorial back to a specific street and community in his home town. [4]

Legacy

Within his extended family Joseph is linked to the wider Chidwick and Marsh family lines via his FamilySearch profile (ID GM54‑CN2). [1] Online remembrance projects such as the Imperial War Museums’ “Lives of the First World War” identify him as “Joseph Thomas Chidwick, born 1887, died 1918, British Army 32046 Private, South Lancashire Regiment”, ensuring that his service and sacrifice are documented in national as well as local memory. [11][12]

The combination of civil records, census entries and military memorials paints a picture of a Dover‑born working man whose life followed a typical late‑Victorian and Edwardian pattern until interrupted by global war. [1][4] His death on 22 March 1918, at the height of the German Spring Offensive, and his commemoration on the Pozières Memorial, place him among the many whose individual graves were lost in the fluid and violent fighting of 1918 but whose names endure on stone and in digital records. [1][2][3]

Key External Links

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-Joseph-Thomas-Chidwick.pdf
[2] Today’s Fallen Heroes Friday 22 March 1918 (4242) – Scribd https://www.scribd.com/document/372944297/Today-s-Fallen-Heroes-Friday-22-March-1918-4242
[3] South Lancashire Regiment – First World War Casualties https://astreetnearyou.org/regiment/251/South-Lancashire-Regiment
[4] Notes on Service Records – THE DOVER WAR MEMORIAL PROJECT http://doverwarmemorialproject.org.uk/Casualties/WWI/Service%20Notes/ChidwickJ.htm
[5] South Lancashire Regiment – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Lancashire_Regiment
[6] The Prince of Wales’s Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment) https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/the-prince-of-waless-volunteers-south-lancashire-regiment/
[7] South Lancashire Regiment – Men on the Gates https://menonthegates.org.uk/maf_army/south-lancashire-regiment/
[8] South Lancashire Regiment https://vickersmg.blog/in-use/british-service/the-british-army/south-lancashire-regiment/
[9] The Plumb brothers from Antrobus, Cheshire – Great War Forum https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/299675-the-plumb-brothers-from-antrobus-cheshire/?do=findComment&comment=3143832
[10] British Entrenching Battalions of 1918 – The Long, Long Trail https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/british-entrenching-battalions-of-1918/
[11] Search for “Chidwick” in lastname | Lives of the First World War https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/searchlives/field/lastname/Chidwick/filter
[12] Search for “South Lancashire Regiment” in unit | Lives of the First … https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/searchlives/field/unit/South%20Lancashire%20Regiment/filter/?page=162
[13] THE HEROIC ACTIONS OF PRIVATE JACK COUNTER In the month … https://www.facebook.com/JerseyHeritage/posts/the-heroic-actions-of-private-jack-counter-in-the-month-of-remembrance-our-lates/1264712125696019/
[14] South Lancashire Regiment | Death and Service https://deathandservice.co.uk/category/regiment/south-lancashire-regiment/
[15] [PDF] Personal History He was living at Stalybridge, Cheshire when he … https://mlfhs.uk/images/wm-biogs/966-49.pdf
[16] REGIMENTS IN THE GREAT WAR | Lancashire Infantry Museum https://www.lancashireinfantrymuseum.org.uk/regiments-great-war
[17] Private R Taylor South Lancashire Regiment. Died Friday 22 March … https://astreetnearyou.org/person/254946/Private–Taylor
[18] My father’s elder brother, James Algernon joined the army on the 20 … https://www.facebook.com/groups/lancashireinfantrymuseum/posts/10158068594584910/
[19] 1/5th Battalion, http://www.prescot-rollofhonour.info/Documents/SLR_1-5Bn_WarDiaryV3.pdf
[20] 20654 Private Thomas Price, S. Lancashire Regiment – UBIQUE https://www.reubique.com/20654.htm
[21] 201805.pdf https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/media/5558/201805.pdf

The Tragic Story of Raymond Douglas Castle, H.M.S. Exeter

Raymond Douglas Castle, born on August 5, 1920, in Folkestone, served as an Able Seaman on H.M.S. Exeter. Captured after its sinking in the Java Sea, he died from dysentery on March 22, 1945, while imprisoned in Makassar. He is commemorated at Ambon War Cemetery, ensuring his legacy endures.

Raymond Douglas Castle: A Detailed Biography

Able Seaman Raymond Douglas Castle, P/JX.236193, Royal Navy, of H.M.S. Exeter, was born on 5 August 1920 in Folkestone, Kent, and died of bacillary dysentery while a prisoner of war at Makassar, Celebes (Sulawesi), on 22 March 1945. [1] He is buried in Ambon War Cemetery, Maluku, Indonesia, where he is commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and remembered as the devoted son of Albert Douglas West Castle and Daisy Victoria Castle of Elham, Kent. [1][2][3]

Early Life and Family

Raymond Douglas Castle was born on 5 August 1920 at Folkestone, Kent, his birth registered in the September quarter of 1920 in the Elham registration district (volume 02A, page 2401). [1] He was the eldest son of Albert Douglas West Castle, a builder and contractor, and his wife Daisy Victoria, née Simpson, placing him in a family with strong local roots and clear social standing in Folkestone and later Elham. [1]

By 1921 the family had connections to Portsmouth, Hampshire, where the infant Raymond appears as a visitor at 34 Monmouth Road, North End, Portsmouth, aged ten months, in the 1921 census; the property is noted as uninhabited, but Raymond is recorded as a visitor, with both parents alive and resident in the Portsmouth parliamentary division. [1] This early movement between Folkestone and Portsmouth reflects both his father’s working life and the family’s wider network, with an early link to naval ports that would later be echoed in Raymond’s own career. [1]

Raymond’s childhood was principally rooted in Folkestone. On 8 February 1930 he is associated with “Folkestone Hythe Sandgate”, and by 1939 the Register records him at 8 Cherry Garden Lane, Folkestone, Kent. [1] A 1930 local newspaper item lists “Raymond D. Castle” among contributors of farthings to the L.L.K. cot at the Royal Victoria Hospital, showing his participation in local charitable efforts from a young age. [1] The family’s standing in the town is highlighted by the fact that his grandparents were the Mayor and Mayoress of Folkestone (Alderman and Mrs A. Castle), making him the “Mayor’s grandson” in contemporary press coverage. [1]

Early Life and Family (Education and Work)

Raymond received a good grammar-school education at the Harvey Grammar School, Folkestone, a well‑regarded local institution that prepared boys for professional and technical careers. [1] After leaving school he took up employment with the Folkestone Electricity Company, working under Mr Arthur Mills, suggesting an aptitude for technical or engineering work that would have been valuable in the modernising infrastructure of the inter‑war period. [1]

A 1942 press notice describes him as the eldest son of Mr and Mrs Douglas Castle of Cherry Garden Lane, Folkestone, and reiterates his status as grandson of the Mayor and Mayoress, underlining his family’s civic prominence. [1] The same notice records that his father, Douglas Castle, had himself served in the Royal Navy during the First World War, offering a clear family tradition of naval service that likely influenced Raymond’s own decision to volunteer for the Royal Navy. [1]

Military Service

Raymond volunteered for the Royal Navy at the age of 19, around 1939, and undertook his initial naval training at H.M.S. Collingwood, a well‑known shore establishment used as a training base for seamen and communications ratings. [1] He was allotted the service number P/JX.236193 (often rendered as P/JX 236193) in the Portsmouth division, and was rated Able Seaman (A.B.), placing him among the trained seamen of the fleet. [1]

After training, Raymond served for a time in Icelandic waters before being posted to the heavy cruiser H.M.S. Exeter (pennant number 68), a York‑class cruiser already famous for her role in the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939, when she helped drive the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee to scuttle at Montevideo. [1][4][5] During 1941 and early 1942 Exeter was employed largely on convoy escort duties and then transferred to the Far East with the American‑British‑Dutch‑Australian (ABDA) forces, as Japan advanced through South‑East Asia and the Netherlands East Indies. [6][3]

On 27 February 1942 Exeter took part in the first Battle of the Java Sea, where she was hit by Japanese shells that crippled her machinery and forced her temporary withdrawal to Surabaya, already with significant casualties among her crew. [6][3] Two days later, on 1 March 1942, still damaged and short of boiler power, Exeter attempted to escape to Ceylon but was intercepted by a superior Japanese force; after a three‑hour action she was further damaged by gunfire and torpedoes and finally abandoned and sunk in the Java Sea. [4][6][3] Of her company, 54 men were killed in the final action and about 651 survivors, including Able Seaman Raymond Castle, were rescued and taken prisoner by the Japanese, many eventually being sent to prisoner‑of‑war camps at Makassar (Macassar) on Celebes (Sulawesi) and other locations in the Netherlands East Indies and Japan. [1][2][7][3]

Military Service (POW Experience and Decorations)

Raymond’s individual report records that from 1 March 1942 he was a prisoner of war in Makassar/Java Sea, indicating capture following the loss of Exeter. [1] Japanese records summarised by later researchers show that the surviving crew of Exeter were first taken via Banjermassen in southern Borneo before being concentrated at Makassar POW Camp, where conditions of malnutrition, forced labour and disease led to further deaths among the prisoners. [2][7][8]

A broader account of Exeter’s survivors notes that approximately a quarter of those taken prisoner died in captivity, many from disease exacerbated by starvation and inadequate medical care. [2][6] Some men from Exeter were later moved to work on projects such as a nickel mine at Poemalla in eastern Celebes and to camps in Japan, but Raymond’s documentation places him consistently at Makassar until his death, suggesting he remained within that camp system. [1][7][8] His medals recorded are the 1939–45 Star and the War Medal 1939–1945, the standard campaign awards for service in the Second World War. [1]

Circumstances of Death

Raymond was officially reported as missing in early 1942, with a local newspaper notice of 21 March 1942 under the heading “Mayor’s Grandson Missing” recording that Able Seaman Raymond Douglas Castle of H.M.S. Exeter, eldest son of Mr and Mrs Douglas Castle of Cherry Garden Lane and grandson of the Mayor and Mayoress, had been posted missing following the Java Sea battles. [1] This reflected the immediate confusion after Exeter’s loss, when the Admiralty could confirm neither the fate of the ship’s company nor their eventual status as prisoners of war. [1][9]

By the end of the war fuller information emerged about the fate of Exeter’s POWs. A post‑war newspaper clipping from The People of 14 October 1945, transcribed in the individual report, states under the heading “DIED IN JAP HANDS” that news had been received by the Mayor and Mayoress of Folkestone that their son, an Able Seaman and survivor of H.M.S. Exeter, had died in Japanese hands the previous March, a reference clearly intended to Raymond though the clipping mis‑names him as “Reginald D. Castle”. [1] Official documentation clarifies that “CASTLE, Raymond Douglas, Official Number P/JX.236193, A.B., R.N., H.M.S. Exeter” died on 22 March 1945 at Makassar, Celebes, from bacillary dysentery while a prisoner of war in Japanese hands, a cause and place of death consistent with known conditions in the Makassar camp where disease and malnutrition were rife. [1][2][7]

Burial and Commemoration

Immediately after death, Raymond’s remains were buried locally under wartime conditions, with documentation citing Makassar War Cemetery, Celebes Island, Netherlands East Indies, as the burial place, where a Schedule “A”, Form H/2 entry records “R. D. Castle, Able Seaman, R.N. P/J.236193, H.M.S. ‘Exeter’, 22nd March 1945”, accompanied by a cross symbol and the family tribute “Always in our thoughts. Mother, Father, Howard and Valerie”. [1] Post‑war, the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission concentrated many scattered graves, and Raymond is now commemorated at Ambon War Cemetery, Maluku, Indonesia, grave reference 28. F. 12, as “CASTLE, A.B. RAYMOND DOUGLAS, P/JX.236193, R.N., H.M.S. Exeter, 22nd March 1945, Son of Albert Douglas Castle and Daisy Victoria Castle, of Elham, Kent.” [1][2]

The text of his headstone is preserved both in CWGC and family‑compiled sources, reading: “R. D. CASTLE, ABLE SEAMAN, R.N. P/J.236193, H.M.S. ‘EXETER’, 22ND MARCH 1945, ALWAYS IN OUR THOUGHTS. MOTHER, FATHER, HOWARD AND VALERIE.” [1] A linked Find a Grave memorial (ID 22742848) also records his details and the location of his grave at Ambon, providing modern researchers and relatives with accessible information and imagery. [1] His name appears within wider rolls of honour connected to H.M.S. Exeter and to the Far East POW community, which collectively commemorate those who died as prisoners of the Japanese between 1942 and 1945. [2][10][11]

Legacy

Raymond’s death had a profound impact on his family and community. Probate was granted in London on 6 July 1946 in respect of “CASTLE Raymond Douglas of The Knoll, Elham, near Canterbury, died 22 March 1945 at Makassar”, with administration to his father, Albert Douglas West Castle, builder and contractor, and his estate valued at £105 0s. 11d., illustrating both his youth and the modest financial circumstances typical of a young man whose adult life had been largely spent in wartime service. [1] The persistence of newspaper references from 1942 and 1945, and the emphasis on his relationship to the Mayor and Mayoress of Folkestone, show how closely his personal story was tied to local civic life and how his loss was felt as both a family bereavement and a communal sacrifice. [1]

Within the wider narrative of H.M.S. Exeter and the Java Sea campaign, Able Seaman Raymond Douglas Castle stands among those whose service extended beyond battle into years of captivity marked by hardship and disease. Modern historical accounts of Exeter’s loss stress that about a quarter of the ship’s survivors died as prisoners, and Raymond’s death from bacillary dysentery at Makassar on 22 March 1945, just months before the end of the war, exemplifies this grim statistic. [1][2][6][7] His grave at Ambon War Cemetery and his records on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website ensure that his name and sacrifice remain publicly accessible, maintaining his place in the collective memory of the Royal Navy, of Folkestone and Elham, and of all those who suffered as prisoners of war in the Far East. [1][2][3]

Key External Links

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-Raymond-Douglas-Castle.pdf
[2] The Sinking of HMS Exeter – Fold3 HQ https://blog.fold3.com/the-sinking-of-the-hms-exeter/
[3] HMS Exeter, British heavy cruiser, WW2 https://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-06CA-Exeter.htm
[4] HMS Exeter (68) – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Exeter_(68)
[5] Heavy Cruiser Exeter (68) https://ww2db.com/ship_spec.php?ship_id=894
[6] HMS Exeter Battle of the Java Sea and later loss https://www.royalmarineshistory.com/post/hms-exeter-battle-of-the-java-sea-and-later-loss
[7] HMS Exeter (68) – Pacific Wrecks https://pacificwrecks.com/ship/hms/exeter.html
[8] Makassar POW Camp, Celebes http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/other/makassar_main.html
[9] HMS Exeter battle and POW summary http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/other/makassar_exeter.html
[10] HMS Exeter Roll of Honour – MaritimeQuest https://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/pages/cruisers/hms_exeter_roll_of_honour.htm
[11] HMS Exeter (68) crew killed in action and missing … – Pacific Wrecks https://pacificwrecks.com/ship/hms/exeter/crew.html
[12] Ajax Crew & Casualties together with Exeter & Achilles River Plate … https://www.hmsajax.org/ajax-crew-casualties
[13] Michael Uniacke died in a Japanese POW Camp in February 1945 … https://www.facebook.com/groups/352758182704021/posts/1292775308702299/
[14] P Died Database – FEPOW Family https://www.fepow.family/Research/Serving_Country/Royal_Navy/HMS_Exeter/html/p_died_database_12.htm
[15] HMS Exeter – Researcher @ Large http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Ships/HMS/Exeter/1942CaptainsAction&LossReport.html
[16] CA 1936 Exeter http://alternateuniversewarships.com/Royal%20Commonwealth%20Navy/CA%201936%20Exeter/CA_1936_Exeter1.htm
[17] Prisoners of War of the Japanese 1942-1945 – POWs-of-japan.net https://www.pows-of-japan.net/articles/68.htm
[18] D 89 HMS Exeter – Royal Navy https://www.seaforces.org/marint/Royal-Navy/Destroyer/D-89-HMS-Exeter.htm
[19] War Memorial – WW2 Names – Colwall Village Society http://www.cvs.colwall.info/Articles/War_Memorial/Remembrance_pdfs/ww2_summary.html
[20] VJ Day: WW2 signed flag is ‘a piece of history’ – BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gzkn6djjjo
[21] Jan97 https://www.nautinsthk.com/jan97.html

Arthur Frederick Mount: His Life and Legacy

Corporal Arthur Frederick Mount, 43609, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), born Cheriton, Kent, 1898, formerly of the 2nd Kent Cyclist Battalion, was killed in action on 21 March 1918 during the German Spring Offensive and is commemorated on Special Memorial 48, St Souplet British Cemetery, France.

Arthur Frederick Mount: A Detailed Biography

Corporal Arthur Frederick Mount, no. 43609, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), was a Cheriton‑born soldier who originally enlisted in the 2nd Kent Cyclist Battalion and was later transferred to the Machine Gun Corps, being killed in action on 21 March 1918 during the opening day of the German Spring Offensive. [1][2][3] He is commemorated on a special memorial in St Souplet British Cemetery, France (Memorial 48), as his original wartime grave was later lost. [1][2]

Early Life and Family

Arthur Frederick Mount was born in Cheriton, Kent, his birth registered in the September quarter of 1898 in the Elham registration district (volume 2A, page 1047, line 65). [1] He was the son of George Marsh Mount and his wife Mary Jane, née Raines, and was baptised at All Souls, Cheriton, on 24 July 1898, confirming the family’s parish connection. [1]

In the 1901 census the family was living at 9 Park Road, Cheriton, where Arthur appears as a small child. [1] By 1911 he was still in Cheriton, recorded at 154 High Street as a scholar, indicating that he was still at school in his early teens and growing up within the expanding garrison‑town environment of Folkestone and Cheriton close to Shorncliffe Camp. [1]

Early Life and Family (Home and Kinship)

By 1918 Arthur’s residence is recorded simply as Folkestone, Kent, reflecting the close link between Cheriton and Folkestone as effectively one urban area by the time of the First World War. [1] FamilySearch lists him under ID KLH9‑WD9, anchoring him in the wider Mount and Raines family networks of east Kent. [1]

No marriage or children are recorded for Arthur, and his youth at the time of death (not yet 20) makes it likely he remained unmarried, like many of his contemporaries who enlisted as teenagers. [1] His upbringing in a town with strong military connections may well have influenced his early decision to enlist in a local territorial‑type unit even before he reached full adulthood. [1]

Military Service

Arthur’s first recorded enlistment is on 27 March 1915 at Sandgate, Kent, when he joined the 2nd Kent Cyclist Battalion as private no. 1046. [1] The 2nd Kent Cyclist Battalion was a Territorial Force unit raised in east Kent, used initially for home defence and later for overseas service; like other cyclist units, it provided mobile infantry and communications support. [4]

At some point after 1915 Arthur transferred to the Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), where he was given the new service number 43609 and rose to the rank of Corporal. [1][2] The Machine Gun Corps was formed in late 1915 to centralise the Army’s Vickers machine‑gun units and, by 1918, its infantry component was organised into divisional machine‑gun battalions, each equipped with large numbers of Vickers guns to provide sustained fire support for infantry formations. [5][3]

Military Service (Context in 1918)

By March 1918 Arthur would have been serving in a Machine Gun Corps unit on the Western Front, employed in defensive strongpoints, covering lines of withdrawal, and attempting to break up German attacks with concentrated machine‑gun fire. [5][6] Contemporary machine‑gun doctrine placed great emphasis on indirect fire, barrage fire and the siting of guns to sweep no‑man’s‑land and communication trenches, making MGC positions prime targets for German artillery and infiltration troops. [5][7]

The Imperial War Museums’ “Lives of the First World War” entry for “Corporal 43609 Arthur Frederick Mount, Machine Gun Corps” summarises his service and confirms his unit and rank, though it does not specify his exact company or battalion. [2] Nevertheless, his date of death aligns precisely with the first day of the German Spring Offensive, Operation Michael, when many MGC units suffered very heavy casualties. [1][2][3]

Circumstances of Death

Arthur was killed in action on 21 March 1918, with the place of death given as Germany in the individual report, a shorthand reference often used for casualties who fell or later died in areas that would be recorded in German‑held territory. [1] On that morning, at 4.40 a.m., some 6,500 German guns and 3,500 heavy mortars opened an immense barrage against the British Third and Fifth Armies along a 70‑mile front on the Somme and to the north, targeting especially artillery and machine‑gun positions to neutralise defensive fire. [8][3][7]

After the five‑hour “hurricane” bombardment, stormtroop infantry units advanced through the fog, infiltrating weak points in the British lines and bypassing pockets of resistance, while subsequent waves “mopped up” the isolated strongpoints, many of which were manned by machine‑gunners. [6][9][3] The high casualty rates suffered by the Machine Gun Corps on 21 March 1918, combined with the confusion of rapid withdrawals and the loss of ground to the Germans, explain why Arthur is recorded simply as killed in action and later commemorated on a memorial rather than an identified battlefield grave. [1][2][3]

Burial and Commemoration

Arthur is commemorated in St Souplet British Cemetery, France, on Special Memorial 48. [1] St Souplet British Cemetery was created after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the surrounding battlefields and from smaller cemeteries that could not be permanently maintained; a number of special memorials were erected there to soldiers whose original graves were destroyed in later fighting or whose exact locations were lost. [2][6]

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records him as “MOUNT, ARTHUR FREDERICK, Corporal, 43609, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), who died on 21 March 1918, aged 19 (approx.), son of George Marsh Mount and Mary Jane Mount, of Cheriton, Kent; commemorated at St. Souplet British Cemetery, Memorial 48.” [1][2] A Find a Grave memorial (ID 24760395) also preserves his details, linking his name to the cemetery and to modern family and local remembrance efforts. [1]

Legacy

Within his extended family Arthur appears under FamilySearch ID KLH9‑WD9, ensuring that his life is integrated into wider family‑history research for the Mount and Raines lines. [1] His medal entitlement – the British War Medal, Victory Medal and Memorial Death Plaque – reflects both his overseas war service and his death in action, and his service as a Machine Gun Corps corporal during one of the most intense days of the war underlines the dangerous nature of his role. [1][2]

More broadly, Arthur’s death on 21 March 1918 places him among the thousands of British soldiers lost in the opening hours of Operation Michael, when the German Army attempted to break the stalemate of trench warfare and drive the Allies back towards the Channel ports. [6][9][3] Through the CWGC record, the St Souplet memorial, and digital resources such as Lives of the First World War, Corporal Arthur Frederick Mount’s story remains accessible to descendants, local historians and all those interested in the human cost of the German Spring Offensive of 1918. [1][2][8]

Key External Links

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-Arthur-Frederick-Mount.pdf
[2] Lives of the First World War https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/3264623
[3] German spring offensive – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_spring_offensive
[4] Army Service Numbers 1881-1918 https://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.com/2018/04/
[5] Machine Gun Corps https://aif.adfa.edu.au/OrderOfBattle/Machine_Gun.html
[6] 1918: Year of victory https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/1918-victory
[7] Voices of the First World War: The German Spring Offensive https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-the-german-spring-offensive
[8] German Spring Offensive 1918 – National Records of Scotland (NRS) https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/learning-and-events/first-world-war/german-spring-offensive-1918/
[9] Operation Michael | Canada’s FWW Battles – The Vimy Foundation https://vimyfoundation.ca/battles/operation-michael
[10] Military Service Recognition Book https://fenety.com/epubs/ONCL-20/26/
[11] 3rd Divisional Ammunition Column https://ia801808.us.archive.org/22/items/CEF_DAAC_3rdDiv/CEF_DAAC_3rdDiv_text.pdf
[12] F/O Arthur Frederick https://raffeaea.com/home/stories/f-o-arthur-frederick/
[13] MonthlyArmyList1919July_hocr_pageindex.json.gz https://dn720003.ca.archive.org/0/items/monthly-army-list-1919-july/MonthlyArmyList1919July_hocr_pageindex.json.gz
[14] Military Service Records, Awards, and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/RS21282
[15] Thursday 21 March 1918 – First World War Casualties – A Street Near You https://astreetnearyou.org/date/1918/03/21
[16] Full Death Roll https://www.fepow.family/Research/Serving_Country/Killed_in_Action/Far_East/Suffolk_Regiment_5th_Bn/html/full_death_roll.htm
[17] Manufacturer & Catalogue No Scale https://www.hannants.co.uk/manufacturer/print-scale/products?per_page=25&sort=stock&search_direction=desc&create_pdf=1
[18] nominal https://aattv.net/nominal.htm
[19] Witness and Canadian homestead, mercredi 27 octobre … https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/4188008
[20] OBITUARY https://www.glengarrycountyarchives.ca/Glengarry_pdf/The-Glengarry-News/1941-1950/1944/Nov/11-24-1944.pdf
[21] We Remember: WWI Records Search http://www.doingourbit.ca/records-search-show-all?field_surname_value=&field_given_name_value=&field_address_at_enlistment_value=&field_birth_city_value=&field_birth_county_value=&field_birth_country_value=&field_wounded_value=All&field_prisoner_of_war_value=All&field_survived_the_war_value=All&page=55

George Skeer: Brabourne’s Decorated War Veteran

Serjeant George Skeer, a decorated NCO in the Royal Garrison Artillery, died on 21 March 1918 during the German Spring Offensive. Born in Kent, he was a rural postman and active church member before re-enlisting in 1914. His bravery earned him several awards, including the Military Medal and Belgian Croix de Guerre. His name is honored on the Pozières Memorial.

George Skeer: A Detailed Biography

Serjeant George Skeer, M.M., Croix de Guerre (Belgium), 280539, 222nd Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, was a decorated Kentish artillery NCO who died of wounds on 21 March 1918 during the opening day of the German Spring Offensive and is commemorated on the Pozières Memorial, Panel 10. [1][2][3]

Early Life and Family

George Skeer was born in the Bridge registration district of Kent in the final quarter of 1881 and baptised at Harbledown on 30 October 1881, the son of John Skeer and Mary (née Hills). [1] By the 1891 census he was living at Court Lodge Cottage, Lyminge Street, Lyminge, recorded as a scholar, indicating attendance at the local elementary school in this rural Downland parish. [1]

As a young man he left Harbledown and Lyminge in search of work. By April 1909 he was resident in Ashford, then a growing railway town, and on 2 August 1909 he married Lilian West at St Nicholas, Barfrestone, banns having been called there between 11 and 25 July. [1] The couple later settled at “Southside”, Brabourne Lees, near Ashford; in the 1911 census George appears at Egerton Cottage, Brabourne, aged about 29, employed as a rural postman, with Lilian listed as his wife. [1] They had at least two children, Donald George Skeer and Stephanie Joan Skeer, forming a small family that would be deeply affected by the war. [1]

Early Life and Family (Civic and Personal Background)

Before the war George became a well‑known figure locally as the Brabourne rural postman, responsible for delivering mail across country lanes and villages. [1][2] Local ringing records from the Kent County Association of Change Ringers also note his involvement in church life as a bell ringer and sidesman, reflecting a strong connection to parish and community. [1][4]

Within wider family research he is linked under FamilySearch ID KLHN‑4ZW, embedding his story within an extended Kentish family network. [1] This combination of rural employment, church service and family responsibility illustrates the settled civilian life he left behind when he returned to the colours in the First World War. [1][2]

Military Service

George’s military association began well before 1914. The individual report records that he enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1900, serving until 1908 as a gunner and later a sergeant under service number 5539. [1] After this initial period of regular service he resumed civilian life as a postman, but retained his skills and experience with heavy guns, which would be invaluable when war came. [1][2]

At the outbreak of the First World War he re‑enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery. Posted to France in June 1915, he served continuously on the Western Front until his death in 1918, being renumbered 280539 in line with RGA administrative changes and eventually serving as a serjeant in 222nd Siege Battery. [1][5] Siege batteries operated heavy artillery pieces, such as 6‑inch or 8‑inch howitzers, tasked with counter‑battery fire, destruction of strongpoints and deep bombardment of enemy positions, placing their crews in important but hazardous roles just behind the front line. [1][6][7]

Military Service (Gallantry Decorations)

George’s conduct under fire earned him two high decorations. He was awarded the Military Medal (M.M.), instituted on 25 March 1916 as a level‑3 gallantry award for non‑commissioned officers and men, given for acts of gallantry and devotion to duty under fire that did not reach the threshold of the Distinguished Conduct Medal. [1] His award was announced in the London Gazette, granting him the right to use the post‑nominal letters “M.M.” and marking him out among his peers for bravery in action. [1][4]

In addition, George received the Belgian Croix de Guerre (1st Class), a foreign decoration granted by the King of the Belgians for distinguished bravery in operations connected with Belgian interests. [1] Gazette number 30631 of 15 April 1918 records that “His Majesty the King of the Belgians confirms the award of the ‘Croix de Guerre’” and that the British monarch granted unrestricted permission to wear the decoration, emphasising the international recognition of his gallantry. [1][8][4] He also qualified for the 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal and Memorial Plaque. [1][9]

Circumstances of Death

Serjeant Skeer died of wounds on 21 March 1918 at the age of 36. [1] This date marks the opening of Operation Michael, the first blow of the German Spring Offensive, directed primarily against the British Fifth Army around St Quentin and parts of the Third Army further north. At 04:40 that morning, German artillery launched an enormous five‑hour bombardment over an 80‑kilometre front, firing more than a million shells, including high explosive and gas, in a carefully planned strike against British trenches, batteries and communications. [1][3][10]

Regimental and local accounts note that 222nd Siege Battery was in the St Quentin sector and that, although Serjeant Skeer was officially off duty when the offensive began, he voluntarily joined efforts to reposition his battery’s guns in response to the German advance. [1][2][5] During this hazardous work, carried out under heavy shellfire and amid collapsing communications, he was wounded and later succumbed to his injuries, his death officially recorded as “died of wounds” on 21 March 1918. [1][2][11] The scale and confusion of the fighting meant that his body was not recovered for identified burial. [1]

Burial and Commemoration

Because no known grave exists for George, his name is inscribed on the Pozières Memorial in the Somme region of Picardie, France, where it appears on Panel 10. [1][12] The memorial, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, commemorates more than 14,000 soldiers of the British and South African forces of the Fifth and Fourth Armies who died between 21 March and 7 August 1918 and have no known grave, many of them casualties of Operation Michael and the subsequent fighting. [1][13]

His CWGC entry reads: “SKEER, GEORGE, Serjeant, 280539, Royal Garrison Artillery, 222nd Siege Battery, died 21 March 1918, aged 36. Son of John and Mary Skeer, of Lyminge, Kent; husband of Lilian Skeer, of ‘Southside’, Brabourne Lees, Ashford, Kent. Military Medal. Croix de Guerre (Belgium).” [1][13] A Find a Grave memorial (ID 16079046) and dedicated biographical page on the Faded Genes website provide further detail on his life and awards, ensuring that researchers and descendants can access his story easily. [1][2][9]

Legacy

George Skeer’s legacy is that of a highly regarded non‑commissioned officer whose life linked quiet village service and exceptional battlefield leadership. As a rural postman and church bell ringer in Brabourne Lees he embodied the dependable core of pre‑war village society; as a serjeant in the Royal Garrison Artillery he became one of the experienced NCOs on whom the effectiveness of Britain’s heavy artillery depended. [1][2][4] His Military Medal and Belgian Croix de Guerre demonstrate that his courage was recognised by both his own country and an Allied nation grateful for his actions.

For his widow Lilian and their children Donald George and Stephanie Joan, his loss on the first day of the Spring Offensive meant a lifetime shaped by absence, despite the pride they could take in his decorations and service. [1][2] Today, through CWGC records, local Kent memorials, bell‑ringers’ rolls of honour and online projects such as “We remember George Skeer” on Lives of the First World War, his name continues to be honoured as that of a Kentish postman turned decorated artillery serjeant who gave his life at a pivotal moment in 1918. [1][4][9]

Key External Links

Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-George-Skeer.pdf
[2] George SKEER 1881 https://www.fadedgenes.co.uk/GeorgeSKEER.html
[3] Operation Michael https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Michael
[4] World War 1 Records – Kent County Association of Change Ringers https://kcacr.org.uk/association/ww1/
[5] 222nd Siege Battery – what did they do? – Great War Forum https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/254915-222nd-siege-battery-what-did-they-do/
[6] HMS Exeter (68) – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Exeter_(68)
[7] David Gibbins — Gunner Charles Gerald Cook, Royal Garrison Artillery (183, 93 and 224 Siege Batteries), 1916-19 http://davidgibbins.com/journal/2019/3/12/gunner-charles-gerald-cook-royal-garrison-artillery-183rd-93rd-and-224th-siege-batteries-1916-19
[8] Croix de Guerre – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croix_de_Guerre
[9] We remember George Skeer – Lives of the First World War https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/4058315
[10] German attack at St Quentin, March 1918 https://www.dublin-fusiliers.com/battaliions/1-batt/campaigns/1918-kaisers.html
[11] Operation Michael, The Thirty Worst and an Advanced Dressing … https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/world-war-i-articles/operation-michael-the-thirty-worst-and-an-advanced-dressing-station/
[12] Pozières British Cemetery & the Pozières Memorial https://thebignote.com/2016/08/03/pozieres-british-cemetery-the-pozieres-memorial/
[13] Pozières Memorial (CWGC) – Remembering the Fallen https://www.ww1cemeteries.com/pozieres-memorial.html
[14] Royal Garrison Artillery – First World War Casualties https://astreetnearyou.org/regiment/161/Royal-Garrison-Artillery
[15] 220th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/220th_Siege_Battery,_Royal_Garrison_Artillery
[16] May 2012 compressed.pub http://2mnbattery.org/newsletter/2012/May_2012.pdf
[17] Plain Text UTF-8 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/51776/pg51776.txt
[18] Battle Honour ST QUENTIN – German Spring Offensive 1918. https://www.royal-irish.com/events/battle-honour-st-quentin-german-spring-offensive-1918
[19] Full text of “”The cannoneer.” Recollections of service in the Army of the Potomac” https://archive.org/stream/cannoneerthe00buelrich/cannoneerthe00buelrich_djvu.txt
[20] List of recipients of the Croix de Guerre – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recipients_of_the_Croix_de_Guerre
[21] Acta Militaria http://nelsonlambert.blogspot.com/2011/07/
[22] Battle of Saint-Mihiel – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saint-Mihiel
[23] March | 2015 – Historical Digression https://historicaldigression.com/2015/03/
[24] History of the Royal Regiment of Artillary, by Francis Duncan https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/58209/pg58209-images.html