Tag: ARRAS MEMORIAL

Arthur Champion: A London Soldier’s Story

Private Arthur Thomas Champion, 231505, “B” Company, 2nd/2nd Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), was killed in action on 17 May 1917 and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial.

Family report and Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Early Life and Family

Arthur Thomas Champion was born on 18 June 1896 in Southwark, Surrey, the son of Richard Edward Champion and Charlotte Lugton Grosert.[file:58] He was baptised on 30 August 1896 at St Andrew, Newington, an early record that firmly places the family in south London at the close of the Victorian period.[file:58] By the time of the 1901 census he was living at 19 Vineleigh Road, Penge, Surrey, and in 1911 he was recorded at 23 Lyham Road, Brixton, working as a butcher’s errand boy.[file:58]

These details show Arthur growing up in the expanding suburban districts south of the Thames, in a household tied to the working life of Edwardian London.[file:58] His later residence at 22 Glenelg Road, Brixton, is the address given in the military and commemorative records, and it became the family home associated with his remembrance after his death.[file:58][page:1] No marriage or children are recorded in the supplied material, and the report lists him without spouse or issue.[file:58]

Military Service

Arthur enlisted in Westminster in 1917 for service in the Western European theatre, at a time when the British Army was absorbing large numbers of London recruits into Territorial and reserve formations.[file:58] His records show two service numbers, 4075 and 231505, and identify him as a Private in the London Regiment, specifically associated with the 2nd City of London Regiment and later recorded under the Royal Fusiliers (London Regiment).[file:58] The report further identifies his sub-unit as “B” Company, 2nd/2nd Battalion.[file:58]

The 2nd (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), often known as the 2nd Londons, was a Territorial battalion with roots in the Volunteer movement of the nineteenth century and a strong association with Westminster and central London.[page:1] During the First World War the original battalion was split into several lines, including the 1/2nd Battalion for overseas service and the 2/2nd Battalion as its second-line counterpart, later also serving abroad.[page:1] The family report’s references to both the London Regiment and the Royal Fusiliers reflect the regiment’s somewhat complex administrative identity, since the London Regiment battalions retained their local titles while also being connected to older county regiments such as the Royal Fusiliers.[file:58][page:1]

Unit Context at the Time of Death

At the time of Arthur’s death on 17 May 1917, the British Army was still engaged in the prolonged fighting that followed the opening of the Arras Offensive in April 1917.[file:58][web:65] The Arras Memorial commemorates those who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918 and who have no known grave, placing Arthur among the men lost during that hard-fought campaign.[web:65][web:68] His commemorative panel reference is Bay 9 on the Arras Memorial.[file:58][page:1]

The broader history of the 2nd (City of London) Battalion shows how heavily the London battalions were committed on the Western Front, first through the 1/2nd Battalion’s service in France from early 1915 and then through the reinforcement and reshaping of related battalions as the war intensified.[page:1] The battalion history records the severe strain of trench warfare, repeated drafts, and the transfer of men between lines of the same battalion, which helps explain why Arthur’s paperwork shows both incomplete and renumbered service references.[file:58][page:1] In practical terms, he belonged to one of the London Regiment formations tied to the Royal Fusiliers that supplied infantrymen for front-line duty in France and Flanders during a period of sustained attrition.[file:58][page:1]

Because Arthur was killed on 17 May 1917 and is commemorated at Arras rather than buried in a marked grave, it is likely that he died in the fighting or immediate aftermath of operations in the Arras sector and that his body was either not recovered or could not later be identified.[file:58][web:65] The date falls only days after the main phases of the First and Third Battles of the Scarpe, when British units in the Arras area were still engaged in trench holding, patrol clashes, shellfire, and local actions even when no major set-piece assault was under way.[page:1][web:65] That context helps explain the apparent simplicity of the official phrase “Killed in Action”, which often masked highly chaotic front-line circumstances.[file:58]

Arthur Champion’s service belongs to the wider story of London Territorial battalions that carried the burden of attritional fighting in the Arras sector in the spring of 1917.

London Regiment battalion history and Arras Memorial context

Circumstances of Death

Arthur Thomas Champion was killed in action in France on 17 May 1917 at the age of twenty.[file:58] His record gives his regiment or service as the London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), with “B” Company, 2nd/2nd Battalion, and identifies him as the son of Edward and Charlotte Champion of 22 Glenelg Road, Brixton, London.[file:58][page:2] Although the supplied report names his father more fully as Richard Edward Champion, the commemorative wording using “Edward” is not unusual in military records, where middle names and familiar names were sometimes substituted in official returns.[file:58]

His death occurred in the Arras sector, one of the most fiercely contested regions of the Western Front in 1917.[web:65] The Arras Memorial stands within the Faubourg d’Amiens British Cemetery and commemorates nearly 35,000 servicemen of the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the sector and have no known grave.[web:65][web:68] Arthur’s inclusion there confirms both the location of his loss and the fact that no identified burial place survived for him.[web:65]

Commemoration

Arthur is commemorated on the Arras Memorial in Bay 9 rather than in an individual grave.[file:58] The memorial was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, with sculpture by Sir William Reid Dick, and it serves as one of the principal places of remembrance for soldiers lost in the Arras battles and surrounding trench warfare.[web:65][web:68] For families such as the Champions of Brixton, the memorial became the symbolic grave of a son whose remains were never recovered or identified.[web:65]

His entitlement to the Victory Medal, British War Medal, and Memorial Death Plaque reflects the standard post-war recognition awarded to British soldiers who served overseas and died during the conflict.[file:58] These medals and commemorative items would have been important material links between his bereaved family in London and his service on the Western Front.[file:58] They also confirm that his service was formally recognised within the post-war system of imperial remembrance.[file:58]

Legacy

Arthur’s life was brief, moving from childhood in Southwark and Penge to working life in Brixton before military service cut it short in 1917.[file:58] He represents the many young London working men who entered the army from ordinary urban trades and were absorbed into Territorial battalions connected to the older county regiments.[file:58][page:1] The family report identifies him as a fourth cousin twice removed to the researcher, showing how his memory still survives within extended family history.[file:58]

Sources and Further Reading

Lance Corporal Percy Mount: A Legacy at the Arras Memorial

Lance Corporal Percy Victor Mount (service number 23256) served with the 7th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, and was killed in action on 9 April 1917 during the opening day of the Battle of Arras, in the First Battle of the Scarpe.[file:114][web:121][web:123]

He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Bay 6, in northern France, alongside thousands of comrades who fell in the same offensive.[file:114][web:121]



Early Life and Family

Percy Victor Mount was born about February 1890 in Newington, Kent, his birth registered in the Eastry registration district (volume 2A, page 1043, line 342). He was the son of George Marsh Mount and Mary Jane (née Raines), who later lived at 154 High Street, Cheriton, near Folkestone, Kent.[file:114][web:119]

In the 1891 census he appears as a one‑year‑old child in Cheriton; by 1901 the family were still in Cheriton, living at 9 Park Road. By 1911, aged twenty‑one and single, Percy was working as a servant and general assistant at the Nelson Head Inn, 6 Chapel Street, Hythe, indicating that he had moved into the licensed trade and hospitality work.[file:114]

Between May 1915 and February 1917 he is recorded as resident at the Nelson’s Head Ale House in Hythe, suggesting that he remained closely linked to the inn and the local community; Hythe records also note that he was a member of the Hythe Fire Brigade. On 11 October 1913 he married Annie Elizabeth Johnson at Ss Peter & Paul, Saltwood, following banns read at St Leonard’s, Hythe, in September, and the couple had at least two children, Lucy Margaret Mount and Percy Charles Mount.[file:114][web:128]

From Cheriton and Hythe, where he worked at the Nelson’s Head and served in the Fire Brigade, Percy Mount took his place in Kitchener’s New Army.

Reconstructed from census, parish, and local notes



Enlistment and the 7th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment

Percy enlisted at Canterbury between 15 June 1916 and 9 April 1917, joining the East Surrey Regiment and being posted to the 7th (Service) Battalion. His service number is given as 23256, and he rose to the rank of Lance Corporal, a junior non‑commissioned officer responsible for leading a small section of men.[file:114][web:116][web:118]

The 7th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, was formed at Kingston‑on‑Thames in August 1914 as part of Kitchener’s First New Army (K1), joining 37th Brigade in the 12th (Eastern) Division. After training at Purfleet and Aldershot, the battalion landed at Boulogne on 2 June 1915 and thereafter served on the Western Front.[file:114][web:123]

The battalion saw heavy action throughout the war, fighting at the Battle of Loos in 1915; on the Somme in 1916 at the Battles of Albert, Pozières, and Le Transloy; and in 1917 at the First and Third Battles of the Scarpe and the Battle of Arleux, as well as later in the Cambrai operations. It was disbanded in France on 5 February 1918, its survivors redistributed to other units.[file:114][web:123]

As a Lance Corporal in the 7th East Surreys, Mount fought with 12th (Eastern) Division – a New Army formation that saw repeated service on the Western Front.

Summary of the battalion’s war service



The 7th East Surreys at the First Battle of the Scarpe

Percy was killed on 9 April 1917, the opening day of the Battle of Arras, during the First Battle of the Scarpe. On this day, 12th (Eastern) Division, including 37th Brigade and the 7th East Surreys, attacked from the south‑eastern outskirts of Arras, north of the Arras–Cambrai road, across Observation Ridge towards Monchy‑le‑Preux.[file:114][web:121][web:123]

The divisional objective was to capture three systems of German trenches and the communication trench known as Feuchy Switch, together with strongpoints in and around Feuchy. Within this plan, 36th Infantry Brigade attacked on the left, with 7th Royal Sussex Regiment and 11th Middlesex Regiment leading, while 37th Infantry Brigade, with the 7th East Surrey Regiment and 6th Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) in the lead, attacked on the right.[file:114][web:121]

After an artillery barrage beginning at 05.30, the initial attack went well and the forward German positions fell quickly. However, when the second‑wave battalions advanced to attack the second‑line objectives on Observation Ridge and Feuchy Switch, resistance stiffened significantly, particularly around Feuchy Switch and Feuchy Chapel Redoubt; casualties among battalions such as the 8th Royal Fusiliers, 6th The Buffs (East Kent), and 6th Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent) were heavy as they pressed on through German fire.[file:114][web:121]

By nightfall the division held a line between La Chapelle de Feuchy and the Feuchy Road, short of its final objectives, after fierce fighting over Observation Ridge and Battery Valley. It was for actions on this day that Sergeant H. Cator of the 7th East Surreys was later awarded the Victoria Cross. Percy’s death on 9 April 1917 places him squarely within this costly but ultimately successful assault.[file:114][web:121]

Mount fell on the first day of the Battle of Arras, as 12th (Eastern) Division fought its way over Observation Ridge towards Monchy‑le‑Preux.

Context from divisional and battalion histories



Circumstances of Death

The individual report gives Percy’s cause of death simply as “Killed in Action” on 9 April 1917 in France. Local notes describe him as the son of the late Mr and Mrs George Mount of 154 High Street, Cheriton, Folkestone, and husband of Annie Elizabeth Mount, of 2 Ivy Cottages, Bradstone Road, Folkestone; they also record that he was a member of the Hythe Fire Brigade.[file:114][web:115]

He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial rather than in a marked burial plot, indicating that his body was either not recovered or could not be identified following the fighting. This was common in large‑scale offensives such as the Battle of Arras, where intense shelling and rapid advances and withdrawals made battlefield burial difficult.[file:114][web:121]



Burial and Commemoration

Percy Victor Mount is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Bay 6, which stands in the Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery at Arras. The memorial honours nearly 35,000 servicemen of the United Kingdom, South Africa, and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector between spring 1916 and 7 August 1918 and have no known grave.[file:114][web:121]

His Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry can be viewed here: CWGC casualty details for Lance Corporal P. V. Mount. An additional memorial entry, which may include photographs and personal tributes, is available at Find a Grave memorial 124741590.[file:114]



Family and Legacy

Percy left behind his widow, Annie Elizabeth, and their children Lucy Margaret and Percy Charles, as well as his wider family in Cheriton, Hythe, and Folkestone. For them, his name on the Arras Memorial and in local commemorations represented not only a national sacrifice but the loss of a husband, father, and son who had been active in his community as a publican’s assistant and fireman.[file:114][web:115][web:128]

Regimentally, his story forms part of the East Surrey Regiment’s wider record in the First World War, particularly the service of its New Army battalions in battles such as Loos, the Somme, and Arras. As a Lance Corporal of the 7th (Service) Battalion, Percy Victor Mount stands among those citizen‑soldiers who enlisted from small towns and villages and gave their lives in major offensives on the Western Front.[file:114][web:117][web:123]

For descendants and family historians, resources such as Ancestry, the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War project, and local Hythe and Cheriton history publications help to place his life—from his birth in Newington to his last day on Observation Ridge—within a richer family and community context.[file:114][web:116][web:118]

Sources

  • Individual report for Lance Corporal Percy Victor Mount (family tree compilation, including birth and residence details for Newington, Cheriton, Hythe and Folkestone; marriage to Annie Elizabeth Johnson; children Lucy Margaret and Percy Charles; enlistment at Canterbury; service with 7th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment; and Arras Memorial commemoration).[file:114]
  • Commonwealth War Graves Commission – casualty record for “MOUNT, PERCY VICTOR”, Lance Corporal 23256, 7th Bn., East Surrey Regiment, commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Bay 6: CWGC casualty details.[file:114]
  • Find a Grave – memorial for Percy Victor Mount (Arras Memorial, Bay 6, with scope for photographs and tributes): Find a Grave memorial 124741590.[file:114]
  • East Surrey Regiment – general regimental history and outline of New Army battalions’ service on the Western Front (Loos, Somme, Arras, Cambrai): East Surrey Regiment and casualty/roll material at A Street Near You – East Surrey Regiment.[web:123][web:117]
  • Battle of Arras, 1917 – context for the First Battle of the Scarpe (9 April 1917), including objectives on Observation Ridge, Feuchy, and Feuchy Switch, and the role of British divisions such as 12th (Eastern) Division: Battle of Arras (1917).[web:121]
  • 12th (Eastern) Division and Hythe connections – local and social context, including references to Percy Mount as a member of the Hythe Fire Brigade and material on Hythe’s First World War servicemen: Hythe History Blog (general local history context; Percy Mount references in posts on Hythe war dead).[web:128][web:115]

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)