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Lest We Forget

 

On our other pages you will come across many local families who lost sons in the Great War. See our Casualties of the Great War - menu for more information.


This page is about the casualties of war we have stumbled across while researching our ancestors, their 'cousins' and families by marriage.

Name Event Age Notes
James Hancock, Private 3866, 3rd Bn Grenadier Guards. Died, 5th Nov 1854, Battle of Inkerman Ridge, Crimea 33 Son of Richard Hancock, a farm labourer, and Jane Russell, of Jockey Stables, near Springhill House,  Blockley. James' elder brothers George and John also joined the Guards, possibly through the influence of General Henry Lygon who lived at Springhill House before he moved to Madresfield Court.
James George Doel, Private 11205, Highland Light Infantry Died, 16th May 1915, France 26 Youngest son of James George Doel of Gosport, Rosemary's great uncle.
Alexander Gartshore Stirling McCulloch (junior) L/Cpl 1010 23rd Bn Royal Fusiliers, British Expeditionary Force Shot in right shoulder, 1916; survived WWI. Before the war he was a commercial traveller. - Born Ireland,we think he was grandson of AGS senior who was nephew of James McCulloch a farmer of Woodend near Glasgow who died 1851. The name AGS has been passed down.
Arthur Jesse Goater, Rifleman 9th Bn Kings Royal Rifle Corps R10915 Died, 15th April 1916, France 21 Son of Jesse and Mary Jane Goater, Wyndoris, Amesbury Road, West Southbourne, Bournemouth
William Muir Hayman DSO, Major Royal Engineers Died of wounds at Rouen 13th July 1917 34 Second cousin of Alexander Gartshore Stirling McCulloch (see above). Before the war William had been a consulting engineer with the Great Southern Railway at Buenos Aires.
De Lacey Campbell Evans jnr, Private 36433, 11 Bn, East Yorkshire Light Infantry Missing in action 3 May 1917, Arras, France. The Arras memorial is dedicated to those who have no known grave. 27 Youngest son of Thomas Alfred Evans, grocer of Hucknall Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire and Ellen French Smith; (great grandson of Stephen Evans and Martha Wilde). Before the war he worked at the family grocer's shop
Thomas Henry Evans, Private 267904, Sherwood Foresters Died of Wounds Flanders 31st March 1918.   Son of coal miner Henry Elley Evans and cousin of De Lacy Campbell Evans. Before the war he was a clerk at New Hucknall colliery. Click to read more about Huthwaite casualties
Owen Samuel Hancock, Lance Corporal, 7263, Cheshire Regiment Drowned, 27th June 1917, after the troopship SS Armadale was torpedoed by U-60 in the Irish sea. The Armadale was en route from Manchester to Salonica in Greece with troops and stores 36 Great grandson of farm labourer Richard Hancock of Blockley.  Before the war he was a brewery drayman. His name is inscribed on the Hollybrook memorial, Southampton
Ronald Weston Denny, Gunner 315336, Royal Garrison Artillery 1st (Wessex) Heavy Battery. Former trade: butcher. Died 17th July 1917, buried Lijssenthoek Military cemetery, Belgium. 27 Eldest son of grocer Fred Denny (died 1906) and Louisa Ann Weston of 'Bassett Villa', Oxted Road, Godstone, Surrey Great grandson of Angus's ancestor Richard Dyer, who was a tailor in Southampton.
William Brown, Private 24770, 12 Bn, Manchester Regiment Died, 20th July 1916, France 47 Nephew of John Brown, baker of Greenock, Scotland. Husband of Catherine Taylor and father of six children. His cousin, Captain William Brown, Royal Scots Fusiliers, became a recruitment officer and survived the war, but died prematurely in 1923 of tuberculosis.
Charles Bell Law, Private G/8027 6th (Service) Bn Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment Killed in action 5th November 1916 near Arras 30 Before the war he was a carpenter in the building trade. Son of watchmaker Philip Law; great grandson of George Heskey a tailor of Calne in Wiltshire.
George Harold Hall, Sergeant 1541, 14th Company, Australian Machine Gun Corps. Died, 10th May 1917, second Battle of Bullecourt, France 23 Son of Thomas Hall and Harriett Smith (sister of George McCulloch's widow Mary Michie). Brother of Fanny.
James J Hall, Private 3318, 53rd Battalion, Australian Infantry Died, 19th July 1916, Battle of Fromelles, France 19 Eldest son of Fanny Hall and Thomas McCann, 55 Bourke Street, New South Wales
Alva John Ferguson, Second Lieutenant, 127 Coy, Machine Gun Corps Died in crossfire, 4th August 1917, France 21 Cousin of Arthur Evans Robinson. Alva's name is inscribed on the Kettering war memorial
John Michie Coutts, Private 3144, 48 Battalion Australian Infantry AIF Chauffeur, enlisted Blackboy Hill, Perth Western Australia 1914. Killed in action 12 October 1917 29 Son of William and Maggie Coutts of Aberdeen, and possibly a relative of the Scottish painter James Coutts Michie. John's name is inscribed on the Ypres Menin Gate memorial.
Bernard Lowden Holloway, Private 568, 6th Australian Light Horse Regiment, AIF, Machine Gun Section Stockman, enlisted Sydney, NSW 1914. Badly injured by gunshot wounds to arms, back, head and chest, 1917. Survived WWI and later emigrated to the USA. - Son of farm manager Colin and Mary Holloway of Remenham, Berkshire, England. Brother of Len Cundell's wife Dora
Geoffrey Alwyn Gershom Bonser, Captain, Royal Army Medical Corps Attached to 12 Bn Norfolk Regiment. Killed by a shell 29 September 1918 while attending patiemts. Click for obituary 29 Son of George Gershom Bonser JP and Dorothy Ann Mary Sims (died 1913), of 'Kirkstede', Church Street, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottingham. His uncle Harold Bonser, a mining engineer, married into the Robinson family
Charles Caldwell, Private 308039 16 Bn Tank Corps Died in France, near Grandcourt, 29th September 1918, aged 19 years. His unit had been attempting to advance under heavy artillery and machine gun fire; all the tanks were lost.   Son of carpenter Wellwod Maxwell Robertson Caldwell and Marion Greig Fulton of Kilmarnock, Scotland; descendant of cabinet maker James Guthrie and Jean Tennant of Ayr whose grand daughter married into Brown family.
Charles Henry Lewry, Sergeant J5174/313806 RAF Died 15 Jul 1919 after the airship he was steering, NS11 exploded in flight 26 Cousin of Rosemary’s grandmother. Buried Ann’s Hill Old Cemetery, Gosport
Frederick Robert Crips, Private 45659, 8th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment Died of tuberculosis 12th March 1919 19 Brother in law of Jessie Helen Brown. Son of Frederick Crips and Florence Thorne. Buried Highgate Cemetery.
Philip Quill, Sergeant, 775038, RAF Volunteer Reserve. Died, 21 Sep 1940, RAF Finningley, when he walked into a propellor after returning from a night flight. Buried Holy Trinity and St Oswald. 21 Brother of journalist Jack Quill, second husband of Betty Hancock. Philip was the son of Ernest and Marguerite Quill, of South Woodford, Essex.
Leonard Thomas Kinchin, Flying Officer 78405 RAF Volunteer Reserve. Accidentally shot by sentry. Died 8th October 1940, buried Silloth, Cumberland 31 Son of Charles William, and Gladys Deborah Kinchin, of Belmont, Wantage, Berkshire. Nephew of Leonard Cundell.
Emily Lucy Lygo, civilian Died, 8th December 1940. Injured during bombing raid at 51 Sharsted Street Kennington; died same day on way to Lambeth Hospital. 45 Daughter of the late Francis W Lygo of the Cock and Bottle pub, Lambeth. Third 'partner' of Arthur Evans Robinson.
Arthur Evans Robinson, civilian, music teacher Death not recorded, but is thought to have perished during the bombing of London in 1941. 51 Son of Henry Evans Robinson and Louisa Mary Dyer of Southampton. Husband of Edith Frances Webb. A descendant of Henry Evans who founded Luke Evans Bakery in Alfreton.
John Albert Morris, civilian Died on the night of 10th July 1941 during the bombing of Portsmouth when the flat above a shop at 101b, High Street received a direct hit 38 Son of Henry Morris, of 2 The Terrace, South Wallington, Fareham and Ellen Unwin. Husband of Elsie Morris.
Elsie L Morris, civilian Died 10th July 1941 24 Daughter of Sidney and Ada White
John Morris (son) Died 10th July 1941 2 Son of John and Elsie Morris of 101b High Street Portsmouth
George William Hardy, Serjeant 867196, 7 Battery, 4th Heavy Anti Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery Died at sea 30th October 1942. Commemorated Brookwood 1939 - 1945 Memorial 35 Son of George Hardy and Agnes Rosa Jacobs. Husband of Phyllis Gertrude Barbara Maddox of Twickenham. Linked to Brown family.
Frank Norman Harder, Sergeant 1324291, Air Bomber, 9 Sqn RAFVR Died 7th June 1944 after Avro Lancaster ME579 crashed into trees near Belvoir Castle while returning from a D Day mission in France. Buried South Stoneham cemetery 23 Eldest son of Frank Herbert Harder and Beatrice Annie Goater of Southampton
George Francis Herbert Webb, Wing Commander 90987, (pilot) DFC and Bar. 181 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force. Shot down by flak while flying an armed reconnaisance mission in a Typhoon. Died during the last days of the war on 2nd May 1945. Buried Hamburg cemetery. 30 Son of George Richard and Gladys Mary Webb. First husband of Peggy Cundell. Peggy was the daughter of Sir George Bailey, chairman of Associated Electrical Industries (1951 - 1954).
George McCulloch, Lieutenant attached to 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars, Middle East Force, Egypt Lost leg fighting in the North African Campaign in 1941. Survived WWII but died in light aircraft crash in Southern Rhodesia 1949 35 Son of Alexander McCulloch and Lesley Cecil Wright. Lesley's brother John had been in the Royal Flying Corps during WWI, and became MP for Erdington, Birmingham 1936 - 1945. Survived by wife Phylis and son, Sandy.

If you know more about the story of any of these men do please let us know.

Also remembering

Mary Agnes Coutts Michie who, during the Great War, loaned her large house at 184 Queens Gate, London for use as a Red Cross hospital. Sadly the house was seriously damaged by German bombing on 19th February 1944.

Alexander Gartshore Stirling McCulloch, crew member of a Halifax bomber that was shot down by a German night fighter on the same night of 19th February 1944. He parachuted to safety but was captured and  imprisoned by the Germans in Stalag Luft III; shortly after he was involved in planning for the 'Great Escape'.

Captain Kenneth Archibald Davey MBE died 1955 was held prisoner by the Japanese under harsh conditions at Sonkrai in Thailand during WWII. He said to a friend that, should he survive, he would name his child after the camp - and he did. His eldest child was named Josephine Sonkrai Davey as "a memorial to all his men who won't be coming back this way, and many of who sleep their long sleep at Sonkrai in the north jungles of Thailand".

Leonard Cundell (cousin of businessman Albert Augustus Cundell) whose racing stables and gallops at Chilton in Oxfordshire were purchased by the Air Ministry in 1935 to enable the building of RAF Harwell. A memorial stone records:

This stone marks the end of the runway from which aircraft of number 38 Group Royal Air Force took off on the night of 5th June 1944 with troops of the 6th Airborne Division, who were the first British soldiers to land in Normandy, in the main assault for the liberation of Europe.

Leonard Cundell's son Matthew remembered seeing all the gliders lined up, and when he returned on his pony the next day the airfield was empty.

Soon after the war RAF Harwell closed and the airfield was taken over by the Atomic Energy Authority.

Sources and acknowledgements

Those named above were largely discovered by chance as a result of our searches on the ancestry.co.uk website. Additional information has also come from the Commonwealth War Graves Comission website cwgc.org, In some cases CWGC do not list either the age or parents of the casualty, and we have added information from the census and WWI Army pension and service records to fill the gaps. We cannot guarantee this is corrrect although we believe in most cases it is.

It has been said that almost one in three British 'young' men living in 1911 were to die in WWI and that huge numbers of the middle classes, who had volunteered but never been exposed to battle before, were slaughtered during the Battle of the Somme which was fought over several months.

Thank you to AGS McCulloch for the full and exciting story of his father which for copyright reasons is not reproduced here. Thank you also to Gary Elliott for information about Huthwaite casualties.

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This page was first published on our old website 123-mcc.com