21451 Pte John William Thistlethwaite, 88th Bn, MGC

21451 Private John William Thistlethwaite of the 88th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps, was killed in action on the 27th January 1917. Soldiers died in the Great War records that he was born in Hutton Roof, Westmorland, and was still living there at the time of his enlistment. He joined up at Kendal. SDGW also notes that he had previously served with the Royal Field Artillery - number 80392.

John's medal index card records that he had served with the Essex Regiment (number 20197) and it was with the Essex Regiment that he had landed in France on the 31st October 1915. There is no mention on his card of the RFA and so presumably he had served with this regiment in Britain, transferring to the Essex Regiment before sailing for the Western Front. The RFA number dates to around February 1915, the Essex Regiment number to July the same year.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records that John was 21 years old when he died and that he was the son of Son of Adam and Jane Thistlethwaite of Hutton Roof, Carnforth, Westmorland. He appears on the 1901 census with his parents, aged five years old. No siblings are noted and it is possible that he was an only son. Adam Thistlethwaite is recorded as the 37 years old "beerhouse keeper" at the Lowther Arms in Hutton Roof. His son's birth had been registered in Westmorland in the June quarter of 1896 and he appears to have had another middle name as he is recorded in the register as John William T Thistlethwaite.

John Thistlethwaite is buried in the AIF Burial Ground at Flers.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC, BMD, 1901 census)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in The Great War