Soldiers Died in The Great War notes that 137 officers and men died a hundred years ago today, on the 10th January 1915. Nearly a third of this total - forty three men - were men who were serving with the King's Royal Rifle Corps and only six of these men have known graves. These men - three officers and 40 non-commissioned officers and men - who died a century ago today are remembered with pride here today:
King's Royal Rifle Corps
4785 Rifleman Henry Alcock, 2nd Bn.
Y/1263 Rifleman Leon Harry Alcock, 2nd Bn.
2378 Rifleman Charles Edward Allen, 2nd Bn.
Second Lieutenant James Fairfax Amphlett Morton, 6th Bn. attd. 2nd Bn.
11608 Rifleman Edward Anderson, 1st Bn.
R/5753 Rifleman William Bainbridge, 2nd Bn.
Y/40 Rifleman George Barrett, 2nd Bn.
10526 Rifleman Percy Harvey Bell, 1st Bn.
10363 Rifleman Albert George Biddle, 2nd Bn.
Y/657 Rifleman Charles Henry Bradbeer, 2nd Bn.
9921 Rifleman Frank D'Arcy Brennan, 4th Bn.
8535 Corporal Frederick E. Burton, 4th Bn.
R/5827 Rifleman Joseph Caizergues, 2nd Bn.
11978 Rifleman Oliver William Chapman, 2nd Bn.
A/3226 Rifleman Tom Clark, 2nd Bn.
5900 Rifleman Benjamin Clayton, 2nd Bn.
5830 Rifleman John William Collinson, 2nd Bn.
R/5752 Rifleman Austen Joseph Damen, 2nd Bn.
Y/1281 Corporal Charles Eckoff, 2nd Bn.
Y/299 Rifleman Thomas Edmondson, 2nd Bn.
7345 Rifleman Britton Gill, 2nd Bn.
11272 Rifleman George Samuel Gray, 1st Bn.
8246 Rifleman Frank Handford, 3rd Bn.
6952 Rifleman Albert Harris, 2nd Bn.
9862 Lance Corporal James Harrow, 4th Bn.
5/4908 Rifleman George William Hayden, 2nd Bn.
A/2184 Rifleman Alfred Houghton, 2nd Bn.
Lieutenant Malcolm Eyton Lawrence, 6th Bn. attd. 2nd Bn.
R/5954 Rifleman John Henry Mackenzie, 2nd Bn.
7638 Rifleman Harry Mullett, 2nd Bn.
Captain Francis Campbell Norbury, 6th Bn. attd. 1st Bn.
R/5851 Rifleman John George Owens, 2nd Bn.
11916 Rifleman Lewis Valentine Pearson, 2nd Bn.
A/2819 Rifleman James Perks, 2nd Bn.
R/5798 Rifleman Lloyd Owen Lloyd Price, 2nd Bn.
Y/1087 Rifleman William Randall, 2nd Bn.
8728 Rifleman Harry Sutton, 4th Bn.
R/843 Rifleman Francis Gideon Taylor, 2nd Bn.
5907 Rifleman Walter Thompson, "B" Coy. 2nd Bn.
11782 Rifleman Henry William Turner, 2nd Bn
5940 Rifleman Hubert Alfred Turvey, 2nd Bn.
5555 Rifleman George Walton, 2nd Bn.
11996 Rifleman George Winnall, 2nd Bn.
The majority of these men were killed during an attack by the 2nd Battalion which was holding trenches in the Cuinchy sector. The battalion war diary notes, "Casualties among NCOs and men extremely difficult to estimate. Put down at approximately 20 killed and 40 wounded." In fact, 32 NCOs and men died that day and I'm going to look at just one of these men, Rifleman Lewis Valentine Pearson, who was born in my home town of Chelmsford.
Lewis Pearson, born on the 14th February 1888, was working as a fruiterer's assistant when he enlisted with the KRRC at Winchester on the 19th August 1914. He was just over five feet, four inches tall with a fair complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair. A small scar at the base of his left forefinger was identified by the meticulous doctor who examined him.
Lewis's surviving attestation papers do not indicate that he had prior military service and yet after a little over three months' at the depot in Winchester (or 102 days to be precise), he was posted as part of a draft to the 2nd Battalion, arriving in France on the 29th November 1914. He died as a result of wounds received in action. Lewis's papers indicate that his next of kin were his parents, Edmund Fewell Pearson and Katherine Pearson of Railway Cottage, Southminster, Essex.
Lewis Pearson is commemorated along with over 13,400 other men, on the Le Touret Memorial in France (pictured above, courtesy of the Remembrance Trails website). For further information on the men and their regimental numbers, see my KRRC post on my Army Service Numbers blog.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
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