All quiet on the Western Front

A year and a day after Britain went to war with Germany and the 5th August 1915 was what might be termed a quiet day as regards fatalities in the British Army. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 165 men lost their lives on this day. Of these men, 33 died in the United Kingdom, some as a result of wounds received in action, others as a result of disease or accident in the UK, before they'd even set foot overseas.

The Durham Light Infantry lost 15 men on this day. Here they are:

4/9468 Private George Robert ACOMB aged 33
3/10665 Private James ALDERSON aged 25
14878 Lance Corporal William Gordon BURNS aged 30
19530 Private Daniel DALEY
8313 Private Frederick William HARGREAVES aged 35
Lieutenant JAMES MADDISON KENT aged 29
4/9186 Private Thomas MALLON
3/11654 Private John MALLOY aged 36
6982 Private Thomas MOCKLER aged 34
7832 Private James MOWBRAY
3/7679 Private Thomas McMAHON aged 34
3/9762 Private Gregory O'RORKE
8990 Corporal Henry THOMPSON
3/8142 Private Frank WADDLE aged 32
8984 Private Henry WEST aged 31

All of these men were serving with the 2nd Battalion when they died. I have not checked to see if individual service records survive for these men but I have checked their names against medal rolls, adding in full first names and updating regimental numbers. In a number of cases, the CWGC omits regimental number prefixes, but adding these in I was struck by just how many of these casualties had originally joined the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion and the 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion: five and two respectively. These seven men, as well as Lieutenant Kent who was also a 3rd Battalion man originally, would all have been sent out as drafts to the 2nd Battalion.

William Burns and Daniel Daley were volunteers, Kitchener men who had volunteered after Britain went to war. Both have surviving service records and we can see that Daniel had also seen prior service with the 3rd Battalion before he re-enlisted on the 21st September 1914. So no fewer than nine of the fifteen 2nd Battalion men had served with the Special or Extra Reserve.

Of the remaining men, 34-year-old Thomas Mockler was the longest-serving man. His number dates to the second half of 1899 and he had already seen service during the Boer War. The fact that he still retained this regimental number in 1914 suggests to me that he either extended his service before 1914 or else had opted to serve an additional four years on Section D Reserve (in other words, effectively extending his period of reserve service). He had arrived overseas on the 22nd October 1914.

Lieutenant Kent was killed when the battalion moved into trenches at Hooge. He is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery. The other men were killed during an attack in the vicinity of the Crater and Stables at Hooge. The war diary for the battalion is quite detailed and lists casualties, including wounded men. A report on the attack is also included.

So, all quiet on the Western Front on the 5th August 1915, but there was weeping in the homes of 15 men from the DLI, and from the family members of the other 150 men who lost their lives on this day, one hundred years ago.

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

I've borrowed the 1920 image of Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery from the Returned Services league Australia website. It's well worth a visit for anyone with an interest in this cemetery.

For assistance with your own research projects, contact me by clicking on the Research Tab on this blog. Also have a look at my Army Service Numbers blog which has a lot of useful information about regimental numbers in the British Army between 1881 and 1918.

21877 Gdsmn William D Matson, 3rd Bn, Grenadier Guards

21877 Guardsman William Dunn Matson of the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards was killed in action on the 29th March 1916. He was born in Brotten, Yorkshire and enlisted at Whitby in the second week of January 1915. William was 21 years old, the son of John and Margaret Matson of Brotton. He is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium.

William was one of our Grenadier Guardsman to die on the 29th March 1916. The other three men, all of whom died of wounds, were:

14250 Gdsmn Arthur Edwin Hine, 1st Bn, enlisted Feb/Mar 1909
18420 Gdsmn Arthur John Lane, 2nd Bn, enlisted Sep 1914
17106 Gdsmn James Frederick Parker, 2nd Bn, enlisted Aug 1914

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

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

1734 Pte Harry Plowman, 1/5th Leics Regt

1734 Private Harry Plowman of the 1/5th Leicestershire Regiment, died on the 27th July 1915. He was born in St Mary's, Melton Mowbray, and joined the 5th Leicestershire Regiment at Melton Mowbray in November or December 1913.

Harry served with B Company and was the son of Elizabeth Plowman of 12 Sydney Street, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. He is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery.

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

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

47712 Pte Harold B Perris, 26th Bn, Royal Fusiliers

47712 Private Harold Barton Perris of the 26th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, died of wounds on the 10th June 1917. He was born in Manchester and enlisted there. Soldiers Died in The Great War notes that he was formerly 5122 Royal Fusiliers. His medal index card records that number as Spts/5122 which in turn indicates a joining sate of late 1915 or early 1916.

Harold Perris was 33 years old when he died. He was the son of George Henry and Annie Perris, of Manchester, and he is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium.

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

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

1667 Sgt Robert Fellows, 1/5th Bn, Durham Light Infantry

1667 Sergeant Robert Fellows of the 1/5th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, died of wounds on the 19th February 1916.

Robert Fellows was born at Darlington and enlisted at Castle Eden. Soldiers Died in The Great War and The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) give his place of residence as Trimdon Colliery, Durham. Sergeant Fellows was, according to CWGC, 46 years old when he died, although this age is at odds with information recorded on his service record and the 1901 census. He was probably closer to 40 years old and it seems possible that 40 was mis-transcribed as 46 by an over-worked clerk at the Imperial War Graves Commission. CWGC also records that Robert was the son of Benjamin and Isabella Fellows, and the husband of Mary Jane Fellows, of Coffee Pot Street, Trimdon Colliery, County Durham.

Robert had married Mary Jane Wood at Darlington in the December quarter of 1898 and the couple appear on the 1901 census living "Behind the pit" at Trimdon. Robert is recorded as a 24-year-old colliery foreman and his wife's age is noted as 22. She was born at Wheatley Hill, another mining village in County Durham. Completing the family in 1901 was the couple's two month old son, William Alfred. Other children would follow.

The 5th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry was headquartered at Stockton-on-Tees and appears to have had something of a recruitment drive in 1912 which was when Robert Fellows joined the battalion. His number dates to the 8th of June that year.

From surviving service papers in the WO 363 series held at the National Archives we can see that at the time of his attestation, Robert Fellows stated that he was 34 years old and working as a miner for the Trimdon Grange Coal Company. He was five feet, six and a half inches tall and had good physical development (as one might expect of a miner). It is also noted that he had previously served with the battalion for two years before being discharged at the end of his period of engagement. Papers from this enlistment also survive and record that he first joined the 5th DLI on the 22nd May 1908. At that time, still working at the colliery, Robert's age was recorded as 33 years and five months and he had been serving as a Volunteer with the 1st Volunteer Battlion, Durham Light Infantry since the 26th May 1906.

With the demise of the Volunteer Force and the birth of the Territorials, many serving Volunteers re-enlisted with their newly formed local unit and Robert Fellows duly signed on for one year initially, and then a second year. He was certainly present at the battalion's annual camps at Scarborough in 1908 and Richmond in 1909.

Having enlisted for a second time, Robert was appointed lance-corporal in October 1912 and then promoted to corporal in April 1913. He was still a corporal when Britain went to war in August 1914 but was appointed acting sergeant the following month.

On the formation of a second-line battalion in September 1914, the 5th DLI became the 1/5th DLI and the new battalion, the 2/5th. Robert Fellows remained in England with the 1/5th until April 1915 when he was posted to the 2/5th DLI. He was posted back to the 1/5th DLI on the 26th June 1915 and then sailed for France the following day. On arrival in France his rank is noted as Sub Sergeant.

In July 1915, Sergeant Fellows was hospitalised at Bailleul with an ear infection and, having seen an ear specialist, did not return to his battalion until the 24th September 1915 (the day before the opening of the Battle of Loos).

Robert Fellows received a combination of shrapnel and gunshot wounds to his feet and legs on the 15th February 1916. He was taken to Number 17 Casualty Clearing Station the same day and died there of his wounds four days later. That was 94 years ago today.

Robert Fellows is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium. As well as a widow, he also left five sons and a daughter who, along with their mother, were awarded a weekly pension of 30 shillings from 11th September 1916. Robert had also written a will, leaving everything to his wife and children. In due course, Mary Jane would also be sent her husband's medals and the memorial plaque and scroll.

Robert and Mary's children were, in age order, William Alfred Fellows (born around February 1901), Emma Jane Fellows (birth registered in the December quarter of 1902), Robert Anthony Fellows (birth registered in the March quarter of 1905), (Ernest Fellows), birth registered in the December quarter of 1908), Harry Fellows, (birth registered in the December quarter of 1910), and Harold Fellows (birth registered in the December quarter of 1913). The children must have sorely missed their father.

Photo of war memorial in The Trimdons courtesy of Hett65, Great War Forum.

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

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (BMD, 1901 census, MIC, WO 363)
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in The Great War

G/24255 L/Cpl William Abrey, 10th Bn, Royal West Kent

G/24255 Lance-Corporal William Abrey of the 10th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment, died of wounds on the 19th January 1917. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he was the eldest son of the late Mr and Mrs William Abrey of High Street, Ingatestone, Essex; and the husband of Agnes M Abrey of 80, Russell Street, Peterborough, Northants. He was 23 years old when he died.

William appears on the 1901 census as a five year old living with his parents and two sisters (one older, one younger) in Ingatestone High Street. His father's trade is noted as "Horseman in Brickfield".

William probably joined the Royal West Kent Regiment in the autumn of 1916 and therefore had probably not been overseas very long before he was fatally wounded. He is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium.

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

Sources:

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