2nd Grenadier Guards - 11th October 1915

One hundred years ago today, the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards lost 17 men killed in action or died of wounds. Their names are:

15856 SGT ARTHUR CHARLES BAILEY
17463 PTE ARTHUR BAMFORD
14344 L-CPL EDWARD BLAKEMAN
19014 PTE HERBERT BREARLEY
17179 PTE ALBERT THOMAS BRINKMAN
16250 PTE ERNEST CRIPPS
12388 PTE BEN LEONARD
18630 PTE WILLIAM EDGAR MEECH
18491 L-CPL WALTER MONTAGUE
15520 PTE SAMUEL MORRIS
18739 PTE RICHARD ERNEST ROBERTS
20678 PTE WILFRED ROGERS
18509 PTE GEORGE SHERLOCK
10950 PTE WILLIAM SHIPP
17793 PTE CLEMENT STYLES
12933 PTE FLORENCE SULLIVAN
15023 PTE ERNEST W WARREN

The battalion was in the old German lines at Vermelles, having relieved the 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards on the afternoon of the 9th. The following day, the battalion had been bombed by aerial torpedoes all day but later that evening, No 1 Company had successfully captured 150 yards of German trenches and then held their newly won ground against three German counter-attacks. The war diary for the 11th states:

"A quiet day until 5pm when the trenches were bombarded heavily for two hours and were badly knocked about. Battalion worked hard all night to repair damage..."

Looking at the men's regimental numbers I see that eight of the casualties that day were men who had joined before August 1914 whilst nine had joined in August or later. Wilfred Rogers, joining in the second half of November 1914 was the most inexperienced man killed that day, whilst William Shipp was an old hand who had joined the regiment in 1903 but may have been on the reserve since 1906. 

The majority of the men are buried in St Mary's Advanced Dressing Station cemetery at Haisnes; a cemetery established after the Armistice as a result of remains brought in from the Loos battlefield. There are nearly 2000 casualties in the cemetery and only 218 of these identified.

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

Loos - Day 4 - L/6559 Pte Frederick Goldsack, 2nd Bn, The Buffs

L/6559 Private Frederick Goldsack of the 2nd Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), was killed in action on the 28th September 1915; one of nearly a thousand British officers and men to die on this day. He was born in St Margaret's, Dover, was living in Dover at the time of his enlistment, and joined the regiment at Canterbury in March 1901.

Frederick - or probably, 'Fred' - was born in 1884, his birth registered in Kent in the June quarter of that year. He arrived in France on the 17th January 1915. Like so many Loos casualties, Frederick Goldsack has no known grave and is, like Walter Godman (KiA 27th September), John Bramwell (DoW 26th September), and Jack Young (KiA 25th September), commemorated on the Loos Memorial. Their sacrifice is not forgotten.

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

Loos - Day 2 - 16488 Pte John Bramwell, 10th Bn, York & Lancs Regt

16488 Private John Bramwell of B Company, the 10th Battalion, York & Lancs Regiment, died of wounds on the 26th September 1915. He was born in Fir Vale, Sheffield and enlisted at Sheffield on the 8th November 1914. He was a miner by trade, 37 years old.

Originally posted to the the regimental depot, he was transferred to the 10th Battalion on the 13th November.

Reported wounded and missing on the 26th September, this was subsequently updated to "died of wounds between the 26th and 29th September" and later acknowledged that he died of wounds on the 26th.

At the time of his death he was 38 years old. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial.

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

1977 Pte Bernard Frank Flanders, 20th Bn, London Regiment

1977 Private Bernard Frank Flanders of the 20th Battalion, The London Regiment was killed in action on the 20th October 1915. He was born in Hitchin in Hertfordshire but was living in East Dulwich at the time of his enlistment. He joined up at Blackheath between the 10th and 18th August 1914.

Bernard arrived in France on 9th March 1915 and he was serving with C Company, 1/20th London Regiment at the time of his death. He was killed in the fighting around Loos and has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Loos memorial. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website adds the additional information that he was 23 years old and the "son of Emma Flanders of 5 Oakfield Place, St. Paul's Road, Clifton, Bristol, and the late George Charles Flanders (A.M.I., R.F.C.)".

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

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

15990 Pte Albert Edward Hann, 3rd Bn, Royal Fusiliers

15990 Pte Albert Edward Hann of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers was killed in action during the fighting around Loos on 29th September 1915. Like so many, he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial.

Albert was a regular soldier who enlisted in late 1913 or early 1914. He was born in Yeovil and living in Taunton at the time of his enlistment. He enlisted in Hounslow. He is possibly the same Albert Hann who appears on the 1901 census as a four year old boy living with his six siblings and parents at 38 South Street, Yeovil. If it his him, his father was a mason and two of his older sisters are listed as glove stitchers.

Albert arrived in France on 9th June 1915 and was thus entiteld to the 1914-15 Star and British War and Victory medals.

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

L/8015 Pte Arthur Edward Leopold Drury, 2nd Bn, The Buffs

L/8015 Pte Arthur Edward Leopold Drury of the 2nd Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), was killed in action on the 28th September 1915. He was a regular soldier who had joined The Buffs in October 1904 and therefore was probably on the reserve when war was decalred.

Arthur's service record does not survive and therefore the information recorded on his medal index card is all that remains of his service during WW1. It indicates that he arrived in France on 7th September 1914 and therefore was entitled to the clasp for his 1914 Star. A note on the reverse of his card reads, "...Accts 41 fwds app for 1914 Star from National Fed[eration] of Disc[harged] and Dem[obilised] Sail[ers] & Sold[iers] on behalf of Mrs Drury in respect of the services of her husband, the late Pte A E L Drury."

Arthur, who was born in Turnham Green, Middlesex, is another Loos casualty who has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Loos memorial.

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

15229 Pte Tague Dolan, 8th Bn, King's Own Scottish Borderers

Over the next few days I'm going to commemorate men killed during the Battle of Loos in 1915. Today, 25th September 2009, is the 94th anniversary of that battle; a battle which would see regular soldiers, Territorial Force soldiers and Kitchener volunteers fighting - with mixed fortunes - side by side.

15229 Pte Tague Dolan of the 8th Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers was one of 139 8th KOSB men to die on 25th September 1915; a day which - according to Soldiers Died in the Great War - claimed the lives of 9,661 British soldiers, or the equivalent of nearly ten infantry battalions.

Tague Dolan was a Kitchener volunteer who was born in Glasgow, was living there when war was declared and who enlisted there too. His army number indicates that he joined the 8th KOSB in September 1914 and as such, he would have been one of the original 8th Battalion members.

Tague's medal index card indicates that he arrived in France on 10th July 1915 and he was missing, presumed dead on the 25th September 1915. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial.

I interviewed a number of Loos veterans in the 1980s and you can read the interviews, or extracts of interviews with Corporal Bill Howell (8th London Regiment) and Bombardier Len Gifford (Royal Horse Artillery) on my World War 1 Veterans blog.

Arthur Reeve was an old soldier who'd originally enlisted with the Royal Lancaster Regiment at Manchester in 1894. By the time the First World War was declared he had served his seven years with the Colours and five on the Reserve, but this did not stop him from enlisting with the KOSB Special Reserve in September 1914. Pretty soon, he found himself posted to the 8th Battalion where, as an old hand, his experience must have been invaluable. Arthur was wounded on the 25th September 1915 and you can read more about him and the 8th KOSB on my Chailey 1914-1918 website. Arthur Reeve's story is HERE, Loos Preliminaries are HERE, and the Battle of Loos is HERE. The 8th KOSB sustained nearly 400 casualties - killed, wounded and missing - on the first day alone.

The illustration on this post - a million miles from the battlefields of the Western Front - was executed by Sergeant Reeve whilst he was recuperating from his Loos wounds at Chailey. It depicts nearby Newick church.

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

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission