Etaples Military Cemetery

I'm a huge fan of Lutyens and this is one of 'his' cemeteries and also the largest CWGC cemetery in France. There are nearly 11,000 First World War burials here, grim testimony to the many hospitals at Etaples which, at their peak, could deal with 22,000 sick and wounded and men.

The cemetery is interesting because you can plot the expansion of it by the dates on the headstones. The semi-circular arrangement of headstones in the distance are exclusively officers; another interesting feature of this cemetery in that these men at least are certainly not united in death with other ranks.

There are the usual touching inscriptions on many of the headstones. STK/488 L-Cpl Arthur Paston Parnell of the 10th (Stockbrokers') Battalion, Royal Fusiliers died of wounds on the 17th April 1917. His wife's inscription simply reads, "The dearly loved husband of Annie A Parnell of Sunderland, Co Durham." Arthur had married Annie A Thompson in Brentford, Middlesex in the first half of 1915. Their time together must have therefore been very short-lived as Arthur had proceeded overseas on the 31st July 1915. Annie re-married - Harry S Parkin - in Sunderland in 1922. By 1939 the couple was living at Alexandra Park, Sunderland.

G/21853 L/Cpl Alfred R Plunkett, 10th Bn, Royal Fusiliers

G/21853 Lance-Corporal Alfred R Plunkett of the 10th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers was 21 years old when he was killed in action on the 30th August 1917. He was the son of Mr and Mrs Plunkett of 6 Rosebery Road, New Catton, Norwich, and he is buried in Somer Farm 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

21910 Pte Horace F Jude 11th Bn, Royal Fusiliers

21910 Private Horace Frederick Jude of the 11th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, died of wounds on the 2nd July 1916. Of the 1,439 men to die on this date, 430 died of wounds, the majority of these wounds sustained during the previous day's assaults.

Horace was born in West Ham and enlisted at Willesden. His number tells us that he joined the Royal Fusiliers in January 1916. Horace was 19 years old at the time of his death. He was the son of William and Charlotte Jude of 39 St Mary's Road, Harlesden, London. Like so many Somme casualties he has no known grave and is therefore commemorated by name on the imposing and sombre Thiepval 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

4958 Pte Joseph Nissen, 4th Bn, London Regt

4958 Private Joseph Nissen of the 4th (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers) The London Regiment, died in England on the 11th June 1916. He was born in Stepney, was living at Stratford and enlisted at Shaftesbury Street, north London. His number dates to June 1915.

Joseph's real name was Nissenblatt and he was Jewish by faith. He proceeded overseas with the 4th Londons in October 1915, landing in France on the 27th of that month. His service papers no longer survive and so it's an assumption that he was returned to England as a result of sickness or wounds. He almost certainly died as a result of sickness.

Joseph was entitled to the 1914-15 Star and the British war and Victory medals. His sister was recorded as the recipient of these and her details, as recorded on the 13th October 1920, were Mrs Rachel Kutchinsky, 161 Vicarage Lane, Stratford, E15. Her brother is buried in the Plashet Jewish Cemetery in East Ham.

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

B/23255 Pte Richard C Corti, 26th Bn, Royal Fusiliers

Nearly two and a half thousand men died on the 7th June 1917. B/23255 Private Richard Clarence Corti of the 26th (Bankers') Battalion, Royal Fusiliers was killed in action on this day. He was born in Plaistow, was living in Manor Park and enlisted at East Ham.

Richard may have initially enlisted in the 32nd (Service) Battalion which was a local East Ham battalion formed on the 18th October 1915. His number appears to date to early 1916.

Richard was the son of David William and Evelyn Alice Corti of Manor Park, Essex and was 21 years old when he died. He is commemorated on a special memorial in Voormezeele Enclosure Number 3 in Belgium, and may be one of five casualties whose remains could not be found when graves in Pheasant Wood Cemetery were re-located to Voormezeele.

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

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC, 1901 census, BMD registers)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

G/17762 L/Cpl William Dickin, 4th Bn, Royal Fusiliers

G/17762 Lance-Corporal William Dickin of the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers died at Etaples - probably as a result of sickness or accident - on the 19th March 1916. He was the only son of William and Jane Dickin of Weston Lullingfield, Shropshire. He is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery in France.

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

G/4947 Cpl John Rota, 9th Bn, Royal Fusiliers

G/4947 Corporal John Rota of the 9th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers died of wounds on the 9th March 1918. He was 23 years old and the son of Louis and Catherine Rota of 39 Beach Road, Littlehampton, Sussex. He is buried in Merville Communal Cemetery Extension.

John Rota's medal index card notes his battalion as the 13th Royal Fusiliers and indicates that he had been overseas since the 9th March 1915. His number indicates that he joined the regiment towards the end of September 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

PS/6054 Pte Charles Hornung, 18th Bn, Royal Fusiliers

PS/6054 Private Charles Peter Hornung of the 18th (Service) Battalion (1st Public School's) Royal Fusiliers, was killed in action on the 7th February 1916. He was born in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire but was living in Norwood, south east London, when he enlisted.

Peter Hornung's number dates to January 1915 and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission notes that he was 18 years old at the time of his death and serving with C Company. He was the son of Charles and Edith A Hornung, of Oaklands, Horley in Surrey. He is buried in Cambrin Churchyard Extension.

Private Hornung's medals were originally issued in the name of HOMMING and were returned by his father for amendment.

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

Sources:

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

G/1926 Pte Charles Smith Samways, 8th Bn, Royal Fusiliers

G/1926 Private Charles Smith Samways of the 8th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, was killed in action on the 8th January 1916. He was 26 years old, the husband of Effie Grocott (formerly Samways), of The Avenue, Cheadle, Stoke-on-Trent.

Soldiers Died in The Great War (SDGW) records his number as 1026, and his regiment as the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment). Both are incorrect. According to SDGW, Charles was born in Norbury, Derbyshire and was living there at the time of his enlistment in Rocester (Staffordshire).

Charles's number indicates that he joined the Royal Fusiliers in August 1914, and his medal index card states that he was overseas in France by the 1st June 1915. He is buried in Brown's Road Military Cemetery at Festubert.

At the time he enlisted, Charles had been married to Effie (nee Marlow) for less than a year. Their marriage was registered at Uttoxeter in the December quarter of 1913. After his death, and as confirmed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Effie married John B Grocott, their wedding registered at Cheadle in the June quarter of 1918.

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

Sources:

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

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

23483 Sgt Stanley Francis Elsegood, 15th West Yorkshire Regt

23483 Sergeant Stanley Francis Elsegood of the 15th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regt, died of wounds on 21st September 1916. He was 38 years old and the son of James Elsegood of Camberwell, London.

Stanley was born in Camberwell, and living in Teddington when he enlisted at Shepherd's Bush with the Royal Fusiliers. His RF number - 7185 - dates to 1914 although it's difficult to be precise as to which month in 1914 that was as the number could belong to the series issued to 5th (Reserve) Battalion men or to Kitchener recruits. If Stanley enlisted with the 5th Battalion, his number suggests a joining date of September or October 1914. If he was a Kitchener volunteer, the number pins him down to October.

Stanley Elsegood's medal index card reveals that he arrived in France as a private with the Royal Fusiliers on 6th March 1915. By the time of his transfer however, he'd been promoted, and his British War and Victory Medals are impressed with the rank of sergeant.

Sergeant Elsegood is buried in Calais Southern Cemetery; grave reference E.5.12. The 30th, 35th and 38th General Hospitals as well as No 9 British Red Cross Hospital and No 10 Canadian Stationary Hospital were stationed in Calais and it seems likely that Stanley Elsegood was a patient at one of these establishments when he died of his wounds.

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

203199 Pte David Edmund Elijah Benifer, 1st Bn, London Regiment

203199 Pte David Edmund Elija Benifer of the 1st Battalion, The London Regiment was killed in action on 14th September 1917. He was one of 241 soldiers to die on this day in 1917 and one of 24 men from the 1st (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers).

According to Soldiers Died in The Great War, David's residence was in Chelsea and he enlisted in West London (probably also Chelsea). No service record survives for him but his medal card indicates that he was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals and therefore arrived overseas no earlier than 1st January 1916. His number indicates that he probably joined up around April 1916. There is a note on the reverse of his medal card that "O[fficer] i[n] c[harge of] London rec[ords] requests instruction re disposal of medals."

David Benifer was born in London in 1898, his birth registered in the September quarter of that year. He was the son of Elijah and Mary Benifer and appears on the 1901 census living at No. 60 Sheepcote Lane in Battersea with his parents and one year old sister Gwendoline. Elijah Benifer, born in King's Lynn, Norfolk and aged 32, is recorded as an assistant horse keeper. His wife, aged 40, was born in Dowlais, South Wales. Both the children were born in Battersea.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds no additional information about this man but he does at least have a last resting place. He was killed in the desperate fighting around Ypres in what would later be known as the Third Battle of Ypres, or simply "Passchendaele" and is one of 3588 men buried in the cemetery at Tyne Cot. David would have been 18 or 19 years old when he was killed.

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

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC, Free BMD Birth Index, 1901 Census)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

G/9315 Pte Gustav Alfred Lauritz Lowe, 2nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers

G/9315 Pte Gustav Alfred Lauritz Lowe, who was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, was killed in action at Gallipoli on this day - 26th July - in 1915. Soldiers Died in The Great War (SDGW)notes his unit as the 2nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), which is incorrect. This was a Territorial Force battalion of the London Regiment, affiliated to the Royal Fusiliers. The regiment Gustav was serving with was the Royal Fusiliers and his number indicates that he joined the regiment in November 1914.

SDGW records that he was living in Poplar, London when he enlisted (also at Poplar). The Commonwealth War Graves Commission adds nothing more substantial, only to record that Gustav is one of nearly 21,000 men named on the Helles Memorial. His medal index card records his first name as Gustaf and indicates that he arrived on the Gallipoli Peninsular on 16th June 1915.

Gustav was the only 2nd RF fatal casualty on the 26th July 1915 and, according to SDGW, one of only two Other Rank natives of Gothenburg, to die in the service of His Majesty's Army between 1914 and 1919.

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

Sources:

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

7980 Pte George John Albrecht, 8th Royal Fusiliers

Soldiers Died in the Great War notes that 2140 men died on 7th July 1916 and George John Albrecht was one of these.

There is conflicting information regarding George's military service. Soldiers Died in the Great War records his number as 7980 8th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London) Regiment. This cannot possibly be correct because 0nly the 1st four (City of London) battalions of the London Regiment were affiliated to the Royal Fusiliers and the 8th Battalion was the Post Office Rifles.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records George's battalion as 8th Royal Fusiliers but it is his medal index card which records the vital information. It notes two numbers for him: SR/7980 and 7980 and also records the fact that he entered the Balkans on 25th September 1915.

The SR/ prefix, denoting Special Reserve, effectively rules out all of the London Regiment battalion which, being Territorial Force formations, had no Special Reserve. That leaves two possibilities for the Royal Fusiliers - either the 5th (Special Reserve) Battalion, which would have issued number 7980 around the beginning of June 1908 or the 7th (Extra Reserve) Battalion which would have issued the same number in early 1913.

SDGW notes that George was born in Lambeth, was living at Vauxhall (both of these places in south London) and enlisted at Finsbury (north London). The 1901 census, in turn, reveals one George J Albrecht, aged eight, born in Lambeth and living in Lambeth. The household comprised George M Albrecht (head, aged 37, a tile cutter), his wife Mary A Albrecht (aged 32) and their five children: George (aged 8), Mary A Albrecht (aged 6) William A Albrecht (aged 5), Edward S W Albrecht (aged 3), and Frederick A B Albrecht (aged 1). All the children, and their parents were born in Lambeth.

George' age in 1901 rules out 1908 as a year of enlistment which, by default, means that he must have joined up with the 7th (Extra Reserve) Battalion in early 1913. This battalion was also located in Finsbury which is where (as Soldiers Died tells us) George enlisted.

When Britain went to war the following year, George must have been posted to another battalion of the Royal Fusiliers and then sailed for the Balkans. The 7th Battalion did go overseas - but not until July 1916 - and the 8th Battalion - with which he was killed - did not go to the Balkans. It arrived in France in May 1915 and stayed there until it was disbanded in February 1918.

George has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

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

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (Medal index card, 1901 census)
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in the Great War
The Long, Long Trail