Maj Bertram C Parr, Ox and Bucks

Major Bertram Chambre Parr of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, died on the 3rd September 1918. At the time of his death he was attached to the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment. He is buried in Vaulx Hill Cemetery.

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

Sources:

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

Lt John Louis Malpas, 2nd Bn, South Staffs

Five hundred and thirty five British officers and men died on this single day in 1916 and Lieutenant John Louis Malpas of the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment was one of the officer casualties. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Theipval Memorial on the Somme.

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

Sources:

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

11098 Pte Henry Hill, 1st Bn, South Staffs Regt

11098 Private Henry Hill of the 1st Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, died of wounds on the 27th February 1915. He is buried in Sailly-sur-la-Lys churchyard in France; this from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission:

"Sailly Church was burnt during the open fighting of October 1914, when French cavalry and British and German infantry fought on the Lys, but from the winter of 1914-1915 to the spring of 1918 the village was comparatively untouched. It was captured by the Germans on 9 April 1918, and it remained in their hands until the beginning of September. The churchyard was used by our forces from November 1914 to April 1915, and again in April 1918. It was then used by the Germans, and three memorials in the nearby Anzac Cemetery record the names of Commonwealth soldiers buried at that time whose graves could not be found when the German burials were removed. The churchyard now contains 48 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and one from the Second World War. The Commonwealth section was designed by A J S Hutton."

Henry's number indicates that he joined the South Staffordshire Regiment after war was declared, and he arrived in France on the 17th December 1914.

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

Sources:

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

9729 Pte Joseph Richard Fisher, 1st Bn, South Staffordshire Regt

9729 Private Joseph Richard Fisher of the 1st Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the 11th February 1915. He was born in Walsall and enlisted there in August 1914. He arrived in France on the 19th January 1915 and so had been overseas for less than a month when he was killed. He is buried in the Rue-David Military Cemetery at Fleurbaix.

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

40096 Harry Nixon, 1st Bn, South Staffs Regt

My namesake, 40096 Harry Nixon of the 1st Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, was killed in action on the 5th January 1917. He was born in Longton, Staffordshire, was living in Hanley, Staffs, and enlisted at Stoke-on-Trent.

Harry had previously served with the North Staffordshire Regiment and sailed to France with them, arriving there on the 5th January 1915. His North Staffs army number - 7913 - suggests that he was either a regular soldier and still serving in the ranks, a recalled reservist (having enlisted in 1905 and now on the reserve) or a member of the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, having enlisted in 1911 or 1912. 7913 also falls within the range of numbers issued to men joining the 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion, but this number was allocated to another man in October 1913.

The 40096 South Staffordshire Regiment number looks to fall within a batch of numbers issued overseas but I do not currently have any idea when this number would have been issued.

Harry Nixon is buried in Beaumont-Hamel British Cemetery in France.

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
Soldiers Died in The Great War

31354 John Smith, 7th Bn, South Staffordshire Regt

330 British Army officers and British Army other ranks died on this day - 17th November - in 1916.

31354 John Smith of the South Lancashire Regiment was killed in action whilst serving with the 7th Battalion. He had previously served with the South Staffordshire Regiment (number 25661) and was born in Wolverhampton, enlisting there (assuming the South Staffs Regt was the first regiment he joined) in March 1916.

John Smith has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial on the Somme.

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
Soldiers Died in The Great War

31274 Pte Percy Hoodless, 7th Bn,

31274 Private Percy Hoodless of the 7th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment, was killed in action on the 23rd September 1917. He was the son of Mrs Eliza Hoodless of Chapel Street Alford in Lincolnshire and, according to Soldiers Died in The Great War, had previously served with the South Staffordshire Regiment (number 25784).

Percy's medal index card at the National Archives makes no mention of his South Staffs service and so he must have transferred from this regiment to the South Lancs Regiment whilst still in England. The South Staffs number dates to June 1916 and the South Lancs number probably to October or November the same year.

Percy was living in Alford at the time of his enlistment, and he enlisted at Lincoln. There is no age given by the Commonwealth war Graves Commission, and no service record appears to survive for Percy. However, a quick search of the 1901 census returns for England and Wales reveals that he was a 19 year old "shoemaker" when that census was taken and therefore must have been around 35 when he was killed.

Percy Hoodless is buried in Woods Cemetery, 4 kms south east of Ypres town centre. His grave reference is II.CC.2

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