HARRIS, Robert George

Private 2593

8th Royal West Kent

Died of Wounds 11th October 1915

Aged 24

Son of Caroline and the late Henry Harris of 33, Testerton St, Notting Hill, London.

Robert George Harris was baptized on the 15th of November 1891 at St James Norlands. He was the fifth of six children still living born to Harry and Caroline nee Winstanley. Four children had died in infancy. Robert's father was employed as an iron trimmer. At the time of Robert's baptism the family were living at 222 Walmer Road in Kensington.

Robert's father died probably in 1896, and two of Robert's siblings were resident in Beechholme by the time of the next census of 1901. Robert was admitted to Beechholme on the 17th of May 1902. His mother was given as his next of kin. The Poor Law records show that he was in the school for six years and one month. A report made on him states " The authorities of Dulwich College Mission where this boy is report directly to the Guardians".

Robert's mother Caroline is described as a widow and is living at 16, Walmer Road with the other three children.

On the 1911 census Robert now aged 19, is an apprentice tailor and living with, and employed by Henry Lorenz of Haymarket.

Luckily a set of army service records survive for Robert which confirm that he was indeed a son of Harry and Caroline and it also names his siblings. As he doesn't feature on any census return with his family the service records enabled us to pinpoint the correct person.

The records show that he was a tailor and apprenticed to Mr Lorenz. He enlisted in Maidstone in September 1914 when he was 22 years and 11 months old. Robert was 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 135 pounds. He had brown hair, brown eyes, was of fair complexion and was single. His father was deceased.

The 8th battalion of the Royal West Kent regiment were part of Kitchener's 3rd New Army. They became the 72nd Brigade of the 24th Division and proceeded to France on the 30th of August 1915, landing at Boulogne. The Division were concentrated in the area between Etaples and St. Pol on the 4th of September of 1915 and a few days later they marched across France into the reserve for the British assault at Loos. Here they went into action on the 26th of September suffering heavy losses.

The battle of Loos was referred to as "The Big Push" and took place between the 25th of September and the 18th of October 1915. The beginning of the battle was noteworthy for the first use of poison gas by the British.

The Loos battlefield lay north of the mining town of Lens in the heart of the industrial area of north-east France. The ground was relatively flat but was dominated by slag heaps connected to the coal mining of the area. The strategic position prior to Loos was thus that Germany occupied a large area of northern France and Belgium and intended to hold on to it at all costs.

The plan of the combined Franco-British offensive was to attack eastwards against the German Sixth Army along a twenty mile front between Arras and La Bassee. The objectives were optimistic; the cavalry were to reach the area of Ath and Mons some fifty miles away in Belgium. The plan was that the strong enemy positions would be crushed by four days of continuous artillery bombardment with a four hour final crescendo before the infantry attacked. Each division would place no more than half of two brigades in the front line. A constant flow of men would follow as would also the reserves behind the assaulting divisions.

Experience at Neuve Chapelle and Festubert had shown that troops attacking on a narrow front would suffer from concentrated fire. The attack was therefore made as wide as possible and intense smoke barrages would conceal the front as far as possible. The use of chlorine gas was kept secret and referred to in communications only by code.

Medical facilities comprised sixteen advanced dressing stations, fifteen main dressing stations, and thirteen casualty clearing stations. These units could accommodate about 11,500 casualties. Seventeen ambulance trains were also provided as were barge and road transport to evacuate the wounded to the coast.

All England was buzzing with rumours of "The Big Push" some weeks before the attack. There was little by way of strategic deception, and preparation near the battle front was all too obvious. On the 21st of September the British began the bombing of the German positions continuously.

On the 25th of September at 5.50 am while British shellfire continues and heavy bombardment hits the German front line defences, the chlorine gas was released for the first time.

The reserve 21st and 24th Divisions moved by a night march into the Loos Valley. Progress was slow and exhausting, and these units had been on the move constantly for several days already. The opportunities that had existed earlier had been lost by nightfall. The weather had closed in and it was raining heavily. Insufficient men had been made available to exploit the areas where the assaulting Brigades had broken into the enemy's trench systems. Plans, however, were made for the Reserves to push forward which took place through the night. They managed to reach the advance positions facing the enemy's second line around Bois Hugo, Chalk Pit Wood, Chalet Wood and Hill 70 Redoubt. After suffering continued losses, and unable to get around the flanks of the Redoubt the survivors withdrew. Following attacks and counter attacks the troops were exhausted having had little rest, and for many no food or water since the previous day.

The advance of the 72nd Brigade which included the 8th Royal West Kents came under severe enfilade and frontal fire which included point blank artillery. These units also reported British shellfire falling among them. On the 27th of September the forward British positions across the battlefield are by now thinly held. The units that had attacked on the 25th are exhausted and the reserves scattered.

Between the 28th of September and the 3rd of October there is a slight lull, although desperate fighting took place in the confined trenches and the Hohenzollen Redoubt. The 21st and the 24th Divisions prepare to withdraw.

1st - 3rd October 1915. Close fighting is renewed and all but Big Willie Trench is lost to the enemy. New trenches, roads and positions are being made ready by working parties. Heavy enemy shelling causes many casualties among the working parties.

From Robert's service records which are very informative it is noted that Robert was wounded on the 3rd of October. He sustained a gun shot wound to his thigh and foot. He would have been treated by the medical services mentioned and passed along the line.

A note, written in French and included in his service records from the 9th General Hospital in Rouen, shows that he arrived at this hospital on the 10th of October but died from his wounds on the 11th of October. It is signed by the Mayor of Rouen.

The 8th Royal West Kents lost all but one of its officers and 550 men. The poet Robert Graves described the battle and succeeding days in his war memoir "Goodbye To All That".

Robert's mother was his sole legatee.

Inscribed on his gravestone is " Eternal rest give unto him O Lord. Greatly beloved, one of the best" Mother.

GRAVE REF :- A.12.27 St Sever Cemetery, Rouen, Seine-Maritime.

Research by Rachel and Jim Stapleton

SOURCES :- Find My Past, Ancestry, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, The Long, Long Trail, Wikepedia.

Last updated: 22 Feb 2017

HEATH Maurice

Royal Navy HMS Hampshire

Stoker 1st Class K/18656

Killed in Action 5th June 1916

Aged 23

Son of the late James and Harriet Heath of Brompton, London.

Maurice Heath was born on the 1st of May 1894 according to his naval service records which would mean that the age of 23 years on the Commonwealth War Graves citation is incorrect, and should read 22.
Maurice's father was later arrested and sentenced to imprisonment for the neglect of his children. No baptismal record could be found for him or his older sister Florence, but from Poor Law records his parents were James and Harriet previously of 4, Munro Terrace. They had resided in Chelsea for three years. Maurice was admitted to Beechholme on the 7th of April 1899, his father being admitted to the workhouse. Maurice's mother had died in 1897. By the time of the 1901 census both Maurice and his sister are resident in Beechholme. There is also a child called Albert Heath who is also a resident at this time and he was Maurice's older brother.

By 1911 Maurice is a boarder and living at 80 Church Street, Chelsea. His occupation is noted as being a printer's apprentice. He is aged sixteen.

Maurice's naval records are brief. He signed on upon the 5th April 1913 for twelve years. He is described as being 5 feet 4 inches tall with dark hair, brown eyes and having a dark complexion. His occupation is given as printer. After training on shore-based ships Maurice rose through the ranks to Stoker 1st Class aboard the Royal Naval vessel HMS Hampshire.

The vessel was an armoured cruiser and in 1915 she was ordered to Scapa Flow to join the Grand Fleet and undertake patrol duties. The ship took part in the battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of WW1 , where there were huge losses on both sides of men and vessels. After the battle she returned safely to Scapa Flow on June 3rd 1915.

Despite furious gales and awful sailing conditions the ship set sail once more at 16.45 hours on the 5th of June on route to Archangel in north Russia carrying Lord Kitchener, the minister of war and his staff. He was scheduled to visit Russia for a series of negotiations aimed at ensuring that the Tsar's forces would stay in the war. HMS Hampshire was accompanied by two destroyers HMS Unity and Victor. The two destroyers struggled against the force nine gales and by 6.30 pm they had been instructed to return to base. HMS Hampshire fought on alone through the stormy seas.

Unbeknown to her master, and crew of 643 men, Scapa Flow had been visited by a German U-boat at the end of May. Undetected, U-75 laid 22 mines off the coast of Orkney. Bad weather at the beginning of June had prevented the routine sweep of the area, so all the mines were out there as the Hampshire sailed on. Struggling against the wind the vessel could only maintain 13.5 knots and was roughly one and a half miles from shore. At 7.45 pm an explosion rocked the ship, the power failed, and unable to radio for assistance she began to sink.

As soon as news of the disaster came through to the Commander-in-Chief, four of the Grand Fleet destroyers were ordered out to pick up and search for survivors. They were followed by five others but all hopes of saving lives were in vain. By the time the vessels reached the spot there was little trace of wreckage. Fourteen men reached the shore on Carley rafts but two died before the rescue parties could reach them. Lord Kitchener and his staff were not amongst the survivors and neither was Maurice Heath. More may have survived had the lifeboats not been smashed by the heavy seas.

Questions were asked as to why the vessel left Orkney in such a hurry in appalling conditions. Theories abounded that Kitchener had been deliberately killed. Rescue operations were heavily criticised. In the general confusion officials were unsure as to which boat had sank, initially even whether in the first instance the ship was German or a British warship.

Maurice Heath's body was never recovered and his sister Florence of 55, Victoria Road, Brentwood, Essex was listed as his next of kin on 'Naval Casualties 1914-1919'.

GRAVE REF:- Commemorated on Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 18.

HILL Albert

SEE Albert Bourne Hill

Corporal 6/149 . D. Company

3rd Rifle Brigade

Killed In Action 7th July 1916 aged 22.

Husband of Violet Mary Peevor (formerly Holmes) of 9, Medley Rd, West Hampstead, London.

Stanley was actually baptized Thomas Stanley Holmes on the 12th August 1894 at St John's Church, World's End, Chelsea. His parents were Thomas and Elizabeth nee Bolt who were then living at 33 Cornwall Street. His father was employed as a milk carrier. He may have used his middle name to avoid confusion with his father as on all further documents he is known as Stanley.

World's End was a very poor and run down area of Chelsea and was located at the far end of the Kings Road.

In 1901 the family are living at 35, Dartrey Road. Stanley now aged six is attending the local school. He had an older sister Florence aged eight and a younger brother Albert aged three.

His mother dies in the April quarter of 1901 at the age of 32. His actual date of admission to Beechholme is unknown. Stanley's younger brother Albert is a resident of Beechholme in 1911 and it may well be that Stanley was also a resident there in the intervening years following his mother's death.

By 1911 Stanley is employed by a baker called Charles Sharp as his barrowman, and it would seem that he is living with this family in Camberwell. He is aged 16. His older sister is in service in Kent and his father has moved back to his birth county of Devon living with a younger brother. His father dies in that county in 1913.

Stanley enlisted in London and from his Medal Index Card has a qualifying date of the 23rd October 1914.

He marries Violet Mary Webster at the parish church of St George, Camberwell on the 22nd December 1915. They are both aged 21 and his occupation is given as soldier. They do not appear to have had any children.

His wife re-marries in 1920 to Jim Peevor, himself a survivor of the war.

In 1915 the 3rd Rifle Brigade endured a testing time. In the first five months of the year they lost many men and were subjected to the German gas attack at Ypres. Here they wore respirators made by the seamstresses of Armentieres. During two months they had three tours in the trenches including, during June, three weeks continuously in the front line at Ypres.

In between time they were in billets in the woods at Poperinghe.

No one who has ever been to Ypres wants to go there again.

In August some 575 men were attached to the 16th Infantry Brigade for carrying, digging and bringing in the killed and wounded from Hooge crater.

They suffered heavy bombardment throughout August and September with huge losses. In November of 1915 two more muddy tours of trenches followed at St Eloi. Then after arriving near St Omer they had their first rest since the start of the war.

At the beginning of 1916 the battalion was resting near St Omer prior to taking over the trenches once more at Hooge near Ypres and again being subjected to heavy shelling. At Poperinghe they were congratulated by the General Officer Commanding on the battalion. s conduct.

In April 1916 they took over battalion headquarters on Hill 63 near Ploegsteert.

On the 23rd June they departed Ploegsteert and took over new trenches in front of the village of Kemmel on the 2nd July.

From the War Diary of the 3rd Rifle Brigade . Kemmel Front 7th July. Btn relieved 8th Buffs. Casualties 1 O.R. killed,1 O.R. wounded.

Stanley Holmes having survived the horrors of 1915 was killed at Kemmel and the only man in his regiment to do so on that particular day.

At the end of July the regiment moved to the Somme.

GRAVE REF :- A.13,

Pond Farm Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Stanley's legatee was his widow Violet.
Inscribed on his gravestone is "Pro Patria" , meaning For One's Country.

HORNSBY Charles Henry

Private 8188

1^st Royal Munster Fusiliers

Killed In Action 3^rd May 1915

Aged around 26.

Charles Henry Hornsby was born, according to Poor Law records, on the 24th of December 1889.
He was the illegitimate son of Emma Hornsby who was employed as a laundress.

Charles had been born at 11, Andover Dwellings, Calverley Terrace and this is where he was living in 1891 with his mother and her parents.
Unfortunately there is no christening record for Charles.

The 1891 census states that Charles was the son of his grandparents probably in an attempt to cover up the fact that he was illegitimate.

Money was probably very short as this was a poor and run down area of Chelsea where the women earned a few extra coppers by taking in washing.

The Poor Law records show that Charles' mother lived at the above address up until February 1893 when nothing further was known about her. She had in fact died.

Charles was sent out from the school on the 2nd of September 1905 when he was aged sixteen to the band of the 3rd Royal Munster Fusiliers at Fort Charles, Kinsale, Ireland. I subsequent report stated the following: "I am disappointed in the development of this youth. He is not amenable to discipline."

Charles was admitted to Beechholme on the 23rd of November 1894 and was still resident there when the 1901 census was taken. His grandparents had also died by this time.

When the 1911 census was taken, Charles aged twenty one is now a private with the 1^st Royal Munster Fusiliers and is stationed at Bulford Barracks in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

The 1^st Royal Munster Fusiliers having acted as a regular garrison in Rangoon, Burma, returned to England and came under orders of the 86^th Brigade in the 29^th Division and landed at Cape Helles in Gallipoli on the 25^th of April 1915.

There are no surviving service records for Charles but from his medal index card his qualifying date was on the 25^th of April of 1915.

The Gallipoli Campaign was one of the Allies' great disasters and was carried out on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey which was part of the Ottoman Empire.The doomed campaign was thought up by Winston Churchill to end the war by creating a new war front that the Ottoman’s could not cope with.

Churchill thought that by creating another front, the Germans would split their armies as they would need to support the badly rated Turkish army. Churchill saw the Turks as the weak underbelly of those who fought against the Allies.

The landing on V beach from the River Clyde was a disaster, the Dublin Fusiliers were cut down as they disembarked, by Turks hidden from view, and many more drowned when weighed down by heavy equipment.آ The Munsters faired little better and suffered about 70% casualties. These two regiments were so depleted that they merged for a while being known as the “Dubsters”.

Extract of a pocket book written by Sergeant Denis Moriarty of the 1^st Munster Fusiliers reveals what happened from the disastrous landing on Turkish soil to the date of Charles’s death on the 3^rd of May.

Sunday 25^th April 1915.

Landed on Turkish soil under a terrific fire from enemy entrenchments. Battalion lost about 17 killed and 200 wounded. I lay in the open from from 7am to 5pm and did not get a scratch. Dug ourselves in that night. Snipers going all night but we did not return their fire. Food for 34 hours, 2 biscuits and some water.

26^th April.

9 am.

Dubliners and Munsters ordered to attack and take village held by enemy snipers.

Village taken about 11 am. Casualties on our side slight.

11.30 am.

Same regiments ordered to take a strongly held redoubt about 500 yards south of the village. Sergeant Major Bennet was killed leading his Coy to take the trenches. He was buried where he fell and I put a rough cross on his grave with a small inscription. Dug in that night in the position we had taken and beat off several counter attacks.

27^th April.

Relieved in the trenches by the French troops and went back to base.

28^th April.

General Advance ordered, we were detailed for Supports. Started to join firing line but Coy. Officer, myself and five men got cut off from remainder of Coy.

Met a Coy of Lancs Fus. And joined them. Advanced over fire-swept ground, bullets hopping all around, my luck must have been in, got within 600 yards of enemy trench, could not see any of them but blazed away into their trenches. Fuller was wounded in the face.

29^th April.

Moved into a different position and dug in. During the night snipers were at work but we did not take any notice of them.

30^th April

Improved our trenches, enemy let us have some shrapnel but did no damage. Some of our men went out sniping, killed 3 and brought in 2 wounded of the enemy. Enemy started a night attack by heavily shelling part of our trenches, then their infantry opened a heavy rifle fire on us, our artillery and infantry replied and the enemy seemed to get “fed up” as they stopped very quickly. Our regiment had no casualties.

1 May 1915

About 5pm enemy started a heavy shrapnel fire on our trenches. Three of us were having some tea in rear of our trench when one of them burst overhead and a splinter struck the ground about a foot away from me.

9pm they started an attack, I am sure I will never forget that night as long as I live. They crept right up to our trenches ( they were in thousands) and they made the night hideous with yells and shouting Allah, Allah. We could not help mowing them down. Some of them broke through in a part of our line but they never again got back as they were caught between the two lines of trenches. Some of the best men in the regiment were killed. When the Turks got to close quarters the devils used hand grenades and you could only recognise our dead by their identity discs.

2 May 1915

A week in the firing line today and thank God I am still alive. My God, what a sight met us when day broke this morning. The whole ground in front was littered with dead Turks. To the left where the attack was strongest, I think there is at least 500 and there is no chance of burying them as anybody who shows themselves outside is bound to be brought down by one of their snipers who are concealed all over the country.

3 May 1915

A quiet day, only a few artillery shots on either side. A party of Turks came in with a white flag and asked for 24 hours to bury their dead. I believe they got four hours.

Another night attack every bit as fierce as the night before. We were in the reserve trenches but got no rest as they let us have plenty of shrapnel. Two men got hit, wounded only.

4th & 5^th

Both quiet days.

It is likely that Charles was killed on the 1^st May and his body never found, and the date on the Commonwealth War Graves citation is incorrect. This is born out by Charles being commemorated on a memorial.

His lLegatee was Mary Evelyn Ashwood ( no connection mentioned).

 GRAVE REF :-Helles Memorial , Turkey . Panels 185-190.

Research by Rachel and Jim Stapleton

SOURCES :- Find My Past, Ancestry, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, The Long, Long Trail, Wikepedia. ق│┐The Diary of Sergeant D. Moriarty 8308 1st Royal Munster Fusilersق│ compiledآ By Alan Osborn. Gallipoli by L. A. Carylon.

Last updated 23 Feb 2017

HOWARD, Horace (initial"I" recorded on Roll of Honour)

14^th Hussars

Private H/34075

Corps of Dragoons D/33707

SURVIVED!

Horace Howard was born on 29 September 1880 at 68, Carlton Road in Kentish Town. He was the second of four children born to James Watts Howard a boot shop manager and Sarah Ann nee Hart.

On the 1881 census the family are living at the same address in Kentish Town.

In 1885 Horace’s father died aged 38 and by the 1891 census both Horace and his younger brother George are resident in Beechholme, Horace being admitted to the school on the 4th of October 1889. The Poor Law records list Horace's mother as his next of kin. She was living at 16, Marlborough Road at this time. Horace was discharged from the school on the 4th of August 1896 to service which is unspecified..

Ten years later and Horace is back living with his widowed mother who is employed as a cook domestic. Horace is aged 20 and employed as an auctioneers clerk. The family were living at 2 Oxford Street, Chelsea.

Horace married Vera Meadows in 1906 and by 1911 they had a three year old daughter called Irene. They were then living in Margate, Kent, and Horace was employed as a furniture packer.

At some point after the outbreak of war Horace enlisted into the 14th Hussars and from there was transferred to the 1st Corps of Dragoons.

The 14th Hussars were based in Mhow India in August 1914 as part of the Meerut Cavalry Brigade and in September of that year they came under the command of the 14th Cavalry Brigade in Meerut Divisional area. In November 1915 they left the Brigade and landed in Mesopotamia coming under orders of the 6th Indian Cavalry Brigade.

According to Horace’s medal index card he was only awarded the British Medal which was because he served in a garrison in India in 1918. This is also stated on his MICآ and he was awarded the Indian General Service Medal for services rendered in the Third Afghan War in 1919. Unfortunately there are no surviving service or pension records for him.

The 1939 register records Horace as living at 16, Britten Street, Chelsea. His occupation is given as a furniture packer and remover.
Horace died in the December quarter of 1951 in the Chelsea registration district.

Research by Rachel and Jim Stapleton

Sources : Ancestry

Last updated: 23 Feb 2017

HUGHES, William

Gunner 11070

1st Australian Field Artillery

Died of Wounds 25th July 1917

Aged 23.

Son of Bertha Lloyd (formerly Hughes) of 15A Peabody Buildings, Old Pye Street, Westminster, London, and the late William Hughes.

William Hughes was born around 1894 in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea and was the second eldest child of four born to William Hughes and Bertha nee Potter. He was the only son.

Both his parents had been born in the north of England and were married in Yorkshire but by 1891 had moved to London. William's father was employed as a medical attendant/masseur and often worked away from home. He may well have been employed in a live-in capacity.

In 1901 the family are living at 16, Adair Road in Chelsea but the father is working in Thakeham, Sussex.

William was admitted to Beechholme on the 28th of April 1905; he was adopted. By 1911 the two youngest girls are resident in Beechholme. There is no trace for William junior on this census He would have been around 16 years old at this time. His mother is employed as a cook to the daughter of the 6th Earl of Mayo and is living in at an address at Hyde Park. She is now calling herself Bertha Lloyd and claiming that she has been married for five years and also that she has no children. Perhaps she did this in order to obtain the position. It is certainly the same person as her place of birth is identical to previous census records.

It is not known when young William Hughes made his way to Australia as his name doesn't appear on any embarkation records. The Australian Nominal Rolls tell us that William enlisted on the 14th of August 1915. His occupation was given as farm labourer and he was living at McDonald's Creek, Mudgee in New South Wales. His age is given as 21 and his mother's address in England matches that given on the Commonwealth War Graves citation. He embarked for Egypt on the RMS Osterley on the 15th of January 1916 arriving in France on the 14th of April.

From the Australian records we see that William had previously served in the Territorial's in England for four months but was discharged because of him leaving to go to Australia. In early 1916 William served in Cairo and Alexandria. He was attached to the 1st Anzac Artillery School on the 26th of January 1917.

He is described as being 5 feet 7 inches tall and having fair hair and grey eyes. A girl friend called Edna Stone is mentioned as living in Sydney and she later makes enquiries regarding William as stated in the service records.

William suffered shrapnel wounds to his back, shoulder, left thigh and left hand on the 24th of July 1917 in Belgium and died of his injuries at 2nd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station at Remy the following day.

Lijssenthoek cemetery where William is buried was previously known as Remy Sidings during the war and is located south west of Poperinghe.

His elder sister Eleanor received his personal effects. She was working at Horton Hospital, Epsom at this time.

GRAVE REF :- LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY XVI. H. 16A