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CHOLDERTON          BACK

There are two places of remembrance of those who died in the two World Wars
- a panel of the stone screen in the ante-chapel of St Nicholas and a stone cross set alongside the A 338 adjacent to the cricket field.
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1914 to 1918

George Edward Charles AMOR
J/64837 Ordinary Seaman, Royal Navy, HMS Vivid (formerly 22554 Ordinary Seaman, RNVR).
Accidentally Drowned - 22nd July 1917. Aged 22
He is buried in Plymouth Old Cemetery, (Pennycomequick), grave S.31.26.
Additional Information: Born on 13th December 1896 the son of Charles Albert T and Annie Eliza (née Bezant) of 16 West Cholderton. Born and raised in Pewsey, Charles moved with his family to Cholderton about 1908 and after leaving school, worked on a farm as a "harnessman". He enlisted into the Royal Navy on 16th June 1917 and was posted for training to HMS Vivid, Plymouth where he accidentally drowned on 22nd July while bathing.

Frank BENCH
37251 Private, 4th (Reserve) Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Died of Natural Causes - 8th June 1918. Aged 18
He is buried in Grangegorman Military Cemetery, Co Dublin, Republic of Ireland Grave CE 683.
Additional Information: Born in Tollard Royal, the son of Henry and Caroline (née Wilkins) of Tollard Royal.
Sometime after 1911, Frank moved to Cholderton to work and then enlisted at Southampton into the Wiltshire Regiment in 1917. After training at Devizes he was posted to the 4th (Res) Battalion in Dublin. Although far from the horrors of the Western Front, garrison duties in Ireland (then still part of the United Kingdom) were never easy and troops were on a higher state of alert than in any other part of the UK. He is recorded as having died of natural causes but the exact cause is not known, he may well have been one of the victims of the 'Spanish Flu' pandemic sweeping the world at that time.

David BENNETT
50648 Private, Imperial Camel Corps (formerly 300367, Staffordshire Yeomanry, Corps of Hussars)
Died of Wounds - 27th March 1918. Aged 26
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial, Israel, Panel 7. He is also remembered on the Imperial Camel Corps Memorial (a camelier mounted on a camel) in the Victoria Embankment Garden, London.
Additional information: Born in early 1892 in Nether Wallop the son of George Harry and Lydia Bennett (née Brown). David Bennett spent his early years at Peacocks Cottages, Church Hill, Nether Wallop before his family moved to Quarley Down Farm, Cholderton. Sometime before 1911, David moved to Shenstone, Near Lichfield, Staffordshire where he worked as a herdman. He joined the Staffordshire Yeomanry, a Territorial Force probably in 1914. He served with the Yeomanry in the Egypt/Palestine theatre until he was detached to the 2nd Imperial Camel Battalion where he served with 10 Company. He was posted initially to Abbassia, a few miles outside Cairo where he and many others from Yeomanry units were introduced for the first time to their camels. These men had one thing in common, they were all used to horses and despite their initial misgivings, they soon got used to riding camels. Details of the part played by 10 Company in the theatre are sketchy but it certainly figured in many actions including the capture of Jericho in February 1918. Following this the Camel Corps was selected to play a prominent role in a plan concocted by General Allenby and T.E.Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") to attack the vitally important Hejaz railway, the first time the British army and the (Lawrence inspired) pro-British Arab army had united in such a significant operation. On 18th March the force was engaged in heavy fighting near Es Salt which was eventually occupied on 25th March. Two days later on 27th March another attack was launched on the Turkish trenches across open plain but heavy casualties were sustained by the Camel Corps and they were unable to advance any closer than 500 yards from the enemy. David Bennett died of wounds on 27th March but how and where he suffered his injuries is not recorded and his body was never recovered. Afternote: David Bennett would almost certainly have seen the great T.E.Lawrence in August 1917 when Lawrence and a small party of his Arab friends stayed overnight with 10 Company and travelled with it to the British Army Headquarters the following day.

Frank George BRICE
11013 Lance Corporal, 2nd Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 15th June 1915. Aged 26.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial, Pas de Calais Panel 33 and 34.
Additional Information: Frank Brice was born in Cholderton, the son of George and Mary Ann Brice of 17 West Cholderton.
Having moved to work in Shrewton he enlisted into the 2nd Wiltshires at Salisbury on 3rd September 1914, just a month after the declaration of war. On 6th March 1915 as part of a body of much needed reinforcements, he embarked at Southampton for France arriving three days later at the front where the 2nd Wiltshires were heavily engaged in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. When the battle ended, the battalion had suffered 400 casualties - this was Frank Brice's introduction to war at its grimmest. After a few days rest the 2nd Wiltshires were back in the line spending the next 6 weeks in trench warfare. On 18th May the Battalion took part in an offensive at Festubert and was relieved a day later having suffered 158 casualties. The 2nd Wiltshires now had a rest near Bethune, relatively undisturbed until the middle of June when it took part in a costly attack on Givenchy. During the day of 15th June a number of its trenches were shelled and at 6 pm the Battalion put in an attack immediately coming under heavy fire, particularly from machine guns on both flanks and it was on this day that Frank Brice was declared to be missing and later presumed killed, his body never being found.

Cecil Reginald James BUNDY
5257 Private, 1st/8th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
Killed In Action near Bapaume - 26th November 1916. Aged 20
He is buried in Martinpuich British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, E.1.
Additional Information: Son of George and Annie Bundy of Ann's Farm Cottages, Cholderton, formerly of Warren Farm, Newton Tony.
Cecil Bundy, a farm labourer, joined the Army in Devizes in early 1916 and was one of a draft of one hundred and fifty men, all of whom had enlisted in Wiltshire who were posted to the 1/8th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Twenty seven of this draft are known to have died before the end of 1916. Private Bundy was killed during a period of bitter fighting on the chalk slopes near Bapaume, a small community which had been at the centre of fighting for long periods over the past two years. Exactly where and under what circumstances Cecil Bundy met his death cannot be determined.

Fred DAVIS
7559 Private, 9th (Queen's Royal) Lancers.
Died of Wounds - 3rd April 1918. Aged 23
He is buried in Picquigny British Cemetery, Somme, France, A.4.
Additional Information: Son of James Henry and Emma Davis of Quarley Down Cottages, Cholderton.
Having been employed on a local farm as a horseman, Fred was enlisted into the 9th Lancers. The 9th Lancers were part of the Allied force trying to stem the German advance on Amiens. During this action Fred Davis was seriously wounded and evacuated to Picquigny, a small town some 8 miles from Amiens. There he was treated by either the 5th or 46th Casualty Clearing Station but died of his wound and was buried in the nearby British Cemetery.
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James Henry DAVIS
29052 Guardsman, 2nd Battalion, The Grenadier Guards.
Killed In Action - 9th October 1917. Aged 27
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium, Panel 9.
Additional Information: Son of James Henry and Emma Davis of Quarley Down Cottages, Cholderton.
James was a horseman on a local farm for some years before enlistment. As part of the Guards Brigade, the 2nd Battalion had seen some of the bitterest fighting and once again they were committed, this time to an assault to take the town of Poelcappelle. The attack, set for 10th October was part of General Haig's plan to take the Passchendaele Ridge and open up the way to capture the Belgian coast. As the Allies prepared, the weather turned and over one foot of rain fell between 4th and 9th October reducing the movement of artillery to a trickle and the fields, according to a report of the time, were deep enough in mud for a man to drown in. Despite this, the attack was brought forward by one day to 9th October. It was during the Battle for Poelcappelle that James Henry Davis was killed. The Battle was a failure and the Allies sustained huge casualties.
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Arthur Walter DYKES (brother of Julian Dykes below)
12417 Private, 7th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Died in a railway accident - 5th March 1919. Aged 28
He is buried in Blargies Communal Cemetery Extension, Oise, France, I.H.6.
Additional information: Son of George Alexander and Martha Elizabeth (née Cooper) Dykes, 25 West Cholderton.
The Great War had been over for some months when Arthur Dykes died and the 7th Battalion's War Diary shows on that day, simply that it was engaged on "Salvage Work" at their base in Wargnies Le Petit, France. On that fateful day, Arthur Dykes was on a train travelling to England, exactly why he was returning to the UK is not known, perhaps for leave or possibly for demobilisation. The train crashed at Famechon Tunnel, Pas-de-Calais and among the many dead were 14 British soldiers, including Arthur Dykes. All fourteen were buried in the military cemetery at Blargies, the nearest Commonwealth War Grave cemetery to the scene of the crash. Three other members of the 7th Battalion were killed in the same accident. Arthur Dykes and two of his comrades are buried alongside each other and the fourth comrade just two plots away. Research continues to find more about this accident.

Julian Alexander DYKES (brother of Arthur Dykes above)
38817 Private, 1st/5th Battalion, The Gloucester Regiment.
Killed In Action - 26th June 1918. Aged 24
He is buried in Boscon British Cemetery, Italy, Plot 2, Row C, Grave 6.
Additional Information: Born in Cholderton in 1894 the son of George Alexander and Martha Elizabeth (née Cope) of 25 West Cholderton.
Julian Dykes is thought to have enlisted in 1916 and served initially in France with the 1/5th Gloucesters.
In 1917 the Battalion was moved to Italy arriving there by train on 24th November. British troops fought in the centre of the line with the French on the left and the Italians to the right facing a resolute and well trained Austrian army. Fighting in this theatre was fierce with both sides struggling for an advantage. In June 1918 the front line ran between Asiago and Canove. Following a relatively quiet period the Austrians attacked in strength from Grappa to Canove in the Battle of Asiago (15th to 16th June) and although the Allies were pushed back some distance, the ground was retaken the next day. The battle had been short but bloody with heavy losses on both sides. From then frequent and increasingly successful raids were made on the Austrian trenches and the 1/5th Gloucesters played a key role during this time. It was on one of these raids that Julian Dykes was killed. Boscon Cemetery, in which he is buried, is one of five Commonwealth cemeteries on the Asiago Plateau containing burials relating to this period.

Edmund John EVANS
17232 Private, 2nd Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 1st May 1916.
He is buried in Mesnil Ridge Cemetery, Somme, France, E.3.

Charles Ewart Vernon JENKINSON (brother of George Jenkinson below)
97281 Private, 10th Battalion, The Tanks Corps. Formerly 280090 Private RASC.
Died of Wounds - 25th April 1918. Aged 19
He is buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, Pas de Calais, IX.A.22.
Additional Information: Born in Amport, the son of James and Elizabeth (née Yeats) Jenkinson. Charles's father was the Sub Postmaster of Cholderton, his brother George was a Postman, his sister Margaret also worked in the Post Office and his brother Maurice was a Telegraph Messenger. The Post Office remained in the Jenkinson family certainly until 1947.
On 25th April, Charles died of wounds most probably received only a few days before and almost certainly in the front line south of the Somme. The war diaries for this period are very sketchy and it is not possible to positively identify exactly where, how and when he was injured. He was evacuated from the front line to Boulogne where hospitals and a whole range of other medical facilities were located to treat the constant flow of wounded. It was from the Boulogne area that thousands of wounded soldiers were repatriated to England for more advanced treatment and recuperation. Unusually, and most probably with the help of the Salvation Army his parents managed to visit him in hospital in Wimereux, just north of Boulogne before he succumbed to his injuries.
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George Robert JENKINSON (brother of Charles Jenkinson above)
200992 Private, 1st/4th Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment.
Died in Action on the Tigris Front - 30th November 1917. Aged 29
He is buried in Baghdad 9North Gate) War Cemetery, Iraq, XXI.W.44/
Additional Information: Son of James and Elizabeth (née Yeats) Jenkinson, Cholderton.
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Robert Thomas KERR
2nd Lieutenant, 4th Battalion, The York and Lancaster Regiment.
Died in Action near Arras - 23rd October 1916.
He is buried in Douchy-Les-Ayette British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, III.C.6.

John Stephen KING
2nd Lieutenant, (Pilot), 13 Squadron, Royal Air Force.
Killed in aerial combat - 1st October 1918. Aged 19.
He is buried in Canada Cemetery, Tilloy-les-Cambrai, France, I.D.I
Additional Information: Son of the Rev R C William and Geraldine M King, Cholderton Rectory, (native of Bradenham, High Wycombe). The original wooden cross which marked his grave in France is now in St Nicholas Church, Cholderton.

Isaac ROGERS
43620 Private, 2nd Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment.
Killed In Action in the Villers-Bretonneux area - 27th April 1918.
He is buried in Adelaide Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, Somme, France, II.I.3.
Additional Information: An operation designed to re-capture a village called Villers-Bretonneux midway between Amiens and Albert was described at the time as "an enterprise of great daring". It was carried out by the 4th and 5th Australian Divisions together with the 8th and 18th (British) Divisions. The 2nd Royal Berkshire Regiment was part of this assault. It began on 24th April 1918 and on 25th the Berkshires had captured about 300 prisoners and many machine guns and trench-mortars. They suffered heavily though with 4 offficers killed, 6 officers wounded, 66 soldiers killed, another 183 wounded and 8 missing. The Battalion was among those to enter Villers-Bretonneux and remained so despite heavy counter attacks from the enemy. Late on 27th April they were withdrawn from the line but it was on this day that Isaac Rogers was killed.

Sydney Frank TOOP
3/6714 Private, 1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry.
Died of wounds - 7th July 1915. Aged 19.
He is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium, III.D.3A.
Additional Information: Son of Edward and Fanny Toop, 1 The Avenue.
The 1st Somersets were continually engaged in trench warfare, always dangerous and full of discomfort from the close of the Battles of Ypres (26th May 1915) and had spent very little time out of the front line. On 6th July they were called upon to assist the Rifle Brigade in a small attack, digging communication trenches to the trenches captured by the Rifles. The operation, though seemingly minor cost the Battalion an officer and 27 men killed, 3 officers and 102 wounded and 5 men missing. The next day the Battalion was withdrawn back for relief. It is highly likely that Sydney Toop was killed in this action but not found or identified until 7th July, the day, had he lived, he would have left the line.

Stanley James WHITCHER
21083 Private, 5th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 9th April 1916. Aged 18.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Basra Memorial Iraq, Panel 30 and 64.
Additional Information: Son of William and Ellen Whitcher of 29 Cholderton. He was born in Amport, moving with his parents to Quarley and then to Cholderton.
He enlisted at Devizes on 8th June 1915 into the 5th Wiltshires soon to be on active service in Mesopotamia. On 9th April 1916 he was at Sannaiyat in what is now called Iraq, mid way between today's Baghdad and Basra. The Battalion, having fought through most of the preceding night advanced at 4.20 am towards the Turkish lines. There was great confusion and the direction of the advance was lost on the left contact being lost with many men. The Battalion dug in some 650 yards from the enemy. Throughout the day men returned from the front with many wounded crawling in. The fighting was fierce and by the end of the day the Battalion had suffered 24 killed, 163 wounded and 37 missing. Stanley Whitcher aged only 18, was declared killed after being among the missing. His body was never found.

Edgar Charles WILLIAMS
28893 Private, 2nd/4th Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 12th September 1918. Aged 23.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Vis-En-Artois Memorial, Pas de Calais, Panel 6.
Additional Information: The son of Edward and Susan Williams of Cholderton, he was born in 1895 and prior to enlistment, he was, like his father, a shepherd.
Edgar Williams was killed during the fierce battle to capture the village of Havrincourt. The village, which had already changed hands lies south-west of Cambrai and little north of Havrincourt Wood. Edgar was one of many killed on that day and sadly his body was not found.

Frank WILLIAMS
13692 Private, 9th (Queen's Royal) Lancers.
Killed In Action - 21st March 1916. Aged 19.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial, Somme, Panel 4.
Additional Information: Son of Mrs Maria Williams, 26 Chapel Street, Birkenhead.

1939 to 1945

Harold Bartholomew JACKMAN
7584215 Staff Sergeant, Royal Army Ordnance Corps.
Died - 11th July 1941. Aged 37.
He is buried in St Nicholas churchyard, Cholderton, North of the church.
Additional Information: Son of William and Ada Jackman. Husband of Florence Lilian, Cholderton.
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Arthur Reginald TOMLINSON
PO/X 4570 Marine, Royal Marine. HMS Barham.
Killed In Action when HMS Barham was sunk - 25th November 1941.
He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 59, Column 2. A flower vase, placed by his family in his memory, stands in St Nicholas church, Cholderton.
Additional Information: HMS Barham, launched in 1914 had fought in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and severely damaged. In the Second World War she took part in many actions in the Mediterranean but despite being torpedoed and bombed she survived. In November 1941 however, German U boat U-331 hit her with four torpedoes and she sank with the loss of over eight hundred sailors and marines. A memorial book to those who were lost is in the North West corner of Westminster Abbey. A pair of gilt candlesticks in the Nave Altar also perpetuates their memory. (U 331 was sunk on 17th November 1942 when she was caught on the surface by aircraft from 500 Squadron RAF and the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable).

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John Anthony BALCK-FOOTE
14405750 Private, 2nd/4th Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 16th September 1944. Aged 20.
He is buried in the Gradara War Cemetery, Italy, Plot II, Row D, Grave 70.
Additional Information: The mother of this soldier, although living in Andover, had made a specific request to be buried in Wiltshire. Her family were granted permission for her to be buried in Cholderton being one of the nearest Wiltshire Parishes to her home.
Although neither Private J A Balck-Foote nor his family have any connection with Cholderton his details are on a plaque added to the headstone of his parents buried in St Nicholas churchyard and thus he has been included in this record.

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The Amesbury Deanery Magazine for January 1915 reported the deaths of three officers as being "of Cholderton". They are not shown on the Memorial Panel in St Nicholas Church, but an explanation of their connection with the village is given below and it is felt fitting that they should be included in this record.

Hubert Ion Wetherall HAMILTON CVO CB DSO
Major General, General Officer Commanding, 3rd Division. Late of the Queen's Regiment
Killed in Action - 14th October 1914 aged 53, at Le Coutre, France.
He is buried in St Martin's Churchyard, Cheriton, Kent, to the right of the gateway. He is further remembered on a brass plaque in the chancel of St Peter's church, Marchington, Uttoxeter, Staffs.
Additional Information: Born in 1861, the son of General Henry Meade Hamilton he was commissioned into the Queen's Regiment in 1880. From 1886 to 1902 he served with distinction in the Burmese Expedition, the Egyptian Campaigns and then the Anglo Boer War. He left South Africa to become Lord Kitchener's Military Secretary in India and then, in 1906 was given command of 7th Infantry Brigade based in Tidworth. After further appointments he was promoted to Major General and, on 1st June 1914, became the General Officer Commanding the 3rd Division based in Bulford. The official residence for the GOC was Cholderton House into which he moved. He was not a man to command from behind a desk, he liked nothing better than to be out on Salisbury Plain among the training. Observing, advising and questioning he soon became a familiar and popular figure to all ranks and was often seen eating with the troops out in the field. On the outbreak of the First World War on 4th August 1914, 3rd Division was immediately put under orders for France and between the 13th and 15th of the same month it crossed to the Continent and was quickly in action. On 14th October, accompanied by his Aides de Camp, he went to see for himself the situation around Le Coutre. As the party dismounted to move on foot to the forward positions a shell burst overhead and a shard of metal entered the General's forehead killing him instantly. He was buried that evening by the wall of the village church while bullets were striking the wall and nearby gravestones. His body was later exhumed and re-buried in England.

Percy Lyulph WYNDHAM
Captain, Coldstream Guards.
Killed in Action - 14th September 1914.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the La Ferre-Sous-Jouarre Memorial, France. He is also remembered on a memorial in St Mary's Church, East Knoyle, Wiltshire erected by his grandmother Madeline Wyndham and inscribed "In Memory of my Five Grandsons who were killed in the Great War".
Additional Information: Son of the Rt Hon George Wyndham PC MP and of Constance Grosvenor of 35 Park Lane, London W1 and husband of the Hon Diana Wyndham (née Lister) of Clouds House, East Knoyle, Wiltshire. A Captain in the Coldstream Guards, Percy Wyndham became Aide de Camp in 1911 to Major General Rawlinson the General Officer Commanding 3rd Division who lived in Cholderton House. Percy Wyndham was also based in Cholderton, most probably living at the Red House, at the Parkhouse crossroads. In June 1914 when General Rawlinson moved from his appointment, Captain Wyndham returned to regimental duty and in mid August moved with his Battalion to France. The Guards were in the thick of the fighting along the River Aisne and casualties were high. On a wet and misty 14th September bitter fighting raged along the entire British front. There were four distinct battles, one of them was for Soupir in which Percy Wyndham was involved. The official report of his death was that "he fell to German rifle fire near Soissons" but in a letter to his family from a fellow officer, they heard that "he was shot dead through the head as he was leading his men out of a wood - no suffering - no knowing he must die". He had been married for only seventeen months and his widow, Diana immersed herself in war work and, in October, she was in France nursing.

Riversdale Nonus GRENFELL
Captain, Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars (Yeomanry) attached to the 9th Lancers.
Killed in Action - 14th September 1914 aged 34.
He is buried in Vendresse Churchyard, Grave No 1. He is also commemorated (as is his brother) on a Memorial Board in the Cloisters of Canterbury Cathedral alongside all those of the 9th Lancers who gave their lives in the First World War.
Additional Information: Born 4th September 1880 the twin of Francis Octavius and son of Pascoe du Pre and Sophia Grenfell. On leaving Eton Riversdale went into banking while his brother Francis was commissioned into the Kings Royal Rifle Corps later transferring to the 9th Lancers. While the brothers pursued quite separate careers, they both had a passion for polo and achieved international recognition for their skill, often travelling overseas at the invitation of the most prominent people, including royalty. In 1908 Riversdale joined the Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars and trained regularly with them and, with his superb horsemanship was soon promoted to Captain. In 1913 his twin Francis was posted to Tidworth with the 9th Lancers and Riversdale moved to the Red House (now The Red House Hotel) near the then Parkhouse Camp near Cholderton. Moving there so that he and his brother might spend their week ends together, he marked out a training ground for his polo ponies. The author John Buchan, a close friend of the Grenfells writes of the brothers "they knew every one and went everywhere". The outbreak of the First World War on 4th August 1914 brought to an end almost eighteen months of enjoyable living in Cholderton. Riversdale immediately and successfully applied to be attached to the 9th Lancers to be alongside his brother. When the 9th Lancers went to France on 15th August they went with them taking six of their horses. Only 15 days into the war and the 9th Lancers made a reconnaissance into Belgium territory but it was not until the 23rd that they actually engaged the enemy, on 24th August his brother Francis won the Victoria Cross for showing gallantry in action against the unbroken Germans at Andregnies and on the same day gallantly assisting in saving the guns of the 119th Battery, Royal Field Artillery near Doubon. He had, however been wounded twice and was evacuated to England. On 13th September the Lancers crossed the Aisne, the next morning they formed the advance guard, and leaving at 3 am moved on towards Vendresse. They had however been given an objective which turned out to be about a mile behind the German trenches and travelling along a winding road, passed the pickets of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and ran into the Germans. The regiment dismounted, while Riversdale, with a section, dashed forward to a position near a haystack to engage the enemy and enable the regiment to regain its direction. While so doing he exposed himself and a bullet hitting his revolver passed through the roof of his mouth. He died instantantly. The Ninth fell back, leaving his body in enemy hands, but that afternoon the Kings Royal Rifle Corps advanced and recovered it. His brother Francis returned to the front line on 8th October 1914 and a little over six months later on 24th May 1915 he too was killed in action.
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NEWTON TONY          BACK

The men who fell in the two World Wars are remembered In The Memorial Hall.

The Memorial Hall was built in 1920 by Sir Harry Charles St Lo Malet Bt, DSO, OBE, the then Lord of the Manor. Sir Harry served in the Boer War and the First World War with some distinction. In the Boer War, as a Corporal in the Cape Mounted Rifles, he was commissioned for his bearing and courage at the Siege of Wepener. In the First World War he was awarded the DSO, Mentioned In Despatches on three occasions and the French Government made him an Officier de Merite Agricole.
He wrote that he wanted the Memorial Hall to be a "living memorial". When first opened in 1920, it was known as The War Memorial Hall but the word ‘War’ is no longer used, this came about purely and simply through common usage, not through ‘political correctness’, debate, or decree.
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Photographs of all but one of those who died in the First World War have been on display since the early 1920s and photographs of those lost in the Second World War have been added in more recent times.

1914 to 1918

Robert Mark BUNDY
15233 Fusilier, 8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
Killed In Action - 8th September 1916 aged 26, near Ginchy France.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial France, MR 21, Part 7, Pier and Face 16c
Additional Information: Son of Charles and Elizabeth Bundy.
On 29th August 1916, the 8th Battalion, having taken part in very heavy fighting entrained at Chocques for Longueau on the outskirts of Amiens and then marched to billets in Corbie close to the Somme River. After just two days of welcome rest it was moved into the forward trenches to relieve other units of the Irish Division. There was little respite in the fighting, and on 8th September the unit was preparing for yet another major assault on the German lines at Ginchy. The enemy, realising that another attack was imminent, put down a heavy artillery barrage along the Battalion front, it was in the barrage that Robert Bundy was killed. The attack for which they had been preparing was delayed and took place the next day - the 8th Battalion suffered 227 casualties between mid-day and seven that night.
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Albert Edward DUFFIELD
M2/018589 Private, Army Service Corps (Specific Unit not known).
Killed In Action - 21st March 1918 aged 24, near Pozieres, France.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial, France, MR 27, Part 3, Panel 95.
Additional Information:- Regrettably, if the unit to which a soldier belonged is not known, then it is almost impossible to discover where he was killed. This is the case with Albert Duffield who was in the Army Service Corps. Records show that in 1916, the Army Service Corps had over 1200 units spread across the whole of the conflict; by 1918 when Private Duffield died, this number was significantly larger. His inclusion on the Pozieres Memorial indicates that he fell close by in an area in which tens of thousands perished over four long years of bloody fighting. A report of the time says "Pozieres is reduced to nothing more substantial than brickdust......it is gone."
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Ernest Rowland ELLIOTT
12425 Private, A Company, 7th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 24th April 1917 aged 30, at the Doiran Lake, Salonika.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Doiran Memorial, Greece.
Additional Information:- Son of George and Constance Elliott of 45 Newton Tony. The 7th Battalion The Wiltshire Regiment had been in Salonika since November 1915. In April 1917, now positioned south of Doiran Town as part of 26 Division, they were preparing for a major attack on the Bulgar position to commence at dusk on 24th and for three days before, an artillery bombardment of the Bulgar positions took place. Although a Bulgar infantryman who had defected said that his Battalion were aware of the intended attack, it still took place and as the British units moved into position, they were subjected to a massive barrage, chiefly of high explosives from heavy howitzers into the rugged ravines and gullies into which the British troops were packed, causing severe loss of life. The path of attack for the 7th Wiltshires was along a ravine but they found the Bulgar wire defences mostly intact and the few gaps covered by intense machine gun fire. The Bulgars took advantage of the plight of the Wiltshires and raking them with machine gun, rifle and hand grenades forced them to pull back. Fourteen out of fifteen officers and three hundred out of five hundred soldiers became casualties. The three Divisions taking part suffered over three thousand casualties with the 7th Wiltshires, as an individual unit suffering by far the heaviest losses of all.
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Edgar FRICKER
J 61689 Ordinary Seaman, Royal Navy, HMS Victory.
Died of natural causes - 29th December 1916 aged 20, in the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar.
He is buried in the Royal Naval Cemetery, Haslar, Row 26, Grave 11.
Additional Information:- Born in Winterslow, the son of John and Martha Fricker. Edgar Fricker signed papers to join the Royal Navy on 4th August 1916 and reported for duty to HMS Victory on 10th November. Within only two weeks he became seriously ill with measles and bronchial pneumonia followed; he died in the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar on 29th December 1916.
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Bertram MACEY
24527 Private, 6th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Died of Wounds - 16th June 1917 aged 19, near Oosttaverne Wood, West Flanders.
He is buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, Pas de Calais. Plot IV, Row A, Grave 6.
Additional Information:- Son of Morris and Eliza Macey, Wilbury Farm Cottage. In the first half of June 1916, most of the 6th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment were in the line near Oosttaverne Wood a few kilometres South of Ypres. It was the scene of fierce fighting and tremendous loss of life over the past two and a half years. Bertram Macey was wounded, but on which date cannot be determined. The War Diary for the regiment for the eight days immediately before the death of Private Macey records 22 dead and 111 wounded. It is most likely that it was in this period that Bertram Macey was wounded and evacuated to one of the military hospitals located around Bolougne where he died on 16th June.
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Frederick SAUNDERS
S/3420 Rifleman, 12th (Service) Battalion, The Rifle Brigade.
Killed In Action - 25th September 1915 aged 40.
He is buried in Aubers Ridge British Cemetery, grave number V.C.4. He is also commemorated on the war memorial in Hordle, Hampshire.
Additional Information: Son of Samuel and Amelia Saunders of Yealton House, Hordle, Hampshire.
Before enlisting into the Rifle Brigade soon after the outbreak of the First World War, Frederick Saunders had served from 1901 to 1908 in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. On discharge in 1908 it appears he moved to Newton Tony where he took lodgings and worked as a Farm Labourer. The War came and having enlisted into the Rifle Brigade, he was stationed with the 12th Battalion at Larkhill Camp. On 21st July 1915, the Battalion moved to France, arriving on 22nd they were moved on by train to St Omer and on 24th marched to Terdeghem. The 25th, 26th and 27th were spent in route marching. On 28th the Battalion marched eight miles to new billets at Campagne and on the following days marched a further eleven and a half miles to bivouacs at Borre, a very hot, demanding march over paved roads. There was little respite and the unit moved once again on 29th July to Oultersteen where they carried out further training until 8th August then moved overnight to Fleurbaix arriving at 4.30 a.m. On 10th August two platoons of each Company went into the trenches, the remaining two platoons of each Company joined them the next day. They had entered the fighting and on the first day suffered two casualties, one dead and one wounded. From then on the Battalion was constantly engaged in the fighting with only brief periods when they were relieved for rest and re-equipping. So it continued until 24th September when the Battalion was once again prepared for a major assault on the German lines. In the early evening the whole Battalion paraded in fighting order with packs, carrying 220 rounds of ammunition per man and every alternate man a pick or shovel. They then moved into the trenches. Although initially told that they would attack at 4.50 a.m. on 25th, it was not until 7.30 a.m. that they actually advanced in support of the units on their flanks who were already heavily engaged. The fighting was fierce with all companies suffering heavily from rifle and machine gun fire whilst crossing No-Man's Land. By 1.30 p.m. a sadly depleted and exhausted 12th Battalion was withdrawn. Seven officers and 43 soldiers had been killed and 213 wounded; another 76 were missing (believed killed) - a total of 322. It was on this morning, somewhere near Champigny (the site of many of the original graves), that, at the age of 40, Frederick Saunders gave his life.
Note: The photograph attached to this entry has been on display in Newton Tony Memorial Hall since 1921 and bears the words "W SAUNDERS - Rifle Brigade". The 1911 Census however, makes it clear that, although he may have been known in the village as William, his true name was Frederick Saunders.
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Edwin Bertie TANNER (Brother of Henry named above)
8989 Pioneer, 1st Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 20th September 1914 aged 20, near Thierry, France.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial, France.
Additional Information:- Brother of Henry Tanner shown immediately below. On 20th September 1914 the 1st Wiltshire Regiment's position near Vailly was shelled inflicting several casualties, it is thought that Private Tanner may have been killed at this time.
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Henry TANNER (Brother of Edwin Bertie named below)
7004 Private, 1st Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 15th September 1914 aged 32, near Vailly, France.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on Special Memorial 18,.Vailly British Cemetery, France.
Additional Information: Brother of Edwin Tanner shown immediately above. On 15th September 1914, between 8 and 9am the enemy attacked the front trenches and the whole position was shelled from 11 until noon. Fierce fighting took place for the whole day but eventually the enemy fell back leaving many dead and wounded. At some point during the day Henry Tanner was killed.
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Alfred WORT
L5218 Officers Steward 2nd Class, Royal Navy, HMS Bittern
Died at sea - 4th April 1918 aged 26.
He is commemorated on the Devonport Memorial, Panel 18.
Additional Information: Son of James and Annie Jane Wort of Downton.
A sawyer before joining the Royal Navy. In 1916 he married 23 year old Martha Olden, the daughter of Martha Olden, licensee of the Malet Arms, Newton Tony. HMS Bittern was a 360 ton C Class Torpedo-Boat Destroyer built in 1897. On 3rd April the weather was fair when she commenced patrol but fog soon developed and by just after midnight visibility was down to almost nil. At 0315 hours, at approximately GPS postion 50 18 08, 03 00 00, the Bittern was in collision with the 5,457 ton merchant ship SS Kenilworth. The Kenilworth had been ordered to steam west hugging the coast as closely as possible between Portland Bill and Start Point; instead, it headed straight across the bay, showing no lights nor sounding for fog. The force of the collision cut the Bittern in two just forward of the aftermost boiler immediately driving her under with the loss of all hands.
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Walter Tyhurst WHITE
M2/150838 Acting Lance Corporal, 647th Motor Transport Company, Army Service Corps.
He is buried in the North West corner of St Andrew's churchyard, Newton Tony.
Additional Information: He was born in Woodford, Wilts in 1893, the son of Edwin Charles Richard and Annie White of The Poplars, Winterbourne Gunner (previously and recently of Manor Farm, Newton Tony). Walter White attended Dauntsey's School from 1909 to 1911 winning 1st Prize for Mathematics in 1910. After leaving school, he worked as a motor mechanic in Reading and it was there, on 22nd November 1915, that he enlisted into the Army Service Corps on a Short Service Engagement "For the Duration of The War" on 6 shillings per day. After his initial training he was posted to 647 Motor Transport Company at Witley Camp, Surrey. On Friday 16th June 1916 returning to Camp on his motor cycle, he hit a dog which ran across the road. He was moved to Bramshott Military Hospital where he died on Monday 19th June from a fractured skull and other injuries.
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William Charles YARLETT
46690 Private, 18th Battalion, The Lancashire Fusiliers. (formerly 3306005 Sapper, Royal Engineers).
Killed In Action - 31st October 1918 aged 18, near Courtrai.
He is buried in Harlebeke New British Cemetery, Belgium, Plot 2, Row A, Grave 16.
Additional Information:- The 18th Battalion had been engaged in particularly heavy fighting during October 1918 with only the briefest of spells for rest. Towards the end of the month, the French on the left flank were meeting stiff opposition and it was decided that the British should advance to threaten the enemy's lines of communication and make him fall back in front of the French. The British Forces move took place early on 31st October and by 5.35am the 18th Battalion was engaged in a fierce attack. The War Diaries record that many enemy machine guns were dealt with by the bayonet, and at one stage a German artillery battery was firing at point blank range. Despite this, the attack was sustained and by 11am the Battalion had achieved all its objectives to a depth of 4,000 metres from the starting line. The unit's losses had been the heaviest among all the units taking part, but its bounty large: 125 prisoners, 3 field guns, 3 anti-tank rifles, 18 machine guns, 4 trench mortars and 3 message dogs! The decorations awarded to the 18th Battalion for its part in the battle of Courtrai included a bar to a Distinguished Service Order, 3 Military Crosses, 2 Distinguished Conduct Medals, 3 bars to the Military Medal and 19 Military Medals. Charles Yarlett was one of the very many killed on that day.
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1939 to 1945

Stanley Gordon ARMSTEAD (Cousin of F R Daubney named below)
MX 510022 Leading Wireman, Royal Navy, LCT 488.
Died at sea in Home Waters - 19th October 1944, aged 20. LCT 488 sank in a storm while under tow to the Far East.
He is commemorated on the Devonport Memorial, Panel 91, Column 1.
Additional Information: Convoy number KMS 66/OS 92 which consisted of 35 merchant ships, 3 submarines and 9 LCTs (including LCT 488) under tow. HMS Fowey, HMS Allington Castle and HMS Knaresborough Castle were the escorts. The convoy formed up over three days from the Clyde and Liverpool eventually getting properly under way on 16th October 1944 South of Milford Haven. The weather was bad and deteriorating. The LCTs under tow were suffering badly and on 19th October LCT 488 had to be cut loose from its towing ship but later foundered and sank at position 50 33N O9 22W (approx). Stanley Armstead together with some other members of the crew were lost. Other LCTs were also lost and, in total, 50 sailors lost their lives. This is the briefest of accounts of the loss but a full and detailed account of the tragic convoy is held by the Society.
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Percival George CANDY
516224 Sergeant, Royal Air Force.
Died of natural causes - 22nd February 1946 - exacerbated by severe injuries received in 1943 during a malfunction on a parachute descent.
He is buried in Wells Cemetery, Somerset, Section H, Row H, Grave 10.
Additional Information:- Husband of Dorothy (née Bailey) living in Wells, Somerset and son of Ellis Percival Candy and Hilda Elizabeth Candy of Newton Tony. Percival Candy joined the RAF before the Second World War and it is known that he was involved in parachute development and training. No details are known of the terrible accident he suffered while parachuting in 1943.
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Frederick Reginald DAUBNEY (Cousin of SG Armstead named above)
55272957 Private, 4th Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment (formerly of The Wiltshire Regiment).
Died of tropical ulcers and malnutrition - 26th September 1943 aged 26, as a Prisoner of War of the Japanese while working on the Burma Railway.
He is buried in Thanbyazayat War Cemetery, Burma, Plot B1, Row N, Grave 16.
Additional Information:- Joining the Wiltshire Regiment in 1940 and while still in his first weeks of training at Devizes, Frederick Daubney was part of a contingent transferred to the 4th Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment to bring it up to strength. On 28th October 1941, as part of 18 Division, the Battalion sailed from Liverpool, their destination was not disclosed but was thought to be Bombay. They stopped at Halifax, Nova Scotia and again at Port Trinidad. It was while in mid Atlantic that they heard the news of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbour and the invasion of Malaya. After a stop at Cape Town they arrived at Bombay on 27th December and the battalion moved some 200 miles inland to Ahmednagar. With the Japanese sweeping down the Malayan peninsular, 18 Division was ordered to Singapore. The 4th Battalion sailed from Bombay on 19th January 1942 arriving ten days later in Singapore. The Japanese had reached Johore Bahru which overlooked Singapore Island across the Johore Strait and soon crossed. At 7pm on 15th February 1942, the British Army formally surrendered to the Japanese. Pte Daubney was first held in Changi Barracks but later moved to work on the infamous Burma Railway. He died on 26th September 1943. This is only a brief account of Frederick Daubney's all too brief service; a full and detailed account is held by the Society.
Note: See also the entry for Newton Charles Bailey of the Winterbournes, a fellow resident of the Bourne Valley and fellow member of 4th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment in the Far East.
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James Archibald St George Fitzwarrenne-Despencer ROBERTSON
98054 Lieutenant Colonel, OBE MP, General List, formerly of the Royal Welch Fusiliers.
Died of natural causes - 5th May 1942, aged 56.
He is buried in Newton Tony Cemetery, Grave 7.
He is also remembered on a brass plaque in St Mary the Virgin church in Marystow, Devon.
Additional Information: Born 7th November 1886, the son of Sir Helenus Robertson Kt Bach and Kate (née Banks) of Upton Grange, Cheshire. He had an elder brother Helenus Macauley and an elder sister Katherine Lillias. He attended Eton and together with his elder brother studied Law.
At the outbreak of the Great War he and his brother joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers. James was appointed Military Secretary to the GOC Western Command in Shrewsbury; his brother served with the Welch Fusiliers in France and was sadly killed in action on 26th January 1916. James went on to serve with the 18th (Reserve) Battalion, The Royal Welch Fusiliers (later renamed 63rd Training Reserve Battalion). After a short spell in a staff post in the War Office he completed his service in Western Command (Ireland). He was Mentioned in Despatches three times and was made an OBE in 1919.
The names Fitzwarrenne-Despencer were not birth names, he added them (London Gazette 21 July 1916) in pursuance of the expressed wish of Edmund Mortimer Fitzwarrenne-Despencer who died in 1916. He purchased Wilbury House and Estate together with the Memorial Hall and Recreation Ground from Sir Harry Charles St Lo Malet OBE DSO in 1926. He served as MP for Salisbury from March 1931 until his death in 1942, living in Wilbury House with his sister and taking a full part in the life of Newton Tony, particularly the church. In World War Two he served on the General List as and when his duties as an MP permitted. He played an important role at Southern Command in the training of the TA and the home defence force. In 1943, a year after his death, his sister gave the Memorial Hall and Recreation Ground to Newton Tony in memory of her brother.
(Although copyright prevents its publication here, a photographic portrait of James Despencer Robertson is held by the National Portrait Gallery from where copies may be purchased).

BOSCOMBE          BACK

In the church of St Andrew, two simple brass plaques, one for each of the two World Wars, bear the names of the ten local men who fell in those Wars.

1914 to 1918

Ernest Edward EDMUNDS
18267 Private, 2nd Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 26th September 1915, aged 29.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France, Panel 102.
Additional Information: Son of Henry (deceased) and Helen Edmunds of Boscombe, Ernest worked at Boscombe as an agricultural labourer before enlisting into the 2nd Wiltshires at Devizes on 28th December 1914.
After training he embarked at Southampton with a body of reinforcements on 4th May 1915 arriving at his Battalion four days later and posted to B Company. The next few months saw him take part in a number of major offensives and long periods spent in trench warfare. On 10th September the Battalion took over some reserve trenches near Vermelles, just 3 miles North West of Loos which was occupied by the Germans. For almost two weeks, every night was spent in digging ore trenches in preparation for another offensive. The attack began on 25th September continuing until the evening of 29th when the 2nd Wiltshires were relieved having suffered 400 casualties. On 26th September Ernest was posted as missing and then killed; his body was never found.

Edwin Charles PHILLIPS (Brother of Frederick below)
7975 Private, 2nd Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Died of Wounds - 27th October 1914, aged 25.
He is buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France, III.A.16.
Additional Information: Born in Allington the son of Albert and Elizabeth Rosina Phillips later of Boscombe.
When war was declared, he had already served nearly 7 years in the 2nd Wiltshires, having enlisted on 15th October 1907. On 24th October 1914, near Beselare, Belgium the Battalion was heavily engaged with the enemy. The Germans who attacked in superior numbers had already been driven back just before daybreak but they attacked again. After two hours of fierce fighting in which the enemy incurred hundreds of casualties, they broke through and overwhelmed the Wiltshires. Over the next two days the Battalion gathered what few survivors it had. Some 450 men of the 2nd Wiltshires were captured and many others killed or wounded. On Monday 26th October, 2Lt Waylen was the most senior officer remaining and he took over command of no more than 250. It was during these terrible two days that Edwin Phillips wounded and evacuated to one of the many military hospitals near Boulogne where he died on 27th October 1914.

Frederick Walter PHILLIPS (Brother of Edwin above)
PO/16665 Marine, Royal Marine Light Infantry, HMS Black Prince.
Killed In Action - 31st May 1916 aged 22.
He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 22.
Additional Information:- Son of Albert and Elizabeth Rosine Phillips of Boscombe.
HMS Black Prince, a Duke of Edinburgh class armoured cruiser, took part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 where she was sunk with very heavy loss of life. For many years the manner of her sinking was unclear but recently historians believe that she became separated from the British Fleet and at about midnight on 31st May, unknowingly steered towards the German Fleet. When the error was realized it was too late to turn, she was fixed in the searchlights of a German battleship and up to five other German ships opened fire. Most of them were within 1000 yards of the Black Prince and she was sunk within 15 minutes.

1939 to 1945

Edmund Graham BUCKLEY MBE
6748 Lieutenant Colonel, The Rifle Brigade.
Died on 21st January 1943 of an illness contracted in the Middle East.
He was cremated at the Oxford Crematorium and is remembered on a panel together with 46 other members of Her Majesty's Forces at the Crematorium.
Additional Information:- Born 3 May 1901. The son of Edmund and Helen Margaret Buckley and husband of Margaret Elizabeth of Boscombe, Wiltshire. Gazetted to the Rifle Brigade as 2Lt on 14th July 1921. He had a varied and distinguished career serving in Ireland, Malta, India, Iraq and Egypt. It was in 1942 while a Lt Col and the Senior Liaison Officer with the Greek Forces in Egypt that he was medically evacuated to the UK where he died.
A more detailed account of his service is held by the Bourne Valley Historical Society
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James Ritchie GARRIOCK
541034 Corporal, Royal Air Force.
Died on 25th February 1944 while a Prisoner of War of the Japanese.
He is buried in Ambon War Cemetery, The Mulucca Islands, Indonesia, 14.A.9.
Additional Information:- He is also commemorated on the Porton War Memorial.

John Arthur MITCHELL AFM
124006 Flight Lieutenant, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 9 Squadron RAF.
Killed In Action - 26th February 1943.
He is buried in Durnbach War Cemetery, Germany, II.F.27.
Additional Information:- During a raid on Nurnberg, Flight Lieutenant Mitchell's Lancaster (ED 495 WS-Y) crashed near Traunfeld after being hit by flak over the target and set on fire. Mitchell and his co-pilot were killed but the remaining five crew were taken prisoner.

Herbert MURPHY
Ex 1073007 Gunner, Royal Artillery.
(Served from 19th August 1927 to 17th August 1933 and 2nd September 1939 until his discharge, on medical grounds, on 4th April 1940).
Died of Natural Causes - 1st February 1942 aged 34.
Buried in All Saints churchyard, Idmiston.

John Spencer SPARKE
637846 Corporal, Royal Air Force.
Died of Natural Causes on 27th September 1943. Aged 23
He is buried in St Nicholas churchyard, Porton, Grave 2.
Additional Information:- He is also commemorated on the Porton War Memorial. Son of John and Ellen Maud Sparke of Boscombe, husband of Kathleen Sylvia Spark also of Boscombe.

Albert Edward SUTTON
P/KX 126684 Leading Stoker, Royal Navy, HMS Penelope.
Killed In Action - 18th February 1944. Aged 21
He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 85, Column 3.
Additional Information:- Son of Fred and Maria Sutton and brother of Raymond Sutton shown immediately below. HMS Penelope was engaged in many actions in the Mediterranean from the outset of the war being severely damaged on more than one occasion. On 18th February 1944, HMS Penelope was steaming west of Naples when she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-410. The ship was struck four times and sank with the loss of 435 men. The dead are remembered on a plaque in St Anne's Church, Portsmouth. The ship was affectionately and proudly nicknamed 'HMS Pepperpot' by her crew on account of the enormous shrapnel damage she bore from the large number of occasions she had been engaged in action. (U 410 was sunk by the USAAF just three weeks later on 11th March 1944 while alongside in Toulon).
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Raymond Alfred SUTTON
14533126 Private, 12th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, Army Air Corps (10th Battalion, The Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment).
Killed in Action - 12th June 1944. Aged 20
He is buried in Ranville War Cemetery, Calvados, France, IV.K.17.
Additional Information: Son of Frederick and Maria Sutton and brother of Albert Sutton shown immediately above. The family lived in White Cottage, near Boscombe Church. His father was a carter on Baments Farm nearby and before joining the Army, Raymond Sutton also worked with horses.
He originally enlisted into the Royal Artillery on what date is not known, but from his age (unless, as so often happened, he overstated it), he appears to have served in the RA for 12 to 18 months before volunteering for airborne forces. He attended Military Parachute Course 81 at RAF Ringway from the 6th to 16th September 1943 prior to joining the 12th Parachute Battalion. The Battalion was dropped at 0050 hours on D Day - 6th June 1944. From the outset, the battalion met fierce resistance and was in constant action achieving all that was asked of it. On 12th June, Major General Gale was concerned that the whole security of the division's front depended on clearing the enemy from the area of the village of Breville once and for all. With much of the force exhausted and low in numbers, he was obliged to use the under-strength 12th Battalion which now numbered only 300 men, together with a company from The Devonshire Regiment and a squadron of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars. The attack went in that evening against a stubborn and brave enemy and the battle lasted for some hours. Eventually the enemy was overcome but at a heavy price. Out of the five hundred and fifty men of the 12th Battalion who had jumped into Normandy only six days before, less than two hundred remained effective. It was in this battle that Raymond Sutton died.
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IDMISTON and PORTON          BACK

A War Memorial in the form of a simple stone cross stands in the churchyard of St Nicholas, Porton. A little distance away also stands a Memorial Hall erected in more recent times.
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1914 to 1918

Sydney C BAILEY
19554 Lance Corporal, 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's).
Killed In Action - 8th August 1918. Aged 32
He is buried in the Heath Cemetery, Harbonnieres, Somme, H.A.1.

Luke BULL
24158 Private, 5th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 25th January 1917. Aged 28
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Basra Memorial, Iraq, Panels 30 and 84.
Additional Information: Born in Coombe in 1889 he was the son of William and Elizabeth Ann Bull of Gomeldon Hill.
On 25th January 1917, the British Forces in Mesopotamia attacked Hai Salient some 50 miles north west of Amara (now in today's Iraq). The assault began at 9.42 a.m. with the 5th Wiltshires, under cover of a huge artillery barrage, advancing on the Turkish trenches. Although strongly defended, and in spite of effective enemy artillery fire, the Turkish frontline was taken. The Wiltshire's bombing parties worked their way along the enemy trenches clearing them with grenades and nearly 100 prisoners and many arms were seized. The 5th Battalion lost 35 killed and 114 wounded. Luke Bull was among those killed and his body was not recovered.

Percy Tom CARTER
202784 Private, 5th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 6th June 1918. Aged 39
He is buried in the Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery, I.B.2.
Additional Information: Born in 1879 in West Grimstead, the son of Richard and Emily Carter of Mount Pleasant Cottages, Idmiston.
For some time up to and beyond the date of Percy Carter's death, the 5th Wiltshires were not engaged in fighting. The Battalion War Diary indicates that it was a period when some limited leave could be taken and courses attended, so it is not possible to say exactly where and how Percy Carter died. Research continues.

Harold John CHARD
Previously 286627 Sapper, Durham Fortress Company, Royal Engineers.
Died on 17th November 1918. Aged 19
He is buried in St Nicholas churchyard, Porton, to the east of the church.
Additional Information: Born in Netherbury, Dorset on 3rd May 1899, the son of John and Blanche Elizabeth Chard (née Chandler) of Compton Villa, Winterslow Road, Idmiston. The Chard family lived in Netherbury before moving to Idmiston sometime after 1912.
Harold Chard, an electrical engineer, enlisted into the Royal Engineers on 6th June 1917. After training he was posted to the Durham Fortress Company, one of eleven such Fortress Companies employed on coastal defences, where he was employed as a 'stationary engine driver' until he became very ill. The seriousness of his illness led to his discharge on 3rd July 1918 as unfit for further service and he returned home to Idmiston to continue medical treatment locally. Only a few months later his illness was aggravated by broncho-pneumonia and he was admitted to hospital on 14th November where he died three days later.
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Stephen Walter DYER
202075 Private 2nd/4th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment
Died on 9th December 1918. Aged 21
He is buried in Allahabad New Cantonement Cemetery and commemorated on the 1914 - 198 War Memorial, Chenai, India. He is also commemorated on the St Paul's Church Memorial, Salisbury.
Additional Information: Born in 1897 the son of James and Emily Dyer of 12 Avon Terrace, Clifton Road, Salisbury. Prior to enlistment, Stephen Dyer worked as an agricultural worker in Idmiston. He died of an illness on 9th December 1918.

Stanley Wilfred GRANT
RMA/14469 Gunner, Royal Marines, HMS Defence.
Killed In Action - 31st May 1916. Aged 20
He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 21.
Additional Information:- Son of William Grant, The Plough Inn, Idmiston.
HMS Defence, the flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Robert K Arbuthnot was sunk at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Under orders to engage the enemy cruisers, the Defence turned and made for the badly damaged Weisbaden but unfortunately the main German battle fleet had closed at speed and the Defence was hit by two 12 inch salvoes from SMS Friedrich der Grosse. The Defence was not designed to stand such punishment and exploded immediately with the loss of 893 sailors and marines.

Leslie Edward John HOBBS
3798 Driver, 3rd Australian Field Artillery Brigade, Australian Field Artillery.
Died - 10th January 1918 of pneumonia. Aged 20
He is buried in All Saints churchyard, Idmiston, south of the church. He is remembered on Panel 12 of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra and in his home town of Ulverstone, Tasmania.
Additional Information: Born in Somerset, Tasmania in 1898, the son of Edward and Mary Hobbs of Ulverstone, Tasmania.
Although he is not shown on the Porton/Idmiston War Memorial, he is thought to be related to one of the Hobbs families living in Idmiston and Porton in the early 1900s.
Leslie Hobbs, having already served four years in the militia, enlisted on 30th November 1914 at Claremont, Tasmania and was trained as an artillery gunner. He embarked at Sydney on HMAT Hymettus on 8th February 1915 for Alexandria, Egypt where he remained until posted to Gallipoli, arriving there on 6th September 1915. A little over a month later he was taken ill and sent by sea on HMT Braemar Castle to the United Kingdom for treatment. He remained in the UK until he was posted to 105 Field Battery in France on 16th June 1916. Little is known of his movements in France. On 12th September 1917 while on leave in the UK, he was admitted to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital, Bulford and some time later he was transferred to Sutton Veny hospital where, on 11th January 1918 he died of broncho-pneumonia. He was given a private funeral on 15th January 1918 in All Saints church, Idmiston, almost certainly at the request of his relatives living there. He saw active service in Gallipoli and France but his record of service is punctuated with frequent periods of illness, the last of which sadly took his life. (Although his age is given as twenty by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he stated on his enlistment papers that he was born in 1896 which would make him 22 or thereabouts at the time of his death.)

Solomon William HIBBERD
7959 Lance Sergeant, 1st Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Died of wounds - 20th May 1916. Aged 25
He is buried in the Aubigny Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais, I.C.9.
Additional Information: The son of Josiah and Eliza Fanny Hibberd of Porton and previously of Orcheston St George.
Solomon Hibberd enlisted on 12th October 1907 and at the outbreak of the First World War he was an experienced soldier and a Lance Corporal. He did not join the 1st Wiltshires in France until 10th February 1915 quite possibly having been in a training role in the Regimental Depot in Devizes. On 11th April 1915 he was one of 4 men wounded at the front in Eizenwalle, Belgium on what the War Diary describes as a "quiet day". He suffered gunshot wounds to his forearms and was evacuated to 6 General Hospital in Boulogne on 13th April. Recovered and fit for active service he was back with his Battalion on 21st May 1915. A little under a year later, on 17th May 1916 and now the Battalion bombing sergeant, he was wounded twice. He was injured by an English 9.2 shell which dropped short onto the Wiltshire's position and also received a gunshot wound to his thigh. He was evacuated to 30 Casualty Clearing Station in Aubigny-en-Artois where he died of his wounds on 20th May 1916.

C J KING
No details have yet been traced.

Ralph LANE
219926 Able Seaman, Royal Navy, HMS Bulwark.
Killed In Action - 26th November 1914. Aged 27
He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 2.
Additional Information:- Born in Christchurch, the son of James and Jemima Lane. On the afternoon of Thursday 26th November 1914, Winston Churchill MP, the then First Lord of the Admiralty, made the following somber statement to the House of Commons: "I regret to say that I have some bad news for the House. The Bulwark battleship, which was lying in Sheerness this morning, blew up at 7.35 o'clock. The Vice and Rear Admiral, who were present have reported their conviction that it was an internal magazine explosion which rent the ship asunder. There was apparently no upheaval in the water, and the ship had entirely disappeared when the smoke had cleared away. An inquiry will be held tomorrow which may possibly throw more light on the occurrence. The loss of the ship does not sensibly affect the military position, but I regret to say that the loss of life is very severe. Only 12 men are saved. All the officers and the rest of the crew, who, I suppose amounted to between 700 and 800, have perished. I think the House would wish me to express on their behalf the deep sorrow with which the House heard the news and their sympathy with those who have lost their relatives and friends".

Hugh LESLIE
20594 Corporal, 2nd Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment (formerly 58118 Corporal in the Royal Field Artillery).
Killed In Action - 17th January 1916. Aged 24
He is buried in Carnoy Military Cemetery, Somme, Grave number U.10.
Additional Information: Born in 1892 in Poulshot, Wiltshire, the son of Hugh Leslie and Elizabeth Jane Leslie (née Shotton) of Winterslow Road, Porton.
Hugh Leslie enlisted into the Royal Field Artillery on 19th August 1914 and was soon in France. He took part in the retirement from Mons and later in the fighting leading up to the advance at Loos. On 12th November 1914 he was buried in a trench and severely injured and was returned to England where he was treated in a number of hospitals. He was found to be unfit for active service and on 18th July was transferred to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment at Devizes for home duties. Nevertheless it appears that he must have been later declared fit enough for the line because he was part of a large party of reinforcements which sailed for France from Southampton on 31st December 1915 on the Transport "Morris Queen". They disembarked on New Year's Day 1916 in Le Havre after, as Hugh describes it in his diary, "a very rough passage". Assembling in Harfleur the party was moved across France by train, motor transport and finally on their feet until they arrived at their various units. Hugh Leslie arrived at Vaux Spur, Somme on 8th January 1916 where he joined the 2nd Wiltshires and then on the following day to Bray from where, a few days later, he was moved into the trenches. He died on 17th January from a nearby bursting shell after less than a week back in action. The first of two letters from his Commanding Officer, Capt Frank R Mumford, told how Hugh had been killed instantaneously and that he had been held in high regard by all, he went on to say that "he ought to have been given a Commission long ago". In his second letter, taken home by a soldier going to England on leave to avoid the censor, he described exactly where their son was buried. This second letter was against all the rules as place names were not permitted to be mentioned in personal correspondence. It is astonishing how, amid the horrors of trench warfare, his Commanding Officer made the time to write such very caring and sympathetic letters to his parents.
Afternote: Captain Mumford was killed in action a little less than six months later and barely two miles from where Corporal Leslie fell. In all that time, the fighting had swayed back and forth over the same ground. Captain and Corporal were buried barely three miles apart.
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William LEVER
11757 Driver, 16th Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery.
Killed In Action - 30th June 1918. Aged 29
He is buried in Querrieu British Cemetery, Somme, C.30.

Thomas Christoper MURRAY
221060 Lance Corporal, 5th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 9th April 1916.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Basra Memorial, Iraq, Panels 30 and 64.
Additional Information: Thomas Murray was born in Curragh, Co Kildare but lived and worked in Porton prior to enlisting on 5th June 1915. The British Forces in Mesopotamia were attempting to relieve the city of Kut and the 5th Battalion of the Wiltshires were advancing on the Turkish defences at Sannaiyat. It was just after 4 a.m. and in the heat of the fighting and dark, the Wiltshires lost direction and while many dug in 650 yards from the enemy, others were lost. Over the next twenty four hours many men who had advanced too far managed to return, many wounded bravely crawled in and others were bravely collected by their comrades. This action cost the Battalion 23 killed, 163 wounded and 42 missing. Thomas Murray was among those missing, his body was not recovered.

Alfred John Henry PRAGNELL
283318 Gunner, 17th Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery.
Died of Wounds - 3rd July 1917. Aged 35
He is buried in Wimereux Cemetery, Pas de Calais, II.N.II.

Ernest ROBINS
749192 Private, 24th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regiment).
Killed In Action - 23rd July 1917 aged 19.
He is buried in Chocques Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, II.36.
Additional Information:- He is also commemorated on the Winterbournes War Memorial.

Charles George STYLES
365671 Private, 374 Home Service Company, Labour Corps (previously 10454 Private, 1st Battalion, Royal Fusiliers).
Died of pneumonia - 29th January 1919. Aged 32
He is buried in St Nicholas churchyard, Porton, to the North of the chancel.
Additional Information: Born in 1887 in Clapham, the son of James and Elizabeth Styles of Clapham, London and husband of Annie Elizabeth Styles (née Childs), 4 Railway Cottages, Porton
He was employed as a platelayer on the railways before enlisting into the Royal Fusiliers. The Labour Corps was manned by men who had been medically rated below the A1 condition needed for front line duties and often men who had been wounded in action and medically downgraded would also be transferred to the Labour Corps. It may be that Charles Styles, having served in the Royal Fusiliers was in this category but it is not certain. Home Service Companies were employed on a variety of tasks, road and camp building, dock work, unloading stores, repairing equipment etc but 374 Company was the exception in that it provided labour specifically for the construction of the military railway at Porton Down Camp. As a railway platelayer before enlistment, Charles Styles was a natural choice for such a unit and fortunately for him, one which was so close to his home.

Arthur John THOMAS (Brother of Oliver Robert Thomas below)
14109 Lance Corporal, 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards.
Died of Wounds - 2nd August 1917. Aged 28
He is buried in the Mendinghem Military Cemetery, grave reference III.E.25.
Additional Information: Born in Forston, Dorset the son of Edward G and Harriett Thomas. In the early part of the 1900s his father was working as a dairy man in Tolpuddle moving to Idmiston sometime before 1911. In 1911 Arthur was working as an under-dairyman with his father and living at The Dairy House, Idmiston.
A great offensive in Flanders, known as the Battle of Passchendaele - sometimes referred to as the Third Battle of Ypres was launched on 31st July 1917, the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards was among those at the front of the assault. The attack began at 3.50 a.m. with heavy supporting artillery fire and the enemy were driven back as planned and good progress was made. The weather later intervened in favour of the Germans for during the evening of that first day the rain poured down in torrents and continued without break for four days. The whole area was already devastated from the conflict, everything was in ruins with roads broken up and the land a complete carpet of shell holes. Now the rain poured into the trenches and men stood up to their knees in water with no protection. The country became a bog with shell holes becoming lethally filled with water and thick, unforgiving mud. No hot food could be got to the men, they were soaked and under continual shell fire. To keep warm during lulls in the fighting, they had to dig, to exercise in any other way was to attract fire. On 31st July and 1st August the Battalion lost forty five killed and one hundred and sixty wounded. The fighting continued on 2nd August and it was on this day, in the most awful conditions, that Arthur Thomas, alongside many others, was killed.

Oliver Robert THOMAS (Brother of Arthur John Thomas above)
7896 Private, 1st Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 26th October 1914. Aged 22
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial, Panel 33 and 34.
Additional Information: Born in Tolpuddle, Dorset the son of Edward G and Harriett Thomas. During the early 1900s his father worked as a dairy man in Tolpuddle and moved to The Dairy House, Idmiston sometime before 1911, but nothing is known of Oliver's working life before enlistment.
On 26th October 1914 the 1st Wiltshires were fighting around Neuve Chapelle, France. At 1 p.m. the enemy shelled the Wiltshires' trenches very heavily and at 4.30 p.m. the Germans moved through on the left. The Germans were driven back to the burning village behind them and the Wiltshires advanced to clear the village with the bayonet. The fighting was confused and bitter, going on through the night with bayonet attacks having to be made to repulse the enemy. Casualties on that day were one officer killed, two severely wounded, 20 men killed, 40 wounded and 10 missing. It was during this day that Oliver Thomas was killed, his body was not recovered.

Sidney Herbert UPHILL
201144 1st/5th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry.
Died of wounds while a Prisoner of War - 10th August 1917.
He is buried in Tourcoing (Pont Neuville) Communal Cemetery-Nord, O.6.
Additional Information: Exactly how and when Sydney Uphill was captured by the enemy is not known. There are two occasions when he might have been taken. The first was on 25th July 1918 when an attack by the Durham Light Infantry resulted in them capturing 27 Germans and killing a considerable number more. Soon afterwards, in a counter attack, the Germans lost between twenty and thirty men but the Durham Light Infantry suffered 22 killed, a considerable number wounded and one man taken prisoner. The second was on 10th August (the date of Pte Uphill's death) when a party of the enemy attacked a very advanced and isolated post held by a non-commissioned officer and four men. Of the five men, one was unscathed, three were wounded and one missing. Tourcoing Communal Cemetery in which Pte Uphill is buried was then in German hands and it was a cemetery they used to bury Allied dead. After the Armistice 68 British Prisoner of War Graves were re-grouped into the British plot.

John WAGG
9122 Private, 1st Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment (brother of George Charles Wagg below).
Killed In Action - 6th September 1914 at the Battle of the Marne.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on La Ferte-Sous-Jour Memorial, Seine-et-Marne.
Additional Information: Born in Dorset, the son of Henry George and Ellen Eliza (stepmother) of Porton Down Barn.
Although his record of service was destroyed, John Wagg must have enlisted some time before war was declared for him to move to France with the 1st Wiltshires on 14th August 1914, just ten days after the declaration. It was the first few hours of the Battle of the Marne, a battle which would bring the German advance to a halt, stalemate and the beginning of years of trench warfare. The Battalion advanced North as part of the Advance Guard of the Division. With the enemy fighting well and giving ground very slowly, the Battalion entered the village of Hautefeville. Moving on after dusk they encountered stubborn enemy picquets but pushed on to Charnois arriving at 1 am Sometime during that long advance, John Wagg was killed, his body never being recovered.
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George Charles WAGG
8924 Private, 1st Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment (brother of John Wagg above).
Died from an accidental shooting in the trenches - 26th May 1916, aged 21.
Additional Information: Born in Dorset, the son of Henry George and Ellen Eliza (stepmother) of Porton Down Barn.
George Wagg enlisted into the Wiltshire Regiment at Devizes on 17th October 1912. He moved to France with the 2nd Battalion on 14th August 1914. Having survived the Battles of the Marne and of the Aisne, George Wagg became ill with impetigo and admitted to 7 Field Ambulance on 30th September 1914. He had barely recovered when, on 15th October he had to be taken out of the line suffering with a heart problem. He was initially treated at 1 General Hospital near Boulogne and then returned to England on the 'Carisbrooke Castle'. After lengthy treatment he rejoined his Battalion in France on 12th June 1915. For the next eleven months he was in constant action but on 25th May 1916, while in the trenches he was accidently shot in the abdomen and right thigh and died the next day in 30 Casualty Clearing Station at the age of twenty one.
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Frederick William YEATES
K23427 (formerly SS111893) Stoker 1st Class. HM Submarine D3.
Lost his life on Duty - 15th March 1918. Aged 24.
He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Plaque 30.
Additional Information: Born 3rd February 1894 the son of William George and Annie E Yeates of Mount Pleasant, Porton. In early 1916 he married Lillian Grace Gould of 56, Little Southsea Street, Portsmouth and had a son, Frederick William in late 1917.
Frederick Yeates joined the Royal Navy for 5 years (with 7 years on the Reserve) in 1912 reporting to HMS Victory for training on 12th March. After a little over two years, he was transferred for service on Submarines eventually joining the ill-fated D3. The submarine had been on anti-submarine patrol in the English Channel since 7th March 1918 but little is known of its movements except that a Royal Naval airship spotted her on 11th March. The D3 was seen the next day at about 1420 hours by a French airship AT-O patrolling the coast of NW Dieppe. As the airship closed in for identification purposes, the Captain of the airship reported that the submarine had fired at him. The Captain interpreted this an attack and responded with machine gun fire, very quickly following up with two bombs which exploded very close to the bows of the submarine which by now was diving. Four more bombs were dropped just forward of where the submarine had submerged and four minutes later men were seen in the water. The airship tried to rescue the men but it proved too difficult, assistance was requested but by the time it arrived all the men had drowned. The rockets fired by the D3 were, in fact, identification rockets but mistaken by the French for aggressive fire. There were no survivors.
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Herbert George YEATES
9220 Private, 5th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 9th April 1916.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Basra Memorial, Iraq, Panels 30 and 64.

1939 to 1945

Sidney Charles James CLAY
P/J 115405 Petty Officer, Royal Navy, HMS Belmont.
Killed In Action - 31st January 1942 aged 32.
He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 62, Column 2.
Additional Information:- HMS Belmont (H 46), formerly USS Satterlee (DD 190) an American built destroyer, was serving in the 3rd Escort Group when she was torpedoed by a German submarine U-82. She was south of Newfoundland in position 42° 2′ N. 57° 18′ W. There were no survivors, all 138 crew perished. (U 82, returning from successful operations off the East coast of North America, was sunk in a depth charge attack by HMS Rochester and HMS Tamarisk).

James Ritchie GARRIOCK
541034 Corporal, Royal Air Force.
Died on 25th February 1944 while a Prisoner of War of the Japanese.
He is buried in Ambon War Cemetery, The Molucca Islands, Indonesia, 14.A.9.
Additional Information:- He is also remembered on the World War Two Memorial plaque in St Andrew's church, Boscombe.

George Sidney HARDIMAN
P/KX 92864 Stoker 1st Class, Royal Navy, HMS Grenville.
Killed In Action - 10th January 1940 aged 21.
He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 42, Column 1.
Additional Information:- Son of Violet Annie Hardiman of Salisbury.
HMS Grenville was a G Class Destroyer launched in 1935. HMS Grenville returned from the Mediterranean in 1939 and deployed in the English Channel on anti-submarine duty. In January 1940 now employed on patrol and convoy defence duties was deployed in attempts to intercept enemy shipping traffic off the Dutch and German North Sea coasts. While returning home from one of these missions on 19th January she detonated a mine 23 miles east of Kentish Knock Light vessel at position 51? 39'N 02?17'E. The ship quickly capsized, her bow being the last part of her to disappear. Two ships from the Flotilla disregarded their safety and lowered boats to pluck 118 men from the water. Sadly, seventy seven of the crew lost their life, including George Hardiman.

Allen William KELLY
7886064 Lance Corporal, 6th Royal Tank Regiment.
Died of Wounds - 6th October 1940. Aged 22
He is buried in Alexandria (Chatby) Military and War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt, N.30.
Additional Information: Born in 1918 in Leicestershire, the son of Frederick William and Elsie Matilda Kelly (née Marlow) of "Hillside", Porton.
Little is known of Allen Kelly's early service but in 1940 he was in Egypt in "A" Company, 6th RTR, and most probably a tank crew member. The Regiment was in the heavily bombed Matruh area mainly engaged on patrols and active reconnaissance. Sometime in early September 1940 he suffered accidental gunshot wounds but no details of the incident are known. The injuries were severe and on 11th September he was placed on the "Seriously Ill" List; his condition continued to worsen and on 27th September he was placed on the "Dangerously Ill" List. Sadly he died on 6th October nearly a month after the tragic accident.

Samson LANE
P/JX 323027 Ordinary Seaman, Royal Navy, HM Steam Gun Boat No 7.
Killed In Action - 19th June 1942 aged 19.
He is commemorated on Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 65, Column 3.
Additional Information:- Son of Samson and Emily Lane of Salisbury.
Steam Gun Boat 7 was the only ship of the 1st SGB Flotilla to be lost despite being in regular action for over three years. In the early hours of 19th June 1942, SGB 7 was part of a patrol in the English Channel which sighted an enemy convoy consisting of two supply ships escorted by an armed trawler and at least six E Boats. The patrol attacked, torpedoing the larger of the two German supply ships and hitting some of the E Boats with gunfire. SGB7 when hit and disabled was, because of its new design, scuttled by setting charges and blowing it up. Four of the crew, including Samson Lane died in the battle but the remainder of the crew were picked up by the Germans and interned.

John Sheppard Hewitt LUPTON
82667 Pilot Officer (Pilot), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 14 Operational Training Unit.
Died in a flying accident - 27th September 1940 aged 21.
He is buried in All Saints churchyard, Idmiston, South of the church tower.
Additional Information:- Son of the Rev Albert Horner and Mrs Alice Lupton of The Rectory, Idmiston.
During his training, Pilot Officer Lupton took off from Cottesomore in a Hampden bomber (No P4306) for his second solo but at 0930 hours he flew into a tree at Squires Farm, Langham two mile from Oakham.

Robert Hillhouse MACLAREN
Major (Acting Colonel) OBE MC MA, Royal Engineers, Commander Chemical Warfare Troops, Royal Engineers.
Died accidentally - 20th May 1941. Aged 43
He is buried in Tidworth Military Cemetery, Section E (Officers), Grave 57.
He is also remembered by a two foot square rough-hewn granite slab erected by his fellow Royal Engineers on Bodmin Moor, near the spot he died.
Additional Information: Born 2nd March 1898 in Scotland, the third son of John Finlay and Clara (née Hillhouse) and husband of Kathleen Vida (née Annan) of Parsonage Mead, Winterbourne Earls.
Robert Maclaren was commissioned into the Royal Engineers on 26th August 1916, joining 154 Field Company RE in France in April 1917. Between then and the end of the war, he was wounded three times and awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and initiative.
Deciding to stay in the Army he served in North Russia, China, Egypt and Abyssinia. Always vigorous and active he was the surveyor and navigator to the Cambridge Greenland expedition and while in Egypt carried out long tours of exploration in the desert.
At the outbreak of the Second World War he was Major Commanding 58 Chemical Warfare Company at Porton. When 58 Company left for France in February 1940 he remained behind, promoted to Lieutenant Colonel specifically to form and command the first of the Groups into which newly formed Chemical Warfare Companies would be organised. By May 1940 he had two CW Companies ready and took them to France where he managed to get his old Company, 58, back under his command. He organised his troops into a remarkably effective force delaying the rapidly advancing Germans in the encirclement towards Dunkirk often acting as infantry as well as carrying out a Royal Engineers speciality - blowing up bridges! His Group suffered a number of casualties and although split up eventually reached the coast some eight miles east of Dunkirk. With great initiative he moved them to Dunkirk itself and back to England. He was awarded the OBE for his daring and determined work during this period.
Winter 1940/41 saw his Group located around Exmoor with an extensive firing range high up on the moor. His Companies had to be trained in the use of a new weapon - a five inch rocket with a gas-filled warhead. The rockets were set up on stands singly in lines of twenty and fired in succession in a ripple effect. The stands were proving unstable and Robert Maclaren had the idea of firing the rockets from permanently mounted stands on the back of trucks. On 20th May 1941 a demonstration of this new technique was organised and firing commenced under his personal control. Things went wrong very quickly with each succeeding rocket flying higher as the stands began to buckle and disintegrate violently, until eventually one rocket went almost vertically and then went to the rear of the assembled observers to explode some four hundred yards behind them. No one appeared to be hurt except for Robert Maclaren who was down. A sliver of metal had flown at him like a dart penetrating him deeply below the fifth rib. Nothing could be done to save him. It was never clear whether the piece of metal which struck him came from the rocket exploding on impact to the rear of the party or whether it was from the shattered stands on the truck.
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Thomas Harry OAKES
5569567 Private, 2nd/7th Queens Royal Regiment (West Surrey).
Killed In Action - 21st May 1940 aged 22.
He is buried in Conty Communal Cemetery, Somme, France, one of only three British graves in this cemetery.

Leonard Thomas Norris PARKES
P/KX 84216 Petty Officer Stoker, Royal Navy, HMS Penelope.
Killed In Action - 18th February 1944 aged 29.
He is commemorated on Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 85, Column 2.
Additional Information: Enlisted on 29th May 1934. Son of John and Daisy Parkes and husband of F Parkes of Leyton, Essex.
HMS Penelope was engaged in many actions in the Mediterranean from the outset of the war being severely damaged on more than one occasion. On 18th February 1944, HMS Penelope was steaming west of Naples when she was torpedoed by the German Submarine U410. The ship was struck four times and sank with the loss of 435 men. The dead are remembered on a plaque in St Anne's Church, Portsmouth. The ship was affectionately and proudly nicknamed "HMS Pepperpot" by the crew on account of the enormous shrapnel damage she bore from the large number of occasions she had been engaged in action. (U410 was sunk by the USAAF just three weeks later on 11th March 1944 while alongside at Toulon).

Victor John PARSONS
P/KX 82762 Leading Stoker, DSM, Royal Navy, HM Submarine Snapper.
Killed In Action - 12th February 1941 aged 26.
He is commemorated on Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Panel 54, Column 2.

John Peter SADD
106188 Pilot Officer (Pilot), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 153 Squadron.
Killed In Action - 19th July 1942 aged 24.
He is buried in All Saints churchyard, Idmiston, on the South side of the church.
Additional Information:- Son of Major John Ambrose and Doris Sadd of Salisbury.

John SPARKE
637846 Corporal, Royal Air Force.
Died of natural causes - 27th September 1943 aged 23.
He is buried in St Nicholas churchyard, Porton, Grave 2, North of the chancel.
Additional Information:- Son of John and Ellen Maud Sparke of Boscombe Village. Husband of Kathleen Sylvia Sparke also of Boscombe Village. He is also remembered on the World War Two Memorial Plaque in St Andrew's church, Boscombe.

Alfred James Ernest TOMPKINS
5575800 Corporal, 4th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 22nd July 1944 aged 24.
He is buried in Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery, Hautot-Sur-Mer, Seine Maritime, France, H.47.
Additional Information:- Son of Alfred James and Esther Julia Tompkins of Hinton St George, Somerset.

Arthur Edward WARNER
555485 Trooper, C Squadron, Queen's Bays (2 DG) Royal Armoured Corps.
Killed In Action - 17th April 1945 aged 25.
He is buried in the Argenta Gap War Cemetery, Italy, II.B.19.
Additional Information:- Son of Alfred William and Kathleen (née Kavanagh) Warne of Porton.

G WILLIAMS
No details have yet been traced.

Edward Albert (Jack)WRIXON
No service details have yet been traced. It is known that he died in Salisbury Infirmary on 9th June 1942 of natural causes, aged 24 and is buried in St Nicholas churchyard, Porton. From anecdotal evidence, it is thought that he was invalided out of one of the Services and perhaps because of wounds received at Dunkirk.
The 1939 Electoral Roll shows him as residing at 8 Council Houses, Porton.
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THE WINTERBOURNES          BACK

The Winterbournes War Memorial consists of a granite cross, 11 feet in height, rising from a
plinth and pedestal. It stands in a corner of the churchyard of St Michael, Winterbourne Earls.
The cross was unveiled on Sunday 2nd February 1921 and bore the names of twenty three local men who died in the First World War. Following upon the end of the Second World War, a further six names of those who fell in that later conflict were added.
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1914 to 1918

Horace Carl BEKEN
Number 3, Sergeant, 8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Manitoba Regiment) formerly of the 90th Winnipeg Rifles.
Killed In Action - 24th April 1915 aged 30.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Panels 24-26-28-30.
Additional Information - Son of Moses and Maria Beken of Winterbourne Earls and husband of Gertrude Alice Beken (née Bradley) of 5 Park Gate, Roker, Sunderland. Born on 11th February 1885 in Winterbourne Earls, Horace Beken at some time in his teens or perhaps as a young man, made his way to Canada. He served for three years in the 90th Winnipeg Rifles and later as an electrician for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company. With the outbreak of the First World War he enlisted into the 8th Battalion (Manitoba Regiment) Canadian Infantry on the 23rd September 1914. The 8th Battalion was part of the newly formed 1st Canadian Division, a force of over 30,500 men, 7000 horses, motor and wagon transport. The Division sailed for the United Kingdom in a convoy of 33 ocean liners and naval escorts arriving at Plymouth on the 14th October 1914. They were very soon on Salisbury Plain spread among Bustard, West Down South, West Down North, Pond Farm, Larkhill and Sling Plantation Camps. Many of these camps were still under construction and the Canadians had to assist in their completion. Horace Beken certainly had the opportunity to visit his family in Winterbourne Earls and he also found time to marry Gertrude Alice Bradley before the end of the year. In early February 1915, after four months of gruelling training on the Plain in a particularly harsh winter of mud, cold and rain, the Division moved to France. From the outset, the 8th Battalion saw heavy fighting but near St Julien in the Second Battle for Ypres, the Germans unleashed, for the first time effectively, a new weapon - chlorine gas. The gas was first used on 22nd April 1914 by the attacking troops of the German 53rd Reserve Division, a glorious day with the temperature in the seventies. The Germans anticipated that the gas would cause the collapse of the French on whom they used the gas. They were correct; it caused the French to vacate their trenches and struggle to the rear. This stumbling mass of soldiers, eyes streaming, choking and unable to speak, many collapsing unable to breath passed by the British and Canadian lines. Two days later on the 24th April, gas was used on the 8th Battalion trenches. Having no equipment to combat the gas, the Canadians could only resort to using wetted rags which afforded little or no protection. In one account of this terrible day it says - "It is difficult today, perhaps, to imagine how these men felt as they waited for the pall of gas, which rose to a height of fifteen feet, to reach them. It is just as difficult to imagine the courage it required for them to stand quietly and wait, knowing full well that even if the gas did not kill or disable them they would be required to face up to a frontal attack from the Germans. Nevertheless, the Canadians of the 8th and 15th Battalions did just that in the early hours of the morning of the 24th April." The 8th Battalion War Diary for the 24th April records - ".....bluish clouds from the German trenches - GAS. Germans shelled for 13 minutes then advanced but were driven back by our artillery and as many men as could handle their rifles. After the Germans had retired, most of the men collapsed from the effects of the gas......" Captain Watson, Commanding Officer of "A" Company, who was returned to Canada to recuperate after being gassed wrote an article in the Winnipeg Free Press News Bulletin describing how his Company had fought and also gave detailed accounts of many of his men. Of Horace Beken he wrote "Sgt Beken gave up the position of electrical foreman at the G.T.P shops, Transcona - earning $5 per day - to join the overseas forces. When Sgt Simpson went under, he took charge as platoon sergeant and about noon of April 24th came along the trench to where I was lying gassed. I couldn't speak, and I saw he was choking to death. He wanted to say something, but couldn't get it out. He dropped by my side on the grass dead. Just before he left for France he married a girl at Salisbury Plain." Later that year Horace Beken's wife, who had returned to her parent's home in Sunderland, gave birth to a son in Sunderland.
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C BLAKE
No details have yet been traced.

James BRIGHT
4920 Private, 2nd/8th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 27th August 1916. Aged 24
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, Panel 22 to 25.
Additional Information: Born in Alderbury in 1893. Son of George and Ellen Bright of Manor Farm, Winterbourne Earls.
On 19th August 1916 after a period of intense fighting, the Battalion was relieved by one of their sister regiments, the 2/5th, and moved back to billets at Riez Bailleul. On 20th August the majority of the unit, still weary and ill kept, went to La Gorgue where bathing facilities had been established for them. While enjoying a well earned rest from the forward trenches, the men were still occupied in training, sports and work parties. There was still a need for men to return to the front and on 24th August at 11 p.m. 'B' Company were called upon to raid enemy trenches. A Bangalore torpedo was exploded to blow a gap in the enemy's defences and the trenches entered and the enemy engaged. Having expended their store of bombs, the Company returned. They had suffered casualties - 8 men having been killed, 4 wounded and 4 missing. The following night (25th August) an exploration of No Man's Land was carried out by 2 officers and 32 men to investigate the fate of the missing men. One of them returned wounded, two were found dead and just one remained undiscovered. It is almost certain that the missing soldier was James Bright. He was formally declared "missing" and then listed as "killed in action" on 27th August 1916.
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Henry BROWNING
12421 Private, "A" Company, 7th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Died of Wounds - 26th January 1917. Aged 22
He is buried in the Salonika (Lembet Road) Military Cemetery, grave 783. Additional Information: Born in Kings Worthy, near Winchester, the son of Thomas and Anna Laura (Neé White) of Quarley, near Andover. Henry, also known as Harold worked as a dairyman's assistant on leaving school. He lived for some years in Winterbourne Gunner with his uncle and aunt, Charles and Sarah Ewence, while his parents and three sisters lived near Taunton.
The 7th Battalion moved to France in September 1915 but in November was redeployed to Salonika. On the night of 23rd/24th December 1917 a raiding party was sent into the enemy lines. Few details are known of the outcome but it is known that it was on this raid that Henry Browning was wounded. He died of his wounds a month later at the 4th Canadian General Hospital.

Harold CALLAWAY
32654 Private, 2nd Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Died of wounds - 9th May 1918, aged 21.
He is buried in Arneke British Cemetery-Nord, H.E.18.
Additional Information: Born in 1897 the son of George and Jane Callaway of Winterbourne Dauntsey.
Harold worked on a local farm before enlisting at Salisbury into the 2nd Wiltshires. His date of enlistment and service subsequent to the time of his death is not known. The 2nd Wiltshires had suffered enormously in March 1918 with over 600 men captured, killed or wounded. During April the remains of the Battalion arrived near Ypres and, with many men from the 6th Wiltshires joining them, they were sent to hold the line at Gheluvelt. During April and May they once again saw severe fighting and it was during this period, the exact date not known, that Harold Callaway was wounded and subsequently evacuated to a Clearing Station or Stationary Hospital a few miles to the West where he died.

G ELLIOTT
No details have yet been traced.

Harold GOODFELLOW
64146 Private, 10th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.
Killed In Action - 19th July 1918 aged 33.
He is buried in Amand British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, IV.B.18.
Additional Information:- Son of Mr Henry Goodfellow of Winterbourne Gunner.

John JACOBS (brother of Frederick below)
4760 Company Sergeant Major, 1st Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 19th October 1914, aged 33
He has no known grave and is commemorated on Le Touret Memorial, Pas de Calais, IV.B.18.
Additional Information: Born in Coombe Bissett in late 1881 the son of John and Hannah Jacobs who later moved to Winterbourne Earls.
On 28th March 1897 John enlisted into the 3rd Wiltshires declaring his age to be 17 years and 6 months when he was, in fact, only 16 years old - a common enough occurrence in those days. Although his record of service was destroyed it is most probably that he served in India and South Africa. The 3rd Battalion moved to Tidworth in 1913 after four years in South Africa. A very experienced soldier and having risen to the rank of Company Sergeant Major, John was transferred to the 1st Battalion just before it moved to France in August 1914. On the morning of 19th October the Battalion was engaged in continual fighting near Ligny-le-Grand, France and could make little ground due to heavy shell and rifle fire. In the afternoon the enemy used heavy guns forcing the Battalion to halt. Casualties on that day were 12 killed and 21 wounded; John Jacobs was one of those killed.

Frederick JACOBS (brother of John above)
3145 Bombardier, 113 Battery, Royal Field Artillery.
Killed In Action - 19th September 1914.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial, Seine-et-Marne, France.

Charles KING
3329 Private, 2nd/7th Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment.
Died (cause unknown) - 18th November 1918 aged 20.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Kirkee 1914-1918 Memorial, India, Face 6.
Additional Information:- Son of Charles and Agnes King of the Winterbournes.

George KYTE
17506 Private, 2nd Battalion, The Grenadier Guards.
Killed In Action - 30th November 1917.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial, Louverval, France, Panel 2.

Charles MAY
12164 Private, 6th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 29th September 1915. Aged 24.
He is buried in Brown's Road Military Cemetery, Festubert, Pas de Calais, II.A.6.

William MORRIS
22922 Private, 2nd Battalion The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 3rd December 1917. Aged 25.
He is buried in Hooge Crater Cemetery, Leper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Grave XVII.J.12.
Additional Information: Born in Idmiston, the son of James and Fanny Morris.
William Morris was in 'B' Company of the 2nd Battalion holding support trenches to the east of Ypres. At noon on 3rd December 1917 the 2nd New Zealand Infantry Brigade attacked Polderhoek Chateau and the Germans retaliated by heavily shelling the support and back areas of the 2nd Battalion inflicting many casualties on 'B' Company. William Morris was one of seven killed in this bombardment.

Reginald Bennett MUSPRATT
184223 Private, 214 Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery.
Died of pneumonia - 4th November 1918 while on home leave from France, aged 21.
He is buried in Witchampton (All Saints) churchyard, Dorset, in the North West corner.

Harry MUSSELWHITE
4975 Company Sergeant Major, 6th (Service) Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Died of Wounds - 29th April 1918. Aged 38.
He is buried in Alderbury (St Mary) churchyard, near the North West corner of the church.
Additional Information:- Born in Hanging Langford. Son of James and Emma Musselwhite. Husband of Lena of Walden Cottage, West Grimstead.

Horace Stanley PORTER
12419 Private, 7th Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Died In Action - 24th April 1917. Aged 24.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Doiran Memorial, Greece.
Additional Information: Horace Porter was the son of Mr J and Mrs Elizabeth Porter of Winterbourne Dauntsey and employed as an agricultural worker before enlisting in September 1914 into the Wiltshire Regiment.
On the night of 24th April 1917, starting at 9.05 p.m. the 7th Wiltshires together with the 12th Hampshires and 10th Devons put in a co-ordinated attack on the enemy positions in the Doiran Sector, Greece. Horace Porter was in 'A' Company which had to attack along a ravine on which the enemy were prepared and waiting and had aligned their weapons skilfully. The withering rifle and machine gun fire was devastating and the Company was forced to lie down in shell holes in front of the enemy. Although they had managed to cut a few gaps in the enemy wire only a few were able to get through into the enemy trenches but were not seen again. By this time all the officers had become casualties and orders were given to withdraw and get what was left of them back to the rear lines. Horace Porter lost his life in this gallant but disastrous action; his body was not recovered.

Ernest ROBBINS
749192 Private, 24th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regiment).
Died In Action - 23rd July 1917 aged 19.
He is buried in Choques Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, I.L.36.
Additional Information:- He is also commemorated on the Porton War Memorial.

George William SAWYER
19100 Private, 1st Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Died In Action - 23rd October 1918. Aged 30
He is buried in Ovillers New Communal Cemetery, Nord, France, A.7/26.
Additional Information: Born in 1888 in Ablington, Wiltshire the son of William and Mary Jane (née Harris) of West Down Barn, Winterbourne Gunner. Employed as an Under Carter on a local farm.
George Sawyer enlisted into The Wiltshires on 8th March 1915. Having completed training he embarked at Southampton on 24th July 1915 with the 19th Reinforcements for France and four days later reached the 1st Wiltshires on the line. Less than three weeks later he was seriously wounded and evacuated to a Field Hospital on 12th August. On 18th August he was returned to England for treatment. It is not known when he returned to France, but over three years later he was at Ovillers, France with the 1st Wiltshires in yet another attack on the Germans. The attack began at 2 a.m. and by the end of the day the Battalion had succeeded in taking all its objectives, but at a cost. Two officers and 23 soldiers killed, 4 officers and 120 soldiers wounded and seven soldiers missing. George Sawyer was one of the twenty three soldiers killed on that day.

Ernest Archibald SKINNER
2Lt. 24th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps
Died of Wounds - 26th November 1917. Aged 24
He is buried in Nine Elms British Cemetery, West Flanders. Grave IX.A.12.
Additional Information: Son of William and Lydia Jessie Skinner of 11 Park Street, Islington, London N. His mother Lydia (née Smith) was born in Winterbourne Gunner. For many years, her parents and family ran a grocers and drapers shop together with the Post Office.
Little can be discovered about Ernest Skinner's military service except that he took part in the 3rd Battle of Ypres, one of the most costly battles in terms of British casualties, of the war. The exact date and circumstances of Ernest being wounded are not known but it is highly probable that he was evacuated to either the 3rd Australian or 44th Casualty Clearing Station in Poperinghe as nearly all the burials in Plots I to IX come from these two units.

Richard Edward Elcho SKYRME
2nd Lieutenant, 3rd Battalion (attached to 1st Battalion) The Wiltshire Regiment.
Killed In Action - 8th February 1917. Aged 22.
He is buried in Pegstreert Wood Military Cemetery, Warneton, West Flanders, I.B.2.
Additional Information: The elder son of the Reverend Frank Elcho and Jane Elcho (née Price) born at Devizes on 13th January 1895. Educated at St John's School, Leatherhead and on leaving was employed in Lloyds Bank.
He was granted a commission in the Wiltshire Regiment on 20th June 1915 and moved to France in August 1916 attached to A Company, 1st Battalion. He took part in the Battle of the Somme and on 6th February 1917 was killed in action at Ploegsteert. On 7th February his Commanding Officer, Lt Col E Williams wrote to his parents ".............He was killed instantaneously last night at about 5.30 I think by a sniper. He was in the front line and looked over the parapet as many others were doing at "Stand to" when a bullet hit him in the head and he never moved a muscle after that...........................".

Vester VINEY
7958 Private, 1st Battalion, The Wiltshire Regiment.
Died - 13th November 1918, while a Prisoner of War of the Germans. Aged 29.
He is buried in Niederzwehren Cemetery, Germany, IX.F.12.
Additional Information:- Son of M Viney of Ford.

W WILLIAMS
164819 Gunner, Royal Field Artillery.
Died - 7th May 1920.
He is buried in St Michael churchyard, Winterbourne Earls, south of the chancel.

G H WICKS
Major, OBE, General List attached to the Royal Engineers.
Died - 21 August 1921.
He is buried in St Mary's churchyard, Winterbourne Gunner, on the West boundary. His grave is marked by a privately erected cross and not a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone.

1939 to 1945

John AUSTIN (brother of Sydney shown below)
109358 Flying Officer, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 78 Squadron.
Killed In Action - 24th August 1943.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, Panel 123.
Additional Information:- Son of Everett & Leila May Austin.
John Austin took off at 2032 hours from Breighton in his Halifax bomber (No JD 305 EY-J) for a raid on Berlin. The aircraft was very badly shot about by night fighters inflicting severe damage to the engines. Austin made a valiant attempt to reach base but crashed into the North Sea. Austin and two of his crew were killed, three were badly injured, with only one, Sgt Russell, unscathed. Supported by Sgt Russell the three injured clung to an empty fuel tank which had become detached from the aircraft on impact. One of the injured slipped from the tank and drowned. After 16 hours the remaining three were picked up by an air sea rescue launch but the two injured men did not survive the journey home. Sgt Russell was awarded the DFM for his courage and devotion.
Click for picture

Sydney AUSTIN (brother of John shown above)
101200 Flying Officer, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 85 Squadron.
Killed In Action - 31st October 1941.
He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, Panel 29.
Additional Information:- Son of Everett and Leila May Austin.
While on patrol in his Havoc, Flying Officer Austin crashed into the sea during an engagement with hostile aircraft in the darkness over a convoy off Deal at about 2010 hours.
Click for picture

Newton Charles BAILEY
5573346 Private, 4th Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment. (formerly of The Wiltshire Regiment).
Died on 4th October 1943 as a Prisoner of War of the Japanese while working on the Burma Railway.
He is buried in Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery, Burma, B6.H.16.
Additional Information: Son of Edward George and Lillian Beatrice Bailey (née Musselwhite) of 27, Council Houses, Winterbourne Gunner.
He joined the Wiltshire Regiment in 1940 and was part of a contingent transferred in June 1940 to reinforce the 4th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment. On 28th October 1941, as part of 18 Division, the Battalion sailed from Liverpool, their destination was not disclosed but thought to be Bombay. They stopped at Halifax, Nova Scotia and again at Port Trinidad. It was while they were in mid Atlantic that they heard the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour and the invasion of Malaya. After a stop at Cape Town they arrived in Bombay on 27th December and the battalion moved 200 miles inland to Ahmednagar. With the Japanese sweeping down the Malayan Peninsular, 18 Division was ordered to Singapore. The 4th Battalion sailed from Bombay on 19th January 1942 arriving in Singapore ten days later. The Japanese had reached Johore Bahru and soon crossed the Johore Strait onto Singapore island. After confused and fierce fighting the British Army formally surrendered to the Japanese at 7 p.m. on 15th February 1942. The 4th Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment was marched into captivity in Changi Barracks but five of its members, including Newton Charles Bailey decided to escape from the island by boat and make for Sumatra or the other islands. Exactly how this was achieved and whether the five were together is not known but Newton Bailey eventually arrived in Sumatra. Unfortunately he was unable to travel further before the arrival of the Japanese Army and he became a prisoner of war and moved to Padang in the South of the Island. On 9th May 1942, twenty officers and 480 other ranks, composed of mostly escapees and others considered by the Japanese to be trouble makers where paraded preparatory to leaving for an unknown destination. This body of men became known as The British Sumatra Battalion - Pte Bailey was part of it. The Battalion was moved by train, road and then packed into a ship - the England Maru and taken to Burma where they were engaged building runways for the Japanese Air Force. On 10th August they were moved to help construct the infamous Burma Railway. From the day they left Padang there had been increasing deaths among the prisoners due to the appalling conditions and ill treatment. This death rate persisted as they built the railway and it was on 4th October 1943 that Newton Charles Bailey died at 55 Kilometre Camp at Khonkan where a hospital had been established in July 1943. (Camps were established as the railway moved forward and named by the length of track completed - thus 55 Kilometre Camp.) The other four men of the 4th Royal Norfolks who made their escape from Singapore became part of the British Sumatra Battalion and, like Private Bailey, also died building the railway.
Note: See also the entry for Frederick DAUBNEY of Newton Tony, a fellow resident of the Bourne Valley and member of 4th Royal Norfolk Regiment in the Far East.

Albert Victor DINGLEY
14415587 Fusilier, 6th Battalion, The Royal Scots Fusiliers.
Killed In Action - 3rd August 1944 aged 19.
He is buried in St Charles De Percy War Cemetery, Calvados, France, Plot 1, Row D, Grave 7.

George William JEFFERYS
754867 Sergeant (Pilot), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 46 Squadron.
Killed In Action - 18th September 1940. Aged 20.
He is buried in the churchyard of St Michaels and All Angels, Winterbourne Earls, north of the chancel. On display in the church is the wooden cross which was used as a temporary marker on his grave at the time of his death. It bears the inscription 'Sgt. Pilot G.W.JEFFERYS RAF.VR. Aged 20 years. Killed in action. 18. 9. 40'.
Additional Information: Born in Watford, the son of Samuel William and Henrietta Emily Jefferys (née Morley) of Winterbourne Earls.
George Jefferys was posted to 43 Squadron from 46 Squadron which was equipped with Hawker Hurricane interceptor fighters. 46 Squadron moved from its base in Digby in Lincolnshire to Stapleford Tawney in Epping Forest to help in what was a critical fight against the continuous assault by the Luftwaffe. On 15th September, George Jefferys who had already had some success in the air, assisted in the shooting down of a Dornier 215 a long range heavy bomber. He had already tried to engage another Dornier 215 but there were other Hurricanes already attacking so he had turned to another one he had observed about three miles away. In his Combat Report he writes "I pursued it and fired 3 3-second bursts from 200 yards attacking from the beam and quarter positions. Several other friendly fighters also attacked this aircraft, which began to lose height. With the other fighters I followed it down and saw it crash in some trees, and burst into flames, at a point several miles south of London. I then returned to base".
Three days later around midday on 18th September, a bright day with showers, he was again in the air engaging the enemy. Earlier there had been some fifteen RAF Squadrons battling with a considerable number of enemy aircraft and the losses had been heavy on both sides. Now, in a fresh attack, a contingent of enemy bombers had managed to reach the Medway towns and began to pound Chatham and Rochester unopposed. Sgt Jeffereys was part of the force scrambled to meet them. At 12.42 p.m. his aircraft was hit and he was forced to bale out over Chatham but his parachute failed to deploy. On that day nineteen German aircraft were shot down and although the RAF lost twelve, only three British pilots were killed, regrettably George Jefferys was one of them.

Henry George SPRY
1199563 Leading Aircraftman, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
Died on 21st July 1944 in RAF Hospital, Melksham, from natural causes aged 22.
He is buried in St Michaels churchyard, Winterbourne Earls, North of the church.
Additional Information:- Husband of Dora Winifred Mabel Spry of Christchurch, Hants.