Category Archives: Memorials

Henry Thomas Eighteen

Alfred Sutton School War Memorial, Army, Other Regiments, Royal Berkshire Regiment, Somme, Trinitiy Congregational Church War Memorial

 

Henry Thomas Eighteen
Private 20350
1st/4th Royal Berkshire Regiment

At the time of the death of Henry Eighteen on 24 November 1916 the 1st/4th Battalion was serving on the Somme in the area of the Butte de Warlencourt. The Butte was an ancient burial mound some fifty feet high held by the Germans. In the gently undulating fields of the Somme it gave the occupying force not only an observational advantage but also a strong point of defence. The Butte was part of the last line before Bapaume. The Germans had the visual advantage in an area where the British trenches were dangerous with gaps in their defence. Conditions for the Berkshire men were dreadful and it was common for the 1st/4th to suffer six or seven casualties each day for the period they occupied these trenches.

s death refers to him having been killed in action in Albert. The Butte de Warlencourt is on the Albert to Bapaume Road about 10 miles from Albert.

Private Eighteen is buried in Adanac Military Cemetery, Miraumont, Somme.
This cemetery is a concentration cemetery. It was made after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the battlefields and small cemeteries surrounding Miraumont, and particularly the Canadian battlefields around Courcelette. The cemetery name comes from reversing the name Canada and the maple leaf is much in evidence. It was fortunate that Henry’s original grave was well marked and that it was not lost during later battles, as often happened.

Henry’s story illustrates how information must be gleaned from several sources in order to give a complete picture. In his case the local newspapers have been particularly valuable. Henry Thomas Eighteen is now known to be one of the five sons of Mr Frederick Syer Eighteen and Mrs Charlotte Ellen Louisa Eighteen (nee Smith) of 30, Leopold Rd., Reading. Work done on the Eighteen family tree available throught Ancestry UK indicates that there were 12 children. The 1911 census indicates that Frederick senior was a fish salesman, sons Stanley and John were both helping in the business and the rest of the children, including Henry Thomas were in school.

The Reading Chronicle 31 August 1917 gave notification of the wounding in the eye of Stanley James Eighteen on 18 August; he had been in service 18 months and had spent 14 months in France. This notice indicated that there had been five sons serving in the army, two had been killed, two wounded and one was still serving. From another report came information about John Bernard Eighteen, Driver 10213 ‘D’ Battery 75th Brigade Royal Field Artillery. It is now known that he was Henry’s older brother. John Eighteen died of wounds and is buried at Wimereux Cemetery. Wimereux was the site of many base hospitals. At the time of his death on 25 June 1917 John was aged 21. Stanley James was an older brother to both Henry and John and he survived the war living until 1956.

Both Henry and John Eighteen are commemorated on the memorial of the Trinity Congregational Church, Reading.  On the second anniversary of Henry’s death another ‘In Memoriam’ was published in The Reading Chronicle, 22 November 1918. It was particularly poignant because the Armistice had just taken place and people were looking forward to loved ones returning, it should be noted that in this document the father appears to be a widower:

Eighteen – In ever loving memory of Henry Thomas killed in action November 24th 1916.

He left his home in the flower of youth, he looked so strong and brave,
We little knew how soon he was to be laid in a soldier’s grave;
But the hardest part has yet to come, when the heroes all come home,
And we miss among the cheering crowd one that will never return.
From his loving father, sisters and brothers.

The name Eighteen is not particularly common, only three soldiers of that name appear in Soldiers Died although it was a well known name in Reading.  The impact of the war is illustrated by another entry in The Reading Chronicle September 1915 when it was reported that H. Eighteen, Horse dealer of Reading, had sold his business when both his son and nephew enlisted.

 

A Cook

Alfred Sutton School War Memorial, Army, Other Regiments, Royal Berkshire Regiment

There are two men who could possibly be the A. Cook on the Alfred SuttonSchool War Memorial. As they both lived near the school they are both included in this entry. In any event as Reading men they ought to be remembered.

(1) Albert E. Cook
Private 34087
1st/4th Royal Berkshire Regiment.

COOK AE

For the 1st/4th battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment Third Ypres was probably their worst experience of the war.  Albert E Cook died of wounds during the time of the Third Ypres campaign. The personal details are very limited but it is known that Albert was evacuated to a base hospital at Étaples although it is not known when or how he received his injuries. Albert Cook’s home was given as 56, Amity Road, Reading. He died on 17 August 1917; his age at the time of death is unknown.

Albert E. Cook is buried at Étaples Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, location XXII. P.11A.

(2) Arthur Cook
Sapper 137828
15th Field Company Royal Engineers

COOK A AS

 

Arthur Cook lived at 68, Watlington Street, Reading. He was killed in action on 27 May 1918. Arthur Cook had no known grave and the caption under a photograph of him records him as missing in action. Sapper Cook is commemorated on the Soissons Memorial to the Missing, which is to be found just below the city cathedral. The memorial has a unique centrepiece of three soldiers wearing greatcoats standing shoulder to shoulder and commemorates almost 4,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom forces who died during the Battles of the Aisne and the Marne in 1918 and who, like Arthur Cook have no known grave.

Godfrey Lewis Allum

Alfred Sutton School War Memorial, Army, Royal Berkshire Regiment, Western Front

Godfrey Lewis Allum
Private 203413
5th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment.

G L Allum headstone

 

Initial research revealed that Godfrey died on 26 August 1918 and was buried at Péronne Road Cemetery, Maricourt, location IV. E. 34.   Godfrey Allum was remembered by his parents, brothers and sisters in the Reading Standard 1919 although the ‘In Memoriam’ supplied little information about the circumstances of his death and his age wasnot given.

An search of  Ancestry UK revealed that his parents were James Allum and Eliza Pendygrass Allum. In 1911 Godfrey’s second name is written as Louis on the census form. He was then aged 18, his year of birth is given as about 1893 and that he was born in Henley upon Thames; his occupation is given as a printers apprentice. His father was a labourer at a corn merchants and his mother is recorded as being a dressmaker.  Only rarely at the time were women recorded as having an occupation. Godfrey had an older sister, Olive, then 21 and working at the biscuit factory, and a younger sister Myrtle aged 14 and younger brother Cyril aged 12 who were presumably still at school. The family were living at 13. Elgar Road, Reading. Godfrey would have been about 25 when he was killed.

Colin Fox in ‘Their Duty Done’ gives an account of the 5th Battalion battle at Carnoy on 26 August 1918 and Godfrey Allum is numbered among the thirty-seven casualties of the battalion who were killed during the action. The fighting took place during the British advance to Péronne. The battalion orders for the day were to prepare for an attack between 4am and 4.30am:

 ‘They marched by compass bearing and only reached their forming-up position at 4.45am, thus losing their barrage which was now falling some 1,500 yards a head of them. Their attack was made on both sides of the village and was met with heavy artillery and machine gun fire that caused a large number of casualties. The survivors managed to reach a spur, which was their first objective, and the leading troops were able to fight their way to German trenches on a forward slope beyond the village facing the strip of woodland called Talus Boisé, west of Maricourt. A line was established late in the afternoon. On the following day the battalion moved forward and took up a position beyond Talus Boisé with its right on the small copse immediately to the east known as Machine Gun Wood. From here they moved back to Carnoy which had been meanwhile secured by other units and stayed there until the end of the month.’