Category Archives: Regiments

William Victor Ross Sutton

Army, Berkshire Yeomanry, Commemorated name/s

Page under construction

William Victor Ross Sutton
2nd Lieutenant
1st/1st Berkshire Yeomanry

Division 65

Sutton WVR photo

William Victor Ross Sutton was killed in action on 13 November 1917 aged 20.
He is buried in Ramleh War Cemetery, Israel, grave Q. 27.

William Victor Ross Sutton was the was the grandson of Martin Hope Sutton and third son of Leonard Goodhart Sutton and Mary Charlotte Sutton. His mother had died in 1900 and by the 1911 census William was a border at St. Andrews, Southborough, Tunbridge Wells and later attended Repton School.

The Reading Standard 24 November 1917 published a obituary.  On leaving school at the age of 17 years William spent a year in Canada  working with his uncle farming in Saskatchewan, he was very keen on agriculture.   He was also a keen sportsman. When he was nearly military age he returned to England to join the army. William was appointed to the Yeomanry commission in January 1916. William joined his battalion in Egypt in October 1916.

William was very enthusiastic about his military work and his commanding officer, writing soon after he joined, said “He was very keen and hard-working.”

William was promoted to a Lieutenant one month before he was killed. He was the second of the brothers to lose his life.

 

 

Eric Guy Sutton

Army, Commemorated name/s, Other Regiments, Somme

Eric Guy Sutton M.C.
2nd Lieutenant
7th Battalion  Royal Sussex Regiment

 

Sutton EG photo

 

Eric Guy Sutton was the grandson of Martin Hope Sutton, one of the founders of the Sutton Seeds business and the second son of Leonard Goodhart Sutton and his wife Mary Charlotte Sutton (nee Seaton). His mother probably died in childbirth in July 1900 giving birth to his only sister Emily May.

He was educated at Rugby where he was a keen rugby footballer. He had always expressed an ambition to enter the Army but after leaving school he decided on a business career. He spent a year in France and six months travelling in America preparing for this and was due to return to Reading in the autumn of 1914.  On the outbreak of war he returned from California and was gazetted into his regiment in September 1914.  In the spring of 1915 he went to the  front and in June he was appointed lieutenant.

Eric Guy Sutton was awarded the Military Cross for “conspicuous gallantry on the night of  September 12th 1915, near Armentieres. With another officer he entered a mine, which was in a highly dangerous state at the time owing to gas fumes following an explosion, in order to rescue a man who had been overcome. Their prompt action undoubtable saved the man’s life.”  He was decorated a Buckingham Palace on 23 February  1916.

On hearing of the distinction awarded to him he wrote:
“On looking back upon the incident it seems a very paltry affair. It was over in a few moments. One of the things prominent in my mind is – How many thousands more, especially in Gallipoli, deserve the honour much more that I do!”

He was killed in action on 8 April 1916 aged 21 and is buried in Vermelles British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, grave location II. D. 20.

The circumstances of his death were reported as follows:
He was in charge of the Lewis (machine) guns, as he had been for some time,prior to which he had temporary command of his company. At 6.30 p.m. on 8th april 1916 the Germans exploded a mine under part of the Britishd trenches blowing down the parapet and filling parts of the trench, leaving a portion exposed to rifle fire.
It appeard that in order to get his guns into position again he had to cross the exposed portion and examine the crater, and was shot by a sniper in the neck and died instantly.

Employees of the Sutton Seed firm were alerted to the sad news of his death by a flag flying at half mast over the business premises.

Frank Washbourne Earley

Alfred Sutton School War Memorial, Army, Royal Berkshire Regiment, St. Batholomew's Church

Frank Washbourne Earley
Private 200566 ‘D’ Company
1st/4th Royal Berkshire Regiment

 Earley FW and bros photo

Frank  Earley was the son of Harry and Margaret Earley, of 12 Manchester Road, Reading. Harry worked at the biscuit factory. Before the war he worked as a cleark in the Borough Accountant’s Office and his brother Jack who enlisted in the same regiment worked, for the County Council. It is not known exactly when Frank and his brother joined up but they enlisted in Reading.

The 1st/4th battalion the local territorial force,  arrived in France in March 1915. Several of Frank’s letters were published in the Reading Chronicle. In his first letter published in April 1915 Frank writes:
‘We are sleeping in barns, and have moved several times since we have been over here.’ 

Frank’s experiences at Ploegsteert (know by the British soldiers as Plugstreet ) illustrate what life was like in this largely ‘quiet sector’ where the ‘Saxons’, in the trenches opposite, had a mild reputation and sniping and firing on working parties was their main preoccupation:

 “We have been in action and are having a rest at the present time. We were in the trenches 24 hours and I was on outpost with two other of our chaps. It was a bit of an experience, as we were only about 100 yards from the Germans. They send up flares at night and light up the surroundings just like daylight, and if you move your foot or any part of your body you get a shower of bullets round you. The worst part of trench fighting, I think, is getting in and out of the trenches, as once you are in it is fairly safe except, of course, if they shell the trenches accurately. Then it must be hell upon earth. They tried to shell us with lyddite, but they did not find out our trench, although they found out one of the others.”

Frank served throughout the Somme campaign and during the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917. No information has been found to indicate that Frank was wounded during any of these campaigns and it must be assumed that he got away unscathed. Having spent a bloody time at Ypres during the summer and autumn, the men were preparing for their next action which they thought would be at Cambrai. They were all surprised when the 48th Division was directed to Italy. Various actions took place during their time in Italy which cannot be gone into in the space available here however, generally the time was fairly quiet. In June 1918 the Germans stirred up the sleepy Austrians opposite the 48th Division to launch an attack which in the event turned out to be the last serious attack for the division. However, whilst the fighting raged, Frank Earley, veteran of so many famous battles, died, not on the battlefield but in a hospital bed of the deadly influenza virus that was sweeping through the ranks. Frank had been ill about four days before his death.

Frank had been home on leave at Easter just a few weeks before his death. Frank was aged 21 or 22, depending on the source of the information, when he died on 13 June 1918. He is buried in the Montecchio Precalcino Communal Cemetery Extension, Italy, location Plot 2, Row C, Grave 3.

Frank had three older brothers and it is believed that they all survived the war because only Frank’s name is recorded on local war memorials. Jack  (real name John )reached the rank of Lance Corporal and was mentioned in despatches by General Plummer.  Brother  Albert who was 12 years older than Frank served in the Royal Engineers and Alfred, 10 years older, served in the Royal Naval Air Service.

Frank was a popular young man and an active member of St. Bartholomew’s Church. He sang in the choir and was a member of the Church Lads’ Brigade, he is remembered on the church war memorial.