Category Archives: Army

William Frederick Grant

Army, Commemorated name/s, Other Regiments, Passchendaele

William Frederick Grant
Private 48278
8th Battalion  Devonshire Regt.

 Division 69
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Grant WF Rcem famgrave Grant WF mem name

 

William Frederick Grant was the son of  William and Lucy Mary Grant.  He is remembered on of his parents grave.  The inscription states “Fell in Action.”  He was 26.  William Grant has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial Panel 38-40.  He died on 4th October 1917, in action which was officially part of the 2nd phase of the 3rd Battle of Ypres which had started on the 15th September.  For the men involved in the offensive which began along an eight mile front on the morning of 4th October it became known as “Passchendaele“.

 The preparations for the battle had taken place in fine weather but on the 2nd October it started to rain and the rain continued until the end of the month.  The land of Flanders, with its high water table and dykes, became a quagmire and it was virtually impossible to move the guns forward to support the troops.  On the 3rd October the Germans were preparing to attack from their front line above Zonnebeke facing Polygon Wood.  They sent over a severe early morning bombardment.  The British and Australians secretly massing opposite  them were also preparing to go.  The German barrage killed many men but those unharmed kept their nerve.  Just as the Germans sprang their attack a British barrage began and the Australians charged the German line.  The Germans were taken by surprise and those who could fled, there was fierce hand to hand fighting and many prisoners were taken.  The next day William Grant was in the attack north-east of Polygon Wood.  The 8th Devonshire regiment which was fighting along side the Australians reached their objectives but William Grant was killed in action.  The battle was to rage on until the 15th November 1917, through mud and rain and worse, against pill boxes and machine guns until the ridge was finally captured.  The total losses (killed, wounded, missing or made prisoner) amounted to 244.897 British; 8,525 French and approximately 230,000 German. (Martin Marix Evans – Passchendaele 1997)

The 1901 census indicates that William wasthe eldest of six children, he had one brother and four sisters. The children were all of school age. William’s father after whom William was named is described as a Journeyman Butcher, this means that he had completed an apprenticeship and was qualified in his trade; he had been born in Ireland.  Lucy was born in Thatcham and all the children in Reading. The family were living in the Katesgrove district of Reading at 83 Mount Street. By 1911 the family had grownto eight children with five girls and three boys. The three eldest including William were all working at the biscuit factory. William’s father occupation was given as a bacon butcher.

William Frederick Grant was probably commemorated on a Huntley and Palmers War Memorial. However, these seem to have been departmental affairs and the author has not seen a plaque bearing William’s name.

 

Edward Gooch

Army, Berkshire Yeomanry, Commemorated name/s, Other Regiments, Reading Blue Coat School, Reading University College, Somme

Edward Gooch
Private 40171
3rd  Battalion Worcestershire Regiment  formerly a
Sergeant in the Berkshire Yeomanry

 Division 27

Gooch E photo

 

Edward Gooch was the son of Arthur and Miriam Gooch, of 12, Stanley Grove, Reading. He was killed in action on 9th October 1916, aged 28.  He is commemorated upon the kerb stones of his parents grave in Reading Cemetery.  The grave number is 12671.  The Berkshire Family History Society classification is 27E31.

In the 1911 census his occupation is given as a Clerk at the Gas Works; he is living at home with his parents and two brothers. Miram Gooch had borne seven children.

The 3rd Worscesters were part of the 25th Division and in September 1916 moved to a position south of the River Ancre in the Somme battlefield.  After many small scale raids and operations, a major attack was made by the Division on 9 October. The condiditons on the ground were poor and although there was success in beating off German counter attacks before capturing their objectives it was in this action that Edward Gooch lost his life.

The CWGC site tells us that Edward Gooch was buried in Poiziers British Cemetery, Ovillers. grave identification Plot IV, Row T, 24.

Edwin William Arthur Golby

Army, Commemorated name/s, Other Regiments

Edwin William Arthur Golby
Private M2/034980
273rd Motor Transport Company, Army Service Corp

Division 71
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Golby EWA photo Casualty Record Detail

Edwin William Arthur Golby  was the son of Mr Edwin and Mrs Rose Golby, of 63, Donnington Gardens, Reading.  In the 1911 census his father was recorded as a Coach Driver and Edwin as an apprentice carpenter. Edwin had an older and younger sister. He is commemorated on the family grave. Number 17928.   Berkshire Family History Society classification 72G16.  The wording on the kerbstone is ‘EDDIE ONLY SON, LOST AT SEA JANUARY 8TH 1916 AGED 21’. 

Edwin Golby was lost when the ship the S.S. Citta di Palermo, was mined.  The SS Citta Di Palermo, an Italian transport carrying Commonwealth troops. It was sunk off Brindisi, a port on the heel of Italy in the Adriatic, on 8 January 1916.  In rescuing survivors, two Royal Naval Otranto drifters were themselves mined and blown up. Edwin Golby is remembered on the Hollybrook Memorial, Southampton.  This memorial is to the officers and men of the forces of the Empire who fell in the Great War and whose graves are not known, especially those lost in home waters.

The full commemoration reads:

1914-1918 TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF 1855 OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE FORCES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR AND HAVE NO OTHER GRAVE BUT THE SEA OR TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH.

 1916 saw an increasing number of attacks on merchant ships right from the beginning of the year.  The USA was warned that its merchant ships would be treated as ‘belligerent’ by the German fleet and the British, in an effort to starve out Germany set in force a blockade.  The Battle of Jutland was fought at the end of May between the fleets of both navies.