Category Archives: Army

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.’

 

William Arthur Ayres

Alfred Sutton School War Memorial, Army, Graves, Other Regiments, Reading University College, Royal Berkshire Regiment, Somme

William Arthur Ayres
Private 14328
8th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment
and Sapper 243961 Royal Engineers

AYRES WA AS CIMG2033

William Arthur Ayres was the son of  William Reynolds Ayres and Minie Ayres of
9, St. Edwards Road, Reading.  William was the eldest of their five children. The 1911 census has him recorded as  13 years old and still attending school, this would give his year of birth as 1898. His brothers and sisters were: John 12, Harold 8, Elsie May 10 and Gladys 4.  William’s father’s occupation was given as a carpenter and joiner. Living with the family at that time was Phoebe age 85 who is recorded as an aunt.

William’s military papers are also available through Ancestry UK. He attested to the Royal Berkshire Regiment on 7 September 1914. William gives his age as 19years and 1 month and his occupation as a brass finisher.  Local newspapers give his age at death as 19 or 20 years. From the evidence available it seems that William lied about his age and enlisted at the age of 16. His attestation papers record him as ‘head’.

William served just under 3 years.  As the information below shows William was injured at Loos. Whilst recovering was put on a charge for breaking out of camp and remaining absent for 3 days and 15 hours. What he was doing during his absence is not stated. His punishment was loss of 4 days pay and 14 days confined to barracks. In 1916 he was hospitalised for an appendectomy. When he had recovered he returned to France where he transfered to the Royal Engineers.  The Reading Standard ‘In Memoriam 1919’ states ‘Killed in Action.’ where as grave registration states died of sickness. William’s military papers confirm that he did indeed die of sickness. His records provide comprehensive notes of the cause of death which is given as menigitis. This developed because of  previous operation for a mastoid. The original problem with his ear was given as being due to the  effects of the guns and shelling whilst serving on the Somme.

This text which follows is taken from the authors unpublished manuscript – “The School, the Master, the Boys and the VC.” which is about the men named on the Alfred Sutton School War Memorial. It gives further details about William Arthur Ayres military service.

William Ayres took park in the Battle of Loos in September 1915.  Although injured he  survived the severe machine gun fire of the battle and found himself on the outskirts of Hulluch village near the Lens-La Bassée road. He was in a signalling section of his unit and part of a small scouting party sent to reconnoitre the village. William’s  own account of his experiences in front of Hulluch was published in the book Responding to the Call authored by Colin Fox et al:

“We had captured three lines, most of the enemy not waiting for the bayonet.  We signallers had two wires across to the almost captured village (of Hulluch). Corporals Giddings and Shirley took another wire across.  We were in sight of the village and they were
trying to stop us: three men with a quick fire gun.  The shells did not hit but the sniper did and
put one through my shoulder, mess can, coat and everything.  My two mates dropped down, put a field dressing on my wound and ran on. I believe they got the wire across. I lay low
‘till the sniper in the trees had wasted most of his ammunition and then I made
a bolt for it and got to the field dressing station.”

William was lucky to reach the dressing station and obtain treatment and evacuation to safer territory. The survivors of the battalion were less fortunate with many of them suffering from thirst and hunger until they were finally relieved on 28 September.

William Ayres was hospitalised in Warrington but within a matter of months he found himself back at the front. Having recovered from the wounds received at Loos in autumn 1915 William found himself back with his unit during the Battle of the Somme. The 8th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment was essentially in support during three separate engagements, 14 July, 18 August and 3 September. The battalion arrived in the battle zone on 9 July and went into action for the first time early on the morning of the 11 July; orders had been given to hold, at all costs, the village of Contalmaison, in the area of Mametz Wood. The area was one of destruction, the village had changed hands several times and not a house was standing. However, the battalion managed to consolidate the line. On the evening of the 12 July patrols were sent out and preparations made for an attack on the 14 July that, in the event, was very successful for the Fourth Army of which the battalion was a part. It was during this period that William Ayres won the Military Medal. The London Gazette 1 September1916 records the citation ‘for good work and bravery.’ The action was ‘mending a telephone line at great risk,’ also commended with him was Private R. Slyfield of Reading. (Details about R.Slyfied, Robert, and his brother also R.Slyfield, Richard, who is buried in the cemetery can be found on this site.)

It is not clear what other actions he was involved in but, having survived the Somme campaign, the coldest winter for many years and the early actions of 1917, which included the Battle of Arras, he transferred to the Royal Engineers. The Royal Engineers had a major responsibility for signalling and, initially at least, he is believed to have continued his work as a signaller. This was a dangerous and vital job. Communications with the front line were often broken and the signaller had the job of effecting repairs under the most trying of circumstances.”

William died in France on 22 July 1917 and is buried at Merville Communal Cemetery Extension, location I. B. 43.   The town of Merville is situated around a waterway ‘crossroads.’  The River Lys, runs from west to east, the Canal de la Nieppe runs from the north to west skirting the Forêt de Nieppe; the Canal d’ Aire runs to the southwest. It is not known exactly what  William’s work was but he was serving in the Inland Waterways Salvage Unit at the time of his death.

William was also a puzzel in other ways. William’s family were atheists and his headstone does not bear the usual cross and has the following commemoration:

 TO LIVE IN THE HEARTS
OF THOSE WE LOVE
IS NOT TO DIE
“HOW HE LOVED”

However, Local newspapers at the time of his death stated that prior to the war William was employed in the Signal Works department of the Great Western Railway whether this has anything to do with being a ‘brass finisher’ as given on the attestation papers is not known.

William was a member of Reading University College and is commemorated on that war memorial.  His father, William Reyolds Ayres was an ardent socialist and trades unionist; he was the first Labour member of the Reading Town Council.

 

 

Charles Edward Wilson

Army, Commemorated name/s, Other Regiments, Western Front

Charles Edward Wilson
Captain 1st Battalion
Queens Royal West Surrey Regiment

Division 60

Wilson Charles Edward

Charles Edward Wilson is commemorated on his wife’s grave in the old Reading Cemetery. He was the first soldier commemorated in the cemetery to die during the Great War.

Charles Wilson was born in Cork, Ireland, on 2 June 1871, the son of Major General Francis E Wilson; Charles was also to be a career soldier. His association with Reading began on 31 December 1896 when at the age of 25, he married Mabel Carr, the daughter of Colonel George Sydney Carr, at St Mary’s Church.

Their first child Edward Sydney Wilson was born in Reading on 1 October 1897. Records show that he was baptised the following day and the headstone on his mother’s grave shows that he had died ten days later. A second son, Hugh Edward Wilson was born in October 1904. Sadly, Mable died at some time before the 1911 census; her headstone does not record the date of her death and it has not been possible to establish a date or cause of death for Mable by other means. The 1911 census records Charles as widowed and living at the Stoughton Barracks, Guilford. He was then 39 and holding the rank of Captain in his regiment. 1911 census record show that Hugh, then aged 6 was living with his widowed maternal grandmother Rose Carr at 7. Maitland Road, Reading.  Rose was then age 61 and was assisted in the rearing of Hugh by a governess, a cook and a maid.

Captain Wilson served in South Africa during the Boer War and it is also thought that he served in India. During his career he was decorated several times and we are told that he received the ‘Légion d’Honneur’ after his death in 1914. A detailed article, posted by an ancestor, about Captain Wilson’s life as a career soldier and Rugby player can be found in Wikipedia.

As a soldier in the regular army Captain Wilson and member of the BEF, the British Expeditionary Force, he was quickly involved in the opening battles of the war. His battalion fought at Mons and various actions during the retreat to the Marne. A counter offensive was launched on the 5 September by both the French and British armies which allowed them to reach the River Aisne on 13 September. At that point the Allies progress was checked y the German Army and fierce fighting took place on the slopes of the Chemin De Dames. The first trenches of the war were dug here on the 14 September 1914. The Queens Royal West Surrey 1st Battalion War Diary indicates that there was heavy shelling by the Germans which resulted in a high casualty rate.  The 16 September saw intermittent sniping fire throughout the day and a heavy bombardment between 4.30 and 6.30 p.m.   On 17 September shelling was heavy throughout the day and it was during this action that Captain Wilson and the battalion Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel D. Warren were killed. Shelling continued throughout the following day with the men relying heavily on the protection of the trenches. The battalion was engaged in fighting throughout the remainder of September and early October before moving into Belgium where they were then engaged in the 1st Battle of Ypres on the 21 September. This history of the battalion records that by the end of the first week of November 1914, there were only thirty-two survivors out of the original 998 men who had left England with the 1st Battalion Queens Royal West Surrey Regiment at the onset of the war.  

Captain Charles Edward Wilson was killed in action on the 17th September 1914.  He is buried in Paissy Church Yard, Aisne. Grave 2.