Category Archives: Battlefield Areas

George William Goddard and Edwin Harry Goddard

Army, Commemorated name/s, Other Regiments, Royal Berkshire Regiment, Somme, St. Batholomew's Church

George William Goddard
Corporal 200475
2nd Royal Berkshire Regiment

Edwin Harry Goddard
Private 42709
9th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers

Division 74
Extension

Goddard Bros GW & EH photo

George William Goddard and Edwin Harry Goddard were the sons of Mr George and Mrs Emma Ann Goddard, of 32, Coventry Road, Reading.  They were the eldest sons of seven children. According to the 1911 census  George William was a gardener like his father and Edwin a bakers assistant. The brothers are remembered on the St. Bartholomew’s Church war memorial and on their sister’s grave.

Goddard Rcem grave

 

War records are not available for the brothers. George served with the 8th Division and Edwin with the 36th (Ulster) Division.  These divisions fought in the following battles: Battle of St. Quentin. 21-23 Mar 1918. Actions of the Somme crossings. 24-25 Mar 1918. Battle of Rosieres. 26-27 Mar 1918.  Both men were killed within seven days of each other at the start of the German Spring Offensive in 1918.  On the 21st March the Germans broke through on a fifty-mile front between the Sensée and Oise rivers.  Various British battle positions were penetrated, especially near St. Quentin.

 George William Goddard was reported wounded and missing on 22nd March, he was 25.  On this day British defences west of St. Quentin were broken through and a hasty retreat was ordered.  The Germans took 16,000 prisoners and 200 guns.  The body of George Goddard was eventually identified and he was buried in Pargny British Cemetery, Somme.  Location II.E.13.  Pargny Cemetery was made after the Armistice, by concentrating graves from the surrounding battlefields.  More than three-quarters of the burials in this cemetery of over 600 graves are unidentified.

The German advance continued with a vengeance.  There was much fierce fighting as the British resisted at the Somme crossings.  By the 24th March the Germans were boasting the taking of 30.000 prisoners and 600 guns.  So fast was the advance of the Germans that by the 26th March the British had lost the town of  Albert, the Germans were only 12 kilometres from Amiens by the following day.  Further fighting continued with the French launching counter attacks.  However, by the 29th March the Germans were claiming to have captured 70,000 prisoners and 1100 guns since the start of the offensive.

On the 29th March Edwin Harry Goddard was reported missing.  Edwin’s body was never identified and he is remembered on the Pozieres Memorial, Panel 38 to 40.

Goddard EH mem name

The British were shaken and on 11th April Haig issued a ‘Special Order’ to all ranks which included the now famous words,

“There is no course open to us but to fight it out. Every position must be held to the last man: there must be no retirement.  With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause we must fight to the end”.

Andrew Goddard

Army, Commemorated name/s, Other Regiments, Ypres

Andrew Goddard
CSM 370790
2nd/8th Battalion London Regiment, Post Office Rifles

 Division 9

Andrew Goddard is commemorated on his parents grave with the words –

“Andrew their dearly beloved son who fell in action September 8th 1917, aged 33.
He fought the good fight”. 

 Establishing details have been difficult and need further research.  Information has been obtained from the CWGC web site although this cannot yet be proved as conclusive.  No family details were given.

 The date of death was given as 5th September 1917.  Andrew Goddard is buried at Track “X” Cemetery, St. Jean-les-Ypres, Ypres, Belgium.  Location D. 54.  The cemetery was between the front lines in June 1917, it was officially opened in July 1917, and was closed in November, 1917.   The cemetery contains 150 graves and lies to the north east of the town.

 The first weeks of September 1917 were a relatively “quiet period” around Ypres with preparations being made for what would later be known as the battle of Passchendaele.  During those first two weeks more than 10,000 casualties were recorded.  Andrew Goddard was among the dead.

Sidney Henry George

Army, Commemorated name/s, Other Regiments, Passchendaele, Ypres

Sidney Henry George
Private 28566
11th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment

 Division 29

George SH and brother photo

Sidney Henry George was the son of William John and Annie George, of 16, Richmond Road, Reading; and husband of Louisa George, of 19, Richmond Road, Reading, Berkshire.  He was killed in action on 24th September 1917.  He is commemorated upon the kerb stones of his parents grave in Reading Cemetery.  Grave number 17590.   The Berkshire Family History Society classification is 29G25. 

Sidney George has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot memorial, Panel 23 to 28 and 163A.

 The battle, of what was subsequently known as the Menin Road Ridge, began on September 20th.  The British threw themselves at the German strong point known as “Tower Hamlets”.  The Australians fought for Glencorse Wood and and Nonne Bosschen,  the South Africans took the Breman Redoubt.  There was fierce fighting all along the front, particularly in front of Langemarck.  During the following days the Australians fought for Polygon Wood which was the key to the ridge and Passchendaele.  It was during this fighting that Sidney George lost his life.  Greater detail of the battle can be found in ‘Passchendaele’ by Martin Matrix Evans.

 Sidney was wounded in the neck by shrapnel on April 28th 1917 but recovered sufficiently to be sent back to the front.  His brother W.J.George was invalided out of the army with trench feet.  (Reading Standard 12th May 1917)