Fallen in July 1917:
William Ambrose
Reginald Cripps
Walter James Pratt
Fred Bone


Reginald Walter Ambrose
Joseph Edward Bilby
Charles Bertram Burden
Percy Coleman


William Alfred Croft
Richard Frank Hoar
David King
Frederick Arthur Leach


David George Newton
Colin Barnes Radford
Reginald Herbert Secretan

WILLIAM AMBROSE
3636 Serjeant
51st Coy., Machine Gun Corps (Infantry)
Killed in Action Tuesday, 3rd July 1917
Remembered with Honour, Bailleul Road East Cemetery, St. Laurent-Blangy, Pas-de-Calais, France Grave: V.A.2.

William Ambrose, known as Will, was born in early 1890 at Piccott’s End, Hemel Hempstead to William Ambrose and Sarah Ann Lucas. William and Sarah had ten children together two of which died in infancy in the late 1870’s. Their surviving children were: Jenny, Frank, Millie (Millicent), Nellie (Ellen), Minnie, William, Reggie and Sybil.

When Will was born his family lived at 45 Piccott’s End but, by the time of the next census the Ambrose family had moved a short distance to Chapel Street just off the High Street in Hemel Hempstead. Will would live on Chapel Street until he went to war and it was from here that he started work minding kilns at the local Block Works.

Will was a keen footballer and played as a reliable full-back for ‘Hemel Hempstead Wednesday’ and was known fondly as ‘Weary’ to his team-mates. He also played for Apsley Mills ‘Sundries’ departmental team when he went to work at John Dickinson and Co Limited sometime after 1911. He was a member of the winning team of the ‘Uncle’s Cup’ in 1913, originally the inter-departmental football tournament at Dickinsons. This cup competition is now in it’s 120th year and continues as a charity tournament contested by local amateur teams.

On the outbreak of war, Will left Dickinsons and attested at Hemel Hempstead, along with his boyhood friend Fred Gurney, at the end of August. Both men enlisted with the Bedfordshire Regiment.

It is not known which battalion of the Bedfordshires Will joined but, following his basic training it appears he joined a machine gun section which entailed further specialist instruction.

By the time he was ready to go to France at the end of 1915, the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) had been officially formed and battalion machine gun sections were ‘brigaded’ into the newly created unit and assigned to a company. In Will’s case his company is not known as each battalion of Bedfordshires was assigned to a different division. However, evidence suggests that by late 1916 or early 1917 he transferred to the 51st Company MGC.

The 51st had been formed out of the 7th Lincolnshires, 7th Borderers, 9th South Staffords and the 10th Sherwood Foresters and it came under the orders of the 17th (Northern) Division in the 51st Brigade.

By the time Will joined the company he had been promoted Serjeant and led his own machine gun team. It is presumed he saw action with his companions at both Battles of the Scarpe in April 1917 as well as the capture and defence of Roeux in March.

However, his luck ran out the following July when he was tragically killed, along with the members of his team, when a shell fell into the trench where they were positioned.

Will died near Arras on Tuesday, 3rd July 1917.

His death was reported in the Hemel Gazette and a number of letters received by his parents were published, the most poignant of which came from his boyhood pal Fred Gurney. (see extracts)

He is remembered with honour on the John Dickinson and Co. Limited War Memorial at Apsley End.

Sgt. William Ambrose c1914 (Photo: The Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser)

Extract from The Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser 14th Jul. 1917

John Dickinson and Co Limited War Memorial, Apsley End (Photo: Traquair Photography)

Bailleul Road East Cemetery, St. Laurent-Blangy, Pas-de-Calais, France (Photo: CWGC)

Will is Remembered with Honour in Bailleul Road East Cemetery, St. Laurent-Blangy, Pas-de-Calais, France where he is interred in grave V.A.2.

He was 27 years old when he died.

Will was eligible for the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

Extracts from The Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser 11th Aug. 1917

REGINALD CRIPPS
266124 Private
1/1st Bn., Hertfordshire Regiment
Died of Wounds Tuesday, 10th July 1917
Remembered with Honour, Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Grave XV.B.1.

Reginald Cripps was born on Friday, July 2nd 1897 in Hemel Hempstead and baptised along with two of his siblings, Sidney and Ivory Hilda, in St Mary’s church on Friday, 2nd March 1906. Reginald was the fourth child born to Adam Cripps and Clara Ivory who had a total of six children together. Reginald’s siblings were; William Percy, Florence Lizzie, Freddy and Ivory Hilda. His younger brother Freddy died when he was only three days old.

Reginald’s father Adam worked as a Furnaceman in an iron foundry where he spent most of his working life. It seems likely that Adam worked for Herbert Flint who, along with a small foundry, had an ‘Ironmongery’ shop at 22 High Street in the town. On leaving school aged thirteen, Reginald followed his father into the trade also joining H&A Flint to work as an ‘Errand Boy’.

Reginald grew up at 38 Bury Road and it was from here that he left to enlist in May 1915. Records show that he went to Hertford, probably because two months shy of his eighteenth birthday, he was too young to join the colours. Nevertheless, he successfully enlisted with the 1/1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regiment.

On the outbreak of war, the 1st Battalion was still a part-time unit but with the formation of a second line battalion in September, the 1st Battalion was renamed the 1st/1st. In November 1914 it was mobilised for foreign service and sent to France as part of the 4th (Guards) Brigade under the orders of the veteran 2nd Division which resulted in the occasional name "Hertfordshire Guards".

Reginald spent the next year training before he finally left for France round June or July 1916, when he joined his Battalion west of Bethune now under the orders of the 118th Brigade in the 39th Division. He soon saw action in the trenches and in October he fought in the Battle of Ancre Heights which included the capture of the Schwaben Redoubt and Stuff Trench. One month later Reginald was in action again, this time in the Battle of the Ancre, the last large British attack in the Battle of the Somme.

It was here under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Page DSO that the Battalion achieved the notable success of advancing 1600 yards and holding its position. This action came at a cost with seven officers wounded and a further 150 men killed or wounded. Reginald fortunately survived the battle. By the end of the month he had moved with the Battalion to Ypres.

The 1/1st Herts spent the next six months holding the position on Canal Bank at Ypres and on the 7th July the battalion war diary records “Bn relieved 1st Cambs Regt. in Front Line system, HILL TOP sector.”

It was here three days later that Reginald suffered wounds to his chest and arm which resulted in his evacuation to No. 10 Casualty Clearing Station. He succumbed to his wounds late the same day and he died at 7.10pm on Tuesday, 10th July 1917.

Reginald’s death was reported in the Hemel Gazette eleven days later. (see extract)

Just over a month later on the 25th August a letter received by Reginald’s mother Clara appeared in the Hemel Gazette in which the ‘Sister-in-Charge’ described his passing. (see extract)

Reginald is Remembered with Honour in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Grave: XV.B.1. The inscription on his headstone, requested by his mother Clara, reads “SLEEP ON DEAR ONE”.

He was only 20 years old when he died.

Reginald was eligible for the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

No.10 Casualty Clearing Station, Poperinghe, Belgium (Photo: National Army Museum)

Extract from The Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser 21st Jul. 1917

Extract from The Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser 25 Aug. 1917

Pte. Reginald Cripp’s headstone, Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Photo: Traquair Photography)

WALTER JAMES PRATT
201335 Private
1/5th Bn., Bedfordshire Regiment
Killed in Action Friday, 20th July 1917
Remembered with Honour, Gaza War Cemetery, Israel and Palestine, Grave XXX. A. 10.

Walter James Pratt was born in Hemel Hempstead on Tuesday, 25th November 1890 the first son of Walter Pratt and Elizabeth Porter. He had two sisters, Cecelia who was six years older and Daisy May who was two years his junior.

Within a couple of months of Daisy May’s birth, Walter’s mother Elizabeth suddenly died aged only thirty and she was buried in Heath Lane Cemetery on 6th January 1894. The three children were without a mother until their father Walter married for a second time to Emily Rhodes from Hemel Hempstead.

Walter James soon acquired three half-siblings when his step-mother gave birth to Norman in 1903 followed by Ralph two years later and finally Eva Florence in 1907.

By this time the family was living at 137 Bury Road in Hemel Hempstead and at the next census in 1911, Walter is recorded working as a ‘Shop Hand’ aged nineteen. Intriguingly, the Pratt’s had a Boarder, called Miss Weight living with them and her occupation is recorded as ‘Actress’.

This was Hannah Louisa Weight whose parents and four siblings formed a family acting troupe at the turn of the century. By the time of the 1911 census, Hannah was about to ‘retire’ and she married two years later in nearby Amersham.

Walter first went to school at Boxmoor JMI in 1895 where he spent four years before moving to Apsley Boys School. He completed his education there and left on the 25th November 1904, his fourteenth birthday, to start work.

It is not known where Walter started worked but by 1912, he had moved to London and it was there that he met his future wife, an East End girl called Jane Elizabeth Bickerstaff. Their courtship, however, was interrupted by the outbreak of war and Walter immediately left his job to join the Colours.

He made his way to Hertford where he enlisted in August 1914 with the 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment and was sent to Ampthill Park to undergo basic training. He was granted some home leave a month of so later and he returned to Hemel Hempstead where he and Jane married in November.

He returned to his Regiment and was sent abroad early in 1915 disembarking in France on the 2nd February. He joined his regiment on the 8th and was soon in the trenches. His time at the Front was very short however, and less that a moth after his arrival, he was severely wounded in nine places by shrapnel from enemy shelling.

Walter was evacuated and spend a number of months recovering from his wounds and when he was fit again, he was posted to the 5th Battalion Bedfordshires and this time set sail for Egypt.

The 1/5th Battalion had fought at Gallipoli where it earned the nickname ‘The Yellow Devils’ and it had suffered catastrophic casualties to the extent that by December 1915 it evacuated to Egypt to undergo rebuilding.

Walter was one of the many men sent to recover the unit’s strength and he arrived in Egypt sometime between January and March of that year.

The next twelve months were spend guarding the Suez Canal before Walter moved with the British and Commonwealth forces to Gaza in March 1917. Here he saw action in the advances through Palestine which followed and in July he found himself opposite the Turkish positions on ‘Umbrella Hill’ as the regiment made ready to attack.

Pte. Walter James Pratt c.1914 (Photo: The Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser)

Gaza War Cemetery , Israel and Palestine (Photo: CWGC)

Umbrella Hill’ was a 500 yard long trench system which was heavily fortified and the initial assault began on the morning of the 20th July. The fighting was intense and by late evening as the Bedfords pulled back to safety, the Turks launched a devastating barrage which accounted for most of the casualties on the day.

Walter along with twenty-three of his comrades was killed during the barrage. He died on Friday, 20th July 1917. All the men were interred in a small cemetery a short distance from the HQ of the raid on ‘Umbrella Hill’.

Walter is Remembered with Honour in Gaza War Cemetery, Israel and Palestine, Grave XXX. A. 10.

He was 26 years old when he died.

Walter was eligible for the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

FRED BONE
39816 Private
2nd Bn., Bedfordshire Regiment
Died of Wounds Thursday, 26th July 1917
Remembered with Honour, Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Grave: XVI. I. 3A.

Fred Bone was born in Redbourn, Hertfordshire on Monday, 9th June 1890 the second child of Harry Bone and Lizzie (Elizabeth) Ann King. Fred had an older sister Edith and two younger siblings, Emily Elizabeth and Herbert George. Fred’s younger brother Herbert died in January 1913 when he was only sixteen-years-old.

The Bone family came to Hemel Hempstead shortly after Fred’s tenth birthday in 1901 and moved into 143 Marlowes. Fred initially attended George Street school until he moved to Apsley Boys School in January 1903. He completed his schooling in Apsley and left to start work on the 9th June 1903, his thirteenth birthday.

Young Fred joined G.B. Kent & Sons Ltd., the brush makers in Apsley, and he remained with the firm until he went to war. Whilst at Kent’s he enlisted with the Hertfordshire Regiment as a Territorial soldier. He attested at Hemel Hempstead on the 6th May 1913 and signed up for four years’ service. From his attestation papers we discover that Fred, a month short of his twenty-third birthday was in good physical shape.

He was five feet three inches tall with chest measurements of thirty-four-and-a-half inches and an impressive range of expansion of some three-and-a-half inches. He had good vision and was passed fit for military service. However, just four days after Britain declared war on Germany, Fred was discharged from the army on the grounds that he was "…medically unfit for further military service", although the reasons for this rating are not clear.

Fred remained at G.B. Kent & Sons until 1916 when the Military Service Act was passed in January, which effectively introduced conscription. Initially, Fred was exempt due to his medical discharge, but this changed within four months when a revised version of the Act was passed. The revision meant that even men previously declared medically unfit for service were now eligible to fight.

Fred was called up in the late summer and joined the 2nd Bedfordshire Regiment and it may have been his impending departure that persuaded him to marry his sweetheart Alice Lilian Lane. They tied the knot on Saturday, 14th October in the church of St. John the Evangelist in Boxmoor, an event reported in the following weeks edition of the Hemel Gazette. (see extract)

It is not clear when Fred finally went overseas, but it was probably no earlier than January 1917 which saw a number of drafts of new recruits joining the 2nd Bedfordshires in France. Fred was certainly at the Front in April and fought in the Battle of Arras and the First Battle of the Scarpe.

By June, Fred was with his comrades in Belgium where he fought in and survived the Battle of Messines Ridge. Just over a month later he was in the line at Zillebeke where his luck finally ran out.

The regimental War Diary recorded the following: "26 Jul 1917…a party under C.S. Major R. Kirby who were returning to CHATEAU SEGARD (17 strong) and were knocked out by a shell near BEDFORD HOUSE, of which 6 were Killed. 5 Died of wounds. 6 Wounded."

Fred was one of the men who succumbed to wounds and he died on Thursday, 26th July 1917.

Back in England Alice gave birth to their son whom she named for his father. Baby Frederick William came into the world on the 26th July, ten short days before his father was tragically killed.

Fred is commemorated on the memorial plaque in G. B. Kent & Sons Ltd. in Apsley.

Fred is Remembered with Honour in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium where he is interred in Grave: XVI. I. 3A.

He was 27 years old when he died.

Fred was eligible for the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

Extract from The Hertordshire, Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser 21st Oct. 1916

G. B. Kent & Sons Ltd. Memorial Plaque, Apsley (Photo: Public Domain)

Pte. Fred Bone’s Headstone, Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery (Photo:Traquair Photography)

REGINALD WALTER AMBROSE
266041 Private
1st Bn., Hertfordshire Regiment
Killed in Action Tuesday, 31st July 1917
Remembered with Honour, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 54 and 56

Reginald Walter Ambrose, known as Walter, was born in Hemel Hempstead on Wednesday, 19th September 1894 and baptised on Wednesday, 17th February 1897 aged two. He was the fifth son and child born to John Ambrose and Eliza Odell who had ten children together. Walter’s siblings were: Horace, Arthur, Joseph, Frederick, Daisy, Rose, John, Ethel and the youngest Frank.

One of his older brothers Joseph, also died in the Great War only three months after Walter and his biography also appears on this site. His youngest brother Frank was killed in World War II when almost the entire crew of 1418, only three of which survived, was lost when the battlecruiser HMS Hood was sunk by the Bismarck in the north Atlantic on the 24th May 1941.

Another close family member, his cousin William ‘Weary’ Ambrose was killed in France just four weeks before Walter. William’s biography appears on this site.

When he was old enough to leave school and start work, Walter followed his four older brothers into John Dickinson & Co. Limited at Apsley Mills. He worked as a ‘Frame Maker’ and like his brothers Walter laboured in the Printing department.

By this time the Ambrose family had moved from Piccott’s End a short distance to a new home at 28 Cherry Bounce, just off the High Street in Hemel Hempstead. Walter and his five younger siblings shared this meagre accommodation with their parents and it was from here that he went to enlist on the outbreak of war.

Old enough at nineteen for immediate foreign service, Walter went to Hertford to join the Colours where he enlisted with the 1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regiment, on the 22nd October 1914. At the time of his attestation he was described as five feet four-and-a-half inches and physically fit and was immediately sent to begin his basic training in Stowlangtoft near Bury St. Edmunds.

He was sent to France six months later in the spring of 1915, disembarking in Le Havre on the 18th April before joining his regiment at Le Quesnoy seven days later, as part of a draft of thirty men.

One month later Walter fought in the Battle of Festubert where the battalion suffered over 100 casualties in the successful attack. Walter fortunately survived his first taste of action. In August 1915 the 1st Herts transferred to 6th Brigade in the 2nd Division and a month later Walter saw significant action again at the Battle of Loos when again he came through unscathed.

Walter was struck down by tonsillitis and sent down the line for ten days to recover in January 1916. In June 1916 he was again out of the line when he suffered a facial injury and he spent six days in hospital. He returned in time to take part in the Somme offensive including the Battles of Ancre Heights and Ancre late in 1916. He survived both battles and was rewarded with some home leave on the 28th November when he returned to Hemel Hempstead.
  

By the 8th December he was back in France but, suffering a recurrence of his tonsillitis meant he did not return to duty until the 28th December 1916.

At the beginning of 1917 the 1st Herts had moved to Flanders and taken up positions near Ypres and in June, Walter was granted eleven days of home leave. He returned to visit family and friends in Hemel Hempstead little realising that this would be the last time he would see England. He was back with his Battalion by the 6th July as it prepared for the next major engagement.

The Battalion War Diaries record the events on 31st July 1917 at the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, a phase of the Third Battle of Ypres.“13-7-17…The remainder of the Bn, being unable to get through the wire and suffering severe casualties from enfilade MG fire & the Germans making a strong counter-attack from our left flank about this time, had to fall back having suffered extremely heavy casualties…”

Cherry Bounce in Hemel Hempstead from where Walter went to war (Photo: Hemel Hempstead, History Tour, Eve Davis, 1997)

John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial, Apsley (Photo:Traquair Photography)

Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Photo: CWGC)

The Battalion casualties totalled 459 from the actions and included 2nd Lieutenant Reginald Secretan from Bennett’s End in Hemel Hempstead. Indeed, on this day and in this battle eleven Hemel Hempstead soldiers fell including Walter Ambrose.

Walter was one of the 132 men posted missing presumed dead and he was officially confirmed as having been killed on Tuesday, 31st July 1917.

He was commemorated on the John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial in Apsley along with his brother Joseph.

Walter was also remembered by his older brother Frederick, who had fought in and survived the conflict. In October 1918 his wife Edith gave birth to their first son and they named him Reginald Walter Ambrose in memory of his fallen uncle.

Walter is Remembered with Honour on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 54 and 56.

He was 23 years old when he died.

Walter was eligible for the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

JOSEPH EDWARD BILBY
265340 Corporal
1st Bn., Hertfordshire Regiment
Killed in Action Tuesday, 31st July 1917
Remembered with Honour, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 54 and 56.

Joseph Edward Bilby, known as Edward, was born on Tuesday, 23rd April 1895 at 37 Piccott’s End, Hertfordshire, the second child of George Bilby and Jane Merridan. Edward had two sisters, Laura and Mabel and six half-siblings; John, George, Charles, Elizabeth, Florence and Ellen from his mother’s first marriage. His brother-in-law, William Batchelor, was killed just two weeks after Edward’s death. William’s biography also appears on this site.

His father George worked as a ‘Carman’ possibly at Piccott’s End Mill close to where the family lived. His mother was a ‘Sick Nurse’ and later a ‘Midwife’. George died in 1910 aged only forty-five.

Edward left school in 1909 and immediately started work as a ‘Paper Ruler’ with John Dickinson & Co. Limited in Apsley Mills. He lived at 17 Chapel Street in Hemel Hempstead where his mother had moved the family after his father’s death.

Edward, like many young unskilled and semi-skilled men, joined the local Territorial Force to supplement his wages. He enlisted with the 1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regiment in 1913 shortly after his eighteenth birthday. In fact, Edward was with the Battalion at Ashridge Park at the end of the Territorial Summer Camp when war was declared.

The camp finished with emergency orders issued for all units to return to their bases and await further instructions. These never materialised, although on the 5th August 1914 the entire Battalion was embodied for war service with the East Midland Brigade and Edward moved with his comrades to Romford in Essex. Shortly afterwards the 1st Herts moved to Bury St. Edmunds where it trained intensively for the next two months.

On the 5th November, the 1st Herts left Bury St Edmunds and went to France where it disembarked at Le Havre the following day. Almost immediately Edward found himself in the trenches around Ypres and the Battalion incurred its first casualties as it engaged in the final stages of the First Battle of Ypres.

In 1915 Edward fought in the Winter actions at Cuinchy in February, the Battle of Festubert in May and the Battle of Loos in September, surviving them all. In 1916 he fought at the Battle of the Somme and ended the year in action with his comrades at the Battle of Ancre.

A picture of Edward’s character and fearlessness emerged in early 1917 when 2nd Lieutenant Reggie Secretan, from Bennett’s End, wrote a letter home which mentioned Edward and which was later reported in the Hemel Gazette after he was killed. (see extract)

In 1917 the Battalion were heavily engaged in the Third Battle of Ypres. On the opening day during the assault on St. Julien, part of the Battle of Pilckem, the 1st Herts suffered over 450 casualties including Edward and Reggie Secretan who died together.

Edward was killed on Tuesday, 31st July 1917.

In the month after his death, Edward’s mother received a letter from his C.O. the contents of which were published in the Hemel Gazette. Once again Edward’s courage is to the fore in the words of the officer. (see extract)

Edward was commemorated on the war memorial plaque in the old St Paul’s church where he was a member of the congregation. St Paul’s stood on Queen Street (Queensway today) and was closed in 1959.

He was also commemorated on the John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial in Apsley, although his initials were engraved incorrectly as J. S. rather than J. E. Nevertheless, Edward is honoured with his workmates.

Edward is Remembered with Honour on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 54 and 56.

He was 21 years old when he died.

Edward was eligible for the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

Cpl. Joseph Edward Bilby c1914 (Photo: The Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser)

Extract from The Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser 25th Aug. 1917

Extract from The Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser 25th Aug. 1917

St. Paul’s Church, Queen Street where Edward was commemorated (Photo: http://www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk)

John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial, Apsley (Photo:Traquair Photography)

Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Photo: CWGC)

CHARLES BERTRAM BURDEN
205441 Private
10th Bn., Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)
Killed in Action Tuesday, 31st July 1917
Remembered with Honour, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 45 and 47.

Charles Bertram Burden was born in Havant, Hampshire in the Spring of 1888 and baptised at St Thomas Church, Bedhampton on Sunday, 17th June in the same year. He was the second son of Charles William Burden and Emma Louisa Leggett and he had four siblings: Percy Reginald, Ethel May , Gertrude Louise and Cecil Maurice. Charles’ mother Emma died on the 7th September 1893 when he was only five years old.

His father married for a second time in 1896 to Rose Graham and they produced two children together, Rose and William Graham. William also served in the Great War as a Rifleman with the London Regiment and survived the conflict. Charles’ brother served as a Leading Signalman in the Royal Navy and survived the war but his son Maurice, Charles’ nephew, was killed in action on the 24th June 1941 aged twenty-six.

Charles’ father was a ‘Miller’ and he ran the Flour, Corn Mill and Malthouse on West Street in Havant for over twenty years. By 1911 Charles aged twenty-two worked as a ‘Clerk’ for a Wine and Spirit Merchants in Havant.

It is unclear why the family moved to Hemel Hempstead although initially it may have been that Charles father came to work as a Miller in the area. However, by 1913 Charles senior had opened a grocery store at 226 London Road in Boxmoor which he ran with his two youngest sons Cecil and William.

Charles found work as a ‘Clerk’ with a Wine and Spirit Merchants which may have been Bailey’s in Apsley End or more likely Kempton Brothers at Queen Street Watford where he would eventually enlist in the army.

Charles was called up for service in 1916 following the enacting of the Military Service Act in January and he enlisted in Watford with 1/4th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers in August or September. At some point before going to the Front, Charles transferred to the Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) and was sent to overseas around April 1917 to join the 10th Battalion in Belgium.

In June 1917 Charles fought in the Battle of Messines where the 10th Queen’s Own suffered 239 casualties in five days of fighting. Charles, however, came through unscathed.

Just over a month later he was in action again as the 10th Queen’s Own fought in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge in which the lost almost one third of the battalion strength in three days of brutal fighting.

Pilckem Ridge where Charles fell – (Photo : National Army Museum, Online Collection)

Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (CWGC)

Charles did not survive the action and he was killed on the first day of the attack on Tuesday, 31st July 1917.

Charles is Remembered with Honour on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 45 and 47.

He was 28 years old when he died.

Charles was eligible for the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

PERCY COLEMAN
66324 Private
12th Bn., Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
Killed in Action Tuesday, 31st July 1917
Remembered with Honour, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 6 and 8.

Percy Coleman was born in Bedmond near Abbott’s Langley in 1886 and baptised at Abbotts Langley on Friday, 10th September in the same year. He was the third son of William Rawlings Coleman and Sarah Ann Curtis who had seven children together who were: Fred, Edward, Percy, Alice, Emily, James and Nelly. William and Sarah also raised their niece Winnie (Winifred) Curtis after her mother had died in 1901.

Percy’s younger brother James also fought and died in the conflict in April 1918. His biography is also on this site.

The Colemans lived next door to Percy’s grandparents, at number 12 Nash Mills which was the family home for over forty years. Indeed, Percy only left Nash Mills when he went to war.

William Coleman had worked variously as a ‘Labourer’ a ‘Millwright’ and a ‘Fitter’, the latter two were high skilled trades, but always with John Dickinson & Co. Limited in Nash Mills. Most of his offspring, including Percy, followed him into the paper making industry.

In the 1901 Census Percy is recorded as a ‘Millwright’s Apprentice’, presumably working alongside his father in Nash Mills maintaining machinery and equipment. Ten years later in 1911 he is recorded as a ‘Papermaker’.

Percy married Ethel May Jennings on Saturday, 21st June 1913 in St. John’s Parish Church, Kingston-upon-Thames. Ethel had been working as a ‘Kitchen Maid’ at the home of Colonel Elford Pearse, Elm Lodge in Elstree. The house had previously been the home of a famous Victorian actor and close friend of Charles Dickens, William MacCready.

It is not known how Percy and Ethel met but having married, they went on to have two children together. Their son Frederick was born on the 3rd May 1914 and their daughter Vera followed on the 26th September 1917. Tragically, the new baby’s father had been killed in France only two months earlier.

Following Percy’s death, Ethel did not remarry and in 1939 the family was still living together in Twickenham along with Frederick’s wife Doris.

Percy was called up for service after the second Military Service Act was passed in May 1916 which, extended liability for military service to married men. He enlisted with the Northamptonshire Regiment in August of the same year and was sent to France on the 20th June 1917.

Shortly after his arrival he, along with seventy-five other Northants soldiers, transferred on the 8th July to the 12th Battalion Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) and joined their new comrades two days later.

For seven days between the 17th and 25th July, the 12th Royal Fusiliers marched from Henneveux, just east of Boulougne to take up positions close to Pilckem, north of Ypres in Belgium. This was a distance of just over 90 miles (148 kms) and the men averaged approximately 13 miles each day they marched. This move was the precursor to the start of the Third Battle of Ypres and the opening assault was to take place at Pilckem Ridge.

The Battalion War Diaries record: “June 24/17 Fine. The Battalion addressed by the Archbishop of York…” This was the controversial figure of Cosmo Gordon Lang whom many in Britain perceived to be pro-German owing to comments he made relating to the Kaiser and the King Edward VII at Queen Victoria’s funeral. He was later translated to Archbishop of Canterbury where controversy continued to court him. He became the leading voice insisting that Edward VIII give up the throne during the ‘Abdication Crisis’ in 1936.

One week later Percy was in action for the first time since arriving at the Front. The Battalion attacked at 03.10 a.m. on the morning of the 31st July and moved approximately 200 yards in two hours before being held up by shelling and machine gun fire form the well-entrenched German positions. For the rest of the day the men suffered heavy bombardment and enfilade rifle fire from the enemy and on a number of occasions sent communications back to H.Q. requesting support. Unfortunately, none of these messages got through owing to the runners being killed or wounded and it was not until 11.00 p.m. that relief came when the 2nd Yorkshire Regiment arrived.

Nash Mills at the turn of the 19th century where most of the Coleman family worked (Photo: The Endless Web, John Dickinson & Co. Ltd 1804 - 1954, Joan Evans, 1954)

John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial, Apsley (Photo:Traquair Photography)

Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Photo: CWGC)

The casualties inflicted on the 12th Royal Fusiliers on the day were recorded as “O R Killed 30, O R Wounded 130”. Percy Coleman’s war had consisted mainly of travelling and marching and he was tragically cut down after only a few hours on the only day that he saw action against the enemy.

Percy was one of the unfortunate victims killed on Tuesday, 31st July 1917.

He was commemorated with his other work colleagues from Nash Mills on the John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial in Apsley.

Percy is Remembered with Honour on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 6 and 8.

He was 32 years old when he died.

Percy was eligible for the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

WILLIAM ALFRED CROFT
G/11452 Lance Corporal
10th Bn., Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)
Killed in Action Tuesday, 31st July 1917
Remembered with Honour, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 45 and 47.

William Alfred Croft was born on Wednesday, 26th August 1896 in Chetnole, Dorset and baptised in the local parish church a month later on Sunday, 27th September. His parents were William Croft and Martha Ann Baker who had seven children together: Sarah Ann, Emily, George, Walter Henry, Gertrude Frances Annie, Alice Mabel and the youngest William.

One of William’s older brothers, Walter Henry, died of illness whilst serving in August 1916. Their brother-in-law Bertie Parkins died in France in 1917. Walter and Bertie are also on this site.

His father William had originally worked as a ‘Brewer’s Drayman’ but changed jobs to work as a ‘Domestic Coachman’ in the 1890’s. It was this change in job which eventually brought the Croft family to Hemel Hempstead some time after 1901. William’s father first came to Bovingdon, before moving to Hemel Hempstead in 1906 where the family lived at 73 Cotteralls.

By 1911 William senior had secured a job at Grove Hill House working as ‘Coachman’ for the Elworthy family. Sidney Richard Elworthy a son of William’s employer was also killed in the Great War in 1918 and his biography also appears on this site.

William went to Boxmoor JMI school when he arrived in Hemel Hempstead in 1906 and according to the school admissions register, he left in January 1910 to “help his father with horses (domestic service outdoor)”. A year later however he is recorded on the census return as a ‘Baker Boy’ no doubt preferring the warmth of a bakery to the harsh outdoor conditions and heavy work involved in handling horses.

By the time war broke out, William was living at Ripney Hill, Minster, Sheerness-on-Sea where he had gone with his father whose work meant he was frequently on the move. William was working as a ‘Gardener’ but when he was old enough to qualify for service overseas, he joined the Colours.

He enlisted with the Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) attesting at Maidstone on the 29th November 1915. William’s Service Records from the time record that he was; nineteen years and ninety-five days old on enlistment, five feet five-and-a-half inches tall and measured thirty-five inches around his chest. He weighed 125 lbs or just under nine stones.

When he completed his basic training at Aldershot, he was posted to the newly formed 10th (Service) Battalion of the West Kents and sent to France where he disembarked at Le Havre on the 5th May 1916. Three months after arriving, William contracted ‘German Measles’ and was immediately admitted to hospital where he remained until the 10th September. He returned to his unit just in time to take part in its first major engagement at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, notable for the first deployment of the newly invented Tank.

William came through unscathed but was in action again two weeks later at the Battle of Transloy as the Somme offensive drew to a close. Once again, he survived the engagement.

By June 1917 the 10th West Kents had moved to Belgium and William, newly promoted Lance Corporal, again saw action in the Battle of Messines. From Messines the Battalion marched to Pilckem north of Ypres and made ready for the next major allied offensive and the Third Battle of Ypres. The opening engagement was at Pilckem Ridge and at 3.30 a.m. on the morning of the 31st July, the barrage commenced and the attack on Pilckem Ridge began. The Battalion War Diaries are to the point when describing the action and the following is recorded: “31/7/17 3.50AM Barrage opened and attack commenced. The Battalion gained two objectives consolidated and held the same. Casualties will be included in next month’s War Diary on completion of operations…”

Between the 25th July and the 5th August 247 officers and men were Killed, Wounded or posted Missing and a large proportion as a result of the actions at Pilckem Ridge. Sadly, William was one of the casualties.

William was killed on Tuesday, 31st July 1917.

Grove Hill House where William’s father was coachman in 1911 (Photo: Grovehill Chronicle)

Extract from The Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser 31st Jul. 1920

Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Photo: CWGC)

On the third anniversary of his death his family posted a moving ‘In Memoriam’ notice in the Hemel Gazette. (see extract)

William is Remembered with Honour on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 45 and 47.

He was only 20 years old when he died.

William was eligible for the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

RICHARD FRANK HOAR
270757 Private
1/1st Bn., Hertfordshire Regiment
Killed in Action Tuesday, 31st July 1917
Remembered with Honour, Track X Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Grave E. 30.

Richard Frank Hoar, known as Frank, was born in Apsley End early in 1894. He was the fifth child born to Richard Thomas Hoar and Louisa Axtell who had a large family of eleven children together. The children were: Thomas Richard, Florence Jane, Montague, Lilly, Frank, Ralph, Annie, Gerald Douglas and Eva. Thomas, their first child, died in infancy and two other children, who are unknown, also died young.

On the 8th February 1900, Frank was one of eight boys admitted to Apsley Boys School from the Infant department. One of his schoolmates was Leman Patterson who also fought and died in the Great War and whose biography appears on this site.

Four years later, Frank and his younger brother Ralph are recorded leaving Apsley Boys School aged ten and nine respectively. Too young to leave school permanently, they presumably moved to another school locally.

When he finally completed his schooling, Frank went to work as a ‘Printer’ with John Dickinson & Co. Limited in Apsley Mills where he remained until the outbreak of war.

In 1912 he enlisted with the 1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regiment (Territorial Force) for a period of four years, as a way of supplementing his wages at Dickinsons and trained as a reserve soldier.

On the outbreak of war, the Hertfordshire Regiment were immediately mobilised and went to Romford and Bury St. Edmunds to train. In November 1914 Frank and his comrades were sent to France and disembarked at Le Havre on the 6th and over the next few days moved to take up position south of Ypres. Within a few days of arriving Frank was in the trenches facing the enemy for the first time.

On the 18th and 19th November the 1/1st Hertfordshires suffered its first casualties with ten men Killed and one officer Wounded. The early part of 1915 saw the Battalion involved in harsh Winter operations around Cuinchy before it fought in the Battle of Festubert in May and then the Battle of Loos in September. Frank came through these actions unscathed.

1916 began with Frank’s discharge from the Army as his first period of engagement ended after four years, however, he immediately re-enlisted for the duration of the War. Towards the end of the year Frank fought in the last phase of the Somme offensive in three battles in close succession: Thiepval Ridge, Ancre Heights and finally Ancre. Once again Frank’s good fortune held as he survived these actions.

By July 1917 the 1/1st Herts was back in Belgium and preparing for attack in the opening engagement of the Third Battle of Ypres at Pilckem Ridge. This attack began at 3.50 a.m. on the 31st July and it became apparent at a very early stage that the attack would prove extremely costly for the Battalion. The War Diaries recorded the following: “31/7/17…as the Bn advanced for the STEENBEEK towards the LANGEMARCK line casualties grew heavier from sniper and machine gun fire…” and again “…The remainder of the Bn, being unable to get through the wire and suffering severe casualties from enfilade MG fire…had to fall back having suffered exceptionally heavy casualties…”.

The final reckoning at Pilckem Ridge was some 459 me Killed, Wounded or Missing and it was there that Frank fell when his luck finally ran out.
Frank died on Tuesday, 31st July 1917.

He was commemorated on the John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial in Apsley

Frank is Remembered with Honour in Track X Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, where he is interred in Grave E. 30.

He was 23 years old when he died.

Frank was eligible for the 1914-15 Star with Clasp¹, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

1914-15 Star with Clasp (Photo: www.awardmedals.com)

John Dickinson & Co Limited War Memorial, Apsley (Photo:Traquair Photography)

Track X Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium shortly after the Great War (Photo: ‘Remembering the Fallen’ www.ww1cemeteries.com)

Pte. Frank Hoar’s Headstone (Photo:Traquair Photography)

¹ A clasp was instituted in 1919, as published in Army Order no. 361 of 16 October 1919. The clasp, together with two small silver roses, was awarded to those who had served under fire or who had operated within range of enemy mobile artillery in France or Belgium during the period between 5 August and 22 November 1914.

DAVID KING
267003 Private
1/1st Bn., Hertfordshire Regiment
Killed in Action Tuesday, 31st July 1917
Remembered with Honour, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 54 and 56.

David King was born in Uxbridge, Middlesex in the Spring of 1897. His father was William Harry King and his mother Mary Jane Atkins. David had seven siblings who were: Rose, Harry, Annie, John, Edward, Thomas and Alfred.

William King was a ‘Canal Boatman’ from a well-known family of ‘Boatmen’ from Berkhamsted and David, his older brother Harry and their younger siblings grew up in Apsley where their father plied his trade.


By 1911 the family lived on Durrant’s Hill close to the wharf at Frogmore End and both David and his brother Harry were working in Nash Mills with John Dickinson & Co. Limited.

On the outbreak of war David, aged seventeen, was too young to volunteer and it was to be another year when, under the Group System (Derby Scheme), both he and Harry enlisted in November 1915. Due to their age difference they were called up two months apart, Harry in January 1916 and David in March. Both men had enlisted with the Hertfordshire Regiment and both ended up training together at Bury St. Edmunds.

When they left for France, they were both posted to the 1/1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regiment, no.7 Platoon, 2 Company. They arrived in France just in time to fight in the final phase of the Somme offensive at the Battle of Ancre.

By February 1917 the Battalion had moved to Belgium and was positioned in the vicinity of Ypres and for the next few moths David and Harry were engaged in the trenches or in night-time raiding parties.

In early June they sent a postcard home to their youngest brother Alf. The card carried the slogan “Who’s afraid” and on the back they wrote “To Alf with love from Harry and David.” This was to be David’s last contact with his family at home.

On 31st July the 1/1st Hertfordshires attacked Pilckem Ridge near Ypres in what turned out to be a short but bloody engagement. In one day, 459 me were Killed, Wounded or posted Missing, many in the first few hours of the attack.

Harry was wounded but his younger brother David was not so fortunate. He was posted missing, although it seems the two brothers were together right to the end as Harry makes clear when he wrote to his family in 1918 saying: “I was the last one to see David alive, but what happened that day I can hardly remember for I was nearly out of my mind, if he is dead, I believe he has gone to heaven, for a better living lad I never knew.” Official confirmation of David’s death was finally received by his family in October 1918.

He was killed on Tuesday, 31st July 1917.


Harry recovered from his wounds but was only fit enough to serve in the Royal Defence Corps, which he joined sometime in 1918.

Harry (back) and David King with their Battalion c1916

David was commemorated on the John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial in Apsley.

David is Remembered with Honour on Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 54 and 56.

He was only 19 years old when he died.

David was eligible for the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

Pte. David King c1916 (Photo: The Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser)

Nash Mills at the turn of the 19th century where David worked (Photo: The Endless Web, John Dickinson & Co. Ltd 1804 - 1954, Joan Evans, 1954)

David King and his workmates – John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial Apsley (Photo:Traquair Photography)

Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Photo: CWGC)

FREDERICK ALBERT LEACH
267013 Private
1/1st Bn., Hertfordshire Regiment
Killed in Action Tuesday, 31st July 1917
Remembered with Honour, New Irish Farm Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Grave XX. A. 19.

Frederick Albert Leach was born on Sunday, 26th September 1897 at 3 Charles Place, Deptford, London and baptised two weeks later on Wednesday, 13th October at Christ Church Deptford.

He was the first child born to Frederick Albert Leach and Susan (Susanna) Golden, who had a family of eight children together. The children were: Frederick Albert, William Leonard, Albert Edward, Edward John, Edith Catherine Susan, Stanley Charles, Ernest Robert and the youngest Alfred George. Frederick’s brother William died aged eleven months in 1900. His only sister Edith also died young in 1911 when she was only three-years-old.

The Leach family moved from London to Hemel Hempstead in 1902 when Frederick senior joined John Dickinson & Co. Limited as a ‘Printer’.

Initially, the family home was at 57 St. John’s Road, Boxmoor and from there young Fredrick started school at Boxmoor JMI. The school admissions log records that Frederick left in September 1904 after recovering from a “bad epidemic of ringworm” and went to Two Waters British School. The cause of his leaving was probably because his family had moved to 36 London Road rather than the ringworm. 

He returned to Boxmoor school in April 1909, along with his younger brother Albert, by which time the Leach family lived at 107 Cotterells. He finally left school to start work in December 1910.

Frederick followed his father into John Dickinson in 1911 and started his working life as a ‘Millhand’ in the Engineering Department.

Justt over a year after the outbreak of war and as soon as he was old enough in November 1915, Frederick enlisted with the Hertfordshire Regiment. He was immediately posted to Bury St. Edmunds to undergo basic training.

Whilst Frederick was training his father also enlisted following the Military Service Act in May 1916 and joined the Royal Army Service Corps. He saw action on the Western Front and at one point was wounded, but survived the conflict and was demobilised in 1919.

Young Frederick went to France in late 1916, posted to the 1/1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regiment and arrived just in time to fight in the last phase of the Somme Offensive at the Battle of Ancre.

The following year he moved with the Battalion to Belgium and by July was north of Ypres preparing for the next major offensive. The Third Battle of Ypres began on the 31st July at the Battle of Pilckem Ridge and it was during this attack that Frederick fell. In all the 1/1st Hertfordshires suffered 459 casualties Killed, Wounded and missing and Frederick was one of eleven men from the Hemel area who died in the battle.

Posted missing, Frederick was officially confirmed Killed on Tuesday, 31st July 1917.

He was commemorated on the John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial at Apsley.

Frederick is Remembered with Honour in New Irish Farm Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium where he is interred in Grave XX. A. 19. The inscription on his headstone, requested by his mother Susan, reads: “HIS TASK FULFILLED HIS DUTY DONE”.

He was only 19 years old when he died.

Frederick was eligible for the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

Christchurch, Deptford where Frederick was baptised (Image: Antiqua Print Gallery)

Frederick's parents Frederick and Susanna (Photos: Lee David Arnell)

Pilckem Ridge July 1917 where Frederick fell (Photo: National Army Museum)

John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial, Apsley (Photo:Traquair Photography)

New Irish Farm Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Photo: CWGC)

DAVID GEORGE NEWTON
G/14274 Private
13th Bn., Royal Sussex Regiment
Killed in Action Tuesday, 31st July 1917
Remembered with Honour, Buffs Road Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Sp. Mem. 2.

David George Newton was born in Hemel Hempstead on Wednesday, 24th February 1886 and baptised on Thursday, 6th May at St Mary’s Church in the same year. He was the sixth son and child of Henry Newton and Emily South who had a large family of eleven children together. The children were: Henry, Walter, Alfred, Bertie, Arthur, Rose, Horace, David, William, George and Charles. Arthur died in 1900 aged eighteen.

David grew up in Moor Cottages, popularly known as ‘Star’ Cottages, which were located on Blackbird’s Moor in Boxmoor. He started school at Boxmoor JMI in 1891 and left to join his father ‘Hawking’ just before Christmas 1898. ‘Hawking’ typically entailed selling goods door to door or in the street and this appears to have been Henry Newton’s lifelong occupation. Each of the boys joined their father after leaving school and before moving on to more secure jobs.

In 1907, David married Jane Saunders who hailed from Eaton Bray but who had come to work in Hemel Hempstead. They married in the summer and had their only child the following year, a son named Dennis David.

When he married David moved his new family into number 15 Moor Cottages a couple of doors away from his parents and by 1911, he worked as a ‘Carter’ for R. R. Bradshaw who was listed in the local commercial directory as “coal, wood & coke merchant & general carrier”.

Bradshaw was also a sales agent for the Anglo-American Oil Company (Esso today) out of Ebbern’s wharf at Frogmore End and by the time of his enlistment David was the local branch manager.

Anglo-American had been supplying paraffin lamp oil and refined petroleum products to the UK since 1889 and by 1905 had gained a Royal Warrant for the supply of ‘Pratt’s Perfection Motor Spirit’. There were over 3,500 sales agents across the country by 1910 offering the company’s wares.

Following the passing of the second Military Service Act in May 1916, which extended liability for service to married men, David attested at Watford and enlisted with the Royal Sussex regiment in August. He went to Witley Camp in Aldershot to train and was sent to France in February 1917 to join the 13th Battalion.

The 13th (Service) Battalion (3rd South Down) was one of the original ‘Pals’ type battalions, and along with the 11th and 12th they were collectively referred to as “Lowther’s Lambs”, after the M.P. who raised them. On the 30th June 1916, all three Battalions went over the top in a diversionary attack at a position called the Boar’s Head, near Richebourg l’Avoue. In just under twenty-four hours, 1,100 casualties were incurred in a fruitless attack that had no effect on the enemy’s abilities to withstand next day’s assault on the Somme. In regimental history this is known as “The Day Sussex Died”.
   

By July 1917 the Battalion were in position close to Pilckem Ridge north of Ypres as it prepared to attack the enemy. When the assault began the 13th Battalion achieved its objectives fairly quickly and were able to hold and consolidate the captured ground. However, during the night of the 31st into the morning of the 1st August the Germans sent down a heavy bombardment on the captured positions and it was during this time that most of the Battalion casualties were incurred.

David was one of the unfortunate soldiers to fall and he died on Tuesday, 31st July 1917.

David is Remembered with Honour in Buffs Road Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, where his name is engraved on a Special Memorial Cross at the back of the graveyard. The inscription on the memorial, requested by his mother Emily, reads: “THEIR GLORY SHALL NOT BE BLOTTED OUT”.

He was 31 years old when he died.

David was eligible for the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

Moor (Star) Cottages where David grew up (Photo: http://www.dacorumheritage.org.uk)

Anglo-American horse drawn tank car used until after WW1 (Photo: exxonmobil.co.uk)

"Lowther's Lambs" 13th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regt. 1915 (Photo: www.greatwarphotos.com)

Buffs Road Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Photo: CWGC)

COLIN BARNES RADFORD
266772 Private
1/1st Bn., Hertfordshire Regiment
Killed in Action Tuesday, 31st July 1917
Remembered with Honour, Artillery Wood Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Grave IV. F. 18.

Colin Barnes Radford was born in Hemel Hempstead in the early part of 1898. He was the fifth surviving child of James Henry Radford and Mary Ann Sophia Barnes who had a large family of twelve children together. Colin’s siblings were: Harry, Charles, Ada, Annie, Frederick, Nellie and Aaron. Four other unnamed children died when young.

Colin was born and grew up at 2 Half Moon Yard just off the High Street in Hemel Hempstead, where his father James was a ‘Canvas Sewer’ as well as a ‘Horse Collar Maker’.

In 1911, Colin aged thirteen and having just left school, worked as a ‘Grocer’s Errand Boy’. Shortly afterwards however, he found employment with John Dickinson & Co. Limited in Apsley Mills.

On the outbreak of war, Colin was too young at sixteen to enlist, but just over a year later he decided to try his luck. In June 1915 he made his way to Hertford, presumably where he knew he would not be known, and succeeded in joining the Hertfordshire Regiment. He was still only seventeen years old.

It was not unusual for underage volunteers to try to enlist. Some 250,000 succeeded and although many were discovered shortly after joining, a significant number made it to the Front and fought and died in battle. The youngest verified volunteer to fight was Pte. Sidney George Lewis who enlisted aged twelve with the East Surrey Regiment in 1915. He fought at the Somme in 1916 aged thirteen, was discharged and sent home, but re-enlisted in 1918.

Colin was sent to Bury St. Edmunds where he underwent basic training and went to France a year later, still under the age threshold for overseas service. He was posted to the 1/1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regiment and he joined his comrades in time to fight in the Somme Offensive. In 1916 he saw action at Thiepval Ridge in September and then Ancre Heights and Ancre in October and November all of which he survived.

In 1917 he moved with the Regiment to Belgium and by July was preparing to take part in the attack on Pilckem Ridge. The Battle of Pilckem Ridge was the opening action of the Third Battles of Ypres and it proved to be a bloody and costly encounter for the allies.

The 1/1st Hertfordshires were no exception and in one day of difficult fighting, the Battalion incurred 429 casualties, Killed, Missing or Wounded.

Colin was amongst the fallen and died on Tuesday, 31st July 1917.

His mother received a letter from his C.O., the contents of which were published in the Hemel Gazette. (see extract)

He was commemorated on the John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial in Apsley where he had worked.

Colin is Remembered with Honour in Artillery Wood Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, where he is interred in Grave IV. F. 18.

He was only 19 years old when he died.

Colin was eligible for the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

"Half Moon Yard" where Colin was Born (Photo: https://maps.nls.uk)

Extract from The Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser 25th Aug. 1917

John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial, Apsley (Photo:Traquair Photography)

Pte. Colin Radfrod's Headstone, Artillery Wood Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Photo: Traquair Photography)

REGINALD HERBERT SECRETAN
Second Lieutenant
Hertfordshire Regiment
Killed in Action Tuesday, 31st July 1917
Remembered with Honour, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 54 and 56.

Reginald Herbert Secretan, known as Reggie, was born in Ewell, Surrey in 1895 and baptised on Saturday, 10th August, at St Mary’s church in the same year. He was the youngest child of Herbert Edwin Secretan and Mary Richardson who had four children together. The children were: Humphrey Basil, Marjorie, Esme and Reggie.

Reginald's brother Humphrey served with the Royal West Surrey Regiment and was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry. Although badly wounded in the conflict he survived the War.

Reggie’s father Herbert was an ‘Underwriter’ for the Marine Insurance Company and as a result, could afford to give Reggie and his older brother a good private education. Reggie initially attended school at Hildersham House, in Broadstairs, Kent, before following his brother to Oundle School in Northamptonshire.

At Oundle, Reggie, although not academically gifted, excelled at sport and was made Head of House. He also served in the school’s Officer Training Corp, reaching the rank of Corporal by the time he left in the Summer of 1914.

On the outbreak of war, Reggie immediately volunteered but his short-sightedness meant that he could not gain a commission. Indeed, this initially prevented his enlistment and he made continued and determined efforts to find a Regiment that would accept his services. On eight occasions he was rejected before finally enlisting with the Army Service Corps (A.S.C.) as a dispatch and motor driver at a Private’s rank.

He went to France on the 29th December 1914 and for the next eighteen months served as a dispatch rider. Eventually however, and due to the high attrition of junior officers, Reggie was able to gain a commission and returned home to train.

He completed his officer training at Gailes in Ayrshire and was finally granted his commission on the 18th December 1916. He was discharged from the A.S.C. and transferred to his new unit, 8 Platoon, 1/1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regiment.

He was immediately send overseas and he joined his new unit on the 3rd February 1917 at Ypres. His time at the Front leading his men was to be tragically short and he fell during the Battalion’s first major engagement of the year.

On the 31st July, the 1/1st Hertfordshires attacked Pilckem Ridge, north of Ypres, on the opening day of what became the Third Battle of Ypres. The fighting was difficult and bloody and on this day 429 casualties were incurred by the Regiment. These included 2nd Lieutenant Secretan.

Reggie was killed on Tuesday, 31st July 1917.

Following his death an obituary, originally published in ‘The Times’, was re-published in the Hemel Gazette. (see extract)

He was commemorated on the Leverstock Green village War Memorial.

Reggie is Remembered with Honour on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 54 and 56.

He was 22 years old when he died.

Reggie was eligible for the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.

2nd Lieut. Reggie Secretan c 1915 (Photo: IWM - Bond of Sacrifice, First World War Portraits Collection)

2nd Lt. Secretan (sested front row centre) with his platoon, 1st Hertfordshires (Photo: Hemel Today)

Extract from The Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead and West Herts Advertiser 18th Aug. 1917

Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Photo: CWGC)