2120 Private Charles Pitchfork
17th Battalion London Regiment
Age 19
Died 2 December 1916
Buried at Railway Dugouts cemetery, Ypres
Son of Charles and Martha Elizabeth Pitchfork, of 35, Pell Street, St. George Street, London.
Despite his rural-sounding name, Private Pitchfork was a Londoner who joined the 17th Battalion London Regiment (Poplar and Stepney Rifles).
He worked for Hanbury Truman brewers, possibly at the Grey Eagle Brewery on Brick Lane.
The Poplar and Stepney Rifles arrived in France in March 1915 and was engaged in the battle of Loos.
Drill Hall for the unit was at Tredegar Road, Bow, London. The building is long gone, though.
Monday 30 November 2009
Sunday 29 November 2009
Private Thomas Lamont
15416 Private Thomas Lamont
11th Battalion the Border Regiment
Age 42
Killed in action, 1 July 1916
Buried at Londsdale Cemetery, Authuille
The 11th (Lonsdale) Battalion of the Border Regiment was one of the units that attacked on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916.
11th Battalion the Border Regiment
Age 42
Killed in action, 1 July 1916
Buried at Londsdale Cemetery, Authuille
The 11th (Lonsdale) Battalion of the Border Regiment was one of the units that attacked on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916.
Saturday 28 November 2009
Private Alfred Ell
19838 Private Alfred Ell
1st Battalion Middlesex Regiment
Age 33
Killed in Action 24 October 1918
Buried at Romeries, France.
Son of George Ell, of London; husband of Lilian Daisy Ell, of 151, Offord Rd., Barnsbury, London.
Private Ell was killed during the actions prior to the Battle of the Sambre, just three weeks before the war ended.
On 23 October, the 1st Middlesex attacked the village of Forest near Le Cateau. Zero hour for the attack was 2am and at 2.45am a message was received by Battalion Headquarters from Captain Tate, commanding 'B' Company. This said: 'On outskirts of Forest. Everything going splendidly. Enemy retiring. Very few casualties.
At 4am on the 24th the advance was continued. The 1st Middlesex was on the left of the line and ran into lethal machine gun fire.
At 6.50am Captain Francis Broad MC reported that the enemy's machine-gun fire was extremely heavy, but he believed that, although he could not get touch, some of the Battalion were ahead of him, though the enemy also was in front.
At 7.25am he reported that he had 'D' Company with 'C' Company – a total of just 50 men.
At around 9.15am the battalion reorganised. There were just 90 other ranks present, with Captain Tate in command.
During the two days' fighting Captain Broad, Lieutenant ACT Kroenig-Ryan and 2/Lieutenant RE Holland were killed. Lieutenant AAT Harris was fatally wounded. 2/Lieutenant CE Cade was missing.
Captain Broad was 23 and from Watford.
2/Lieutenant Holland was 22 and from Mitcham in Surrey.
Lieutenant Kroenig-Ryan was 24, the son of a vicar from Braintree in Essex and a graduate of Cambridge University. He had a wife, Mabel, and lived at Alameda House, Vange, Pitsea, Essex. He had originally served with 8th Battalion the Middlesex Regiment.
1st Battalion Middlesex Regiment
Age 33
Killed in Action 24 October 1918
Buried at Romeries, France.
Son of George Ell, of London; husband of Lilian Daisy Ell, of 151, Offord Rd., Barnsbury, London.
Private Ell was killed during the actions prior to the Battle of the Sambre, just three weeks before the war ended.
On 23 October, the 1st Middlesex attacked the village of Forest near Le Cateau. Zero hour for the attack was 2am and at 2.45am a message was received by Battalion Headquarters from Captain Tate, commanding 'B' Company. This said: 'On outskirts of Forest. Everything going splendidly. Enemy retiring. Very few casualties.
At 4am on the 24th the advance was continued. The 1st Middlesex was on the left of the line and ran into lethal machine gun fire.
At 6.50am Captain Francis Broad MC reported that the enemy's machine-gun fire was extremely heavy, but he believed that, although he could not get touch, some of the Battalion were ahead of him, though the enemy also was in front.
At 7.25am he reported that he had 'D' Company with 'C' Company – a total of just 50 men.
At around 9.15am the battalion reorganised. There were just 90 other ranks present, with Captain Tate in command.
During the two days' fighting Captain Broad, Lieutenant ACT Kroenig-Ryan and 2/Lieutenant RE Holland were killed. Lieutenant AAT Harris was fatally wounded. 2/Lieutenant CE Cade was missing.
Captain Broad was 23 and from Watford.
2/Lieutenant Holland was 22 and from Mitcham in Surrey.
Lieutenant Kroenig-Ryan was 24, the son of a vicar from Braintree in Essex and a graduate of Cambridge University. He had a wife, Mabel, and lived at Alameda House, Vange, Pitsea, Essex. He had originally served with 8th Battalion the Middlesex Regiment.
Friday 27 November 2009
Private William Gianone
5379 Private William Gianone
1/19 Battalion London Regiment
Age unknown
Died 29 September 1916
Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial
1/19 Battalion London Regiment (St Pancras) was headquartered in 1914 at 76 High Street Camden Town.
In mid-September the Battalion was engaged in the battle of the Somme and lost around half of its number at High Wood. Included in these was the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Hamilton MC, killed on 15 September as the wood was finally taken by the British.
Hamilton was 32 years old and was attached to 1/19 Londons from The Queens (Royal West Surrey) Regiment. He lived at 42 Eaton Square, Belgravia and is buried at Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz.
The battalion was again in action from 1-4 October at Le Transloy and William Gianone was probably killed in the preliminary stages of this - probably somewhere near Eaucourt L'Abbaye.
Major Charles Herbert Fair DSO appears to have been in command of the battalion in late September 1916. He had been educated at Marlborough College, Wiltshire and at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he had gained first class honours in classics and been captain of the college rugby XV.
Fair was a schoolmaster at Haileybury College, Hertfordshire and had been posted to the 1/19th London Regiment in 1ate October 1915.
On 5 November 1916 he noted in a letter he noted that he was now the longest serving officer with the battalion – it had suffered over 100 per cent turnover in 12 months.
1/19 Battalion London Regiment
Age unknown
Died 29 September 1916
Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial
1/19 Battalion London Regiment (St Pancras) was headquartered in 1914 at 76 High Street Camden Town.
In mid-September the Battalion was engaged in the battle of the Somme and lost around half of its number at High Wood. Included in these was the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Hamilton MC, killed on 15 September as the wood was finally taken by the British.
Hamilton was 32 years old and was attached to 1/19 Londons from The Queens (Royal West Surrey) Regiment. He lived at 42 Eaton Square, Belgravia and is buried at Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz.
The battalion was again in action from 1-4 October at Le Transloy and William Gianone was probably killed in the preliminary stages of this - probably somewhere near Eaucourt L'Abbaye.
Major Charles Herbert Fair DSO appears to have been in command of the battalion in late September 1916. He had been educated at Marlborough College, Wiltshire and at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he had gained first class honours in classics and been captain of the college rugby XV.
Fair was a schoolmaster at Haileybury College, Hertfordshire and had been posted to the 1/19th London Regiment in 1ate October 1915.
On 5 November 1916 he noted in a letter he noted that he was now the longest serving officer with the battalion – it had suffered over 100 per cent turnover in 12 months.
Thursday 26 November 2009
Rifleman Arthur Dunn
R/9123 Rifleman Arthur Dunn
3rd Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps
Age 18
Died 24 July 1915
Son of William and Mary Ann Dunn, of 30, New Inn Lane, Hanford, Stoke-on-Trent.
Buried at Boulogne Eastern Cemetery.
3 KRRC were engaged at Ypres in April and May 1915 and sustained heavy casualties there. It is possible Rifleman Dunn was wounded around this time and later died at one of the base hospitals in Boulogne. The battalion was in the front line at the beginning of the battle, which lasted for 24 days (19 April to 13 May). It also saw the Germans using poison gas for the first time. Some 542 members of the battalion were killed, wounded or reported missing during the battle.
On 24 May 3 KRRC were engaged in a night attack near the Menin Road, taking casualties of three officers and 65 other ranks – possibly including Rifleman Dunn.
3rd Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps
Age 18
Died 24 July 1915
Son of William and Mary Ann Dunn, of 30, New Inn Lane, Hanford, Stoke-on-Trent.
Buried at Boulogne Eastern Cemetery.
3 KRRC were engaged at Ypres in April and May 1915 and sustained heavy casualties there. It is possible Rifleman Dunn was wounded around this time and later died at one of the base hospitals in Boulogne. The battalion was in the front line at the beginning of the battle, which lasted for 24 days (19 April to 13 May). It also saw the Germans using poison gas for the first time. Some 542 members of the battalion were killed, wounded or reported missing during the battle.
On 24 May 3 KRRC were engaged in a night attack near the Menin Road, taking casualties of three officers and 65 other ranks – possibly including Rifleman Dunn.
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