Great Packington, Warwickshire: One Place Study.
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Great Packington's service in World War 1.
A memorial plaque was placed inside St. James Church, Great Packington, Warwickshire, in memory of men of the parish who served during the First World War. This was transcribed by the Birmingham and Midland Society of Genealogy and Heraldry in 1987, published in 2012 and is available from the Midland Ancestors website as a download.
Below are 30 profiles of the individual men some who have been identified from the initials on the memorial plaque. There are also profiles of other men who had connections to the parish but who were not resident in the parish at the time of enlistment.
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Image credit: Wikimedia.
Letter from Army Service Record. Credit: Forces War Records.
Private James Albert Bailey was born in Kentford, Suffolk on 28 February 1890. At the outbreak of the Great War, James was working as a Groom on the Packington Estate, Great Packington and gave Packington Hall as his address. He enlisted in the 18th (Service) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment at Coventry on 27 November 1915 and was considered as having 'good' physical development and being 'fit for services in the filed at home or abroad.' James served for 215 days but was discharged as no longer medically fit for service on 26 June 1916, after being hospitalised with influenza and rubella (a viral infection colloquially known as German measles) and suffering from an infection on his leg. His intended address was his father's home in Newmarket, Suffolk.
Private Arthur Ball was born in Great Packington in 1897, to William Ball of Birmingham, Warwickshire and Eliza Ball née Smith of Keresley, Warwickshire (now in the city of Coventry). At the time of his birth, Arthur's father was working as a labourer. Arthur can be found in the 1911 census working with his father as a Game Keeper on the Packington Estate, when he was 14 years old. He enlisted in the army with the Gloucestershire Regiment and later served with the 1st/4th Welsh Regiment, who were attached to the 53rd (Welsh) Division, South Wales Infantry Brigade.
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Arthur was posted to Gaza with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. He died on 27 March 1917 at the second day of the First Battle of Gaza. During the battle, allied soldiers had to advance across exposed ground, under a bombardment of machine gun fire, rifle fire and shrapnel, to capture Turkish fortifications. The 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division suffered heavy losses during the Battle, with the majority of the casualties being from Welsh Battalions that were participating in the offensive. 44 of their men, including Arthur, died in the battle and 178 were wounded.
Arthur is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial, Israel, panel 30, in The Welsh Book of Remembrance 1928 (which can be viewed online at The National Library of Wales website), on the West Wales Memorial Project website, and on the brass plate in the St. James, Great Packington.
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1911 Census. Credit: Ancestry.
Arthur Ball's elder brother Henry Ball was also born in Great Packington, during 1894, to William Ball and Eliza Ball née Smith. He was baptised on 6 May 1894. Henry was employed by Warwickshire County Council as a Roadman when the 1911 census was taken. He served during the Great War with the Coldstream Guards. Henry survived the war, but his pension application of 1921 was rejected. After the war, Henry worked at the Daimler Motor Company, who manufactured cars in Coventry, but he was out of work by when the 1921 census was taken.
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Henry emigrated to Canada the next year, in November 1922, travelling to his surviving brother Sydney Ball who had previously left England. He emigrated alongside his wife Margaret Morrell. She was from Lichfield, Staffordshire and the couple had recently married around October 1922 in Tamworth, Staffordshire. Henry and his wife had two children who were born in Canada. He died on 1 November 1979 and is buried in the Courtenay Civic Cemetery, Comox, British Columbia, Canada.
1921 Census for Ball family. Credit: FindMyPast.
Lance Corporal Herbert John Barton was born in 1898 in Great Packington, to John Barton and Elizabeth Barton née Parker, of White Stitch Farm, Great Packington. When the 1911 census was enumerated, John was employed as a Woodsman and Herbert was the eldest of 6 children. Neither of his two younger brothers were old enough to serve during the War.
Herbert enlisted in the army at Coventry, Warwickshire, but was called to the 1st Battalion, Hampshire Regiment rather than a local corps. He was killed in action on 8 June 1918 and is buried at Gonnehem British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France, plot D. 16, with his grave bearing the inscription 'he gave his life, his all. for us'. The cemetery where he rests was begun in April 1918, when the German front line came within just 3.2 kilometres of the Gonnehem village. Herbert's personal effects were sent to his Father after his death. ​He is one of the many soldiers listed on the A Street Near You website, set up to explore the local legacy of the First World War.
Credit: Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
James Bricknell was born in Great Packington and married Emily Rosa Willcox on 21 February 1901. The couple had 3 children, Fred, Seth and Ivy, and the family lived at Park Gate in the parish.
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He was 46 years old and working as a Groom in the parish when he was called to enlist in 1915. His records indicate that he was to be assigned to home service only, and that he was sent to work at Woolwich Dockyard, Kent with the Army Service Corps.
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James was discharged as ‘no longer fit for war service’ due to rheumatoid myalgia on 22nd April 1918. By this date he was approaching 50 years old. He was granted an army pension after the war and died in 1934.
Credit: National Archives.
Gunner Thomas Wilkinson Booth was born in 1893 in Market Drayton, Staffordshire, and was baptised on 22 April 1894 in Ashley, Staffordshire. He was the son of Thomas Wilkinson Booth and Anne Booth née Silvester. Thomas was working at Outwoods Farm in Great Packington with his father (a widower) and some of his siblings when the 1911 census was enumerated.
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Thomas served with the 115th Battery, 25th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery and died on 5th October 1918. He could have died during an attack on the last of the German defensive (lines known by the Allies as the Hindenburg Line), at the Battle of Canal Du Nord or from wounds following the Allied capture of Pontru on 24 September 1918. He is is buried at plot D4 in Berthaucourt Communal Cemetery, Pontru, Aisne, France and his grave bears the inscription 'The souls of the righteous are in the hands of the lord'. He was awarded the British War and Victory Medals for his service and was reported in the Coventry Evening Telegraph's Roll of Honour.
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Credit:
FindmyPast.
Credit: FindaGrave.
Lance Corporal Stanley Waterton Cooke was born on 29 November 1895 to parents Charles Edward Cook (a bricklayer born in Great Packington) and his wife, Sarah Harriet, née Waterton (a draper/shopkeeper, born in London). He was baptised on 9 February 1896. He attended Meriden School, was employed as a Textile Card Lacer in 1911 (when he was 15 years old) and volunteered for the British Red Cross in nearby Coleshill, Warwickshire. He can be seen in the picture below left as a teenager in his Red Cross uniform.
Stanley served with the 9th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment as part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in Gallipoli. He died of exposure on 28 November 1915 when the regiment were caught in a storm that flooded their trenches and which was followed by frost and snow. The 9th Battalion's war diary for the date of his death records that 'Trenches occupied & parapets being repaired, but men in critical condition through exposure, several men dying of exposure. Casualties – Officers – nil, Other ranks – Died 3, wounded 1, sick 48,' Many of the sick men suffered with frostbite and sentries were found frozen to death at their posts.
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Stanley's war pension was granted to his mother Sarah, he was awarded the British War and Victory Medals for his service and he is commemorated on the Meriden War Memorial, Warwickshire.
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Stanley was also commemorated on the Basra Memorial, Iraq, in error, which was discovered in 2018 by the local military historian Steve Morse. Thanks to Steve, this has since been rectified by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Stanley is now commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Turkey, Addenda Panel 207.
Credit: Lives of the First World War.
Meriden War Memorial. Credit: War Memorials Online.
Helles Memorial. Credit: ww1cemeteries.com.
Captain Heneage Greville Finch, Lord Guernsey, was born on 8th June 1883, as the eldest son of Charles Wightwick Finch, 8th Earl of Aylesford, of Great Packington Hall, and his second wife Marcella Araminta Victoria Finch formerly Linton née Ross. He was heir to the Earldom and Packington estate.
Heneage attended school at Eton College, before attending the Royal Military College at Sandhurst and joining the Militia in August 1901. He served in the Irish Guards during the Anglo-Boer Wars and was posted to South Africa from August 1901 to May 1902. He was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal for this service. He was appointed aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief in Gibraltar in 1905. After retiring from the military in 1906, he was attached as Captain to the Warwickshire Yeomanry in 1908 and as Captain the Reserve of Officers in 1914.
Heneage married Gladys Georgina Fellowes, daughter of William Henry Fellowes, 2nd Baron de Ramsey, on 11 June 1907 at St. Michael's Church, Chester Square, London.
When the Great War broke out, he re-joined his old regiment of the Irish Guards and was posted to France. He was killed in action on 14 September 1914 during the Battle of Aisne at Soupier, France. The circumstance of his death was recalled in a quote from Rudyard Kipling in the book The Aristocracy and the Great War by Gerald Gliddon: ‘he engaged in clearing out snipers, in place of Captain Guthrie who had been wounded. He went forward to assist Captain Lord Arthur Hay in command, and both were immediately shot dead.' Heneage is buried at Soupir Communal Cemetery, Aisne, France, grave A4.
He is commemorated in Eton’s Roll of Honour, where he is listed under his title ‘Guernsey’, and there is memorial plaque for him in the cloisters at Eton College with the following inscription: 'Heneage Greville, Lord guernsey Capt. 1st Battalion Irish guards. Killed 4th Sept. 1914 at the Battle of the Aisne aged 30. We know that he went as his soul bade him go, we know that he died as he chose to die, on the soil of France and in sight of the foe, glory points where, but God whispers why.'
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Heneage is commemorated locally on the memorial plaque in St. James Church, Great Packington and a memorial service was held in the church to remember both him and other family members who fell in the war. He also has an entry in De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour.
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Captain Finch's brother-in-law and the husband of husband of his sister Lady Violet Ella Crawley née Finch was Major Eustace Crawley of the 12th (Prince of Wales Own) Lancers. He fought in Sierra Leone in 1897 and was awarded the West Africa medal for his service before participating in the Anglo-Boer War. He fought during the relief of Kimberley and the battle of Diamond Hill. Eustace was also killed in action during the Great War, on 2 November 1914, by a shell exploding nearby.
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Captain Finch’s son, and only child, Heneage Michael Charles Finch succeeded as the 9th Earl of Aylesford after the death of his grandfather in 1924. He also went on to war service, dying fighting in the Second World War in 1940, whilst serving as a Captain in the Royal Artillery. He had married Pamela Elizabeth Dugdale Coventry on 18 April 1940 and died without issue. His Uncle, and Heneage Greville Finch's brother, Charles Daniel Finch-Knightley inherited the title and estate and became the 10th Earl.
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Credit: UK Photo & Social History Archive.
Credit: FindaGrave.
Credit: FindMyPast.
Credit: UK Photo & Social History Archive.
Captain Charles Daniel Finch-Knightley, later 10th Earl of Aylesford, was born on 23 August 1886 in London and was given the birth name Charles Daniel Finch. He was the younger brother of Heneage Greville Finch, Lord Guernsey and the second son of Charles Wightwick Finch, 8th Earl of Aylesford, of Great Packington Hall, and his second wife Marcella Araminta Victoria Finch formerly Linton nee Ross.
In 1912 his surname was legally changed to Charles Daniel Finch-Knightley and he married Aileen Jane Chartres Boyle on 7 February 1918 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India. India was part of the British Empire at this time.
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Credit: The Peerage.
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Charles was in the Merchant service and gained his certificate of competency on 22 July 1910, qualifying as a First Mate. Despite his previous experience at sea, Charles served in France during the Great War as a Captain in the 7th Battalion, Rifle Brigade. He was wounded in action, but survived the war. He was awarded the British Star and Victory Medals for his service, and after the armistice he was appointed Military Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia between 1918 and 1920.
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He died on 20 March 1958, succeeded as Earl of Aylesford by his son Charles Ian Finch-Knightley as the 11th Earl of Aylesford. He was buried at St. James Church, Great Packington, on the family estate.
In addition to the main war memorial inside the Great Packington parish church, another plaque in St. James reads: ‘In affectionate memory of Agnes Louise Goodwin wife of Frederick Sidney Godwin of Diddington Hall who died on the 7th day of August 1938 aged 66 years. Also of her husband Frederick Sidney Goodwin who died on the 19th day of April 1939 aged 86 years and Harold James Goodwin killed in action 1917 Arras France.' Diddington Hall is located on the Kenilworth Road, near Meriden, Warwickshire, was built in the Tudor period, around 1580, and is now a Grade 2 listed building. It is a close neighbour to Packington Hall.
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2nd Lieutenant Harold James Goodwin was born on 31 January 1886 in Edgbaston, Birmingham, Warwickshire. He attended the University of Cambridge, played cricket for the University and then Warwickshire County. He also played international level hockey for England against Scotland. He worked in Birmingham as a solicitor after his graduation.
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He married Janet Tod Forbes on 28 January 1913 in Kensington, London and they had 2 children together, one born posthumously.
At the outbreak of the Great War, Harold initially joined the Volunteer Defence Corps before joining a Cadet Unit. He was then gazetted in December 1916 and had left for the front just a few weeks prior to his death. He died on 24 April 1917 at the Battle of Arras, France. His death was announced in the Cheltenham Chronicle and Gloucestershire Graphic, which remembered his sporting successes, and numerous other local and national publications including the Birmingham Evening Dispatch, the Coventry Evening Telegraph, the Coventry Standard, the Gloucester Journal, the Kenilworth Advertiser, the Liverpool Echo and the Sportsman. The Illustrated London News also included a photograph of him in pages commemorating Officers on the Roll of Honour and the same picture was printed in the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News.
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Harold is buried at Faubourg-D´Amiens Cemetery, Arras, France. He is commemorated in De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour, on a memorial at Jesus College, University of Cambridge and locally in Berkswell, Warwickshire.
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A poem of remembrance was written to commemorate him by his old schoolmaster John Bain:
‘IN MEMORY OF SEC.-LIEUTENANT H. J. GOODWIN. KILLED IN ACTION.
I saw your brave face in the Sphere –
I had not seen it since the days
When, term by term, and year by year,
You taught the ball to go your ways.
Cricket, and Hockey, Rackets, Fives –
Aye, you were master of them all;
I see your hand as it contrives
The old spin that made the wickets fall.
And now you’ve played your noblest game,
And now you’ve won your grandest Blue,
And Marlboro’ lads shall read your name
Upon the wall and honour you.'
Credit: Wikimedia
Credit: FindmyPast.
Credit: FindmyPast.
Private James Henry Keatley was born in Great Packington, Warwickshire on 21 February 1889 and was baptised on 7 April 1889 at the parish church. His parents were Albert Keatley and Mary Ann Keatley née Goodwin and he was the first of 10 children born to the couple. In 1914, just before the outbreak of the Great War, he married Elizabeth Sarah Savage with the marriage registered in Meriden.
James served in 3 different regiments, the North Staffordshire Regiment (Service No: 46496), the South Staffordshire Regiment (Service No: 60010) and the Royal Warwickshire Regiment (Service No: 48577). He survived the war and was awarded the British War and Victory Medals for his service. He died in 1961 in Coventry, Warwickshire.
1911 Census for the Keatley family. Credit: FindMyPast.
Lance Bombardier Edwin Arthur Keatley was born in Great Packington, Warwickshire on 28 January 1897 and was baptised on 7 March 1897 at the parish church. His parents were also Albert Keatley and Mary Ann Keatley née Goodwin. He was the 5th of 10 children born to the couple and when the 1911 census was taken he had left school and was working at home on his father's farm.
Edwin served as a Lance Bombardier with the Royal Field Artillery during the Great War. He survived and was awarded the British War and Victory Medals. After the war, he married Edith S. King around July 1923.
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By when the 1939 Register was taken, Edwin was employed as a Railway Foreman in Birmingham, Warwickshire, and was living with his wife and daughters. He died in April 1982 in Birmingham, Warwickshire.
Another of the Keatley brothers, Private Tom Keatley was born in Great Packington, Warwickshire on 14th March 1899. His parents were also Albert Keatley and Mary Ann Keatley née Goodwin. When the 1911 census was taken, Tom was still at school. Before the war, in 1914, when he was 15-years-old he was convicted of assaulting Martha Day, a girl from the parish, and was sentenced to six strikes with a birch rod (see: Crimeline).
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Tom’s attestation papers record that he was 17 when he enlisted with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment on 26th September 1916 and that he had been living at Keatley’s Pool, Great Packington, Warwickshire and working as a baker. After he had turned 18, he was stationed at the Budbrook Barracks before being assigned to work at Woolwich Dockyard. He was briefly posted to France toward the end of the Great War, survived and was awarded the British War and Victory Medals for his service.
He married 22-year-old Florence Eleanor Ashton Woodward on 5 August 1918 at Holy Trinity Church Dover, Kent, when she would have been about 7 months pregnant. The couple had a daughter called Eleanor May who was born on 8 October 1918, then went on the have more children in the 1920s.
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After the war, Tom reenlisted in the Labour Corps on 18 June 1919 for a period of two years, now under the service number 670683. He absconded from Deptford, Kent, on 4 January 1920. He remained absent without leave ‘until apprehended by military police at Birmingham’ two days later. He was admonished in punishment. He was discharged from the army on 26 May 1920, giving an address for Smethwick, Birmingham, Warwickshire despite his wife living in Maxton, Dover, Kent.
His military records also include letters documenting attempts by military officials to locate him later in 1920. This was on behalf of a ‘Miss Stead’ after ‘an intimacy’ was alleged to have occurred while he was stationed in Deptford. She must have become pregnant, as the officers wrote that their purpose was 'getting an affiliation order', which was a legal order in which a putative father who is not married to the mother of his child must pay money to the mother to support his child.
Regardless of going AWOL and his alleged extra-marital affair, Tom was described as having a good character, being trustworthy and being consistently hardworking.
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Whatever the outcome of the child he may have had with 'Miss Stead', when the 1939 register was taken, Tom was working as a General Labourer and was living with his wife Florence and their children. The family were residing at Harrow House, Woolscott, Rugby, Warwickshire with their children. Harrow House had formerly operated as a public house called The Harrow Inn and was granted Grade II listed building status in 1960.
In the 1930s, Tom made several appearances in court, both as a defendant and complainant.
In 1931, he was charged with shooting a prize pigeon and was ordered to pay £5 restitution and 3 guineas costs.
In 1938, he had a dispute over his wages with Harold Hodson, Foreman of a building site in Brownsover, Warwickshire, where Tom had been employed as a cement mixer-driver. He was fired and Harold also hit Tom in the face, causing him to need 3 stitches across his cheek. Harold pleaded not guilty, but had given a statement to the Police admitting the assault: 'that man Keatley was insolent to me and I sacked him. He said something detrimental of my character, and I lost my temper, and I struck him. I apologise for hitting him, but under the circumstances I did not have control of my temper.' Harold was fined £1 10 shillings.
Tom was also in court during 1939, although he was cleared of any wrongdoing and the case against him was dismissed. He had been accused of stealing roof slates by his employer George Alderman that were said to be worth £4. He worked as a petrol station attendant and in addition to his other duties he was instructed to strip 400 roof tiles from another building that were due to be destroyed and replaced. He asked if he could buy half of them to use on an outhouse at his farm and was told that he could have them for doing the extra work. Tom then paid a local contractor with a truck to collect them and take them to his property, made no attempts to hide them from the contractor, neighbours or a local Police officer, and it was reported that George's Alderman's own chauffeur even helped to load them onto the moving truck in broad daylight! Tom's defence asked the bench 'did you ever hear a more curious method for perpetuating a theft?' The jury found him not guilty and he was discharged.
Florence died on 17 April 1966 and was buried at the Penmount Crematorium, Truro, Cornwall. Tom survived her by a decade, dying on 5 May 1976. He seems to have had a penchant for troublemaking!
A distant relation of the Keatley brothers, Private Ernest Keatley, is also a Great Packington man who served during the Great War. All of the men shared common ancestry through Thomas Keatley and Mary Stain, and were 2nd cousins once removed.
Chart generated on FamilyTreeMaker. Other family members not represented on chart.
Ernest Keatley was born on 4 April 1876 in Great Packington, to William Keatley of Great Packington and Mary Ann Keatley née Reppington of Coleshill, Warwickshire. By when Ernest was 2-years-old the family had moved to Coleshill, Warwickshire, and by when he was 4-years-old they had settled in Aston, Birmingham, Warwickshire. By when the 1891 census was enumerated, and Ernest was 15-years-old, the family were back in Coleshill, Warwickshire and young Ernest was employed as a Publican's servant! Ernest's father William worked as gardener and agricultural labourer throughout his working life.
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Ernest married Sarah Ann Malien of Minworth, Warwickshire, on 12 December 1896 at Cudworth, Warwickshire. When the 1901 census was enumerated, the couple were living in Minworth, Warwickshire and had 3 young children, with Ernest working as a Farm Labourer.
Ernest was 40-years-old when was called up to enlist in the army on 19 August 1916, and now was the father of 7 children. He joined the 3rd Battalion, Warwickshire Regiment. Despite his age and how he had a large family depending on him, Ernest was posted to France with the British Expeditionary Force on 2 December 1916, stationed initially at the 29th Infantry base depot. He was wounded in action on 10 April 1917 by a gunshot to his ankle and was in hospital in Fovant until 30 April 1917. When released from hospital, Ernest was posted back to England and was transferred to the Labour Corps in Nottinghamshire, then the Agricultural Labour Corps in Warwickshire. He survived the war and was discharged to 'Z' class on 24 April 1919. He was awarded the British and Victory medals for his service and a weekly pension on account of the disability resulting from his wound.
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After his war service, Ernest returned to civilian life and was able to continue working. By when the 1921 census was enumerated he was working with his 18-year-old son John Keatley as a Green Grocer at Sparrow Farm and another 2 children had been born to the family, bringing the number of children to 10. When the 1939 Register was taken on the eve of World War 2, Ernest and Sarah's elder children had left the family home and the 5 youngest children remained at home. Ernest was working as a Labourer again at this time.
Sarah passed away on 25 July 1941, followed by Ernest almost exactly two years later on 12 July 1943. They are buried together at St. John's Churchyard, Walmley, Warwickshire.
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Not only did Ernest serve during the First World War, but his eldest son Private George Keatley was also in the British Army. Like his father, George enlisted in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He survived the war and was awarded the British and Victory medals for his service.
Private John Mills was born on 5 February 1882 at Great Packington, to Arthur Mills and Louisa Mills née Anderton. His father Arthur Mills was employed as a Gamekeeper on the Packington Estate. John was baptised on 26 February 1882 at St. James Church in the parish. He was raised as a child in Great Packington, then Kenilworth, both in Warwickshire. By when the 1901 census was enumerated, 19-year-old John was living in Tiverton, Devon and was employed as a servant.
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John is known to have served in the First World War due to being recorded on the memorial plaque in St. James Church, but his regiment and service number are as yet unknown. A possible John Mills was found in pension records, but he passed away in 1921, so is not the correct man. Another candidate has also been discounted as he attained the rank of Acting Colonel, whereas John was not promoted beyond Private.
However he served, John survived the war and when the 1939 Register was taken he was living in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, where he was employed as a 'chauffeur gardener.' He did not marry and died in 1951 at Nuneaton, Warwickshire.
Private Martin Philpott was born in 1898, the son of Alfred Philpott and Elizabeth Philpott née Robinson, and was one of 8 children. The family moved from Great Packington to the nearby town Nuneaton, Warwickshire, and Martin was employed as a builder’s labourer there from when he was 14-years-old.
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During the First World War, Martin enlisted at Coventry and joined the 1st/7th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. His attestation papers are an example of soldier’s documentation partially damaged during the Blitz in the Second World War and show signs of being burnt at the edges. Many service records did not survive at all, and Martin's are luckily legible.
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Martin was killed in action on 3 March 1917, the day after 3 other men from his battalion had also perished. He is buried at the Assevillers New British Cemetery, Somme, Picardie, France, grave IV. C. 6. The inscription on his grave reads: 'I Ask, "Why Heaven Favours Some?" The Answer Is "Thy Will Be Done".'
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He awarded the Star, British War and Victory Medals for his service and his pension was granted to his mother.
Credit: National Archives.
George Bristowe Townsend was born on 2 August 1886 at Meriden, Warwickshire, to Thomas Townsend and Jane Townsend née Nutting, both of Great Packington. He was baptised on 1 November 1896 at St. James Church, Great Packington, when he was 10 years-old, and by which time his father had passed away. As a child, George lived with his maternal grandparents and 2 cousins in Meriden, Warwickshire, whilst all the young children's surviving parents were living away at their places of employment, such as widowed Jane who was a live in domestic servant locally. By when the 1911 census was enumerated, George and his mother Jane are living together again, both employed by the elderly widower William Gibbs in Great Packington. Jane worked as his Housekeeper and George laboured on the farm.
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George is known to have served in the First World War due to being recorded on the memorial plaque in St. James Church, but his regiment and service number are as yet unknown. However he served, he lived through the war and married Mabel Agnes Hall of Middle Bickenhill, Warwickshire, in October 1919. The couple had 3 children (Phyliss, Mabel and George).
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When the 1939 Register was taken, George and his wife are living in Meriden, Warwickshire, with George working as a Cowman. He died in 1956 and is buried alongside his wife at St. Mary and St. Bartholomew Churchyard, Hampton-in-Arden, Warwickshire.
Corporal Samuel Terheege was born on 26 December 1894 at Great Packington to single mother Harriett Terheege and an unknown father, and was baptised at St. James Church in the parish. Harriett herself had been born in 1852 at Great Packington to William Terheege and Eliza Terheege née Fisher. By when the 1911 census was enumerated, Samuel and his mother Harriett were living together at Kinwalsey, Great Packington, Warwickshire, with Harriett recorded as a small holder and Samuel employed as a cowman. He also worked as a collier before his war service.
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20-year-old Samuel enlisted during the early months of the war, on 3 September 1914 at the Town Hall, Birmingham, Warwickshire, and joined the 8th (Service) Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. He gave his birth place as Kinwalsey. He was posted at home until 21 September 1915 and then was sent to France on 22 September 1915 with the British Expeditionary Force.
He was transferred from the field on 1 November 1915 t0 the 253rd Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers. The Army were recruiting men who had experience in mining to join newly formed specialist companies under Major Sir John Norton-Griffiths MP, even though this was outside their nominal recruitment policy. 253rd Tunnelling Company were attached to the Fourth Army. Tunnelling companies were engaged in both offensive and defensive tasks, such as tunnelling to place mines under enemy trenches, constructing deep dugouts for troop accommodation, and digging narrow trenches known as 'saps' to be used by infantry when attacking enemy trenches. The work was cold, dirty, dangerous and men often had to work by candlelight in freezing water and in complete silence, with the risk of collapse or meeting German tunnellers underground.
As the war was drawing to a close, Samuel was despatched to Chiselden, Wiltshire, on 7 September 1918 to work as a miner. Whilst with the Royal Engineers, Samuel rose to the rank of Corporal. He survived the war and miraculously sustained no injuries, was struck by no illnesses and had a clean record of conduct during his service, all particularly remarkable considering the perils of tunnelling activities in the war.
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After the war, Samuel married Ethel Hannah Cross of Allesley, Warwickshire (now part of Coventry) at Meriden, Warwickshire. When the 1939 Register was taken on the eve of the Second World War, the couple had moved to the city of Coventry, Warwickshire and were living in the suburb of Coundon on Brownshill Green Road. Samuel was employed as a labourer working with gas in the industral city.
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Samuel passed away on 10 October 1961 at Coventry, Warwickshire, with probate granted in Birmingham, Warwickshire, about 14 years late on 11 March 1975. Ethel passed way on 9 February 1979 at Coventry, Warwickshire, surviving her husband by 18 years.
Private Thomas Terheege was born in Great Packington, to William Terheege and Mary Terheege née Lines, and the family lived at Butlers End when he was an infant. He was baptised on 26th September 1880 at St. James Church in the parish.
Thomas moved to Birmingham as a young man where he was employed as a Carter, then a Corn merchant, before joining Birmingham City Council's Veterinary Department. He married Lillian Gertrude Hadfield on 6 June 1909 at St Martin’s Church, Birmingham, Warwickshire. Thomas and his wife had 4 children: Marian Olive, Lilian, Muriel, and Charles William.
Credit: Solihull Life blog.
During the Great War, Thomas served with the 3rd Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment, sometimes nicknamed the 'Glorious Worcesters'. He was killed in action on 10th April 1918 during the Battle of Estaires, when his Battalion and men from the Lancashire Fusiliers were defending the allied lines to the north of the French Steenwerck village (close to the French/Belgian border). He has no known grave. Thomas is commemorated on a plaque at Birmingham Council House, where he had been employed, on the Ploegsteert War Memorial, Mouscron, Belgium, panel 5, and online on the roll of honour at WorcestershireRegiment.com.
After his passing, his army pension was granted to his widow, and he was awarded his British War and Victory Medals for his service.
Thomas’ younger brother Private George William Terheege was also born in Great Packington, to William Terheege and Mary Terheege née Lines. He was baptised on 7th October 1883 in the parish.
George moved to Tanworth, Warwickshire as a young man where he was employed as a Farm Labourer. He married Emily Ann Dutton in 1907.
George and his wife had 3 children: Lilian May, Ernest William, and Frances Kathleen.
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Like his brother, George enlisted to serve during the Great War. He served in both the 620th Agricultural Company Labour Corps then the Devonshire Regiment.
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Credit: Imperial War Museum.
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George died from pneumonia (contracted on active service) on 7th November 1918, just a few days before the end of the war, whilst receiving treatment in hospital, at Dudley, Worcestershire. He is commemorated on war memorials at Hockley Heath and Umberslade Baptist Church, Warwickshire, where he is buried in the church burial ground, plot S3.4. His army pension was awarded to his widow.
Another member of the extended Terheege family, Walter, served during the Great War. Walter Terheege was born on 20 March 1875 at Great Packington, Warwickshire, to labourer George Terheege of Great Packington and Emily Terheege née Cox of Stonleigh, near Coventry, Warwickshire. Walter was baptised on 7 November 1875 at St. James Church and lived in the parish as a child.
Walter Terheege and the two brothers Thomas Terheege and George William Terheege (above), all shared the common ancestors Thomas Trokek Terheege and Ann Terheege née Parker. Walter was a grandson of the couple, whilst Thomas and George William were great-grandsons of the couple, making them 1st cousins 1x removed.
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Walter moved from Great Packington to Handsworth, Staffordshire. When the 1901 census was taken, he was living with in the household of his sister Emily Ellen Arnold née Terheege and his brother-in-law Matthew Arnold, along with their children. Walter was working as a bricklayers labourer at this time. He is yet to turn up in the 1911 census.
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Walter enlisted with the Royal Air Force in 1918 when he was 43 years old. He was only in the RAF for a short time, but his conduct was described as very good. After the war, he continued working as a labourer in the building trade and moved to Birmingham, Warwickshire. He did not marry and was recorded as single in the 1939 Register.
Unlike his two Terheege cousins, Walter survived the First World War, and reached the age of 67-years-old. He passed away in Birmingham, Warwickshire, in November 1942. He is buried at the Handsworth Cemetery, Birmingham, Warwickshire.
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The Reverend Canon Ernest Alured Waller M.A., nephew of Thomas Wathen Waller, 2nd Baronet Waller, was vicar of Great and Little Packington parishes between 1864 and 1890. His life and career can be read about on this website on the Demographics -> Religion page.
Rev. Canon Waller married Mary Louisa Barton on 12 January 1864 and the couple went on to have 9 children. Their youngest son, 2nd Lieutenant Richard Alured Waller, was born on 11 February 1884 in Little Packington, Warwickshire and went on to serve during the Great War. Richard was educated at Marlborough College and University College, University of Oxford. After graduating, he moved to live in Crawley Down, Sussex. By when the 1911 census was enumerated, he was employed as an Assistant School Master at Copthorne School, Crawley, Sussex. He was later promoted to the School Master position.
After the outbreak of the Great War, Richard enlisted to serve as a private soldier with the 5th (Reserve) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers and was later promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. In August 1916, Richard was posted to France and he was commissioned on 25 April 1917. He was wounded in August 1917, but recovered and returned to the front line. He died on 1 November 1917 from pneumonia, at 33 years old, whilst at a Casualty Clearing Station. He was buried in plot D, grave 3 at the Tincourt New British Cemetery, France, where nearly 2,000 soldiers have been laid to rest. After his death, Richard's effects were returned to his widow and he was awarded the Victory and British medals for his service. His death is commemorated inside Forest Hall, Great Packington, the base of the Woodsmen of Arden. He is also commemorated in Sussex on the Crawley Down village war memorial and on a memorial in the school chapel at Copthorne School where he worked. He is also commemorated on a plaque at the Ante-Chapel of the University College, University of Oxford, which was dedicated by the Bishop of Oxford on 2 November 1921, and in the Oxford University Roll of Service book, published in 1920.
Credit: FindaGrave.
Richard had married Ethel Gertrude Drake on 10 April 1912 at St Barnabas' Church, Pimlico, London. Ethel volunteered to work as a Nurse with the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) at East Lodge Hospital, Crawley Downs, Sussex, where she nursed wounded and convalescing soldiers and undertook dispensing work. She volunteered for approximately 1,500 hours in total during the Great War and her records can be viewed on the British Red Cross Society's records website: https://vad.redcross.org.uk/record?rowKey=216425.
The couple had 1 daughter, born on 21 September 1917 just a few weeks before the death of her father. Richard and Ethel's daughter followed her mother into the nursing profession, with mother and daughter recorded working as Auxiliary Nurses together at the Queen Victoria Cottage Hospital, East Grinstead, Sussex, in the 1939 Register. The original hospital had just 7 beds but by 1943 it had expanded to accommodate 260 patients. During the Second World War, the Hospital became famous for the treatment regime for severely burned airmen at their pioneering Maxillo-Facial Unit, leading to the development of modern plastic surgery techniques and holistic care.
Richard's widow Ethel had a long life, passing away at 91-years-old on 1 March 1978, over 61 years after her husband died in the war, having never remarried. Her headstone at All Saints Churchyard, Crawley Down, Sussex, includes an inscription about her husband, along with the moving words 'Peace, Perfect Peace.' Their daughter lived in the family home until her own passing and never married.
Private Charles Wall was born on 1st June 1897 in Great Packington, Warwickshire, to parents George Wall and Elizabeth Wall née Phillips. As a schoolboy, he had worked delivering milk in the district and by when the 1911 census was enumerated, George was employed as a Farm Labourer in the parish.
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Charles joined the army in the first few months of the war, enlisting in November 1914 with the Coldstream Guards. He was wounded in action during the first two weeks of Anglo-French offensive operations of the infamous Battle of the Somme. He died from his wounds on 9th July 1916 and is buried at Lijssenthoek Cemetery, Belgium, which is near to the evacuation hospital where he would have been taken to receive treatment. His death was announced in the local Coventry Standard newspaper, his effects were returned to his parents and his army pension was awarded to his mother.
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Credit: Findmypast.
Credit: National Archives.
Credit: National Archives.
Charles enlisted as a Private with the Worcestershire Regiment during the first few months of the Great War, on 7 September 1914, at Coventry. He was posted to France and Belgium, and rose through the ranks, promoted to Corporal on 17 April 1915, Lieutenant Sergeant on 5 July 1916 and Acting Sergeant on 14 November 1916.
Charles was wounded in action on 3 July 1916, taking a bullet to his arm near his elbow which exposed the muscle and became septic. He required 56 days treatment at Middlesex Hospital, England, but was reported to have healed well. He was awarded the Military Medal for his bravery in action, which was reported in the Coventry Herald newspaper.
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Charles was reprimanded for ‘disobedience of orders viz absence from his quarters’ on 12 July 1917, but by 1918 he was back serving on the front lines in Belgium. He was admitted to hospital for a week in February 1918, before rejoining his regiment. On 22 March 1918 he was granted ‘proficiency pay class I by virtue of his rank’.
He was gazetted as a temporary 2nd Lieutenant in the Indian Army on 17 April 1918 and departed for Bombay to command no. 7 Reserve Battalion.
His service record contains a letter written by Charles, requesting his military documents. Charles survived the war and in addition to the Military Medal from July 1916, he was also granted the 1914 Star, British and Victory Medals for his service.
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2nd Lieutenant Charles West was born in Great Packington on 6 April 1890, to Thomas West and Mary West née Woodward. Charles’ father Thomas was employed as a carpenter and when the 1901 census was taken, three of Charles’ older brothers were working with their father in the trade. When the 1911 census was enumerated, Charles had left home and was working as an ‘Asylum Attendant’ in Armitage, Staffordshire, and the West's had moved to nearby Meriden, Warwickshire.
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Credit: FindMyPast.
After his demobilisation from the military on 5 July 1919, Charles worked briefly at Daimler’s in Coventry, a car manufacturer. He then joined the Warwickshire Police Force in Birmingham on 8 December 1919, with warrant number 9345. His Police employment file noted a scar on his elbow from his war wound, and four persons testified to his good character and suitability for employment with the Police Force, including the Lieutenant Colonel of his old regiment. There were several instances of Charles being awarded for arrests of thieves during the 1920s, he passed first aid certificates and was promoted to Police Sergeant on 22 January 1934. After being accused of making a false testimony about an arrest, Charles was dismissed from the Police force on 28 April 1934.
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Charles had married on 11 September 1920 to Beatrice Mary Savage in Yardley, Birmingham. When the 1939 register was taken, Charles was listed as living in Solihull, Warwickshire and employed as a ‘Works Policeman’. His marital status is recorded as married but his wife is not living with him in the household. She passed away in 1941 and is buried in Brandwood End Cemetery, Birmingham and it is unclear if they separated before her death. Charles died on 10 August 1949, in Birmingham.
Credit: West Midlands Police Museum.
Private Sydney Thomas West was born on 6 March 1871 in Great Packington to Thomas West and Mary West née Woodward, one of 11 children. He was baptised at St. James' Church. Sydney worked as an 'Odd man' Packington Hall before leaving Great Packington to join the Police Force in London on 6 July 1891. In 1896 he married Sarah Adelaide Clemas (who had been born in Truro, Cornwall) in Devonport, Devon, where he had been stationed as a Police Constable.
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When the 1901 census was enumerated, Sydney remained employed by the Police Force and was living with his wife Sarah Adealaide West née Clemas and their 2 young children. When the 1911 census was enumerated, Sydney was living in Wembley, London and was still working as a Police Constable with the London Metropolitan Police. His wife and children were visiting Sarah's sister in Devonport when the census was taken in 1911, so are enumerated in her household. Sydney's wife Sarah sadly passed away in 1915, leaving Sydney a widower.
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Sydney served during the Great War with the Leicestershire Regiment and was awarded the British and Victory medals for his service. Sadly, only his medal roll card and his name listed in the Nominal Index Of All Service Personnel Serving In A Theatre Of War, have survived, so the particulars of his service are unknown. He is known to have returned to the Police Force for a short time after the war, then resigned on 7 July 1919. He was 48 years old, had worked in the Police Force for 28 years and was entitled to a pension. His pension record indicates that he had grey eyes, grey hair and a fresh complexion and that his next of kin was his son Reginald Sidney Thomas West. Reginald had also served during the Great War, as a Gunner with the Royal Garrison Artillery. He survived and was awarded the British War and Victory Medals for his service.
After his retirement from Policing, Sydney can be found in the 1939 Register living with an Elizabeth H. 'West', although a marriage is not recorded for them until 1959 in Portsmouth, Hampshire. Elizabeth was born Elizabeth Harriet Culverwell and married Francis John Fidler in 1902 at Saint John The Baptist's Church, Harrow. Frances died in 1955, and was living with another woman when the 1939 Register was taken, so it is probable that they separated but were still legally married due to the difficulties and costs involved in getting divorced at the time.
Sydney lived to the old age of 98, passing away in Jan 1970 in Portsmouth, Hampshire.
Lance Corporal Philip West was born in Great Packington and was baptised on 2nd December 1877, one of 11 children. His parents were Thomas West and Mary West née Woodward. The family home was Waterfall Cottage, now a Grade II-listed building. He left home at 14 years old and was employed as a farm servant at Outwoods Farm, Great Packington, before joining the army.
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Phillip enlisted at Winchester, Hampshire and served with the 2nd/4th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment. He was killed in action on 12 September 1918. He is commemorated on the plaque in St. James Church and on the Meriden war memorial, alongside Stanley Waterton Cooke and other soldiers from the area. William is buried at Hermies Hill British Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France. His army pension was granted to his father and he was awarded the British War and Victory Medals for his service.
Photograph of captured German trenches near Hermies, where Phillip fell. The group on the left are captured German soldiers.
Credit: National Archives.
One of the West siblings, Lucy Hannah West, married a man who was not from Great Packington, but who has been included here as she was born in the parish and to commemorate his service during the war.
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Corporal Robert Deakin Bailey was born on 31 January 1884 in Whittington, Staffordshire. He was 17 when the 1901 census was enumerated but had already left home and was employed as a carpenter. Robert and Lucy were married on 25 July 1908 in Temple Balsall, Warwickshire and had two children (Beatrice and Robert) before the outbreak of the First World War. The family lived at the charming sounding Plum Pudding Cottage in Armitage, Staffordshire, which operates today as a canal side pub.
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Robert enlisted with the 129th Field Battery, Royal Engineers on 3 February 1915 at Stafford, Staffordshire, and served in France. On 18 August 1916 he was praised for his work by Major Evans of the Royal Engineers and was raised to the skilled rate of pay. He was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal on 1 September 1916 and to Corporal on 26 June 1917. He survived the war and was demobilised to Z class on 14 February 1919.
When the 1939 Register was taken, Robert and Lucy were living in Lichfield, Staffordshire and he was still employed as a carpenter. Lucy passed away in 1947, followed by Robert in 1955.
Corporal Tom Lewins Williams was born in early 1870 at Sibbertoft, Northamptonshire. He can be found in the 1891 census as a lodger with the Gayley family at the Kennell's, Great Packington, Warwickshire, when he was employed as a Game Keeper on the Packington Estate. In 1897, he was married in the parish church to Hannah Bennett, a woman from a longstanding Great Packington family. By when the 1901 census was enumerated, the Williams had moved to Walton, Staffordshire and had two children (Violet and Tom junior), and by the 1911 census taking the family lived at Laurel Cottage, Forehill, King's Norton, Warwickshire.
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At the time of his enlistment in the war effort, Tom was 37 years old. His Short Service Attestation indicates that he was attested as a Private to the Devonshire Regiment rather than a local company. Tom was posted with the British Expeditionary Force to Boulogne, France, from 8 March 1917. He was promoted to Corporal, on 5 May 1917, but was wounded on 25 August 1917. After recovering from his wounds, he re-joined service on 18 January 1918, then was wounded again on 5 June 1918. Luckily, he recovered from his injuries and recuperated near home at hospital in Alcester, Warwickshire. He also experienced Trench fever, endured by between one-fifth and one-third of all British troops in WWI.
After being wounded a second time, Tom was deemed as no longer fit for active combat duty on the frontlines, but continued his service in support of the war effort with the 647th Warwickshire Company of the British Army Farming Operations, oraganised through the Warwickshire War Agriculture Committee. Men were needed to work the land across Britain in order to both help produce food to be sent to the troops abroad and sustain food supplies at home. These were vital tasks to ensure victory in the war, especially after the fall of Baghdad in 1917 and the introduction of voluntary then compulsory food rationing at home.
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Tom survived the war and was demobilised to class Z on 5 April 1919. He was awarded the British and Victory medals in commemoration of his service. He passed away in 1929, aged 59.
Tom in the 1891 Census. Credit: Ancestry.
Private Joseph Williams was born at Barston, Warwickshire, to Daniel Williams of Hampton-in-Arden, Warwickshire, and Mary Ann Williams née Lee. His parents had married on 16 March 1885 at St. James Church in Great Packington, Warwickshire and his father worked as a stockman on a farm. By when the 1911 census was enumerated, Joseph was working as a farm labourer in Kenilworth, Warwickshire whilst lodging in Quale Cottage, but he was resident in Knowle, Warwickshire, at the outbreak of the Great War.
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Joseph enlisted with the 9th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment at Warwick and served in the Balkan Theatre at Gallipoli, Turkey. The 9th Battalion departed from Avonmouth, Bristol on 7th June 1915, and arrived at Beach V, near Cape Helles, Gallipoli, Turkey, on 13 July 1915. Exactly a month since arriving at Gallipoli, Joseph died from his wounds on 13 August 1915. His injuries are likely to have been sustained during the failed Allied assault on Koja Chemen, the highest point of the Sari Bair Ridge, Gallipoli, on 8 and 9 August 1915. The 9th Battalion had fought alongside the 6th South Lancashire's, and the 6th Gurkhas, and all suffered heavy losses during the attack. The 9th Warwickshire's alone lost 5 officers, 19 were wounded and 1 was missing, whilst in the other ranks 57 were killed, 227 were wounded, and 117 were missing. On 10 August 1915 the 9th Royal Warwickshire's were withdrawn to reserve, with no officers left and just 248 men standing.
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Joseph died whilst aboard the hospital ship HMS Valdivia. HMS Valdivia had previously operated as a French passenger ship out of Vapeur, Marseilles, France, but was loaned to the Royal Navy to use as a hospital from 22 May 1915.
Joseph is commemorated at on a triangular pillar on the parish war memorial at Knowle, Warwickshire, which stands beside the parish church and on the Helles Memorial, Çanakkale, Turkey, panel 37. He has no known grave.
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Knowle Memorial. Credit: War Memorials Online.
One of the burnt pages of Arthur's service record, where luckily most of the information can still be read.
Credit: National Archives.
Gunner Arthur Percy Woolley was born in 1894 at Berkswell, Warwickshire to William Wooley and Mary Woolley née Robins. Arthur was employed as a farm labourer then coal trimmer before the war. He had a brother named Charlie Villiers Woolley, who was sapper with the Royal Engineers during WWI.
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He served as a Gunner with the Royal Garrison Artillery and gave an address on enlistment in Coventry, but in his later documents he is recorded as residing in Great Packington, Warwickshire. Arthur was wounded in an accident where he received a lacerated wound on his left side that cut his scrotum and penetrated soft tissue. His accident was witnessed by others who wrote statements of what happened and he was not blamed for this injuries he sustained. Arthur recovered, then later also developed bronchopneumonia and became deaf in the course of his war service. Despite his injuries, he survived that war and was demobilised to Z class. He was awarded the British War and Victory Medals for his service.
His military records are another example of the 'burnt' documents, where only partial information about his service can be read. He seems to have been in a hospital in Germany at some time during his deployment, but this information cannot be fully seen on what survived of his records.
After the Great War, Arthur moved to live in Nallis Down, Bournemouth, Hampshire. Shortly after the armistice and his move south, he wed Millicent Rosina Elford in January 1919, who had worked as a housemaid before her marriage. The couple went on to have 2 children. When the 1939 Register was taken Sydney was employed in Bournemouth as a Jobbing Gardener and was living with his wife and a daughter. He died in Bournemouth in 1942 and was survived by Millicent for 34 years, until her passing in 1976.
Sources:​
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Ancestry: 1939 Register; Census Returns of England and Wales; England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915; England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007; England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915; England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995; India, Select Marriages, 1792-1948; London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965; London, England, Metropolitan Police Pension Registers, 1852-1932; UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919; Warwickshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials.
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Clutterbuck, Lewis Augustus. (1917) The bond of sacrifice; a biographical record of all British officers who fell in the Great War. London: Anglo-African Publications.
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).
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Craig, Edwin Stewart. (1920) Oxford University Roll of Service. Oxford: Oxford University.
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De Ruvigny, Melville. (1916-1918) The roll of honour. A biographical record of all members of His Majesty's naval and military forces who have fallen in the war. London : Standard Art Book Co.
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Falls, Cyril and MacMunn, George. (1930). Military Operations Egypt & Palestine from the Outbreak of War with Germany to June 1917. Official History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO).
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Kingsford, Charles Lethbridge. (1997) The Story of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Doncaster: D P & G Military Publishers.
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McCrery, Nigel. (2015) Final Wicket: Test and First-Class Cricketers Killed in the Great War. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books.
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National Archives (Great Britain): Army Registers of Soldiers Effects 1901-1929; Attestation Papers; World War 1 Medal Rolls Index Cards 1914-1920; World War 1 Pension Ledgers and Index Cards 1914-1923.
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National Army Museum.
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National Maritime Museum, Greenwich: UK and Ireland, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927.
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National Library of Wales.
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Nuneaton and North Warwickshire Family History Society (NNWFHS).
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The Ogilby Muster.
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Rinaldi, Richard A. and Watson, Graham E. (2018) The Corps of Royal Engineers: Organization and Units 1889–2018. London: Tiger Lily Publishing.
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Roll-of-Honour.com.
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Royal Artillery Museum.
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Sheffield, Gary. (2003). The Somme. London: Cassell.
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SolihullLife blog.
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South Warwickshire Family History Society (SWFHS).
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A Street Near You.
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War Memorials Online.
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Wartime Memories Project.
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West Midlands Police Museum.
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West Wales Memorial Project.
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ww1cemeteries.com
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The Worcestershire Regiment.
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If you have any further information about any of the men above that you wish to contribute, please contact me on twitter.