Trench Lincs 14th June 2026

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Good Morning,

I hope this week's TL finds you all well?

I arrived home from Spain last Tuesday afternoon, but was on an early train to London the next morning. You can read about my London visit below, which was interesting to say the least.

We are now halfway through June but still have much to look forward to this summer. I am pleased to report that numbers have started to increase for the outing to Loughborough on 24th June – details below – but there is still room for more folk to join the party. If you would like to come along, please let me know.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS.

Next Meeting - Lincoln & North Lincolnshire Branch, WFA - Monday, July 13th 2026 - Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30pm start - Royal Naval Association Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG.

Annual General Meeting followed by The Chairman's Annual Lecture.

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Lincoln & North Lincolnshire Branch of the WFA will take place on Monday, July 13th at the Royal Naval Association Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln.

Official papers will be issued nearer the time but, in the meantime, should any person wish to submit an item or resolution for discussion under Any Other Business, or would like to stand for an Executive position on the Committee (you must be a WFA member to serve in an Executive capacity on the Committee), they should notify us in advance through Trench Lincs please.

Following the AGM - which we promise will be despatched as quickly as possible - we will move on to The Chairman's Annual Lecture and, this year, Mike Credland will be taking us on a tour of Lincolnshire by presenting his newly revised, fully updated talk about The Great War Memorials of Lincolnshire.

To quote from the late Martin Middlebrook's foreword to Mike’s book, The First Word War Memorials of Lincolnshire (published in 2014 by The Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology) "In 1914, Lincolnshire was the second largest county in England. To appreciate its size, an inhabitant of Stamford in the south is as near to London as to the river Humber boundary in the north. How could anyone set out to photograph and describe every community war memorial in the county as a labour of love which was so diligently performed that it has been accepted for publication?"

But, this is what Mike did, and not only did he turn his research into an excellent record of the county's First World War Memorials - all of them, from Alford to Wroot (bet you've never heard of that place have you?) - he also created a talk on the subject which has not been presented to anyone for some time now. So, this evening, attendees will have the pleasure of hearing the story of the Great War Memorials of Lincolnshire in its new, fully revised and updated form. Please come along; you will be made most welcome.

I am also suggesting a light hearted competition to be held at the AGM on 13th July in order, I hope, to boost attendance.

I was talking with Peter Garland about that fact that a café on Navenby High Street sells ANZAC biscuits and Peter noted that; ‘A little culinary special for Trench Lincs. At the April meeting of Spalding Branch WFA we were talking about ANZAC day and the part that special cookies play in the day's events.

Spalding supporter Gerald Taylor's wife, Sue, said she had the original recipe and would bake some for the May meeting. So, at the end of the meeting, ANZAC Day cookies were duly produced, and I can tell you they were delicious.

For you budding cooks out there, here is the recipe: You will need:

2 table-spoons Golden Syrup // 5 ounces butter // 4 ounces caster sugar // 4 ounces plain flour // 3 ounces rolled oats // 2 ounces desiccated coconut // 2 table-spoons bicarb of soda // 1 table-spoon hot water.

Method:

Place syrup, butter and sugar in a pan and melt until sugar is dissolved. Place flour, oats, coconut and bicarb into the melted mixture, add the water and mix well. When cool enough to handle, roll out into balls, and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 celsius, or gas mark 4, for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.’

This traditional Great War biscuit is a delight and was sent originally to the ANZAC troops in Gallipoli in 1915.

Therefore, please let me know if you would like to have a go and bake a batch of ANZAC biscuits to be brought to the meeting on 13th July, where I will organise a blind tasting panel who will judge the entries.

I hope to hear from you!

This is what they should look like!!

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The next meeting of the Friends of the Lincoln Tank Group will be held on Thursday July 30th at the Royal Naval Association Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG at 7.30pm.

The speaker on this occasion is Steve Baldwin, whose innovative talk will be ‘A Virtual Tour Around the CWGC Plot at Newport Cemetery, Lincoln.’

Everyone welcome, especially new faces. You do not need to be a member of FoLT to attend meetings, but members of FoLT pay just £10 a year and receive £250 of membership benefits from Ancestry and the British Newspaper Archives. It is well worth joining.

Newport Cemetery Plan.

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Next Event - Spalding & South Lincs Branch, WFA - Annual Evening Local History Tour - Thursday, June 18th - 7.00pm for prompt start at 7.30pm.

This year’s Spalding Branch Local History Tour - led by Branch Chairman Paul Berry - will take place on the evening of Thursday, June 18th and will concentrate on the BOSTON area. Our starting point will be BOSTON CEMETERY, MARIAN ROAD ENTRANCE, BOSTON, PE21 9HA. Please do not go to the Baptist Church in Spalding for this event; we would ask participants to gather at the Crematorium Car Park (signposted at the Cemetery entrance) at 7.00 to 7.15pm for a PROMPT start at 7.30pm.

Boston Cemetery was opened in 1855 as a 12 acre plot, but was quickly extended in 1885 with further extensions in 1928, 1940 and 1966. The original entrance was through a gated arch off Horncastle Road, which led along a grand avenue lined with (now magnificent) trees. Two chapels were built - one for High Church and one for Non-Conformists - along with a Mortuary (now closed). The very first burial was a young lad by the name of William Daulton - whose grave is now maintained by the local Civic Trust - and the most famous resident is Sir Herbert Ingram (27/05/1811 to 8/09/1860), founder of The Illustrated London News and Liberal MP for Boston for 4 years until his death by drowning as a result of the sinking of The Lady Elgin on Lake Michigan, 9th September 1860. He was also responsible for bringing piped drinking water and The Great Northern Railway to Boston.

However, our main point of interest this evening will be the numerous World War One graves randomly scattered throughout part of the 1885 extension. The majority have CWGC headstones of either Botticino Marble or Portland Stone and are fairly well maintained despite the fact that the 1855/1885 area is now a designated nature reserve where wild grasses and plants are allowed to flourish, and the area unmown until they have set their seeds (so, please wear sensible shoes and trousers for the visit). We will not have time to visit all of the graves (the cemetery closes at 8.30pm) but will include a selection of the most interesting including that of the first officer to die on active service in WWI. Yes, the first officer to die on active service in WWI is indeed buried in Boston Cemetery. Come along to find out who he is, and his story.

Following our visit to the Cemetery, Paul will lead us around other interesting memorials in the Boston area (he's keeping which ones a secret until the evening).

If you would like to attend, but require transport, please call Paul on 07786-381145 and he will sort something out for you.

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The East Midlands (Nottingham) WFA branch will hold their next speaker event on Friday 10th July 2026 at 7.30pm. The branch meets at St. Peter’s Church Hall, Church Street, Ruddington, NG11 6HA and all visitors will be made very welcome.

The speaker on this night is Roy Lakin who will talk about ‘August 1914’.

Britain’s preparation for war and the arrival of the BEF at Mons on 22nd August, followed by the start of the retreat to the Marne and the fighting at Le Cateau on the 26th.

The retreat from Mons photographed by me at the NAM last week. See story below.

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The Leadenham Military History Group’s next meeting will be on Tuesday 23rd June at 7.30pm at Leadenham village hall.

This evening will consist of two presentations.

Presentation 1: RAF Digby Operations Room, by Kathy Blake, who is a guide at the Operations Room Museum, with illustrative items.

Presentation 2: Shagbats, by Mark Bamford, Chairman, Sleaford Museum. The exploits of the Supermarine Walrus in Air Sea Rescue.

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Another group who meet at the Royal Naval Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG, is the Lincolnshire Aviation Society.

The next meeting of LAS will be held on Thursday 18th June 2026.

The speaker on this occasion is Dan Ellin from the IBCC whose talk is entitled – “Penguins and Chop Girls: RAF Bomber Command Ground Personnel 1939-45.”

Everyone welcome especially new faces.

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The Peterborough Military History Group meets at the Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery in Priestgate, Peterborough, PE1 1LF, on the second Wednesday of every month, 7.30pm to 9.30pm.

Everyone welcome, especially new faces.

Wednesday July 8th - Jan Gray will speak about;

'First World War Trench Diseases.'

Trench Foot, Dysentry, Fever, TB, just a small selection of the illnesses that could afflict a front line soldier. I suspect that Jan’s talk will be fascinating.

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For our June outing attendees will be travelling to Loughborough on Wednesday 24th June.

Our guide on the day is Neil Strange and he comments thus; ‘For our June outing attendees will be travelling to Loughborough on Wednesday 24th June.

First stop will be the Carillon Museum, at 11am. Loughborough Carillon & War Memorial Museum

I hope that Mel Goulding will meet us there as he is a main Leicestershire regiment historian and custodian of the museum.

Please park at the Granby Street car park, pay and display - postcode LE11 3DU around 10.45am and the museum opens at 11am.

After the Carillon we can go and see the memorial to the 10 dead from the January 1916 Zeppelin raid. We can also perhaps find evidence of the impact sites of the bombs that were dropped.

We will visit at least one grave of the dead from the Zeppelin raid as part of the cemetery tour that will follow the museum visit.’

We currently have 8 people booked in for this trip – please don’t be shy, everyone is very welcome to what I believe will be a very informative tour thanks to Neil.

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Steve Baldwin has asked me to advertise his next three CWGC cemetery tours, and I am delighted to do that for him. I will also be in attendance to listen to Steve speak on 27th June at Waddington – 2.30pm, if you would like to join me.

Waddington Tours

Newport Cemetery Lincoln Tours.

Stamford Tours.

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Last week I wrote about the anniversary of the Battle of Messines, 7th June 1917. This fortuitously rang a bell for Peter Jacobs, who was at Messines. Peter writes; ‘Thank you, Jonathan, for another excellent TL. I was particularly interested in your piece about the Battle of Messines and am pleased you acknowledged the part played by the Mark IV tanks – then, of course, serving with the Heavy Branch Machine Gun Corps (Messines was pre-Tank Corps, of course). What was also nice was being able to read your piece while having lunch in a café at Messines as I was there with my son to explore the battle and to follow the story of one of the tanks to have taken part that day. I cannot think of anywhere better to have spent the day than to have been at the centre of where it all happened 109 years ago!

Anyway, your readers might recall that I am a keen collector of gallantry medals for the Great War and so your piece gave me the opportunity to follow it up by sharing a few words about one of the tanks to have taken part that day. The tank I have an interest in at Messines is 2680, A.60, a Mark IV female tank of ‘A’ Battalion, commanded by 2/Lt Cecil Rich and driven by 19-year-old Private Roy Francombe, a former cycle shop assistant from Plymouth in Devon.

On 7 June 1917, A.60 was one of four tanks of 12 Section, 3 Company, tasked to operate in pairs in support of 140 Brigade, 47th (2nd London) Division, which was part of X Corps at the northern end of the attack. A.60 was to operate with A.56 (2/Lt Robertson) and their objective was to reach the stables at the White Chateau, a heavily fortified enemy position, by 0740 hrs to support the infantry in their attack against the enemy trenches there.

Setting off from Elton Point (NE of Voormezele) at 0410 hrs, it took an hour for the two tanks to cross the British front-line NE of St Eloi and then a further ten minutes to cross the German front line where the tanks came under heavy enemy artillery fire. A.56 was hit first, the explosion blowing off a side door and taking out the left sponson, killing one of the crew and seriously wounding two others, and so it had to return to the safety of the British lines. A.60, meanwhile, continued alone, but the tank was soon hit by a H.E. shell, wounding both gunners in the left sponson and destroying one of its Lewis guns, and destroying part of the water-cooling apparatus. However, Cecil Rich decided to press on, even though the temperature inside the tank had reached 140 degrees, and its engine was overheating to such an extent that the tank had to stop every 100 yards to take on water to prevent the engine seizing and to allow the inside to cool down; each time the crew had to leave the tank to collect water from a nearby shell hole and to take cover. Eventually, though, A.60 reached its objective to support the infantry attacks against the enemy trenches. Finally, and only after the enemy trenches had been overrun, A.60 stopped at the stables where it spent the next two hours waiting for further instructions. But with no further task it attempted to move back towards Elton Point only to ditch after just 40 yards. Despite the crew’s best efforts to extricate A.60, her left track was broken, and the tank had to be abandoned. It was around midday. For seven hours Roy Francombe had kept the tank going under intense enemy artillery fire and in extremely difficult conditions, and for his great coolness and skill that day he was awarded the Military Medal; one of only ten awarded to tank crew men for the Battle of Messines, with six being awarded to ‘A’ Battalion.

The once beautiful White Chateau has long gone and where it had proudly stood is now the site of the Palingbeek Golf and Country Club near Hollebeke. Standing at the same spot today, and looking west down the practice fairway, it is possible to imagine the scene 109 years ago as tank A.60 pressed on alone against such strong enemy defences. I think Roy Francombe’s story is a remarkable one. Driving the tank in extremely hard conditions would have been one thing but having to get out of it to gather water, while under intense enemy fire, and then get back in, only to do it time and time again, must have been something else! It would have required extraordinary courage to do so, particularly for someone so young. And for those interested, I am pleased to tell you that Roy survived the war (including Cambrai and Amiens), to return home to marry and to have a family and to work in Customs & Excise. He died in 1973, aged 75. As for the tank, 2680, it was recovered from the battlefield and was soon back in action with the battalion having been given the name ‘Angelina’.

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I attach 4 images for interest – the beautiful White Chateau before 1914; the ruins of the White Chateau before the Battle of Messines; the site today of the Palingbeek Golf & Country Club (taken from the position where 2680 A.60 was abandoned); and the medals of Private Roy Francombe, Tank Corps.’

Thank you Peter for that wonderful tale, which will be of interest to all TL readers.

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Bill Roffey has been overseas too, but nearer to home and comments for us; ‘Since starting to read Trench Lincs on a weekly basis, I have found myself looking out for memorials on my travels, and on a recent trip to Northern Ireland, I came across a memorial I thought the Trench Lincs readers would find of interest. [It seems that I have had quite an effect on many readers who cannot go anywhere today without looking for memorials! – Ed]

In the small town of Bushmills, near Portrush on the north coast, I stumbled across an impressive memorial to a VC holder, Sergeant Robert Quigg. It is hard to miss it as it is right in the centre of the town at the intersection of two main roads. That also, made it hard to photograph as you had to walk out onto the road when there was a lull in the traffic. As the roads are both A-roads, there weren’t many lulls!

The sculpture is meant to be a likeness of the action for which he was awarded the VC. There is plenty of information on Sergeant Quigg available on the various search engines out there, and here is a brief summary.

Sergeant Quigg was in the 12th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles. Prior to that he had been an active member of the Ulster Volunteer Force. His platoon commander was Lieutenant Sir Edward Harry Macnaghten 6th Baronet, who was the heir to the huge Bushmills whiskey estate. Robert worked on the Bushmills estate prior to enlisting.

On the opening day of the battle of The Somme, Robert’s battalion was tasked with advancing to Grandcourt and they advanced towards German lines from the village of Hamel on the River Ancre. Robert’s battalion made three attempts to advance but each time were beaten back by German resistance. Many hundreds of the battalion were killed or missing. The following morning, word reached Robert that Sir Harry Macnaghten was among the missing. Robert immediately volunteered to journey into No Man’s Land to search for his missing commanding officer. He went out seven times to try and locate him. Each time he returned to the allied trenches, he brought back a wounded colleague but sadly never found his commanding officer. Lieutenant Macnaghten’s body was never found, and today, his name is on the Thiepval memorial.

Quigg received the VC from the King at Sandringham and returned to his home town to a hero’s welcome. He later served in Mesopotamia and survived the war.

After the war he stayed in the army but left after an accident and eventually earned a living as a tour guide at the Giant’s Causeway. What an amazing place that is, totally worth a visit if you are ever over in Northern Ireland. Very atmospheric, great walks and free to National Trust members.

The Giant's Causeway.

Back to Mr Quigg! He died in 1955, an apparently lonely man, who kept himself to himself. As well as the impressive memorial, there is a blue plaque on his old school (now a restaurant). The statue was unveiled by the late Queen Elizabeth II who remembered meeting him many years earlier when she visited Ulster in 1953.

As well as Sergeant Quigg’s statue there are other tablets naming the fallen. I was struck by how many were from the overseas colonies. I presume these were local people who had emigrated previously and returned to serve on the outbreak of the war. {Almost certainly Bill – Ed]

Bushmills, as mentioned is the home of Bushmills Whiskey. They have a large museum but be warned, you can’t just wander round as I found to my cost. As it is also still a working factory you have to go on a guided tour and if they are all full (as they were on the day of my visit) you can’t go in! One for the future.’

We have not covered Robert Quigg in TL before, so here is his VC Citation.

‘For most conspicuous bravery. He advanced to the assault with his platoon three times. Early next morning, hearing a rumour that his platoon officer was lying out wounded, he went out seven times to look for him under heavy shell and machine gun fire, each time bringing back a wounded man. The last man he dragged in on a waterproof sheet from within a few yards of the enemy’s wire. He was seven hours engaged in this most gallant work, and finally was so exhausted that he had to give it up.’

Supplement to The London Gazette of 8 September 1916. 9 September 1916, Numb. 29740, p. 8871

Robert Quigg VC.

I also carried out a little more research on Sir Harry Macnaghten and found out that he was the 6th Baronet. Educated at Eton, he was the son of the late Hon. Sir Edward Charles Macnaghten, 5th Bart., K.C., D.L., of Dundarave, Co. Antrim, and of the Hon. Lady Macnaghten, of Sandhurst Lodge, Berks. On Sir Harry’s death on 1st July 1916, the baronetcy passed to his younger brother, Sir Arthur Douglas Macnaghten, who became the 7th Baronet.

Sir Harry was only 20 years old when he died, and his younger brother, who at that point in time, became Sir Arthur, was also killed serving with the 8th Battalion Rifle Brigade on 15th September 1916.

Sir Arthur is buried in Caterpillar Valley cemetery. He was therefore, a Baronet for only 76 days.

The honourable Edith Macnaghten, therefore, lost her husband on 31st December 1914 and both of her sons on the Somme in July and September 1916.

Sir Edward Harry Macnaghten, 6th Baronet.

Sir Arthur Macnaghten, 7th Baronet.

Thank you Bill for allowing us to find out more about this wonderful family.

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Staying with the theme of Victoria Crosses, Paul Berry was recently at Portsmouth Ferry Terminal when he spotted the VC display as seen below.

Thomas Reeves won his VC in the Crimean War at the Battle of Inkerman. Here is his VC Citation.

‘At the Battle of Inkerman, 5th November, 1854, when the Right Lancaster Battery was attacked, these three seamen mounted the banquette, and, under a heavy fire, made use of the disabled soldiers’ muskets, which were loaded for them by others under the parapet. They are the survivors of five who performed the above action, (Letter from Sir S. Lushington, 7th June, 1856.)’

Supplement to The London Gazette of 24 February 1857. 24 February 1857, Numb. 21971, p. 653

I was unable to find a photograph of Thomas Reeves, not surprising given the date, but I did discover why he is remembered at Portsmouth Ferry Terminal.

On 5th November 1854 at the Battle of Inkerman, Crimea, when the Right Lancaster Battery was attacked and many of the soldiers were wounded, Seaman Reeves, with two other seamen (GORMAN, J. and SCHOLEFIELD,M.) and two others who were killed during the action, mounted the defence work banquette and, under withering attack from the enemy, kept up a rapid, repulsing fire. Their muskets were re-loaded for them by the wounded soldiers under the parapet and eventually the enemy fell back and gave no more trouble. Later achieved rank of Captain of the Foretop.

[Gazetted 24th February 1857. The medal is not publicly held. Thomas Reeves was 10th in line to receive the VC from Queen Victoria on the first ever investiture in Hyde Park.]

Personal Information

Thomas Reeves was born at 50 Kings Street, Portsmouth, in 1828. He was a baker's apprentice prior to joining the navy in August 1846. By September 1850, he is recorded as being an Ordinary Seaman aboard HMS Albion. He later became Gunner's Mate and by 1856 was Captain of the Foretop whilst still on HMS Albion. He volunteered for an extra ten years in 1856 and took a gunnery course at HMS Excellent but was discharged for age and infirmity at age of 32 in 1860 with a pension of 25 pounds a year. He had married in 1856/57 and died on 4th August 1862, aged 34 from consumption, which he had suffered from for three years, at Portsea. He was buried on 9th August 1862 in the Portsea Island General Cemetery, Mile End, Portsmouth in an unmarked mass paupers grave (Plot 701, Grave 57).

The Grave

"... In the 1970s, Portsmouth's continental ferry port was expanded, engulfing the Portsea Island Cemetery. Before the expansion began, approximately 6,000 bodies were transferred from Portsea to Portsmouth's Kingston Cemetery. However, records have now revealed that Reeve's remains were not among them and still lie in an unmarked grave beneath the ferry port car park, the Portsea Island Cemetery having disappeared. The Victoria Cross Memorial Fund is now campaigning to have a plaque erected in memory of Seaman Thomas Reeves VC, RN." [Daily Mail, 02/01/1999]

At the ferry port, his final resting place was finally marked by a plaque, which reveals the extent of Reeves' bravery at the Battle of Inkerman. Unveiled by the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire Mary Fagan, the plaque was funded by the Royal Naval Association Victoria Cross Memorial Fund. At a brief memorial service before the unveiling, Admiral Sir Derek Reffell, president of the south coast area Royal Naval Association, paid tribute to Reeves. 'The 26-year-old mounted the firing step and kept a constant fire on the Russians,' he said. 'The injured soldiers who had been knocked off the firing step reloaded the guns while the seaman continued to fire.' He added: 'Let's hope there will always be men of the Royal Navy who will be willing to make sacrifices for other people.'

Thank you to Paul for spotting this display and allowing me to carry out the further research.

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Further afield, John Pritchard, as you all know has been in South Australia for the last eight weeks to visit his daughter. John has kept us updated on Australian memorials that he has passed, and this week, it is a memorial wall and bench.

John notes; ‘Marion Bay is a small township in the Australian state of South Australia at the southern tip of the Yorke Peninsula.

It was a five-hour journey from Adelaide, for a four-day holiday in self-catering accommodation in a very nice coastal resort that is used for fishing, walking and bird spotters!

There is a small place which has a wall of remembrance for the people who have died which is a mixture of military and civilians.

The back of the memorial wall has a selection of photographs from many years ago when it was isolated and a small community that was involved with fishing and sheep farming, though there was some mining for cobalt at the turn of the century in the now large nature reserve.’

Thank you John. There will be another tale from John next week.

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Regular TL contributor, Melvin Dobbs, has written to me once again with news of his latest trip. Melvin writes; ‘I hope you are well and are having an enjoyable Spanish break? [Indeed, it was very enjoyable thank you Melvin – Ed]

It was great to have an insight to the Spanish Civil War, a period of which I am not too familiar with.

What with you, Ray Sellers, Arthur Wood and John Pritchard reporting from foreign lands, I thought it was time for something closer to home, so I sallied forth in my trusty Triumph Stag to the Vale of Belvoir, first stop the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul at Barkstone-le-Vale.

Therein, lies a Memorial tablet with two life size cut outs of WW1 soldiers (one named Charles Grass).’

Melvin continues; ‘I then made my way to Stathern near Melton Mowbray to St. Guthlac's Church, again therein there is the Parish Roll of Honour also an original WWI wooden battlefield burial cross with a number of photographs relating to the Soldier in question.

Plus, a nice touch of a couple of lines of 'poppy day' crosses with the names of the fallen of the Parish.

Melvin signed off with; ‘I really enjoyed our recent day out to Winceby then onto Old Bolingbroke, it brought back memories of my youth (I was born at Spilsby) when as 13 or 14 years of age we cycled all around this area and further afield, stopping at the red phone boxes pushing the A & B buttons!

Sometimes we were lucky...Happy Days.’

[For TL readers too young to remember phone boxes with A and B buttons, sometimes, if you were lucky, you could push the button and receive unused coins that the last caller had left in the system! – Ed]

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Did you see the news this week of the WWI burials at Tyne Cot cemetery in Belgium? Six bodies were found in 2020, and remarkably, all six were identified through familial DNA testing.

They are Private Horace Cook of Matching, Essex; Private Frederick Martin and Private Charles Russell, both of London; Private Thomas Whitaker, of Bradford; Privatete Courtney Hart, of Northampton; and Privatete Joseph Turnley, of Bristol.

It is thought they were killed in a shell strike on October 6, 1918, and that they were a complete Lewis Gun team.

The British veterans' bodies are now in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Tyne Cot Cemetery, with headstones recognising their sacrifice.

The men still wore shoulder titles indicating their affiliation with the Queen's Royal West Surrey (QRWS) Regiment.

During 2020, archaeologists came across the remains while working on a site near the village of Geluwe.

There was a good article that appeared on the BBC local news web site and you can read more here.

The family reunited at WW1 soldier's grave 108 years on - BBC News

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Those of you who know me well, will know that my youngest son, Will, works in his dream job as departmental head of Fan Engagement at Nottingham Forest Football Club. The whole fan/customer experience falls into his domain, and he has been particularly busy this last season, as Forest returned to playing European football once again after some thirty years.

In his role, he meets with a huge number of interesting people from the general public, to players, ex-players, sportsmen and women generally, show business stars and even politicians – most of whom are Forest fans.

One well-known local MP who is a big Forest fan invited Will and myself down to the House of Commons last Wednesday, for a tour, tickets to Prime Minister’s Questions and lunch in the Strangers Restaurant.

We arrived with time to spare, so took a walk down the bank of the Thames past Scotland Yard and came across these memorials sitting in a park adjacent to Scotland Yard.

A modern memorial to the recent conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Memorial to the Korean War.

Lord Trenchard. Father of the RAF.

Lord Portal of Hungerford. Chief of the Air Staff in WWII.

Memorial to the Fleet Air Arm.

Gordon of Khartoum. His death was avenged at Omdurman.

We then stopped at the RAF memorial, Fighter Command memorial and the Queen Boudica statue on the banks of the Thames before meeting our host’s assistant at Portcullis House.

We had a short tour of the public areas of the House of Commons, including Westminster Hall where these plaques commemorate the lying in state of the bodies of Winston Churchill to the late Queen.

I was allowed to take a couple of photographs of the House War Memorial, although, due to another party standing in front of many of the panels, I was unable to capture them all!

Note the name of Raymond Asquith, son of the Prime Minister, killed on teh Somme September 1916.

Note Gordon Hewart, 6th Lincs, killed at Gallipoli. He features in my talk about the 6th Lincs in Gallipoli, but I hadn't appreciated that he was a son of an MP.

Note Carew, Baron Kesteven in Lincolnshire and Lord Kitchener.

We then watched the Speaker’s Procession before taking our seats in the public gallery for PMQ’s. Kemi and the PM went round and round in circles for fifteen minutes, and the whole experience of PMQ’s seemed more like a game than a serious opportunity for the PM to answer questions. In fact, I would say that the PM had no intention of answering questions from Kemi Badenoch, and she quite neatly skewered him at the end by saying, ‘Well perhaps I should ask Mr Burnham then!’ We will see.

Lunch followed in the very grand Strangers Dining Room, where Will captured this snap of me which I found apt, as the portrait behind me contains David Lloyd George (to the right as you look).

After a very convivial and interesting lunch, our MP host took us on a further tour of parts of the Commons that the public are not usually allowed in, including the MP’s chapel, St. Mary’s Undercroft. He explained that daily services are held here and that they are very well attended by MP’s of all parties.

The font at St.Mary's Undercroft.

The end of the tour finished with a couple of pints in the MP’s pub, the Red Lion, which stands just outside of the parliamentary estate and here we spoke with very friendly MP’s from three different parties who all seemed to get on very well!

Having said our thankyous and goodbyes, Will and I hopped on the tube to Sloane Square and walked to the National Army Museum (NAM) to complete our day out together. I will write more about our NAM visit next week.

After a good walk around the NAM, we set off for Victoria to take the underground back to King’s Cross and lo and behold, I came across a WWI memorial that I did not know about.

Ferdinand Foch – Supreme Allied Generalissimo 1918.

All in all, a most splendid day and a big thank you to Will for the invitation to accompany him.

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We finish as usual with another superb offering from Chris at Colour by CJS. I have chosen this colourised photograph because it has a local connection to Grimsby, and is the tale of the first two British aircrew killed in action in the Great War.

On 22nd August 1914 the British Expeditionary Force was preparing to defend Mons in Belgium against the advancing German invaders.

Unaware of the enemy’s exact position aircraft from the Royal Flying Corps were tasked with reconnaissance of the approaches to the town.

An Avro 504 aircraft of 5 Squadron crewed by Second Lieutenant Vincent Waterfall (pilot) and Lieutenant Charles Bayly (observer) was flying at 2,000 feet over Enghien when they saw a large German Transport column.

They descended to about 60 feet to have a closer look. On their second pass over the column they were met by a hail of small arms fire. The aircraft was riddled with bullets and crashed killing both men.

Waterfall and Bayly were buried by the Germans near the crash site but were soon moved and reburied by Belgian civilians. In 1924 their bodies were exhumed and laid to rest side-by-side in the Tournai Communal Cemetery.

Vincent Waterfall (on the left) was born in Grimsby but grew up in Brighton. He was granted a commission in 3rd Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment in 1912, and qualified as a pilot on 22nd April 1914 and was seconded to the R.F.C later that year on 5th August.

Charles Bayly (on the right) was a native of Cape Town, South Africa, and remarkably, was the great-nephew of General Charles Gordon (Gordon of Khartoum). Like his great-uncle, he was educated in England and then joined the Royal Engineers. [See my photo above of Gordon of Khartoum – Ed]

Bayly too, was a qualified pilot and was seconded to the R.F.C on 30th June 1914.

These two men were the first of 2,954 British air services deaths due to enemy action in France and Belgium during World War One.

Vincent Waterfall and Charles Bayly were both 23 years old.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

In Memoriam the Lincolnshire Regiment 14th June.

1915

14425 Private Albert Afford, 1st Battalion, aged 22. Buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France.

7602 Private W F White, 2nd Battalion. Buried in Royal Irish Rifles Graveyard, France.

8582 Private J T Scott, 3rd Battalion. Buried in Grimsby Scartho Cemetery, UK.

3163 Private G Ball, 5th Battalion. Buried in Packhorse Shrine Cemetery, Belgium.

1104 Lance Corporal G Brown, 5th Battalion. – Ditto. –

1917

1426 Private Arthur Trafford, 10th Battalion, aged 19. Remembered on the Arras Memorial, France.

Second Lieutenant Henry William Bannister, 10th Battalion, aged 29. Buried in Bailleul Road East Cemetery, France.

202456 Lance Corporal Joe Cockcroft, 2nd/4th Battalion, aged 32. Buried in Metz en Coutre Communal Cemetery, France.

202763 Private H A May, 2nd/4th Battalion. - Ditto. –

1918

22612 Sergeant A F Ouzman, 7th Battalion, aged 26. Buried in Niederzwehren Cemetery, Germany.

15765 Private J Kelly, 1st Battalion. Buried in St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, France.

27038 Lance Corporal G W Baker, 10th Battalion. Buried in Etaples Military Cemetery, France.

1919

1116 Private Wilfred Hart Harris, 2nd Battalion. Remembered in the UK Book of Remembrance.

Private Wilfred Hart Harris, you will recall was the subject of Judith Good’s recent story and her wonderful detective work that has now allowed the CWGC to record his death as a War Death.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

In two weeks-time, on 28th June, I will be publishing family In Memoriam’s for the men who died in the run up to and shortly after the 1st July 1916. If you have an ancestor who was killed at the Somme around these dates, please let me know.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Until next week,

All best wishes

Jonathan

E: trenchlincs@gmail.com

www.jonathandhooghe.co.uk

© Jonathan D’Hooghe