Trench Lincs 28th June 2026

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Good Morning,

Welcome to this week’s Trench Lincs which I hope you will find of interest?

We cover a number of varied topics including the 1812 war between the Americans and the British to ensure that Canada remained under British control –yet another new war we haven’t covered before. And what’s more, it has a link to the Great War too!

Today is the 112th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and I have put together a short piece for you.

Although basking in the summer weather, half of the places at the Lincoln WFA Christmas lunch have now been reserved. It is Saturday December 12th if you would like to attend. Drop me a line.

Hope you have enjoyed the summer weather this week! I was at the Test Match at Trent Bridge last Friday and have a Wimbledon visit to look forward to on the 6th of July. Roll on Summer.

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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. 

FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF ANY DOUBT, THE ROLES OF TREASURER AND MINUTE SECRETARY ARE CURRENTLY HELD IN A NON-EXECUTIVE CAPACITY BY NON-MEMBERS OF THE WFA WHO CARRY OUT THEIR DUTIES TO ENSURE THE RUNNING OF THE BRANCH. FULLY PAID UP MEMBERS OF THE WFA ARE INVITED TO PUT THEIR NAMES FORWARD FOR THESE ROLES.

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.

Ian Prince and his mother are the first entrants in the ANZAC biscuit competition. Do we have any more entrants?

I hope to hear from you!

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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.’

"The talk will start with a quick overview of the creation and development of the cemetery itself and its CWGC section, moving on to talk about some of the graves it contains. Some of the “residents” will be mentioned in passing and some others will be covered in more detail. Both World Wars will be covered to some extent but it is impossible to cover everything in the time available. This journey will be one of History, ancient and modern, with a little bit of Geography thrown in."

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.

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Next Event - Spalding & South Lincs Branch, WFA Thursday 23rd July at 7.30pm.

Spalding & South Lincolnshire Branch WFA continues to meet at the Spalding Baptist Church, Swan Street, Spalding, PE11 1BT. Meetings continue to be held in the evenings of the fourth Thursday in the month, and doors open at 19.00 hours for a 19.30 hours start.  Meetings are held in a pleasant main room of the Church and there is ample - unrestricted - on street parking in front of the building. Free refreshments are served at the end of the meeting. Finally, please note that, for security purposes the main double front doors are kept locked as we cannot monitor them from our meeting room, therefore, you may need to ring the doorbell located on the single door to the right of the main double doors in order to gain entry.

July 23rd - Grant Cullen presents: "Quintinshill, 22nd May 1915; Britain's worst railway disaster".

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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.

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The Leadenham Military History Group’s next meeting will be on Tuesday 28th July at 7.30pm at Leadenham village hall.

There will be a two part event on this night, starting with:

Paul Robinson - 'Operation Manna'. The airborne food drop into the Netherlands by the RAF in April and May 1945.

This will be followed by:

Brian Riley - Operations Doomsday and Eclipse'. As Britian celebrated VE Day, British 1st Airborne forces were deployed to Norway and Denmark to oversee the surrender of all German forces and to guard against Soviet intentions in Denmark.

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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 16th July 2026.

The speaker on this occasion is the well-known Tim Willbond who will talk about ‘The Big Wing Part 2 – Fighter Attacks Across The Channel.

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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Last Wednesday there was a small band of dedicated memorialists who attended at the Carillon War Memorial museum in Loughborough.

Opened in 1923, following a public vote, the Carillon, a bell tower of 47 bells became the town’s war memorial to the men of Loughborough who had lost their lives in the Great War. Their names are recorded on brass plaques on the tower’s external walls – some 592 names are recorded, and on the ground floor internally, there is a small but impressive museum, which contains an additional plaque with a further 112 names that have been discovered post 1923.

Loughborough, is the home of Taylors the bell founders since 1839, and they are still in business today. No doubt swayed by the Taylor family who lost three sons in the war, the decision to erect the Carillon as a war memorial enabled Taylors to produce the 47 bells, each one engraved with the names of the original large donors towards the cost. Today, you can hear the Carillon on Thursday afternoons and on Sundays.

The Taylor family also manufactured memorial bells for their three lost sons and here is a photo of one of the bells.

The plaque with the three Taylor brothers recorded. A fourth son survived the war.

The museum also records the deeds of the Leicestershire Yeomanry who suffered so badly when dismounted and fighting in the trenches near Ypres in May 1915. A survivor of this action was Loughborough’s own war horse, Songster, who lived until 1940 and is commemorated to this day in Queen’s Park, the home of the Carillon.

Gary Radford gave the group a short talk about the life and death of his wife’s grandfather, whose name is on the town memorial before the group walked to the Charnwood museum, where a splendid café allowed for a comfort break in the heat of the day.

Our guide for the day, Neil Strange, took over proceedings and led the group on a short walking tour of the town centre to visit the site of where a German airship dropped four bombs on the town in January 1916, killing ten civilians. A memorial plaque marks the spot of where the second bomb landed.

Memorial to the victims of the bombing raid 31st January 1916.

It was then a return to the cars and a short drive to the town cemetery, where our first stop at a grave of importance was for Alice Higgs, one of the ten townsfolk killed by the airship bombs.

Another fascinating WWI headstone was for Herbert Goulden. Herbert was a crew member of the submarine E13, which suffered steering failure and beached on the neutral Danish island of Saltholm. The Danish authorities, not wishing to cause an incident with the Germans, gave the British crew 24 hours to make repairs and leave.

The skipper ordered half of the crew to commence digging around the sub so that they could hopefully return to sea, however, a German patrol vessel arrived on the scene and despite being in neutral waters, the Huns machined gunned the working party of sailors, one of the dead being Herbert.

The Danes, were appalled by this act and gave a full military procession for the bodies to be taken to the mainland before they were returned to the UK, landing at Hull, to yet another procession.

Herbert was returned to Loughborough, where a huge crowd of town residents attended his funeral service.

Neil’s tour was superb but time and space allows for just one more story of relevance. Thomas Marston served with 2nd/5th battalion of the Leicester’s and after January 1918 with the 1st/5th battalion, and during the course of his service, he won the Military Medal three times.

Severely affected by gas inhalation, Thomas died in 1922, too late to receive a war grave headstone. In the following years, his burial site was lost, but in 2017, on the 100th anniversary of the award of his first MM on the Menin Road, local organisations discovered his burial site and paid for a new headstone, which is like a reverse negative of an official CWGC headstone – a really fitting tribute.

Thomas’ second and third MM’s were won on 24th September and 9th October 1918, just before and just after the breaking of the Hindenburg Line by the 46th (North Midland) Division.

A big thank you to Neill for all of his hard work, and to all of the attendees who proved once and for all that it is ‘Mad dogs and Englishmen who go out in the mid-day sun!’.

Well done Neil.

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As so many TL regulars appear to be on holiday at present, there won’t be an official outing in July, however, if any TL readers have never visited the war graves in Newark Cemetery, or would like a walking tour of the 1487 battlefield at East Stoke, please let me know and I will tee up a July date with you.

Therefore, the next official monthly outing will be held on Sunday 16th August when Mike Credland will conduct his annual tour of Lincolnshire War Memorials.

“August 16th (Sunday) - Annual Memorials Tour, led by Chairman Michael Credland, BEM.  Meet at The Lincolnshire Poacher, Bunkers Hill, Lincoln, LN2 4QT, 10.45am for 11.00am departure. Return by 2.30pm.”

Does anyone have a suggestion for an outing in September? Please let me know.

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As we have often mentioned before, there is British history all around us if we only look for it.

Tim Sisson writes; ‘Just something I saw today, which you may have seen but, if not, might be of interest.

I went to the open gardens and classic car show at Aubourn Hall, and while walking the dogs round the garden, I was drawn to the tiny church, chapel really, of St Peter's, which stands a few yards from the Hall itself.

I am attaching a photo of a memorial, on the wall inside, to Lt. Colonel Frederick Ainslie of the 21st R.N.B. "Fusileers" (sic) who died from wounds sustained at the Battle of Inkerman.

From the plaque, I saw that his mother was from the Nevile family who have owned the estate for over 500 years.

This local history is interesting because of course Thurlby, where Gonville Bromhead was brought up, is practically the next village along.’ [Gonville Bromhead – think Michael Caine in the film ZULU – Ed]

The small private church at Aubourn is one that I have not visited before, although I have recorded the village war memorial in my collection.

The wording on the plaque aroused my curiosity as I did not know who the RNB ‘Fusileers’ were. A little digging of all of the British units who fought in the Crimea, initially led me to the Royal Naval Brigade but my instincts told me that sailors would not be ‘Fusileers’. I then found the answer to Tim’s article.

The 21st Regiment of Foot were the Royal North British Fusiliers and were commanded by Ainslie. Here is a biography of his life.

Lieutenant Colonel Frederick George Ainslie, 21st Regiment of Foot (Royal North British Fusiliers). Younger son of the late Lieutenant General George Robert Ainslie and Sophia Charlotte Ainslie (nee Nevile). Gentleman Cadet at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on 24th Apr 1828. Promoted to Lieutenant on 5th Oct 1832, to Captain on 26th Jun 1838, to Major on 20th Oct 1848 and to Lieutenant Colonel on 23rd Apr 1852. He commanded the 21st Foot at the Battle of Inkerman on 5th Nov 1854 during the Crimea War where he was wounded. He died of his wounds in hospital at Scutari, Istanbul on 14th Nov 1854 and was buried in Haidar Pasha Cemetery. He is also commemorated on a memorial at St Peter’s Church, Aubourn, North Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England (see: https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/54090) and on a Crimea memorial tablet in the Royal Memorial Chapel, RMA Sandhurst, Camberley, Surrey Heath Borough, Surrey, England.

Aubourn village war memorial.

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In the In Memoriam section of TL on 14th June, we mentioned Wilfred Hart Harris, the soldier who Judith Good spent many hours successfully persuading the CWGC to officially record his demise as a war death.

Judith comments; ‘Thank you for adding Wilfred to your In Memoriam section in last week’s newsletter - as it was his first 'official' anniversary as 'war dead' last Sunday 14th June, I went to lay a wreath at his grave. I was accompanied by the lovely Maria Fryer - the Group Administrator of the Billingborough Group of Churches - who has been so helpful with burial records and family research. 

We had a lovely quiet moment paying our respects to Wilfred and I read out the full version of Laurence Binyons poem 'For the Fallen'.  Wilfred’s grave is next to the war grave of Private Herbert Edward Batterham - Maria had also discovered that Wilfred’s brother (Cecil Charles) had married Herbert’s sister (Lucy) - so I hope that means the families were close and supported one another.  Wilfred and Herbert really do have a lovely spot to rest for eternity. 

I have attached a photo for you.’

What a lovely and well deserved end to all of your hard work Judith.

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On July 4th, America will celebrate 250 years of independence from the British crown. I can clearly remember the 200th celebrations in 1976 and it makes you wonder where the next 50 years have gone to?

Another war that we haven’t touched on before in TL is the fighting between the British and the Americans that took place in modern day Canada in 1812-15.

Why do I mention this? Well, my good friend Matt Kelly, who Robin and I met in South Africa in 2024 has recently been in Canada and writes; ‘I have just visited the Lundy Lane Battlefield (War of 1812) and came across some interesting WWI grave markers in the Drummond Hill Cemetery which was the main British position during the battle.’

This last headstone caught my eye as Corporal Dyson had served with the Sherwood Foresters in China (Boxer Rebellion I assume), South Africa and WWI. It is also noted that he served in the ? Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment [Can anyone read the number? – Ed]

My first thought was that it was the 13th Battalion, but Dyson died in August 1915 and the 13th Battalion was not formed until 1917. What he was doing in Canada may never be known, but he is not listed on the CWGC database either.

This set of photos aroused my interest in an area of British history that I will admit was not an area that I knew a great deal about. So I carried out some further research.

The War of 1812–1815 was a conflict fought between the United States and Great Britain, with much of the fighting taking place in what is now Canada. Although the war is commonly known as the War of 1812, it continued until early 1815 because news of the peace treaty took time to cross the Atlantic. For Canadians, the war was a defining event that helped shape the future of British North America and contributed to the development of a distinct Canadian identity.

The war began on 18th June 1812 when the United States declared war on Great Britain. American leaders believed that Britain was interfering with American trade during the Napoleonic Wars and forcing American sailors into the Royal Navy. Some Americans also hoped to conquer Upper Canada (modern Ontario), believing that local inhabitants would welcome American rule.

At the start of the war, British North America was sparsely populated and poorly defended. The defence of Canada depended on a small number of British regular soldiers, local militia units, and Indigenous allies. One of the most important Indigenous leaders was Tecumseh, who formed a confederacy of Indigenous nations and allied with the British to resist American expansion.

The British government, despite being preoccupied by the affairs of Wellington’s army in Spain and Portugal, decided to support two fronts, and the first major successes in North America belonged to the British and their allies. In August 1812, British forces under Major General Isaac Brock captured Detroit without a major battle. Brock and Tecumseh convinced the American commander that he was greatly outnumbered, leading to the surrender of the fort. This victory strengthened British control of the western frontier and boosted morale throughout Canada.

However, the war soon became more difficult. In October 1812, Brock was killed at the Battle of Queenston Heights while leading troops against an American invasion force. Although the British won the battle, Brock’s death was a major loss. Today he is remembered as one of Canada’s most important military heroes.

Fighting continued along the Great Lakes and the Niagara frontier. In 1813, American forces captured York, now Toronto, and burned government buildings. Later that year, the British and their allies suffered defeats in the west, including the Battle of the Thames, where Tecumseh was killed. Despite these setbacks, American attempts to conquer Canada repeatedly failed.

The most intense fighting occurred in 1814. Battles such as the Battle of Chippawa and the Battle of Lundy’s Lane were fought in the Niagara region. Lundy’s Lane, near Niagara Falls, became one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on Canadian soil. Neither side achieved a decisive victory, but the Americans were forced to withdraw, ending their hopes of conquering Upper Canada.

Peace negotiations took place in Europe, resulting in the Treaty of Ghent, signed on 24th December 1814. Because communication was slow, some fighting continued into 1815 before news of the treaty reached North America. The treaty restored the pre-war boundaries, and neither side gained territory.

Although the war ended in a military stalemate, its consequences were significant. The successful defence of Canada prevented American annexation and strengthened loyalty to Britain among many settlers. The war also highlighted the important role played by Indigenous peoples, although many Indigenous communities did not receive the protection they had hoped for after the conflict. Today, the War of 1812 is remembered as a key event in Canadian history, helping to preserve British North America and laying foundations for the future nation of Canada.

I then looked into the actual Battle of Lundys Lane and why there are CWGC WWI graves in the adjacent cemetery.

The Battle of Lundy’s Lane and the First World War Graves of Drummond Hill Cemetery

The Battle of Lundy’s Lane, fought on 25th July 1814 near present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario, was one of the bloodiest and most significant engagements of the War of 1812. Today, the battlefield is closely associated with Drummond Hill Cemetery, a historic burial ground that contains the remains of soldiers from the battle. Visitors are often surprised to discover that alongside graves connected to the War of 1812 are a number of First World War (1914–1918) military graves. Understanding why these two very different conflicts are represented in the same cemetery requires an examination of both the battle itself and the later history of the cemetery.

The Battle of Lundy’s Lane

By the summer of 1814, the War of 1812 had entered its third year. American forces had launched another invasion of Upper Canada (modern Ontario), hoping to gain control of the Niagara Peninsula. After capturing Fort Erie and winning the Battle of Chippawa earlier in July, the American army advanced northward toward Niagara Falls.

Opposing them was a British force composed of regular soldiers, Canadian militia, and Indigenous allies. The British commander in the Niagara region was Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond, whose name would later be given to Drummond Hill.

The battle began late in the afternoon on 25th July when American troops under Major General Jacob Brown encountered British forces near Lundy’s Lane, a road running west from Niagara Falls. The key feature of the battlefield was a rise of ground occupied by British artillery. Both sides quickly recognised the importance of this position and repeatedly attacked and counterattacked throughout the evening.

What followed was a brutal struggle fought at close range. Artillery batteries changed hands several times. Infantry units charged repeatedly through smoke, darkness, and confusion. As night fell, soldiers often fought without being able to distinguish friend from foe. The battle became one of attrition, with neither side willing to yield.

The casualties were staggering. Approximately 850 British and Canadian troops and around 860 American soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing. For a battle involving fewer than 6,000 men on each side, these losses were extraordinarily high. Historians generally regard Lundy’s Lane as the bloodiest battle ever fought on Canadian soil.

Although neither side achieved a decisive tactical victory, the strategic outcome favoured the British. The American army eventually withdrew toward Fort Erie, ending hopes of conquering the Niagara Peninsula. The battle therefore helped preserve British control of Upper Canada and contributed to the eventual stalemate that led to peace negotiations later that year.

Creation of Drummond Hill Cemetery

The battlefield remained an important historical site after the war. Many soldiers killed during the fighting were buried near where they fell. During the nineteenth century, efforts were made to create a formal cemetery and memorial landscape around the battlefield.

Drummond Hill Cemetery developed on land associated with the battle and became one of Canada’s most important War of 1812 commemorative sites. The cemetery contains monuments and burial plots connected with both British and American participants in the battle. Over time, remains discovered on the battlefield were reinterred there, helping to preserve the memory of the conflict.

Today the cemetery is recognised not only as a burial ground but also as a historical monument. It serves as a reminder of the sacrifices made during the War of 1812 and the role the Niagara frontier played in shaping Canadian history.

Why Are There First World War Graves in the Cemetery?

The presence of First World War graves in Drummond Hill Cemetery initially seems puzzling. After all, the First World War occurred a century after the Battle of Lundy’s Lane and was fought primarily in Europe, the Middle East, and other overseas theatres.

The explanation lies in the practices of the military and what is now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. During the First World War, not every soldier died overseas. Many servicemen died in Canada while training, recovering from wounds, or receiving medical treatment. Others returned home injured and later succumbed to their wounds or illnesses. These individuals were often buried in local civilian cemeteries rather than in dedicated military burial grounds. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records and maintains such graves wherever they are located.

As a result, hundreds of cemeteries throughout Canada contain official Commonwealth war graves. Drummond Hill Cemetery is one of them. The cemetery was already an established and respected burial ground by the time of the First World War, making it a natural location for local military burials.

The First World War graves at Drummond Hill generally belong to Canadian servicemen who died during or shortly after the war and whose families or military authorities arranged for burial in Niagara Falls. Rather than creating a separate military cemetery, authorities followed the common practice of interring them within existing community cemeteries. This approach was used throughout the British Empire and Commonwealth. 

Commonwealth War Graves and Local Cemeteries

Many people associate First World War burials with the famous military cemeteries of France and Belgium, where rows of identical white headstones stretch across former battlefields. While those cemeteries contain the majority of Commonwealth war dead, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission also maintains graves in ordinary municipal and church cemeteries across the world. The Commission’s responsibility extends to all eligible service personnel regardless of where they are buried. 

This means that a cemetery established for entirely different reasons can later acquire military graves from subsequent conflicts. Drummond Hill Cemetery is an excellent example of this process. Its historical significance attracted visitors interested in the War of 1812, but its continuing use as a local cemetery ensured that later generations, including First World War servicemen, were buried there as well.

The result is a cemetery that spans more than a century of military history. Within a relatively small area, visitors can encounter memorials connected to one of the defining battles of the War of 1812 alongside graves commemorating soldiers who served during the industrial warfare of the twentieth century.

Conclusion

Drummond Hill Cemetery is unique because it brings together two very different eras of military history. It originated as a place of remembrance for the soldiers who fought and died at the Battle of Lundy’s Lane in 1814, one of the bloodiest engagements of the War of 1812 and a battle that helped secure British control of Upper Canada. Over the following century, the cemetery continued to serve the local community.

When the First World War claimed the lives of Canadian servicemen connected to the Niagara region, some were buried in Drummond Hill Cemetery. Their graves were later recognised and maintained as official Commonwealth war graves. Thus, the presence of First World War burials is not a historical anomaly but rather a reflection of how military remembrance evolved over time.

Today, Drummond Hill Cemetery stands as a remarkable historical landscape where the stories of 1812 and 1914–1918 intersect, linking two generations of soldiers separated by a hundred years yet united in remembrance.

Lundy's Lane Battle Facts and Summary | American Battlefield Trust

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Whilst talking about Matt Kelly, I am pleased to let you know that Matt and his brother will be meeting up with me in France on 1st September for a three-day tour of the 1915 battlefields of Neuve Chapelle, Loos, Hohenzollern Redoubt, Festubert, Aubers Ridge and the 1916 battle at Fromelles.

Matt and his brother will then be travelling on to Normandy.

I have three passengers in my car to complete my party, but on a full DIY basis, I am throwing open this trip to anyone else who would like to attend.

You will need to put your party together and book your own accommodation in the Loos area and book your Eurotunnel or ferry crossing. I will provide the itinerary and meeting point each day for Tuesday to Friday 1st – 4th September.

If this is of interest, please drop me a line for full details. The more the merrier.

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Chas Parker was taken by mention of the Spanish Civil War a couple of weeks ago and now writes for us; ‘Homage to Espana

My interest in Spain and the Civil War in particular, began when I finished Junior School; it was the practice then to give pupils a leaving present and mine was ‘The Observers Book of Aircraft’.  The teachers knew that I was already interested in aviation and this book was appropriate.  This was the late 1950s but on looking through I was amazed to find that nudging shoulders with the English Electric P1 (the prototype Lightning) and the F104 Starfighter (both supersonic) was what was clearly a Messerschmitt 109 although it was called the Hispano Buchon.  I didn’t realise that before the country joined NATO, the Spanish Air Force was still using World War Two vintage aircraft although re-engined.

This was compounded a few years later when I went on a school trip to Barcelona and heard the distinctive howl of a Merlin engine and saw a distant single seat aircraft – almost certainly a Buchon. On the same trip our teacher talked about the Civil War and pointed out the bullet holes in some of the buildings.

Also, while at Grammar School, our English teacher was a fan of George Orwell.  Animal Farm was one of our set books but he also discussed Orwell’s interest in the state of the working classes in the 1930s and books such as ‘Down and Out in Paris and London’.  He also talked about Orwell’s involvement with the International Brigade and the problems of the competing Republican factions (Orwell was forced to hide having joined the ‘wrong’ faction and fled Spain to avoid prison or worse).  We also looked at ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four' of course. Orwell described his Spanish experiences in the book ‘Homage to Catalonia’ published in 1938.

Fast forward to 1967/8 and the Battle of Britain film. Hamish Mahaddie was able to assemble a veritable air force of his own using not only Spain’s redundant Buchons but also licence built Heinkel He111s and Junkers Ju52s.  Both Spain and Portugal also used German training aircraft and over the years some of these have been civilianised and added to the UK register including the Bucker Jungmeister and Jungman. Several of these film stars are now on the airshow circuit or gracing air museums in this country.

In the mid-1970s I was part of the project team building a petro-chemical plant in north Lincolnshire.  Part of my responsibilities was checking the progress claims from the contractors and one day I was in the office of my opposite number, Charlie, who worked for the main contractor. It was a quiet day and we were probably chatting about the weather, gardening, or anything but work. Suddenly, Charlie came out with the remark ‘Did you know that I went to Spain with the International Brigade?’  WOW - what a moment! 

When the war started in 1936, Spain had undergone several years of political turmoil due to its weak economy.  When an extreme left wing Government was elected the forces of the right – the Army, the Church and the landowners rebelled and the Army of Morocco took control of the Valencia region and then Nationalist factions captured large parts of the country. This led to a protracted struggle for power over the next three years. The Nationalists were supported by Germany and Italy while the Republicans were supported by left leaning factions from around the world. The fight was a cause celebre with socialists and volunteers flocking to Spain.

Charlie’s story was that he was in the Territorial Army in Manchester and a group of them went to Liverpool and took a ship to Spain. However, he said that they very quickly realised that it was a lost cause. Their opponents were much better equipped thanks to their fascist supporters whereas the Soviet Union had taken the opportunity to offload some poor quality weaponry in exchange for the Governments gold reserves. They only stayed three months and then got back to England to ‘face the music’ as they had contravened the Army Act by fighting for a foreign power. However, faced with the loss of numerous volunteer soldiers, the TA decided not to discharge them but they were hauled up in front of Manchester magistrates charged with failing to attend Summer Camp. Their court appearance was brief –

‘Next!  Private T……, number xxxxxx.  Private T; you are charged with failing to attend Territorial Army Summer Camp between ……….. and ……….  How do you plead?

"Guilty Your Honour." 

"Fined forty shillings!  Next!"

However once back in the TA Charlie and his mates found that they had been backlisted and couldn’t get promotion. They went to France with the BEF in 1939 but in May 1940, with his back to Dunkirk, Charlie was a Sergeant and with most of their officers shot away, he got a battlefield commission. 

Those senior officers that fought with them realised that Spanish War veterans knew how the Germans fought and used their experience to good effect.

Charlie’s story to me ended there but one of his colleagues later told me that he did parachute training and he was a pathfinder on Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France and operated with the Resistance until the allied units caught up with him. He finished the war as an acting Brigadier but went back to civilian life. He did comment that the Spanish were ‘real soldiers’; they would go all day on a stick of bread, a bottle of red wine and a handful of grapes or olives.  (Most of the volunteers wouldn’t move until they had had some breakfast.)

General Francisco Franco’s victory put him in charge of Spain until his death in 1975 but he continued to hunt down his former enemies. One example of this is Michael Portillo’s father who fled to England; Franco’s police visited his old address in Spain more than once in the 1950’s to try to arrest him and another of my work colleagues in Lincoln in the 1990s told the same story about his family. 

Anne and I have been to Spain and the Balearics numerous times over the last twenty years and I can almost always find traces of this awful conflict in memorials, churches or just on the beach (see picture).  A fascinating tale.’

A truly wonderful story Chas. Thank you for sharing it with us, and Chas also recommends -Suggested further reading - The Spanish Civil War by Hugh Thomas (900 pages so it’s pretty comprehensive!), Aircraft of the Spanish Civil War by Gerald Howson, Putnam.

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On This Day June 1914.

On 28th June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, visited Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, accompanied by his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg. The visit was intended to inspect imperial military exercises and demonstrate the authority of the Austro-Hungarian Empire over the recently annexed territory. However, the trip became one of the most significant events in modern history because it ended with the assassination that triggered the First World War.

Sarajevo was a city marked by political tension and nationalist sentiment. Many Slavic nationalists opposed Austro-Hungarian rule and sought independence or union with neighbouring Serbia. Among these groups was the secret organisation known as the Black Hand, which supported revolutionary activities against the empire. Several young Bosnian Serb conspirators, including Gavrilo Princip, were positioned along the Archduke’s planned route through the city.

The royal couple arrived by train in the morning and proceeded in an open-top motorcar through Sarajevo’s streets. Crowds gathered to watch the procession, while local officials accompanied the visitors. During the journey, one of the conspirators, Nedeljko Čabrinović, threw a bomb at the Archduke’s car. The explosive bounced off the folded roof of the vehicle and detonated under the following car, injuring several officers and bystanders. Franz Ferdinand remained unharmed and continued to the town hall despite the attack.

At the town hall, the Archduke reportedly expressed anger that he had been welcomed with bombs instead of greetings. Nevertheless, he completed the official reception before deciding to visit the wounded victims in hospital. To reach the hospital, the motorcade altered its planned route.

Unfortunately, the driver was not informed of the change and made a wrong turn onto a side street. As the vehicle stopped to reverse, it came to a halt directly in front of Gavrilo Princip, who had earlier believed the assassination attempt had failed.

Recognising the unexpected opportunity, Princip stepped forward and fired two shots at close range. One bullet struck Sophie, while the other hit Franz Ferdinand in the neck. Both were fatally wounded and died shortly afterwards. Their deaths shocked Europe and created an international crisis.

The assassination had consequences far beyond Sarajevo. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for supporting nationalist groups involved in the plot and issued a strict ultimatum. Diplomatic tensions escalated rapidly as alliances between European powers came into effect. Within weeks, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, drawing Russia, Germany, France, and Britain into the conflict. What began as the murder of a royal couple soon developed into the First World War, a devastating conflict that changed the political map of Europe and claimed millions of lives.

Today, the visit of Archduke Franz Ferdinand to Sarajevo is remembered as a turning point in world history. The events of that day demonstrate how a single incident, influenced by political unrest and nationalism, can have enormous and lasting global consequences.

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As we approach the 110th anniversary of the opening of the Somme offensive, Sir Douglas Haig’s first major attack on the Western Front, we remember those men who died on 1st July 1916 and in the fighting that followed through to November.

This week’s offering from Chris at Colour by CJS is my great uncle Jack, who as many of you know was killed at Ovillers on 3rd July 1916.

Henry Taylor (Jack) D’Hooghe

Henry, always known as Jack, was born in 1893 to Kate Clara and Thomas Henry D’Hooghe, my great-grandparents.

As was the way with large late Victorian families, he had two brothers, Philip James (my grandfather) and Leonard, and five sisters, one of whom died in infancy. The family lived at 69 Robin Hood’s Chase in Nottingham.

According to family folklore, as Thomas and Clara’s family grew, Jack went to live with his grandparents but he remained close to his family and in particular to his youngest sister, Florence Ivy who again, was known by the family as Kitty.

When war was declared in August 1914, there was an initial clamour to enlist in the army and although Jack’s service papers have not survived, Philip James’ have. My grandfather enlisted on 2nd September 1914 aged 17 – he lied about his year of birth by adding two years to his age – and therefore, I believe that his elder brother, Jack, would have enlisted at the same time, as both men are recorded as joining the Hussars Of The Line.

My grandfather became 17964 Private P J D’Hooghe of the 20th Hussars and Jack is recorded as 12485 Hussars Of The Line, but those surviving records that exist for Jack are after he had transferred to the Suffolk regiment. More about that later.

However, I have a post card from Jack to his father Thomas Henry, which reads;

Dear Dad,

You must excuse me for not writing before. I was very pleased to receive your letters.

We have got all A Squadron horses bad with Strangles. Have been on the wooden horse with the sword and sticking a bag filled with straw.

This is the full dress [uniform, referring to the picture on the card]

Your loving son

Jack.

[NB – Strangles is a highly contagious bacterial infection in horses caused by Streptococcus equi, primarily affecting the upper respiratory tract and lymph nodes.]

On the reverse of the card is a Trooper of the 8th Hussars in Review Order. I therefore deduce, that Jack was posted to the 8th Hussars in autumn 1914.

Jack’s Medal Index Card (MIC) has survived, albeit with his surname spelt incorrectly, and this shows that he arrived in France on 29th June 1915. His MIC only records his service with the Suffolk Regiment and further research has revealed that Jack served as a Lance Corporal in the 7th (Service) Battalion as part of 12th (Eastern) Division.

The 7th Suffolks arrived in France on 30th May 1915, and therefore I can only surmise that Jack applied for a transfer to the infantry and joined this battalion as a private a month later, where upon he was eventually promoted Lance Corporal.

He will have seen front line service at Ploegsteert before taking part in the Battle of Loos and being in action near to the Hohenzollern Redoubt on 2nd 8th and 13th October 1915. The battalions of the 12th (Eastern) Division remained in the Auchy-Hulluch sector until April 1916 when they were relieved and moved to the rear to rest and refit.

By 18th June 1916, the battalion had moved to the Somme in readiness for the ‘big push’. After the disastrous opening day on 1st July 1916, when the British suffered some 57,000 casualties, units of the 12th Division including the 7th Suffolks attacked the fortified village of Ovillers at 3.15am on the 3rd July.

The Battalion War Diary states; ‘The first 4 waves (D and C Companies) penetrated to the enemy’s third line and portions of them into the village itself, but owing to the darkness touch was lost with succeeding waves and with the 5th Royal Berks on the right, so that the leading waves were not supported closely enough, thus allowing the Germans to get in between the waves and cut off the leading ones at the third line of resistance, it was at this third German line that the chief casualties occurred, and the assault was brought to a standstill.

The casualties in the Battalion were 21 Officers and 458 Other ranks killed, wounded or missing.’

It was during this attack that Jack was posted as missing and later as killed in action. His body was never identified and today he is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.

In the CWGC Ovillers Cemetery, there are a number of headstones that read ‘An Unknown Soldier of the Suffolk Regiment. 3rd July 1916.’

It is likely that Jack lies in one of these plots but we will never know. My great grandmother lived until 1954 and she refused to accept that Jack was dead and refused to have his name added to any war memorial in Nottingham. I discovered her last resting place at Redhill Cemetery, Arnold, Nottingham and was amazed to see that Jack was remembered on her headstone.

Lance Corporal Jack D’Hooghe, KIA 3rd July 1916.

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Over the last two weeks, I asked for anyone to contact me if they too had a family member who they would like remembering this week. I received two very different requests.

First up is Jo Stacey whose story ties in with Jack above due to the village of Ovillers.

Jo writes; ‘Can I please request a mention in the In Memoriam section for 1st July, possibly in the Sunday 28 June edition? 

My relative David Brannick (Brannick is my maiden name) service no 15015 of the Lincolnshire 2nd Battalion, died 1.7.16 aged 16. Just a young lad! 

He is commemorated at Thiepval, and also on the church memorials at Walkeringham St. Mary Magdalene, and West Stockwith St. Mary the Virgin.

At Walkeringham his brother Albert, and their stepbrother Reuben Atkinson are also remembered on the plaque. You very kindly sent me some info about Albert, and a photo of his name on the Helles memorial, when you gave a talk at Spalding in January 2025, and from then began our correspondence - many thanks!

It would be lovely to see David's name. Sadly, I know little more about him. His father John was already deceased, and I think John had spent time in prison?’

Although I was in Spain at the time, I just had to look up David Brannick’s surviving records and I replied to Jo as follows; ‘I have attached David’s Medal Index Card, the regimental Medal Rolls for the 1915 Star, BWM and VM, the Register of Soldier’s Effects, showing his back pay of £2 12s 4d paid to his mother Sarah Atkinson and a War Gratuity of £8 also paid to his mother, Sarah. The Medal Rolls also reveal that he served with the 2nd Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment, as you know.

On 1st July 1916, 2/Lincs attacked at Ovillers, the exact location that my great uncle Jack was killed in two days later on the 3rd July.

 In the 1911 Census, Sarah and an 11 years old David are lodging with the Atkinson’s at West Stockwith. Sarah is listed as the housekeeper. Obviously, before 1916, she went on to marry Mr Atkinson following John’s death. I also noted that David was born in Rotherham.

Sadly, David’s Service Record has not survived, but the MIC shows him in France on the 1st June 1915 when he would have been just 15 years old. He survived for a year and a month!’

What a remarkable young man. What on earth his mother thought, I cannot imagine.

The second In Memoriam request came from Tony Nutkins who comments; ‘Your mention of the 1st July and the commencement of the battles of the Somme in 1916 drew my attention as I recently was given a British War Medal to 10909 Private G. E. Drane of 2nd battalion South Wales Borderers, k.i.a. 1st July 1916, buried Ancre cemetery.

The battalion was attached to 87 Brigade of 29th Division which was tasked with capturing the heavily fortified village of Beaumont-Hamel. Advancing into a hail of machine-gun fire, the 2nd SWB and the neighbouring 1st Battalion, Border Regiment, suffered very heavy casualties just as they reached their own barbed wire. Because of the intense enfilading German fire, the battalion’s attack was stopped almost immediately. Survivors were forced to take cover in shell holes, with only small isolated groups of men remaining. This would explain him having a known grave.

The medal was found in a box of old tools in the garage of my sister in law's house when it was recently being cleared prior to being sold as she is now in a care home. There is no family connection to anyone with that name and how it came to be where it was found is a mystery although my late brother in law was a collector of anything and everything, for no particular purpose mostly, and the garage was crammed with stuff of various degrees of usefulness.’

Although not related to Tony, it remains very important that we remember all of these men.

The 2nd South Wales Borderers are a very interesting battalion. On the outbreak of war in August 1914, they were stationed in Tientsin, China and on 23rd September 1914 (Making them Old Contemptibles – in a sense?) they landed at Lao Shan Bay for operations against the German garrison and radio station at Tsingtao. This is noted on Private Drane’s MIC above.

In January 1915, they landed back in the UK and were Brigaded in the newly formed 29th Division and shipped to Gallipoli, where they landed at Morto Bay, S Beach, on 25th April 1915. It is one of the great ‘What Ifs’ of the Gallipoli campaign, as the 2nd SWB landed unopposed, but lacking orders, they dug in and put the ‘kettle on’. Had they have attacked Achi Baba from the rear, it was only a couple of miles away, Achi Baba could well have been captured on the first day and the Hampshires and Dublin Fusiliers may well have got ashore at Said El Bahir and met up with them, and the whole of the Gallipoli campaign could have been completely different, and even successful – discuss? 

Nevertheless, Private George Drane survived the Gallipoli campaign, returned to England via Egypt and was killed on the Somme on 1st July 1916.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

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In Memoriam the Lincolnshire Regiment 28th June.

1915

Lieutenant William Maxwell Robertson, 2nd Battalion, aged 23. Buried in Pont du Hem Military Cemetery, France.

1916

15196 Private Charles Joseph William Kew, 2nd Battalion, aged 27. Buried in Albert Communal Cemetery, France.

1918

42713 Private Gerald Victor Francis, 8th Battalion, aged 20. Buried in Couin New British Cemetery, France.

52059 Private O W Whittaker, 8th Battalion, aged 18. – Ditto. –

241528 Private Frank Ashley Barber, 2nd/5th Battalion, aged 26. Buried in Cologne Sothern Cemetery, Germany.

1919

8543 Private John Hannigan, Depot, aged 30. Buried in Grimsby Scartho Cemetery, UK.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

I hope you have enjoyed your read this week and I Look forward to hearing from you.

Until next week,

All best wishes

Jonathan

E: trenchlincs@gmail.com

www.jonathandhooghe.co.uk

© Jonathan D’Hooghe