Trench Lincs 2nd November 2025
- trenchlincs
- 12 hours ago
- 22 min read
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Good Morning,
November has all of a sudden arrived and a week tomorrow, I am told that I am booked for a day’s Christmas shopping. Oh well, worse things happen at sea!
Later this morning, we are setting off for the north, lunch with friends in Yorkshire and then on to my niece’s home near Newcastle for a short stay. If all goes to plan, I shall get an hour in Newcastle city centre tomorrow looking at three splendid city war memorials whilst Jill and Hannah enjoy the delights of Fenwick’s Departmental store.
The three memorials commemorate the war dead of both the Great War and the Boer War, and in particular, the men of the Northumberland Fusiliers.
A study of the Northumberland Fusiliers and the regiment’s expansion during the 1914-18 war is worthy of a few lines.
Until the Cardwell Reforms of 1870-1881, the old Militia and Volunteer battalions formed Regiments of Foot of which the Fifth Regiment of Foot became the Northumberland Fusiliers and in due course the Territorial Force battalions were attached to a parental regiment.
At the outbreak of war in August 1914, the regiment consisted of two regular army battalions, the 1st and 2nd, the 3rd battalion was the Reserve battalion, based in Newcastle which welcomed and trained new recruits. Being a very large county, Northumberland had four Territorial Force battalions, the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th. All four first line battalions of the TF served in 50th (Northumbrian) Division and arrived in France in April 1915, shortly after the 46th Division.
The Territorial Force expansion saw the battalions re-numbered as the 1st/4th, 1st/5th etc. as new battalions numbered the 2nd/4th, 2nd/5th, 2nd/6th and 2nd /7th and eventually 3rd/4th, 3rd/5th, 3rd/6th and 3rd/7th came into being, to be followed later in the war by the 35th and 36th battalions.
The Northumberland Fusiliers’ expansion with the formation of Kitchener Volunteer New Army Service Battalions was second only to the London Regiment, and saw the regiment raise no less than 51 battalions for service in the Great War.
The Fighting Fifth, as they were known, played a full part in all of the major battles of the Great War and the first Service battalion to be raised, the 8th, served in 11th (Northern) Division with 6th Lincolns in Gallipoli.
Possibly the most well known Service battalions are the 20th to 24th battalions who were Pals battalions known as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Tyneside Scottish and the 25th to 28th battalions who were the 1st to 4th Tyneside Irish battalions. They formed the 102nd and 103rd Brigades of 34th Division and the third divisional brigade, the 101st, contained further Pals battalions including the 10th Lincolns (Grimsby Chums).
These battalions are revered for their frontal attack on 1st July 1916 at La Boiselle and towards the Lochnagar mine explosion crater at the opening of the Somme offensive. The Tyneside Scottish and Irish battalion’s memorial can be found in La Boiselle village to this day.
No division has more memorials on the Western Front than the 34th, which suffered just over 41,000 casualties, killed, wounded and missing, during the course of the war.
I hope to be able to post some up to date photos for you next week.
Northumberland Fusiliers on the Somme near Thiepval, summer 1916. Courtesy IWM.
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS.
Next Lecture - Lincoln & North Lincolnshire Branch, WFA - Monday, November 24th - Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30pm start - Royal Naval Association Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG.
Jonathan D’Hooghe - “Sir Horace Smith Dorrien – His Defining Battles, Isandlwana 1879 and Le Cateau 1914. What if?”
I have the great pleasure in being your speaker on November 24th. This will be a debut for a new talk titled, “Sir Horace Smith Dorrien – His Defining Battles, Isandlwana 1879 and Le Cateau 1914. What if?”
Is it possible to have a hero from more than 100 years ago? This talk will explore the life of Smith Dorrien and will pose the question, what might have been the outcome of the Great War if Smith Dorrien had been killed at Isandlwana?
I hope it will provoke a lively debate!
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Next Meeting - Spalding & South Lincolnshire Branch, WFA - Thursday, November 27th - Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30 pm start - Spalding Baptist Church, Swan Street, Spalding, PE11 1BT –
November 27th - Tim Coltman presents "The Story of the Two Crosses: William Coltman, VC, DCM & Bar, MM & Bar".
Tim Coltman will present "The Story of the Two Crosses: William Coltman VC, DCM & Bar, MM & Bar". The presentation traces the life and times of this highly decorated soldier who was Tim's Great Grandad.
William went to war in World War 1 but, because of his strong Christian faith (he was a member of the Plymouth Brethren), refused to carry a weapon and fight, instead volunteering in January 1915 to serve as a stretcher bearer in the 1/6th Battalion, The North Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's). The presentation follows his life from where he was brought up, through his service in the British Army and the events that earned him his decorations, to his funeral in 1974, and the subsequent events that have taken place in recognition of his achievements. William was born on 17th November, 1891, and died on 29th June, 1974. He is now described as the highest decorated non-commissioned soldier of the British Army in World War 1.
We are not going to spoil Tim's presentation by going into the details of how William earned his decorations save to say that he did, indeed, go far beyond what was expected of him in order to save the lives of his comrades in arms. We are sure that, when you hear his story from Tim, you will be left beyond any doubt that he deserved the recognition he was given.
Tim Coltman hails from Burton on Trent where he has lived all of his life. Married with 2 grown up children, he worked in agriculture for 30 years before leaving employment in 2024 to concentrate full time on giving this presentation all over the UK, together with a number of other activities. He has been delivering it for 11 years now to World War 1 groups, U3A, Probus, Rotary, and many more history and social groups.
Tim gave this presentation to Lincoln Branch in September; those who were present will confirm that it was an excellent event telling the story of the life and times of a remarkable, and very modest, man. If you missed it at Lincoln, here is asecond chance to catch it. Attendees should note that as we cannot monitor the main entrance door from our meeting room, you may find on arrival that it is locked. If so, please ring the doorbell on the single door to the right of the main door.
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The Leadenham Military History Group’s next meeting will be on Tuesday 25th November at 7.30pm at Leadenham village hall.
The speaker on this occasion is Sean McCabe who will give a talk titled – ‘The Tet Offensive’ The events of January and February 1968, a military defeat but a political win for the North Vietnamese.
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The next event in the Friends of Lincoln Tank 2025 season, will be held on Thursday 4th December when the Annual Show and Tell evening will be held at the Royal Naval Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG.
This pre-Christmas social event will include a buffet and give anyone who wants to speak for ten minutes, the opportunity to bring along a Great War artefact and tell everyone about it.
It may be a generic item of uniform, weaponry, postcard, picture or it may have a special place in your family’s history. Whatever it is, please do come along and share your treasures with the group.
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Another group who meet at the Royal Naval Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG are the Lincs Aviation Society.
I now have great pleasure in advertising their forthcoming events, which take place on the third Thursday of each month - entry is £2 for members and £3 for visitors.
The next speaker event will be held on Thursday 20th November when Tim Willbond will present – ‘Douglas Bader and the Duxford Big Wing.’
Having just read Stephen Bungay’s excellent book ‘The Most Dangerous Enemy – A History of the Battle of Britain,’ whilst on holiday, I think that this will be an excellent talk.
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The East Midlands (Nottingham) WFA Branch meets again on Friday 14th November at 7.30pm at St. Peter’s Church Hall, Church Street, Ruddington, Nottingham, NG11 6HA. All welcome.
The speaker on this night will be Professor Jessica Meyer who will talk about “From No Man’s Land to Auxiliary Hospital – Evacuating the Great War Wounded.”
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I saw Andy Blow at the FoLT meeting last Thursday evening and I am now delighted to advertise his and Richard Pullen's forthcoming Tank Tour Two which will take place on the weekend of 8th and 9th November.
Andy comments; 'Tank Tour Two - talks, images, old film, and anecdotes about the Lincoln Tanks passed down from some who met the pioneers - will be at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life on Remembrance Weekend, Saturday and Sunday, November 8th and 9th, from 1.30pm to 4pm.
The stories of the invention of the world's first tanks and of the leading characters involved will unfold in presentations from Richard Pullen, Chairman of the Friends of the Lincoln Tank, and Andrew Blow, a Filmmaker involved in the story for many years.
Uniquely, this delivery of the Tank Tour can begin alongside an actual WW1 tank.....the Museum's own Daphne. Richard will point out her bullet holes and explain how he found evidence that the tank was indeed Daphne, and not another WW1 tank called Flirt, after years of mis-identification.
The event will then switch to the Lecture Room where a feast of images and film, collected by both men over 40 years, will be shown and explained.
Why Tank Tour Two? After the first TT (2015-2018) further research has led to increased knowledge of the role played by the Tanks in WWI, and more is also known about William Foster & Co of Lincoln, whose managers, men, and munitionettes played such a crucial role in the tank story.
Tickets (£12) can be obtained by clicking the link below.
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Following Alan Hicks' sterling effort to take a set of new photos of the Lincolnshire Yeomanry memorial plaques at Lincoln Hospital, Chas Anderson has now updated the War Memorials Online database.
Please click here Lincoln - Lincolnshire Yeomanry
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On Tuesday November 11th at 11am, there will be the annual Service of Remembrance at the war memorial at Thorpe Le Fallows.
This lonely and out of the way memorial was adopted by the Lincoln WFA branch back in 2009 and over the years the branch has paid for two renovations of the cross.
Thorpe le Fallows or Thorpe in the Fallows, can be found off the A1500 near to Sturton by Stow. It is a small one street hamlet and there will be farmyard car parking available on the day. You can’t miss it.
Please arrive by 10.45am as it is then a five-minute walk to the memorial, and don’t forget to wear wellies or stout shoes as the grass field can be wet and boggy. All new faces will be made most welcome, and there will be the opportunity for a light lunch afterwards at the Dambusters pub in Scampton village.
I hope you will attend.
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Peter Garland has kindly tipped us off about this forthcoming event to be held in Spalding.
Cllr Elizabeth Sneath & Cllr Henry Bingham in partnership with the Assets and Communities teams of South Holland District Council proudly Invite you to attend Ayscoughfee Hall and Gardens onTuesday November 4th at 10am for the grand unveiling of the fully restored Lutyens Grade I listed War Memorial in the Gardens at 11am.
Our guest speaker, Tim Skelton from the Lutyens Society will be doing a small presentation / talk before and after the event and our appointed heritage contractor Dr David Carrington from Skillington’s will also be available to discuss the project in detail and show you how his team achieved the final outcome that you see today.
And in the evening;
Spalding Civic Society
SPALDING'S WAR MEMORIAL illustrated talk by Tim Skelton co-author of "Lutyens and The Great War"
You may pass it every day in Ayscoughfee Gardens, but do you know its remarkable story? The monument that shaped memorials across the battlefields of France and Belgium? The heated public meeting when six rival schemes fought it out? The links between the MP's widow, the architect, and the famous garden designer Gertrude Jekyll? Then there's the design never built, a precursor lost to history? "It's not just local history" - our memorial was upgraded to Grade I listing in 2015, recognising its national importance. As restoration on this important memorial nears completion, there's never been a better time to discover its remarkable story. Come and join us to find out why, out of the 50 war memorials that Lutyens designed, Spalding's is the only one in Tim Skelton's book to have a chapter to itself.
4 November, 7.30pm Baptist Church, Swan St., Spalding.
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I was delighted to hear from an old friend this week, Paul McCormick. Paul kindly tipped me off about five days of Remembrance events that are taking place from 10am to 4pm every day (Sunday 12noon to 4pm) from Friday 7th November to Tuesday 11th November at Holy Cross Church, Skellingthorpe Road, Lincoln, LN6 7RA.
Please click on these links for a full programme of the events that are scheduled and I hope TL readers may be able to attend at some point? If you do, please let me know.
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Another Remembrance Event will be taking place on Sunday 9th November. Guide, Chris Sanderson, who we met earlier this year writes; ‘I would be grateful if you could find room in your newsletter to advertise the upcoming Remembrance Day walk on the coast, for which I've attached a flyer. It's not a WW1-specific event, but I shall be telling the stories of a couple of WW1 soldiers this year. Thank you.’
Please see the flyer below for full details and how to book what should be an informative and bracing walk on the north-east Lincolnshire coast.
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I also have news this week of another walk being organised by Steve Williams on 19th November with a reserve day of 26th November in the event of bad weather on the 19th.
The walk will take place on Snake Pass in Derbyshire and is a circular 4-mile walk from the meeting/parking area up to the Bleaklow Bomber crash site.
In November 1948, an American B-29 crashed on a routine domestic flight from RAF Scampton to the US base at Warrington on a moorland plateau of the Snake summit killing the crew of 11 and two military passengers.
Whilst the walk is relatively short and on well-marked tracks, the crash site is at 633 metres, and is the second highest point in Derbyshire. It is essential to wear walking boots and be properly equipped and dressed, as the weather can change in an instant out on the hills.
After completion of the walk, there will be lunch at the Commercial Inn at Glossop.
So that Steve can plan ahead and book lunch numbers, it is essential that anyone fancying joining the walk drops me a line please. Everyone is welcome. I will send out joining instructions to all interested parties. Hope you fancy the trek!
How To Find The B29 'OVEREXPOSED' Bleaklow Plane Crash Site ✈︎ BEST Walk Route | The Walking Northerners
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On Saturday 15th November, The Peterborough Military History Group, so ably led by David Gray and friends, will hold a one-day exhibition at Peterborough Museum from 10am to 4pm.
POWs come home: Exhibition at Peterborough Museum Click on this link for full details.
David notes; ‘This is our Group's annual exhibition, and it covers various timelines including WWI and WWII. Actually, it is in the same building and at the same time as the WFA 'Old Contemptibles' exhibition you have already mentioned, so visitors could see both on the same trip. I managed to get a mention on the Peterborough Telegraph website, and it would be fantastic if you could put the above link in a forthcoming TL issue. The exhibition date is Saturday 15th November.’
My pleasure David and I hope you get a good attendance, especially as it is possible to visit two events on the same day.
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I will start this week with two items of topical interest that were spotted in the press both locally and in Australia.
Philip and Christine Ward emailed to say; ‘This story represents a lot of hard work by a local history society in Stapleford, Notts.’
Please click on this link to read the full story which starts like this;
“Roger Webster never met his father, but now he gets to see his face most days when he leaves the house.
The 83-year-old's mother was pregnant with him when his father, Hedley William Benjamin Webster, died serving in Singapore during World War Two.
Now the aircraftsman's portrait is one of 67 decorating the streets of Stapleford in Nottinghamshire, to honour fallen heroes from the town.”
My son in Australia, Robert, sent me this link to his state newspaper. A family who were litter picking on a beach at Esperance in Western Australia, found a bottle that had been tossed overboard by two diggers in August 1916 as they embarked for Europe.
The letters in the bottle have miraculously survived 109 years in the sea and on the beach and are both very legible. With the help of the Australian War Memorial at Canberra, the two soldiers who wrote the notes have been identified. One was killed in action in 1917 and the second man survived the war. In both cases, living relatives have been found, including a 104-year-old aunt who had other family letters from the soldier.
Please click the link for the full story.
Thanks to both Robert and Philip for alerting us to these stories.
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I finished last week by thanking Alan Hicks for volunteering to visit the Lincoln County Hospital to take up to date photos of the Lincolnshire Yeomanry Memorial plaques. [See news item above - Ed]
Whilst at the hospital, Alan looked at the array of other memorials that reside in the corridor and sent me a photo of one tablet commemorating the life of Captain David James Shirres Stephen MC and Bar, MD.
Captain Stephen had been a House Surgeon at Lincoln before the Great War and died of wounds near Passchendaele in October 1917 whilst serving with the 54th Field Ambulance.
Here is Alan’s photo.
I had a very quick trawl online for additional information and found this grainy photo of Captain Stephen.
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Chris Sanderson who is guiding and hosting the Remembrance Walk on November 9th as advertised above also dropped me a line about his recent visit to France with his partner, Delphine.
Chris writes; ‘I'm catching up on a few things from our trip to France and have the following two memorials to Resistance fighters from Dijon, which you're welcome to use in the newsletter if you see fit. I'm sure most can manage without a translation, but just in case:
Maxime Guillot.
One photo shows the area where he was wounded, and he appears to have taken his own life rather than be captured.
The plaque inscription is:
Dijon
to
Maxime Guillot
Born 1 Jan 1900 at Bruailles (71)
Pioneer of the Resistance
Parachute Drop Manager (BOA) [translator's note: presumably a supply drop site manager]
Seriously wounded at this location by the Gestapo
29 Jan 1944
He preferred to finish himself off sooner than fall, alive, into the hands of the enemy.
Mme Eugenie Milleon and Mr Paul Milleon.
One photo shows the gate through to the garden in their memory.
The plaque inscription is:
To the memory of Madame Eugenie Milleon and Monsieur Paul Milleon, artisan cooper, shot dead by a German sentry on the 25 Jul 1941.
Unfortunately, I haven't yet had time to do any research on either incident. [I hope you are able to find out a little more Chris? – Ed]
I have another two stories from the Alps that I'll send separately for clarity.' [I will let you have Chris’ second tale next week – Ed]
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Norfolk is a popular detination for a half-term break and I know several folk who have been in Wells, Brancaster etc. over the last week. Marcus Dunbar, on his Norfolk break, came across this splendid cenotaph memorial in Hunstanton.
"The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across England. This was the result of both the huge impact on communities of the loss of three quarters of a million British lives, and also the official policy of not repatriating the dead: therefore the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.
In 1915 the Reverend A A Toms laid out a Garden of Rest in the grounds of the ruined Chapel of St Edmund in Hunstanton in memory of his two sons, the heroic British nurse Edith Cavell, and all the men and women of Hunstanton who lost their lives during the First World War. The Esplanade in Hunstanton was redeveloped as public pleasure grounds in 1898, with the construction of shelters and lavatories. A memorial was raised at Esplanade Gardens in 1921 as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by 53 members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. Following the Second World War (1939-45), the names of 15 members of the local community who lost their lives were added to the war memorial, and the names of two men who served and passed away have been added since (1949 and 1979)." [Courtesy of Historic England - Ed]
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Being a Nottinghamian, I am always interested in old stories concerning Nottingham, and this one from the 1930s really chimed a chord with me.
Captain Athelstan Popkess was a South African by birth who served in the Great War in Southern and Eastern Africa, as well as for a short time in Europe.
Popkess served Post-war in Palestine and Ireland, as a Black and Tan intelligence officer, where he once set an ambush to machine gun Eamon de Valera, the hard line nationalist leader, but Valera didn’t show as expected.
His no nonsense way of policing saw him appointed Chief Constable of Nottingham City Police in 1929, although his appointment was not welcomed by everyone. Popkess was not afraid to ruffle feathers, both with his bosses and the criminal fraternity and soon made a name for himself with his unique methods and innovation.
Nottingham City police, under Popkess, became the first police force to use radios in 1931, he pioneered forensic laboratories for the first time, he was responsible for bringing in the first drink driving laws, putting sirens on police cars and amazingly, he removed all politics from policing in Nottingham. He ensured that Nottingham was the first city to appoint ARP Wardens and instigate bomb shelters in the run up to 1939, and fortunately, his lead was copied by many other UK cities.
Popkess was a keen and gifted sportsman who encouraged a high standard of sport within the police force, especially boxing and rugby. He insisted that all Nottingham policemen were at least 6 feet tall and to be on beat duty in the Old Market Square, you had to be at least 6 feet 2 inches. [The most famous and fearsome officer in Nottingham that I can remember as a lad was ex Grenadier Guardsman, PC Tug Wilson – Ed]
[If only the police looked and behaved today as Wilson once did! – Ed]
As part of his desire that Nottingham Police should excel at sport, he organised a home and away boxing match against Stuttgart police force in 1936, the year of the Hitler Berlin Olympics. In Stuttgart, the Nottingham police team met with high ranking Nazi officials, and Popkess gave the Nazi salute before the first boxing bout. However, it was the sight of rampant German militarism that persuaded Popkess to start the air raid precautions in Nottingham that I mentioned above.
On the return to Nottingham, many of the Stuttgart police were aware of the Great War and their father’s roles in it as well as knowing the story of Captain Albert Ball VC, DSO**, MC. Therefore, to unearth the two following photos has been quite a find.
The first one shows the Stuttgart police boxing team performing the Nazi arm raised salute in front of the Albert Ball statue in Nottingham Castle grounds to honour a brave opponent, and the second shows the Swastika flag flying from the County Hotel where they were staying.
With Sir Oswald Moseley’s British Union of Fascists in their pomp, the run up to the 1939-45 war was a tempestuous time in British politics.
[Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose! - Ed]
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I have written about propaganda before in Trench Lincs, and this week, I came across a very topical painting for all Lincoln Tank buffs.
Painted by Stanley Llewellyn Wood (1866-1928), it depicts in an almost heroic and classical style, a tank going in to action and the devastating effect that it had on the Germans.
Undoubtedly, this is British propaganda narrative at its finest, showing the new wonder weapon driving all before it as it rampages through the German lines. Of course, the tank played its part in eventually winning the war, but it was an imperfect weapon of war, even in 1918. An unsupported tank was very vulnerable to German counter-fire, as demonstrated at Cambrai on November 20th 1917, and yet where a tank had good ground to move over, its dual role as a wire clearing, trench fording vehicle, as well as being an excellent mobile pill-box, paved the way for the supporting infantry to advance and occupy German held ground.
I think it is a superb painting and it prompted me to find out more about Stanley L Wood. Wood was a talented and much admired Welsh illustrator who in a relatively short life produced a huge volume of work, much of it with a military theme. His special forte was drawing the horse, often in a cowboy wild west setting, a scene that obviously influenced him when living in Kansas as a child in the 1870s.
I could not find any reference to him being a classically trained artist, but his natural talents saw him able to exhibit at least seven paintings at the Royal Academy in London.
Wood was in great demand as a book and magazine illustrator, and The Illustrated London News hired him and sent him back to America in the 1880s where he built upon his childhood experiences.
As he was a dab hand at drawing horses, soldiers, cowboys and Indians, he was in great demand for illustrating Boys Own Adventure story books and was employed by The Black and White magazine to illustrate the Boer War and by War Illustrated to draw suitable pictures of World War I, where I suspect this tank painting came from.
Here are four more examples of his work
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At the top of this TL edition, I wrote about the Tyneside Pals battalions that attacked on 1st July 1916, but of course, another famous location for the destruction of northern Pals battalions was at Serre.
Here the 31st Division, which included Barnsley Pals, Accrington Pals and Sheffield City Pals battalions attacked at 7.30 am on the opening morning of the Battle of the Somme.
The Sheffield City Pals battalion was the 12th Battalion The York and Lancaster Regiment, and you may recall that the author John Harris, famously described the battalion as ‘Two years in the making, ten minutes in the destroying’ in his excellent book, which I thoroughly recommend, Covenant with Death.
Whilst in France in mid-October, Keith Redfearn, a Sheffield lad, suggested that we pay a visit to Serre and walk up to the ‘Four Copses’ and the Sheffield Memorial Park. It is a location I have been to on many occasions but it always makes you stop and think when you see how narrow No Man’s Land was and you try and picture some 2,000 dead and wounded soldiers lying virtually in a couple of fields by 8am on the morning of 1st July.
The area contains a large number of CWGC cemeteries, and we visited many of them to pay our respects.
Whilst in Luke Copse Cemetery, I spotted headstones to two men with the same surname and consecutive service numbers, showing that they had enlisted together, and I was not surprised to find out that they were brothers.
660 Lance Corporal Frank Gunstone, aged 25, lies near to his brother, 661 Private William Gunstone, aged 24. The boys were the sons of William and Addie Gunstone of Nether Edge, Sheffield.
Keith, with his local knowledge, commented that Gunstone’s were, and still are, a major bakery business in the Sheffield area, with over 700 employees. You have probably eaten Gunstone’s bread, Hot Cross Buns, brioche and iced buns as they supply M and S, Aldi, Tesco and the Co-Op.
What may these boys have achieved in life had they not fallen in battle together in July 1916?
The Sheffield City memorial sits on the side of the road in Serre village – below.
We also came across a Lutyens designed memorial bench to the men of Sheffield that has been placed for the benefit of visitors, and which is adorned with red/white and blue/white football scarves to symbolise Sheffield city unity for the supporters of United and Wednesday. As you know, I am not a fan of modern sentimental memorials, but somehow, given many of the lads would have stood on the terraces at Bramall Lane and Hillsborough, I found these particular football scarves to be suitably fitting. Robin enjoyed the bench too!
In the modern era, the walk up to Sheffield Memorial Park is well known for the nutcase French farmer who seems to take great delight in driving at battlefield visitors and forcing you off the track! Woe betide the driver who leaves his car anywhere that he shouldn’t, you are likely to return to a scratched car or a broken windscreen.
Therefore, as we set off for our walk, I was a little perturbed when a teleporter suddenly hove into view driving towards us. Fortunately, the driver was a very friendly chap who spoke some English and he took us to see his latest find, uncovered that morning. Picture below.
I shouldn’t be surprised, but it is still remarkable how such large shells are still being discovered after more than 100 years.
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I first visited Zivy Crater cemetery in 2017 and whilst away recently, paid a second visit. It is a very unusual CWGC cemetery as there are no headstones. In the build up to the Battle of Arras in early 1917, the area below Vimy Ridge was the scene of major mining and counter mining by the British and the Germans.
On April 9th 1917, a major attack on the left flank of the British offensive saw Vimy Ridge captured by the Canadian Corps, a pivotal day in Canadian history, when all of the Canadian divisions fought together side by side for the first time.
Although, in Great War terms, casualties were mercifully light, nevertheless, burial sites had to be found for the dead. Zivy Crater cemetery was a mine crater used as a burial pit for 48 known Canadian soldiers and 5 unknown soldiers.
At the end of the war, when the battlefields were cleared and the cemeteries established, it was decided to leave the men where they lay and to landscape the mine crater as a permanent cemetery. It is a very different cemetery to visit and is well worth a visit.
Zivy Crater | Veterans Affairs Canada Click this link to read more.
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Last but not least is one of my favourite sections, the story of a serviceman from the Great War and their colourised photo courtesy of Colour by CJS.
It is very important that we bring these stories to our attention, so that their service and sacrifice is not forgotten.
Second Lieutenant Alexis Cowper Honey.
Alexis was born in Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire in 1898, where his father was a Vicar.
Alexis was educated at St. Wilfrid’s School, Bexhill and then at Malvern College. At Malvern he was remembered as being a fine Cricketer and Footballer.
Like many boys of his ilk, Alexis joined the Officers Training Corps in April 1917 and after a very short period of time, he was granted a commission in August 1917.
Posted to France almost immediately due to the losses sustained in the 3rd Battle of Ypres, Alexis was serving with 4th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment when he was wounded on 30th November 1917 in the battle of Cambrai. A bullet passed through his left arm, lacerating the lung and breaking a rib. He did not recover from his injuries and died at No. 20 General Hospital, Camiers, France on 10th February 1918 after a prolonged and gallant battle with his wounds. [I suspect a secondary infection may have killed him. – Ed]
Alexis Honey, aged just 19, endured a very short war, from college to the front in just four months, he nobly and gallantly did his duty. Today, Alexis is buried at Étaples Military Cemetery.
IN MEMORIAM - The Lincolnshire Regiment 2nd November.
1915
15333 Private Thomas Joseph Shuker, 2nd Battalion, aged 35. Buried in Etretat Churchyard, France.
1916
15143 Private J A Betts, 2nd Battalion, aged 18. Buried in St. Sever Cemetery Extension, France.
1917
240449 Private J Colley, 5th Battalion, aged 31. Buried in Philosophe British Cemetery, France.
241222 Private R Spring, 5th Battalion. – Ditto. –
9543 Private Frederick Peach, 1st Battalion, aged 20. Buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium.
240328 Private S R Kitching, 5th Battalion. Buried in Noeux les Mines Communal Cemetery, France.
241344 Private Percy Montie Gray, 2nd/5th Battalion, aged 27. Buried in Etaples Military Cemetery, France.
1918
203153 Private I Slater, 2nd Battalion, aged 32. Buried in Poix du Nord Communal Cemetery, France.
16309 Private Robert Pearson, Depot. Buried in Derby Cemetery, UK.
241408 Private Charles Henry Conder, 2nd/5th Battalion, aged 25. Buried in Scartho Cemetery, Grimsby, UK.
203763 Private Walter Dayman, 4th Battalion, aged 37. Buried in Cologne Southern Cemetery, Germany.
7271 Private George Smith, 2nd/5th Battalion, aged 23. Buried in Niederzwehren Cemetery, Germany.
11104 Private H Gedney, 8th Battalion. Buried in Thorney Abbey Churchyard, UK.
1919
53381 Private William Bueck Miller, 8th Battalion, aged 22. Buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium.
40062 Private John William Bennett, 4th Battalion, aged 27. Buried in Lincoln Canwick Road Cemetery, UK.
1920
4792766 Private J Evans, 2nd Battalion. Buried in Allahbad New Cantonment Cemetery, India.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
I hope you have enjoyed the read this week, and I look forward to hearing from you if you fancy the Derbyshire walk.
Until next week
All best wishes
Jonathan
© Jonathan D’Hooghe
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