James Jones 1879-1917

 

James Charles Jones

23^rd July 1879-9^th September 1917   

James Charles Jones, my great great uncle, was born on 23^rd Jul 1879 at Witley in Surrey, the middle son of three born to George Jones and Alice Underwood. George and Alice were married on 12 Aug 1877 at Hambledon Parish Church in Surrey. Both of their fathers were labourers in the village and on every record George is listed as a farm labourer. Two months before the wedding their first child, George Jones Underwood, had been born at Hambledon Workhouse and by the time James was born two years later, the family were living in Witley where he was baptised on 25 August 1879. They were still there when the 1881 census was taken but the following summer, when their third and last child, Frederick, was born they were living in Ash.

They had moved south again by 1891 and George, Alice and the three boys were listed on the 1891 census at Northbourne in Godalming. Later that year, Alice died at the age of thirty three and three years after that George died at the age of forty one. The children aged eighteen, sixteen and fifteen, went to live with their mother’s sister Elizabeth and her family at Klondyke in Grayswood.

A few months after his father’s death, James enlisted for twelve years in the Royal Navy.  He served a Boy 2^nd class for nine months aboard the St Vincent, then as boy 1^st class aboard the Pembroke, Swallow and Vivid until he left in August 1897. For some reason the navy was not for him and he came home. In 1901 was boarding with a family in Godalming and working as a carman.

On January 24^th 1903, James married Rosina Bicknell at All Saints Church in Grayswood and five weeks later their son, also James Charles, was born in Haslemere.  Three more children followed; Alice Dorothy in the spring of 1906, Ruth Elizabeth on 1^st January 1909 and William George on 27^th October 1910.

The 1911 census records the family at Maythorn in Witley with James working as a bricklayer.
On 29^th Dec 1914, he joined the 8^th (Service) battalion of The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) which formed in Guildford in September 1914. He was aged 35 and he signed up for three years. The regiment fought at all the major battles on the Western Front throughout 1915 and 1916.   

As 1917 passed, the war changed. There was much activity in the air, with bombing raids on both sides. There was also much activity on the southern and eastern fronts but the summer of 1917 had been fairly quiet on the Western Front with two short fierce battles in August. The beginning of September found the 8^th Battalion in camp well behind the lines. Although they were out of reach of shelling and gunfire there was the new danger from aerial bombardment. The use of aircraft to bomb behind the lines, civilian targets and even hospitals was increasing.

On September 7^th, the 8^th Battalion moved into trenches on the front line relieving the 9^th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment and taking over the right sub-section of the divisional front.

The war diary for September 8^th reports; “Day generally quiet except for 2 hours in the afternoon when the enemy shelled our support company in Clonmel Copse with 4.2s. At 10.15pm enemy heavily barraged our two front companies and support company. Hedge Street was shelled with gas shells about midnight till 2am.

9^th The day was quiet. Our front and support companies were shelled from 9pm to 9.30pm. A few gas shells were fired.”

There were no reports of casualties on these days in the war diary but somehow James Jones was injured and he died on September 9^th.

Rosina was left with four young children aged fourteen, nine, eight and seven. She did not marry again and continued to live in Surrey until her death in 1939.

In Memory of

Private JAMES CHARLES JONES

G/3973, 8th Bn., The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)

who died

on 09 September 1917

Remembered with honour

TYNE COT MEMORIAL

Aged 37

www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk

www.cwgc.org

Frederick Lamboll 4 May 1917

Frederick Lamboll 1889-1917

Frederick Lamboll was born in the village of Thursley in Surrey in the summer of 1889. His parents. Thomas Lamboll from Haslemere and Alice Hilsdon. were married in Alice’s home parish of St Clement Oxford on 21 Feb 1881.

The couple settled in the village of Thursley where Thomas worked first as a gardener then as a coachman.  Their first child Frank was born at the end of 1881 followed by Edith in 1884, Ada in 1887, Frederick in 1889, Alice in 1892 and Albert in 1896. Edith died aged 3 in 1888.

Between 1896 and 1901 the family moved to Merriott near Yeovil in Somerset where Thomas foun work as a coachman at Marks Barn House the home of John Watson, a City of London Wine Merchant.

Both Frank and Frederick joined the army and from Frederick’s army record we know that he joined the 2^nd Battalion of the Warwickshire Regiment. The 2^nd Battalion were stationed in Malta from 1912 until they were called back to England in August 1914. They joined the 22^nd Brigade in 7^th Division and were sent to Belgium in October 1914.

The battalion was present on the Western Front from the battle of Ypres in 1914 through all the action up to the beginning of 1917. Following a winter of stalemate on the front, 1917 brought a change in fortune for the allies. Determined campaigns saw huge progress made in France and Belgium with ground and villages being retaken and the Germans pushed back on a daily basis.

The Battle of Arras which had begun in early April continued with thousands of allied troops deployed along the line. On May 3^rd, the 7^th division were involved in the Second Battle of Bullecourt. Bullecourt was strategic village on the Hindenburg line which had been in German hands since 1914. Behind it were two more villages Hendecourt and Riencourt, all of which were to be recaptured.  It had first been targeted by the allies in April but the attack had failed, for many reasons, one of which was that the plan had included tanks which did not arrive at the front line in time.

The Second Battle of Bullecourt was fought by six British and Australian Divisions and was of mixed success. The first push came before dawn on May 3^rd. Some small groups of men got through the enemy lines, while many were forced back. The 2^nd Royal Warwickshire’s, along with other battalions were detailed to join the battle overnight but at 4am, as they were lining up ready to advance, they were hit by a huge German bombardment. Although many were killed, the remaining men regrouped and continued the attack.  By late evening they were forced to retreat, having sustained many casualties. More than 300 men from the 2^nd Warwickshire’s died that day, including Frederick Lamboll. His body was not recovered and he is remembered on the Arras Memorial.

Frederick’s family moved from Somerset to Oxfordshire sometime between 1911 and 1915. His sister Ada married there in 1915 and settled in Oxford where she had two children. Alice never married and lived in Didcot working as a dressmaker. Albert married, had a son and became a postman in Abingdon. Frederick’s older brother Frank was killed in Germany in 1918. His parents both died in Abingdon, Thomas in 1925 and Alice in 1939.

In Memory of

Private FREDERICK JOHN LAMBOLL

18702, 2nd Bn., Royal Warwickshire Regiment

who died age 26

on 04 May 1917

Son of Mrs Alice Elizabeth Lamboll, of Long Wittenham, Abingdon, Berks.

Remembered with honour

ARRAS MEMORIAL

 

Photo taken by Bob Price on a visit to Arras in 2014

Albert Edward Milton 1897-11th April 1917

Albert Milton

1897-April 11^th 1917

Albert Edward Milton was born in Hascombe in Surrey, the third of seven children of William Milton and Caroline Underwood. William and Caroline were married in 1890 and their first child, William, was born in 1891. He was followed by Caroline in 1893, Alice in 1894 and Andrew in 1895. Albert arrived two years after that then Vernon in 1901 and finally John in 1902. Albert’s father William worked as a coachman but with so many big houses in the area, it is not clear who his employers were.

Albert joined up at Guildford on 30 Oct 1915.  He was then living at The Cottage, Hascombe and was a footman and he was assigned to The Royal Garrison Artillery 142^nd Siege Battery as a gunner. The soldiers in siege batteries operated heavy guns and howitzers which were attached to solid platforms or mounted on railway trucks. The 142^nd battery went to France in August 1916, having been formed in May of that year. Their guns included 6.6 inch howitzers each manned by a crew of ten.

The winter of 1916/17 had been very quiet with little progress on either side. However in the spring of 1917, allied troops gained huge ground and took back many villages along the Western Front. This was also a time of much increased air activity with bombing and reconnaissance aircraft in use on both sides. In spite of the successful pushing back of the German lines by the allies, the Germans were still dug in over an eight hundred kilometre lines from the North Sea to the Swiss border. Planning began for a new offensive in the Arras Sector of the Western Front. Huge numbers of troops were deployed all along the front line and the action lasted from April 9^th to May 16^th. Commanders had made use of underground caverns beneath the city of Arras to shelter the men. These caves were so extensive they housed a hospital, a telephone exchange and even had a tramway to connect them.

142^nd Siege Battery had moved around France during their time there and by the spring were located near Arras as part of this offensive. In April they were attached to the Canadian Corps who were tasked with retaking Vimy Ridge, a prominent landmark in the area. The siege battery’s role was to bombard the enemy with heavy gun and shells and on the first day of the battle, April 9^th, the battery was in constant demand to clear the area and provide cover. However, the Germans were responding and in the middle of the day, 142^nd Siege Battery were hit by a salvo of shells. Some of the men died instantly, others over the next few days. Albert Milton was listed as having died from his wounds on 11 Apr 1917, two days later.

A letter dated 9th June was sent to his father at Stillwell Cottage Hascombe. In October another letter was sent to The Lodge Sladeland Billingshurst Sussex. Sladeland is in Kirdford so the family had obviously moved on.

In 1919, his father William listed all the family in reply to a letter from the army records office and the witness to the document was E.A. Bennet, vicar of Kirdford. The family listed as William and Caroline Milton, parents, and two brothers, William John aged 27 at Mesopotamia, and John aged 16 on HMS Impregnable in Devon. His two sisters Caroline aged 26 at The Lodge Sladelands and Alice aged 25 in London. Albert’s brother Andrew had died aged 6 and Vernon had been killed in 1918.

The family lived on in Godalming. Frederick’s mother, Caroline passed away in 1938. In 1939, William was living with his unmarried daughter Alice, son William and William’s wife Rhoda. He died in 1941.

In Memory of

Gunner Albert Edward Milton

Royal Garrison Artillery 142nd Siege Bty

who died on 11 April 1917 Age 19

Remembered with Honour

Bethune Town Cemetery

Frederick Tilbury 1887-1917

Frederick Tilbury 1887-1917

Frederick Tilbury was born in Swallowfield in Berkshire in the summer of 1887, the youngest of nine children. His father James Tilbury married Jane Wheatley on 18 Aug 1867 at Swallowfield Parish Church. James was a baker and had a shop in the village of Swallowfield, south of Reading. The first of their children, also James, was born in 1869 followed by Mary, William, Arthur, and Sarah at two year intervals. Louisa arrived in 1881, then George, Edith and finally Frederick.

Frederick grew up in Swallowfield and along with all of his brothers became a baker and grocer.

On 23 Apr 1909, Frederick married Jessie Newton at Wokingham Register Office. Their first child, also Frederick was born in May 1910, followed by Edna in 1912 and Beatrice in 1916.

When Beatrice was six months old, Frederick was called up and he was assigned to the 1^st/7^th Battalion of The Durham Light Infantry. The 1^st/7^th Battalion was a pioneer battalion as part of the 51st Brigade in the 50^th Northumberland Division. 

He joined the war at the beginning of a quiet winter when there had been little progress on either side. However in the spring of 1917, allied troops gained huge ground and took back many villages along the Western Front. This was also a time of much increased air activity with bombing and reconnaissance aircraft in use on both sides. In spite of the successful pushing back of the German lines by the allies, the Germans were still dug in over an eight hundred kilometre lines from the North Sea to the Swiss border. Planning began for a new offensive in the Arras Sector of the Western Front. Huge numbers of troops were deployed all along the front line and the action lasted from April 9^th – May 16^th. Commanders had made use of underground caverns beneath the city of Arras to shelter the men. These caves were so extensive they housed a hospital, a telephone exchange and even had a tramway to connect them.

The 1^st/7^th Durham Battalion were part of a huge attack aimed at taking German trenches and recapturing the village of Feuchy. The battle, now known as the first battle of the Scarpe, began on April 9^th. Over the next few days huge progress was made and on April 12^th, the village was taken. It was generally seen as a better organised and co-ordinated attack than earlier battles had been and a victory for the troops but with many casualties including somewhere in the melee on April 11^th, Frederick Tilbury.

He was initially buried near the battlefield but on 1 Sep 1919, his widow Jessie received a letter from the Colonel in Charge of Infantry Records York to tell her that Frederick had been exhumed and reburied.

 “I beg to inform you that it has been necessary to exhume the remains of the late no 277337 Private Frederick Tilbury 7^th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, for proper burial at Tilloy British Cemetery, 2 miles south east of Arras. The new grave has been duly marked with a cross bearing all the late soldier’s particulars. The removal was undertaken with every measure of care and reverence and the re-internment conducted by an army chaplain.”

He now lies in the graveyard at Tilloy-Les-Mofflaines and on his stone is engraved “Until the Day Breaks.”

In October 1917 Jessie received Frederick’s personal effects; Soldiers’ and Sailors Companion, note book, photos, cards, 2 mirrors, disc, gospel, stamps. 2½d. She was awarded a pension of 26/3 a week with effect from 29 Oct 1917.

In the summer of 1918, Jessie married again and had two more daughters, Joyce and Gwendoline. Neither of them married and they lived together in Reading until their deaths in the 1980s. Her three Tilbury children did marry and she had five grandchildren. Jessie died in Reading in 1957.

Frederick’s father James was my husband’s 3x grandfather, thus Frederick was his great-great uncle.

In Memory of

Private Frederick Tilbury

277337, 1st/7th Bn., Durham Light Infantry who died on 11 April 1917 Age 29

Son of James and Jane Tilbury, of Swallowfield; husband of Jessie Overton Tilbury, of Odiham Rd.,

Swallowfield, Berks.

Remembered with Honour

Tilloy British Cemetery