Remembrance Sunday 2019

Today I remember all the brave men and women from my family and my wife’s family who fought in either WW1 or WW2. Some made the ultimate sacrifice and some survived and returned home but I’m sure their lives were forever haunted by what they experienced. Every year the list grows longer as my research discovers more names. You can read some of their stories in the Military Monday category of my blog.

WW1

Prince Dawson (1893-1915)	John Robert Arthur Steel (1886-1916)
Henry John Grainger Musgrove (1892-1917)	Howard Westwood (1896-1916)
Richard James Taylor (1885-1918)	Clement May (1895-1916)
David Musgrove Bratherton (1894-1916)	Thomas Baldwin (1888-1917)
Fred Paley (1893-1918)	Albert Espley (1896-1916)
Robert Alexander Carradice (1890-1919)	John Bentley Hurtley (1885-1917)
Cyril Gostelow (1897-1916)	Richard Espley (1875-1915)
Jack Gawthrop (1899-1918)	Herbert Bolton (1889-1917)
John Ainsworth (1892-1916)	Arthur Lockington (1892-1915)
Ernest Aldersley (1899-1918)	George Hurtley (1891-1918)
Frederick Espley (1881-1916)	Thomas Musgrove (1894-1918)
Walter Paley (1896-1918)	Lawrence Paley (1898-1918)
Harry Pemberton (1884-1914)
Ernest Bartholomew (1899-1975)	Flather Heap (1897-1962)
Dent Stowell 1882-1948)	Ernest J Jackson
Amos William Espley (1893-1969)	John Espley (1883-1938)
Thomas Darby (1879-1945)	Samuel Buckley (1886-1966)
Hedley Duckworth (1885-1955)	Walter Dawson (1883-1942)
Thomas William Paley (1892-1943)	Tom Musgrove (1898-1969)
James Musgrove (1894-1925)	Harry Musgrove (1889-1974)
William Dawson (1880-1939)	Watson Emmott Dawson (1887-1944)
Harry Dawson (1895-1954)	Clifford Dawson (1900-1953)
Arthur Dawson (1879-1944)	Tom Hurtley (1897-1977)
Jim Hurtley (1887-1947)	John Dawson (1890-1961)
Herbert Carradice (1896-1935)	Hugh Buckley

WW2

Allen Simpson (1923-1943)	Curtis Walker (1918-1942)
John Edward Lord (1917-1944)	Robert Scott (1908-1941)
Robert Titterington (1905-1945)	Jack Hurtley Thompson (1921-1941)
Philip Melville Cardell (1917-1940)	Frederick Ellis Spink DFC (1921-1944)
Richard Henry Espley (1906-2006)	William Herbert Jowett (1891-1972)

The Soldier – by Rupert Brooke

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under and English heaven.

Military Monday – Harry Pemberton (1884-1914)

Harry Pemberton is the husband of my 1st cousin 2x removed Marion Hurtley.

Marion was born in Keighley, West Yorkshire to parents John Hurtley and Elizabeth Moore. Our common ancestors are James Hurtley and Hannah Dinsdale – my 2x great grandparents.

Harry was born in Kirkstall, Leeds, West Yorkshire in 1884.

According to the military records available online Harry enlisted for service with the Prince of Wales Own (West Yorkshire) Regiment on 14 July 1902 – his service number was 6458. I assume that he was assigned to the army reserve at that time.

Harry and Marion married sometime in the June quarter of 1908. In the 1911 census they were living at 25 Backhouse Terrace, Kirkstall, Leeds.

Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. I’m not sure when Harry was mobilised to France – but I do know that within 12 weeks of war being declared he died of wounds on 23 October 1914.

According to the register of Soldiers’ Effects Harry had £3 8s 3d in his account at the time of his death. This was paid to Marion on 12 March 1915. Subsequently Marion received a War Gratuity of £5 from 5 June 1919.

Harry is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium.

The following information and image is from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission(CWGC) website – http://www.cwgc.org

Ploegsteert Memorial

The PLOEGSTEERT MEMORIAL commemorates more than 11,000 servicemen of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in this sector during the First World War and have no known grave. The memorial serves the area from the line Caestre-Dranoutre-Warneton to the north, to Haverskerque-Estaires-Fournes to the south, including the towns of Hazebrouck, Merville, Bailleul and Armentieres, the Forest of Nieppe, and Ploegsteert Wood. The original intention had been to erect the memorial in Lille. Most of those commemorated by the memorial did not die in major offensives, such as those which took place around Ypres to the north, or Loos to the south. Most were killed in the course of the day-to-day trench warfare which characterised this part of the line, or in small scale set engagements, usually carried out in support of the major attacks taking place elsewhere. It does not include the names of officers and men of Canadian or Indian regiments (they are found on the Memorials at Ypres, Vimy and Neuve-Chapelle) and those lost at the Battle of Aubers Ridge, 9 May 1915, who were involved in the Southern Pincer (the 1st, 2nd, Meerut and 47th Divisions – they are commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial). BERKS CEMETERY EXTENSION, in which the memorial stands, was begun in June 1916 and used continuously until September 1917. At the Armistice, the extension comprised Plot I only, but Plots II and III were added in 1930 when graves were brought in from Rosenberg Chateau Military Cemetery and Extension, about 1 Km to the north-west, when it was established that these sites could not be acquired in perpetuity. Rosenberg Chateau Military Cemetery was used by fighting units from November 1914 to August 1916. The extension was begun in May 1916 and used until March 1918. Together, the Rosenberg Chateau cemetery and extension were sometimes referred to as ‘Red Lodge’. Berks Cemetery Extension now contains 876 First World War burials. HYDE PARK CORNER (ROYAL BERKS) CEMETERY is separated from Berks Cemetery Extension by a road. It was begun in April 1915 by the 1st/4th Royal Berkshire Regiment and was used at intervals until November 1917. Hyde Park Corner was a road junction to the north of Ploegsteert Wood. Hill 63 was to the north-west and nearby were the ‘Catacombs’, deep shelters capable of holding two battalions, which were used from November 1916 onwards. The cemetery contains 83 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and four German war graves The cemetery, cemetery extension and memorial were designed by Harold Chalton Bradshaw, with sculpture by Gilbert Ledward. The memorial was unveiled by the Duke of Brabant on 7 June 1931.

Military Monday – WW1 Remembered

In commemoration of all my relatives who lost their lives, who were injured and those who survived the horrors of WW1.

Armistice Day 2013

Today I want to remember the following people from my family tree who gave their lives fighting in two World Wars in the last century:-

Ernest Aldersley (1899 – 1918)

Philip Melville Cardell (1917 – 1940)

Prince Dawson (1893 – 1915)

Frederick Espley (1881 – 1916)

George Hurtley (1891 – 1918)

Arthur Lockington (1892 – 1915)

Thomas Musgrove (c1894 – 1918)

Allen Simpson (1923 – 1943)

Frederick Ellis Spink DFC (1921 – 1944)

Also the following family members who all signed up for service in the Great War of 1914 – 1918:-

Hugh Buckley (c1888 – )	Herbert Carradice (1896 – 1935)
Thomas Carradice (c1884 – )	Arthur Dawson (1879 – 1944)
Clifford Dawson (1900 – 1953)	Harry Dawson (1895 – 1954)
John Dawson (c1890 – )	Watson Emmott Dawson (1887 – 1944)
William Dawson (1880 – 1939)	Jim Hurtley (1887 – 1947)
Tom Hurtley (1897 – 1977)	Harry Musgrove (1889 – 1974)
James Musgrove (1894 – 1925)	Tom Musgrove (1898 – 1969)
Thomas William Paley (1892 – 1943)	Walter Dawson (1883 – 1942)

I have written about each of these brave men and you can find their stories in the Military Monday category of my blog.