More Than One Family Member
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WITH HIS BROTHERS
RIFLEMAN RODERICK EMILE LEADBETTER MACKENZIE
My heart sank when I saw this inscription - just how many of Roderick MacKenzie brothers had been killed. It sank even further when I realised that he was one of nine boys. Yet in fact only one of them, Osmand, was also killed in the war. But the inscription definitely says 'brothers' - why not 'brother'? The 1911 census provides the answer. One of the questions on the form asks how many live births a woman has had, and how many of these have subsequently died. Mrs MacKenzie has answered, '1'. I would suggest that the child who died was a boy and that this explains why Roderick is 'With his brothers'.
Roderick served with the 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, which was in the trenches at Hermies just south of Bapaume at the beginning of September 1917. The battalion war diary described the day MacKenzie was killed but gives no real clue as to what could have caused his death:
HERMIES SECTOR
Sept 2nd
"Fine fresh day - cool ... Some aeroplane activity. Our guns fired throughout the day at intervals but our covering battery is limited to a consumption of 30 shells per day so they are unable to be aggressive. The Infantry are not sorry as we don't want to stir up the Boche who is very quiet, until we have got our trenches into some sort of decent condition, and our dugouts built etc. From 7 pm until well after 8 pm a heavy bombardment could be heard on our left, a considerable distance away."
Osmand Mackenzie, who was one year older than Roderick, was killed on the Somme on 15 September 1916 when he too was 19. His body was never identified therefore he has no inscription. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
IN LOVING MEMORY
OF JIM & HIS FOUR BROTHERS
KILLED IN ACTION
UNITED IN DEATH
PRIVATE JAMES FRIEND SHAW
This is a terrible inscription, not only was twenty-year-old James Shaw killed in action but so were four of his brothers. However, what I find extraordinary is that there seems to be no information anywhere about this family tragedy. The Internet will tell you about the five Souls brothers and the five Beechey brothers but nothing about the five Shaw brothers.
From the censuses of 1901 and 1911, it appears that James was one of six brothers: Thomas, Henry, Edward, Jesse, John and James. Henry was killed on 15 September 1916, we know he's one of the brothers because he and James have the same parents according to the War Graves Commission records. There is a Jesse Shaw who was killed on 3 May 1915 serving with the Australian Infantry. There are no family details in his records but he seems to have been the only Jesse Shaw killed in the First World War and certainly an Australian website says he was Henry's brother. But who the other two brothers were - Thomas, Edward or John - it has not been possible to tell.
James, serving with the 20th Battalion the London Regiment, died of wounds received in action at Third Ypres. His father, Thomas Shaw, chose his inscription. His mother, Harriet, was alive in 1901 but dead in 1911 when father with Henry, Jesse, John and James were all boarders in a house at 50 St Donatt's Road, Lewisham.
AMOR PATRIAE
PRIVATE THOMAS JAMES REYNARD
'Amor patriae' means 'love of country,' however, the phrase has far greater associations than this straight translation indicates. It's a quote from Virgil: "Vincit amor patriae laudumque immensa cupido." Aeneid:823, and is an attempt to explain the very difficult decision Brutus took for the love of his fatherland. And the difficult decision? He had his two sons executed for treason. Brutus is always seen as the great Roman example of the man who loved his country above all else, even above his sons, but Virgil considers that he was also driven by an excessive lust for praise, "immensa cupido".
In this inscription, who was it who loved their fatherland, the land of their birth? Thomas James Reynard was born on the Isle of Wight in 1887 but baptised in South Africa the following year. He had lived in South Africa all his life. And his elder brother, Fred Henry Reynard, since he was about 6. Both Thomas and Fred served in A Company 1st Regiment South African Infantry, and both were killed on 18 October 1916 in an attack on the Butte de Warlencourt. Only Thomas has a grave and an inscription, Fred is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
Love of the mother country, Britain, was strong throughout the Empire, even among the young. It would not have been at all unusual for Thomas and Fred to have felt they were fighting for her. But, love of the mother country must have been strong in their parents too. It was their father, Charles Reynard, who confirmed the inscription. Is it too fanciful to think that he is hinting that he blames himself for his sons' deaths, that his desire for reflected glory meant that he encouraged his sons to take part in the war that killed them. We'll never know.
John Buchan in his 'History of the South African Forces in France' describes how A Company, together with B and C, attacked at 3.40 am on the morning of 18 October. Conditions were atrocious, it was raining heavily and the ground was a quagmire. Of the 100 men of C Company, 69 became casualties but of A and B companies there was virtually no trace. The Kings Own Scottish Borderers later took the ground and in his memoir, 'Three Years With the 9th Division', Lt Colonel WD Croft wrote of coming across, "a large party of South Africans at full stretch with bayonets at the charge - all dead". By the 20 October the South Africans were back where they had started from. John Buchan summarised the situation, "So ended the tale of the South Africans' share in the most dismal of all the chapters of the Somme".
ALSO IN MEMORY OF
HIS BROTHER R.M. DON
WHO FELL ON DOIRAN FRONT 1917
IN GOD'S LOVE UNITED.
LIEUTENANT ARCHIBALD WILLIAM ROBERTSON DON
Archibald Don's inscription remembers his brother Robert who went missing in an attack on the Bulgarian line at Jumeaux Ridge and is believed to have died on either the 8th or 9th of May 1917. His body was never recovered and he is commemorated on the Doiran Memorial in Salonika.
Both Robert and Archibald served in Salonika with the 10th Battalion the Black Watch. Archibald died eight months before his brother in September 1916 from a sudden recurrence of malaria. Both brothers had been pupils at Winchester College and both are commemorated on the school's memorial website. http://www.winchestercollegeatwar.com/archive/archibald-william-robertson-don/
Archibald Don was a member of the Union of Democratic Control, a British pressure group formed on 5 September 1914. Although described as a pacifist society it's aim was really to ensure that Parliament controlled foreign policy as opposed to the military. It was deeply unpopular with the right wing press although by 1917 it had 650,000 members.
Archibald, who was just starting to study medicine at St Batholomew's hospital, initially volunteered to work with a Red Cross Motor Ambulance in France but by December 1914 he had applied for a commission. However, he found his position as a British army officer untenable with his membership of the Union of Democratic Control and so resigned his membership.
Archibald Don - a Memoir by Charles Sayle was published by John Murray in 1918 and can be read online - https://archive.org/details/archibalddonmemo00saylialahttps://archive.org/details/archibalddonmemo00sayliala.
ALSO CAPT. A. WEATHERHEAD
ROYAL LANCASTER REGIMENT
KILLED 1ST JULY 1916
CAPTAIN GEORGE ERNEST WEATHERHEAD
"Much sympathy will be felt throughout the district for Mrs. Weatherhead, of Mount Road, New Brighton, widow of the late Canon Weatherhead, of Seacombe, in the loss of her eldest son, Captain and Adjutant George Ernest Weatherhead, of the 2nd Battalion the King's Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment. Mrs. Weatherhead has just received the sad news that her son was killed in action near Ypres on Sunday last. It will be remembered that she had three sons serving with His Majesty's Forces."
Wallasey News Saturday 22 May 1915
From this son's inscription we can see that another of Mrs Weatherhead's sons, Andrew, was killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Neither George nor Andrew were married but there is evidence that at least one of the sons married and had children.
"Captain George Ernest Weatherhead, Adjutant, 2nd Battalion the Kings Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) Died 8th May 1915 defending Ypres. 100 Years and still remembered.
Nephew Peter Weatherhead and family."
In Memorium Column, Daily Telegraph 8 May 2015
There seems to be some confusion over the date of George's death. The War Graves Commission records it as the 9 May but the family say the 8th and I think they are correct. According to the 2nd Battalion's War Diary for 8 May 1915: the Germans began to heavily shell their trenches at 7am, simultaneously launching an attack which forced them to abandon the front line. The battalion regrouped but at 10am the Germans renewed their attack and at 11.35 am they received the message to retire. Among those listed as having been killed in the attack was Captain Weatherhead.
ALSO IN MEMORY OF
4399 DRUMMER ROBERT GREGG
KILLED IN THE BOER WAR
AT SPION KOP
PRIVATE LEONARD GREGG
Leonard's inscription remembers his brother who was killed in the Boer War. Robert was 20 when he died in South Africa. The Greggs were a military family: in the 1881 census their address is given as Military Barracks, Bolton Road, Elton, Bury, Lancashire. This is the address of the Lancashire Fusiliers' Wellington Barracks. Father, William Gregg, is described in the census as Colour Sergeant, 7 Rgt. Lancs. Militia, Pensioner. He was 39. Leonard too must have been a professional soldier. The 1911 census records him as serving with the Lancashire Fusiliers in Multan, Punjab, India. The 2nd Battalion crossed to France on 20 August 1914 and were involved in all the early battles of the first months of the war. Leonard died in a Casualty Clearing Station on 23 October 1914.
ONE OF SEVEN BROTHERS
WHO SERVED
THREE OF WHOM
REST IN FRANCE
SECOND LIEUTENANT ERIC LIONEL STEPHENSON
The Stephensons were a properous family living in Althorpe, Lincolnshire. The boys' father, Mr James Stephenson, was a local benefactor and JP. Eric's inscription tells the family story. Strangely, his is the only inscription that mentions the other brothers. The oldest, George, had emigrated to Canada and served with the Canadian Engineers. He was killed on 15 June 1915. The youngest, Lieutenant Urban Arnold Stephenson, Lincolnshire Regiment, was killed on 23 March 1918.
The War Graves Commission do not hold any family details for Urban, and he has no inscription, but he is definitely related to George and Eric because they are all three commemorated on the war memorial in Althorpe. The lack of family details could be because, as the the records show, Urban's body was originally only identified as that of an unknown British officer of the Lincolnshire Regiment. His body was exhumed, identified and reburied in Peronne Communal Cemetery Extension where, after the war, eleven cemeteries were concentrated into one. Perhaps the lack of information about Urban has something to do with the death of Mr James Stephenson in a car crash in 1925 .
ALSO IN MEMORY OF HIS
SON JAMES, KILLED SOMEWHERE
IN FRANCE SEPT 2ND 1918
AGE 19, UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN
CORPORAL HENRY ARMITAGE
Corporal Armitage was killed by a shell and thirteen months later his wife was informed that their son had also been killed, "somewhere in France". Strict censorship meant that soldiers were never allowed to say exactly where they were beyond the phrase somewhere in France. In fact James Armitage had been killed in the attack on the German Drocourt-Queant lines and as his body was never found he is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois memorial.
FRANCIS GIDEON HIS ONLY SON
K.R.R.C.
KILLED IN ACTION 10.1.15
AGED 18
PRIVATE HARRY ALFRED TAYLOR
Rifleman Francis Gideon Taylor, son of Harry Alfred Taylor, enlisted in Islington on 13 August 1914. He was killed ten months later on 10 January 1915, as recorded on his father's headstone. Francis Gideon has no headstone of his own and is comemorated on the memorial at Le Touret. His father, Harry Taylor, died of wounds in a base hospital in Calais. Aged 49 at the time of his death he was above the age for military service. His inscription was chosen by his own father, Frank Taylor of Barrow-in-Furness. This means that Harry's wife/Francis's mother does not appear in the records.
UNIS DANS LA MORT
COMME ILS L'ETAIENT
DANS LA VIE
PRIVATE PAUL JEAN AND PRIVATE CHARLES GUY DESTRUBE
Brothers Paul Jean and Charles Guy Destrube were not only killed on the same day (see previous inscription) but they were buried in the same grave. French Canadians from Edmonton their inscription tranlates as 'United in death as they were in life'.
ALSO IN MEMORY OF
HIS BROTHER JACK, AGE 23
KILLED IN ACTION SAME DAY
THY WILL BE DONE
PRIVATE W STOKES
Brothers W and JH Stokes both served with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment and both were killed on 3 September 1916 in the attack on Thiepval Ridge. JH Stokes (Jack) is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme.
HUGH, ELDER BROTHER
AT HOOGE, MAY 1915
JOHN, TWIN BROTHER
AT ARRAS, APRIL 1917
PRIVATE ARCHIE ALLISON MCGILP
Archie McGilp was one of three brothers who were all killed in the war. Hugh was buried in Sanctuary Wood Cemetery but John, whose body was never found, is commemorated on the Arras Memorial. The family lived at 33 Montpelier Park, Edinbugh and the boys all attended Boroughmuir High School. It's a long way from Appin in Argyllshire where a headstone in Appin Old Churchyard commemorates the family: father, Archibald, 1861 to 1938; mother, Elizabeth Allison, 1867 to 1948; the three boys, and their sister, Mary Margaret McGilp, who died in 1950 aged 54.
I KNOW
WHERE YOU ARE DEAR LAD
BUT HARD TO SAY
YOUR BROTHER IS MISSING
SHOEING SMITH GEORGE HALTON
In 1920, when the details of Coxyde Cemetery were finalised, George Halton's brother was still 'missing in action'. Their mother, seemingly caring nothing for the normal conventions of headstone inscriptions, used George's epitaph to send him a direct message. It is obvious that while she could derive some comfort from knowing where George was buried the unknown fate of her other son was an added grief.
Twenty-eight men with the surname Halton were killed in the war, nine of them are commorated on memorials because their bodies were never found and so they have no known grave: none of them can be identified as George Halton's brother. He could be Gunner R Halton who was killed in action on 12 July 1917 and is commemorated on the Nieuport Memorial, finalised in 1928. Gunner R Halton and George Halton both served with C Battery, 168th Brigade Royal Field Artillery.
A Shoeing Smith, someone with the responsibilty for shoeing horses, was a both a trade qualification and an army rank.
ALSO IN MEMORY
OF WILLIE AND BOB
BROTHERS
KILLED IN ACTION
PRIVATE HENRY GRAHAM
'Bob', Corporal Robert John Graham, Cheshire Regiment, was killed on 17 April 1918. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. I have been unable to identify 'Willie'. It was their sister, Mrs Elizabeth Thornton, who signed the paperwork for her brother Henry's inscription.
UNITED WITH
HIS BELOVED BROTHERS
OSBORNE & FRED
WHO FELL IN 1915
PRIVATE HARRY DYE
Harry Dye was one of four brothers who fought in the war of whom three were killed. Osborne and Fred died within twenty-four days of each other in May and June 1915. The records show that it was the surviving brother, William, who signed the form confirming this inscription. I wonder if he chose it?
ALSO HIS BROTHER "BILLY"
FELL AT ROEUX, 16TH MAY 1917
OUR HOPES OUR LIFE
PRIVATE JAMES HENDERSON RANKIN
Mr and Mrs Rankin lost their two sons within three months of each other. Private James Rankin died of wounds at a base hospital in Wimereux. His brother 'Billy', Private William H Rankin, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, was killed during the Battle of Arras. His body was never found, consequently he has no grave, no headstone and no inscription. The four, final words of his brother's inscription say everything about his parent's grief