Captain Roland Davenport Farmer, 1/5th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment

Killed in Action on this day, (March 22nd), 110 years ago.

Born in 1886 to George and Ada Farmer of Ashby de la Zouch, Roland was one of 9 children born to the couple, a brief insight into the family make up can be gleaned from the 1911 census which tells us that at that time 9 children had been born to George and Ada, 5 were living and 4 had sadly died, Roalnd was their eldest son.

In 1901 the family lived at 33 Tamworth Road, Ashby de la Zouch, 49 year old George was listed as being the Clerk to the Guardians, the Guardians as such were created under the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, executing instructions for managing local Poor Law unions, overseeing workhouses, infirmaries and issuing poor relief, he would have also managed records, minute books and all manner of correspondence for the union. At the time of the 101 census Roland was listed as being 15 years of age, living at the address with his father, mother, two sisters Ada, Hilda, and two younger brothers, Frederick and Edward.

10 years later and the family were now living at Ivanhoe House, still in Ashby de la Zouch, by this time Roland was listed as being the assistant clerk to the guardians.

Roland joined the Army prior to the outbreak of World War One as a Private, joining the Ashby and Coalville Company of the Leicestershire's, he reached the rank of Colour Sergeant before resigning to take up a commission in the Territorial Force.

Educated at Ashby Grammar School, Roland was a keen sportsman, excelling at golf and cricket. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Ashby company of the 5th Battalion on June 6th 1913. after a short spell as a Lieutenant in the Lincolnshire Regiment, in February 1915 he was sent to France with the 1/5th Battalion as a Lieutenant overseeing "C" Company.

Roland was promoted to Captain and was Officer Commanding "C" Company when he killed in action on March 22nd 1916.

A letter sent to Roland's parents by Colonel RE Jones, commanding the 5th Battalion reached the Monday following his death, in it he conveyed the sad news that their eldest son was killed by an aerial torpedo in Flanders. It is understood that he met his death whilst going to the assistance of a comrade. He had been in command of the Shepshed company of the 5th at the time of his death.

Captain Roland Davenport Farmer

Colonel Jones went on;

"Your son was one of the coolest and bravest men that ever lived. I have seen him on many occasions under severe fire and nothing has ever disturbed him. He never flinched, never hesitated to go and do what he knew was right, without a thought from himself, only for the cause he was upholding. We are all sorry. We all feel his loss.

In the book - 1/5th Battalion The Leicestershire Regiment by JD Hills, Roland gets mentioned;

"Through it all (in reference to a German Minewerfer attack (mortars)), Captain Farmer walked calmly from post to post, cheering the garrison and just before the end of the bombardment at 4pm, made his way down the small communication trench towards his support platoon. Thence he went to call on "B" Company but was caught on the way back by a mortar, which he probably could not see coming in the mist and he was killed instantly, being blown out of the trench and lost for several hours. Captain  Farmer was perhaps the quietest, certainly the bravest officer of his time, for he feared nothing and nothing could shake his calm, whilst it was said of him that he never angry and never despondent. When he was killed "C" Company lost their leader and every man his best friend while the mess lost one of the most cheerful comrades of every officer."

Roland's body was recovered from the battlefield, he was laid to rest amongst his men in Ecoiveres Military Cemetery, his headstone carries the legend from his family;

"MAKE HIM TO BE NUMBERED WITH THY SAINTS IN GLORY EVERLASTING" 

Private Albert Cartwright, 4th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment

 On this day, (March 21st) 110 years ago, Albert Cartwright died of his wounds.

Albert was born in Stafford in 1896 to James and Lydia Cartwright, one of 6 children born to the couple. In 1901 the family were living in Field Place, Stafford, by 1911 the family had moved to Leicester and were living at 4 Crown Street in the city.

Shortly after the outbreak of war on August 4th 1914, Albert saw fit to volunteer for service, so on August 29th 1914 at the age of 18 and a half he enlisted into the 4th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment. The 4th were a territorial battalion who had their headquarters in Oxford Road in the centre of Leicester, they formed part of the Lincoln and Leicester Infantry Brigade of the North Midland Division.

The division, embarked for France in February 1915 becoming the first territorial battalion to arrive on the Western Front.

Alberts service records show that he arrived in France on March 2nd 1915.

4th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment

Credit - IWM

Albert was involved in heavy fighting receiving a gunshot would to the face which neccessitated him 

being admitted to a field hospital in near Rouen on 10th October 1915, he recovered sufficiently to be sent back to the line on the 27th of that month.

He was injured once again in March 1916 and sadly died of his wounds on 21st March 1916, he was laid to rest in Ecoiveres Military Cemetery, situated around 8km north west of the town of Arras.

Whilst looking through Alberts service records, a letter from his mother was found, it reads;

Dear Sir,

Very many thanks, twas a great relief, I feel most grateful to you. I firstly had your communication noting the despatch when the following morning the package arrived, the personal effects of my dear departed son (no. 2380 Private A Cartwright, 4th Batt, Leic Regt).

The effects in question were as follows;

1 Gold reefer ring (broken)

1 set of false teeth (broken)

Photos and correspondence

Miniature crucifix and other religious matter

1 French knife

Such were the articles, rest assured that as far as possible I shall ever cherish the same in my possession, now again expressing my gratitude, further quoting my warm thanks for your kindness

Your respectfully

L. Cartwright

And further I shall like to ask if you could kindly let me know the number of my sons grave and whereabouts he is buried.

yours his ??? mother

Mrs Cartwright

For his service and for paying the ultimate sacrifice, Albert was awarded the world war one medal trio and a bronze memorial plaque.

The Leicester Mercury newspaper of March 31st 1916 had the following article;

Pte, Albert Cartwright, whose parents reside at 4 Crown Street, Leicester (his father being the caretaker of Crown Street Primitive Methodist Church ) is reported to have been killed in action. He joined the colours last year, leaving his work at St. Marys Mills to enlist.

Robert Robinson - Butcher - 16 Dale Street

Robert Robinson - Butchers - 16 Dale Street, Milnrow

I posted the picture above some time ago Facebook, research into Robert Robinson has yielded some interesting results.

Robert Robinson was born in 1873, the son of John and Elizabeth, the census of 1881 tells us the family were living at 19 Equitable Street in Milnrow, Johns occupation was given as woollen weaver, the couple had 7 children, the youngest being Robert who was destined to follow in his older brother and become a butcher.

By 1901 the family had moved to 22 Harbour Lane, John had also had a career change as he was now listed as being a grocer, 18 year old Robert, as predicted, was now a butcher working alongside his brother.

John Robinson died in 1892 at the age of 67, he was buried in St James churchyard, Milnrow, 3 years later Robert was married at St. Thomas', his bride being Eleanor Smith.

When the 1901 census was taken 6 years later, Robert had his own shop - 16 Dale Street, the couple also had a son, Claude Smith Robinson who had been born 4 years earlier on June 24th 1896.

By the time the next census was taken in 1911 the family had grown by one by the addition of a daughter  - Evelyn Smith Robinson who was born in 1908.

An article in the Rochdale Observer dated November 26th 1910 made for disturbing reading. Eleanor had been found above the butchers shop with her throat cut, she had been found mid morning by her 14 year old son Claude. Seeing his mother bleeding badly and in a state of distress he quickly raised the alarm, two doctors were quickly at the premises and managed to clean her up and stitched the wound.

The report continued that Eleanor had been in low spirits for a number of weeks, she had told Dr Malim that her husband had also been very run down of late, Dr. Malim had no reason to suspect that Eleanor would come to any harm, although the wounds to her neck were superficial she was very weak from loss of blood. It was determined that the wound to her neck was self inflicted.

Roberts business was flourishing, in addition to the shop at Dale Street, he also had butchers shops in New Hey at 28 Huddersfield Road and Firgrove at 226 Rochdale Road.

World War One was looming, whilst Robert was above the recruiting age, teenager Claude wasn't. In the early years of the war he managed to avoid the call, but with the way the war was going and the vast numbers of young men being killed and seriously injured more young men were required to fill the voids.

In early May 1916 the call came for Claude to do his duty for King and Country, Robert put Claudes name forward to the authorities stating that he was in a reserved occupation, meaning he wouldn't have to join up.

The tribunal was held at Milnrow council offices, Councillor J Smith presided over the tribunal which heard pleas on behalf of 18 young men, one being Claude Robinson.

His father, Robert addressed the tribunal stating that he had 3 shops and a farm to look after and that his son was his only help, the plea was successful in that Claude was granted an exemption - but only until May 31st 1916.

Any further appeals on behalf of Claude went unheeded, he was called up for service and initially joined the Royal Field Artillery before being drafted into the 15th Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

The 15th were involved in heavy fighting during the third Battle of Ypres, more commonly known as Passchendaele which began at 3.50am on July 31st 1917, Claudes battalion were involved in the fighting at Pilckem Ridge.

The 15th Royal Welsh Fusiliers were part of Welsh Division which suffered over 3000 casualties alone - including Claude Robinson.

Soldiers Of The 15th Battalion. RWF

Claudes body was never recovered from the battlefield, his name is one of 54606 names of the missing that adorn the Menin Gate memorial in Ypres, Belgium.

The telegram informing of their sons death would have dropped through the door at 16 Dale Street, one of countless telegrams to frantic parents, wives, brothers and sisters bringing the very worst news imaginable.

In 1923 Robert and Eleanor sold their businesses in Milnrow and moved to the seaside, Morecambe to be exact. Eleanor died in 1934 whilst living at 18 Regent Road she was 58, following the death of his wife Robert moved to Ulverston in Cumbria where 12 years later Robert died.

Although he hadn't lived in Milnrow for a good number of years, the Rochdale Observer of 24th December 1944 carried a short obituary.

 It is perfectly reasonable to assume that the picture at the beginning that inspired this short tale actually shows Robert, Claude and Eleanor. 

Milnrow War Memorial

Every village, town and city was touched in some way by the Great War, there are however 53 parishes in England and Wales where all the men that served came home, they are known as "thankful or blessed" villages. Milnrow and Newhey sadly are not among that number.

The need for a War Memorial in Milnrow was first discussed at a meeting held in the lecture room of the Carnegie Library, Newhey Road on February 4th 1919.

Milnrow "Carnegie" Library 

A packed crowd were present as Councillor JT Whitehead, the chairman of the council chaired the meeting. Various differing opinions were raised, some said a public swimming baths should be built in memory of the men, others suggested a park or playground, some even said they didn't want any form of memorial erecting.

It was eventually decided that a statue of a soldier would be the most fitting tribute to the fallen of the village.

The next issue to be discussed was the potential siting of the memorial. 

The Cliffe House estate was thought to be the most suitable location, owned by the local businessman Emmanuel Clegg, two members of the committee were dispatched to go and speak to Clegg and attempt to buy a plot of land, they failed to convince him to relinquish any of his land.

The committee then decided on a an area at the bottom of Kiln Lane for the memorial, the cost was estimated to in the region of £2500, not a small amount which today would equate to over £75000.  

The committee met again in March 1921, the sculptor chosen to make the statue, George Thomas, attended with models of 2 possible statues, he estimated the statues to cost around £1800, the statue would be cast in bronze, weighing in at over 1 ton, standing between 7'6" and 8' high it would be mounted on a Bollington sandstone plinth, 12 feet high. 

The cost of the memorial also included the provision of bronze tablets upon which the names of each fallen soldier would be added at the cost of £1 per name.

George Thomas set about creating the memorial, when finished it was brought to the village and the proposed site, an area near the bottom of Kiln Lane roughly where the car park stands today.

Original Site of Milnrow War Memorial

Sunday 4th august 1924 was the date set for the unveiling, almost four and a half years after the initial meeting.

Major-General Arthur Solly-Flood conducted the unveiling, he had been General Officer Commanding the 42nd East Lancashire Division during the latter stages of WW1 and would have commanded many of the men the memorial remembered.

Thousand lined the streets to witness the unveiling, of the statue and the brass tablets containing the names of 168 local men who perished.

Milnrow War Memorial In Its Original Location

The memorial was moved to its current location on 1951 after the widening of Dale Street and Bridge Street. The memorial has also been granted Grade II listing status.

Ironically it was moved to the site of where Cliffe House once stood - the house owned by Emmanuel Clegg, in what is now known as Milnrow Memorial Park.

The original bronze plaques were stolen from the memorial and were replaced with slate tablets onto which the names of the fallen were carved, many names were omitted from whatever reason and it wasn't until 2009 that the names of over 70 men were added.

Henry Butterworth - Hero of Waterloo

Henry Butterworth was born on 18th March 1783, the son of Edmund Butterworth, Edmund was a yeoman and had fought in Flanders under the Duke of Cumberland (also known as butcher Cumberland after the Battle of Culloden).

During his early years Henry was sent to the West Indies where he because an assistant superintendent on a sugar plantation, a job which he didn't like. He yearned to be a military man.

His elder brother, also Edmund, held a commission in the 3rd Lancashire Militia, Henry pestered his brother to try and obtain a commission which was duly done, Henry became an ensign in the 1st Lancashire Militia. It wasn't long before Henry volunteered for foreign service and together with 50 other Lancashire lads they embarked on a military career.

It wasn't long before Henry was appointed to the 32nd Cornwall Regiment of Foot, he also took 32 men from the Lancashire Militia with him, he saw active service during the Peninsular Wars, the war raged  from 1807 - 1814 and saw Napoleon's empire fight against Bourbon Spain, Great Britain fought as allies of the Kingdom of Portugal in order to gain control of the Iberian Penisular.

Henry was awarded the Military General Service Medal for his services during the conflict, he was awarded 6 bars to the medal for action in the battles of Rolera, Vimiera, Salamanca, Talavera, Pyrenees and Nivelle, he was listed as sick during the final battles of Nive and Orthes and so wasn't awarded the bars for these actions.

Lieutenant Henry Butterworth in the uniform of the 32nd Regiment of Foot wearing his campaign medals

During the Battle of Salamanca on July 22nd 1812, Henry was seriously wounded by a musket ball that passed straight through his body, one of his men named Ashworth, from Smallbridge, lifted his wounded officer onto his back and carried him 3 miles to the rear of the army lines so he could receive treatment for his wounds. Once recovered Henry again took to the battle.

In 1815, he was present at the Battle of Waterloo, he was wounded 3 times during the fierce fighting with Thomas Pictons division, he never quit the field of battle. 

After 1815 Henry retired back to Rochdale, during his 12 years as Lieutenant in the 32nd Regiment of Foot, he spent 9 of them on active service, he was wounded seven times, 3 of them being classed as severe injuries.

He retired from the military on half pay in 1820 due to ill health, he was transferred to the 35th Regiment of Foot.

On returning to Rochdale Henry Butterworth was appointed a county magistrate and a deputy-lieutenant. 

In early 1860 he became sick and died on June 8th of the same year aged 77.

He was laid to rest at St. Johns, Smallbridge, his coffin carried by 8 Waterloo veterans.

Henry Butterworth (seated) with a. group of other Waterloo veterans

Sgt Percy Kershaw - Border Regiment - KIA July 1st 1916

23 year old Sergeant Percy Kershaw was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme (July 1st 1916).

Sgt Percy Kershaw, 1/Border Regiment

Percy was the middle of five children born to John James and Esther Kershaw, born in Middleton in 1893, by 1901 the family had moved to 54 Kilworth Street, Brimrod, John James was employed as a guard on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, 10 years later in 1911, the family had moved over Smithy Bridge to No. 1 Moss Cottages.

John James was still working for the L&Y Railway in 1911, 18 year old Percy was listed as being a groom, he later became an assistant coachman for Doctor MacGill.

Percy enlisted into the Border Regiment, serving with the 1st Battalion, enlisting early on the war, he entered France on October 5th 1914.

Percy was one of over 21,000 British soldiers to lose their lives on July 1st 1916, tens of thousands more were injured.

Percy's body was recovered from the battlefield, he was laid to rest in Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No.2 Beaumont-Hamel, the cemetery is located within the Newfoundland Memorial park.

Private John Long - Australian Infantry

On a recent trip to the battlefields and cemeteries of Northern France I came across a headstone to Private John Long, he had served with the 4th Battalion, Australian Infantry, his story is worthy of telling.

Born in 1894, John wasn't going to stay at home and join the rest of his mates going to work in the mills and mines. At the age of 16 John signed up for a life on the ocean waves as a merchant seaman.

In August 1915 John was a crew member on board the merchant streamer "Diomed", she was heading from Liverpool to Shanghai, when she was 57 miles west north west of the Scilly Isles, German U-Boat, U38, captained by Max Valentiner attacked with torpedoes. Once she was hit the U-Boat turned her guns on the stricken vessel.

Reports were made that the Captain of the Diomed was killed by shells from the submarine, the Quartermaster had his head shot off and the chief officer was shot through the thigh.

John Long together with other crew members managed to get into a lifeboat, shortly after pulling away from their ship it was sunk by Valentiner.

Not giving up, the U-Boat continued to shell the lifeboat eventually holing it, the occupants including John were thrown into the cold waters.

It was three and half hours before rescue came in the form of a Royal Navy warship.

John had visited many countries during his sea-faring days including the Far East, China, Japan and Australia.

In 1915 he landed once again in Australia and responded to the call to arms and joined the Commonwealth armies, he enlisted into the 4th Battalion, Australian Infantry at Casula, New South Wales on December 15th 1915.

After going through his initial training he embarked for Alexandria, Egypt on March 7th 1916, he arrived in Marseilles on April 4th re-joining the 4th Battalion on July 27th.

The 4th Battalion were involved in heavy fighting in the Somme sector and on August 15th 1916 John was wounded. He received a gunshot wound and compound fracture to his right thigh, take to the No. 13 Australian Field Hospital he died three days later from his injuries.

Notification was sent to his mother, Isabella Long who lived at 120 Molesworth Street, she later received his effects which included 2 rosaries, 1 of which was damaged (John was Roman Catholic), his pipe - also damaged, a prayer book, brush, knives, tobacco pouch, photos, postcards, match box cover and other items.

Isabella acknowledged receipt of her sons belongings

John was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War and Victory Medals

The memorial scroll and plaque (also known as dead means penny) were also awarded

John was laid to rest in Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery, Somme , France.