Category: Hyde 900

Henry was born in Guildford in 1887, son of William and Lizzie Loveland. His family were living in 4 Egbert Road, Hyde by 1916.

Henry emigrated to Canada and was living in 45 Eugene Apartments, Norwood, Manitoba when he decided to enlist on January 20th 1916 in the Canadian Infantry, 38th Manitoba Battalion. On his Attestation Form he gave his height as 5’ 8” , his hair as fair, and his eyes as blue. He declared he had 5 years of military experience in the Wessex Transport ASC.

By early 1917 it is clear the Henry had learned to fly and had been attached to the Royal Flying Corps with the rank of Lieutenant. His base in England seems to have been Hythe.

The Canadian records then him as “killed, rather than missing in action”. The village near which he died was Gouzeaucourt, 10 miles south of Cambria. His body was later exhumed from Equancourt Wood, and now lies in the CWG cemetery of Villers Hill. April 1917 was a particularly dangerous time for an Allied pilot, with the average hours over the battlefield before death reckoned to be less than 18. German Albatros fighters were grouped in Hunting Squadrons and shot down 245 British aircraft in April, killing 211 pilots with another 108 captured. It was not until the Sopwith Camel could be brought into service with fully-trained pilots that the advantage could be regained.

Albert Loader (spelt as Loder on the memorial) was born on 21^st April 1883 in Winchester, probably at 9 Clement Street where his parents and siblings were living during the census in 1881. Albert’s parents, Edward Loader and Emily (nee Roberts), married in Shoreditch at the end of 1873. Emily was only 21.

In the 1881 census Edward is aged 33, a grocer’s porter, born in Devon. Emily is 29. Emily and her 5 children were all born in Winchester.

In the 1891 census the family is living at 17 Hyde Close. Edward, now 44, is a porter. Albert is 8 years old and has 6 siblings (one has left home).

In the 1901 census the family, except for Albert, is now living at 16 Hyde Close. Edward is still a grocer’s porter, and two of his sons have followed him in the trade: James, 16, is a draper’s porter, and Thomas, 14, a grocer’s porter. Since the last census two more daughters have been born.

In the 1901 census Albert, now 17, is a “Boy” on HMS Prince George, a 1^st class battleship under the command of Captain R A J Montgomerie. The census was taken on 31^st March, 3 weeks short of Albert’s 18^th birthday. On the night of the census the ship was anchored in Gibraltar Bay with 744 men on board: 53 Boys, 545 Seamen, and the remainder officers.

Albert enlisted in the Royal Navy on his 18^th birthday. He signed up for 12 years and was given the service number 203514. His previous occupation is given as errand boy. He is described as 5’ 2 ½” tall with dark hair, brown eyes and dark complexion. He also has tattoos of a man and a woman on his left arm. In his career Albert served on over a dozen ships, including several stints on Victory I.

In the 1911 census Edward, 63, is now a porter for a wine and spirit merchant. Emily states that she has been married for 39 years and has had 11 children, 2 of whom have died. Only Florence, aged 16, is living with them at 16 Hyde Close. (NB is the address of 17 Hyde Close in 1881 a mistake? Or did they move next door?)

By the 1911 census Albert had progressed to becoming an Able Seaman. He is 29, still single, and is on board HMS Grafton in Portsmouth.

His conduct had been good, but in September 1914 he was given 28 days detention for “drunkenness and insubordination”. Again in November 1914 he was given “7 days cells”. It should be noted that Albert’s father Edward had died a few months before these incidents, aged 69.

In 1916 Albert was aboard the cruiser Alcantara in the Skagerrak (the sea between Norway and Sweden). On 29^th February 1916 lookouts aboard Alcantara spotted smoke off the port beam so her commander Captain T E Wardle manoeuvred closer to identify where the smoke was coming from. Unbeknown to them the smoke was from SMS Greif.

A few minutes later another cruiser in the area Andes reported that her lookouts had sighted a ship with two masts and a black funnel headed north-east. The two British vessels closed on Greif until within range to signal one another. Captain Wardle ordered this vessel to stop and two blank rounds were fired. The Germans hove to and signalled that they were from Trondheim and were headed for Rio de Janeiro. At about 0940 the British were close enough so they lowered a few boats with a boarding party to take command of the seemingly harmless steamer.

At this moment the raider revealed her intentions, raised the German flag, unmasked her guns and opened fire on Alcantara at a range of 800 yards. The first discharge struck Alcantara‍ ’​s bridge which caused heavy damage and destroyed the communications equipment. Further shots hit and sank some of the boarding party’s boats and also knocked out the Alcantara‍ ’​s steering gear. Alcantara increased her speed and began returning fire as the Germans attempted to flee towards the Norwegian coastline. Her first shot struck and disabled Greif‍ ’​s poop gun, killing the crew in the process.

For several minutes the two vessels duelled at close range until gun fire was heard by Andes which was about five miles from the battle area. She closed to within three miles of SMS Greif and opened fire. Her first shots struck the bridge of the German raider and destroyed its steering gear. Greif launched two torpedoes at Alcantara; the first one hit amidship and the second passed under the stern. By the end of the engagement, the British knocked out another German gun and set her fuel tanks on fire; one shot entered the hull of Greif, exploded, and slowed the vessel to a sinking halt. Reports say that both Greif and Alcantara were struck several times at or below the waterline which left the British vessel in a sinking state as well.

German fire ceased at 1018 and a few minutes later the Royal Navy sailors spotted lifeboats being lowered from the burning Greif. The British kept up their fire and as the German commander climbed down the rope to his life boat, shrapnel struck him in the neck and he was beheaded. Several moments later the order to abandon Alcantara was issued; the list was so great that many of the ship’s complement walked down the ship’s side. At 1102 Alcantara was under water, and at 1108 it sank. Around this time Comus and Munster arrived to pick up survivors. Wardle and his surviving crew were in the water for about twenty minutes. By this time the Greif was well ablaze and at 1300 she also sank. 280 Germans perished along with 72 Britons (2 of whom died later of their wounds). Five German officers and 120 German seamen were rescued and taken prisoner by Andes and Munster.

Captain Wardle was later criticized for manoeuvring too close to the German raider before knowing its true identity. Assuming Greif was a harmless merchant ship cost Wardle his vessel and several men. Despite this he was recognized for bravery and awarded the Distinguished Service Order and eventually became a rear admiral.

The log book for the Alcantara exists, but there is no entry for 29^th February 1916; this presumably went down with the ship that day.

The website www.naval-history.net lists all those who perished that day, including Albert:

LOADER, Albert, Able Seaman (RFR B 6022), 203514 (Po), Alcantara, 29 February 1916, ship lost.

Albert was aged 34. His body was never recovered. He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.  Albert’s medal entitlement was issued to his sister, possibly Florence. Two years later, in February 1918, Albert’s younger brother Thomas Bernard LOADER died of wounds in Flanders.

Albert’s widowed mother Emily died in the September quarter of 1918 aged 66, only months after Thomas’ death.

Geoffrey William Lund was born in Trotton, Sussex, and lived at 35 Monks Road. He joined the 2nd Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment, indicating that he signed up early in the war, probably seeing action at Gallipoli in 1915. His service number was 7222.

The battle diary of the 2nd Battalion is in the Hampshire

Records Office, and following the unit till William’s death on 21^st April 1917 makes very powerful reading. In the month of April 1917 alone the battalion lost 3 officers killed, another 14 wounded and 4 missing. Amongst the Other Ranks, 26 were killed (including William), 262 wounded, 9 died of wounds, and 92 were in hospital, sick. To put this in perspective, the total strength of the battalion was 23 officers and 365 other ranks. William is listed as Killed in Action. The 2nd Battalion was committed to a key role in the Battle of Monchy, in the area of Arras. The battalion diarist wrote on 13^th April 1917:

“Heavy shelling, Monchy full of dead horses and wounded in cellars who had been there for days.”

They moved back to reserve trenches at 3:00 am, with the Newfoundland Regiment and the Essex on either flank. The Newfoundlanders attacked to the north east with success, but the Germans counter-attacked. Unknown to the Allies, they were operating a new form of deployment that involved retreating in key areas to encourage Allied forward movement- followed by encirclement. It was 3 platoons of X Company Hampshires and 10 Newfoundlanders who were left surrounded. The Newfoundland records claim their soldiers killed 44 Germans in this vicious small battle. Y Company was now ordered into Monchy, suffering 25 casualties, but occupying fighting positions on the east, suffering another 20 casualties, but gaining a German trench and holding it. 44 of Y Company were wounded. The battle diary continues:

“Our front line was shelled all day, but with no casualties. But at night when Z Company was digging an assembly trench, Company Sergeant Major Lund was killed. CSR Lund was a great loss to the battalion”

On 20th April 1917 the Regiment was congratulated by the General.

In WW1 battalion diaries, officers are mentioned by name, but Other Ranks, rarely. William Lund’s official rank at the time of his death was Acting Warrant Officer Class 1. I understand this to be the highest non-commissioned rank. The comment made on his loss that night is also highly unusual in the war diaries. Clearly William was an extraordinary soldier:

“CSR Lund was a great loss to the battalion”

One other thing about this battle at Monchy is the detail in the battalion diary’s analysis, but no inkling that something new was going on with German tactics. Only with the later opening up of the German war records for military analysis could this battle be put into a deeper context.

William Herridge’s family were all born and bred in Winchester. His father Charles lived at 9 Hyde Close when young, working as a baker. His mother Eliza lived at 17 Wales Street and worked as a domestic servant. They may well have met in Wales Street, since 3 doors away was another Herridge family, possibly relatives of Charles Herridge.

Charles married Martha, Eliza’s sister, in 1883, and they had two children; Charles and Ellen. Unfortunately, Martha died of a childbirth related illness in 1885 and Charles went on to marry Eliza in 1887.

In the 1891 census Charles and Eliza are living at 28 Staple Gardens with 4 children and Eliza’s widowed father. Charles is 33 and working as a foreman to a railway carrier. William was born a year later in 1892.

In the 1901 census the family is living at 63 Upper Brook Street. Charles, now 44, is a foreman for railway agents. Eliza is 34 and looking after 6 children including William, aged 9. Two of the children have left home.

Ten years later in the 1911 census, Charles is working as a carman to a railway carrier. The family is still living at 63 Upper Brook Street. Eliza states that she has had 9 children, two of whom have died. William is 19 and working as a butcher’s delivery boy. William’s mother Eliza died a few months later, aged only 45.

William joined the 6^th Battalion (Service) Dorsetshire Regiment with the regimental number 10995. Other records state that he was in the 1^st Battalion, but looking at the dates of his service, it is clear that he was actually in the 6^th Battalion.

The 6^th Battalion was formed at Dorchester on 6^th September 1914, and William is recorded as having enlisted in that month in Southampton. In March 1915 the battalion moved to Romsey. There are no service records for William, but his medal card states that he entered a theatre of war on 13^th July 1915. The 6^th Battalion was mobilised for war on 14^th July 1915 and landed at Boulogne. It engaged in various actions on the Western Front including:

• 1915 – Holding front lines in the southern area of Ypres salient.
• 1916 – The Battle of Albert, The Battle of Delville Wood.
• 1917 – The First Battle of the Scarpe, The Second Battle of the Scarpe, The Capture of Roeux, The First Battle of Passchendaele, The Second Battle of Passchendaele.

In December 1915 William went down with influenza and was sent to army hospitals to recover. He was also wounded in March 1917 (no details known).

The Battles of Ypres, also known as Passchendaele, began on 31^st July 1917 and ended in November that year. William was recorded as Killed in Action on 13^th July 1917, three days before the preliminary barrage began. He had entered a theatre of war on 13^th July 1915 and was killed exactly two years later. The circumstances of his death are unknown. He was aged 26.

William is buried at Coxyde Military Cemetery (approx 25 km north of Dunkirk). Coxyde was about 10 km behind the front line. The village was used for rest billets and was occasionally shelled, but the cemetery, which had been started by French troops, was found to be reasonably safe. It became the most important of the Commonwealth cemeteries on the Belgian coast and was used at night for the burial of the dead brought back from the front line.

The Winchester War Register lists William’s three brothers who also went to war but survived. All four brothers lived at 23 Nuns Road.

Charles Herridge received his son’s three war medals in 1919. Charles lived to the age of 75, dying in Winchester in 1931.

Alfred Charles Smith was known to his family as Uncle Charlie (though of course the younger ones never met him.) Born in 1893, he lived with his parents at 30 Monks Road, Winchester, and volunteered for the army in 1914.

Charlie joined the 1st/21st Bn. London Regiment (First Surrey Rifles) with regimental number 653183 and was involved in the Battle of the Somme with the 23rd Div. He took part in the capture of the village of Le Sars (which straddles the main Albert-Bapaume road) in the final stages of the advance that lasted from the first days of the Somme and inched towards the north east. In the distance loomed the notorious Butte de Warlencourt, a piece of raised ground giving whichever side possessed it the clearest of views over the other side’s lines.

Charlie was killed on 8 October 1916. His name is inscribed on the Thiepval Memorial which indicates that his body has never been recovered.

His brother, the father of Eric Smith who provided so much detailed information for this account, was born 1897, also lived at 30 Monks Road, and enlisted with the Hampshire Regiment in 1914 even before war was declared. His regimental number has not been tracked down. He brother enlisted with the Hampshire Regiment, and subsequently was transferred to the Warwickshires, but their museum has been unable to help elicit any further details. He died in 1970 .

At the cessation of hostilities in 1919, he was repatriated at Morn Hill where he met Eric’s mother! After they were married Eric’s father gradually went deaf as a result of his war service and was never able to hear his son’s voice.

The records state that £2-12-8d was paid out from Charlie’s funds to an address in Winchester.

Thomas Page was born in Bramber, Shermanbury in Sussex and he lived at one point in 11 Monks Road. His parents were Thomas and Elizabeth.

He joined the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and served in the South African War 1899-1902. By 1915 he had risen to the rank of Company Sergeant Major, the second highest non-commissioned rank in the infantry. He was based in the Depot, here in Winchester.  The Army records him as Service No. 9028.  He is recorded in one of the archives as having died at home in Winchester on 2nd September, 1916, but another of the records – the KRRC’s Roll of Honour held in the Peninsula Barracks museum – lists Queen Alexandra’s Hospital at Cobham near Portsmouth as his place of death.

Thomas left a widow, Alice, and children. The Army owed his family £15-10s. on his death.

Cecil Henry Offer was born in on the 9^th of February 1893 his birthplace being named at St John’s parish on his army record.  In the census of 1901 his father Albert is not present and Sophia, named head of the family and a needlewoman living at 72 Cannon Street. Sophia, born 1862, from Cheriton and Albert from ? were married in 1883. By 1901 Sophia had given birth to Albert 15 years of age, an under gardener, Ernest George 13 years of age and a paper boy, Ethel aged 9 years Cecil then 8 years of age, Fred 6 years old and baby Alice Rose. Albert is however given as the father on the school admission register so may still be around but not residing at the family home.

By the 1911 census we still have no news of Albert, but Sophia at 49 years of age is still head of the family and continuing with her sewing and needlework. Her marital status is given as separated then crossed out and married written. It looks highly likely that she was separated from before 1901 but wished to keep up appearances. Of 7 children she has given birth to, 6 survive. The family have moved t 29 Canon Street where she lived with Cecil, now 18 years, single and a laboratory assistant at Winchester College. He had made good use of his education at St. Thomas Higher School. Frederick is 16 years old and a butcher. Where Ernest, Ethel and Alice Rose are is unknown. It looks though as if the older children have left home and sadly the baby did not survive. Certainly life must have been a huge struggle for this family.  Cecil had been allowed to continue his education where other families would have taken the child out of school and found them a job to help support the family. His income from working at the College although not great, would have substantially helped the family and it is reasonable to suppose that his mother at least was very proud of him.

Cecil also enlisted in The Hampshire Territorials, training regularly at the Hall (NAME?) near the station. It was natural then that at the beginning of the war, Cecil enlisted in the Hampshire Regiment in and was attached to 1/4^th Battalion. His service number was 4/1686 which was incorrectly renumbered later to 200116.

Following training he was first sent to India and then on to face the Turkish forces in what we now call Iraq. His story mirrors those of Bendle, Loveland, Munt and Gilmour He was killed in action at the battle of Umm El Hanna on  21^st January 1916.  Initially he was posted as ‘missing’ however a note in the regimental Diary notes that ‘ The absolute accuracy of all dates etc. prior to January 21^st cannot be guaranteed as the notes for this period were apparently on the body of Capt. A.C. Brandon (Killed in Action 21/1/1916) and were never recovered. Obviously anyone killed that day was not recorded in the confusion of a serious defeat. There were 231 men and 13 officers killed, died of wounds or missing that day.

Cecil had risen to the rank of Sergeant. He is commemorated on the Basra Memorial and the memorials at St. Bartholomew’s and St Michael’s churches.

William Tyler’s early life mirrors that of his younger brother Frederick although he is less visible in the records. He was born in 1890 in the parish of St Peters’ Colebrook Street but on his army records his residence is left blank. They moved such a lot as a family that keeping track of who was born where might have been hard. In the census of 1901 the Tyler family minus the father (deceased) are living at Duke Street Micheldever with Leonora’s brother, Henry Taylor, his wife, Mary Ann and their 4 children aged between 5 and 15 years. One of these is named William and is 8 years old but our William would have been eleven. Perhaps he was small for his age and his age forgotten.

By the time of the next census in 1911 William and his brother Frederick, but not the other Tyler children, are living at 16, King Alfred Place with Walter Smeath aged 44 years and Mary his wife. They are described as stepsons so it seems as if their mother, Leonora has died or has made arrangements for them to be brought up as if the sons of Mrs Smeath, presumably his aunt.

Following schooling locally, William was employed by Mr. Merridan of Andover Road. Like his brother, William was a social chap and keen on exercise. He was a member of the Hyde Gymnastics Class and was a playing member of the Winchester Football Club, principally as a goal-keeper.

His army record shows that his Service Number was 200595 and a Private in the 1/4^th (T.F.) Hampshire Regiment. Following enlistment he was shipped to India for further training where he distinguished himself physically winning two medals for club-swinging.  In one of which contests he swung clubs for thirteen hours without a break. So clearly a man of great stamina and determination. and was with the troops sent to Mesopotamia alongside Ghurkas and Indian troops. William survived some very difficult times but in February 1917 William was badly wounded rowing Ghurka troops across the River Tigirs at the Battle of Shumran Bend.

He was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals.

Thomas William Munt was one of a large family born late to a gardener, also Thomas W., working at Northlands Lodge and his wife, Louisa. Unusually for those times his parents were from different areas. Thomas Senior was from Seaview, the Isle of Wight and Louisa from Halstead, Essex.  When ‘our’ Thomas was born in 1894 his parents were 53 years and 38 years of age. His elder 7 siblings from a first marriage had already left home except for the youngest, George  and his father had remarried following  his first wife Emma’s death. Emma was born 1844 or 5 and also from the Isle of Wight. The second marriage also produced a number of children – George born 1883, Thomas born 1894 and Cyril born 1899 when his father was 58 years old. They would have been brought up in a crowded house but presumably the stockbroker’s wife for whom Thomas Senior worked kept him well paid enough to secure food and clothing for this large family. One mystery is that a sister to Thomas, May Louisa was born in 1893 but is not mentioned. on the census of 1901.  She would have been 8 years old and hard to miss even in this large family so perhaps was living with other relatives. She does reappear on the census of 1911 as a millener’s  assistant so we  can be reassured of her survival.

By 1911 Thomas William was a printer’s compositor with the Hampshire Chronicle and 17 years of age. Also in this year Thomas joined the Territorials and by then was probably lodging at 13 King Alfred Terrace which is given as his home address. His regimental number was 4/1686 ( he was incorrectly renumbered in 1917 as 200116).  Originally he signed up for the Royal Engineers and was posted to India.

He entered a theatre of war on 18^th March 1915 at Mesopotamia where he was in the 1/4^th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. He transferred to the Royal Engineers and was promoted to Signaller.  He was alongside Ernest Loveland and Cecil Offer.  He would probably have taken part in the disastrous Battle at Umm el Hanna on 21^st January 1916. Following this, the regiment were involved in  rearguard actions under increasing attacks from the Turkish troops. The Hampshires were split, either being in Kut and besieged,  or occupied in failed rescue missions while trying to keep out of the way of Turkish attacks.  He appears to be one of those who besieged  in Kut. Starvation soon ensued.  As the men and population weakened, so the sick-rate rose. Dysentery affected most and the death rate grew in the increasing heat. Communication with the outside world was kept up by radio, but attempts to relieve the siege and drop supplies by plane failed. The end of the siege came on 26^th April when he was taken prisoner. At first, his captors were quite friendly handing out handfuls of cigarettes to each man as they left Kut. The officers were well treated and given a splendid meal. Things were to change quickly and brutally. The best that can be said is that the Turkish captors were unprepared to deal with such numbers of prisoners.

Munt was one such prisoner of war  who suffered inhuman conditions as they were marched to Baghdad.  He survived 5 long, immensely arduous months before succumbing on 30^th September to illness, starvation or overwork in a prison camp at Afion-Kaira-Hissan.

A report of his death in the Hampshire Chronicle (CHECK DATE)  is here quoted at length:

‘Pte. T.W. Munt, Hampshire Regiment, who was taken prisoner at Kut, has died at Afion Kaira Hissar, Turkey, of intestinal inflammation. He was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Munt of Salcot Lodge, Worthy Road, Winchester, and prior to joining up, was at the Hampshire Chronicle Office. While serving in Mesopotamia he was attached to the Signalling Company. He was taken prisoner on April 29^th last and died on September 20^th. Pte. Munt  was always of a very cheerful and willing disposition, and his death – reported unofficially about four months ago – will be regretted by many friends. The deepest sympathy has also been expressed with his parents in their great sorrow. In addition to the official notification which has been received of his death, Mr. and Mrs. Munt have received a letter through the Comite Internationale de la Croix-Rouge, in which the writer states:’ It is difficult for us to offer you much comfort by any words of ours at this sad time, but we wish, nevertheless, to point out to you that from all accounts, the Turks are good to their prisoners, and therefore that we hope that Pte. Munt received as much care and attention as was possible under the circumstances during his illness; also that he was among comrades who had shared, at least, a short part of his captivity with him, so that his last moments could not have been utterly lonely. We beg to offer our sincere sympathy with you in your sad loss’.

Thomas was buried at Baghdad (North Gate) Cemetery and is named is on the memorial at St Batholomew’s Church Winchester. He was entitled to the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

His brother Cyril served in Egypt, Palestine and Syria in the Hampshire Yeomanry, the Hussars and the Staffordshire Yeomanry. He survived the war.

Frank Mason was the son of Edward and Ellen Mason of 51 Canon Street and was born in Winchester. He joined the 8th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, mostly volunteers who joined at the start of the war. His army number was S/14400. The actions of the battalion fell under the control of the 14th Light Division.

He rose to Lance Corporal, and is listed as Killed in Action on the Thiepval memorial, dying on 15th September 1916. As the battalion saw action in the bloody fighting around Flers-Courcelette, the guess is that Frank was killed here, and that his body, like 70,000 other Allied soldiers, was never found.