Cransford, Suffolk - Roll of Honour WW 2
1914 - 1918
To the Glory of God
and to the grateful memory
of our fellow parishioners
who fell in the Great War.
957 Private John Ronald Buckmaster, 16th. Platoon, 'D' Company, 11th. Battalion,
Australian Infantry, 1st. Division, Australian Imperial Force.
Born on 13th. September 1894 in Framlingham, Suffolk, one of four children of John and Emily Buckmaster of Framlingham. John attended school in Framlingham and worked labouring jobs on local farms.
He emigrated to Western Australia in 1913. There he worked as a scrub clearer at Wilberforce for the next 12 months.
Enlisting on 18th. August 1914 at Helena Vale, Western Australia where it was recorded that John was 5 ft. 9 in. tall of fair complexion. He trained at Blackboy Camp as an original member of 11th. Battalion.
He embarked for Europe aboard HMAT Ascanius from Fremantle on 2nd. November 1914, but the convoy was diverted to join troops of the 1st. Division for training in Egypt. On the morning of 25th. April 1915 John was among the first Australian troops to land on Gallipoli and spent the following four months fighting on the peninsula. In late August he came down with a serious case of influenza and was evacuated to a hospital in Malta and then to England.
John rejoined the 11th. Battalion in Egypt in January 1916.
In April the battalion redeployed to the Western Front and spent the following weeks in the relatively quiet 'nursery sector' in the area around Armentières.
In July troops of the 1st. Division were transported to the Somme. The 1st. Division was given the task of capturing the formidable German stronghold at Pozières, with the 11th. Battalion attacking from the south-west corner of the village.
Just hours before the attack was set to begin, German artillery fired on the Australian positions with high explosives and shrapnel and John was killed in action on Tuesday 25th. July 1916, aged 21.
A report from 4064 A.A. Lockhart states,
"We were in the line at Pozieres, there were three of us in the same area, Buckmaster was about 100 yards in front of me and a shell burst, killed him. This happened at daybreak. When I came back at 10 a.m. I saw his body laying where he had been killed. I do not know the place of burial".
At letter dated 16th. January 1917 from Capt. G.G. Campbell, 11th. Battalion reads,
"957 L/Cpl J.R. Buckmaster is posted as "Missing" but there is no doubt that he was killed and buried during an intense bombardment on 25.7.16."
John he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Australian National Monument at Villers-Bretonneux, Somme, France.
*Note* Some documents show John's rank as Lance-Corporal.
2781 Private William Chilvers, 3rd. Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.
William died on Monday 4th. November 1918. He is buried in Grave: I. B. 20. at Cross Roads Cemetery, Fontaine -au- Bois, Nord, France.
320176 Private James Fisher Mann, 15th. Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, formally 1857 Private, Suffolk Yeomanry.
The son of George and Ellen Mann of West Farm, Cransford.
James died on Wednesday 23rd. January 1918, aged 25. He is buried in Grave: F. 31. at Hadra War Memorial Cemetery, Alexandria, Egypt with the personal inscription,
'YOUNGEST BELOVED SON OF
GEORGE AND ELLEN MANN
OF CRANSFORD, SUFFOLK'
The following are not remembered on the Roll of Honour.
PW/6380 Private Charles Batley, 16th. Battalion, Middlesex Regiment.
Born in 1875 at Tasefield, Suffolk, the son of John and Mary Batley of Cransford.
Husband of Alice May Batley of Badingham, Suffolk.
Resident of Saxmundham, Suffolk.
Enlisted at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.
Charles died of disease on Sunday 24th. December 1916, aged 41. He is buried in Grave: O. III. D. 10. at St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France with the personal Inscription,
'GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN'
He is also remembered in the Congregational Chapel at Rendham, Suffolk, on the memorial in St. Mary's church Sweffling, Suffolk and on the Saxmundham, Suffolk war memorial.
Lt-Commander John Cyril Fitzrobert Borrett, HMS Invincible, Royal Navy.
Born on 13th. April 1883 at Preston, Lancashire, the youngest son of Major General Herbert Charles Borrett CB (1841 - 1917), King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, and Charlotte Anne Borrett, nee Bennett (1849 - 1931), of Lancaster Lodge, Reading, Berkshire.
Brother of Ann Laura (b. 1868), Herbert Percy (b. 1869), Charles Tuthill (b. 1871), Cecil Arthur (b. 1872), Thomas Lionel (b. 1873), Gertrude Holmes (B. 1876), Oswald Cuthbert (b. 1878), Harold Giles (b. 1881) and Constance Ivy Eleanor (b. 1886)
John was one of 61 candidates who were accepted for Naval Cadetships in the January 1898 intake term at H.M.S. Britannia. Following competitive examinations he obtained a scores of 1,892 marks, placing him 30th. of 61.
Between March 1912 and 15th. January 1914, he was in command of HMS Widgeon, a river gunboat that served on the China Station.
John was appointed to the battlecruiser HMS Invincible on 2nd. August 1914.
HMS Invincible was the lead ship of her class of three battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy during the first decade of the 20th. century and the first battlecruiser to be built by any country in the world. During the First World War, she participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight in a minor role, as she was the oldest and slowest of the British battlecruisers present. During the Battle of the Falkland Islands, Invincible and her sister ship Inflexible sank the armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau almost without loss to themselves, despite numerous hits by the German ships.
On 31st. May 1916 she was Rear-Admiral Horace Hood's flagship of the 3rd. Battlecruiser Squadron during the Battle of Jutland.
At 18:21 Invincible turned south, the German Admiral Franz von Hipper's battlecruisers Lützow, Derfflinger and Seydlitz were 9,000 yards (8.2 km) away and Invincible, and her sister ships, Inflexible and Indomitable, almost immediately opened fire. Indomitable hit Derfflinger three times and Seydlitz once, while Lützow quickly took 10 hits from the battlecruiser HMS Lion, Inflexible and Invincible, including two hits below the waterline by Invincible that would ultimately doom her.
At 18:30 Invincible abruptly appeared as a clear target before Lützow and Derfflinger. The two German ships then fired three salvoes each at Invincible and sank her in 90 seconds. At least one 305 mm (12 in.) shell from the third salvo struck her midships 'Q' turret. The shell penetrated the front of 'Q' turret, blew off the roof and detonated the midships magazines, which blew Invincible in half. The explosion possibly ignited 'A' and 'X' magazines. Of her complement of 1,031 officers and men, 1,026 were killed, including Rear-Admiral Hood. The six survivors were picked up by the destroyer HMS Badger. Five of the six were stationed in the fore control top located on the tripod foremast.
Invincible sank in 180 ft. (55 m) of water in position 57°02′40″N 06°07′15″E.
John died on Wednesday 31st. May 1916, aged 33. He has no known grave and he is commemorated on Panel 11 of the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Portsmouth, Hampshire.
Also commemorated on a personnel memorial in St. Peter's Church at Cransford.
40890 Private Clarence William Pipe, 2nd. Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.
Born in July 1887 at Tannington, Suffolk, the son of William and Emily Pipe, nee Hampton.
The husband of Ethel Maud Pipe, nee Wright, of Mount Pleasant, Cransford, Suffolk.
The father of Grace M.A. Wright b. 1902, Gladys Ethel Pipe b. 1905, and Gordon Clarence Pipe b. 1907, all born in Dennington.
Clarence was killed in action, aged 39, on Wednesday 11th. April 1917. He has no known grave and is commemorated on Bay 4 of the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France
Clarence is also remembered on the roll of honour inside St. Mary's church, Dennington.
88067 Private Harry Frank Ranson, Royal Army Medical Corps.
Born on 25th. December 1884 at Hitcham, Suffolk, the son of Walter, a Baptist Minister, and Esther Maria Ranson, nee Gosling, of Cransford.
Brother of Walter George, Arthur Cornelius, Frederick Willie, Ellen Louisa, Martha Florence, Alice Maude, Gertrude Jane and Herbert Stanley.
The 1901 census records Harry employed as a poultryman. The 1911 census records him as a drapers porter.
Harry served with the RAMC. In combat he would have followed the troops over the top into no mans land. The RAMC suffered losses of 743 officers and 6,130 soldiers killed while delivering medical care to wounded exposed to enemy fire.
Harry was discharged from the Army due to wounds on 14th. June 1919, he was given a Silver Badge, issue number 453408. He died from his wounds at Ipswich on Wednesday 24th. August 1921, aged 36. He is buried in Grave: X. 5. 27. at Ipswich Old Cemetery, Ipswich, Suffolk.
18088 Private George Swann, 7th. Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.
Born in 1888, the son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Swann of Cransford.
Husband of W. Swann of Framlingham, Suffolk.
George died of wounds on Wednesday 19th. July 1916, aged 28. He is buried in Grave: XIV. A. 5. at Etaples Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France with the personal inscription,
'THY WILL BE DONE'
Father, in Thy gracious keeping
Leave we know Thy servants sleeping
This memorial is in St. Peter's church, Cransford.
Cransford, Suffolk - Roll of Honour WW 2
1914 - 1918
To the Glory of God
and to the grateful memory
of our fellow parishioners
who fell in the Great War.
957 Private John Ronald Buckmaster, 16th. Platoon, 'D' Company, 11th. Battalion,
Australian Infantry, 1st. Division, Australian Imperial Force.
Born on 13th. September 1894 in Framlingham, Suffolk, one of four children of John and Emily Buckmaster of Framlingham. John attended school in Framlingham and worked labouring jobs on local farms.
He emigrated to Western Australia in 1913. There he worked as a scrub clearer at Wilberforce for the next 12 months.
Enlisting on 18th. August 1914 at Helena Vale, Western Australia where it was recorded that John was 5 ft. 9 in. tall of fair complexion. He trained at Blackboy Camp as an original member of 11th. Battalion.
He embarked for Europe aboard HMAT Ascanius from Fremantle on 2nd. November 1914, but the convoy was diverted to join troops of the 1st. Division for training in Egypt. On the morning of 25th. April 1915 John was among the first Australian troops to land on Gallipoli and spent the following four months fighting on the peninsula. In late August he came down with a serious case of influenza and was evacuated to a hospital in Malta and then to England.
John rejoined the 11th. Battalion in Egypt in January 1916.
In April the battalion redeployed to the Western Front and spent the following weeks in the relatively quiet 'nursery sector' in the area around Armentières.
In July troops of the 1st. Division were transported to the Somme. The 1st. Division was given the task of capturing the formidable German stronghold at Pozières, with the 11th. Battalion attacking from the south-west corner of the village.
Just hours before the attack was set to begin, German artillery fired on the Australian positions with high explosives and shrapnel and John was killed in action on Tuesday 25th. July 1916, aged 21.
A report from 4064 A.A. Lockhart states,
"We were in the line at Pozieres, there were three of us in the same area, Buckmaster was about 100 yards in front of me and a shell burst, killed him. This happened at daybreak. When I came back at 10 a.m. I saw his body laying where he had been killed. I do not know the place of burial".
At letter dated 16th. January 1917 from Capt. G.G. Campbell, 11th. Battalion reads,
"957 L/Cpl J.R. Buckmaster is posted as "Missing" but there is no doubt that he was killed and buried during an intense bombardment on 25.7.16."
John he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Australian National Monument at Villers-Bretonneux, Somme, France.
*Note* Some documents show John's rank as Lance-Corporal.
2781 Private William Chilvers, 3rd. Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.
William died on Monday 4th. November 1918. He is buried in Grave: I. B. 20. at Cross Roads Cemetery, Fontaine -au- Bois, Nord, France.
320176 Private James Fisher Mann, 15th. Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, formally 1857 Private, Suffolk Yeomanry.
The son of George and Ellen Mann of West Farm, Cransford.
James died on Wednesday 23rd. January 1918, aged 25. He is buried in Grave: F. 31. at Hadra War Memorial Cemetery, Alexandria, Egypt with the personal inscription,
'YOUNGEST BELOVED SON OF
GEORGE AND ELLEN MANN
OF CRANSFORD, SUFFOLK'
The following are not remembered on the Roll of Honour.
PW/6380 Private Charles Batley, 16th. Battalion, Middlesex Regiment.
Born in 1875 at Tasefield, Suffolk, the son of John and Mary Batley of Cransford.
Husband of Alice May Batley of Badingham, Suffolk.
Resident of Saxmundham, Suffolk.
Enlisted at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.
Charles died of disease on Sunday 24th. December 1916, aged 41. He is buried in Grave: O. III. D. 10. at St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France with the personal Inscription,
'GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN'
He is also remembered in the Congregational Chapel at Rendham, Suffolk, on the memorial in St. Mary's church Sweffling, Suffolk and on the Saxmundham, Suffolk war memorial.
Lt-Commander John Cyril Fitzrobert Borrett, HMS Invincible, Royal Navy.
Born on 13th. April 1883 at Preston, Lancashire, the youngest son of Major General Herbert Charles Borrett CB (1841 - 1917), King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, and Charlotte Anne Borrett, nee Bennett (1849 - 1931), of Lancaster Lodge, Reading, Berkshire.
Brother of Ann Laura (b. 1868), Herbert Percy (b. 1869), Charles Tuthill (b. 1871), Cecil Arthur (b. 1872), Thomas Lionel (b. 1873), Gertrude Holmes (B. 1876), Oswald Cuthbert (b. 1878), Harold Giles (b. 1881) and Constance Ivy Eleanor (b. 1886)
John was one of 61 candidates who were accepted for Naval Cadetships in the January 1898 intake term at H.M.S. Britannia. Following competitive examinations he obtained a scores of 1,892 marks, placing him 30th. of 61.
Between March 1912 and 15th. January 1914, he was in command of HMS Widgeon, a river gunboat that served on the China Station.
John was appointed to the battlecruiser HMS Invincible on 2nd. August 1914.
HMS Invincible was the lead ship of her class of three battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy during the first decade of the 20th. century and the first battlecruiser to be built by any country in the world. During the First World War, she participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight in a minor role, as she was the oldest and slowest of the British battlecruisers present. During the Battle of the Falkland Islands, Invincible and her sister ship Inflexible sank the armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau almost without loss to themselves, despite numerous hits by the German ships.
On 31st. May 1916 she was Rear-Admiral Horace Hood's flagship of the 3rd. Battlecruiser Squadron during the Battle of Jutland.
At 18:21 Invincible turned south, the German Admiral Franz von Hipper's battlecruisers Lützow, Derfflinger and Seydlitz were 9,000 yards (8.2 km) away and Invincible, and her sister ships, Inflexible and Indomitable, almost immediately opened fire. Indomitable hit Derfflinger three times and Seydlitz once, while Lützow quickly took 10 hits from the battlecruiser HMS Lion, Inflexible and Invincible, including two hits below the waterline by Invincible that would ultimately doom her.
At 18:30 Invincible abruptly appeared as a clear target before Lützow and Derfflinger. The two German ships then fired three salvoes each at Invincible and sank her in 90 seconds. At least one 305 mm (12 in.) shell from the third salvo struck her midships 'Q' turret. The shell penetrated the front of 'Q' turret, blew off the roof and detonated the midships magazines, which blew Invincible in half. The explosion possibly ignited 'A' and 'X' magazines. Of her complement of 1,031 officers and men, 1,026 were killed, including Rear-Admiral Hood. The six survivors were picked up by the destroyer HMS Badger. Five of the six were stationed in the fore control top located on the tripod foremast.
Invincible sank in 180 ft. (55 m) of water in position 57°02′40″N 06°07′15″E.
John died on Wednesday 31st. May 1916, aged 33. He has no known grave and he is commemorated on Panel 11 of the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Portsmouth, Hampshire.
Also commemorated on a personnel memorial in St. Peter's Church at Cransford.
40890 Private Clarence William Pipe, 2nd. Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.
Born in July 1887 at Tannington, Suffolk, the son of William and Emily Pipe, nee Hampton.
The husband of Ethel Maud Pipe, nee Wright, of Mount Pleasant, Cransford, Suffolk.
The father of Grace M.A. Wright b. 1902, Gladys Ethel Pipe b. 1905, and Gordon Clarence Pipe b. 1907, all born in Dennington.
Clarence was killed in action, aged 39, on Wednesday 11th. April 1917. He has no known grave and is commemorated on Bay 4 of the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France
Clarence is also remembered on the roll of honour inside St. Mary's church, Dennington.
88067 Private Harry Frank Ranson, Royal Army Medical Corps.
Born on 25th. December 1884 at Hitcham, Suffolk, the son of Walter, a Baptist Minister, and Esther Maria Ranson, nee Gosling, of Cransford.
Brother of Walter George, Arthur Cornelius, Frederick Willie, Ellen Louisa, Martha Florence, Alice Maude, Gertrude Jane and Herbert Stanley.
The 1901 census records Harry employed as a poultryman. The 1911 census records him as a drapers porter.
Harry served with the RAMC. In combat he would have followed the troops over the top into no mans land. The RAMC suffered losses of 743 officers and 6,130 soldiers killed while delivering medical care to wounded exposed to enemy fire.
Harry was discharged from the Army due to wounds on 14th. June 1919, he was given a Silver Badge, issue number 453408. He died from his wounds at Ipswich on Wednesday 24th. August 1921, aged 36. He is buried in Grave: X. 5. 27. at Ipswich Old Cemetery, Ipswich, Suffolk.
18088 Private George Swann, 7th. Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.
Born in 1888, the son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Swann of Cransford.
Husband of W. Swann of Framlingham, Suffolk.
George died of wounds on Wednesday 19th. July 1916, aged 28. He is buried in Grave: XIV. A. 5. at Etaples Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France with the personal inscription,
'THY WILL BE DONE'
Father, in Thy gracious keeping
Leave we know Thy servants sleeping
This memorial is in St. Peter's church, Cransford.