Wattisfield, Suffolk - Roll of Honour WW1, WW2

IN MEMORIAM

 

1914-1918

 

2493(S) Stoker George Arthur Ashfield, Royal Naval Reserve, HMS Pembroke.

Born in 1892 birth Hinderclay, Suffolk.

George died of illness on Thursday 25th. February 1915. He is buried in Grave: B. U. 1624 at Linthorpe Cemetery, Middlesbrough.

 

G/61103 Private Arthur Blake, 17th. Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.

Arthur was killed in action in the Battle of Cambrai on Friday 30th. November 1917. He has no known grave and is commemorated on Panel 3 and 4 of the Cambrai Memorial, Louverval, Nord, France.

 

55417 Private Walter Thomas Cross, 55th. Battalion, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry).

The son of David and Eliza Cross.

Husband of Annie Elizabeth Cross of Honey Pot Hall, Wattisfield.

Walter died, aged 34, on Tuesday 26th. March 1918. He is buried in Grave: IX. A. 17 at Lapugnot Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France with the personal inscription,

'IN DEATH NOT DIVIDED'

 

726 Private Edward Kerry, 2nd. Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers).

The son of Mrs. Amelia Goodwin, of The Maltings, Wattisfield.

Edward died, aged 24, on Friday 12th. May 1916 from diabetes as a result of shell shock from explosions on active service. He was buried on 16th. May in the SE part of Wattisfield cemetery with a family headstone with the personnel inscription,

'FOR HIS COUNTRY'S SAKE'

 

13753 Private Leslie Charles Kerry, 9th. Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.

The son of Mr. W. Kerry of Archway House, Wattisfield.

Leslie died of wounds, aged 21, on Monday 18th. September 1916, received in an attack on The Quadrilateral. He is buried in Grave: II. F. 6 at la Neuville British Cemetery, Corbie, Somme, Picardie, France.

 

13751 Private Bertie Alick Knapp, 9th. Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.

Born in 1897, the son of Mr. C. A. and Mrs. C. Knapp of Redgrave, Suffolk.

Bertie was killed in action, aged 20, during an attack on The Quadrilateral on Saturday 16th. September 1916. He has no known grave and is commemorated on Pier and Face 1 C and 2 A of the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, Picardie, France.

 

104368 Lance Corporal Frank William Landymore, 1st. Canadian Mounted Rifles (Saskatchewan Regiment).

Born on 31st. October 1892, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Landymore of Sandy Lane, Wattisfield.

Frank was killed in action, aged 24, during an attack on Regina Trench on Sunday 1st. October 1916. He was buried in an unmarked grave at map reference 57d. R. 23. a. 1. 1. Later identified by his ID disc, his body was found with his watch and a fountain pen, and was reburied in Grave: XIII. C. 8 at Serre Road Cemetery No. 2, Somme, Picardie, France.

Commemorated on Page 116 of the First World War Book of Remembrance, The Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

 

48109 Private James Benjamin Landymore, 1st. Garrison Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment.

Husband of F. R. Fisk, formerly Landymore, of Hepworth, Diss, Norfolk.

James died, aged 20, on Monday 19th. August 1918. He is buried in Grave: B. 19 at Port Said War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt.

 

12332 Private Ernest William Landymore, 2nd. Battalion, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment).

The son of Mrs A. Claydon of The Street, Wattisfield.

Enlisted on 26th. February 1916.

Discharged from the Army on 13th. August 1917.

Earnest died, aged 24, on Friday 2nd. November 1917. He was buried on 8th. November in Wattisfield Cemetery.

 

14014 Private George Miller, 8th. Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.

Brother of Donald Miller of Wattisfield, next of kin.

George died of wounds on Thursday 7th. December 1916. He is buried in the SE part of Wattisfield cemetery

 

G/12334 Private Clarence William Moule, 8th. Battalion, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment).

Born in 1895, the son of Mr. W. and Annie Theresa Moule of Crown Hill, Botesdale, Suffolk.

Clarence was killed in action, aged 22, on Wednesday 1st. August 1917. He has no known grave and is commemorated on Panel 13 of the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

 

61312 Rifleman Edgar Redvers Moule, 5th. Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps.

Born at Wattisfield, the son of William and Annie Teresa Moule, of 'La Chaume', Wortham, Suffolk.

Edgar died, aged 18, on Wednesday 6th. November 1918. He is buried in Wattisfield Cemetery with the personal inscription,

'IN THE MIDST OF LIFE

WE ARE IN DEATH'

 

206052 Private George Rivett, 1st. Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers).

The son of Arthur and Harriet Rivett of Hinderclay Road, Wattisfield.

George died, aged 23, on Saturday 2nd. December 1918. He is buried in Wattisfield Cemetery.

 

9696 Private Walter Rust, 11th. Battalion, Suffolk Regiment.

Walter died on Easter Monday 9th. April 1917. He was buried in a marked grave at map reference G6. C8. 5 and was later reburied in Grave: III. F. 14 at Roclincourt Valley Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.

 

* Not listed on the memorial *

 

34093 Private Christopher Charles Cross, 2nd. Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.

Born in Wetheringsett, Suffolk, the son of Robert Cole of Wetheringsett.

Husband of Maud May Elizabeth Cole of Walnut Tree Cottage, Wattisfield.

Resident of Diss, Norfolk.

Christopher was killed in action, aged 40, on Thursday 7th. December 1916. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Doiran Memorial, Doirani, Kilkis, Greece.

 

1939-1945

 

C/JX 171820 Boy 1st. Class Christopher Lawrence Bean, Queen Elizabeth class battleship HMS Barham (04), Royal Navy.

The son of Charles Richard and Ellen Beatrice Bean of Wattisfield.

On the afternoon of 24th. November 1941, Barham left Alexandria, Egypt as part of the 1st. Battle Squadron. The following morning, the German submarine U-331, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen, detected the faint engine noises of the British ships and moved to intercept. At around 16:00 Tiesenhausen ordered his boat to battle stations. An ASDIC operator aboard one of the leading destroyers HMS Jervis, detected the submarine at 16:18 at an estimated range of 900–1,100 yards (820–1,010 m), but the contact was disregarded. U-331 thus passed through the screen and was in a position to fire her torpedoes after the leading ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, had passed her by and the second ship, Barham, was closing rapidly. Tiesenhausen ordered all four bow torpedo tubes fired at a range of 410 yards (375 m) at 16:25. Possibly due to her closeness to HMS Valiant's bow wave and discharging the torpedoes, the boat's conning tower broached the surface and was fruitlessly engaged by one of the battleship's 'pom-pom"s' at a range of about 30 yards (27 m). The boat dived out of control after she broached, reaching an indicated depth of 869 ft. (265 m), well below her design depth rating of 490 ft (150 m), before she stabilised without any damage. U-331 was not attacked by the escorting destroyers and reached port on 3rd. December. Tiesenhausen was not certain of the results of his attack and radioed that he had hit a Queen Elizabeth class battleship with one torpedo.

There was no time for evasive action by Barham, and three of the four torpedoes struck amidships so closely together as to throw up a single massive water column. Barham quickly capsized to port and was lying on her side when a massive magazine explosion occurred. Barham sank in position 32.34N 26.24N only 4 minutes after she was torpedoed.

The Board of Enquiry into the sinking ascribed the final explosion to a fire in the 4 inch magazines outboard of the main 15 inch magazines, which would have then spread to and detonated the contents of the main magazines.

Due to the speed at which she sank, 862 officers and ratings were killed, including 2 who died of their wounds after being rescued. The destroyer HMS Hotspur rescued 337 survivors, while the Australian destroyer HMAS Nizam reportedly rescued 150 men. Captain Geoffrey Cooke went down with his ship.

From aboard HMS Valiant, Barham's sinking was captured by Gaumont News cameraman John Turner who shot 2 minutes of movie film, all he had left in his camera. This film became one of the most poignant shots in the whole war.

Christopher died, aged 17, on Tuesday 25th. November 1941. He has no known grave and is commemorated on Panel 45, 2 of the Chatham Naval Memorial, Chatham, Kent.

 

Third Officer William Branford Brothers, S S Box Hill of London, Merchant Navy.

The son of William and Ethel Brothers of Framlingham, Suffolk.

The 5,677 gross ton steam cargo ship Box Hill was built in 1920 as the S S Glentworth by Hawthorn Leslie & Co. Ltd. of Hebburn-on-Tyne, Newcastle, with the yard number 490.

On Sunday 31st. December, Box Hill, then owned by the Surrey Steam Ship Co. Ltd. of London was carrying a cargo of 8,452 tons of wheat from St. John, New Brunswick, Canada to Hull when she hit a German laid mine and was lost 9 nautical miles off the Humber lightvessel. The ship broke completely in half and sank almost immediately. Her mainmast and funnel were showing above the surface facing south-east, while her bow section pointed south-west. She had a crew of twenty two, all of whom were lost.

William died, aged 24. He has no known grave and is commemorated on Panel 18 of the Tower Hill Memorial, London.

In 1952 the wreck of the Box Hill was dispersed using heavy explosives.

 

1446953 Leading Aircraftman Edgar James Stevens, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 284 Squadron, RAF.

The son of Ida H. Stevens, and stepson of Walter Cooper of Wattisfield.

Edgar died, aged 22, on Saturday 23rd. October 1943. He was buried in Bari Civil Cemetery and was reburied on 25th. August 1944 in Grave: XIV. A. 22 at Bari War Cemetery, Bari, Puglia, Italy with the personal inscription,

'HE GAVE HIS LIFE

FOR THOSE HE LOVED.

SADLY MISSED

AND ALWAYS REMEMBERED'

 

 

This memorial is in St. Margaret's church at Wattisfield.

Done