World War I - Army Casualties 1917 - 1918
NB. The list below is not exhaustive
Lance Corporal George Chapman
(28th April 1917)
Lance Corporal George Chapman, East Lancashire Regiment, who was killed in action on the 30th* April 1917, was the son of the late Mr. Henry Chapman, of Betteshanger. He was educated at Northbourne School under Mr. Green, and was in the employ of Mr. Pittock, butcher, Eastry, and of Mr. Nowers, butcher, Mill Road Deal. In January 1909 he enlisted, and was serving in South Africa at the outbreak of war. Recalled to England, he afterwards, on the 1st November 1914, went to France, and in the following January was wounded. He spent 13 months in hospital, and returned to the front in March 1916. His Company Commander wrote of him: "He had the confidence and admiration of all his comrades. He was a splendid soldier, clean, smart, and thoroughly reliable..."
He has no known grave but is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France; the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, which commemorates more than 72,000 names of the officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. George Chapman is also commemorated on the war memorials at Northbourne, Betteshanger, and at the Victoria Memorial Hospital, Deal.
*CWGC records his death as 28 April 1917.
Sydney Bedwell
(4th May 1917)
Private Sydney Bedwell fifth son of Mrs. Bedwell, of Finglesham, was killed in action in France on the 4th of May, 1917, while serving with the 7th Bn., The Buffs - East Kent Regiment. The news was conveyed to Mrs. Bedwell by his brother, Farrier-Sergt. G. Bedwell R.F.A., who on going to visit him, made the mournful discovery that Sydney had made the supreme sacrifice. The deceased soldier's officer wrote of him: "He had done splendid work on the previous day, advancing with his platoon to the final objective. He was a good lad and a splendid soldier." The Chaplain of the Battalion in a letter to Mrs. Bedwell, said: "it may be a comfort to you to know that a few days before he went up the line he expressed a desire to join the Men's Society, which is a little gathering I have organised for the keener Christian lads, and that he regularly attended the services which I was able to hold now and again."
He has no known grave but is commemorated on the the Arras Memorial that commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector and have no known grave. The main event of this period was the Arras offensive of 9 April-15 May 1917. Sydney Bedwell is also commemorated on the Northbourne War Memorial, and at the Victoria Memorial Hospital, Deal.
John JOHNSON
(May 1917)
Private John Johnson of the Buffs (East Kent Regiment) was the eldest son of William and Ann Johnson of Ham Bottom, Ham. Before joining the army, he was employed by Bradley Bros, corn factors, The Quay, Sandwich and lived at 5, Knightrider Street, Sandwich. He was killed during May 1917, aged 35 years, leaving a widow and three boys under 14 years.
He is also commemorated on the Ham War Memorial. His younger brother was Frederick Edward Johnson, aged 17, who was lost aboard H.M.S. Clan McNaughton in 1915.
Alfred Holden Wilson Waithman
(June 1917)
Alfred Holden Wilson Waithman was a Gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery. The eldest son of Mr. And Mrs. Waithman of Vicarage Road, Aston Birmingham. The Great War brought numerous soldiers to East Kent and many spent time billeted in Eastry before embarkation to France. He met Miss Norah Attwood of 'Westbrae' Ham Brooks; both were 25 years old.
The war had been dragging on for almost three years now and these were
intense times and such romances must have been not been uncommon.
They married in Ham church on January 20th 1917. The fathers were William
Charles Attwood and Benjamin Waithman. Alfred H.W. Waithman was killed in
France during June 1917 still 25 years old, his name was put on the Ham War Memorial.
Lance Corpl. George Robert Marsh
(4 February 1918)
Lance Corpl. George Robert Marsh of the 2nd Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry was killed in action in France on 4th February 1918, at the age of 30. He was the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Marsh of Coldharbour, Northbourne. He joined the Army in January 1908, and before enlisting he was in the employ of Lord Northbourne. He saw six years and seven months' service in India and from there was sent to France in September 1914, to the Meerut Clearing Hospital to help with the wounded. He was also a stretcher bearer, and afterwards sent to the relief of Kut to help with the sick and wounded. He also saw service in the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia. He was sent home sick in August 1916, and again went to France on active service in 1917.
Despite the Indian sounding name, Meerut Hospital, served the Western Front, and in 1914 was located at Orléans situated on the river Loire, 100 km south of Paris.
Kut (Al Kut or Kut-al-Amara) in Iraq, is situated on a loop of the river Tigris 160 kilometres south-east of Bagdad. Anglo-Indian troops had retreated here in December 1915 and were besieged by Turkish forces. A relief force was set up, diverting resources from the Western Front. The expedition set off from the British HQ at Basra in January 1916. Several relief attempts were made but none broke the Turkish siege and an additional 23,000 British casualties occurred during the relief efforts; the Turks lost approximately 10,000 men. However, Kut surrendered on 29th April 1916, the British having run out of food supplies and wracked with disease and inadequate medical provisions. It was a great humiliation for the British army. Approximately 8,000 troops were taken prisoner, many weak through sickness, they were not well treated and many died while in captivity. In a new campaign in the spring of 1917 Kut was retaken and British forces quickly advanced to take Baghdad.
George Robert Marsh is buried at the Metz-en-Couture Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France. He is also commemorated on the Northbourne War Memorial, and at the Victoria Memorial Hospital, Deal.
Sapper George J. Goddard
(5 September 1918)
Son of William and Elizabeth Eldridge Goddard, of Northbourne, Kent; husband of Annie Amelia Goddard.
A native of Northbourne and an old boy of the school under the late Mr. Jolliffe, Sapper George James Goddard of 4 Landport Cottages, Western Road Deal, was employed at Tilmanstone Colliery, and at the aerodrome, before joining the R.N.D.E., at Walmer in November 1915. He went to France in the following June and remained on active service until he was wounded in September 1918. Unfortunately the wound was accompanied by gas injuries, and he passed away before Mrs. Goddard, who had been telegraphed for, could reach him; and she arrived only in time for the funeral. Sapper Goddard, who was highly esteemed by his civilian friends and by his comrades in the Royal Engineers, was 35 years old.
George Goddard is buried at Terlincthun British Cemetery on the northern outskirts of Boulogne, France, and was used chiefly for burials from the base hospitals. He is also commemorated on the Northbourne War Memorial, and at the Victoria Memorial Hospital, Deal.
Corpl. Joseph Johnson
(12 September 1918)
Joseph George Johnson, age 30, son of Joseph and Ellen Johnson. Royal Field Artillery, 73rd Bty. 5th Army Bde.
The Deal, Walmer and Sandwich Mercury on 2nd November 1918
states:
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Johnson, of Northbourne, have received the sad news that their son, Corpl. Joseph Johnson, R.F.A., has died of wounds received in action in France, on the 12th Sept. Major Stuart, commanding the deceased n.c.o's battery, wrote that a shell landed practically under the gun, and wounded the whole detachment. Corpl. Johnson being severely injured. The officer saw him immediately after he was hit, as he was being taken to the dressing station, and he then seemed practically unconscious. He expressed his sympathy with the family in their loss. Corpl. Johnson had been in the service 10 years altogether, and had been some 4 years in India, when in October, 1914, he was transferred to the western front, where he had been on active service for nearly 4 years, taking part in the fighting at Neuve Chapelle, on the Somme, and at Bapaume, among other places. Two brothers are serving, one, Gunr. F. Johnson, in Mesopotamia, and the other Stoker F. Johnson, in the Royal Navy. By an interesting coincidence, Stoker Johnson was watching a war film in a cinema recently, when his brother's battery was depicted coming into action over the brow of a hill, his brother being easily recognisable, and apparently looking directly at him.
He was buried at Grevillers British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. He is also commemorated on the War Memorial in St. Augustine's Church, Northbourne, and at the Victoria Memorial Hospital, Deal.
Note: Northbourne memorial records him as Joseph J. Johnson, but CWGC records him as Joseph George Johnson.
Corpl. Christopher Towner
(15 September 1918)
Formerly in the employ of Lord Northbourne as a gardener, Cpl. Christopher Towner joined the Leicester Regiment in March, 1916, going on active service to France in the following July. He subsequently served with the Machine Gun Corps, and was killed on the 15th September, 1918.
He is commemorated at the Victoria Memorial Hospital, Deal.
George Reginald B. Hollamby
(27 September 1918)
George Reginald B. Hollamby was a 1st lieutenant in the Royal Marines. He was the son of George and Rose Ann Hollamby, of Vale Cottage, Northbourne.
The Deal Walmer and Sandwich Mercury on 19th October 1918 states:
LIEUT. G. R. HOLLAMBY.
The deepest sympathy is expressed with Mr. and Mrs. Hollamby, Vale Cottage, Northbourne, in the loss of their only son (and only child), Lieut. George Reginald Billinghurst Hollamby, R.M.L.I., official notification of whose death on the 27th Sept. has now been received from the Admiralty. He was previously officially reported to have been wounded on that date, but a very sympathetic letter from Capt. T. H. Burton, R.M.L.I. to C.Q.M.S. Hollamby, had already conveyed the sad news, and indicated that he was shot in the left thigh and through the heart, so that death must have been instantaneous. "His death is a great loss to us all," the captain wrote, "for he was as white a man as I have ever met." The young officer, who only attained his 22nd birthday on the 18th September, was born at Gosport, but at the age of 2 came to Walmer, on his father being stationed at the Depot. He was educated at the Depot R.M. School under Mr. Bailey, and at Deal School with Mr. Sirr, afterwards taking keen interest in the cultivation of a holding at Northbourne. He was for a time secretary of the "Walmer Castle" Lodge of Good Templars. Enlisting in the R.N. Division Transport on the 4th December, 1914, after training at Crystal Palace and Blandford, he left Bristol on the 1st March, 1915, for Egypt and Gallipoli, remaining till the evacuation of the Peninsula. After being stationed for a time at Mudros, he was transferred to France. Coming home on leave in June 1916, some three months illness prevented his return to duty. Returning to Blandford, he was recommended for a commission, and was gazetted second-lieutenant in his father's corps on the 29th August 1917, and served with the Portsmouth Division, R.M.L.I Following three weeks at Aldershot he returned to active service in France on the 16th April last, and was wounded on the 19th May. The injury, however, was not of a severe nature, and after a short stay in hospital he rejoined his battalion, receiving his second star a lieutenant on 28th August.
The sympathy of their many friends goes out to Mr. and Mrs. Hollamby in the loss at so early a stage of a career full of promise, of their only son, whose unassuming, genial personality, founded on an unfaltering faith, made him universally beloved.
A kerbed grave in Northbourne churchyard below north wall of chancel
states:
[S side] In loving memory of our dear mother Mary J. Billinghurst who died December 12th 1921 Aged 74 years.
[N side] Also of beloved son George R. Hollamby Lieu. RMLI called home September 27th 1918 Aged 22 years Buried in Hermies Hill Cemetery France.
He was buried at Hermies Hill British Cemetery; Hermies is a town in Pas-de-Calais, France. He is also commemorated on the Northbourne War Memorial and at the Victoria Memorial Hospital, Deal.
Arthur George Hoile
(6 November 1918)
Arthur George Hoile, a Lance Corporal in the 4th Kings Royal Rifles, was the fourth son of Mr. and Mrs. Jobe Hoile of Ham. In 1912 Arthur Hoile, then aged 17½, left home to join the Buffs (East Kent Regiment) Special Reserve at Canterbury.
Six months later he transferred to the 2nd Kings Royal Rifles which went to India in 1913. Later he transferred to the 4th Kings Royal Rifles and shortly after the start of the war in 1914 went on active service to France.
After 11 months active service in France he came home on leave and then went with his battalion to Salonika for two years and seven months.
To deter a German invasion, 150,000 allied troops were promised to Greece and Salonika was a strategically important Greek port on the Aegean coast of Macedonia. The port had a direct railway link to Belgrade in Serbia along which allied aid flowed. The first Anglo-French troops arrived at Salonika on 5th October, 1915 and the area quickly became an entrenched zone similar to the western front in France. Arthur Hoile stayed here for two years and seven months after which the battalion returned to France.
In France he was hit in the chest by a machine-gun bullet while crossing a road with his platoon, and died in
hospital on November 6th 1918. While he was away on active service his parents
moved to Worth so his name was put on the Ham War
Memorial as well as the memorial obelisk in the centre of Worth village. They moved to Pear Tree Cottages between Coventon Lane and Prospect House, The Street, Worth.
It is not unusual for someone to be commemorated on more than one memorial.