Remembering Ernest Arthur TROWER (1895-1917)

Sunday July 24 [1927] Today was unveiled the Menin Memorial Gate at Ypres. ‘To those whose graves are unknown’ Unknown or rather graveless, those blown to fragments during these ghastly years as you my brother was. How well I remember your last words to me when I saw you for the last time. And how did you die? how can I ever know. Were you mercifully killed or were you wounded & died slowly. Died slowly in a strange country amongst strange people & knowing all the time that you would never see your loved ones again. Oh my poor brother what an ending to your life, hard for you, hard for us what hardship of mind & body must you not have endured in France & no doubt you often thought of the time when these years of anguish would end & that you could return to us again.

I recall again in memory all the days of our childhood, when we were boys & companions together. The only real companion I have had in my lonely life we had no secrets from each other. How straightforward & courageous you were too my dear Ern.

But never, never again can you & I meet. In memory only can I see you. Our days of boy-hood are long past now and you, my boy-hoods companion are dust in Flanders whilst I have gone much further in my journey & these days seem long, long ago now, but whilst life is in my body I can never forget you, even if I may have found someone who may be a dearer companion than ever you were.

These worlds were written by my 2x great-uncle Percy Ebenezer TROWER about his older brother Ernest Arthur TROWER who lost his life during the First World War. Whilst I have no memories of Ernest, only facts and pictures, I feel privileged to be able to honour the life and sacrifice of Ernest this Remembrance Day.

Copyright © 2011 John Gasson.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Remembrance 2010: Walter BOXALL (1897-1917)

This year I am remembering the six members of the BOXALL family recorded on the war memorial in the parish church at West Dean (near Chichester), Sussex.

I have previously written about Walter BOXALL (actually Walter Henry BOXALL), most recently when I was looking at the story that James and Caroline BOXALL had 27 children. I am happy that he wasn’t one of their children, but he appears to have been treated as if he was one.

I have a copy of his birth certificate which shows that his mother was Alice Ruth BOXALL although his father’s identity is not known. He was born on the 27th May 1897 at 10 Arthur Street, Caerleon, Monmouthshire, Wales. I have no idea why his mother was in Wales at the time of his birth.

He was back in West Dean in the for the 1901 census, when he was living with his grandparents, but in 1911 he his still living with his grandparents but is described as their son. He attended school at West Dean between the 14th October 1901 and the 26th May 1911 and left school to work on a farm.

With regard to his military service I know very little, really only what is included in Soldiers Died in the Great War and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. Walter apparantly enlisted at Chichester, Sussex (which is not surprising) and served with the 2nd Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment (regimental number: G/11744).

Interestingly this was the same battalion as Sidney Charles BOXALL (his 1st cousin once removed), but this is probably just a coincidence. He was killed in action on the 10th July 1917, but that is about the limit of my knowledge.

As well as the West Dean war memorial, Walter Henry BOXALL is remembered on the Nieuport Memorial, Belgium.

Remembrance 2010: Sidney BOXALL (1896-1918)

This year I am remembering the six members of the BOXALL family recorded on the war memorial in the parish church at West Dean (near Chichester), Sussex.

Sidney BOXALL’s full name was Sidney Charles BOXALL (although some records have him as Sydney Charles BOXALL) and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website provides us with the valuable information that Sidney was the “Son of Arthur and Charlotte Boxall, of 84, The Warren, West Dean, Chichester” and he died aged 22 on the 18th April 1918.

Sidney Charles was baptised on the 5th April 1896 at St. Andrew’s Church, West Dean and was the second youngest of Arthur and Charlotte’s five children. His younger brother was Frederick Henry BOXALL who I wrote about on Wednesday. Sidney, in common with most of the BOXALLs in West Dean, worked as a farm labourer.

Although Sidney’s service record has survived it is very brief, only six pages in total, and two of those relate to the return of his personal effects to his father, so unfortunately it doesn’t give a lot of detail on his military service.

He appears to have enlisted on the 20th January 1916 at Chichester, Sussex with the 2nd Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment (regimental number: G/8597), although his medical examination took place a couple of months earlier on the 18th November 1915.

His service record provides no further details on his military service other than his entitlement to the British War Medal and Victory Medal, and the fact that he was killed in action in France on the 18th April 1918. If time permitted I could probably have checked the battalions war diary to find out exactly where they were and what they were doing at the time.

As well as West Dean war memorial Sidney Charles is also remembered at Woburn Abbey Cemetery, Cuinchy, France.

Remembrance 2010: Leonard BOXALL (1884-1916)

This year I am remembering the six members of the BOXALL family recorded on the war memorial in the parish church at West Dean (near Chichester), Sussex.

Leonard BOXALL is probably the best documented of all the BOXALLs on the West Dean war memorial. Not only are there entries on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and in Soldiers Died in the Great War but his service record has also survived (albeit in burnt condition) and is available on Ancestry.co.uk along with his medal index card.

Leonard, or rather Leonard Arthur BOXALL, is also the closest relation of the six BOXALLs on the war memorial. He was my 2x great-uncle, the son of my 2x great-grandparents James and Caroline Emily BOXALL (the parents of 27 children) and brother of my great-grandmother Lilian Mary BOXALL.

He was born in 1884 in West Dean, Sussex and baptised at St. Andrew’s Church in West Dean on the 7th September 1884. He appears to have had various jobs on the farm, and when he enlisted at Croydon, Surrey on the 8th September 1914 he gave his occupation as a farm labourer.

Leonard was only 5 foot 4 inches tall and weighed 119 lbs, had blue eyes, brown hair and a fresh complexion when he passed his medical examination. He served as a Private in the 8th (Service) Battalion The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), although he may have served briefly with the Royal Sussex Regiment. According to his medal index card he arrived in France on the 31st August 1915, which meant he was entitled to the 1914-15 Star as well as the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

I haven’t followed his battalion through their war diaries, so I don’t know the details of where they fought, but Leonard’s story comes to an end on the 28th March 1916 at No. 17 Casualty Clearing Station when he died of gun shot wounds to his chest and right leg, which he had received on the 19th March.

Within Leonard’s service record is a poignant letter written by his mother, after she had received Leonard’s personal effects:

Colworth Cottages
Westdean
Nr Chichester
Sussex

Dear Sir,
I have received the things that you
[have] sent of my Darling Boy L. A Boxall
[and] I return you many thanks he was
[the] best Boy a mother [ever] had he has gone
to a Higher Service I hope and may my
other dear Boys be brought back safely to me
yours respectfully
C. E. Boxall

As well as West Dean war memorial Leonard Arthur BOXALL is remembered at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium.

Remembrance 2010: Frederick BOXALL (1899-1918)

This year I am remembering the six members of the BOXALL family recorded on the war memorial in the parish church at West Dean (near Chichester), Sussex.

Fortunately some biographical has survived for Frederick BOXALL, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website records that Frederick was in fact Frederick Henry BOXALL and that he was the “son of Arthur and Charlotte Boxall, of 84, The Warren, West Dean, Chichester, Sussex.”

According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website Frederick Henry was just 19 years old when he died on the 12th August 1918, whilst serving with the 1/4th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (his regimental number was 75430).

His medal index card shows that he had previously served with the Royal Sussex Regiment (regimental number: 257336) and his entry in Soldiers Died in the Great War shows that he was a member of the training reserve (number: TR/5/53157), presumably training with the Royal Sussex Regiment and then being transferred to the Northumberland Fusiliers when he arrived overseas.

There is a discrepancy on his entry in Soldiers Died in the Great War, which gives his place of birth as Southwark, Middlesex. Whilst this is of course possible, I have found no evidence that Arthur and Charlotte BOXALL were ever away from Sussex and the area around West Dean.

Frederick Henry BOXALL was born on the 10 March 1899 and his birth was registered in the Westbourne Registration District (which contained the parish of West Dean). His baptism was at St. Andrew’s Church, West Dean on the 30th April 1899.

As well as West Dean war memorial Frederick Henry BOXALL is remembered at Sissonne British Cemetery, Aisne, France.