JOHN ARCHER 1885 - 4.11.1914 aged 29 years Pte 8195 2nd Bttn Yorks and Lancs Rgt John is not recorded on the Gotham Roll. He is recorded by the CWGC as ‘Son of Samuel Archer of East St, Gotham, and the late Sarah Archer. Native of Kegworth, Leicestershire.’ He is included in the roll as his father lived in Gotham, which seems to be the qualifying factor for many on the roll. John was a professional soldier of the York and Lancaster Regiment and went to France at the outbreak of WW1 with the BEF. His battalion landed at St Nazaire on 9th September 1914 and was transported by rail and route march to assist the French. They took over a section of the front line at Maison Rouge at Vailly on 20th September. On the 21st they came under fire and the battalion war diary records ‘3 killed, 11 wounded’. They were relieved on 12th October without further loss. On 18th October they were again in the front line on the Radinghen to Frammelles road where they immediately came under fire and lost 13 killed, 93 wounded and 27 missing. On 20th October the enemy broke through at Bas Champ and the battalion was forced to withdraw. On 23rd October the enemy attacked again and were counter attacked by repeated bayonet charges. The total loss for the battalion for October 1914 was 40 killed, 198 wounded, 34 missing, 8 died of wounds. John would have been one of those ‘died of wounds’ as he is recorded by Soldiers Died as died of wounds, 4th November 1914. War diaries rarely refer to “other ranks” by name, merely as OR’s. John would have been one of the ORs listed during this fluid opening phase of WW1 before things became trench bound. John is buried in the Boulogne Easter cemetery Pas de Calais. This is consistent with him having been evacuated from the front and transferred to a base hospital at Boulogne where he died of his wounds. He is buried in row III B 26. The cemetery is a CWGC part of the municipal cemetery and is unusual in that the head stones are laid flat, which is usually a sign of unstable ground. John is also recorded on the Kegworth Memorial. CHARLES BOWLEY 1881 – 6.5.1917 aged 36 years Pte 24079 3rd/5th Bttn Lancashire Fusiliers Charles was born in Gotham, the son of Arthur and Emily Bowley and husband of Jane Price Bowley and they lived on Meadow End with their children Agnes and Gertrude. Charles was a Gypsum Miner before enlistment. He died of wounds at St Omer and is buried in the Longuenesse (St Omer) CWGC cemetery row IV B 72. The CWGC record his number as 24079, but Soldiers Died as 204445 formerly 22914 Sherwood Foresters. His army record has not survived the blitz. See also details of Raymond Price buried in the same cemetery opposite Charles. GEORGE WILLIAM BOWLEY 1885 – 26.9.1917 aged 32 years Pte 266954 2nd/7th Bttn (Robin Hood Rifles) Sherwood Foresters. George was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Bowley of Malt St. He was an agricultural labourer before enlistment. He was killed in action in the attack on Wieltje during the Passchendaele campaign. The battalion war diary is quite detailed and has the operational order for the attack which states ‘The brigade will attack the system of enemy trenches, strong points and shell holes between D14 and D90 (map references) 177 infantry brigade will attack right and 175 attack left in two waves. On the left the 2/7th will capture S area. The battalion will form up under cover of darkness the night before ‘O’ day’. The battalion diary records; 26th Sept 1917. Battalion attacked on a two Company frontage as per orders. All objectives gained and maintained in spite of heavy enemy counter attacks. 28th Sept 1917 Battalion relieved by 2/6th South Staffs Rgt and moved back to support at Schuller Galleries. 29th Sept 1917 back to billets at Vermertinghe. Casualties 1 officer killed, 7 wounded, 36 ORs killed, 238 wounded, 48 missing. As with thousands of men killed in the Passchendaele campaign he has no known grave, having been blown to pieces or buried in the deep glutinous mud for which the campaign is infamous. He is recorded at the Tyne Cott CWGC cemetery on panel 99-102. See also Charles Edward Hale; same regiment, same battalion, killed in the same attack, same day. And also Herbert Hallam also killed at Wieltje, 17th November 1917 also recorded at Tyne Cott. HARRY BRAILSFORD 1888 – 20.9.14 aged 26 years L/Cpl 10108 2nd Bttn Sherwood Foresters Harry was born at Cropwell Bishop and was the son of Thomas and Ellen Brailsford of The Rushes, Gotham. Harry enlisted at the age of 18 in August 1906 and then was called back to the colours at the outbreak of war. The battalion war diary is very detailed; at odds with diaries compiled later in the war. The battalion mustered and kitted at Cambridge in August 1914 and then travelled by train and route march to Newmarket where they entrained for Southampton and thence to St Nazaire on 8th September. There then followed train journeys and route marches to the front via Coulommiers, Dove, Chateaux Thierry, Parcy Tigny, Charise and Druzel on the 19th they stood to at 3.00 am at the sound of heavy gunfire to their front. They crossed the Aisne by pontoon at Bourg and then to Vendresse where they took over the line from the Black Watch. They were then relieved that night by the Gloucesters and they took over lines from the KRR just north of Troyon on the extreme right of the BEF and in touch with the French on their right. On the 20th enemy were seen to have taken trenches on their right on the ridge at the head of Troyon valley, the most vital point in the line of defence. The battalion moved to re take the trenches. A German column was seen to be marching prisoners away and A and C Companies, who were in bivouac nearest the trench moved up under captains Popham and Parkinson to the head of the valley. Their advance was met by heavy machine gun fire from the front and left causing many casualties, the ground being devoid of cover and very cramped. The advance was checked. The other two companies of the battalion reinforced the line then a general advance was made with great dash. In spite of heavy losses the trenches were retaken. Casualties were 4 officers killed and 8 wounded (all named) OR casualties 180 of which some 40 were killed. Harry has no known grave and is recorded on the La Ferte Sous Jouarre memorial. Harry’s service record survives. GEORGE WILLIAM BROWN 1882 – 27.8.1918 aged 36 years Pte 87900 1st Bttn Sherwood Foresters George was a 35 year old butcher living and working at Keyworth before enlistment in 1917. He was the son of William and Jane Brown of Town St (Leake Rd) Gotham where he grew up. He is buried in the La Targette CWGC cemetery at Neuville St Vaast row IV B 8. His service record survives. CHARLES H CHADBURN 1897 - 4.10.1918. aged 21 years L/Cpl 12535 1st/8th Bttn Sherwood Foresters Charles was born at Sutton Bonnington though by 1911 he was living with his parents’ John and Elizabeth on Kegworth Road, Gotham with his siblings, Maud, Arthur and Phylis. He worked at the agricultural college as a ‘house boy’. Charles is recorded on the Gotham roll as Chadborn, by the CWGC as Chadburn, by Soldiers Died as Chadbourne and by the Sherwood Foresters Museum as Chadburn. He was killed in action in the last 100 days campaign and is buried in the Tincourt CWGC cemetery on the Somme row V J 22. FREDERICK WILLIAM COOKE 1889 – 11.5.1917 aged 28 years Pte 14963 9th Bttn Northumberland Fusiliers Frederick was the son of Frederick and Mary Cooke of Nottingham Road, Gotham, though his place of birth is listed as Kegworth. The 1891 census shows him living on Nottingham Road, Gotham aged 2 years. He was the husband of Carrie Cooke of Pleasant Place Kegworth and was killed in action by random shell fire on the trenches his battalion had only taken over that night. He is buried in the Fauberg D’Amiens CWCG cemetery Arras row VI G 26. See also Charles Jessop and Daniel Smith also recorded at this cemetery. GEORGE CRADDOCK 1884 – 25.7.1917 aged 33 years Gnr 262 Siege Btty Royal Garrison Artillery George does not appear on the Gotham roll. He was the son of William and Rebecca Craddock who lived on Church St and later Bag Lane (Curzon St) before moving to Radford, Nottingham. On enlistment he was living at 3 Forster St, Radford and is described as a 31 year old ‘plug maker’. He died of wounds received in the Ypres salient and is buried at Dozinghem CWGC cemetery Ypres row 1 A 12. Dozinghem, along with Mendenghem and Bandagehem, were large casualty clearing stations in the salient. Wounded men would be treated at forward aid posts before transfer to a clearing station. Unfortunately not all survived and large cemeteries alongside the posts result. JOHN WILLIAM DAKIN 1885 – 10.10.1916 aged 31 years Pte 32565 16th Bttn (Welbeck Rangers) Sherwood Foresters John was the son of the late Samuel and Elizabeth Dakin of Town Street (Leake Road) Gotham. The 1891 census has John living with his grandparents, John and Ann Dakin on Town Street, which fits with the “late” parents. He was killed in action on the Schwaben redoubt on the Somme aged 31, though the Methodist roll records that he died of wounds. The Schwaben redoubt was a fortified German stronghold and was a first day objective for the Ulstermen of the 36th Division on the first day of the battle of the Somme. The Ulstermen took the redoubt but were not supported and it fell back into German hands where it continued to inflict casualties until re taken. There is a theory that the Ulstermen were deliberately left unsupported on the 1st of July to ‘eliminate’ them and remove them from the political ‘game’ in Ireland (the Ulstermen were protestant and loyalist to a man) John has no known grave and is recorded on the Thiepval memorial pier and face 10C,10D and 11A. ARTHUR DRING 1895 – 14.3.1916 aged 21 years Pte 15930 10th Bttn Northumberland Fusiliers Arthur was the son of Frederick and Eliza Dring and was born in Gotham, though in 1912 the family moved to Costock Road, East Leake. He was a wounded in the leg by shrapnel and bullets during a trench raid on German trenches on 1st January 1916 whilst serving in D company and evacuated to England, where he had his leg amputated at a hospital in Sheffield. He died as a result of the operation. Arthur’s death certificate states as cause of death: Gunshot wound right thigh. Septicaemia certified by Ernest Finch MB. His mother, Eliza, was present at his bedside at his death. He is buried under a CWGC headstone in East Leake churchyard. See also his brother Joseph. Both brothers are also recorded on the East Leake roll.