Clovelly Soldiers Died 1914 - 1919

compiled by

Barry Johnson

The place of birth, enlistment and residence were recorded only for "other ranks" in the Army, so this listing does not include commissioned officers.

Where possible, the PRO reference number to the appropriate unit war diary is given as a suggestion for further reading. Although junior other ranks are not usually mentioned by name in these documents, useful information on the likely action in which the soldier in question was killed or wounded is often given. Divisional histories are also recommended where appropriate, as these tend to contain more detailed and relevant information than regimental histories.

Note: Infantry soldiers belonged to a numbered battalion, four of which were grouped into a brigade; three brigades formed a division, which was a relatively permanent unit.

Sources:
a) "Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-19" CD-ROM; The Naval and Military Press ( https://www.naval-military-press.com/)
b) James E.A. (1978): "British Regiments, 1914-18" Samson Books
c) Commonwealth War Graves Commission (https://www.cwgc.org/)
d) Official History of the War: Military Operations - France & Flanders; Gallipoli (Various volumes)
e) Fowler S (1998): "Army Records for Family Historians"
- (2001): "Army Service Records of the First World War"
f) Holding, N.H. (1982): "World War I Army Ancestry"
- (1986): "More Sources of World War I Army Ancestry"
- (1987): "The Location of British Army Records"

Abbreviations:
Pte - Private; Rfn - Rifleman; L/Cpl - Lance Corporal; Regt - Regiment; Bn - Battalion; Bde - Brigade; Div - Division; T.F. - Territorial Force; L of C - Lines of Communication. RAMC - Royal Army Medical Corps; RASC - Royal Army Service Corps; MGC - Machine Gun Corps; DCLI - Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. KiA - Killed in Action; DoW - Died of Wounds; F&F - France and Flanders (includes Belgium and Italy).

Name: William BABB
Born / Enlisted / Residence: Clovelly / Bideford / Clovelly
Number / Rank / Regiment or Corps: 20764 / Pte. / 8 Devonshire Regt.
Cause / Date / Theatre of Death: KiA / 4 Oct 17 / F & F Age 27 .
Buried / Commemorated: Tyne Cot Memorial, (Panel 38-40) Zonnebeke, Belgium
Additional notes: Son of William P. and Mary Ann Babb, of Burscott, Clovelly.
8 Bn. Devonshires was part of 20 Bde, 7 Div. On 4 Oct 1917, they were engaged in the Battle of Broodseinde, part of the Third Battle of Ypres.
Further reading: 8 Devonshire War Diary (PRO WO 95/1655)
Atkinson, C.T. (1927): "The Seventh Division 1914-1918"
 

Name: James BATE
Born / Enlisted / Residence: Clovelly / Axminster / -
Number / Rank / Regiment or Corps: 20764 / Pte. / 1/4 Devonshire Regt.
Cause / Date / Theatre of Death: KiA / 3 Feb 17 / Mesopotamia. Age 25 .
Buried / Commemorated: Amara War Cemetery (XVIII. G. 16), Iraq
Additional notes: Son of Thomas and Susan Bate, of 84, Clovelly, Devon.
1/4 Bn Devonshires (T.F.) was part of 37 Indian Bde., 14 Indian Div., but in Feb 1917 they were posted to Amara for Tigris Defences and L. of C. On 3 Feb 1917, the British captured three lines of Turkish defences west of the Hai-Tigris junction.
Further reading: 1/4 Devonshire War Diary (PRO WO 95/5018)
Atkinson, C.T. (1926): "The Devonshire Regiment, 1914-1918"

Name: Job BEER
Born / Enlisted / Residence: Woolfardisworthy / Exeter / Clovelly
Number / Rank / Regiment or Corps: B/201888 / Rfn. / 1/28 Rifle Brigade
Cause / Date / Theatre of Death: DoW / 29 Mar 18 / F & F. Age 32
Buried / Commemorated: Doullens Communal Cemetery Extension No.1 (V. B. II), Somme, France.
Additional notes: Husband of Sarah Beer, of 136, Dyke Green, Clovelly.
Formerly T/4/039668 RASC. There was no 28 Bn. in the Rifle Brigade, so the "Soldiers Died" record is incorrect. None of the T.F. battalions numbered 18 to 25 served in France and Flanders. Rfn.Beer would have been wounded in the fighting of the "Kaiser's Battle", which began on 21st March 1918. As Doullens was well behind the front line, it was the site of several Casualty Clearing Stations. The following battalions of the Rifle Brigade (with their respective Divisions) were in action on this front between 21st - 29th March 1918: 2 (8), 3 (24), 7 (14), 8 (14), 9 (14), 11 (20), 12 (20), 16 (39).
Further reading:

Name: William BICKLE
Born / Enlisted / Residence: Clovelly / Callington, Cornwall / St.Mellion, Cornwall
Number / Rank / Regiment or Corps: 21776 / Pte, / 12 Devonshire Regt.
Cause / Date / Theatre of Death: Died / 13 June 16 / Home. Age 35
Buried / Commemorated: Plymouth (Efford) Cemetery (Church. C. 45. 3), Devon
Additional notes: Son of William and Jane Bickle. 12 Bn. Devonshires was a Labour battalion and part of Fourth Army Troops until April 1917.
Further reading: 12 Devonshire War Diary (PRO WO 95/517)

Name: James BOND
Born / Enlisted / Residence: Stoke Hartland / Exeter / Clovelly
Number / Rank / Regiment or Corps: 53474 / Pte. / RAMC
Cause / Date / Theatre of Death: Died / 28 Jul 15 / Home
Buried / Commemorated: Clovelly (All Saints) Churchyard, south of South Porch.
Additional notes: RAMC personnel could be attached to a battalion, or to a brigade Field Ambulance, or a divisional Sanitary Section. No further information available.
Further reading:

Name: George BOUGHTON
Born / Enlisted / Residence: Clovelly / Exeter / Barnstaple
Number / Rank / Regiment or Corps: 16623 / Pte. / 8 R. Fusiliers
Cause / Date / Theatre of Death: KiA / 2 Mar 16 / F & F. Age 23
Buried / Commemorated: Loos Memorial (Panel 25 to 27),Pas de Calais, France
Additional notes: Son of Fredrick George and Bessie Boughton
Formerly 23051 "Hussars Regt." (This is all that "Soldiers Died" records, but there were several Hussars regiments.) 8 Bn. Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regt.) was part of 36 Bde., 12 Div. On 2nd Mar 1916, they began their attack on the Hohenzollern Craters, near Loos.
Further reading: 8 R. Fusiliers War Diary (PRO WO 95/1857)
Scott A.B & Brumwell P.M. (1923): "History of the 12th (Eastern) Division in the Great War, 1914-1918".

Name: Arthur William BOWLES
Born / Enlisted / Residence: Cirencester / Okehampton / Clovelly
Number / Rank / Regiment or Corps: 16942 / Pte. / 9 Devonshire Regt.
Cause / Date / Theatre of Death: KiA / 1 Jul 16 / F & F
Buried / Commemorated: Devonshire Cemetery (A.5.), Mametz, Somme, France
Additional notes: Son of Mrs. E. Bowles, of Cornwell, Oxford
9 Bn. Devonshires was part of 20 Bde, 7 Div. 1st July 1916 was the first day of the lengthy Battle of the Somme, and 7 Div attacked towards the village of Mametz, starting from their trench, which became the cemetery for 163 of the 8th and 9th Devonshires. The cemetery also contains the grave of Lt. W.N. Hodgson, the poet.
Further reading: 9 Devonshire War Diary (PRO WO 95/1656)
Middlebrook M. ( 1971): "The First Day on the Somme".
Atkinson, C.T. (1927): "The Seventh Division 1914-1918".

Name: George COOK
Born / Enlisted / Residence: Hartland / Bideford / Clovelly
Number / Rank / Regiment or Corps: 20815 / Pte. / 9 Devonshire Regt.
Cause / Date / Theatre of Death: DoW 13 Jul 16 / Home
Buried / Commemorated: Clovelly (All Saints) Churchyard, west of Church.
Additional notes: Son of Mrs. Fanny Cook, of Lower Dyke, Clovelly.
9 Bn. Devonshires was part of 20 Bde, 7 Div. Pte. Cook may well have been wounded on 1st July 1916. (See Pte. Bowles, above.)
Further reading: 9 Devonshire War Diary (PRO WO 95/1656)
Atkinson, C.T. (1927): "The Seventh Division 1914-1918".

Name: Harry JEWELL
Born / Enlisted / Residence: Clovelly / Barnstaple / Bideford
Number / Rank / Regiment or Corps: 102725 / Pte. / MGC
Cause / Date / Theatre of Death: KiA / 24 Apr 18 / F & F. Age 19
Buried / Commemorated: Loos Memorial (Panel 136), Pas de Calais, France
Additional notes: Son of Mrs. Mary Jane Jewell, of 106, High St., Clovelly.
Formerly 202865 DCLI. MGC personnel were allocated to companies, attached to brigades. No Company number given. It is likely that Pte. Jewell was killed during the German Lys Offensive, 9th-29th Apr 1918.
Further reading: Hutchison G.S. (1938): "Machine Guns - a History of the Machine Gun Corps".

Name: James Henry SHACKSON
Born / Enlisted / Residence: Clovelly / Tunstall, Staffs. / -
Number / Rank / Regiment or Corps: 201204 / Pte. / 1/4 Norfolk Regt.
Cause / Date / Theatre of Death: Died / 19 Apr 17 / Palestine
Buried / Commemorated: Jerusalem Memorial (Panel 12 to 15), Israel
Additional notes: 1/4 Norfolks were in 163 Bde, 54 Div, and fought at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli, before going to Palestine. The Division suffered heavy losses in the First (26th-27th March 1917) and Second (17th-19th April 1917) Battles of Gaza, though Pte. Shackson may have died from disease contracted earlier.
Further reading: 1/4 Norfolk War Diary (PRO WO 95/4657)

Name: William STEVENS
Born / Enlisted / Residence: Clovelly / Holsworthy / Clovelly
Number / Rank / Regiment or Corps: 4516 / L/Cpl / MGC
Cause / Date / Theatre of Death: KiA / 16 Aug 17 / F & F. Age 24
Buried / Commemorated: Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke (Panel 154 to 159 and 163A)
Additional notes: Son of William Stevens, of Burscott, Clovelly, Devon, and the late Angelina Stevens. Formerly 20327 Devonshire Regt. MGC personnel were allocated to companies, attached to brigades. No Company number given. L/Cpl Stevens may have been killed on the first day of the Battle of Langemarck, 16th-18th August 1917, part of the Third Battle of Ypres..
Further reading: Hutchison G.S. (1938): "Machine Guns - a History of the Machine Gun Corps".

Name: Alfred Edward TRATHEN
Born / Enlisted / Residence: Clovelly / Barnstaple / Ilfracombe
Number / Rank / Regiment or Corps: 1100 / Pte. / R. North Devon Yeomanry
Cause / Date / Theatre of Death: KiA / 26 Nov 15 / Gallipoli. Age 41
Buried / Commemorated: Green Hill Cemetery (1 A 22), Turkey
Additional notes: Husband of Mrs. Trathen, of 21, St. James' Place, Ilfracombe
The Royal North Devon Yeomanry was dismounted and merged with 1/1st Royal Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry, and was part of 1/2nd S.Western Mounted Brigade, which disembarked at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli on 9th Oct 1915, and was attached to 11 Div. Early in November, they occupied badly waterlogged trenches in the southern sector of the Suvla front.
Further reading:

Note 1: Of the above, the following are not listed on the memorial inside All Saints' Church: James BATE, William BICKLE, George BOUGHTON, Arthur William BOWLES, and Alfred Edward TRATHEN.
    The following are listed on the memorial, but not in Soldiers Died 1914-1919: Charles CALLAGHAN, Samuel P.COLWILL, James T.CRUSE, Thomas W CRUSE, Stanley B.HEADON, William T.HOWARD, Llewellyn P PENGILLY, Thomas S.PENGILLY, James H.SOMERVILLE, Frank TARDIVELL, and William A.B.TUKE.

Note 2: Lt. the Hon. John Neville MANNERS, 2/Grenadier Guards, whose death is commemorated on the memorial at Mount Pleasant, Clovelly, was killed in action on 1 Sep 14, during the rear-guard actions of Villers Cotterets. The 4th (Guards) Bde., which consisted of 2/Grenadier Guards, 2/Coldstream Guards, 3/Coldstream Guards and 1/Irish Guards, was covering the retirement of 2 Division, during the Retreat from Mons. 2/Grenadiers and 3/Coldstream were holding the second line, with the Grenadiers on the right, between an open space called Rond de la Reine, along a grass ride which followed the highest ridge in the forest of Villers Cotterets, to another open space, Croix de Belle Vue. A company of the Grenadiers were sent forward to reinforce the Irish Guards, when the Germans opened a direct attack from the west, on the flank of the second line. Confused fighting followed, with the Guards' battalions becoming intermixed, with little or no control possible. Two platoons under Lts. Manners and Needham never received the order to retire and were cut off; the Grenadiers lost four officers and 160 men. "The enemy ran in upon them from all sides, and the action resolved itself into blind fighting in the gloom of the woods, with occasional glimpses of men crossing the rides, or firing from behind tree-boles." (Rudyard Kipling: The Irish Guards in the Great War - the First Battalion.) "Part of our No.4 Company made a counter-attack, charging with the bayonet, and I fear lost very heavily, Buddy Needham, John Manners and George Cecil being all wounded and missing, and most of their men missing as well." (From the diary of Maj.'Ma' Jeffreys, in Craster J.M.: Fifteen Rounds a Minute - the Grenadiers at War, 1914)
    The son of 3rd Baron Manners, of Avon Tyrrell, Christchurch, Hants., Lt. Manners entered the army in 1912, and is commemorated on the La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial, Seine-et-Marne, France, which records the names of nearly 4,000 officers and men of the British Expeditionary Force who died in August, September and the early part of October 1914 and who have no known grave.

Brian Randell, 28 Nov 2010