PAGE Frank Arthur

FRANK ARTHUR PAGE
Lance Corporal 52153, 26th Battalion Royal Fusiliers
Died on Friday 24th October 1919
Buried: St. James the Less Churchyard, Lancing, South of the Church Tower

Since the beginning of the nineteenth century the Page family have been one of Lancing's most prolific families. Although the parish registers are in poor condition it appears that by 1901 all Pages in the village were descended from the same great-grandparents, James and Sarah Page. They had at least seven sons who survived infancy, and Frank Page's grandfather is thought to be the eldest of those sons. Frank was born at the beginning of 1891, the seventh and youngest child of Matthew and Emily Elizabeth Page. Matthew worked for much of his life as a bricklayer, but by 1901 was in poor health and unable to work, the family being supported by the adult children still at home.

Frank Page's service record has not survived, but it's believed that he enlisted in the summer of 1915. The 26th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was raised in July 1915 predominantly from bank clerks and accountants, although there is no evidence that Frank came into either of these categories. His battalion went to France in 1916, and then on to Italy in mid-November 1917, and a report in the Sussex Daily News dated 5 April 1918 gives news of Frank and his brothers Sydney and Charles:

During the recent German onslaught Private S. G. Page, Royal Sussex Regiment, one of three Lancing brothers serving, received his second wound. It was in the woods near Albert that he was hit, a bullet entering the leg. He is now in hospital in Reading. Last June, near Ypres, he was hit in the arm. The two other sons of Mrs. Page, Ivy Cottage, are Private C. F. Page, Royal West Kents, who is in Mesopotamia, and Lance Corporal F. A. Page, Royal Fusiliers, who is in hospital in Italy suffering from the privations of campaigning. All three brothers were formerly engaged in the market gardening industry.

However, the newspaper was a little behind the times, as the papers often tended to be. 41st Division had already left Italy, and were back in France on March 18th 1918, and it seems likely from later reports, that Frank was injured as a result of the German Spring Offensive at the end of March. A further item in the Worthing Gazette adds to the information:

LANCE CORPORAL F. PAGE - LANCING - One of three Army brothers, Lance Corporal F. Page, Royal Fusiliers, of 2 Ivy Cottages, Lancing, has been very badly wounded and has had his left leg amputated below the knee. He sustained the injury after he had been transferred from the Italian to the Western Front only a week. His army service extends to nearly three years.

Eventually Frank came home, although no details of the next few months are known, and he died on 24th October 1919, eighteen months after his wounding. He is buried in the graveyard of St. James the Less, North Lancing, where he had been baptised, one of only two Lancing men named on the war memorial to be buried in the village. Frank's brother Sydney, who died on the 17th April 1944, lies alongside him in the same grave.

*****

NUTLEY George Albert Bernard

GEORGE ALBERT BERNARD NUTLEY
Private TF/201048, 4th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment
Killed in Action on Thursday 1st August 1918
Commemorated: Soissons Memorial, Aisne, France

George Nutley was baptised on the 4th October 1896 at the church of St. James the Less, North Lancing, the youngest of the three children of Charles and Mary Jane Nutley. Neither Charles nor Mary Jane were originally from the local area, but by 1901 they had settled at Salt Lake, Lancing, which now forms part of Freshbrook Road. By 1911 Charles Nutley and both his sons were working as market gardeners, in common with the majority of local working men.


As George Nutley's service record does not survive at The National Archives exact details are not known, but it is believed that George and his brother Arthur enlisted together at Horsham into the 4th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment in early July 1915, and joined their battalion in Egypt in December of that year, where they were to stay for the next two and a half years. During that time their mother died, and the Sussex Daily News reported on the 31st January 1918:

PRIVATE G. A. B. NUTLEY - LANCING - It is a pathetic circumstance that while two Lancing brothers are fighting in Mesopotamia, their mother has recently passed away. Their home is at Salt Lake, Lancing. One, Private G. A. B. Nutley, Royal SussexRegiment, who was formerly in a market garden, has sustained a bayonet wound in the chest, but no further tidings have been forthcoming of him. The older brother is Private A. J. Nutley, also of the County Regiment, and in peace time an assistant to Messrs. Potter and Bailey, grocers etc. Both enlisted two and a half years ago.

By theh summer of 1918 the Battalion had returned from Palestine and were on the Western Front, and the unit war diary, held at The National Archives [WO95/2458] gives details of the action on August 1st, the day that George Nutley died:

4.45 a.m. The line advanced through the Bois de Beugneux. The enemy retired in disorder leaving many machine guns in our hands. A number were killed with the bayonet and prisoners were taken.
6 a.m. The Beugneux-Cordoux Road was crossed and the objective occupied. The Battalion was now in touch with the Queens on the left and the 103rd Brigade on the right. The line was consolidated and the Battalion reorganised.
6.45 a.m. Orders were received to advance the line for 600 yards.
7 p.m. The Battalion advanced with Queens on the left and 8th Scottish Rifles on the right, and occupied the line with little opposition, capturing 6 machine guns. The new line was consolidated.
9 p.m. Our artillery put down an intense barrage, but no enemy was observed by us.
Casualties during action: Other ranks - killed 10; wounded 28; missing 3.


George Nutley was among the casualties that day and a report in the Sussex Daily News on the 18th September 1918 told of his death, and also news of his brother Arthur, still in Egypt and now in the Royal Army Medical Corps:

LANCING MAN KILLED - After just over three years serving with the Colours, Private G. A. Nutley, Royal Sussex Regiment, son of Mr. C. Nutley, Salt Lake, Lancing, has sacrificed his life for his country on the Western Front. He had only been there about a month, having been transferred from Egypt after about two and a half years service in the Near East, during which time he took part in the victorious advance on Jerusalem. He was wounded once during the Palestine Campaign. Since he left this country for foreign service in December 1915, this young soldier, who was in his twenty-second year, had never been home on leave, and his mother died while he was away. He was formerly engaged in the Market Gardening industry. His elder brother Private A. Nutley, Royal Army Medical Corps, is in Egypt, where he has been in hospital twice since being home on leave.

George Nutley has no known grave and his name appears on the memorial at Soissons, in the Aisne region of France. The memorial commemorates 4,000 officers and men of the UK forces who died during the Battles of the Aisne and Marne in 1918 and who have no known grave.

*****

NORRIS Sidney Harold

SIDNEY HAROLD NORRIS
Rifleman 6619, Rifle Brigade, attached 2/10th Battalion, London Regiment
Killed in Action on Sunday 31st March 1918
Commemorated: Pozières Memorial, Somme, Panel 81-84

Sidney Norris was not a Lancing man by birth and it has been difficult to trace his connection with the village, but the appearance of his name on the memorial indicates someone's wish that he should be remembered locally. He was born in Clapham, London, in 1893, the second child of Charles and Esther Norris. At the time of the 1901 census the family were living in Bramwell Street, Clapham, and the five children had all been born in Clapham or neighbouring Battersea. To go forward in time, the information given by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission shows that after the war, when information about those who died was collated, his father Charles was still living in Battersea.

Sidney Norris enlisted in Worthing while resident in Lancing, but as his service record does not survive, no date can be given for this. He originally joined the Army Service Corps as a driver, with the number T/36004, and then later transferred to the Rifle Brigade with the number 6619. The move from the Army Service Corps to a fairly elite regiment such as the Rifle Brigade was a major one, and may have been one of personal choice rather than reorganisation of personnel. He arrived in France on 24 February 1915, relatively early in the war, but his movements cannot be traced until the time of his death, when he was attached to the a battalion of the London Regiment. On 21 March 1918 the Germans had launched a major offensive along much of the southern section of the British front line, and they had pushed forward, re-taking much of the ground they lost in the previous two years. By the 31st March the 2/10th Londons were just south of Chauny and the main area of attack, and seem to have escaped the worst of the fighting during the previous week. Their unit war diary held at The National Archives [WO95/3009] shows that on the whole their sector was fairly quiet, although they could hear heavy fighting to their north and see enemy transport and troops advancing. The entry for the day that Sidney Norris died states:

BUTTES DE ROUY shelled. Direct hit on OP [observation post]. Casualties 1 OR killed. Situation otherwise quiet.

A check of 'Soldiers Died in the Great War' CD, and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website show that three men of the battalion were killed in action that day; one man, in common with Sidney Norris, is commemorated on the Pozières Memorial, while the other is buried in nearby Chauny Communal Cemetery Extension. I have found no reports of his death in local papers, and I have no knowledge of his Lancing connections. The 1915 Blue Book of Worthing gives one entry for that surname in Lancing, an Edwin Norris who was living at Dairy Cottage, one of the outlying residences, and it's possible that this was a relative or perhaps Sidney's home address. I would glad of any further information that could shed light on his life and work in the village.

*****

MONNERY William

WILLIAM MONNERY
Private 26156, 5th Battalion King's Shropshire Light Infantry
Killed in action on Wednesday 22nd August 1917
Commemorated: Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, Belgium, Panel 112/113

William Monnery was baptised on 9th November 1884 at St. Mary's Church, Sompting, the third son of William and Mary Monnery. The family settled in Sompting in the 1850s and most of the Monnery men worked in market gardens. By 1911 he was one of two brothers still living at home with their mother, now widowed, at Malt House Cottage, North Lancing, and he worked as a market garden labourer.

William Monnery had seen service as a regular soldier at some time before the war with the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment), but as his service record does not survive at The National Archives details of this are not known. It seems probable that he was on the Army Reserve at the outbreak of war and went back to his original regiment, later being transferred to the King's Shropshire Light Infantry. Annette Burgoyne, who researches the KSLI has information that shows 150 men of the 1/6th and 1/7th Battalions Notts and Derby Regiment were transferred to the 5th Battalion KSLI in August 1916. It seems likely that William was among these men, forty-three of whom later lost their lives.

Unlike his brother Harry, whose death cannot be explained by the unit war diary entries, William Monnery was killed on a day when his battalion were in action at Hooge, east of Ypres. Extracts from the war diary held at The National Archives [WO95/1902] give some idea of the action that day:

Immediately on ZERO going, 'A' and 'B' Companies advanced in small section columns through the wood and quickly obtained their objective throughout the line with the exception of the RIGHT flank which was 'refused' in order to obtain connection with the 43rd Brigade whose progress was held up by machine gun fire from 'L' Farm. Within 5 minutes of the advance, all the officers of the RIGHT Coy. became casualties and only one junior officer remained with the LEFT Coy. Considerable opposition was encountered during the advance, especially by machine gun fire. 'D' and 'C' Coys. carried out their instructions for action on ZERO, and on my being informed of the officer casualties, I ordered Captain Lloyd forward ...

... I realised that at least a fourth of my Battalion had by this time become casualties, and wished to be prepared adequately for any counter-attack which might follow.

... On the morning of the 23rd inst. at about 4.30 a.m. a heavy counter-attack was launched against 43rd Brigade, and it was only on my extreme RIGHT that our Lewis Gunners were able to participate in repelling it, and considerable execution was done by them in the enemies ranks, firing half-right ...

The casualties for the action were one officer and 19 other ranks killed, while a further 4 officers and 107 other ranks were wounded, with 12 other ranks missing - somewhere among these was William Monnery. An entry in the Worthing Gazette, dated 10th October 1917, reports his death:

PRIVATE W. MONNERY KILLED - An intimation has been received within the past few days that Private William Monnery, whose relatives live at Malthouse Cottages, North Lancing, was killed in action in France on the 22nd August. Prior to his enlistment Monnery was employed by Messrs. H. and A. Pullen-Burry, his father having worked for the same firm for many years. Private Monnery, who was thirty-five years of age and unmarried, was in the Shropshire Light Infantry. Four of his married brothers are now on service.

William Monnery's age is given incorrectly by the newspaper, and again by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission who give it as twenty-eight years. He was approaching his thirty-third birthday, and died just six weeks after his brother Harry. Both brothers are commemorated on Tyne Cot Memorial, 5 miles north-east of Ieper, the modern name given to the town of Ypres. The memorial bears the names of 35,000 officers and men who died in the area and have no known grave.

*****

MONNERY Stephen

STEPHEN MONNERY

Private 55915 Machine Gun Corps
Died: Tuesday 26 March 1918
Buried: Worthing (Broadwater) Cemetery, Sussex, Grave A9.I.18

Stephen Monnery was born in May 1887, the son of John and Kate Monnery. John originated from Henfield, and his family moved to Sompting at some time in the late 1850s. By the time of Stephen's birth the family were in Worthing where John worked as a market garden labourer, and in 1901 were living at 2 Jessamine Cottages, Thurloe Road, Broadwater. Stephen joined the Post Office as a thirteen year old telegraph messenger and stayed with them in a variety of jobs until he joined the Army.

On 16th March 1915 he enlisted into the 8th Battalion City of London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) as Rifleman 3327 and transferred on 12th September 1916 to the Machine Gun Corps, being posted to France on 26th October 1916. Initially it was difficult to determine which company of the Machine Gun Corps he was attached to, but thanks to information received from St. Dunstan's Archives it is now known that he was with the 23rd Company. He was wounded on 17th November 1916 during the last days of the Battle of the Somme, and suffered gunshot wounds to his head, both eyes and right arm, injuries which resulted in him having both his eyes removed. Stephen Monnery's war was over.

On his return to England he spent some time in hospital and then went home to recuperate. As there was no possibility of him ever being fit for service again, he appeared before a medical board in London on 5th March 1917, and his details on discharge were as follows:

Discharged: 5th March 1917
Place of Discharge: 91 York Street, Westminster
Age: 29 years 282 days
Height: 5ft 9ins
Complexion: Fair
Hair: Light brown Eyes: Both excised
Occupation: Postman
Address: 9 Victoria Terrace, Penhill Road, South Lancing
Tattoo marks: Right and left arms
Military character: Good Suffered gunshot wounds to head, both eyes and right arm - both eyes excised. No longer fit for military service.

He was transferred for rehabilitation to St. Dunstan's Home which was then in Regent's Park, London, with an annexe in Brighton, where he was training to be a masseur - the forerunner of the modern day physiotherapist. In March 1918 he developed meningitis, and he died at St. Dunstan's on 26th March 1918. The Worthing Gazette reported his funeral which took place four days later at Broadwater Cemetery:

MILITARY FUNERAL - Former Postman Blinded in the War
Military honours were accorded at the funeral, at the Cemetery on Saturday, of Stephen Monnery, a former member of the Post Office staff. The deceased, who was thirty years of age, and whose home was at Penhill-road, Lancing, was blinded in both eyes in the War. He became an inmate of St. Dunstan's Hostel at Brighton, where he was being trained for massage work, and his death occurred at that institution a few days since, from meningitis, due to a fragment of shell which had lodged in his head. In 1900 Monnery entered the Post Office as a telegraph messenger; in 1905 he became a postman at Lancing; three years later he was transferred to the Angmering district, and in 1915 he came back to Worthing. Then he enlisted in the Post Office Rifles and went on active service, with the result recorded.

AT THE GRAVESIDE
Mr. G. Stacey, the local Postmaster, and several members of the staff joined the relatives at the graveside on Saturday, thus showing their regard for a conscientious and useful member of the service. The bearers and firing party were supplied by one of the Battalions of the Coldstream Guards from Shoreham. There were several floral tributes from, among others, his mother and father; Edie and Percy (sister and brother); Walt and Mary (brother and sister); Edie, Micky and Jacky; Kitty, Aunt Alice, Uncle Harry and Ally; his cousin Ted, Nance and Jessie; Sir Arthur Pearson, Bart.; his comrades at West House, St. Dunstan's Annex; the Blind Boys of Queens Road, St. Dunstan's Annex; the Boys of St. Dunstan's; the Postmaster and Staff of Worthing Post Office; Hector and Mr. Genatt; Mr. F. Bartlett and children; Mr. F. Howell; Miss Gilbert; Mr. and Miss Hobbs; Mr. and Mrs. C. Evans; and Mr. Lisher and Marjory.

Stephen Monnery is buried in a family grave in Broadwater Cemetery, Worthing, joined in later years by his parents John and Kate Monnery in the adjoining grave. He is also commemorated on Worthing town war memorial and on the memorial plaque to post office employees at Worthing main post office. Harry Monnery and William Monnery also mentioned on these pages as having lost their lives during the Great War were the sons of John Monnery's elder brother William, and were first cousins to Stephen.




With thanks to Mary Monnery for the images of both Stephen Monnery's grave and also the memorial plaque at Worthing main post office.

*****

MONNERY Harry

HARRY MONNERY
Private 18431, 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards
Died Tuesday 9th October 1917
Commemorated: Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, Belgium, Panel 9 and 10

Harry Monnery was born in Sompting on August 8th 1882, the son of William and Mary Monnery, and baptised on September 10th of the same year at St. Mary's Church. His father had been born in Henfield and the family came to Sompting in the 1850s, most of the Monnery men working in market gardens. The family lived first in Sompting Street, then moved to Pullenburry Cottages in Grinstead Lane, Lancing, but in April 1908 Harry married Jessie Saunders and for a short time the couple moved to Ashurst where they ran the Fountain Inn. In 1911 they were back in North Lancing, living at Bay Tree Cottage, and Harry was working as a 'market gardener's salesman.'

As a married man with a business to look after Harry Monnery did not volunteer for military service immediately, but on 10th December 1915 he attested under the Derby Scheme, and it was on 7th June 1916 that he joined the Coldstream Guards at Caterham, and Jessie returned to stay with her family. After a period of training Harry joined the 3rd battalion in Flanders, who were, at that time, deeply involved in the 3rd Battle of Ypres. On the day he died the battalion were attacking positions in the Houthulst forest, north of Ypres, beyond Poelcapelle. A few lines in the Worthing Gazette of 14th November 1917 report his death:

A GUARDSMAN KILLED - An official report of the death of still another local soldier has been received. This is Harry Monnery, of Bay Tree Cottage. Prior to his enlistment in the Coldstream Guards he was employed as a salesman by Messrs. H. and A. Pullen-Burry, and he was also at one time a licensed victualler at Ashurst.

There is a higher than expected incidence of local men enlisting in the Coldstream Guards, and this could be because of the close proximity of Shoreham Camp where, for many years, a battalion of the regiment were based. As an elite regiment of the British Army they may have been an attractive proposition for men contemplating enlistment. However, when examining the battalion war diaries for this regiment, they are disappointing in content, with a bare minimum of information and often no indication of the number of casualties. Of five Monnery brothers, two died during the Great War; Harry's younger brother William died just a few weeks before and is also commemorated on Tyne Cot Memorial. Stephen Monnery, also named on Lancing War Memorial, is not the brother of the same name belonging to this family, but a first cousin.

Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial

MITCHELL Robert

ROBERT MITCHELL
Private 306908 2/5th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment)
Killed in Action on Thursday 21st March 1918
Commemorated on Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, Bay 7

Robert Mitchell was born on September 21st 1880 and baptised at the parish church of St. James the Less on November 7th of the same year, the youngest son of Frederick and Sarah Mitchell. At the time of the 1911 census he was still single, and living with his parents at North Road Cottages, Lancing, while working as a market garden labourer.

Robert Mitchell did not enlist until the first half of 1916; many of the market gardens were badly affected by losing so many of their workers to the military forces, and often tried to prevent them from being called up, attending local tribunals to plead their case. But by the summer of 1916 he had joined the Sherwood Foresters, enlisting in Worthing. As part of 59th Division, the battalion were in Ireland from April 1916 until January 1917, and the following month they left for France and the Western Front. The German Spring Offensive of 1918 was a disastrous time for the men of Lancing, and few battalions were more badly affected by the events of March 21st than the 2/5th Sherwood Foresters. Many soldiers all along the British front line were killed and injured by the earth shattering five hour artillery bombardment which preceded the attack, and many of those uninjured were left numb and frightened by the time the German advance started that morning. The battalion war diary did not survive that German advance, but a retrospective account of the events is held at The National Archives [WO95/3025] - the first paragraph sums up thus:

In writing the account of the above action, difficulty is at once encountered, owing to the fact that all records including War Diary, Defence schemes and Operation Orders were lost. Indeed the only information available is that afforded by messages sent to the Brigade HQs during the action, and the statements of the four men who were the only survivors.

The total casualties laid out in the document show that 31 officers and 624 other ranks were unaccounted for at the end of the day, including the Commanding Officer, Lt. Colonel H. R. Gadd, MC, with just four 'survivors' to answer roll call. 'Soldiers Died in the Great War' CD shows that in fact 4 officers and 104 other ranks died on that day, the remaining men either wounded, taken prisoner, or having lost temporarily lost touch with their unit. Also among the dead was their chaplain, the Reverend Alan Judd. Colonel Gadd survived as a prisoner of war, and months later was able to give more information about the day's events. Robert Mitchell was not so lucky; the Sussex Daily News reported on 20th May 1918:

LANCING MAN IS MISSING - Private R. Mitchell, Sherwood Foresters, son of Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, North Road, Lancing, is officially posted missing on the Western Front. His parents have not heard from him since the first week in March. He has been in the service about two years, and was in the employ of a market gardener on joining up.

Robert Mitchell has no known grave and is commemorated on Arras Memorial, Faubourg-d'Amiens Cemetery, Arras, and is also remembered on his parents' grave at St. James the Less, Lancing.

*****

LOWER Henry Charles

HENRY CHARLES LOWER

Ordinary Seaman J/33102 Royal Navy
Died on Wednesday 2nd January 1918
Buried at Mikra British Cemetery, Kalamaria, Greece, Grave 1746

Henry Lower was born in Burgess Hill, Sussex, on 15th February 1899, the son of Henry and Mary Ann Lower. His parents were married in Lancing in March 1895, and moved away to Burgess Hill, but by the time of the 1911 census, Mary Ann was widowed, and the family were living with her father and adult brothers at 9 Salt Lake, Lancing, with Mary Ann employed as a dressmaker.



On leaving school Henry worked as a market gardener, but in November 1913 at the age of fourteen he joined the Royal Navy, and on February 15th 1917, his eighteenth birthday, he moved from Boy Service to a permanent twelve year engagement. His service did not go unnoticed by the local papers, and this account was carried in the Worthing Gazette on December 20th 1916:

SERVING HIS COUNTRY - The Gazette is informed that Henry Lower, only son of Mrs. Lower of Salt Lake, Lancing, has been in the Royal Navy more than two years, and is now only seventeen. He went to Devonport on H.M.S. Impregnable in November 1914, and was home on leave at Christmas that year. In the following May he went out to the Dardanelles on the Endymion, and has not been home on leave since that period. The several vessels on which he has since seen service are the Cornwallis, the Europa, and the Edgar. Two of his friends also joined the Navy. One of them, William Burtenshaw, died of spotted fever two months after he joined; whilst Ernest Glasspool, who also went out to the Dardanelles, has been discharged. The correspondent who supplies the Gazette with these details thinks it very desirable that the public should know what our young lads are doing, whilst there are older ones idling their time away at home.

By this time in 1916 conscription had been introduced, so those 'older ones' may have had good reasons for still being at home, but many of these reports were initiated by families wanting to make public the fact that they had sons serving their country - this seemed to give them status in the community and a feeling of unity with others in a similar situation. Some of the details of service in the newspaper do not fully agree with the service record. The official record shows his movements as follows:

17 November 1913 - 4 February 1915: Boy 2, H.M.S. Impregnable 5 February 1914 - 17 June 1915: Boy 1, H.M.S. Impregnable 18 June 1915 - 16 August 1915: Boy 1, H.M.S. Cornwallis 17 August 1915 - 8 September 1915: Boy 1, H.M.S. Europa 9 September 1915 - 14 February 1917: Boy 1, H.M.S. Edgar 15 February 1917 - 2 January 1918: Ordinary Seaman, H.M.S. Edgar Report 31 December 1917: Character: Good Ability: Good

The last entry in Henry Lower's service record comes just two days after the last report on his character and ability:

Date of Death: 2nd January 1918 Cause of Death: Pneumonia

So Henry Lower succumbed not to enemy action, but to illness, as did so many men during the course of the war. He is buried at Mikra British Cemetery, Kalamaria, Greece. I've been able to visit and photograph many of the graves and memorials of local men. Unfortunately Henry Lower's grave, as one of the furthest away of all the Lancing men, may be more difficult than many of the others.

*****

LISHER Reginald

REGINALD LISHER

Private 10243, 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards
Killed in Action on Monday 14th September 1914
Commemorated: La Ferté-sous-Jouarre Memorial, Seine et Marne

Reginald Lisher was baptised on January 5th 1896 at the parish church of St. James the Less, North Lancing, the second son of James and Ellen Lisher. At the time of the 1911 census the family were living at Mafeking, Penhill Road, Lancing, and James and Reginald, together with elder brother, Lennox, worked as gardeners.

Reginald Lisher enlisted into the Coldstream Guards at Brighton on 19th July 1913, giving his age incorrectly as 18 years and 8 months, and his occupation as garden labourer. Five days later his childhood friend, Victor Grover, also enlisted, and the two boys later went together to the 1st Battalion. A year later they were among the first British troops to enter France shortly after the outbreak of war - two very young 'Old Contemptibles.' The battalion left Aldershot for Southampton on August 13th 1914 on board the Dunvegan Castle, arriving in Havre the following day. After a short period of rest they spent much of the next four weeks marching, retreating, marching and advancing, until on September 14th they were engaged in heavy action at the Battle of the Aisne. This action resulted in 11 officers and 342 other ranks becoming casualties, with more than half of the other ranks dead or missing, among them Reginald Lisher.

Some of these soldiers have graves in the local area, many at Vendresse and Chauny, but the majority have no known grave and are commemorated on the Memorial at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre. At first, the only reference I could find in the local papers about Reg Lisher was a brief sentence in the Sussex Daily News of 27th November 1914:

LANCING CASUALTIES - Sapper Chas. Morley, Royal Engineers, 3 Bessborough Terrace, has been home, having sustained a flesh wound in a thigh at the Aisne River, but has gone back to Chatham again, recovered. Private Reginald Lisher, Coldstream Guards, whose home is at South Street, is missing.

But searching newspapers for a later period, I came across this item in the Worthing Gazette of the 17th December 1919, which solves not only the puzzle of how Reginald Lisher died, but also explains what may have happened to many other Coldstream Guards on that day.



The village of Cerny was one of the objectives of the battalion that day, and an officer's account of the action is contained within the battalion war diary held at The National Archives [WO95/1263]:

The other portion of the Bn. numbering about 150 composed of Nos. 2 and 4 Coys. under Lt. Col. Ponsonby became divided from the remainder at the factory, which was originally occupied by the M. Gun section of the R. Sussex. When the Chimney fell this party pushed forward under very severe shell fire to a sunken road running N. into CERNY which was found to be unoccupied. Major Grant was ordered to go round E. side of the village, while Col. Ponsonby pushed through with the remainder, but touch was never regained, Major Grant eventually rejoining Maj. Hamilton's party (6 p.m.). When Col. Ponsonby's party reached the N. edge of the village, 3 Coys. of German Infantry were seen on the ridge half a mile N.E. of village and other Germans on the ridge N.W. of village. Col. Ponsonby and his party pushed on and 6 M. Gun limbers were surprised, the horses of 4 which were shot. They afterwards pushed on into a small plantation (shown on the sketch map of Capt. Warde Aldam's) which was reached about 10.15 p.m., where the Col. was wounded, the party then remained hidden till midnight when they rejoined ...

Another report states simply that the battalion had reached and taken Cerny-en-Laonnois, from which a retirement was ordered after dusk. Left behind at the time of that retirement were many dead and wounded including Reginald Lisher. It will never be known whether he was taken prisoner while still alive, or whether the Germans simply buried the British dead that they found. In Cerny today there is a German cemetery where fifty-nine burials took place in 1914, and it is probably here that Reg Lisher's body was buried, maybe alongside his comrades. After the war the British bodies were recovered from this and many other cemeteries and battlefield sites, and re-interred at Vendresse British Cemetery, this being the most likely last resting place for Reginald Lisher.



Parents James and Ellen Lisher are buried together in the churchyard extension at St. James the Less, North Lancing, the inscription reading:

In loving memory of my dear husband James Lisher
Who passed away 15th January 1932 aged 76
Also of Reginald, his son, killed in action in France September 1914 aged 18 years
Also Ellen, wife and mother of the above, died 5th March 1934 aged 73
Peace, perfect peace

KNIGHT William George

WILLIAM GEORGE KNIGHT

Sergeant 52203, 7th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment
Killed in Action on Wednesday 23rd October 1918
Buried: Amerval Communal Cemetery Extension, Solesmes, Grave B.19

William Knight is one of the mysteries of the war memorial. Despite looking at many sources I remain unclear about his identity and his family connections. On this page I'm presenting the facts that I've accumulated, but am heavily reliant on guesswork and supposition - I'm more than happy to stand corrected on any of it.

The name carved on the memorial says 'W. C. Knight.' I have traced my finger around that 'C' trying to turn it into a 'G' without success, although I now strongly suspect that the mason was wrong and the middle initial should stand for 'George.' The Lancing parish registers show just one instance of the surname Knight within the required period - the baptism of a William Knight, son of William and Charlotte Knight, on 27th March 1882, but I have no other evidence to confirm that this is the right man.
The Worthing Street and Trade Directory of 1911-1912 shows a William George Knight living at Lancing Farm Cottages, one of the outlying residences of the village, and the same entry is there in the edition published in 1919. The information contained in the book was gathered over the eighteen months prior to publication, so may well have included those who had died or had moved since 1918. However, the 1911 census does not give any likely William Knights in Lancing or the surrounding areas of Sussex.
The admission register for North Lancing School shows a Henry Knight, born 15th March 1903, admitted to the school in June 1914, presumably on moving into the village. There is no reason to suppose this is relevant, but is an indication of another Knight family living locally.

Possibly the most important piece of information I came across was found at the West Sussex Record Office. Among the items held there are two scrapbooks of newspaper cuttings relating solely to Lancing which were collected by someone in the village during the Great War. Many of the cuttings are casualty lists and reports of Lancing men, and they come mostly from the Sussex Daily News, and while much emphasis is on the Royal Sussex Regiment, any Lancing man who was wounded or killed is likely to be included. On one page I came across a list from the Sussex Daily News dated 6th August 1916, loosely stuck in by its top edge on top of other items, almost as if it had been added as an afterthought, but obviously containing some news relevant to Lancing. At first sight none of the entries seemed particularly local, but right at the bottom, under the heading 'Wounded' was

Knight 8815, Sergt. W. G. (North Staffs) (West Grinstead)

the town being the home of his next of kin. I feel strongly that this could be the right man, and a search of 'Soldiers Died in the Great War' CD showed that he was born in Horsham, Sussex, was formerly in the 1/6th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment, and transferred later, probably after his wounding, to the Leicestershire Regiment.

I cannot be sure that this is Lancing's William Knight, but I think there's a good chance that it's the right man. Unfortunately I've been unable to trace any service record that might prove or disprove the theory. I hope that more information will come to light, or some family member might be able to add to the story in the future.

*****