St. John The Baptist Church War Memorial Names

The War Memorial

In grateful memory of those who gave their lives for their Country

"Remember them"

As part of a Community Centenary War Memorial Project, the Bere Regis Scout Group researched every single name on the War Memorial and produced a biography for each individual. You can find out more about the background to the Project by clicking here. You can read them all below. Click each Poppy to download a Factsheet for each Individual...

World War I 1914 - 1918

Alfred Applin

12646 PRIVATE, 5TH BATTALION, DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT

Born 1886
In Bere Regis

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 15, living at Rye Hill with his mother, Mary Applin (60) and brothers, Joseph (35) and Sydney (27), both labourers in the brewery

Date & Circumstances of Death

8 May 1920
Died after the end of the war, possibly as a result of wounds sustained during the war or of disease. He served in Gallipoli and was discharged from the Army on 6 January 1916 which was shortly after the 5th Battalion withdrew from Gallipoli

BURIED IN Bere Regis Cemetery
It is recorded that Alfred Applin’s name was added to the Village War Memorial after it was dedicated in 1919 and is therefore not in alphabetical order

Age at Death
34 years

Wiliam Ames

10873 PRIVATE, 5TH BATTALION, DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT

Born 1895
Bere Regis

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 6, living at Skippets with his father, Philip (34), a carter on the farm, mother Elizabeth (36), his sister Annie (15),and his brothers, Samuel (13), Percy (11), Bertie (8) and Reginald (10) months

At the time of his death, his widowed mother was living at 72 West Street

Date & Circumstances of Death

14 OCTOBER 1916
Died of wounds, probably sustained during the 5th Bn Dorsetshire Regiment’s action at Mouquet Farm, south of Thiepval, during the Battle of the Somme. He previously served with the 5th Bn in Gallipoli.

BURIED IN CONTAY WAR Cemetery
Contay is a village on the main road, Amiens to Arras. The site was chosen in August 1916 for burials from the 49th Casualty Clearing Station, which arrived at Contay at the end of August 1916. It was joined by the 9th CCS in September 1916. Contay British Cemetery contains 1,133 First World War burials.

Age at Death
21 years

Frederick Bartlett

S/2657 LANCE CORPORAL
1ST BATTALION
THE GORDON HIGHLANDERS

Date of Birth
not known
?

Family Details
Nothing is known of this man. There was a Bartlett family living in Southbrook in 1891, with a Frederick who served in the King’s Liverpool Regiment. Was this man related to these Bartletts?

Date & Circumstances of Death

18 July 1916
No details of circumstances, probably killed during the Battle of the Somme

Commemorated ON THE THIEPVAL Memorial
The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Battle of the Somme, which lasted from July to November 1916 bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who have no known grave

Age at Death
not known

Frederick Bartlett

84319 PRIVATE, 23RD BATTALION,
KINGS LIVERPOOL REGIMENT
(TRANSFERRED TO 62 COY, LABOUR CORPS NO 125750)

Born 1885
In Athelhampton

Family Details 1891 Census
Aged 6, living at Southbrook with his father, Robert (34), a coachman and mother Amy, brother, Allan (2) & sisters, Amy (8) & Nellie (4).

Husband of Rose Amy Bartlett, of Cardiff Cottage, Wellington Heath, Ledbury, Herefordshire.

Date & Circumstances of Death

16 July 1918
No details of circumstances, possibly died in UK of wounds or disease

Buried at CARDIFF (CATHAYS) Cemetery

Age at Death
33 years

Frank Brierley

31646 PRIVATE, 7TH BATTALION, DUKE OF CORNWALL’S LIGHT INFANTRY

Born 1897
In Bere Regis

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 4, living at The Kennels, Bere Down with his father, James (40), a stud groom, mother Rosann (39), both originally from Rochdale, Yorkshire, and his sister Rachel. Sydney Miller (21), a second horseman at the Kennels, was boarding with them.

Date & Circumstances of Death

26 November 1917
Probably killed in the fighting around Bourlon Wood during the Battle of Cambrai, which saw the first use of tanks en masse. Despite the remarkable success of the initial surprise Allied attack using tanks, the Germans counter attacked and much of the ground gained was lost in a month of fierce fighting.

Commemorated AT THE CAMBRAI Memorial, LOUVERVAL
Cambrai Memorial commemorates more than 7,000 men of the United Kingdom and South Africa who died in the Battle of Cambrai between November and December 1917 and who have no known grave.

Age at Death
20 years

Charles Bright

10406 PRIVATE, 5TH BATTALION, THE DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT

Born 1894
In Bere Regis.

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 8, living at SHITTERTON with his father John (50), a farm labourer, his mother Sarah (35), his brother Harry (22) who was also a farm labourer and may have been from a previous marriage, his brother Edwin (10) and his sisters Louisa (3) and Florence (5 months).

Date & Circumstances of Death
21 August 1915
Charles was one of four men from Bere Regis killed in Gallipoli during the attack on Hetman Chair on the 21 & 22 August 1915, following the landings at Suvla Bay on the 7 August 1915. In early August, simultaneous assaults were launched on all three fronts. However, the difficult terrain and stiff Turkish resistance soon led to the stalemate of trench warfare. From the end of August, no further serious action was fought and the lines remained unchanged. The peninsula was successfully evacuated in December and early January 1916.

Commemorated ON THE HELLES Memorial, GALLIPOLI
The Helles Memorial serves the dual function of Commonwealth battle Memorial for the whole Gallipoli campaign and place of commemoration for many of those Commonwealth servicemen who died there and have no known grave.

Age at Death
22 YEARS
( His older half brother Harry was killed 13 October 1916)

Henry Bright

G/31042 PRIVATE, 34TH BATTALION, THE ROYAL FUSILIERS

Born 1879
In Bere Regis.
Baptised 29 December 1878 at ST John’s Bere Regis

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 22, he was a farm labourer living at SHITTERTON with his father John (50), also a farm labourer, his stepmother Sarah (35), his half brothers Edwin (10) and Charles (8) and his half sisters Louisa (3) and Florence (5 months).

Date & Circumstances of Death
13 October 1916
Exact circumstances of death are not known. Probably killed during the Battle of the Somme

Commemorated AT AVELUY COMMUNAL CEMERTERY EXTENSION
Aveluy village is situated north of Albert and was held by Commonwealth forces from July 1915 to 26 March 1918. The extension to the communal Cemetery, begun by the French who held this part of the line previously, was continued by our units and field ambulances from August 1915 to March 1917. In the latter month the 3rd and 9th Casualty Clearing Stations began to use it, the 9th remaining until November 1917. On 26-27 March 1918, the village and the Cemetery were lost during the German advance but were retaken at the end of August. Aveluy Communal Cemetery Extension contains 613 burials and commemorations of the First World War.

Age at Death
37 YEARS
(His younger half brother, Charles, was killed 21 August 1915)

Harry Brown

12233 PRIVATE, 5TH BATTALION,
THE DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT

Born 29 November 1894
In Bere Regis.
Baptised 27 January 1895 at St John’s Bere Regis

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 6, living at Roke Farm Cottages with his father, George (29), a carter on the farm, mother Annie (27), and his brother William (2). Tom Barnes(?) (23), a cowman at the Farm and brother-in- law of George, was living with them.
At the time of his death, his parents were living at 45 West Street

Date & Circumstances of Death
27 September 1916
Circumstances of death not known, but probably died in one of the Base Hospitals in Etaples of wounds sustained during the action at the Zollern Redoubt in the Battle of the Somme, in which the 5 Bn Dorsets lost 352 officers & men killed & wounded, approximately 2/3 of its strength

Buried at THE ETAPLES MILITARY Cemetery
During the First World War, the area around Etaples was the scene of immense concentrations of Commonwealth reinforcement camps and hospitals. It was remote from attack, except from aircraft, and accessible by railway from both the northern or the southern battlefields. The hospitals, which included eleven general, one stationary, four Red Cross hospitals and a convalescent depot, could deal with 22,000 wounded or sick.

Age at Death
21 years

Fred Burgess

TA/055983 PRIVATE, 194th COY,
24th DIVISIONAL TRAIN,
ARMY SERVICE CORPS

Date of Birth not known

Family Details
?

Nothing is known of this man. There is no record of a Burgess family in Bere Regis in either the 1901 or 1891 Census’.

Date & Circumstances of Death
18 November 1915
No details of circumstances

Commemorated AT LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY Cemetery
The Cemetery is located 12 kms west of Ypres at Lijssenthoek which was on the main communications route between the Allied supply bases in the rear and the front line in the Ypres salient. Close to the front but out of range of most enemy artillery, Lijssenthoek was the obvious location for a number of casualty clearing stations. It was in use from June 1915 and contains 9,901 Commonwealth graves. It is the second largest Commonwealth Cemetery in Belgium

Age at Death
not known

William J Burt

45583 PRIVATE,
15TH (HAMPSHIRE YEOMANRY) BATTALION,
THE HAMPSHIRE REGIMENT

Born 1892

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 9, living in Toners Puddle (Turnerspuddle) with his mother Elizabeth (48) whose husband, a farm labourer, was recorded as being in hospital. Living with them were his 3 sisters, Sarah Ellen (27), Elizabeth May (15), both domestic servants, and Lily (12).

Date & circumstances of Death
26 October 1918
Exact circumstances of death not known, but Heestert village, where William is buried, was taken by Commonwealth forces towards the end of October 1918 as they were pursuing the defeated German forces towards the German frontier. It is likely that William was killed in the fighting for the village.

He was killed 10 days before the end of the war.

Commemorated in Heestert Military Cemetery
Located south east of Kortrijk, the village was captured in late October 1918. The cemetery was created in February 1919 on the orders of the Burgomaster when the nearby fields were being cleared of bodies resulting from the fighting in the local area in October & November 1918. There are 127 Commonwealth soldiers buried or commemorated of which 26 are unidentified. There are also 57 German war graves.

Age at Death
26 years

Charles V Churchill

10707 PRIVATE, 5TH BATTALION,
THE DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT

Born 1896
In MilBorne St Andrew

Bapitised
30 August 1896 at St Johns Bere Regis

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 4, living in MilBorne St Andrew, with his father, Frederick (45), a farm worker, his mother Caroline (41), his brothers William (15), Frederick (12) and Reginald (1), and his sister Frances (7) .

Date & Circumstances of Death
22 August 1915
Victor was one of four men from Bere Regis killed in Gallipoli during the attack on Hetman Chair on the 21 & 22 August 1915, following the landings at Suvla Bay on the 7 August 1915. In early August, simultaneous assaults were launched on all three fronts. However, the difficult terrain and stiff Turkish resistance soon led to the stalemate of trench warfare. From the end of August, no further serious action was fought and the lines remained unchanged. The peninsula was successfully evacuated in December and early January 1916.

Percy Norman Cobb

65585 CORPORAL, D BTY,104 BRIGADE,
ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY

Born 1898
In Bere Regis.

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 3, he was living at Court Farm ,the youngest son of his father David (49), a farmer, and his mother Susan (46), with his sisters, Lillie (18) and Dora (8) and brothers, James (16) and Frederick (15), both farm workers , Reginald (13) and (?) (10).

Date & Circumstances of Death
14 April 1917
Exact circumstances of death are not known but probably died of wounds whilst being treated in a field hospital near Dickebusch.

Commemorated AT DICKEBUSCH NEW MILITARY Cemetery
The Cemetery is close to Ypres.
The New Military Cemetery was begun in February 1915 and was used until May 1917 by fighting units and field ambulances, with a few further burials taking place in March and April 1918. The Extension was used from May 1917 to January 1918. The New Military Cemetery contains 624 First World War burials, including 8 unidentified, the Extension contains 547 including 5 unidentified.

Age at Death
19 YEARS

Percy Cox

10589 PRIVATE,
1st BATTALION
THE DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT
(Percy Cox is recorded on the War Memorial as serving with the 5th Battalion whereas the Percy Cox recorded in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is shown to be serving with the 1st Battalion)

Date of Birth not known

Family Details not known
?
There is no trace of a Percy Cox living in Bere Regis or the surrounding Parishes in 1901 or 1891. A Cox Family lived in Church Lane, Bere Regis in 1901. A Cox family also lived in Tonerspuddle in 1901.

Date & Circumstances of Death

11 AUGUST 1918

Exact circumstances of death not known. Probably killed in the fighting during the advance to final victory which began on the 8 Augist 1918 and culminated in the defeat of the German Army and the Armistice in November 1918

Commemorated ON THE VIS-EN-ARTOIS Memorial
The Vis-en-Artois Memorial which is about 10 Kms south east of Arras, commemorates the names of some 9000 men who fell in the period from the 8 August 1918 and the Armistice 3 months later in the advance to victory in Picardy and Artois, and who have no known grave.

Age at Death
not known

William Cox

347466 SHIP’S COOK,
HMS GOOD HOPE

Date of Birth not known

Family Details not known
?
There is no trace of a William Cox living in Bere Regis or the surrounding Parishes in 1901 or 1891. A Cox Family lived in Church Lane, Bere Regis in 1901. A Cox family also lived in Tonerspuddle in 1901 and included George Cox aged 32, the head of the family. If this is our man, he would have been aged 45 at the time of death.

Date & Circumstances of Death
1 NOVEMBER 1914

William Cox was a member of the crew of the armoured cruiser Good Hope which formed part of Admiral Craddock’s South American Squadron. The Squadron was involved in the Battle of Coronel off the Pacific coast of Chile against the German East Asiatic Squadron under Admiral Spee. The out-gunned and lightly armoured Good Hope received several direct hits early in the action and sank with the loss of all 1300 hands when the main magazine blew up.
The battle of Coronel was the first major naval engagement of the War and the first since the Battle of Trafalgar 100 years previously

Commemorated ON THE ROYAL NAVAL Memorial AT PORTSMOUTH

Age at Death
not known

Arther Crabb

25256 PRIVATE,
7TH BATTALION,
THE DUKE OF CORNWALL’S LIGHT INFANTRY

Born 1882

Family Details 1901 Census
No details found on local Census but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records his parents, George and Annie Crabb living at Roke Farm, Bere Regis, at the time of his death.

Date & Circumstances of Death
2 April 1918
Exact circumstances of death not known, but Pozieres village, where Arthur is Commemorated, lies 6 kilometres north east of the town of Albert. It was the scene of much action in the period of crisis between 21 March and 7 April 1918 when the unexpected German offensive pushed the Fifth Army back across the Somme battlefields captured 2 years previously. The Allies finally advanced to victory in the “Hundred Days” offensive beginning on the 8 August 1918 and ending with defeat of the German forces at the Armistice, 11 November 1918.

Commemorated ON THE POZIERES Memorial
The Pozieres Memorial commemorates the 14,000 casualties of the United Kingdom and 300 of the South African Forces who died in this area between 21 March and 7 August 1918 and who have no known grave.

Age at Death
36 years

Fred J Davis

Private 9311, 3rd Toronto C.E.F. (3rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry, Central Ontario Regt.). Died 13/06/1916. Aged 26. Born 12th January 1890 in Dorset. Son of Mrs. Elizabeth W. Davis, of Bere Regis, Dorset. Painter by trade. . Buried Sanctuary Wood Cemetery, Ypres, Belgium.

9311 PRIVATE, 3RD BATTALION,
(CENTRAL ONTARIO REGIMENT),
CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE

Born 12 January 1890
In Bere Regis.
Baptised 17 April 1891 in St John’s, Bere Regis

Family Details 1891 Census
Aged 1, Fred was the youngest of 8 brothers and sisters, Charity (15), Annie (14), William (12), Ellen (11), Gertrude (9), Edith (7), Mabel (4), and Charles (3), living at The Square Bere Regis (opposite the Royal Oak) with his father, James, a carpenter and his mother Elisabeth Warren Davis (nee Miller), a dressmaker. Fred’s father died in 1896 when Fred was 6 and by 1901 only Mabel (14), Charles (13) and Fred (11) were still living at home. Two cousins Elsie and Winifred (Emily) Wood were living with them.
Sometime before 1911 he emigrated to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian forces at Valcartier Camp near Quebec City on the 22 September 1914 at the age of 24. He was amongst the first of the Canadian volunteers. He was a painter and was single. He had previously served for 3 years in the Militia, the Canadian volunteer reserve. Height 5 feet 6 inches, girth 35 inches. Complexion fair, eyes blue, hair light & religion Church of England

National Archives of Canada Accession Reference: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 2341 - 1. Click here to see the front of his Attestation Paper and here to see the back of the form.

Date & Circumstances of Death
13 June 1916
Killed during the final assault on Mount Sorrel when the 1st Canadian Division succeeded in re-capturing a ridge which dominated Ypres, 3 miles away.

Buried in Sanctuary Wood Cemetery, Ypres
The cemetery contains nearly 2,000 graves, of which nearly 2/3 are unidentified.

Age at Death
26 years
(Fred Johnson also from Bere Regis, and a year older than Fred Davis, was killed 6 days earlier at Hooge, approximately a mile away, during the same Battle. Did they know each other as boys in the village?)

Frank George

2nd LIEUTENANT, 5TH BATTALION, THE DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT

Born 1881
In Bere Regis.

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 20, living at the Royal Oak, West Street, with his father, William (55) the innkeeper, his mother Angelina (Lean) (50) and brother Cecil (10). Also living at the Royal Oak were William Butler (23), an ostler/groom and Annie Williams (19), a domestic servant. Frank was a bank clerk in 1901 but was described as a Member of Grays Inn ie a Barrister at time of death.

Date & Circumstances of Death
22 August 1915
Charles was one of four men from Bere Regis killed in Gallipoli during the attack on Hetman Chair on the 21 & 22 August 1915, following the landings at Suvla Bay on the 7 August 1915. In early August, simultaneous assaults were launched on all three fronts. However, the difficult terrain and stiff Turkish resistance soon led to the stalemate of trench warfare. From the end of August, no further serious action was fought and the lines remained unchanged. The peninsula was successfully evacuated in December and early January 1916.

Fred Slade Johnson

426728 PRIVATE, 28TH BATTALION,
(THE SASKATCHEWAN REGIMENT),
CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE

Born 26 August 1888
In Bere Regis.
Baptised 23 September 1888 in St John’s, Bere Regis

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 12, Fred’s family were living at West Street with his father John Josiah (43), a farmer and brewer, his mother Sarah (35), his sister Dorothy (11) and brothers, Gerald (7) and William (4). Living with them were Amy Swingler (26), a governess and Helen Hewett (20), a servant. Fred was not living at home at the time of the census in April 1901 but boarding as a Scholar at Christ’s Hospital School.
He emigrated to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian forces in Regina, Saskatchewan on the 3 April 1915 at the age of 26. He was a farmer and was single. He had previously served for 2 years as a Territorial in the 4th Battalion, The Devonshire Regiment. Height 5 feet 11 inches, girth 39 inches, complexion fair, eyes brown, hair light brown & religion Church of England

National Archives of Canada Accession Reference: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4867 - 20. Click here to see the front of his Attestation Paper and here to see the back of the form.

Date & Circumstances of Death
6 June 1916
Killed at Hooge in the Ypres Salient, when the Germans exploded four mines beneath trenches occupied by two companies of the 28 Bn CEF, during the Battle of Mount Sorrel.
The Battalion War Diary reads: “3.30pm Enemy blew 4 mines under trenches 90,91,92 which, it is believed, practically wiped out the garrison.”
Some 200 men were killed, including Fred, and their bodies never found

Commemorated on the Menin Gate, Ypres
The Gate bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost without trace in the defence of the Ypres Salient

Age at Death
27 years

Percy Lockyer

17294 LANCE CORPORAL, 1ST BATTALION,
DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT

Born 1883
Bere Regis
Baptised 1890 at St John Bere Regis

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 18, living at Lane End, Middle Heath where he was an assistant to his father Thomas (39), a thatcher, his mother Fanny (37), brothers John (14), Alfred (11), Joseph (2) and his sisters Elizabeth (9), Louisa (6), Fanny (4), and Mary (4).

Date & Circumstances of Death

14 April 1917
Exact circumstances of death are not known

Age at Death
34 years

Percy’s elder brother William was killed a year later serving with the same Battalion.

William Lockyer

6120 PRIVATE, 1ST BATTALION,
DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT

Born 1881
Bere Regis

Family Details 1901 Census

William was the elder brother of Percy Lockyer. There is no trace of him in the 1901 Census as living with the remainder of the family at Lane End, Middle Heath. However he would have been aged 20 by then and may have left home.

Date & Circumstances of Death

15 May 1918
Exact circumstances of death are not known but probably killed in the confused fighting south of Arras following the German offensive in March 1918

Buried at BERLES NEW MILITARY Cemetery
Berles-au-Bois is situated 15 kms south west of Arras. It remained in British hands from the summer of 1915 until the end of the war. It contains 150 casualties from the First War

Age at Death
37 years

William was the elder brother of Percy Lockyer who served in the same Battalion and was killed a year earlier.

Frank Miller

17766 LANCE CORPORAL, 5TH BATTALION,
THE DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT

Born 14 April 1882
in Bere Regis.
Baptised 2 July 1882 at St John’s, Bere Regis

Family Details 1891 Census
Aged 8, living at the Townsend Farm, North Street with his father, James Swyer Miller (37) and his mother Adelaide (nee Blackmore) (36). Frank’s grandfather, John, ran the farm and employed his father as the Farm Bailiff. Living with them were his brothers, Sydney (11), Arthur John (known as Jack) (6) and his sisters, Agnes(7) and Gertrude (2). Also living there were Frank’s grandfather John (75), his grandmother Arabella (nee Bartlett) (70), his aunt Ann Miller (28) and cousin Millie Bartlett (9). By 1901, only Jack & Gertrude were still living at home.

Date & Circumstances of Death
19 August 1917
Killed during the Third Battle of Ypres, known as the Battle of Paschendaele, in the attack which began on the 16 August in the area around Langemark east of Ypres. The Dorsets lost 150 men killed & wounded on the 17 August and it is likely that Frank was one of those wounded who died 2 days later. Probably because of the considerable amount of fighting that continued in this area over the following months, his body was never found.

Commemorated ON THE TYNE COTT Memorial
The Tyne Cott Memorial commemorates the names of some 35,000 men whose graves are not known. Together with a further 11,952 burials it is the largest Commonwealth War Cemetery in the world.

Age at Death
35 years
( Frank was the cousin of Fred Davis who was killed on the14 June 1916 about 3 miles from where Frank was killed)

Herbet Frank Morris

A/2162 PRIVATE, 1ST BATTALION,
(WESTERN ONTARIO REGIMENT),
CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE

Born 9 June 1885
In Cerne Abbas.

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 16, Frank was a ploughboy, living at 33 Briantspuddle with his mother, Esther Turner (formerly Morris), his brother Frederick and sister Eva, his step father Mark Turner, his step bother, Frederick and step sister, Lillie
He emigrated to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian forces in Guelph, Ontario on the 18 February 1915 at the age of 29. His trade was a “stuard” (steward?) and he was married to Clara Morris of King Street, Preston, Ontario. At the time of his death, his wife Clara was living at Brea, Orange County, California, USA. Height 5 feet 9½ inches, girth 38 inches, complexion fair, eyes greyish blue, hair brown & religion Church of England.

National Archives of Canada Accession Reference: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 6389 - 53. Click here to see the front of his Attestation Paper and here to see the back of the form.

Date & Circumstances of Death
13 October 1915
Killed in an action near Nieppe, south of Ypres.
The Brigade War Diary reads: “Brigade made a demonstration consisting of artillery bombardment and feint attack with smoke bombs. Heavy retaliation by enemy artillery caused casualties. Killed 16, wounded 26 (approx) in 1st Bn. Trenches suffered considerable damage. Behaviour of troops admirable, though many had not been under serious shellfire before.” ”
Frank was one of the 16 men killed on that day.

Buried at St. Quentin Cabaret Military Cemetery
St Quentin Cabaret Military Cemetery is located about 10 km south of Ypres. St Quentin Cabaret was an inn near the village of Wulverghem and close to the front line. At times the inn was used as a battalion headquarters. The cemetery was first opened in February 1915 and used by divisions holding this sector of the Ypres Salient. There are 460 Commonwealth First War burials in the Cemetery

Age at Death
30 years

Walter Rawles

10583 PRIVATE, 5TH BATTALION,
THE DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT

Born 1884
In Bere Regis

Baptised
27 April 1884 at St Johns Bere Regis.
Father Alfred J Rawles, mother Annie Rawles

Family Details 1891 Census
In 1891, Walter, (7), and his sisters Gillian (10) and Alice (9), all scholars, were living with their widowed grandmother, Charlotte Langdown (51) at Rye Hill. Their widowed father, Alfred (36), was living nearby at Chamberlains Farm.
By 1901, when Walter was 17, he was still living with his grandmother. There is no further mention of his father, who presumably died sometime after 1891.

Date & Circumstances of Death
21 August 1915
Walter was one of four men from Bere Regis killed in Gallipoli during the attack on Hetman Chair on the 21 & 22 August 1915, following the landings at Suvla Bay on the 7 August 1915. In early August, simultaneous assaults were launched on all three fronts. However, the difficult terrain and stiff Turkish resistance soon led to the stalemate of trench warfare. From the end of August, no further serious action was fought and the lines remained unchanged. The peninsula was successfully evacuated in December and early January 1916.

William Rowland

2262 PRIVATE, 3TH BATTALION,
ROYAL FUSILIERS

Born 1895
SPETISBURY

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 6, living at West Street with his father, John (37), a general labourer, mother Annie (30), his sister Ethel (8),and his brothers, Edwin (9), Arthur (3),Philip (1)

Date & Circumstances of Death
26 April 1915
Probably killed in the action around Berlin Wood near Gravenstafel village, 4 miles north east of Ypres, during the 2nd Battle of Ypres when the Germans used poison gas for the first time. The 3 Bn The Royal Fusiliers were engaged in an action during the night of the 25/26 April and suffered many casualties. Along with many thousands of other soldiers who fought in the Salient, William Rowland’s body was never found.

Commemorated ON THE MENIN GATE Memorial
The Gate bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost without trace in the defence of the Ypres Salient

Age at Death
20 years

Charles Stickley

17788 PRIVATE, 1ST BATTALION,
THE COLDSTREAM GUARDS

Born 13 October 1892
In Bere Regis.
Baptised 25 December 1892 at St John’s Bere Regis

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 8, living at Woodbury Hill with his father, Frank (31), a woodman, his mother Louisa (34), his brothers, William (12), Frank (6), Cecil (4) and his sister Mary (10).
Also living at Woodbury Hill were his grandfather, Richard Stickley (71) and his grandmother Harriet (72) and an uncle, Matthew (25), also a woodman.

Date & Circumstances of Death
9 October 1918
Circumstances of death not known, but he died about a month before the end of the war, probably as the Germans were retreating towards the German frontier

Commemorated AT THE GREVILLERS MILITARY Cemetery The Cemetery is situated about 3 miles west of Bapaume. Grevillers was first occupied by Commonwealth troops in March 1917 and 3 Casualty Clearing Stations operated nearby. The village was lost during the German advance in March 1918 and recaptured by New Zealand troops in August. Burials took place here up to the end of the War. There are 2106 men buried or Commemorated of which 1940 are identified.

Age at Death
26 years

Harry C Stickley

3391 PRIVATE, 1ST BATTALION,
THE WELSH GUARDS

Born 1886
In Bere Regis.

Family Details 1901 Census
Aged 15, he was a dairy boy living at Doddings with his father, William (42), a farm labourer, his mother Annie (41) and his brother, Robert (7),.
Also living at Doddings were Elsie Torreville ? (9), a cousin and a lodger, William Riggs (21), a farm labourer.

Date & Circumstances of Death
27 November 1917
Circumstances of death not known

Buried at THE ROCQUIGNY-EQUANCOURT ROAD BRITISH Cemetery, MANANCOURT.
The nearby village of Etricourt was occupied by Commonwealth troops in April 1917 during the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. It was lost in March 1918 during the German spring offensive and regained in September. The Cemetery was begun in 1917 and used by 21st and 48th Casualty Clearing Stations. The Cemetery contains 1,838 burials and commemorations of which 21 are unidentified.

Age at Death
31 years
( was he related to Charles Stickley of Woodbury Hill?)

Herbet Trevett

CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE?

We have been unable to find out anything about this man.

There are 15 records of Trevetts on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database, none are recorded as serving with the Canadian Forces. There are 4 men with the name of Trevett who died during the Great War whilst serving with the Dorsetshire Regiment but none with a forename of Herbert.
Similarly, there are no records of casualties called Trevett in the Canadian Veterans database.

There was a Trevett family living in Tonerspuddle (Turnerspuddle) in 1891, but there is no record of a Herbert in the family. Trevett is a fairly common name in Dorset but concentrated more to the west of the County around Litton Cheney.

We have traced a Herbert Trevett who enlisted in the Dorsetshire Regiment on the 2 September 1914 aged 26 years, who was Born “near Dorchester”. Did he serve with the Canadians at some stage? Is he our man?

Does anyone know anything of this man or his family?

William White

10738 PRIVATE, 5TH BATTALION,
DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT
(POSSIBLY?)

Date of Birth
1889?

Family Details not known
?
There is one casualty on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission record named William White who served with the 5 Bn Dorsetshire Regiment. He is recorded as the son of a family living in Wooton Fitzpaine near Bridport.

There is no trace of a William White living in Bere Regis or the surrounding villages in either 1901 or 1891. In 1901, there was a White family living in Lower Stockley and another White family in North Street, Bere Regis but neither had a William living there.
There was also a William White, aged 18, living with the Yeatman family in Shitterton in 1891. However, he would have been aged 42 at the outbreak of the war, possibly rather old to have enlisted?

Date & Circumstances of Death
19 AUGUST 1915 ?
Possibly one of four men from Bere Regis killed in Gallipoli during the attack on Hetman Chair on the 21 & 22 August 1915, following the landings at Suvla Bay on the 7 August 1915.

Commemorated ON THE HELLES Memorial, GALLIPOLI?

Age at Death
26 years ?

World War II 1939 - 1945

George Bowditch

2666205 GUARDSMAN
5TH BN, COLDSTREAM GUARDS

Born 1925

Family Details
Eldest son of Harry and Mary Louisa Bowditch. Born in Briantspuddle, moved in1932 to the Old School House in Shitterton. Attended Rye Hill School and played football for both the school and for Dorset. Left school aged 14 in 1939 and worked in the market gardens of Bedford and Jesty in Bere Regis, then in the building trade in Bovington. Enlisted aged 18 on 28 June 1943 in the Coldstream Guards.
Killed in Normandy a year and a day after enlistment

Date & Circumstances of Death
29 June 1944

Circumstances not known, but probably killed in the battles that were fought in the area around Caen following the breakout from the Normandy beaches after D Day on 6 June 1944

BURIED IN ST MANVIEU WAR Cemetery, CHEUX, NORMANDY

Those buried in St Manvieu Cemetery died for the most part in the fluctuating battles from mid June to the end of July 1944 in the area between Tilly-sur-Seulles and Caen in Normandy. There are 1,627 Commonwealth burials , 49 of them unidentified.

Age at Death
19 years

Another man from Bere Regis, Frederick Lovell, who was the same age as George Bowditch, was killed 12 days later and lies in the same Cemetery. Did they know each other as youngsters in the village?

Frederick G W Lovell

14543656 GUNNER
97 ANTI-TANK REGIMENT ROYAL ARTILLERY

Born 1925

Family Details

Son of John Frederick and Elizabeth Julia Martha Lovell
of Bere Regis

Date & Circumstances of Death
11 July 1944

Circumstances not known, but probably killed in the battles that were fought in the area around Caen following the breakout from the Normandy beaches after D Day on 6 June 1944

BURIED IN ST MANVIEU WAR Cemetery, CHEUX, NORMANDY

19 years

Another man from Bere Regis, George Bowditch, who was the same age as Frederick Lovell, was killed 12 days earlier and lies in the same Cemetery. Did they know each other as youngsters in the village?

Harold Whiteside

1317555 SERGEANT
Royal Air Force VOLUNTEER RESERVE

Born 1923

Family Details

Younger son of Harold Chambers Whiteside and Edith Irene Whiteside. Harold Whiteside was the Headmaster of the Rye Hill School (now the Bere Regis Community School)
Mr and Mrs Whiteside lost both their sons in the RAF during the Second World War

Date & Circumstances of Death
05 March 1943

Circumstances not known

Commemorated IN Bere Regis Cemetery

Age at Death
20 years

His older brother, Leslie was killed 2 years later

Leslie Whiteside

63446 FLIGHT LIEUTENANT
107 SQN, Royal Air Force

Born 1920

Family Details

Elder son of Harold Chambers and Edith Irene Whiteside.

Harold Whiteside was the Headmaster of the Rye Hill School (now the Bere Regis Community School)

Mr and Mrs Whiteside lost both their sons in the RAF during the Second World War

Date & Circumstances of Death
22 April 1945

Circumstances not known
Leslie was killed just before the end of the war in Europe in May 1945

Commemorated AT THE
Royal Air Force Memorial
RUNNYMEAD

Age at Death
25 years

His younger brother, Harold was killed 2 years earlier

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