Service Details

The 19^th Battalion had been formed on 29^th August 1914 in Liverpool by Lord Derby.

Richard Martlew’s Medal Index Card records that he arrived in France on 7^th November 1915.

Several battalions of the King’s (Liverpool Regiment) were involved in the first attack on Guillemont in the Somme campaign of 1916. This attack took place on the 23^rd July but failed. Another attempt was ordered for the 24^th, but was then cancelled for a further 48 hours as the French troops involved had not moved up in readiness. Attacks planned for 26^th and 28^th were also postponed for the same reason, but the next attack was ordered to take place on 30^th July.

The 89^th Brigade included the 17^th, 19^th and 20^th Battalions of the King’s. For the assault on Guillemont, the 20^th were to attack on the right and the 19^th on the left. The 17^th were to be in support in the trenches running from Trones Wood, with the Bedfordshire Regiment in overall support.

Zero hour was 4.45 a.m. on 30^th July 1916.

The actions of the 19^th were not recorded in detail in any detail. The Battalion Diary simply states “The battalion reached its objective, but suffered heavy losses and had to evacuate its position owing to no reinforcements. At 12 noon, the roll call was 7 officers and 43 men”.

The diary of the 89^th Brigade, however, adds a little detail to this. “It is now known that the two left companies of the 19^th under Capt. Dodd and Capt. Nicholson, advanced in touch with the 2^nd Royal Scots Fusiliers on their left, and in good waves, and although they suffered many casualties from oblique machine-gun fire, did not encounter many Germans and reached their final objective at about the time allotted, beginning at once to dig in south of the orchard on the south east corner of Guillemont”.

On the left of the 19^th, the Scots Fusiliers most gallantly forced their way through Guillemont to the eastern side of the village, but they were overwhelmed by the enemy and few returned. At 8 a.m., therefore, finding that the village was not held, the two left companies of the 19^th King’s were forced to retire as their position was untenable.

The total casualties for the 19^th Battalion was 11 officers and 435 other ranks killed, wounded or missing. 

Richard Martlew died of wounds on 7^th August and is buried in Wimereux Communal Cemetery.  This was located by some of the largest hospitals in France during the war, and it seems likely that Pte. Martlew was wounded at some point in the Somme fighting, although it is not clear exactly when. He would have been moved down the chain of medical evacuations before reaching Wimereux, where he succumbed to his wounds.

Richard Martlew’s Medal Index Card

Private 21144 John MASON

The 11^th (Service) Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment was formed in September 1914 from the third contingent of volunteers called for by Lord Kitchener.

Initial training took place on Salisbury Plain and in early 1915, the Battalion became a “Pioneer” Battalion with the 30^th Division. It had been decided that each of the New Army divisions should have an extra battalion included in its establishment to carry out road-making and other semi-technical work frequently called for in the field. The 11^th Battalion was known as the “St Helens Pioneers” in honour of the fact that the majority of the men came from St Helens.

The Battalion finally left for France in November 1915, disembarking at Le Havre on the 7^th. The Battalion strength was 30 officers and 1,007 other ranks.

They served for the remainder of 1915 in the Somme Valley, carrying out work in the trenches. They suffered a few casualties, mainly to German snipers, but otherwise their first few weeks in the field proved uneventful. On 21^st January 1916, the Battalion moved to Froissy, which was a popular target for German artillery.

It seems likely that Private Mason was a victim of this shelling. He now rests in Heath Cemetery, which is a “concentration cemetery” created just after the Armistice in November 1918. Bodies were brought in to the cemetery from several smaller local cemeteries.

John Mason’s Medal Index Card

Private Mason’s grave at Heath Cemetery, next to an unknown soldier “Known Unto God”

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Private 24194 James MAWDSLEY

 

Unit/Regiment	13th Bn., King's (Liverpool Regiment)
Date of Death	03/06/1917		Age at Death		25
Burial/Memorial & Reference	Faubourg D'Amiens Cemetery V G 23
CWGC Family Details (if shown)	Son of Mrs. Elizabeth Mawdsley, of 6, Fourth Avenue, Fazakerley, Liverpool.
Census Details	1901 Census - The family lived at Richardsons Cottage, on Knowsley Lane. James Mawdsley, aged 31, was a Farm Labourer and with him were his wife Elizabeth (32), and children James (8), Mary (7), Elizabeth (5), Maggie (3) and John (10 months).
Birth/Marriage/Death Registrations	Birth registered Q1/1893, Prescot, 8b, 734
SDGW – Where Born	Knowsley, Prescot	Enlisted		Seaforth, Lancs.	Resided	Liverpool
How Died	Killed In Action			Theatre of War	France & Flanders
Notes	CWGC spelling is incorrectly shown as Maudsley, this also being inscribed on his headstone. CWGC have been advised of this error.   On 19th August 2008, CWGC aknowledged that the error was on theor part and updated their registers, further advising that teh stone would be corrected as part of the next round of maintenance.
Research Ref. No.	P195

Service Details

The battalion was formed at Seaforth, Liverpool in October 1914 as part of Kitchener's New Armies. After initial training, the battalion moved to France in February 1915. James Mawdsley was sent to France as part of a wave of reinforcements in September 1915.

Early in January 1916, the battalion was informed that they were to be retrained and re-designated as a Pioneer Battalion. As such, they would have been taken out of front line service and employed in trench and road construction, often consolidating captured trenches immediately behind the front line assault troops.

On 5th January, they relieved the 4th  Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment, as Pioneer Battalion to the 4th Division and for the remainder of the month they stayed in Voormezeele in Flanders.

On 4th March, they moved to Poperinghe, but the conditions were dreadful, with men often having to be pulled from trenches by rope, communications trenches disappeared under water, dug-outs constantly flooded, etc.

These trenches had been recaptured from the Germans, and dead bodies of both British and German soldiers were intermingled all over. Tons of discarded equipment and ammunition was collected in over the next few days.

The battalion then spent some three or four months of relatively uneventful duty in and around the front-line trenches in the area of Kemmel, Locre and Meteren before moving to the Somme in support of the forthcoming battle.

To cover the remainder of 1916 briefly, the battalion was involved in the Battle of Bazentin Ridge from 14th to 17th July, then moved on to Delville Wood as part of the action there from mid-July to 3rd September, then involvement in the battles of Guillemont and Ancre before the Somme campaign died out in November 1916.

As 1917 wore on, the battalion were involved in actions around the Hindenberg Line, being withdrawn from the front line on the night of 11th/12th May. Their duties now were to provide working parties for the troops in the line. They marched to rest billets in Simencourt, then on the 18th to fresh billets at Beaufort.  Here they underwent training until the 31st May when they moved to Lattre St. Quentin. After just a few days, however, they once again moved on 2nd June to the reserve line (known as the Brown Line) then onwards to the front line in order to carry out a relief.

The battalion diary records no specific actions on 3rd June 1917, the day on which Private Mawdsley died. It is likely that he simply fell victim to the standard daily grind of trench warfare, involving shelling, sniping, mortars, etc. His body was recovered and he now rests in Faubourg D'Amiens Cemetery in Arras.  As this is a concentration cemetery, it is probable that Private Mawdsley was buried close to where he fell and was then reburied as part of the battlefield clearance and concentration of the early 1920's.

 

 

Private Mawdsley’s Medal Index Card. His date of entry to France of 26^th September 1915 qualified him for the 1914-1915 Star in addition to the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

 

Private Mawdsley’s grave at Faubourg D’Amiens. The personal inscription says

“GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN BY ALL AT HOME”

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Private 76044 James McCRACKEN

 

Unit/Regiment	22nd (Works) Bn, King's (Liverpool Regiment)
Date of Death	13/03/1917		Age at Death		34
Burial/Memorial & Reference	Prescot Churchyard South East Part
CWGC Family Details (if shown)	Husband of Annie Madden (formerly McCracken), of 18, Bright St., Albion St., Salford, Manchester
Census Details
Birth/Marriage/Death Registrations	Death Registered Q1/1917, Prescot, 8b, 1074
SDGW – Where Born	Dundee	Enlisted		Colsterdale	Resided	Manchester
How Died	Died			Theatre of War	Home
Notes	Formerly Private 22407, York and Lancaster Regiment
Research Ref. No.	P196

Service Details

Although not a native of the town, James McCracken died and is buried in Prescot, hence his inclusion in this work. CWGC details show that Pte. McCracken’s widow had remarried and was living in Salford. She had married William Madden in West Derby in the first quarter of 1919, Volume 8b, Page 674.

The 22^nd (Works) Battalion of the King’s (Liverpool) Regiment was formed at Knowsley in August 1914 as a reserve Battalion. It is not known when Private McCracken transferred to the battalion from the York and Lancaster Regiment with whom he previously served. It is likely that the transfer was a result of medical down-grading, either being unfit for service or maybe as a result of wounds received in action.

“Soldiers Died in the Great War” records him as “Died”, suggesting he succumbed to illness or accident. Further, the list of casualties recorded in Wyrall’s Regimental History shows Pte. McCracken under the heading of “Labour Companies” rather than attached to the 22^nd Battalion.

Nothing further can be found with respect to Pte. McCracken.

 

 

James McCracken’s grave in Prescot Churchyard, prior to the undergrowth being cut back.

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Private 21367 James McDONALD

 

 

Prescot Reporter 27/07/1916

 

Unit/Regiment	11th Bn., South Lancashire Regiment
Date of Death	01/07/1916		Age at Death		33
Burial/Memorial & Reference	Thiepval Memorial Pier and Face 7A and 7B
Census Details
Birth/Marriage/Death Registrations
SDGW – Where Born	St. Helens, Lancs	Enlisted		Prescot	Resided
How Died	Killed In Action			Theatre of War	France & Flanders
Notes
Research Ref. No.	P197

Service Details

The 11^th (Service) Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment was formed in September 1914 from the third contingent of volunteers called for by Lord Kitchener.

Initial training took place on Salisbury Plain and in early 1915, the Battalion became a “Pioneer” Battalion with the 30^th Division. It had been decided that each of the New Army divisions should have an extra battalion included in its establishment to carry out road-making and other semi-technical work frequently called for in the field. The 11^th Battalion was known as the “St Helens Pioneers” in honour of the fact that the majority of the men came from St Helens.

The Battalion finally left for France in November 1915, disembarking at Le Havre on the 7^th. The Battalion strength was 30 officers and 1,007 other ranks.

They served for the remainder of 1915 in the Somme Valley, carrying out work in the trenches. They suffered a few casualties, mainly to German snipers, but otherwise their first few weeks in the field proved uneventful. 

In the Spring and early Summer of 1916, the Battalion were heavily involved in preparations for the forthcoming Somme offensive. As a Pioneer Battalion, this was an exceptionally busy time.

On 1^st July, at the commencement of the Battle of the Somme, 30^th Division were tasked with the capture of Montauban, with the initial assault taking place at 7.30 a.m. This was done by 2.45 p.m. and the Battalion were hard at work creating communications trenches forward through to the German front line. Three of the planned 4 trenches were completed by the fourth was abandoned due to extremely heavy German shelling, which inflicted heavy casualties.

In addition, large numbers of men were hit by German machine gun fire as they went over the top in support of the assaulting infantry.

It is not clear at which point Private McDonald was killed. His body was never identified after the battle and his name is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme.

 

The Parish Magazine of 22^nd July 1916 reported “Four more of our townsmen have been reported Killed in Action”, and included “Pte. McDonald of the 11^th South Lancashire, aged 33, of 28, Kemble Street. He leaves a widow and 2 young children”.

 

James McDonald’s Medal Index Card, which is a poor quality scan, shows his entitlement to the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal

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