WW1 Casualty: Private 12615 Samuel Thomas Heyes - Private 12615 Samuel Thomas Heyes
| Unit/Regiment |
6th Bn., South Lancashire Regiment |
| Date of Death |
10/08/1915 |
Age at Death |
34 |
Burial/Memorial
& Reference |
Helles Memorial
Panel 139 & 140 |
| CWGC Family Details (if shown) |
Husband of Jane Hulmes (formerly Heyes), of 6, Sutherland Rd., Prescot, Lancs. |
| Census Details |
In the 1881 census, the Heyes family lived at 37 Beaconsfield Street, Prescot. The family comprised parents Samuel (40) and Ann (39), and their children Ellen (17), Alice (15), John (12), Elizabeth (10), Margaret (7), and the twins Charlotte Ann and Samuel Thomas.
Samuel senior was a watch frame maker.
By the time of the 1891 census, only the 10 year old twins remained living with their parents at 1, Allens Court, Prescot. This was just off Pottery Place.
1911 Census -
Samuel Thomas Heyes, a 30 year old Coal Miner, lived at 4 Court, Houghton Street, Prescot, with wife Jane (28) and children John, Mary, Ann and Jane |
| Birth/Marriage/Death Registrations |
Birth Registered Q4/1880, Prescot, 8b, 675 |
| SDGW - Where Born |
Prescot, Lancs |
| Enlisted |
St Helens |
| Resided |
Prescot |
| How Died |
Killed in Action |
Theatre of War |
Gallipoli |
| Research Ref. No. |
P150 |
Service DetailsSamuel was born in Prescot in December 1880, the son of Samual and Ann Heyes. He married Jane Kerfoot in the Spring of 1901.
The 6th (Service) Battalion was formed soon after the outbreak of war from the first thousand men who answered Kitchener's call to arms 'Your Country Needs You'. These units were afterwards known as 'K1' units.
Samuel's service number of 12615 was issued around October of 1914.
The battalion commenced training at Tidworth in Wiltshire in the barracks recently vacated by the 2nd Battalion, which had joined the British Expeditionary Force in France. Final 'polishing' took place at Blackdown, near Aldershot.
In April 1915, an Expeditionary Force landed on the shores of Gallipoli as part of the Dardanelles campaign, with the ultimate aim of capturing Constantinople. The landings were not the success that was first hoped for, and reinforcements were brought in. This took place on 7th July and included the 6th Battalion, South Lancs., landing at Helles.
The next few weeks were spent learning trench warfare, and included several spells in the front line before being withdrawn to Mudros on the Greek island of Lemnos on 31st July for a rest period.
On 4th August, the battalion returned to Gallipoli, this time landing at Anzac Cove. On the 8th, it was ordered to follow the 9th Royal Warwickshire Regiment in an assault on the slopes of Chunuk Bair. This took place, although the assault came under withering Turkish fire. The attackers eventually dug in late in the evening about 100ft below the summit. Actual casualty numbers and details are not known.
Pte. Heyes was killed on this date. It was originally thought that he might have been a victim of the action mentioned above, but the family legend referred to below suggests a different cause of death. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Helles memorial.
The following item appeared in the Prescot Reporter (courtesy of Ste M)
Private Heyes Medal Index Card, held at the National Archives and reproduced above, shows that he first entered the Gallipoli theatre on 1st July 1915. His medal entitlement was the 1914-1915 Star, Victory Medal and British War Medal. The notation 'MPD 10.8.15' shows that he was Missing Presumed Dead on that date.
Samuel Heyes inscription on the Helles Memorial
The Register of Soldiers Effects listed Samuel's widow, Jane as legatee. In early 1917, she was remarried to Frank Hulmes
I am indebted to Jimmy Smith, grandson of Samuel Heyes, for some additional information on the family story.
Firstly, he advises that the family story concerning the death of Samuel Heyes is that he was walking along the beach leading pack mules when a shell exploded nearby. No trace of his body was ever found.
The census entries for the family show that Samuel had a twin sister, Charlotte Ann Heyes. She married William Thomas Burrows in Prescot early in 1903 and they had two children; William John in 1904 and May in 1906. Shortly after the birth of their daughter, they emigrated to Galt, Ontario, Canada where they rented a house at 73 Chalmers Street. A second son, Thomas, was born in 1911 but drowned at the age of two.
In 1914, they were returning to England, though whether on holiday or permanently is not known. As well as their own two children, William and Thomas were bringing with them the infant son (William Leeks) of a close neighbour. The child's mother had died and the father, Thomas Leeks, thought it better to send the child back to its grandparents in England. Charlotte agreed to care for it until they reached the grandparents home.
They booked passage on the "Empress of Ireland" which left Quebec bound for Liverpool on 28th May 1914. The following night, she was struck by a collier in the St. Lawrence Seaway and sank in 14 minutes, drowning 1014 people. Charlotte and both of her children were drowned, along with the baby William Leeks. Charlotte's body was recovered still clutching the baby and her son's body was also recovered. Charlotte's husband was rescued and returned to Galt.
The Empress of Ireland Passenger List, including the Burrows family
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