WW1 Casualty: Second Lieutenant Benjamin Green - Second Lieutenant Benjamin Green
| Unit/Regiment |
5th Bn., East Lancashire Regiment, attached 126nd Coy., Machine Gun Corps |
| Date of Death |
24/04/1917 |
Burial/Memorial
& Reference |
Thiepval Memorial
Pier and Face 6C |
| CWGC Family Details (if shown) |
Son of Joseph and Sarah Alice Green, of Jack House, Oswaldtwistle, Accrington, Lancs. |
| Census Details |
1901 Census -
The Green family lived at Jack House, Oswaldtwistle. Parents Joseph (57, an Engineer) and Sarah (56) had children Mary (35), Henry (27, a Boot and Shoe Maker), John (20, a Surveyor), Nathan (18, a Cabinet Maker), Benjamin (12), Rose (11), Maud (9) and an unnamed daughter of 1 month |
| Birth/Marriage/Death Registrations |
Birth Registered Q1/1889, Blackburn, Volume 8e, Page 460 |
| Research Ref. No. |
P126 |
Service DetailsBenjamin Cecil Green was not a native of Prescot but worked as an Assistant Master at the Grammer School.
The 5th Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment was formed in Burnley in August 1914 and sailed from Southampton for Egypt in September of that year. They remained in the middle east until around February/March 1917, when they were moved to the Western Front.
Courtesy of Walter Holmes of Accrington
A local newspaper report of February 1916
The 126th Coy of the Machine Gun Corps was the Brigade Machine Gun Company of the 126th Brigade, 42nd East Lancs Division. They weren't in action until July of 1917 and so it would seen that 2/Lt Green was probably a victim of shell fire whilst behind the lines.
His body was never recovered and he is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.
The Parish Magazine of 28th June 1917 reported 'The following are deaths in action, all in France or Belgium' and included 'Lt. B. C. Green, 26, Assistant Master at our Grammar School. 5th East Lancs. Killed 23rd April 1917'.
Both sides of Benjamin Green's Medal Index Card, showing his entitlement to the British War Medal and Victory Medal, also recording his mother's name and address, to which the medals were sent
2nd Lt. Green is also commemorated in the Oswaldtwistle War memorial and his family still lives in the area. The photographs below were provided by his great-great nephew, Adam Edmondson to whom I am very grateful.
The first picture is a standard portrait, but the second shows Benjamin (wearing a greatcoat) at home on leave just two weeks before he was killed in 1917. The family still have a German helmet which Benjamin brought home as a souvenir.
The final picture shows him with two men in naval uniform. The man on the right is unidentified, but the man on the left is Winston Green, who went on to become an Admiral in the Royal Navy.
Benjamin Green's inscription on the Thiepval Memorial.
Picture taken on Monday 21/02/2011
Benjamin is commemorated on the Grammar School Roll of Honour
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