WW1 Casualty: Private 24216 Richard Martlew - Private 24216 Richard Martlew
| Unit/Regiment |
19th Bn, King's (Liverpool Regiment) |
| Date of Death |
07/08/1916 |
Age at Death |
35 |
Burial/Memorial
& Reference |
Wimereux Communal Cemetery
I P 10 |
| CWGC Family Details (if shown) |
Son of Ellen and the late Thomas Martlew, of Knowsley, Lancs.
CWGC Headstone Inscription -
He Fought the Good Fight
And Gained The Eternal Crown
|
| Census Details |
1891 Census -
Richard, aged 10, is living at Littlewood Cottage on Knowsley Lane with his mother Ellen, a 40 year old widowed Charwoman, his brothers William (13) and George (7), and sister Mary (11). The head of the household is Richard's grandmother, Mary Lym, a 67 year old widowed Laundress.
1911 Census - the family still lived at Littlewood Cottages. 30 year old Richard was employed as a House Painter.
|
| SDGW - Where Born |
Bickerstaffe, Lancs |
| Enlisted |
Liverpool |
| Resided |
Prescot, Lancs |
| How Died |
Died of Wounds |
Theatre of War |
France & Flanders |
| Notes |
Liverpool Next of Kin Rolls, dated 1914, show Richard's NoK as his mother, Ellen Martlew, of Littlewood, Knowsley, Prescot |
| Research Ref. No. |
P193 |
Service DetailsThe 19th Battalion had been formed on 29th August 1914 in Liverpool by Lord Derby.
Richard Martlew's Medal Index Card records that he arrived in France on 7th 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 23rd July but failed. Another attempt was ordered for the 24th, but was then cancelled for a further 48 hours as the French troops involved had not moved up in readiness. Attacks planned for 26th and 28th were also postponed for the same reason, but the next attack was ordered to take place on 30th July.
The 89th Brigade included the 17th, 19th and 20th Battalions of the King's. For the assault on Guillemont, the 20th were to attack on the right and the 19th on the left. The 17th 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 30th July 1916.
The actions of the 19th 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 89th Brigade, however, adds a little detail to this. 'It is now known that the two left companies of the 19th under Capt. Dodd and Capt. Nicholson, advanced in touch with the 2nd 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 19th, 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 19th King's were forced to retire as their position was untenable.
The total casualties for the 19th Battalion was 11 officers and 435 other ranks killed, wounded or missing.
Richard Martlew died of wounds on 7th 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.
Pte Martlew's death reported in the Echo on 17th August 1916
Richard Martlew's Medal Index Card
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