WW1 Casualty: Private 241156 Mathew Critchley - Private 241156 Mathew Critchley
| Unit/Regiment |
1st/4th Bn., South Lancashire Regiment |
| Date of Death |
11/04/1918 |
Age at Death |
35 |
Burial/Memorial
& Reference |
Loos Memorial
Panel 76 |
| Census Details |
1901 Census -
Mathew Critchley, aged 20, was a Tile Cutter and lived with his mother and Stepfather, Eunice (58) and James Sherwood (57) at 6, Parkers Row in Rainhill. |
| Birth/Marriage/Death Registrations |
Birth registered Q4/1879, Prescot, Volume 8b, Page 696
Marriage to Elizabeth Platt registered in Q2/1912 in Liverpool, Volume 8b, Page 74 |
| Enlisted |
St Helens |
| How Died |
Killed In Action |
Theatre of War |
France & Flanders |
| Notes |
Service Number is 241556 n SDGW & on Medal Index Card |
| Research Ref. No. |
P064 |
Service DetailsMathew Critchley's Medal Index Card does not show a date of entry into France, thereby indicating that he only arrived there after January 1916.
The battalion was based around the Ypres sector for almost all of its time in France, and at the beginning of 1918 it was based at Beuvry, where it remained until the beginning of March. There were strong indications that the Germans planned to launch a large assault, and this finally happened on 21st March. However, the 4th Battalion remained out of the line until 8th April when they moved to Locon and Essars, suffering 33 casualties that day from shall fire and gas.
After a heavy bombardment on the morning of the 9th, a German assault took place and the battalion was ordered forward to the Le Touret line of defence. Here waves after wave of German attack were beaten back by the battalion , helped by the Royal Engineers Field Companies of the 55th Division.
On the 10th, all was quiet until about 2.00 p.m. when parties of Germans were seen trying to cross the Lawe canal, which protected the battalion's left flank. Again, heavy fighting took place and these attacks were thwarted. In the evening, shelling of the battalion HQ increased and the Lt.-Col. Egerton Fairclough was killed and his cousin, Major Eric Fairclough, took over command.
At daybreak on the 11th the shelling was again increasingly heavy and an infantry attack took place around 11.00 a.m., but 'A' and 'D' companies beat off the attack with the help of the 1st Northumberland Fusiliers.
The battalion lost 30 men on that day, amongst them Mathew Critchley. His body was never identified after the fighting and he is remembered on the Loos Memorial.
The Parish Magazine of 20th May 1918 noted 10 additional casualties, including 'Pte. Mathew Critchley, 35, 5th S. Lancs., Killed in Action 11 April 1918, of 20 Duke Street, leaves a widow'. However both CWGC and SDGW show him as serving with the 4th Battalion.
His service is commemorated on the EFD Roll of Honour
Mathew Critchley's Medal Index Card showing his entitlement to the British War Medal and Victory Medal
Private Critchley's inscription on the Loos Memorial
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