Have just had the good news that Fenland District Council have agreed to add an additional 15 names on the War Memorial due to my research - if anyone is interested I will post the names here

Chris

Well done Chris - must have taken a lot of work and "persuasion" to get that done.

Yes it was a lot of hard work - but at the end of the day the council were very co-operative & only rejected one of the names I submitted

Chris

Well Done Chris & yes please ~ A list??

Rodger

list will follow later as Im now in my pit

Chris

Rodger

they are

Name: AMPS, DONALD WILLIAM
Initials: D W
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Suffolk Regiment
Unit Text: 1st Bn.
Age: 18
Date of Death: 01/09/1915
Service No: 18603
Additional information: Son of Mr. G. and Mrs. A. H. Amps, of The Lord Nelson, Lakesend, Welney Wisbech. Native of March, Cambs.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: I. D. 22.
Cemetery: WULVERGHEM-LINDENHOEK ROAD MILITARY CEMETERY


Name: CAUNT, CECIL PERCY
Initials: C P
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers)
Unit Text: 3rd Bn.
Age: 24
Date of Death: 30/07/1915
Service No: 10817
Additional information: Son of Richard and Sarah Caunt, of 69, Roland Rd., Whipp's Cross, Walthamstow, London.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: IV. D. 7.
Cemetery: R.E. FARM CEMETERY

born March

Name: COURTMAN, STEPHEN
Initials: S
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Suffolk Regiment
Unit Text: 2nd Bn.
Age: 18
Date of Death: 20/07/1916
Service No: 20079
Additional information: Son of Thomas Courtman, of 19, Bedford St., Wisbech.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Pier and Face 1 C and 2 A.
Memorial: THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
Born March

Name: COYNE, CHARLES
Initials: C
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Northamptonshire Regiment
Unit Text: 1st Bn.
Age: 19
Date of Death: 24/11/1914
Service No: 3/9783
Additional information: Son of John and Louisa Coyne, of 287, Walpole St., New England, Peterborough. Native of March, Cambs.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: O. 1.
Cemetery: TOURCOING (PONT-NEUVILLE) COMMUNAL CEMETERY


Name: CRISP, HAROLD DUDLEY
Initials: H D
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Second Lieutenant
Regiment/Service: Royal Flying Corps
Unit Text: 36th Sqdn.
Age: 22
Date of Death: 06/11/1917
Additional information: Son of Thomas and Harriet Crisp, of Oakwood, March, Cambs.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Memorial: HOLLYBROOK MEMORIAL, SOUTHAMPTON


Name: ENNESS, ALBERT RICHARD
Initials: A R
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers)
Unit Text: 1st Bn.
Date of Death: 03/05/1917
Service No: 203433
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Bay 9.
Memorial: ARRAS MEMORIAL
Born March

Name: GATHERCOLE, ERNEST JAMES
Initials: E J
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Northamptonshire Regiment
Unit Text: 7th Bn.
Age: 21
Date of Death: 27/09/1915
Service No: 14718
Additional information: Son of James Gathercole, of 40, Windmill St., Peterborough. Enlisted in Sept., 1914.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 91 to 93.
Memorial: LOOS MEMORIAL
Born March

Name: HARPER
Initials: A R
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Royal Fusiliers
Unit Text: 33rd (Labour) Bn.
Secondary Regiment: Labour Corps
Secondary Unit Text: transf. to (93812) 157th Coy.
Age: 40
Date of Death: 08/02/1918
Service No: 30403
Additional information: Son of Robert Henry Harper, of 39, West St., Wisbech, Cambs.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: V. A. 5.
Cemetery: TINCOURT NEW BRITISH CEMETERY

Born March

Name: HAW, PERCY
Initials: P
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Bedfordshire Regiment
Unit Text: 1st Bn.
Age: 19
Date of Death: 27/09/1918
Service No: 42066
Additional information: Son of Mrs. M. A. Glover (formerly Haw), of Elm High Rd., Wisbech.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 4 and 5.
Memorial: VIS-EN-ARTOIS MEMORIAL

Born March

Name: HEAD, ARTHUR
Initials: A
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Lance Corporal
Regiment/Service: Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment)
Unit Text: 2nd Bn.
Age: 28
Date of Death: 11/11/1914
Service No: 9672
Additional information: Son of John and Annie Head, of 2, Millwood Junction, Dalton-in-Furness; husband of Frances Alice Head, of 187, Turketh Brow, Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Addenda Panel 57.
Memorial: YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL
Born March

Name: HOTSON, SIDNEY TAYLOR
Initials: S T
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Essex Regiment
Unit Text: 2nd Bn.
Age: 26
Date of Death: 06/08/1916
Service No: 26614
Additional information: Son of Henry Julian and Diana Hotson, of 40, Honiton Road, Romford.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Plot 1. Row G. Grave 9.
Cemetery: FERME-OLIVIER CEMETERY

Born March
Name: JAKENS, JOHN FREDERICK
Initials: J F
Nationality: Canadian
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Canadian Infantry (Manitoba Regiment)
Unit Text: 43rd Bn.
Age: 28
Date of Death: 24/10/1918
Service No: 152479
Additional information: Son of Mr. T. W. Jakens, of 43, London Rd., Wembley, Middx.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: III. B. 9.
Cemetery: BERLIN SOUTH-WESTERN CEMETERY
Born March


Name: LIVERMORE, HARRY MOSS
Initials: H M
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Norfolk Regiment
Unit Text: 8th Bn.
Date of Death: 26/03/1918
Service No: 27480
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 23.
Memorial: POZIERES MEMORIAL

Born March - could not have been 8th Norfolks at the time of his death as they had disbanded by then

Name: OGDEN, ARTHUR RICHARD
Initials: A R
Nationality: Australian
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Australian Infantry, A.I.F.
Unit Text: 15th Bn.
Date of Death: 22/12/1914
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: C.E. D. 271. (GRM/3*).
Cemetery: PINE RIDGE MEMORIAL PARK
Born March

Name: SALLABANKS, CHARLES
Initials: C
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Manchester Regiment
Unit Text: "A" Coy. 1st/7th Bn.
Age: 22
Date of Death: 27/03/1918
Service No: 303904
Additional information: Son of Harry and Jane Sallabanks, of 4, Claremont Rd., Birkdale, Southport.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Bay 7.
Memorial: ARRAS MEMORIAL

Born March

Name: YARDY
Initials: T
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Norfolk Regiment
Unit Text: 3rd/5th Bn.
Date of Death: 14/01/1916
Service No: 5039
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: D. 100.
Cemetery: MARCH CEMETERY
Born & Resident March

Any questions please fire away

Chris

A lot of them are railwaymen or children of railwayman which explains the move away from March

Chris

Many thanks Chris
most useful

Chris,

Excellent work.

Just for my own personal interest, how many are on the memorial already?

Anthony

Click Here

Chris

interseting.....how many of them are also commemorated elsewhere? have you cross refernced them?

Hope it doesnt turn into a should you shouldnt you thread.
Well done chris.

Mick

Mick

if it does I will close the thread as simple as that - this is my celebration of these lads memory & bringing them home to March

Chris


Phil

I have not cross referenced them as my only interest is in getting them remembered in their home town

Chris

Chris,

Thank you. A fair few!! Great work, you should be very proud of a great achievement

who was the one they turned down?

Mick

Gents

the only lad turned down was an aussie lad who is listed on one of the local church memorials who it turns out was submitted by his parents - on doing the research it turned out that he was never born or resident in March but rather that his parents had moved to March after he had emigrated to Australia

Chris

Chris,

That is truly fantastic news and I pay tribute to you personally for getting this done... Take no notice of anyone else who says the memorial shouldn't be changed, this kind of feeble argument is used by people who want an excuse to do NOTHING. There is no reason why mistakes and omissions can't be corrected at a later date. And who cares if a man's name appears on more than 1 civic tribute, as far as I'm concerned the more the better. I have one man in Ashford who appears on no less than 8 civic tributes, he was a postman and got about!

As for someones suggestion to cross reference the names with other civic war memorials, as we on here all know, there is nowhere to do this! CIVIC war memorials are not recorded by any 1 body. Many forum members including myself have attempted to correct this situation but at the present time it is very "hit and miss", some areas are well covered but most are not. I have found that many people have no understanding of the difference between a civic tribute (one erected by the civil community) and an official one (erected by the CWGC/Government/MoD). This causes a lot of problems... The ideal situation is that each fallen man has an official tribute AND a civic tribute in the area he came from.

About 8 months ago the Ashford Borough Council agreed to do much the same in Ashford (Kent). I am in the process of trying to trace all Armed Forces deaths since 1945 from the Ashford Borough (which incidently is Kent's largest in terms of land area). I have a list of nearly 200 forgotten men from WW1 and WW2 already. Of course the big problem is post WW2 because the authorities only disclose service papers to close relatives. At the moment it looks like we (Dave, Kyle and myself) will have to trawl through the local papers - an enormous task bearing in mind there 52 editions each year from 1945 onwards!!!! I was hoping to get in touch with the trustees of the new Armed Forces Memorial in Litchfield to request extra-ordinary dispensation to use their records. All my men will be on it somewhere. I wonder if someone might use a bit of common sense in order to allow a town to commemorate it's fallen sons? I'm not holding my breath though (too many jobsworths out there who hide behind the Data Protection Acts).

The Ashford Council have agreed to cover all costs which might work out very large indeed - 200 to 300 potentials. Each Bronze plate will have about 20 men on.

It seems we are both trying to do much the same thing albeit in other counties. I remember your kind and valued support with George Lionel CATLING (Peterborough) a couple of years ago (Ashford Cemetery). I am working on 2 more batches of lost men too. So much work to do but these forgotten men (men not commemorated by the CWGC/MoD) must take priority over all others including local men whose names were left off local civic tributes). I have followed your valued work in this area too...

I admire you and support you 100% what you are trying to achieve. Sorry if I have hijacked your thread a bit...

Well done.

Neil & everyone else

thanks very much for your very kind comments - will be starting work on Wisbech soon & expect the results from there to be a lot higher so will just have to keep plugging away - have got another batch of non commemorated to start on - submitted another one to Terry last night & in regard to that one thanks to my Mrs who literally tripped over his grave

Chris

The new plaques are now being made & should be on the memorial by the end of August

Chris

Also to be added will be

Name: GOODWIN, JOHN
Initials: J
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Suffolk Regiment
Unit Text: 7th Bn.
Age: 30
Date of Death: 03/07/1916
Service No: 17692
Additional information: Son of Mrs. Sarah Goodwin, of 18, Rookswood Rd., West End, March, Cambs.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Pier and Face 1 C and 2 A.
Memorial: THIEPVAL MEMORIAL

Name: THWAITE, MENDEL FRANCIS
Initials: M F
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Second Lieutenant
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force
Unit Text: No. 58. Training Depot Station
Age: 19
Date of Death: 28/10/1918
Additional information: Son of Samuel T. and Katie Marion Hertzberg, of March, Cambs. Educated at Clergy Orphan School, Canterbury. Gazetted to R.N.A.S. Aug.,1917.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Cemetery: CRANWELL (ST. ANDREW) CHURCHYARD

Name: FORMAN, JOSEPH ARTHUR
Initials: J A
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Gunner
Regiment/Service: Royal Marine Artillery
Unit Text: Howitzer Bde.
Age: 33
Date of Death: 25/02/1916
Service No: RMA/6951
Additional information: Son of Catherine Forman, of 187, Sebert Rd., Forest Gate, London, and the late Edman A. Forman; husband of Alice Forman. Born at March, Cambs.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Enclosure No.2 III. D. 11.
Cemetery: BEDFORD HOUSE CEMETERY

Let me know when the memorials are updated so I can add the extra detail to the www.roll-of-honour.com pages!

Martin

no problems - a news letter is being prepared by one of my Legion colleagues & I will send you an electonic copy when it is ready

Chris

The plaques were finally fitted yesterday with myself in attendance

Some photos of the morning



A general view of the memorial on Broad Street

Before

After

The stonemason from Fairhaven of Bottisham at work on the other conflicts plaque which requried some restoration

Yours truly with the completed article



Terri Adams right is the Architectural Assistant from Fenland District Council who carried out all of the planning work & Mrs H on the left