Photo courtesy of Adam Llewellyn, 2008.
A.MATTLEY - Albert Mattley Private 201979. Born Ibstock, enlisted coalville, Resident ibstock
Leicestershire Regiment Unit Text: 2nd/4th Bn. Date of Death: 24/09/1917. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: C. 9. Cemetery: WIELTJE FARM CEMETERY
J.MARTIN - John Martin Corporal 17361. Born Coleorton, enlisted Coalville, resident Ravenstone. Regiment/Service: Leicestershire Regiment Unit Text: 1st Bn. Date of Death: 16/03/1916
John Flaherty was another name that was hard to trace. It was only a long process of elimination that lead me to a possible identification. Please see this recent forum thread:
His connection to Ibstock seems slight. He does appear in the 1911 census living at 123 PRETORIA ROAD IBSTOCK LEICESTER as a lodger. He is described as a miner, born Longton Staffs of 21 years age.
His RND record summary from the Jack Clegg Memorial Database adds very little:
Name: John Flaherty
Servi
T.H.Jacques elluded me for quite a while, even though the clue had been there all along. It was another entry in the 1916 Kelly directory for Leicestershire which I had missed. He was on CWGC but I just hadn't put two and two together.
Please see this recent thread:
That precious clue was that his father was the manager "National Brick Co." Heather, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, at the time.
There were no obvious candidates for "A.Dunnicliffe", and no 1911 census to check when I first looked for him in 2008. The CGWC entry for an A.Dunnicliffe is of a Liverpool man.
There was an entry in 1916 Kelly directory for a "Dunnicliffe John B, Butcher" trading in Ibstock high street. Was that a relation? And there was this entry in the 1901 census for a "Dunnercliffe" family in Ibstock:
Alfred W 11 years old. Born derby
This seemed to tally with an entry in FreeBMD for the man's birth
Photo courtesy of Adam Llewellyn, 2008.
T. ALLEN - No further information at present
A. ALLEN - Arthur Allen, Private 202032. Born Ibstock, resident Ibstock, enlisted Leicester. Regiment/Service: North Staffordshire Regiment Unit Text: 1st/6th Bn. Date of Death: 10/03/1918 Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: N. 8. Cemetery: CAMBRIN MILITARY CEMETERY
C. ADCOCK - Charles Adcock Able Seaman R/4576. Born Ibstock, resident Ibstock. Regiment/Service: Royal Naval Vo
Before I'd seen a current photo of the Ibstock war memorial I had read its description at the UKNIWM project( ref: 37865), it wasn't promising.
“PORTLAND STONE NOTICEABLY WEATHERED, WITH LETTERING AND DETAIL SOMEWHAT FAINT. OUTER FACES OF PILLARS SLIGHTLY BATTERED. LICHEN ON EXPOSED SURFACES.”
The reality is rather different. Like smart soldiers on parade, the memorial has had a good dose of spit and polish until fittingly the names glint in the sunshine.
Photo courtesy of Adam Lle
You might well ask why someone “down south” would be interested in the Ibstock war memorial. The answer is simple, the person I am is because one man died and another lived. The man who died was John Henry Storer, my Grandmother's first husband, and the man who lived was my Grandfather Albert Burge.
We don''t exactly know how John and my Grandmother met, she had spent her whole life in a small part of what is now South West London. But it must have been while John was back in Blighty recov