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Remembered Today:

WW1 -2nd Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regt.


Marlene

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Kia Ora from New Zealand

I have discovered my great grandfather's nephew Private George Ernest Stephens No 23670 2nd Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment died 14 October 1917 and is buried in Godeswaervelde Cemetery.

George was the eldest son of my greatgrandfather's sister Sarah Ann Stephens (nee Ward). His father was William Stephens. Both were deceased before George left England. George's death at age 41 in 1917 is the latest news I have of this family!

Is there anyone who can tell me about the battles this regiment fought and when and where before George died? Or guide to me appropriate websites?

I have a photo of George at about 6yrs and know that in early 1901 he married Fanny Gertrude Lucy Dudley in Aston but unfortunately my great grandfather died in March of that same year in New Zealand and presumably the families lost touch.

Any wee gem will be greatly valued as it is quite possible George had teenage children but tracing Stephens births in Aston/Birmingham post 1901 is a daunting task from so far away when you have no clues! To at least know something about his war experiences would add to the bare facts I have.

I wonder whether George ever knew that his cousins from NZ were fighting in the same area on the same side????

TIA

Marlene

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Marlene - Welcome to the Forum.

I can't help with the battles (no books with me at the moment) but I had a look on the Soldiers Died in the Great War CD for your man.

The following info is there:

Born & enlisted: Birmingham.

No residence is listed.

Formerly served as : 188821, Royal Engineers.

He died of wounds.

When I did the search I used his surname and number, and also found (no relation I suppose as this other man was born in Wales) another Stephens with the same number. He was killed in action on the 27/08/17, around 2 months before your man...coincidence eh?

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Kia Ora Lee

Wow that was wonderful -so quick! Thank you for the info about George Ernest every gem helps and I now know that he was also in the Royal Engineers.

Hows strange that there was another GE but I guess the name was fairly "popular".

Wounds? Do they specify if they were gassed? Or drowned crossing a river? Excuse the ignorance but this is new territory for me!

I also have John Henry Edgeworth (another nephew of my great grandfather) who died 31 July 1917 and buried Lijessnthoek. He was a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery. Could I trouble you to look and see if he is on the CD? He was born <1885> in Birmingham.

Very gratefully yours

Marlene

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john henry edgeworth , gunner 16534, born, birmingham, enlisted hilsea , hants

died of wounds 30/7/17

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Kia Ora Enoch thank you very much. That is the most recent information I have on John Henry's family also so it is much appreciated! It is very difficult going forwards from the 1870s but you have helped with basic information which may help me find something more about John Henry and the group with whom he served.

Regards

Marlene

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Could this be another relative:-

Pte William Henry Edgeworth No.15389, 10th Royal Warwicks, lived at Sparkhill, Birmingham. Killed on 18 November, 1916 and comemmorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

Regards

Terry

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My cousin Corporal Matthew McKey, 14th Royal Warwicks is buried in the same cemetery. He was killed on 11/10/17. He came from South Yardley in Birmingham, close to your man. 'God Wears Velvet' is a very beautiful cemetery at the foot of the Mont Des Cats south of Ieper.

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Born & enlisted: Birmingham.

No residence is listed.

Marlene,

Where there is no place of residence listed in Soldiers Died it is reasonably safe to assume that the soldier was resident in the place of enlistment, in this case Birmingham.

Regards

Steve

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Marlene,

Extracted from: http://www.cwgc.org./cwgcinternet/search.aspx

Name: STEPHENS

Initials: G E

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Private

Regiment: Royal Warwickshire Regiment

Unit Text: 2nd Bn.

Age: 41

Date of Death: 14/10/1917

Service No: 23670

Additional information: Son of William and Sarah Ann Stephens, of Birmingham; husband of Fanny Gertrude Lucy Stephens, of 787, Alum Rock Rd., Ward End, Birmingham.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: I. O. 3.

Cemetery: GODEWAERSVELDE BRITISH CEMETERY

Cemetery: GODEWAERSVELDE BRITISH CEMETERY

Country: France

Locality: Nord

Visiting Information: Wheelchair access to this cemtery with some difficulty. For further information regarding wheelchair access, please contact our Enquiries Section on telephone number 01628 507200. Location Information: Godewaersvelde is a village near the Belgian border, about 16 kilometres south-west of Ieper (in Belgium), and is half-way between Poperinge (in Belgium) and Hazebrouck (in France). The British Cemetery is a little east of the village.

Historical Information: The cemetery was begun in July 1917 when three casualty clearing stations were moved to Godewaersvelde. The 37th and the 41st buried in it until November 1917, the 11th until April 1918, and from April to August 1918, during the German offensive in Flanders, field ambulance and fighting units carried on the burials. After the Armistice, the graves of five soldiers of the 110th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery were brought in from a point nearer the Mont des Cats and in May 1953, four graves in Godewaersvelde Churchyard were moved into the cemetery. A considerable French plot was made on the terrace at the higher end of the cemetery in May and June 1918, but the graves were later removed. Godewaersvelde British Cemetery now contains 972 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, and 19 German war graves. The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

No. of Identified Casualties: 988

2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 22nd Brigade, 7th Division, 1914 - 1918.

Extracted from pages 418 - 421 of "The Seventh Division", by C.T. Atkinson:-

….. attacked, though on the evening of October 4th it looked as if the 91st Brigade's none too strongly held line was about to be assaulted. But the absence of counter-attacks does not imply that the Division had an easy time. On the contrary it was after the attack that it suffered most of its losses. Its line was subjected throughout the 5th and 6th to a bombardment the intensity of which was unluckily equalled by its accuracy. To make matters worse consolidation was much impeded by the rain which rivalled the bombardment in persistence. It was impossible to dig down more than a couple of feet: below that meant getting into water. The bringing up of rations, ammuni-tion, and trench stores was greatly impeded by the rain and mud, and the wounded endured great hardships. Still it was " not so bad as Bullecourt," as one officer writes, " there was not the same trouble from snipers, even in the final positions it was possible to move about freely without being hit."

The situation on the Division's right was, however, far from satisfactory. Accordingly it was arranged that the Division should take over from the Twenty-First the frontage opposite Reutel, and that on October 9th when the British left was tackling Poelcappelle and Houthulst Forest the 22nd Brigade should try its luck against Reutel. Before that, however, various readjustments and reliefs had to be made. To begin with the 20th Brigade extended to the right on the night of October 6th/7th, using the 9th Devons to relieve the 91st Brigade. This was done without many casualties, though just before the battalion moved forward, its headquarters at Hooge Crater had received a direct hit, Colonel Morris and his Adjutant both being put out of action. The next night the 22nd Brigade came up and the 20th Manchesters and Welch Fusiliers took over the front line, the latter battalion relieving the 6th Leicesters of the Twenty-first Division opposite Reutel, while the 7th Leicesters farther to the right were placed under General Steele's command. The H.A.C. and Warwickshires were in reserve along with the 9th Devons.

October 8th passed quietly enough but damply, the rain—which had been very heavy on the 7th, interfering seriously with the artillery preparation for the next attack —continued and the troops in the line had a miserable time, not to mention the heavy shelling of the forward areas in which the Germans indulged. That evening General Steele brought his headquarters up to the Butte in Polygon Wood and issued his orders for the attack. The H.A.C. and Royal Warwickshires attacked, on right and left respectively, each having two companies in front and a third in support, the 9th Devons being available as reserve. The objective was the Blue Line of October 4th, which if attained would give good observation down the valleys of the Reutel and Polygon Becks.

Wet and slippery ground made the assembly unusually difficult, but the troops managed to get into position in time for " Zero " at 5.20 a.m. on October 9th and started well up to time. Within half an hour green lights along the line of the objective indicated that it had been taken ; but it was some time before any accurate or detailed information came back from the front. Then the H.A.C. reported that they had driven the enemy from Reutel, shooting many down as they made off, and had secured part of the cemetery East of Reutel but were being held up short of Juniper Cottage by heavy fire from machine-guns, and had lost heavily, especially in officers. Next it became clear that there was a gap in the Royal Warwickshires' line near Judge Copse, from which a considerable fire was being maintained. A platoon of the reserve company tried to clear Judge Copse, but without success. A company of the 9th Devons was then sent forward, which obtained touch with the left party of the Royal Warwickshires, N.E. of the Copse ; but not till dusk was the position finally made good by another company of the 9th Devons, who attacked Judge Copse from the S.E. and cleared it, thereby completing the capture of the Blue Line.

During the night there was heavy shelling, but the expected counter-attack never took shape and the sur-vivors of the attacking battalions—both had lost heavily, the H.A.C. having 16 officers hit—could begin consolidating. All through October 10th the German bombard-ment persisted, causing many casualties, though again no counter-attack attempted to recover their lost ground. However, relief was at hand. At 4.30 p.m. troops of the Twenty-Third Division began to appear to relieve the 22nd Brigade, and at noon on the 11th General Shoubridge handed over command and could move his headquarters back to the comparative comfort and civilization of Berthen. As usual the artillery did not share in the relief, and this time the K.E. and Pioneers, though greatly in need of rest, were also retained in the forward area, (between October 4th and October 18th the R.E. and Pioneers had another 80 casualties to add to the 131 sustained up to that date) where keeping roads and duck-board tracks in some approach to repair was almost the most urgent problem, not that there were not many of great perplexity.

The infantry had certainly earned a rest. If their original success had been cheaply achieved the Germans had taken a heavy toll of them since, and all twelve battalions were sadly depleted. The Queen's alone had less than 200 casualties, and their losses, 8 officers and 174 men, could hardly be called light. The 22nd Brigade with a loss of 57 officers and 1,256 men since October 1st had been hardest hit, but the repulse of the German attack on October 1st had accounted for many of these casualties, and really there was little to choose between their figures and the 56 officers and 1,039 men of the 20th Brigade and the 45 officers and 1,028 men of the 91st. The R.F.A. too had lost heavily. The German counter-battery work had now been made systematic ; and with 9 officers and 200 men in the casualty list the gunners' contribution was heavier than in almost any other of the Division's battles. Fortunately the "missing" were below the average. Practically all the ground covered had been retained and nearly all the wounded had been reached and taken to hospital. Killed and missing between them came to 51 officers and 1,032 men; the wounded were nearer thrice than twice that total with 122 officers and 2,672 men."

Extracted from page 172 of "The Story Of The Royal Warwickshire Regiment" by C.L. Kingsford.

"The 2nd Royal Warwickshire, who on October 4 had been in reserve at Zillebeke Lake, attacked at dawn on October 9 from a position east of Polygon Wood, having for its first objective Judge Copse near Reutel. On the left "D" Company carried Judge Copse, whilst on the right "C" Company reached a line north of the Cemetery. Nevertheless the position was difficult and confused; and the casualties were heavy. In "C" Com-pany Captain C. L. N. Roberts had been killed ; by noon Captain D. Aucutt and all the officers in " D " were killed or wounded, and the company was commanded by Sergeant Partridge. The other companies were sent forward, and in the course of the afternoon the parties of the enemy who remained in the Copse and Cemetery were disposed of and connection established on either flank. The whole attack had resulted in the capture of the German position at Reutel. The 2nd Royal Warwick-shire was relieved at night; their casualties were 6 officers killed (including Captain Blandy of "A " Company) and 5 wounded, of other ranks 54 were killed and 258 wounded or missing."

Regards

Richard

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Tena Koutou Katoa

Oh you guys are wondeful! Thank you all so very much for taking so much time and trouble.It makes one so very humble to think of all those fellows in the mud and rain, hungry and tired and still fighting for freedom.

I worked in a war zone on the border of Thailand and Cambodia in the late 70s and can empathise to a degree - but I always knew I had a limited time each day in a dangerous area and returned to camp in the eveniing to a secure area and a hot meal and a camp bed!.

Just reading about George's last few days is a great help and I probably know more than his wife & children(?) knew.

Thank you so much one & all I do appreciate the help- I certainly wouldn't have found Richard's reference in my home town library! :rolleyes: So special thanks for that. Steve and Mark - appreciated thanks -it is somewhat comforting to know he might have a local mate with him! Terry - more research needed to see if that is another rellie!

Thanks again guys - there's Kiwi down under with a tear in the eye tonight not only for the those who fought so bravely but for the kindness of strangers who have helped. Anybody following the British rugby team down under next year??

Kindest regards

Marlene

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You should also take a look at the 1909 census. It's online HERE. You can also download your relatives medal card for a small fee. My family are form Brum and I had a great grandfather in the Warks but I'm not looking into him at the moment.

Your fella should definitely be in the 1909 census. Folks didn't move that much in those days.

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Whoops my heart skipped a beat when I thought there was an extra census I had missed! I have 1901 and George and Fanny Gertrude Lucy Dudley were married and living at 6 Back 106 Little Green Lane Bordesley. Married a couple of months with no kids!

Thanks everyone.

Marlene

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