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Remembered Today:

Families with multiple casualties


Simon_Fielding

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..the Beechey family of Forestorpe, Lincs to having lost 5 sons. I searched the CWGC but couldn't find Rifleman Leonard Beechey, all the other sons are shown. The family had three other sons serving.

Article in-Jan 20th 1918 News of the World.

One the most beautiful and evocative places in England is the now redundant little church at Snarford, east of Lincoln. The chancel is packed with huge memorials to Tudor lords of the manor, looking as if they’ve just been lifted from Westminster Abbey. The Vicar during World War I was P W Thomas Beechey. According to a plaque in the church, he had seven sons all of whom died in service. The list strangely only gives their initials which are B(ernard) R, C(harles) R, F(rank) C R, L(eonard) R, CR, HR and SR. All the Rs are Reeve, presumably the mother’s name. CWGC gives the first four, but not the others. Would somebody kindly look up Soldiers Died and see if any others are there. There is clearly a story to be told, and I’m in touch with a relative, and set to look up the local paper. I’ll let you (or ST) know. (I did have a look at the wonderful British Library site for the story in the News of the World, but failed to spot it - perhaps I tried Jan 22 – will try again soon)

Graham.

Four Beechey boys are remembered on the Lincoln High Street Memorial.

Their father obviously had associations with Lincoln as the CWGC data shows an address down Wragby Road.

Four are remembered on the Memorial including Harold Reeve Beechey who died serving with the No 48 Battalion AIF.

It looks to me as these four were unmarried,their mother is shown as next of kin with their father the former clergyman recorded as deceased.

What could be the fifth son, Leonard Reeve Beechey is shown in the CWGC database as dying in service on 29 December 1917.He is shown as the husband of Frances Beechey of Newport, Monmouthshire and is not recorded on the memorial.

Should be a very interesting story.Hopefully the family name survived.

Regards

Frank East

Correction.

Leonard Reeve Beechey is indeed remembered on the Lincoln High Street Great War Memorial along with his four brothers.

Having a next of kin ,ie, his wife living in Newport,Monmouthshire, he may be also remembered on a Newport memorial.

Harold Reeve Beechey must have emigrated to Australia as the CWGC database shows service with the 48th Battalion AIF at he time of his death.

Regards

Frank East

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Lee, Good God, I scooted through your entry on the day you posted it, without taking the time to study the photo. I took time to look at it properly tonight. Poor family, what must that have done too them? In WW1 my family on my mothers side lost two husbands, who lived just a few doors apart. The family members were devastated, but seem to have taken it all in their stride. Was this the "British upper lip" or just the way the Brits were during the first part of the last century? Andy.

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Lee I did some digging, you have probably done the same.

The James family lived in Gladstone St, just a short walk from the Foster Hill Rd Cemetery.

The head of the family Walter, was a carpenter. He lived with his wife Sarah and their 9 children.

Harry

Frederick

Walter

Augusta (daughter)

Charles

Aubrey

Francis

Arthur

Robert

Charles served in the 7th Royal Scots Fusiliers (Sgt 7659).

Aubrey was a bank clerk who emigrated to Canada, he was serving in the 10th Battalion Canadian Infantry when he died. The CWGC have his number as A/26290 it should be 426290. He is buried in Belgium.

Arthur served as Pte 38566 1st Norfolks and is buried in France.

Harry, Frederick, Francis and possibly Robert (aged 6 months in 1901) were of the right age to have served as well.

Both Charles and Arthur are commemorated on a plaque inside St Martin's Church, Clapham Rd, Bedford, here.

St Martins

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Guest Hill 60
Was this the "British upper lip" or just the way the Brits were during the first part of the last century?

Andy - I don't know what it was but I'd say it was a mixture of both.

It makes me wonder how today's society would cope with the sorts of losses they had during the Great War. I have a feeling the vast majority wouldn't know how to handle it and a lot would be reaching for the phone to get a solicitor ready to sue the MOD <_<.

John: I only did an SDGW + CWGC check on the lads. Unfortunately I visit cemeteries and go potty with the camera and end up with masses of images that I will research one day :rolleyes: but never get round to it.

So, thanks for the info you supplied.

It a sobering thought when you notice that there was only one year between 1914 & 1918 that the family didn't lose a child, through war or other causes.

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Slightly off track, but the town of Barnoldswick, Lancashire suffered a terrible loss very early on in the war. On 30th October '14, fifteen men of the town where aboard hospital ship "Rohilla" serving as sick berth attendants. The ship floundered off Whitby and twelve of the men were lost leaving eight widows and twenty children fatherless. Andy Fitton.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi All:

Earlier in this thread I mentioned Mrs. C. S. Wood, Canada's first Silver Cross Mother, and her losing five sons in the war. Until last week, Mrs. Wood was buried in an unmarked grave. Attached is a picture of her resting place as it was.

post-1-1054716573.jpg

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Mrs. Wood's grave now has a proper headstone. She will be honoured in an official ceremony on June 15.

The detailed account of Mrs. Wood's life was written by Ceris Schrader and can be seen on the Hellfire Corner web site at:

http://www.hellfire-corner.demon.co.uk/ceris.htm

I'd like to thank Tom Morgan for honouring Mrs. Wood's memory and posting the picture of her new headstone on the bottom of the article by Ceris.

I'd also like to thank Gabriela Klimes of Veteran Affairs Canada for sending me both pictures and spearheading the campaign to have a new headstone placed on Mrs. Wood's grave. :D

post-1-1054716681.jpg

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Was this the "British upper lip" or just the way the Brits were during the first part of the last century?

Losing children and siblings was a common experience until the widespread use of vaccines (and other medical advances) began to eradicate childhood diseases and such scourges as TB. Around the time of the Great War houses had a much higher density of habitation, even in rural areas, and people often worked in packed and poorly ventilated factories. In such conditions diseases like dipitheria, scarlet fever and occasionally smallpox could spread like the proverbial plague. As the century advanced, so did the understanding of the containment and eradication of such diseases, and of course the wider acceptance of contraception decreased the number of potential fatalities.

Add to this the greater likelihood of death by some kind of misadventure in an industrial age (just read contemporary newspapers) and even suicides, then an earlier-than-anticipated meeting with your maker kept the undertakers quite busy.

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I think I will toddle along to the memorial masons adjacent to Leatherhead church yard to see if they will put up something similar for Mr and Mrs Taylor who are buried there and also lost 5 sons in the Great War - one of whom isn't even on the Town war memorial I think because he died at home rather than abroad. He is with his Mother and Father in the churchyard.

Wonderful to see that lady's sacrifice properly commemorated.

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Guest Simon Bull

I have recently become aware of the Wright family of Kettering who had seven sons and at least one son-in-law serving in the army. By March 1917 three of their sons and the son-in-law had all been killed and a fourth son had suffered an amputated arm. A fourth son was also in hospital in Malta. I have yet to discover whether they suffered any further loss before the end of the war. One of the sons and the son-in-law are commemorated upon the Harrowden War Memorial, which I am studying.

Simon Bull

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  • 2 weeks later...

Were there no rules on how many sons could join up? I seem to remember a family story that my Grandfathers' third brother wasn't allowed to join the same regiment (Dorsets) as the rest of the brothers. Did this only apply to the same regiment or battalion or is the family story mistaken?

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  • 3 years later...

Hello

Here is a link for a Sunday Times review of a newly published book on the Beechey family:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2102-2285698.html

Eight sons served; five killed and one survivor maimed for life,

As with other families entioned in the thread, tragic tale of loss.

Regards

Mel

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Here are the CWGC details for each of the five brothers:

Name: BEECHEY, BERNARD REEVE

Initials: B R

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Serjeant

Regiment/Service: Lincolnshire Regiment

Unit Text: 2nd Bn.

Age: 38

Date of Death: 25/09/1915

Service No: 13773

Additional information: Son of the late Rev Prince William Thomas Beechey and of Mrs Amy Beechey of 197 Wragby Road, Lincoln. His brothers Charles Reeve, Frank Collett Reeve and Harold Reeve also fell.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 3.

Memorial: PLOEGSTEERT MEMORIAL

Name: BEECHEY, CHARLES REEVE

Initials: C R

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Private

Regiment/Service: Royal Fusiliers

Unit Text: 25th Bn.

Age: 39

Date of Death: 20/10/1917

Service No: 58708

Additional information: Son of the late Rev P W Thomas Beechey and of Amy Beechey of 197 Wragby Rd, Lincoln. His brothers Bernard Reeve, Frank Collett Reeve and Harold Reeve also fell.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: 6. E. 3.

Cemetery: DAR ES SALAAM WAR CEMETERY

Name: BEECHEY, HAROLD REEVE

Initials: H R

Nationality: Australian

Rank: Lance Corporal

Regiment/Service: Australian Infantry, A.I.F.

Unit Text: 48th Bn.

Age: 26

Date of Death: 10/04/1917

Service No: 200

Additional information: Son of the Rev P W Thomas Beechey and Amy Beechey of 197 Wragby Rd, Lincoln. His brothers Bernard Reeve, Charles Reeve and Frank Collett Reeve also fell.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Memorial: VILLERS-BRETONNEUX MEMORIAL

Name: BEECHEY, FRANK COLLETT REEVE

Initials: F C R

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Regiment/Service: East Yorkshire Regiment

Unit Text: 13th Bn.

Age: 30

Date of Death: 14/11/1916

Additional information: Son of the Rev P W Thomas Beechey and Amy Beechey of 197 Wragby Rd, Lincoln. His brothers Bernard Reeve, Charles Reeve and Harold Reeve also fell.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: II. J. 8.

Cemetery: WARLINCOURT HALTE BRITISH CEMETERY, SAULTY

Name: BEECHEY, LEONARD REEVE

Initials: L R

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Rifleman

Regiment/Service: London Regiment (London Irish Rifles)

Unit Text: 18th Bn.

Date of Death: 29/12/1917

Service No: 593763

Additional information: Husband of Frances Beechey of Juniper House, Magor, Undy, Newport, Mon.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: P. V. H. 12B.

Cemetery: ST. SEVER CEMETERY EXTENSION, ROUEN

It is noteworthy that under the 'additional information' section that no mention is made of Leonard for the first four of his brothers and that for Leonard there is no mention whatsoever of the loss of his four brothers.

Perhaps Terry Denham can use his influence for a rectification? ;)

Regards

Mel

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The surname of Beechey appears to have been cursed during WW1.

Here is an extract about a Zeppelin bombing raid:

" Private homes were also hit, producing appalling sufferings. On September 7th, 1915, a bomb fell on tenements in Hughes Fields, Deptford, killing nearly an entire family. The daughter, Teresa, recorded her statement for the Coroner's office: “I identify the body of my father, William James Beechey, aged 56; my mother, Elizabeth Emma Frances Beechey, aged 47; the body of my brother and two sisters, William Beechey, aged 11, Margaret Beechey, aged 7, and Eleanor Beechey, aged 3, all residing with my parents at 34, Hughes Fields.” Possibly the worst tragedy occurred on October 19, 1917. The seven children (ages' three to thirteen) and young cousin of Mrs. Kingston were bombed in London. Only Mrs. Kingston survived. "

Grim indeed.

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hi ,

already posted this but i thought i would put it here in case it was overlooked.

what on earth must he have done,felt the rest of his life poor fellow,regards jamesbow

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Hello James

Thanks for posting the newspaper article.

Have you checked out the bona fides of the story? It seems a little strange that Thomas would still only be 18 years old upon discharge post armistice after three years in France.

Likewise, the father and four brothers being killed on the same day during the 'first advance' on the Somme is a little hard to accept - as is the proposition that other members of the family were killed in apparently separate Zeppelin raids.

I accept that the catalogue of gross misfortune could be possible but I think that story does need to be verified.

regards

Mel

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re: the Beecheys...

It's understandable that Leonard's additional information is different, as that information would have been given by his nominated next of kin: his wife.

But it does seem odd that the nominated next of kin for the other four - the parents - did not mention their 5th son. However, perhaps you were not allowed to mention someone for whom you were not 'next of kin'?

Allie

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Hello Allie

You may well be right. I have just checked out the five Souls brothers on the CWGC and each one cites the other four brothers as below:

Name: SOULS, WALTER DAVIS

Initials: W D

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Private

Regiment/Service: Machine Gun Corps (Infantry)

Unit Text: 5th Bde.

Age: 24

Date of Death: 02/08/1916

Service No: 17209

Additional information: Son of William and Julia Annie Souls, of Gt. Rissington, Bourton-on-the-Water, Glos. All four of his brothers, Albert, twins Alfred and Arthur William, and Frederick George also fell.

I believe that all five were single men. That does not, however, answer the point about the omission of any reference to Leonard for the first four brothers.

regards

Mel

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Yes, that was why I was wondering if there was a regulation that you were only allowed to mention relatives for whom you are nominated as next of kin. So, since Leonard hadn't nominated his parents as next of kin, they weren't allowed to mention him.

It's not too far fetched - if you're unmarried and have a baby, you're not allowed to name a bloke on the birth certificate without written permission from said bloke. So, it follows that you're not allowed to mention somone you're not 'next of kin' for on this type of thing. Afterall, anyone could claim anything as fact, or anyone as a relative otherwise.

'Twould be interesting to know what the rules were at the time.

Allie

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Calling on Terry Denham to supply an answer. :rolleyes:

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There was no such rule.

The info was supplied by the next-of-kin who received the Final Verification Form at the address supplied by the army - parents, spouse, aunts, uncles, best friend - I have seen them all named.

The Additional Info was supplied by the relatives as I said. Sometimes they did mention relatives who also died - sometimes not. An estranged member of the family could easily be left off!

Also, some notes have been added to the Additional Info over the years by CWGC especially where they frequently have been asked the same question by enquirers - First man killed, relatives of the famous etc. It is possible that the brothers were added by CWGC who are unaware of the additional one. The note on the Souls and Beechey entries look like these CWGC generated items. The 'also fell' terminology is the give away.

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hi mel,

i have not checked out the newspaper story as i do not have the means .perhaps somebody on here can do some research? all the best jamesbow

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Thanks Terry and James for the responses.

It would appear from the postings on this thread that there at least nine families with five deaths:

Beechey

Soul

Wood

Taylor (post 7)

Clarke (post 13)

Bell (post 41)

Ball (post 41)

Adie (post 48)

Smith (post 66)

There also appears to be at least two families with five or more civilian deaths as a result of Zeppelin bombings - Beechey and Kingston.

Would it be worthwhile collating the retrievable information from the CWGC into a single post?

Regards

Mel

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On my local Memorial I have the name Phipps.

C. Phipps.

E. Phipps.

E.W.Phipps.

F. Phipps.

C. Phipps.

W.R. Phipps.

J. Phipps.

So far I have found the following names:

Sons of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Phipps. of 49, Military Rd, Dover Kent.

PHIPPS, CHARLES. G/5360. Private, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). 7th Bn. Killed in action: France. 01/07/1916. Age 30. Son of Mr and Mrs J. W. Phipps, of 49, Military Rd. Dover Kent. Born: Dover, Kent. Enlisted: Sittingbourne, Kent. Residence: Milton Regis, Kent. Memorial: Thiepval.

PHIPPS, EDWARD ARTHUR. 32107. Private, South Lancashire Regiment. "A" Coy. 7th Bn. Killed in action: Flanders, 03/08/1917. Age 29. Son of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Phipps, of 49, Military Rd. Dover, Kent. Born: Dover, Kent. Enlisted: Dover, Kent. Memorial: Ypres, Menin Gate.

PHIPPS, JAMES WILLIAM, 32108. Private, South Lancashire Regiment. 2nd Bn. Killed in action: Flanders. 21/08/1918. Age 35. Son of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Phipps, of 49, Military Rd. Dover, Kent. Born: Dover, Kent. Enlisted: Dover, Kent. Memorial: Tyne Cot.

PHIPPS, FREDERICK EDWARD, 8713. Lance Corporal, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) 2nd Bn. Died of Wounds: France & Flanders. 05/04/1915. Age 31. Son of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Phipps, of 66, Snargate St. Dover, Kent. Born: St Marys, Dover Kent. Enlisted: Canterbury, Kent. Residence: Dover, Kent. Cemetery: St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen.

PHIPPS, CHARLES. G/5493. Private, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). 8th Bn. Killed in action: Flanders. 13/03/1916. Born: Charlton, Dover Kent. Enlisted: Dover, Kent. Residence: Dover, Kent. Cemetery: Sanctuary Wood.

I think I have found the 1901 census for Phipps Charles, G/5493. and he is not connected with the four boys above. I have had no luck finding The J. W. Phipps Family on the census. So I have 7 Phipps, with 6 of them possible Brothers.

gary

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