by Janis / 4 comments - Orginally published:9th November 2018
100 years of remembrance in our village
To the majority of people in the UK, there is only one Eccles, and that’s in Manchester. Ohh, and it also has its own cake named after it.
However, to us there’s a little village in the South East of England, also named Eccles, which we call home.
Just like so many other hamlets, villages & towns in the UK, we have our own war memorial.
Solely dedicated to those who lost their lives from our village, during the First and Second World Wars.
Day in and day out us locals wander past, barely noticing that time is eroding not only the names but the memories as well.
Why not Pin it for later?
Where they are remembered
Lest we forget
The sacrifices madeTo show our respect to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, Gary and I decided that we will remember our lost villagers this Centenary year. Rather than just being a name on a memorial, we found out a little bit more about them.
Poppies - the symbol of remembrance
We wanted to ensure that the details that we found out about each serviceman were accurate, to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. Therefore, we were unable to find the definitive records to 9 out of the 33 names inscribed on the memorial. However, we will continue to research their final honoured resting place.
Travel & Remembrance
Freedom comes at a priceEarlier in 2018 Gary and I went to Belgium and experienced the Menin Gate Last Post Ceremony in Ypres, and also visited the Tyne Cot memorial. From there we headed to France and explored areas around the Somme and Amiens.
The buglers from The Last Post Association at the Menin Gate
We find this poignant time in history very interesting, and It is extremely moving to visit these areas in Europe.
Your local War Memorial
Our heroesI have listed the honoured men in alphabetical order, although not the order they appear on the actual memorial.
The list of names on the Eccles War Memorial
Name: Charles H V Barden
Regiment: Royal Field Artillery
Rank: Acting Bombardier
Passed Away: 29th March 1920
Age: 31
Where they are remembered: St Peter & St Paul’s Churchyard, Aylesford, Kent
Where they lived: Eccles Row, Eccles, Kent
The Menin Gate
Name: George Isaac G Barden
Regiment: Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 6th May 1915
Age: 36
Where they are remembered: Ypres Memorial – Menin Gate, Belgium
Where they lived: Bull Cottages, Eccles, Kent
The memorial wreath in front of the Menin Gate
Name: William Brook
Regiment: Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 3rd October 1916
Age: 21
Where they are remembered :Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery, Somme, France
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
The headstone to Private William Brook
The Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery in the Somme
The sadness of war
Brothers in ArmsThese two gentlemen below died on the same day, same regiment, same memorial;
The Loos Memorial
Name: Alfred Henry George Phillip Brown
Regiment: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 28th September 1915
Age: 28
Where they are remembered: Loos Memorial, France
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
The memorial to Alfred Henry George Phillip Brown, Loos Memorial
Name: James Butcher
Regiment: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 28th September 1915
Age: 21
Where they are remembered: Loos Memorial, France
Where they lived: Victoria Street, Eccles, Kent
The memorial to James Butcher, Loos Memorial, France
Exploring our war memorial
Every name a storyName: Sydney G Chevous
Regiment: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 7th October 1916
Age: 19
Where they are remembered: Bancourt British Cemetery, France
Where they lived: Belgrave Street, Eccles
The headstone to Sydney G Chevous
The Bancourt British Cemetery
Name: Henry Elliott
Regiment: Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 4th August 1916
Age: 22
Where they are remembered: Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
The Cross of Sacrifice in front of the Thiepval Memorial
Name: Charles Grigsby
Regiment: Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 22nd February 1915
Age: 35
Where they are remembered: St Peter & St Paul’s Churchyard, Aylesford Kent
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
Name: Jesse Hills
Regiment: Machine Gun Corps
Rank: Corporal
Passed Away: 5th May 1918
Age: 29
Where they are remembered: Étaples Military Cemetery, France
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
The headstone to Jesse Hills (MM)
Étaples Military Cemetery
Name: Edwin Leonard J Ivell
Regiment: Royal Naval Reserve – H.M.S. Pembroke
Rank: Deck Hand
Passed Away: 17th October 1917
Age: 34
Where they are remembered: Grimsby (Scartho Road) Cemetery, England
Where they lived: Belgrave Street, Eccles, Kent
Name: Charles Edward Jones
Regiment: Royal Field Artillery
Rank: Driver
Passed Away: 30th October 1918
Age: 29
Where they are remembered: Roisel Communal Cemetery, Somme, France
Where they lived: Varnes Street, Eccles, Kent
Name: Ernest Marks
Regiment: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 19th July 1915
Age: 20
Where they are remembered: Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France
Where they lived: Varnes Street, Eccles, Kent
The faded headstone of Ernest Marks
The Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension
Name: Hamilton Herries Milligan
Regiment: Royal Navy – H.M.S. “Mary Rose”
Rank: Officer’s Cook 2nd Class
Passed Away: 17th October 1917
Age: 29
Where they are remembered: Chatham Naval Memorial, Chatham, Kent
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
Hamilton Herries Milligan memorial at Chatham Naval Memorial
Chatham Naval Memorial
The terrible battles of Passchendaele
Remembered at Tyne CotName: Harry Leonard Neville
Regiment: Middlesex Regiment
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 16th August 1917
Age: 37
Where they are remembered: Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium
Where they lived: Mackenders Lane, Eccles, Kent
The Cross of Sacrifice at Tyne Cott
The Stone of Remembrance at Tyne Cott
Like so much of the country
So many, from one small villageEccles is a small village of under 800 homes, at the start of world war one it was much smaller.
A historic map of Eccles
Name: Leonard William Payne
Regiment: Royal Fusiliers
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 23rd March 1918
Age: 21
Where they are remembered: Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France
Where they lived: Cork Street, Eccles, Kent
The memorial to Leonard William Payne
The Gates to the Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France
Name: Bert Saunders
Regiment:The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 18th March 1916
Age: 28
Where they are remembered: Loos Memorial, France
Where they lived: Varnes Street, Eccles, Kent
The memorial to Bert Saunders
The Cross of Sacrifice in the Loos Memorial, France
Name: Henry Sales
Regiment: Royal Navy – H.M.S. “Pathfinder”
Rank: Petty Officer Stoker
Passed Away: 5th September 1914
Age: 35
Where they are remembered: Chatham Naval Memorial, Chatham, Kent
Where they lived: Varnes Street, Eccles, Kent
WWI Portland stone obelisk in Chatham Naval Memorial
Something we learned
H.M.S. Pathfinder was the first ship in history to be sunk by a torpedo fired from a submarine. 260 men were lost, of whom 244 are commemorated at Chatham Naval Memorial.
Name: William George Thomas Smith
Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment
Rank: Corporal
Passed Away: 30th June 1918
Age: 27
Where they are remembered: Aire Communal Cemetery, France
Where they lived: Varnes Street, Eccles, Kent
The headstone of Cpl Williams G T Smith
The British war graves at the Aire Communal Cemetery, France
Name: William Herbert Tassell
Regiment: Royal Fusiliers
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 20th May 1917
Age: 27
Where they are remembered: Arras Memorial, France
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
The memorial to William Herbert Tassell at the Arras Memorial
The Arras Memorial, France
Name: Ernest Henry Williams
Regiment: Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 29th September 1916
Age: 20
Where they are remembered: Connaught Cemetery, Theipval, Somme, France
Where they lived: Victoria Street, Eccles, Kent
The headstone to Ernest Henry Williams in Connaught Cemetery
The Connaught Cemetery, Theipval, Somme, France
Name: William Wolfe
Regiment: Middlesex Regiment
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 15th September 1916
Age: 19
Where they are remembered: Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
Where they lived: Belgrave Street, Eccles, Kent
Thiepval Memorial, France
War Heroes
To be RememberedInvaluable information; when compiling my research, I used the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. They are an amazing organisation that honour the 1.7 million men and women, who died during the First and Second World Wars
Tyne Cot Memorial, Tyne Cot, Passchendaele, Belgium
They maintain the cemeteries and memorials at 23,000 locations around the world.
One Kent regiment
The BuffsWhile finding out a little bit more about the villagers, I noticed that a few of the Eccles servicemen fought for The Buffs (East Kent Regiment).
Then as I started to compare a little more, it was clear that a few even fought together.
The Buffs Chapel
Six of the villagers are honoured in the same memorial in Loos. However, what I found incredibly touching was that the three gentlemen below, all died on the same day, and they are from the same regiment and inscribed on the same memorial. Probably these guys all knew each other as they lived around the same streets.
Name: Benjamin Huggins
Regiment: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Rank: Lance Corporal
Passed Away: 13th October 1915
Age: 29
Where they are remembered:Loos Memorial, France
Where they lived: Belgrave Street, Eccles, Kent
The memorial to Benjamin Huggins
Name: Charles E Tupper
Regiment:The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 13th October 1915
Age: 21
Where they are remembered: Loos Memorial, France
Where they lived: Alma Road, Eccles, Kent
The memorial to Charles E Tupper
Name: Isaac Alfred Wheeler
Regiment: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Rank: Private
Passed Away: 13th October 1915
Age:25
Where they are remembered: Loos Memorial, France
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
The memorial to Isaac Alfred Wheeler
Have You?
Visited any World War I memorials or experienced the incredible Last Post ceremony held at the Menin Gate in Ypres at 8pm every evening?
The ones I could not trace
But they are not forgottenThese nine gentlemen I am yet to confirm where they are honoured.
Benjamin Betts
Henry Hills
Albert Head
Edward Hawkes
Samuel Jenner
Sydney J Russell
Charles Saunders
Albert Sales
Frederick Smith
A Soldier of the Great War
However, I will track them down, they will not be forgotten.
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Absolutely beautifully remembered, Lest We Forget.
Thank you, it was a pleasure to create the post and incredibly fascinating discovering the touching tales behind our villager’s sacrifices.
I am the grandson of Bert Saunders from Eccles. I have visited Loos to leave wreaths several times over the years. I have not been for a couple of years due to covid. We are hoping to bring a wreath to the war memorial in Eccles this weekend (remembrance Sunday). Grandad’s older brother Charles Saunders although on the memorial survived the war & is buried in Aylesford cemetery.
Thanks for your comment, Paul. It was incredibly interesting doing the research into everyone on the memorial and very touching. Unfortunately, we noticed that a number of Eccles lads lost their lives at Loos; it must have been unbearable.
We love history, so it was fascinating heading over to northern France and Belgium to discover more about these gentlemen and understanding more of the surroundings.
It’s lovely to hear that you still visit Loos, take care.