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.
Lest we forget
To 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.
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
Earlier 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.
We find this poignant time in history very interesting, and It is extremely moving to visit these areas in Europe.
Our heroes
I have listed the honoured men in alphabetical order, although not the order they appear on the actual memorial.
Name: Charles H V Barden
Regiment: Royal Field Artillery
Rank: Acting Bombardier
Date of death: 29th March 1920
Age: 31
Where they are remembered: St Peter & St Paul’s Churchyard, Aylesford, Kent
Where they lived: Eccles Row, Eccles, Kent
Name: George Isaac G Barden
Regiment: Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Rank: Private
Date of death: 6th May 1915
Age: 36
Where they are remembered: Ypres Memorial – Menin Gate, Belgium
Where they lived: Bull Cottages, Eccles, Kent
Name: William Brook
Regiment: Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Rank: Private
Date of death: 3rd October 1916
Age: 21
Where they are remembered: Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery, Somme, France
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
Brothers in Arms
These two gentlemen below died on the same day, same regiment, same memorial;
Name: Alfred Henry George Phillip Brown
Regiment: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Rank: Private
Date of death: 28th September 1915
Age: 28
Where they are remembered: Loos Memorial, France
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
Name: James Butcher
Regiment: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Rank: Private
Date of death: 28th September 1915
Age: 21
Where they are remembered: Loos Memorial, France
Where they lived: Victoria Street, Eccles, Kent
Every name a story
Name: Sydney G Chevous
Regiment: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Rank: Private
Date of death: 7th October 1916
Age: 19
Where they are remembered: Bancourt British Cemetery, France
Where they lived: Belgrave Street, Eccles
Name: Henry Elliott
Regiment: Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Rank: Private
Date of death: 4th August 1916
Age: 22
Where they are remembered: Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
Name: Charles Grigsby
Regiment: Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Rank: Private
Date of death: 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
Date of death: 5th May 1918
Age: 29
Where they are remembered: Étaples Military Cemetery, France
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
Name: Edwin Leonard J Ivell
Regiment: Royal Naval Reserve – H.M.S. Pembroke
Rank: Deck Hand
Date of death: 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
Date of death: 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
Date of death: 19th July 1915
Age: 20
Where they are remembered: Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France
Where they lived: Varnes Street, Eccles, Kent
Name: Hamilton Herries Milligan
Regiment: Royal Navy – H.M.S. “Mary Rose”
Rank: Officer’s Cook 2nd Class
Date of death: 17th October 1917
Age: 29
Where they are remembered: Chatham Naval Memorial, Chatham, Kent
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
Remembered at Tyne Cot
Name: Harry Leonard Neville
Regiment: Middlesex Regiment
Rank: Private
Date of death: 16th August 1917
Age: 37
Where they are remembered: Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium
Where they lived: Mackenders Lane, Eccles, Kent
So many, from one small village
Eccles is a small village of under 800 homes, at the start of world war one it was much smaller.
Name: Leonard William Payne
Regiment: Royal Fusiliers
Rank: Private
Date of death: 23rd March 1918
Age: 21
Where they are remembered: Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France
Where they lived: Cork Street, Eccles, Kent
Name: Bert Saunders
Regiment: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Rank: Private
Date of death: 18th March 1916
Age: 28
Where they are remembered: Loos Memorial, France
Where they lived: Varnes Street, Eccles, Kent
Name: Henry Sales
Regiment: Royal Navy – H.M.S. “Pathfinder”
Rank: Petty Officer Stoker
Date of death: 5th September 1914
Age: 35
Where they are remembered: Chatham Naval Memorial, Chatham, Kent
Where they lived: Varnes Street, Eccles, Kent
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
Date of death: 30th June 1918
Age: 27
Where they are remembered: Aire Communal Cemetery, France
Where they lived: Varnes Street, Eccles, Kent
Name: William Herbert Tassell
Regiment: Royal Fusiliers
Rank: Private
Date of death: 20th May 1917
Age: 27
Where they are remembered: Arras Memorial, France
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
Name: Ernest Henry Williams
Regiment: Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Rank: Private
Date of death: 29th September 1916
Age: 20
Where they are remembered: Connaught Cemetery, Theipval, Somme, France
Where they lived: Victoria Street, Eccles, Kent
Name: William Wolfe
Regiment: Middlesex Regiment
Rank: Private
Date of death: 15th September 1916
Age: 19
Where they are remembered: Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
Where they lived: Belgrave Street, Eccles, Kent
To be Remembered
Invaluable 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
They maintain the cemeteries and memorials at 23,000 locations around the world.
The Buffs
While 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.
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
Date of death: 13th October 1915
Age: 29
Where they are remembered: Loos Memorial, France
Where they lived: Belgrave Street, Eccles, Kent
Name: Charles E Tupper
Regiment: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Rank: Private
Date of death: 13th October 1915
Age: 21
Where they are remembered: Loos Memorial, France
Where they lived: Alma Road, Eccles, Kent
Name: Isaac Alfred Wheeler
Regiment: The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Rank: Private
Date of death: 13th October 1915
Age: 25
Where they are remembered: Loos Memorial, France
Where they lived: Eccles, Kent
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
These 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
However, I will track them down, they will not be forgotten.
About the Author
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