TOPIC:

1830 PRIVATE HENRY POWELL: WORCESTERSHIRE REGIMENT.


Henry Powell was born in Little Cowarne, near Bromyard, Herefordshire in 1868, and baptized on 20th December of the same year. Only his mother's name, Sarah Powell, is noted with his baptism details.

He began his military career at the age of 18 years and 4 months when he attested to the Worcestershire Regiment on the 1st September 1886 at Worcester. He declared himself to be a Labourer, was 5' 5 1/4" in height, weighed 125lbs with a chest expansion to 36"..
He was of a fresh complexion, grey eyed, had light brown hair and was Church of England by religious denomination.
He had received vaccinations prior to enlistment as evidenced by three vaccination marks on his left arm ( most likely for smallpox I would imagine).

It would appear that he spent the early part of his service on home duties and transferred to the Reserve on 1st September 1893.

Henry now found the time to join in matrimony with Eliza Merrick in Bromyard on 13th December 1893.

On the outbreak of the Anglo Boer War, Henry was mobilized on 6th March 1900. He would have been a useful old experienced soldier at around 31 years old. According to his Military History Sheet, he embarked for South Africa on 18th March 1900 remaining there until returning to England on 10th August 1902 having served 2 years and 182 days in country, no doubt slogging over the veldt and on blockhouse duty.
Another 20 days were spent at the depot before his final discharge on 31st August 1902, when he could return to the rural market town of Bromyard.

He gained a third class certificate of education during his service on 16th May 1888.
Interestingly, his attestation document records his father as next of kin namely John Burton of Bishop's Frome, Herefordshire. Perhaps his parents had split up or were never married?


Queen's and King's South Africa medal awarded to 1830 Private Henry Powell, albeit with clasps in the wrong order!


Naming to the rims.


Regimental naming to the rims.

Following his army service, Henry settled down to domestic family life, becoming as Assistant Rural Postman as the entry into the Census of 1911 reveals.
He lived at Linton Lane, Bromyard (the house is still there today) along with Eliza and children Eliza (16) who worked as a Domestic Servant, Alice Mary (12) and Ciscelia May Ladysmith (7). All the children were born in Bromyard.
The third christian name of the youngest daughter "Ladysmith" recalls another thread on the forum where children were named after towns, battles and famous generals. It shows how much of a defining event in the social history of the period this conflict was to become. Shadowed by a much larger conflict to come in 1914.

Census 1939 describes Henry as a retired Postman, still residing at Linton Lane, Bromyard with his wife Eliza and Cecilia May Ladysmith, now married and under the same roof as husband Thomas Darby a 37 year old Road Labourer.
Henry's birth date is given accurately here for the first time as 27th April 1868.

Henry Powell died in 4th December 1944 in Bromyard, having served in the Anglo Boer War with the Worcesters and been witness to two global conflicts.

(All census information from Findmypast.)

9043 PRIVATE HERBERT HUGHES: 2ND BATTALION WORCESTERSHIRE REGIMENT.


Great war trio awarded to Private Herbert Hughes.



Naming to rear of his Mons Star.

9043 Private Herbert Hughes (born and raised in Birmingham) is confirmed as one of the Worcesters who took part in the bayonet charge by 370 men of the 2nd Battalion on Gheluvelt Chateau on 31st October 1914 in the Great War. This action saw 187 of Herbert's comrades killed or wounded, though he came through it unscathed.
However, their gallant charge to meet up with remnants of the South Wales Borderers, who were doggedly holding on within the grounds of the chateau , halted the German race for the ports and effectively saved the British Expeditionary Force from defeat.
For more detailed accounts of this action please visit the Worcestershire Regiment website, or go to page 7 of this thread (5959 Private Harry Thornton).

Herbert Hughes did not participate in the 1899-1902 conflict, so why am I adding this post to the thread you may well ask!

SOUTH AFRICA



There is a South African connection as can be found on his Military History Sheet as shown above.
Herbert served in South Africa from 27th November 1907 until 1st October 1908, a period of 310 days total, and well after the 1906 Natal Rebellion.
Of interest to me, and hopefully to others on the forum, I quote from his attestation document this:

"Qualified in Mounted Infantry duties, with No. 3 Coy., 6th Batt. Mounted Infantry, at Standerton, Transvaal, during the period, 24/12/07. 5/6/08, both dates inclusive."

It would appear that the British Army still set great store by having a well trained Mounted Infantry force, and where better than South Africa to put them through their paces, the scene of the mounted man's highly mobile method of warfare.

HONORARY MAJOR SPENCER ARTHUR SNATT

Further to the description from the Spink sale on page 13 of this thread.


Engraved naming to the rim of the Queen's South Africa medal. Rank Lieutenant and Quartermaster.


Engraved regimental naming to the rim of the QSA.


Engraved naming to the rim of the King's South Africa medal. Rank Captain and Quartermaster.


Naming to the rim of the Long Service Good Conduct medal. Rank CSM.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT S.A. SNATT
Having lost his father at the age of 12, and who was a serving soldier with the rank of Sergeant, Spencer may not have enjoyed good prospects for life.
However, as we can see from the previous post, he would have been schooled in a military establishment and enlisted as a Drummer boy aged 14. The Worcestershire Regiment had become his family, and so he progressed through the ranks upto the rank of Honorary Major.

During his marriage to "Minnie" the union was blessed with three children, namely;
Rosa Elizabeth Theresa, born 15th January, 1888 at Quetta. She married a gentleman by the name of Caldicott and lived in Edgar Street, Worcester until her death in 1964, aged 76.

Percy Cyril, born 6th November 1890 at Poona. Commissioned 5th October 1910 in the Liverpool Regiment, rising to Lt. Colonel on 22nd January 1933 with the Royal Signals. He had been awarded the Military Cross in World War One as a Captain (acting Major), London Gazette 3/6/18.. He married Myra Manningham-Buller on 21st December, 1940, in Brackley, Northamptonshire. Her father was Lt. Colonel Sir Manningham-Buller, 3rd Baronet of Dilhorne Hall. Percy died on 27th December, 1961, in Surrey at the age of 72.

Charles Victor, born 9th November 1893 at Kamptee. He died at the age of 57, January -March, 1951.

Spencer Arthur Snatt having lobbied on numerous occasions for promotion to Lt. Colonel himself only to be disappointed, must have been extremely proud of his son Percy having attained the rank which so eluded his father.
Percy certainly scaled the social ladder by his military service and marriage to Miss Manningham-Buller. How pleasing to see that his father Spencer was able to live long enough to see his son's success.

References:
Most of the above information came with a very extensive file of information collated by a previous collector. Also a snippet from Findmypast.

6872 PRIVATE T F. DAVIS: VOLUNTEER COMPANY. WORCESTERSHIRE REGIMENT.

Thomas Francis Davis was born in Madeley, Shropshire some time during October - December 1871, the son of Henry and Rebecca Davis.

The Census of 1881 reports the family living in Sutton Road, Madeley, Shropshire. Thomas (now 9)and his parents were accompanied by Mary A (16), William (13), John H (11), Harry (7), Christina (4) and nephew Frank Wynn aged 11 months.

By the Census of 1891 the family had moved to the Parish of St. Mary, Highley, in the registration district of Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire. Missing from the 1881 lineup were Mary A, William and Christina. But Walter (8), and Enoch (6) had now arrived.

Thomas next appears on the 1901 Census return. He is listed as a 29 year old single man residing at Norton Barracks , Worcester along with his comrades of the 2nd Contingent of Worcester Volunteers awaiting their setting off to join the war against the Boer Republics over in South Africa.
He was a member of "E" Company (Bewdley) 1st. Battalion Worcestershire Regiment.
After initial training at Norton Barracks, this contingent consisting of 1 officer and 38 other ranks departed Norton bound for South Africa.

Before they left Lord Deerhurst presented each man with a pipe, 1/2 lb. of tobacco and a gold sovereign.

Arriving in South Africa in May 1901 they were first based at Brandfort until 12th October 1901. After this they linked up with the 2nd Regular Battalion Worcestershire Regiment participating in operations and Block House duties in Cape Colony and the Orange Free State until 15th May 1902.

Unfortunately, 6872 Private Thomas Davies was not destined to see the end of his unit's deployment, nor indeed his hometown of Highley. On 19th January 1902 he died of disease at Heilbron and his remains interred in Heilbron Town Cemetery where he is commemorated on monument 14 (Watt 2000).

He may be the only man from Highley to serve in the Anglo Boer War, and most likely ended up serving in the Worcesters as opposed to the Shropshire Light Infantry because he worked in Bewdley.
He was certainly the only man of the village to die in South Africa, which must have resonated through the community as the publication "Highley in the 20th Century" says that the Highley Band played a series of concerts to raise money for a new pulpit in Highley Church which would incorporate a memorial plaque for Thomas.

LOCAL MEMORIALS TO THOMAS

1---ST. MARY'S CHURCH, HIGHLEY , SHROPSHIRE.


View of church from the road.

St. Mary's


Pulpit located to the right of arch.


Memorial plaque incorporated into the pulpit, inscribed thus;

"TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN MEMORY OF
PTE TOM DAVIES
OF THIS PARISH
VOL. COY 2nd. WORC. REGT.
WHO DIED IN HIS COUNTRY'S SERVICE
AT HEILBRON SOUTH AFRICA JANy 19th. 1902
A GOOD SOLDIER
THIS PULPIT WAS ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION"


2---BEWDLEY TOWN HALL

No image for this at the present time, but will add assuming that I can get access to it in the near future.

However, I do have details of the inscription thereon as follows;

"BOROUGH OF BEWDLEY
TO THE MEMORY
OF
PTE.T.F.DAVIES
WHO DIED FOR HIS COUNTRY
IN
SOUTH AFRICA 1902"

Additionally, he would have been the recipient of the Bewdley South Africa tribute medals. Please see the tribute medal list by Neville C on this forum and also pages 236 to 239 of the Winter 1978 edition of the journal for Orders and Medals Research Society, where Gary Whitley tells us all about the Bewdley Medal.

3---ST. MARY'S CHURCH, KIDDERMINSTER.

Erected on the wall at the west end of the north aisle of the church is a white marble tablet listing the names of N.C.O.s and men of the 1st. Battalion VB Worcestershire Regiment who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Anglo Boer War. Thereon amongst the 10 names "PRIVATE THOMAS FRANCIS DAVIES -BEWDLEY."
Perhaps because of it's location, the doors to the church have been locked on each of my attempts to get indoors to inspect and photograph the tablet! Hopefully, able to add in the near future!


4---THE WORCESTER JEWEL

Tom's family would have received this posthumously engraved with his rank and name to the reverse. It would have been of the later third type with the dates 1901 to 1902 to reflect his period of service in theatre of war.
(More details of the Worcester Jewel to be found in the tribute medal section of the forum).



Queen's South Africa medal awarded posthumously to Thomas bearing clasps Cape Colony, Orange Free State, South Africa 1901 & 1902.


Officially impressed naming to the rim.

Officially impressed regimental naming to the rim.


Unfortunately, I have no idea of the whereabouts of the tribute medals nor whether they remain extant. However, we do have his QSA, three suitable memorials locally and his memorial tablet in South Africa to perpetuate his memory.

Thanks for reading to the end, and please do let the forum know if any of these tributes should turn up anywhere.

Sources: extensive file of data from previous collector. Thank you if you are reading this, GDPR leads me to refrain from mentioning names!
The dubious photography I take the blame for!

5960 PRIVATE WILLIAM MOBBERLEY: 6TH BATTALION WORCESTERSHIRE REGIMENT.
ALSO 7283 PRIVATE IN 1ST AND 2ND BATTALIONS WORCESTERSHIRE REGIMENT DURING WORLD WAR ONE.

William Mobberley was born in Langley Green, West Bromwich between July and September, 1883 to Thomas Mobberley, an iron moulder, and Mary Ann. He was the youngest of three surviving sons, all born in West Bromwich.

About 1890 the family moved to 5 Broad Street, Langley, and were still there in 1911 at number 19. William was working as a file cutter's labourer in 1901, probably for the file maker Silas Round whose business was nearby in Titford Road.

At some point in 1901, William volunteered for service during the Anglo Boer War in South Africa and enlisted with service number 5960 into the 6th (Militia) Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment. In 1900 the 4,th (Militia) Battalion, originally known as the 2nd Battalion of the old Worcestershire Militia until the reforms of 1881, was renumbered the 6th Battalion due to the fact that new 3rd and 4th Regular Battalions were raised for fighting in the Anglo Boer War.

On the 18th December, 1901 the men of the 6th (Militia) Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment embarked at Southampton on troop ship and headed for the seat of war in South Africa. On the 18th January, 1902 the Battalion disembarked at Cape Town. It performed mainly blockhouse duties in Cape Colony and was engaged in some minor skirmishes, which caused 20 casualties amongst it's ranks. Being a late arrival to the campaign, the 6th were not involved in any major incidents. It returned to England in September 1902, and the Battalion was disembodied back at Worcester.

In 1908, William married Jane Truby at St. John's Church, West Bromwich. The union was blessed with a single child, Doris May, in 1910. By 1912 they had relocated to 12 Chapel Street, Lyng, West Bromwich, where William was a labourer in a brickyard.

William's soldiering was not yet complete however, as the war clouds gathered over Europe to erupt into the most horrific war the world had yet seen. William was mobilised from the Reserve with service number 7283, and was sent to France on 12th August 1914 as a member of the 2nd Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment. The 2nd Battalion, part of the 5th Brigade, 2nd Division, went immediately to Mins. They were involved in the long retreat to the Aisne in early September, the Kaiser's army steamrollering all in their path! Could anybody stop them?
By late October the Worcesters were at the Battle of Langemark, just north of Ypres, and on 31st October the five hundred or so remaining men of the battalion were called upon to plug a hole in the British Line, as it was feared that the Germans were in imminent danger of breaking through and reaching the Channel Ports, therefore cutting off the supply route for the British Expeditionary Force, capturing the British Troops and in all likelihood, winning the war within a very short space of time. Continental Europe would have been at the mercy of Germany, and Great Britain would have had to sue for peace on the Kaiser's terms.

The 2nd Worcesters carried out a famous frontal attack in the form of a gallant bayonet charge (at the onset it must have seemed a forlorn hope) under heavy shell and gunfire across the grounds of the chateau at Gheluvelt, joining remnants of the South Wales Borderers, who had doggedly held their position against fierce German attack. The Worcesters did not know that there were still Borderers within the chateau grounds.
This successfully plugged a potential gap in the British line and prevented a German breakthrough. The Battalion suffered heavily, losing about a third of their already depleted strength, (187 casualties, including 31 killed in action). William Mobberley is confirmed as being one of those gallant chargers present in the action at Gheluvelt. His name can be found alongside those of his comrades on the Worcestershire Regiment website which gives a very detailed account of the battle and lists all known participants from the regiment.

After the battle, the 2nd Worcesters were held in reserve for a few days, but on 8th November, took over a section of the front line to the north east of Polygon Wood. Here, the exhausted and depleted men were subjected to almost constant shelling, gunfire and enemy hand grenade attacks from German advanced sap trenches that were dug towards the British line.

On the 16th November, Mobberley received a gunshot wound to the chest and miraculously had a lucky escape. The bullet passed within half an inch of his heart and had been deflected by a copy of the New Testament. He was evacuated to England and after leaving hospital, was given three weeks recuperation at home. As we shall see this will prove to be fortuitous as he had the opportunity to see his wife, daughter and family again.

He returned to France just before Christmas, ,1914, this time being posted to the 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment and went into the trenches again on New Year's Day, 1915.

The 1st Worcesters were occupying trenches facing Nerve Chappelle and at 11:15pm on 1st January, the Germans launched a fierce bombardment against their position. No reply was made until just after midnight, when the British artillery responded. This barrage was supplemented by a newly devised experimental weapon- the Trench Mortar, (named "Archibald")- whose debut was entrusted to a specially selected group of men of the 1st Worcesters under their brave commander, 2nd Lt. E. B. Conybeare. It was to play a "cheerful" part in the war of the trenches during that first winter and whilst it was not particularly influential in it's effectiveness, it's erratic behaviour and performance did provide a source of amusement and entertainment for the troops. Perhaps William was on of the "lucky" selected men operating this contraption?

The Battalion continued to hold the frontline trenches in bitter, cold snow, rain and frost throughout January and February -the conditions were absolutely miserable.

On Saturday, 13th February, William Mobberley was in the front trench when he was killed by a shiper in a bizarre incident, described in a letter to Jane Mobberley by William's platoon commander, (no.9 Platoon, "C" Company), Lieutenant L. H. Ruck;

"I very much regret to have to inform you that your husband was killed in the section of trench of which I am in command at nine o'clock in the morning of the 13th February. He was looking through a periscope towards the German lines when a bullet came straight through the periscope and hit him in the head. Death was quite instantaneous. We buried him that night in the orchard behind the trench. My trench is only eighty yards from the Germans, so I am sorry to say that casualties are fairly frequent. Private Mobberley had not been with me very long, but I thought a lot of him as he was always willing and cheerful, and was a good soldier in every sense of the word."



William's death as reported in local press


The exact location of his burial must have been lost in the subsequent fighting in the area, because William Mobberley is commemorated on the memorial at Le Touret, which bears the names of the many soldiers who died in that area with no known grave.

His personal effects, amounting to £3-18-6 were paid to Jane Mobberley and her child in July 1915, followed by a £5 war gratuity in 1919. An "In Memoriam " was placed in the Weekly News of 15th February 1918 by his parents and his brothers, Sam and Jack, but with no reference to Jane.

William's daughter Doris married William Butler in 1933, but Jane did not remarry and died in 1970 at the age of 86.

Following the war it was decided that a memorial window bearing the names of the fallen from the Langley area be installed in the Parish Church of St. Michael's and a granite cross be erected at the Holy Trinity Church.

Holy Trinity Church was closed on Remembrance Sunday 13th November, 1960. The building was demolished in 1968, and the memorial cross was removed to the left side of the entrance at St. Michael's. St. Michael's itself was closed in 2007, and it remained empty until 2014, during which time the memorial stained glass was under threat of vandalism. This was the only monument containing names of fallen local men. The Ebenezer Wesleyan Reform Church agreed to place the memorial cross in it's grounds on High Street, Langley. This was restored and moved by W. H. Tinsley of Rood End in the autumn of 2014, and rededicated on Saturday 8th November. It now stands at the heart of Langley, and provides a point of focus on the High Street. The Zion United Reformed Church offered to place the window in their worship area. Although the window was set into the wall at St. Michael's, the three lites of the window have been separately framed and mounted on the wall at Zion. They are backlit for illumination.



The Langley War Memorial Window.

The names on the four panels of the Memorial Window. William Mobberley being on the third.


I am now the humble custodian of the medal group of 5960/7283 Private William Mobberley of the Worcesters:

Queen's South Africa medal with clasps Cape Colony and South Africa 1902.
Mons Star with rosette and date bar.
War Medal.
Victory Medal.
I do not have his Silver Wound Badge for his lucky escape, not his bronze plaque.

While much of William's story involves his Great War service and relatively little about his short involvement in the Anglo Boer War, I felt it appropriate to post this today, 10th November 2024, Remembrance Sunday.

Private William Mobberley, a Black Countryman, Worcester, Boer War veteran,, Gheluvelt charger, casualty of the Great War.........LEST WE FORGET.

Sources:
Worcestershire Regiment website.
Extensive portfolio of research from previous collector, to which I have added a little.
"The Worcestershire Regiment in the Great War-Volume One." Published by Naval and Military Press.

Steve,

An excellent post for your 1,000th!