Lest we forget

[bubbs999]

With the UK Rememberance day just 3 days away (11th November), I would like to start this thread.

The idea being to recount any stories or individuals that you have read about, or watched documentaries on - particularly concerning the Great War (World War One).

I hope the thread will prove interesting and informative, and help keep the memory alive of those brave souls who made the ultimate sacrifice - for King and Country.

__________________________________________________ ___________

[bubbs999]

I'd like to start with the story of :-

James Thomas Byford McCudden, VC, DSO & Bar, MC & Bar, MM

Born March 28th 1895, to a middle class family with military traditions, James McCudden joined the Royal Engineers in 1910. Having an interest in mechanics he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in 1913 at which time he first came into regular contact with aircraft.



At the outbreak of war in 1914 he flew as an observer before training as a fighter pilot in 1916. McCudden claimed his first victory in September 1916. He claimed his fifth victory—making him an ace—on 15 February 1917. For the next six months he served as an instructor and flew defensive patrols over London. He returned to the frontline in summer 1917. That same year he dispatched a further 31 enemy aircraft while claiming multiple victories in one day on 11 occasions.


With his six British medals and one French, McCudden received more awards for gallantry than any other airman of British nationality serving in the First World War. He was also one of the longest serving. By 1918, in part due to a campaign by the Daily Mail newspaper, McCudden became one of the most famous airmen in the British Isles.


At his death he had achieved 57 aerial victories, placing him seventh on the list of the war's most successful aces. The majority of his successes were achieved with 56 Squadron Royal Flying Corps and all but five fell while flying the S.E.5a aircraft.


On 9 July 1918 McCudden was killed in a flying accident when his aircraft crashed following an engine fault. His rank at the time of his death was Major - a significant achievement for a man who had begun his career in the RFC as an air mechanic.


James McCudden is buried at the British war cemetery at Beauvoir-Wavans. He died aged 23 years.

There is a very good BBC Timewatch documentary on McCudden and other British fighter aces of WW1 :-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fny6ZmTeeA

[bubbs999]

Walter Daniel John Tull(28 April 1888 – 25 March 1918)

Born in Folkestone, Kent - Walter Tull was the son of a carpenter, Daniel Tull (born in Barbados) and Alice Elizabeth Palmer. His mother died in 1895, and his father just 2 years later.

At the age of 9, Walter Tull was sent to the Methodist Children's Home and Orphanage (now known as Action for Children) in Bethnal Green, London - along with his brother, Edward. Edward was quickly adopted, leaving Walter alone. Every morning before lessons he would have to wash in freezing cold water, clean at least 15 pairs of boots and scrub floors on his knees.

He signed for Clapton Football club in October 1908. By the end of the season he had won winners' medals in the FA Amateur Cup, London County Amateur Cup and London Senior Cup. In March 1909 the 'Football Star' called him "the catch of the season" He joined Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 1909. He made his home Football League debut against FA Cup holders, Manchester United, in front of a crowd of over 30,000.

His excellent form in this opening part of the season promised a great future, however, at a match away to Bristol City in October 1909, Tull was the target of vicious racial abuse from Bristol fans. Spurs were embarassed by these incidents, and soon after he was dropped from the first team. He played his subsequent games for the reserves and was eventually transferred to Northampton Town in 1911, where he made 111 first-team appearances.

After the First World War broke out in August 1914, Tull became the first Northampton Town player to enlist in the British Army.

He served in the 17th Battalion Middlesex Regiment, rose to the rank of sergeant and fought in the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

When Tull was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on 30 May 1917, he became the first ever mixed-heritage infantry officer in a regular British Army regiment - despite the 1914 Manual of Military Law specifically excluding soldiers that were not "of pure European descent" from becoming commissioned officers.

Tull fought on the Italian Front from November 1917 to early March 1918. He was cited for his "gallantry and coolness" by Major-General Sydney Lawford, having led 26 men on a night raiding party, crossing the fast-flowing rapids of the River Piave into enemy territory and returning them, all unharmed.

Tull returned to northern France on 8 March 1918 and was killed in action on 25 March during the early stages of the German Army's Spring Offensive, near the village of Favreuil in the Pas-de-Calais, aged 30. His body was never recovered, despite the efforts of his men to return to him while under heavy fire. He is remembered at the Arras memorial for those who have no known grave.

On Sunday 11 July 1999, Northampton Town F.C. unveiled a memorial to Walter Tull in a dedicated Garden of Remembrance at Sixfields Stadium.

The epitaph, reads :-
"Through his actions, Tull ridiculed the barriers of ignorance that tried to deny people of colour equality with their contemporaries. His life stands testament to a determination to confront those people and those obstacles that sought to diminish him and the world in which he lived. It reveals a man, though rendered breathless in his prime, whose strong heart still beats loudly."

[BustyWomenLovr]

Quentin Roosevelt (November 19, 1897 – July 14, 1918) was the youngest son of President Theodore Roosevelt and First Lady Edith Roosevelt. Family and friends agreed that Quentin had many of his father's positive qualities and few of the negative ones. Inspired by his father and siblings, he joined the United States Army Air Service where he became a pursuit pilot during World War I. Extremely popular with his fellow pilots and known for being daring, he was killed in aerial combat, flying a Nieuport 28, over France on Bastille Day (July 14), 1918. His initial grave was quite hasty, put in place by the Germans as he had fallen on the Eastern side of the lines. Much later, he was re-interred next to his brother Ted at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, as his brother had died of a heart attack while leading troops just after D-Day.

[Mal Hombre]

Lt. Roosevelt and His grave.

[haroldeye]

Here's to someone else. Private Fritz Proverbs 1/5 S Staffs killed in action 13th October 1915 during an attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt near Loos.


Apparently that is a very sanitised account of what happened. The attack was not successful and Capt Millners company were hit by heavy fire and had to retreat back to their trenches. Millner was hit and Fritz Proverbs went out to bring back his officer. They were hit by high explosive rather than shrapnel and have no known grave, being liberally spread across the ground. God bless Fritz who gave his life for his officer, and who got very little mention for it. I am married to Capt Millners great grand daughter and his family recognise Fritz Proverbs heroism and sacrifice.

[bubbs999]

Maurice James Dease was born on 28 September 1889 in Gaulstown, Coole, County Westmeath, Ireland to Edmund Fitzlaurence and Katherine Murray Dease. He was educated at Stonyhurst College and the Army Department of Wimbledon College before attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. In August 1914, he was a 24 year old Lieutenant, in command of 2nd Company, 4th Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers.




Sidney Frank Godley was born on 14 August 1889 in East Grinstead, West Sussex, the son of Avis and Frank Godley. His mother died in 1896, and he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Willesden, London. He was educated at Henry Street School, St John's Wood and later at Sidcup National School. From the ages of fourteen to twenty, he worked in an ironmonger's store. On 13th December 1909, he enlisted in the British Army. In August 1914, he was a 25 year old private, in the 2nd Company, 4th Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers.

23rd August 1914 - Battle at Nimy Bridge, Mons, Belgium

At Mons, the British II corps (40,000 men) dug in to defend the town, along the length of the canal. The germans attacked with 4 corps (approx 180,000 men).
At Nimy bridge, the germans sent an initial force of 4 Battalions (6000 men). The 2nd company, Royal Fusiliers (defending) numbered around 200 men, with one of the battalions 2 vickers machine guns.

At 9:00 a.m., the first German infantry assault began, with the Germans attempting to force their way across four bridges that crossed the canal at the salient.

Four German battalions attacked at Nimy bridge, advancing at first in close column "parade ground formation" - the Germans made easy targets for the British riflemen, who hit the German soldiers at over 1,000 yards, mowing them down by rifle and machine-gun fire. The germans lost approximately 500 men within the first minutes of the battle. So heavy was the British rifle fire that some Germans thought they were facing batteries of machine-guns.

The subsequent German attacks switched to an open formation, which made it more difficult for the British to inflict casualties rapidly. The outnumbered defenders were soon hard-pressed to defend the canal crossing, the machine gun crews becoming the main focus of German fire.

With all the machine gun crew killed, Lt Dease took over firing the vickers gun himself, with Private Godley acting as loader. German fire was increasingly heavy, but Dease carried on firing, in spite of bullet wounds to his leg, arm and chest. He only ceased firing after he was again hit, this time in the neck. Lt Maurice Dease died shortly after.

Private Sid Godley then took over firing the vickers gun. A battalion runner arrived with orders to pull back out of Mons. Godley offered to defend the Nimy Railway Bridge while the rest of the company retreated.

Godley held the bridge single-handed under very heavy fire and was wounded twice. A shell fragment entered his back when an artillery exploded near him, and he was wounded by a bullet to the head. Despite his injuries he carried on the defense of the bridge while his comrades escaped.

Godley defended the bridge for almost two hours, until he ran out of ammunition. His final act was to smash the vickers gun and throw it into the canal.

Bleeding, he attempted to crawl to safety, but advancing German soldiers caught him and took him to a prisoner of war camp. His wounds were treated, but he remained in captivity until the end of the war.

Godley was awarded the Victoria Cross by King George V, at Buckingham Palace, on 15th February 1919.



On 2nd August 1919, Godley married Ellen Eliza Norman. He worked as a school caretaker in Tower Hamlets, London, and died on 29th June 1957. He was buried with full military honours in the town cemetery at Loughton, Essex.

Maurice James Dease was the first soldier to be Posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross in the First World War. He lies buried at St Symphorien military cemetery, in Belgium. His Victoria Cross, along with the original hand written citation of his bravery, is displayed at the Royal Fusiliers Museum, in the Tower of London.





Both men are remembered with a plaque under the Nimy Railway Bridge, at Mons.

The battle for Mons was the first major engagement for the British army in First World War.
It saw 1,638 casualties on the British side and about 5,000 German soldiers lost.

[old alal]

I do not have any stories to tell. My Family was extreamly lucky to only loose one member during WWII, a tailgunner in a Lancaster, and none in WWI

I do however have total respect for all the Fallen. I will never forget the sacrifices others made to allow me to be who I am.

Rest In Peace

[bubbs999]

Originally Posted by old alal

I do not have any stories to tell. My Family was extreamly lucky to only loose one member during WWII, a tailgunner in a Lancaster, and none in WWI

I do however have total respect for all the Fallen. I will never forget the sacrifices others made to allow me to be who I am.

Rest In Peace

Well said Sir

[lorneould]

and "lest" means ?