“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”

Extract from Poem by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), published in The Times newspaper on 21st September 1914.

World War II Fallen

In this final piece on Remembrance we remember too those from the village that gave their lives in World War 2. We remember:

• JOHN CHARITY
• RALPH CHARITY
• WILLIAM PALMER
• GEORGE HARRISON
• FA LOCKE
• JACK ALEXANDER

Whilst books such as “Rutland The Great War” provide a comprehensive list of the fallen with awards of merit, photographs and list of actions for that War, there appears to be no similar record of those who lost their lives in 1939 – 1945. Indeed in researching these pieces I have been unable even to find even the Regimental Numbers /Rank / First Names of all those listed above.

Should any villager have further details we would love to be able to include them in the village archive. Hopefully next year we can produce a summary of these men who too gave their lives in War.

Commonwealth War Graves

We remember too those Servicemen who lie buried in the beautiful Commonwealth War Graves Commission plot in the Village Churchyard:

SERVICEMEN OF THE ROYAL ARTILLERY

• GUNNER PK MOORE

SERVICEMEN OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

• SERGEANT E HORTON
• AIRCRAFTMAN FG MALIN
• AIRCRAFTMAN G ROBERTS
• SERGEANT AB WRIGHT
• SERGEANT WD MORRIS
• SERGEANT BF MULLETT
• SERGEANT KH LONG
• CORPORAL LA SURGEON
• CORPORAL H BROGAN
• CHIEF TECHNICIAN DM HIGGINS
• SENIOR AIRCRAFTMAN DT ROGERS
• JUNIOR TECHNICIAN DB DOMINY
• SERGEANT RA LIGHT
• SENIOR AIRCRAFTMAN SA SHARP
• SENIOR AIRCRAFTMAN F BOWEN

SERVICEMEN OF THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE

• SERGEANT HD WEAVER
• FLIGHT SERGEANT JR YOUNG
• SERGEANT RG WALTERS
• FLIGHT SERGEANT RH LEWIS
• FLIGHT SERGEANT KL CAMPBELL
• FLYING OFFICER AE RAYNER
• LEADING AIRCRAFTMAN TA McNEILLY
• FLIGHT SERGEANT EK CHURCHILL
• SQUADRON LEADER JD DICKSON
• LEADING AIRCRAFTMAN CH ROSIN
• LEADING AIRCRAFTMAN KS WILKINGS
• FLYING OFFICER DG TRACEY
• FLYING OFFICER LJ ELPHICK
• FLYING OFFICER AM GILLIES
• FLYING OFFICER PV ROBINSON
• SERGEANT M LAING

SERVICEMEN OF THE ROYAL NEW ZEALAND AIR FORCE

• FLIGHT SERGEANT DLC LIDDELL
• SERGEANT H MORRISON
• SERGEANT LF CROKER
• SERGEANT T LINDLEY

SERVICEMEN OF THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE

• FLIGHT SERGEANT JA DOUGLAS

A Service of Remembrance is being held in the Village Church at 10.45am on Sunday 13th November, where we will be joined by local military units and youth groups and will commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

15062 Private James Leonard Steele

15062 Private James Leonard Steele

James Leonard Steele was the eldest son of William and Rose Steele and born in North Luffenham on 11 August 1895. By 1911, aged 15, he had moved within the village to live with his grandfather Jeremiah Steele and was a farm labourer.

He enlisted in Oakham, joining the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards on 5 January 1915, aged 19 years and 5 months old. He went out to France the following October where he took part in the fighting on the Somme.

James was wounded on 16 August 1916 and again on 4 May 1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres. At some point he transferred to the Labour Corps.

He returned home and married his wife Mabel in October 1918. But just five weeks later he was dead. James had been struck down in the big ‘flu outbreak that hit Europe and the world immediately after the war, but his illness was said to have been aggravated by his wounds.

He is buried at North Luffenham churchyard, and has a CWGC headstone. He was 23 years old. His cousin Hugh Steele and his second cousin John Henry Steele also died in the First World War.

12760 Private John Henry Steele

12760 Private John Henry Steele (known as Harry)

John Henry Steele (known as Harry) was the son of Amon and Charlotte Steele and was born in North Luffenham in 1896. He was a cousin of Hugh Steele of Exton and James Leonard Steele, who is buried in North Luffenham churchyard, as John’s grandfather was the brother of their grandfather.

His father Amon died in his thirties before the war, and John’s mother Charlotte remarried and the family moved to Northamptonshire.

John Henry was known as Harry and joined 6th Battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. Little more is known about his war service, except that he died fighting in Belgium on 26 June 1916 and is buried at Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery, grave III.B.17. He is not remembered on any war memorial in Rutland.

25753 Private Herbert Henry Storey

25753 Private Herbert Henry Storey

Herbert Henry Storey was the second youngest Rutlander to die in the First World War, aged just 16 years, ten months and ten days, after he was injured during the Battle of the Somme.

The youngest of all to die was William Clifton. Herbert, whose cousin Albert also died in the war, was born at at Ketton on 26 December 1899, the son of Herbert Storey and lived at New Town Cottages in North Luffenham. He enlisted in Mansfield, where he worked as a coalminer, on 3 May 1915, claiming to be 19 years, 127 days.

He went to France on 6 March 1916 with the 16th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment). During the Battle of the Somme, on 14 October 1916, 100 men of the battalion were sent to act as stretcher bearers during an attack by 118th Brigade on the Schwaben Redoubt near Thiepval. It is likely this was the action in which Herbert was wounded.

He was admitted to hospital in Rouen with a head wound before being evacuated home. He died in St George’s Hospital, London, at 12.45am on 22 October. Herbert was buried two days later at Nunhead Cemetery in South London and is remembered on North Luffenham’s war memorial.

10536 Private Charles Edward Thornton

10536 Private Charles Edward Thornton

Charles Edward Thornton was initially rejected for military service because of a heart condition. But he made another attempt to join up and managed to enlist in the Lincolnshire Regiment just three weeks after the start of the First World War.

He was younger of two sons of Lewis and Mary Thornton of North Luffenham. Lewis was a butcher in the village, but both his sons trained to be bakers. Charles worked in Nottingham and then in Wragby, Lincolnshire, while his brother George worked in Loughborough.

Charles attested for the army at Lincoln and joined the 6th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment. He was sent to Malta and then to Gallipoli when the British made new landings at Suvla Bay in an attempt to break the deadlock in the fighting which had been going on since April. He was shot in the stomach and died from his wounds on 11 August 1915.

He has no known grave and is remembered on Panel 47 of the Helles Memorial as well as at home in North Luffenham church. His brother George, who had joined up the day after him, was discharged from the army in October 1914 as medically unfit.

You can read more about all 16 from North Luffenham who fell during WWI from the series of posts published this week.

A Service of Remembrance is being held in the Village Church at 10.45am on Sunday 13th November, where we will be joined by local military units and youth groups and will commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

3088 Private George Liddamore

3088 Private George Liddamore

We do not know very much about George Liddamore. His name appears on the war memorial in St John the Baptist Church in North Luffenham but George is not mentioned in George Phillips’ Rutland and the Great War. It maybe he was the 24 year old son of George and Phoebe Liddamore who were living in North Luffenham at the time of the First World War and in their fifties, If he was, then he was living away from home in Grantham and worked as a gamekeeper.

What we can be certain of is that George Liddamore served with the 9th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment in Mesopotamia [Iraq]. The battalion joined the Tigris Corps which made an unsuccessful attempt to relieve the siege of Kut-el-Amarrah.

George was killed on 21 April 1916, a week before Kut surrendered. He has no known grave and is remembered on Panel 9 of the Basra Memorial and in North Luffenham church.

38237 Private Arthur William Morby

38237 Private Arthur William Morby

Arthur William Morby was just 19 when he died, one of around 45 “Teenage Tommies” from Rutland to have been killed in the First World War.

He was the son of George and Annie Morby, of North Luffenham, and was a Private in the Gloucestershire Regiment.

He was buried in France, at Hanguard Communal Cemetery, grave II.B.6, and is remembered on the war memorial in the church at North Luffenham.

24954 Private George Henry Saddington

24954 Private George Henry Saddington

George Henry Saddington was the eldest son of Charles and Anne Saddington and was born in North Luffenham in the summer of 1891. He had four younger siblings. George served with the 1st Battalion Leicestershire Regiment.

On 15 September 1916 the Leicestershire’s were part of 71st Infantry Brigade which took part in an ambitious attack aimed at capturing Morval, Lesbouefs, Gueudecourt and Flers during the Battle of the Somme. The battalion war diary described what happened:

“At about 5.50am two enemy aeroplanes appeared above us but did not stay long. About this time also a tank was noticed on our right moving quietly up to the enemy’s front line. On arriving there he immediately opened fire with his machine guns enfilading the German trenches on either side. He was very heavily fired on by the enemy’s machine guns which apparently had no effect.” Zero hour was fixed for 6.20am. “The leading Companies advanced at the walk at 30 yards distance between lines. A heavy machine gun was immediately opened by the enemy. The support Companies followed in the same formation 300 yards in rear of last wave of leading Company.” Things were beginning to go wrong. “The mist and smoke was terribly thick and allowed no observation by support Companies and Battalion HQ as to exactly what was happening…throughout the advance the battalion suffered very heavily from machine gun fire…and held up by very strong and undamaged wire in front of Quadrilateral [a German strong point].”

The attack petered out and eventually the Leicestershires were forced to withdraw with casualties of 14 officers and 410 men killed and wounded, including four others from Rutland. George has no known grave but is remembered on Pier 3A of the Thiepval Memorial as well as on the memorial in North Luffenham Church.

2596 Corporal Bertie H Smith

2596 Corporal Bertie H Smith

Bertie H Smith was born in Edith Weston in 1882 but records show his parents David and Hannah Smith were living in North Luffenham at the time. He was one of six brothers. Bertie became a joiner and moved to Oakham with his wife Annie Louise and their small son, Cyril Bertie Smith.

He joined the Leicestershire Regiment and served in Ireland after the Easter Uprising with the 2nd/5th Battalion. His death was the result of a tragic accident when he and another soldier drowned in floods as they were collecting stores with a horse and cart. In a letter sent to a Mr S Daniels who tried to help the pair, the Major General commanding the 59th Division based at Curragh Camp wrote:

“I have read with much satisfaction a report of your courageous action on the evening of the 17th November 1916 at Fermoy, when you endeavoured to assist Corpl. Smith and Pte. Jewell of the 2nd/5th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment who were in great danger on account of heavy floods washing past the bridge over the River Blackwater with a Government Horse and Cart. It is a matter of regret that the lives of the two soldiers were not saved, but this does not detract in any way [of] your action, and I desire on behalf of the military authorities, to thank you very cordially for your courageous attempt to help them in their difficulties at the risk of your own life.”

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has the date of death the following day, 18 November 1916. Bertie, who was around 34, is buried at Fermoy Military Cemetery in County Cork. Graves are not individually marked and so he is named on the Screen Wall with Hedley Jewell who died with him. He is also remembered on North Luffenham’s war memorial.

38236 Private George Edward Smith

38236 Private George Edward Smith

George Edward Smith was the son of Charles and Kate Smith, and had a sister, Lily. He was born in North Luffenham around 1898 and served with the 1st Battalion Leicestershire Regiment.

He died as a prisoner of war at the end of March 1918 aged 19. After the war his body was moved to Mons (Bergen) Communal Cemetery, grave VII.D.12.

He is remembered on the war memorial at North Luffenham.

You can read more about all 16 from North Luffenham who fell during WWI from the series of posts published this week.

A Service of Remembrance is being held in the Village Church at 10.45am on Sunday 13th November, where we will be joined by local military units and youth groups and will commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

17232 Private Joseph Henry Boothby

17232 Private Joseph Henry Boothby

Joseph Henry Boothby was the son of Aubin John Boothby (a domestic gardener) and Charlotte Boothby of North Luffenham and was born in Alconbury on 29 August 1889.

He joined the Leicestershire Regiment in March 1915, and went out to France the following May to join C Company of the 2nd Battalion.

He took part in the Battle of Loos, and was killed on 25 September 1915.

He has no known grave and so is remembered on panel 43 of the Loos Memorial and the war memorial in the church in North Luffenham.

The Royal Leicestershire Regiment

201499 Private Cecil Bailie Gage Killips

201499 Private Cecil Bailie Gage Killips

Cecil Bailie Gage Killips and his brother William from North Luffenham both died in the First World War.

Cecil was born at Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland, on 12 April 1897, the son of Robert (a stud groom) and Hannah Killips who later moved to Rutland.

Cecil worked as a moulder and joined up on 26 March 1915, going to the Western Front on 17 March 1916 with the 1st/4th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment. He fought in France and Belgium, and according to George Phillips “was a first class machine gunner and bomber.”

He was killed by a shell on 10 October 1917, at Lens, and was buried at Philosophe British Cemetery, grave II.V.3, one of ten Rutland soldiers buried there. Cecil is also remembered on the war memorial in North Luffenham.

The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment

25892 Private William Killips

25892 Private William Killips

William Killips and his younger brother, Cecil (See above) from North Luffenham both died in the First World War. William was born on 31 August 1891, at Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Ireland, and was a railway booking clerk.

Although he was the older brother, he enlisted six months after Cecil on 11 November 1915, and went out to France on 25 August 1916 with the 9th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment. He was killed in the Battle of the Somme exactly a month after arriving on the Western Front, on 25 September.

The 9th Battalion had formed up in front of Gueudecourt in New Trench and Gap Trench the night before. The attack was to be carried out on a two platoon frontage in eight waves, at 250 yard intervals. The battalion war diary reports:

“The morning was spent making final preparations for the attack. Enemy shelling not heavy and a few casualties were sustained. Waves formed up in front of trenches. Advance commenced…enemy immediately commenced an extremely intense and deep barrage. First two platoons of D Coy reached Gird Trench but sustained heavy casualties. All Coy officers becoming casualties…Remnants of first two waves of C Coy reached Gird Trench but owing to machine gun fire on the right and the brigade on the right having failed to take Gird Trench, the party were all killed or wounded.”

The diary says a tank supported by a bombing party eventually cleared Gird Trench and took more than 350 prisoners. William was killed at some point during the morning.

He does not have a known grave but is remembered on Panel 3A of the Thiepval Memorial. He is also remembered on the war memorial at North Luffenham.

40264 Private William Kirby

40264 Private William Kirby

William Kirby was born around Christmas 1895 in Wakerley and was baptised in the village on 5 January 1896. By 1901, when he was five, his parents William Senior (A shepherd) and Marion had moved to North Luffenham. Altogether they had eight children. William’s father died young because in the 1911 census Marion is listed as a widow, still living in North Luffenham with him and his two youngest siblings.

William was working as a farm labourer when he enlisted in Oakham. He served with the 7th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment and died in the Battle of the Somme on 28 September 1916.

His battalion had taken part in an attack on Gueudecourt two days previously and was occupying Gird Trench which had been captured from the Germans. The battalion war diary for the period between 27 and 29 September simply says:

“Battalion remained in the same position. Nothing of importance occurred during this period. 48 casualties were sustained through shell fire.”

William was presumably one of these. He has no known grave and is remembered on Panel 3A of the Thiepval Memorial and in North Luffenham Church. After the war, his mother was recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as living at 136, Dorset Street, Leicester.

Thiepval Memorial

You can read more about all 16 from North Luffenham who fell during WWI from the series of posts published this week.

A Service of Remembrance is being held in the Village Church at 10.45am on Sunday 13th November, where we will be joined by local military units and youth groups and will commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

66112 Private John Alfred George Adams

66112 Private John Alfred George Adams

John Alfred George Adams was the son of George Henry (A sawyer in the Timber Yard) and Kate Elizabeth Adams of North Luffenham. On the 1911 Census he was employed as an Under Waggoner on a Farm.

He enlisted in the Yorkshire Light Infantry on 24 June 1918. John trained as a Lewis gunner and went to France on 15 October 1918, where he was wounded in action by a bullet on 4 November.

He died at a hospital in Liverpool on the 14 November and is buried at North Luffenham. His headstone also commemorates his brother in law, John Cox, who had moved from North Luffenham to Derbyshire before joining the army and being killed at Ypres. (See Below)

21018 Private John Robert Cox

21018 Private John Robert Cox

John Robert Cox was born in about 1889 in North Luffenham where his father (John Cox) worked as a Brickyard Labourer in the village brickworks.

At some point the family moved to Ilkeston in Derbyshire. John was married in 1913 to Christabel Adams, also from North Luffenham, whose brother John Adams, died three days after the Armistice from injuries he received in the war and is buried in the village churchyard.

John Cox served in the same Regiment as his brother-in-law which he had joined in January 1915. He went out to the Western Front on 21 May and was killed in September 1915 in the fighting around Ypres.  

He is buried in Ypres Reservoir Cemetery, grave XI.E.23. John does not appear on any war memorial in Rutland although he is remembered on his brother-in-law’s headstone in North Luffenham Churchyard. After his death his widow remarried Mr JF Rose in 1922 and moved to Morcott.

43807 Lance Sergeant William Henry Delisle Alfin MM

43807 Lance Sergeant William Henry Delisle Alfin MM

William Henry Delisle Alfin MM was the son of Charles De L’ Alfin (A shepherd) and his wife, Harriett of North Luffenham and was born at Ketton on 10 October 1889.

He joined the 1st Battalion Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment) on 13 March 1916, and went to the Western Front on 15 July.

A year later he won the Military Medal for bravery during the Third Battle of Ypres, beating off an enemy attack:

“South of Polygon Wood, on the 25 and 26 September 1917, this NCO performed very useful work by the skillful disposition of his Lewis gun team during the enemy’s attacks, remaining cool throughout, and accounting for many of the enemy. His bravery, cheerfulness and calmness were very inspiring throughout the action.”

He also took part in the Battle of Arras, and was killed by a shell on 26 October 1918, near High Wood on the Somme, less than three weeks before the Armistice.

He was 29 and is buried at Awoingt British Cemetery, grave II.B.22, and remembered on North Luffenham’s war memorial.

You can read more about all 16 from North Luffenham who fell during WWI from the series of posts published this week.

A Service of Remembrance is being held in the Village Church at 10.45am on Sunday 13th November, where we will be joined by local military units and youth groups and will commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.