WILLIAM NEEDHAM

WILLIAM NEEDHAM

Private 14982

10th Battalion Sherwood Forester Regiment

Killed in action - 9th August 1916

William Needham was living in Cresswell when he enlisted with the Sherwood Foresters.  He was born in New Whittington around 1885. His life prior to WW1 has not been easy to follow, but in 1911 he was living with his siblings at 4 Cross London Street in New Whittington.  I have not found William recorded on a census living with his parents.  

Assuming that William shared the same mother and father as his siblings then he was the son of Joseph and Sarah Needham.  Joseph was a carpenter/joiner born in Sittinglow, Derbyshire.  Sarah was born in Chinley near Chapel-en-le-Frith on the outskirts of the Peak District.  Sarah nee Royle married Joseph Needham on 6th February 1866 at Chapel-En-Le-Frith in Derbyshire.

In 1871 Sarah was living at West Street, Whittington with her two children; John aged 4 and Mary aged 2. John was born in Combs, Derbyshire around 1867 and so it would appear that the family moved to New Whittington some time around 1868/9 as Mary was born in the village.  Joseph was not living with Sarah on census night, he may well have been working away from home.  

More children followed; Joseph in 1872, Sarah Ann in 1877, Herbert in 1878, Alice in 1880, Martha in 1882. William was born at some time around the end of 1884 to the beginning of 1885 and another son named James Wilfred was born at the end of 1885 **please see the bottom if this post for my comments regarding James Wilfred and William. 

Sadly two of the children died; Mary died in 1873 aged just 4 years old. She was buried at New Whittington on 10th August 1873.  On 4th September 1885 eldest son John died aged just 18 years old.  He was admitted to Chesterfield Royal Hospital where he later died.

By 1891 Sarah and had moved to London Street, still in the same village of New Whittington.  However, neither William or his father Joseph are noted on the census returns.  

1901 finds Sarah now living at 69 South Street and described on the census as "widow".  It looks likely that her husband Joseph had recently died that same year.  Her two children; Martha and James W were still living at home with her.  Once more there is no mention of William Needham.

Joseph her son was living a few doors away at number 66, he had married Edith Wrigglesworth on 21st October 1895. The couple had a young son named Herbert aged 4 years old.  

Sarah Ann, William's sister had married John William Thompson on 24th September 1899 at Chapeltown, Near Sheffield.  John was a pattern maker and they had one son named Charlie, he was one year old on the 1901 census.  The young family were living at Bredbury in Cheshire.


Herbert had married Minnie Fletcher on Christmas Eve 1900, the newly weds were living at 87 High Street, New Whittington.  Herbert worked as a coal miner hewer.

Alice had also married, she had become step mother to another of the soldiers named on the St Barnabas Memorial when she married Thomas O'Brien in 1900.  Alice and Thomas O'Brien were living at 16 Bamford Street in 1901, with Thomas' children from his first marriage; Mary, Catherine and Thomas and their own child a son named William.  (Thomas jnr was killed in action on 22nd February 1916, his story can be read here). 

1911 the eve of war....

Move on ten years to 1911 and William is finally found on the census returns living with his siblings; Herbert and Joe.  Their mother Sarah was not living in New Whittington, whether she had died or moved is not known at this time.

William was enumerated on the census return as "Willie" aged 25 he worked as a coal miner.  They were all living in Herbert's home at 4 Cross London Street, New Whittington.  Herbert and Minnie Needham now had a son; 10 year old Arthur. 

William's other brother Joe and his son Herbert were also living in the same household.  

Sarah and John Thompson were still living in Bredbury at 4 Dark Lane. They had two more children by now; William aged 3 and Evelyn aged 1 year.  

Alice and Thomas O'Brien were living at 116 Crown Yard, Thomas was employed as an locomotive engine driver.  They had his son Thomas living with them along with Annie, Margaret and John from their own marriage.

Martha was living at 65 South Street, New Whittington in 1911.  She had married her sweet heart Solomon Ward on 15th July 1903.  The couple had two sons; Enoch aged 7 and Arthur 6 months of age.

James Wilfred was not recorded on the 1911 census.

William's war....

Unfortunately William's service records have not survived, nor does he appear to have been given an obituary in any of the local newspapers. William served with the 10th Battalion Sherwood Forester Regiment, many of the local men also served in this regiment.  William was known as Private 14928.  

Not knowing when William enlisted or when he first went into action it is difficult to ascertain what service he saw.  On 1st July 1916 the 10th Battalion were given orders to move to prepare for battle.  They collected supplies from Becourt Wood and moved out towards Fricourt. On 2nd July the battalion began their advance on Fricourt Wood at 12 noon.  The advance was slow though and held up several times due to the positions being held by the enemy.

On the 3rd July they were given orders to attack Railway Alley along with the 7th Border Regiment and 7th Lincolnshire Regiment.  The war diary states that the attack was "in every way successful and the casualties comparatively light".  The attack resulted in the garrison of the enemy showing the white flag and surrendering.  The battalion were able to move on and occupy Crucifix Trench.  The night was spent consolidating and patrolling the newly acquired ground, however they were under continued bombardment from enemy attack and sniper fire. On 4th July the men were relieved from their duties and marched weary in the rain to billets at Ville.

August 1916 came and the battalion received orders to move from their billets near Albert to the trenches at Pommiers Redoubt.  That night and the following morning the men spent time collecting supplies.  On 3rd August they were given further orders that they were to leave by daylight on 4th August and move to relieve the 22nd Royal Fusiliers near to Mine Trench.  

No rest for the battalion as on 5th August they were moved on once more to relieve the 9th Duke of Wellington Regiment at Longueval.  This was no easy task as the ground had been so heavily shelled there was some large shell holes which were joining together which "made work extremely difficult".

The following days were spent carrying out several unsuccessful attacks on Delville Wood.  Each time the battalion were unable to push forward and "establish a line of posts outside the wood".  On 8th August the battalion were to relieve the 7th Lincolnshire Regiment.  This was once again not an easy manoeuvre and the battalion did not arrive in the trenches vacated until 7.30am on 9th August.  Within the battalion three of the companies were now stationed in the trenches at Montauban Alley, the fourth company was stationed in a new trench situated in between Longueval and Montauban.

The war diary gives the following statistics for casualties for the days of 4th to the 9th August 1916 -

"Officers - 7 wounded (1 of which with shell shock)

Other Ranks - 

38 killed,

5 died of wounds,

148 wounded,

23 missing"

William was killed in action on 9th August 1916.  He has no known grave but is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, France.  Ref pier and face 10C 10D and 11A.

Private 14928, William Needham was awarded the Victory and British Medals for his service.

Siblings names noted on Soldiers Effects register
co www.ancestry.co.uk

Piecing together the life of William Needham has not been a simple task, he does not appear on all of the British census returns.  However, the register of his effects and whom received the pension payments after William's death do confirm that his siblings were; Joseph, Herbert, Sarah A Thompson and Martha A Ward.  

Life went on....

Joseph Needham and Edith were still living in New Whittington at the time of WW1.  What became of them after that time in unknown for now.  If they remained in the New Whittington area then Joseph may have died in 1946.

Sarah Ann and John Thompson remained living in Bredbury, Cheshire. John died in 1922 aged just 51 years old.  Sarah was living alone at 4 Vernon Road, Bredbury in 1939.  Sarah may have died in 1958 but this would need further confirmation.

Herbert Needham appears to have remained in New Whittington.  On the 1939 Register Herbert and Minnie were living at 87 London Street. Herbert was out of work at the time.  

Alice and Thomas went on to have what appears to be a very turbulent marriage.  However, they had five children; William, Annie, Margaret, John and Sarah.  John died less than one year old in 1911.  Alice also died at a young age in 1915, she was just 36 years old.  Alice's story can be read in more detail here.

Martha and Solomon Ward also continued to live in New Whittington. They had another son named George in 1913.  The family were living at 63 South Street in 1939.  Martha died in 1951 aged 69 years of age.

James Wilfred Needham remain a mystery, if anyone can add anything to their story please contact me.

** MY THOUGHTS..... is William "Willie" Needham actually James Wilfred Needham??  No census records both males living with their siblings in the same year.  A check of the General Register Office birth registers confirm that the children of Joseph and Sarah Royle all had the birth mother as Royle; the only name not registered is William Needham.  This however could be an error, or maybe they never got round to registering both boys in 1885?? 

*****

If you may be connected to this family or have any further information on William Needham or his family please do either leave comments via the pen icon below or drop me an email.

I hope that I have not given details of living persons, if so please advise and I will remove immediately.

Please note all information has been taken from online indexes and sources.  Due to the sheer numbers of people to be researched I am unable to purchase vital event certificates to confirm my research.

*****

Ref and further reading  -

Census

Parish registers
Medal rolls
Soldiers who died in the Great war

Register of soldiers effects
Service record - www.ancestry.co.uk

Newspaper articles - Derbyshire Times 12th September 1885, page 5

CWGC  http://www.cwgc.org

War diaries - Piece WO-95-2008 

10th Battalion Sherwood Foresters http://www.naval-military-press.com/10th-s-bn-the-sherwood-foresters.-the-history-of-the-battalion-during-the-war.html

The capture and defence of Montauban July 1916 http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/battles/battles-of-the-western-front-in-france-and-flanders/the-battles-of-the-somme-1916/the-capture-and-defence-of-montauban-1-13-july-1916/

JOSEPH BOOTH

JOSEPH BOOTH

Private E/1573

Royal Fusiliers, 17th Battalion City of London Battalion

Killed in action - 27th July 1916

Known as Joe, Private Joseph Booth was the son of Herbert and Mary Booth.  Joe had an elder half brother named William and a full sister named Florence when he was born in the summer of 1895.

Joe's mother Mary was born in Netherton, Leicestershire, she had married Abel Hardy in 1887 but sadly Abel died the following year leaving Mary with a young baby son to bring up.  Mary was living in Wigan, Lancashire where she remained for a few more years.  In 1891 she was living with the Holland family, she had a job as a dressmaker and young William was just 3 years old.

A couple of years later in 1893 Mary married Herbert Booth in Chesterfield.  They soon started their own family with the birth of baby Florence in 1894.

The Booth family....

By 1901 Joe had two more sisters; Ethel and May.  The Booth family were living at 64 High Street, New Whittington.  Joe's Aunt Rosannah and Uncle Mark Garratt were also living with the Booth family at the time.  Herbert, Joe's father was born in Heanor, he most likely moved to the area for the employment in the coal mines.

1911, the eve of war....

Joe was aged 15 years old by now and was employed as a coal miner along with his father Herbert.  Florence was 17 years old and worked as a dressmaker, no doubt taught the tricks of the trade by her mother Mary.

The past decade had seen happy and sad times in the Booth household; two new children were born, Herbert and Frank but sadly May had died in 1905 aged just 4 years old.

Joe's half brother William had married Nellie Neale in 1908, that same year the couple had their first child; a daughter named May.  In 1911 they bore a son named Harold.  They were living at 14 Back Lane, South Street in New Whittington at this time.

Joe's war....

Joe's service records have not survived but his medal card states that he entered the field of war on 17th November 1915.  His obituary tells that Joe joined up with the Royal Fusiliers in January 1915 and undertook his basic training, leaving from Salisbury Plain to join the British Expeditionary Force in November 1915.  They left from Folkestone on 16th November to arrive in Boulogne and moved on to the rest camp at Ostrohove.

Joe, Private E/1573 was to serve with the 17th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers Regiment , also known as the City of London Regiment, the 17th Battalion had formed on 31st August 1914.  Not long after Joe had arrived in France with his battalion they became part of the 5th Brigade, 2nd Division.  

The first weeks of January 1916 were spent in billets at Norrent Fontes, a fairly restful time in comparison to many other battalions.  By the end of January Joe would have witnessed his first enemy fire, as they were shelled "intermittently".  The following months would be made up of moving from billets to trenches in different locations, working parties sent out at night, digging and repairing trenches.  Joe would be bombarded by enemy whizzbangs, mortar bombs and shells on a regular basis.

At the beginning of July 1916 the 17th Battalion were in trenches at Villers Aux Bois.  They moved in and out of trenches and billets and in the early hours of 26th July they found themselves in Delville Wood being heavily bombed by the enemy for 15 minutes.  They were forced to move to the area known as Longueval Alley.  The war diary goes on to say they were "shelled all day with shrapnel.  casualties 3 O.R killed, 12 O.R wounded".    The enemy bombardment lasted all day and included gas shells later on in the day, one ordinary rank soldier was gassed.

On 27th July the bombardment continued, at 7.10am the attack on Delville Wood commenced by the 99th Brigade.  "Longueval Alley heavily shelled, all communication with the wood broken".  That afternoon a messenger arrived with news that it was suspected that the Germans were getting "thin in the right flank". The "A" and "B" Coys moved up into Delville Wood around 2pm that afternoon.  

The war diary continues "Shelling of Longueval Alley continued all day....Casualties Lt Robinson wounded, Captain Parsons wounded, Capt. Knocker wounded, 2/lt Penny killed, Lt Fletcher killed, O.R 16 killed, 90 wounded, 7 missing".  The next 3/4 days of July followed in the same vain, the 17th Battalion put up a fight in Delville Wood, they moved on to attack at Guillemont on 30th.  Many more casualties and deaths were sustained.

Joe was killed in action on 27th July 1916, he is one of 127 Royal Fusilliers killed on that day and remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.

Private E/1573 Joseph Booth is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial in France.  His name can be found on the panels Pier & Face 8, C9A + 16A.

Joe was awarded the British War Medal, Victory Medal and 15 Star for his service.

Joe had his obituary written in the Derbyshire Times issue dated 12th August 1916, page 4.  It reads....

"Another Whittington soldier to fall is

Pvte. Joe Booth, who formerly resided with 

his parents in High Street, New Whittington.  

He was only 21 years of age, and joined the Royal Fusiliers in 

January of last year.  He was trained at several places, 

the last being at Salisbury Plain before being sent 

to France in November last.  

In a letter to the parents Major McKenzie says;

"i very much regret that your son was killed in action,

charging the enemy on July 27th.  He was a very

gallant soldier, and I wish to express to you my 

deepest sympathy in your loss as I am proud to

have commanded men like your son".

From information through another source Booth, it appears,

was hit by shrapnel in the chest and lived only a few minutes.

Before enlisting he worked at the Glapwell Colliery"

Life went on....

Herbert & Mary Booth remained in New Whittington.  Herbert died in 1931 aged 60 years old.  Mary lived on until 1949 when she died aged 82 years old.

William Hardy and his wife Nellie suffered the loss of their second child Harold in 1912 when aged only 1 year old he died.  They had at least one other child, a son named Eric in 1913.  

In 1939 the William and Nellie were living at The Beeches, Swallownest, Yorkshire.  William was employed as a colliery deputy.

Florence Booth married Charles Asher in 1913.  Charles was from Codnor in Nottinghamshire, he worked as a stallman in the coal mines. They had a son named Charles on 22nd November 1913.  In 1915 the couple also lost a baby, another female child named once again May (after Florence's deceased sister maybe?).  

On 25th May 1916 Florence named her newest arrival, a baby boy after his Uncle; Joseph.  Little did they know that only two months later fate would take away brave Uncle Joe.  A few years on in 1918 a daughter was born and named once again as May.  

In 1931 Florence and Charles became parents once more, a son named Herbert was born.  Sadly Herbert died in 1939 aged just 7 years old.  He had been admitted to Langwith Isolation Hospital suffering from Scarlett Fever.  

A son named Robert in 1921, daughter named Doreen in 1923 and another daughter named Winifred in 1935 may also be children of Florence and Charles but I have not confirmed these with the relevant birth certificate. 

Florence died on 17th March 1951, her address at the time was 13 Barrow Street, Lowgates, Staveley near Chesterfield.  Her probate entry shows her executors were; her brother Frank Booth who worked as a schoolmaster and her son Charles who was an omnibus driver.  Her effects came to £2090 13s 9d.  Her husband Charles died in 1965.

Ethel Booth I have not confirmed any marriage for Ethel.  If anyone can add to Ethel's story please do let me know.

Herbert Booth left school and found employment on the railways.  He worked as a fireman at the London, Midland & Scottish Railways locomotion sheds.  He had been employed their for six years when in April of 1924 he became ill with pneumonia.  Herbert suffered with the illness for only six days but sadly he lost his fight and passed away.  He was only 22 years old.

His obituary can be found in the Derbyshire Times 19th April 1924 page 7, which tells how he was a member of the Social Institute and Comrades Institute at New Whittington.  He was buried at St Bartholomew's Church in the village.

Frank Booth studied hard and qualified as a school teacher.  His first post was in 1926 when he would be aged around 19 years old.  In 1939 Frank was living with his mother Mary at 122 High Street, New Whittington.  Whether Frank married or when he died I have not confirmed at this time.

*****

If you may be connected to this family or have any further information on Joe Booth or his family please do either leave comments via the pen icon below or drop me an email.

I hope that I have not given details of living persons, if so please advise and I will remove immediately.

Please note all information has been taken from online indexes and sources.  Due to the sheer numbers of people to be researched I am unable to purchase vital event certificates to confirm my research.

*****

Ref and further reading  -

Census

Parish registers

Medal rolls
Soldiers who died in the Great war

Register of soldiers effects

Newspaper articles - Derbyshire Times

CWGC  http://www.cwgc.org

War diaries - Piece 1350/2 17th Battalion Royal Fusilliers November 1915 - January 1918

The book "The Royal Fusilliers in the Great War" by C O'Neil can be read on the Internet Archive via the following link https://archive.org/stream/royalfusiliersin00onei/royalfusiliersin00onei_djvu.txt

17th Battalion Royal Fusilliers (City of London) Regiment http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/royal-fusiliers-city-of-london-regiment/