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7th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry
| Want to know more about 7th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry ? There are:5325 items tagged 7th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Those known to have served with7th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry during the Great War 1914-1918. - Adamson Francis George. Pte. (d.30th Nov 1917)
- Beck Frederick Charles. Pte.
- Beeson Francis Henry. Pte.
- Beeson Francis Henry. Pte.
- Bevan Thomas. L/Cpl.
- Bright Frank. Sgt.
- Broom William John. Pte.
- Burnett Harold James. Pte. (d.31st Dec 1916)
- Burnett Harold James. Pte. (d.31st Dec 1916)
- Butler MM Stanley Reginald. 2Lt (d.27th March 1918)
- Carver Wilford Henry. Pte. (d.11th November 1918)
- Dauncey Arthur Edwin. Pte. (d.12th Sep 1917)
- Davey George Henry. Pte. (d.25th Aug 1916)
- Daymond Frederick Stanley. Pte. (d.22nd Sept 1917)
- Flower Aaron John. Pte.
- Hill George James Gordon. Pte. (d.31st Mar 1917)
- Hunt William George. Sjt. (d.16th Sep 1916)
- Jarvis C E. Pte (d.22nd September 1917)
- Lawrence Reginald Harry. Pte.
- Richards Alfred James. Spr.
- Smith Arthur Robert Lofton. Pte.
- Uphill Sidney Frank. Pte. (d.30th November 1917)
- Vincent Joshua. Pte. (d.7th August 1917)
- Way William Richard. Pte. (d.14th Feb 1918)
- Whitlock MM. Robert. Cpl. (d.31st October 1918)
- Whitlock MM Robert. Cpl. (d.31st Oct 1918)
- Young Wesley George. Pte. (d.7th Oct 1916)
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please Add a Name to this List
Records of 7th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry from other sources.
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Pte. George James Gordon Hill 7th Btn. Somerset Light Infantry (d.31st Mar 1917) George Hill serve with the 7th Somerset Light Infatry. I am researching him for the Teign Heritage WW1 website.
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Pte. Francis Henry Beeson D Coy., 7th Btn. Somerset Light Infantry In a letter written to his wife whilst being transported home for treatment, he wrote on 12 March 1917:
‘Just a line to say I am in dear old England once more. I am in hospital suffering with severe trench feet. I will write again as soon as I can as my intention is to post this as soon as I get off the boat.
I have been in the line 6 days this last time and in places up to our knees in mud. I felt my feet getting numbed when I had been up there 24 hours but I managed to stick it until our time was up and I also walked out myself. After that I could not stand on my legs. Here I am a stretcher case. It was terrible up there. Fritzy would not allow us an hours peace. Several of my pals were killed or wounded. We were only about 60 yds from them and our people were always bombarding his 2nd and 3rd and reserve lines so he began to think we were going to try and turn him out of it. I have been in Rouen since then. Must close now with fondest love to yourself and sonny, ever from loving husband Frank xxxxx’
(Added below and written a little later:) ‘I am on a Midland train so goodness knows where they are going to dump me down. I’ve had a very nice time on the hospital boat, was delayed in the Channel on account of fog. My feet are just beginning to get their circulation back again and the swelling has nearly gone down, rather painful otherwise I feel A-1. Goodbye for now’.
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Pte. Francis Henry Beeson 7th Btn., D Coy Somerset Light Infantry Francis Beeson enlisted at the start of the war. He was said to have fought in the Battle of the Somme and been gassed.
He was in hospital in Rouen on 12th of March 1917 after 6 days in water filled trench up to his thighs where he suffered severe trench foot. He was sent back to England until September of that year.
On return to France he may have been with the 6th Somerset Light Infantry (he was by the end of the war). He was captured on 21st of March 1918 and taken to Germany and used as slave labour until released from a POW camp in November 1918.
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Pte. Sidney Frank Uphill 7th Btn. B Company Somerset Light Infantry (d.30th November 1917) Sidney Uphill is remembered on the Cambrai Memorial.
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Pte. Harold James Burnett 7th Btn. Somerset Light Infantry (d.31st Dec 1916) Jim Burnett was my mother's eldest brother and died aged 19, in Northampton General Hospital and is buried in Towcester Road Cemetery in a grave looked after by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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Pte. Harold James Burnett 7th Btn. Somerset Light Infantry (d.31st Dec 1916) All I know is that my mother was 13 years old when Jim Burnett, who was her eldest brother, died in Northampton General Hospital and is buried in the War Graves Commission plot in Towcester Road Cemetery, Northampton.
She often spoke of him, especially at Remembrance Time, but did not seem to know much about what caused his death.
He died on 31st of December 1916, aged 19.
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Pte. Aaron John Flower 7th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry My granddad, Jack Flower, returned home after 2 years being a prisoner of war in Germany. He didn't realise he had a bullet inside him, and worked for 17 years at a quarry. When he was taken ill in 1934 he had to spend 4 years in Roehampton Hospital. He then died because of this in 1938.
He was a widower and left behind 4 children, one who was my father. I only have a few things to remember him by, his medals and a few photographs, and a beautiful letter he wrote to my father. I never met him, but I love him and am very proud of him.
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Pte. Joshua Vincent 7th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry (d.7th August 1917) Joshua Vincent was my grandad's uncle.
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Cpl. Robert Whitlock MM 7th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry (d.31st Oct 1918)  Robert Whitlock was originally born in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. He then moved to Tintinhull in Somerset where he worked for Tintinhull Glove Factory. In 1910, Robert married Mary Elizabeth Rogers. They had two children, Florence (born 1911) and Reginald (born 1915). On the outbreak of war, Robert enlisted in Yeovil with the 7th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry. He served as a medic and was promoted to corporal at some point during his service with 7SLI. In 1917, he was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry. In the summer of 1918, probably mid to late June, Robert was transferred to the 2nd Battalion Devonshire Regiment (B Company), presumably as part of the attempt to reinforce the Devonshire's after their mauling at Bois des Buttes. On 31st October 1918, 12 days before the end of the war, Robert was killed on the North bank of the Scheldt (L'Escaut) during the British attempt to cross that river on that day. He was buried where he fell and his body was later moved to St Roch cemetery in Valenciennes.
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Cpl. Robert Whitlock MM. 2nd Battalion Devonshire Regiment (d.31st October 1918) Robert Whitlock's birth record shows that he was born in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, on 25th January 1888, to John and Rhoda Whitlock. He had an older sister according to the 1891 census. The 1888 baptism record for Woodstock shows Robert's baptism date as April 22nd 1888 and his father John's profession as a glover. The baptism ceremony was performed by Assistant Curate T. E. Chataway.
The couple are listed towards the bottom of the 1891 census return from Woodstock, Oxfordshire. They lived in a 4-room house in Browns Lane. The 1901 census still shows them living at that address. It also shows that Robert's sister was working by then as what appears to be a domestic servant and Robert is listed as some kind of assistant.
Robert married Mary Elizabeth Rogers in Yeovil in the first quarter of 1910. The 1911 Census shows Robert in that year as being aged 23 and Mary aged 31. Robert's occupation is listed as a leather dresser working for a glove manufacturer. The company concerned was a gloving factory in Tintinhull, which at the time of Robert's occupancy was called the Tintinhull Glove Company Ltd.
Robert's daughter, Florence I Whitlock, was born in the last quarter of 1911 judging by the Birth Registration for October to December 1911. Robert's son, my grandfather, was born in the first quarter of 1915 according to the Birth Registration for January to March 1915. Robert had already enlisted by then and was in active service in the First World War, though probably undergoing training prior to deployment to France. There is a photo of him and his family which was probably taken at some point in 1915, probably just prior to embarkation. Both children were baptised in Tintinhull and the address for the family is given as a 5-room house in Tintinhull.
Robert enlisted in Yeovil into the 7th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry, which disembarked in France (at Boulogne) on 24th July 1915. A gratuity record suggests he enlisted in August or September 1914. According to an entry in The London Gazette dated 18th October 1917, Robert was still serving with 7SLI at the time he was awarded the Military Medal, which would have been awarded for an act of gallantry under fire.
Judging by his later service number, 32186, it seems it was transferred into the 2nd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment in late June 1918. This was almost certainly as part of the rebuilding of that unit after 2nd Devonshires had suffered heavy casualties at the battle of the Bois des Buttes in May 1918.
A detailed report which includes Robert's unit, B Company, 2nd Devonshires, shows that Robert died at some point on the 31st of October 1918, just 12 days before the end of the war, during the attempt on that day to cross the Scheldt (French name for that river is the Escaut). The report refers to heavy casualties being inflicted by the Germans around 11 am, at which point the unit had companies on both sides of the river and were trying to extricate the companies on the far bank back across the river.
The entry for 11.00 reads:
"Report from Officer Commanding B Company on Fosse Armoury, B Company HQ. A runner swam the river and arrived minus his boots, coat etc. Officer Commanding reports Lieutenant Sayes killed and casualties very heavy. B Company out of touch with D Company and unable to evacuate wounded. Previous runner drowned in an attempt to get message through. Reply sent to B Company to hold on. Relief being sent tonight."
Thereafter, the entries read
- "11.45 hours: One platoon of C Company to reinforce Captain Brokenshire on bank. Lieutenant Napier carried a wounded man on his back across the bridge under the bombardment. A Company's casualties in street caused adjacent to Battalion HQ.
- 15.10 hours: Fairly frequent heavy bursts of shellfire. Total casualties estimated about 80. Operational order received for relief tonight.
- 16.40 hours: Orders received to withdraw posts immediately and proceed to billets. Situation on flanks responsible.
- 17.30 hours: Report received from Captain Taylor that bridge has been broken. More pontoons due from Royal Engineers. Crossing progressing slowly [I am assuming here this refers to the extrication of the unit back across the river].
- 18.30 hours: A and C Companies clear
- 19.15 hours: B Company clear and all wounded across.
- 19.30 hours: 490th Company Royal Engineers arrived with more Jerusalems [pontoons]
- 19.50 hours: Last of D Company across and Brigade wired to this effect."
The Burial Return for Valenciennes Communal Cemetery shows that there was a cross on Robert's grave at the time of discovery and that no personal effects were forwarded on to the unit's base. His name is
listed on the Graves Registration Report for Valenciennes dated 4th September 1920 and the Imperial War Graves Commission report of headstone inscriptions. His name is also inscribed on the war memorial in the graveyard of St Margaret's Church in Tintinhull (erected in 1920 according to Tintinhull Local History Group).
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Sgt. Frank Bright 7th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry Frank Bright was born at Colyton, East Devon in 1896, son of Thomas and Emma. Frank was from a large family, around ten children, and in early 1900s moved to Knowle St Giles near Chard, Somerset where his father worked on a farm as cowman. Upon leaving school Frank followed his father onto the land but it wasn't long before he wanted something different. He was still a lad when he joined the West Somerset Yeomanry in 1912. At outbreak of war in 1914 Frank was transferred to the newly formed 7th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry.
After much training in various parts of England Frank's battalion completed their training on Salisbury Plain, where in June 1915 they were inspected by the King, and in July embarked for France.
While in France Frank was promoted to sergeant. His battalion the 7th Somersets attached to 20th Light Division landed at Boulogne and by the end of July 1915 were billeted between Hazebrouck and Armentieres near the French - Belgium border. In August Frank and the 7th Somersets went into the front line trenches near Armentieres to find the opposing lines only yards apart. They were surprised and probably felt quite indignant when they heard a shout from the German trench, "Hullo. You Somerset Cukoos."
By September they were experiencing warfare above and below ground as friend and foe carried out mining and counter mining in attempts to blow up each others forward positions. In one mining explosion beneath their lines 12 men of the 7th Somersets were buried and dug out alive. Weeks later in September 1915 the division took part in the battle of Loos, suffering 561 casualties.
Frank's first Christmas Eve in France was rudely interrupted when the village of Fleurbaix, where his battalion were billeted came under fire from German artillery. As shells rained down on the village they were forced to run out into the fields to escape the bombardment.
In early 1916 Frank was in the trenches near Ypres in Belgium and a few months later the division was involved in the second campaigns of the Somme, including the battle of Le Transloy on 1st October.
Frank's division took part in the Third Battle of Ypres in July 1917, and in August the battle of Langemarck. Their fighting during the Ypres campaigns had cost his battalion (7th Somerset Lt Infantry) 5 officers killed and 14 wounded, plus other ranks 102 killed and 335 wounded.
Weeks later Frank and the 7th Somersets were back on the Somme and by mid October 1917 were at Villers-Guislain, a village on the front line with 1000 yards of No Mans land between them and the enemy. Each night they put out patrols and all returned safely with not a shot fired. So quiet was it here that some in the battalion hoped higher command would forget them until the war ends.
It was around this time when Frank was granted leave and returned home to England to get married. It was the latter quarter of 1917 when he married Kate Spiller in the district of Taunton. Frank was aged 22 this year and Kate was 20 (born 24 June 1898)
A few days later Frank returned to the Western front. No longer in a quiet sector. In March 1918 his battalion was involved in hard fighting during the great German Spring Offensive. Frank and the 7th Somersets not only held them off but managed to break through their lines.
That summer they were holding a front in the Lens sector. In the first week of October 1918 during some stiff fighting they captured the village of Fresnoy and advanced their positions by 400 yards. It was a slow and painful process but the enemy was now in retreat. Frank's Division were relieved by 12th Division on 8th October and marched back 16 miles to Averdoingt for rest. They stayed here until 30th October when the division was ordered up to Cambrai .
However, in the area of Averdoingt on 24th of October 1918 Frank Bright was wounded by a shell, with shell fragments hitting his left thigh and hand. He was admitted to No. 22 Casualty Clearing Station. And from there was moved closer to the coast to No. 9 General Hospital on 27th October, and the next day was transferred back to England.
Frank was admitted to hospital in England on 29th October 1918 where he spent the next three months (93 days) recovering from his wounds. The Armistice came while Frank was still in hospital. He was discharged from hospital on 29th January 1919. He was demobilised from the army on 27th February 1919.
After the war Frank and Kate settled in Stoke St Mary near Taunton and started to raise their family. They lived at Oakfield Farm where Frank became a dairy and poultry farmer.
Frank died aged 87 in 1984. Kate died in 1992.
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Pte. William John Broom 7th Btn. D Coy. Somerset Light Infantry William Broom volunteered in September 1914, aged 17 years and 3 months. He landed in France in July 1915. He suffered shrapnel wounds in the build up to the Battle of Guillemont and was brought back to Epsom Hospital. William then returned to the 7th SLI.
He was taken prisoner of war at Fountaine les Clerc on 21st March 1918 on his way back to his unit after some home leave. William was taken to Giessen POW camp in Germany and sent down the coal mines to work. He returned to the Rhondda in 1919 and went back to the coal mines.
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Spr. Alfred James Richards 255 Tunnelling Coy. Royal Engineers My grandfather, Alfred Richards, enlisted in the Army on 3rd July 1914, into the 7th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry. His rank was Private, and his Army Number 12411.
Some time after this he transferred to the Royal Engineers, Tunnelling Company No. 255. His new Rank was Sapper and his Army Number 151541.
The 255th Tunnelling Company was formed in January 1916 by taking some officers and men from the 173rd Tunnelling Company, and moving into the Red Lamp Neuve-Chapelle sector. They were relieved in the area by the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company early in spring 1916.
Alfred was engaged in digging subways to the Vimy Ridge front early in 1917. The 255th also constructed two underground 50,000-gallon water reservoirs for use of troops in the upcoming battle for Vimy Ridge of April 1917.
Late in 1917 part of the company was working in tunnels near Givenchy. They were forced to move from camp at Boeschepe in April 1918, when the enemy broke through the Lys positions. The 255th were then put on duty that included digging and wiring trenches over a long distance from Reninghelst to near St Omer.
He was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
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Pte. Wilford Henry Carver 7th Btn. Somerset Light Infantry (d.11th November 1918) Wilford Carver was the son of Albert and Mary Jane Carver, Chesterblade, Shepton Mallet, Somerset. He was 21 years old when he died at 29 Casualty Clearing Station, Delsaux. He is buried in Grave III.A.11 at Delsaux Farm Cemetery, Beugny.
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Pte. William Richard Way 7th Btn. Somerset Light Infantry (d.14th Feb 1918) William Way is shown as having enlisted at Torquay, first with the Devonshire Regiment and then the 7th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry. He was killed in action on 14 February 1918, aged 37. A Death Grant and War Gratuity were paid to his brother Frederick.
The Way family has been recorded in some detail from Peter Way (1754-1836) and Patience Bishop with eight children, including Francis Way (1778-1854) who married Elizabeth Baker in 1800. The line then passed via Mary Ann Way (1809-1893) to Francis Way (1827-1910) who married Grace Baker in 1849.
Francis Way was an agricultural labourer and had been born in Bow, between North Tawton and Copplestone.
Their family in 1861 was living at Hills Buildings, Bow Village with their first six children, including William Way who was born in the Oct-Dec quarter of 1858 and married Jane Brown (born in Bridport in 1856) in the July - Sept quarter of 1880 . In 1881 they were living at back of 5 Queen Street, Dawlish and William was an agricultural labourer. There is a birth reference for William Richard B Way in the April-June quarter of 1881.
By 1901 William had died and his widow Jane was still living in Tormorhan, this time at 4 Spring Steps, Spring Place, Pimlico with William, now 20, and Frederick, 13. Jane Way is shown as a general hawker, William as a general porter and Frederick as a paper boy/hawker.
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L/Cpl. Thomas Bevan 7th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry Thomas Bevan served with the 7th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry. He was injured in lower leg by shrapnel on the 29th of May.
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Pte. Frederick Charles Beck 7th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry Frederick Beck was my grandfather. He and three of his brothers John Samuel, the eldest born 1882, Charles and George. All enlisted together in Taunton on the 23rd September 1914. The four brothers were assigned to the newly formed 7/SLI.
On the 24th July 1916, the Battalion moved by train from Amesbury to Southampton, sailing for Boulogne that evening. Of the four brothers on board the ship, all assigned to the Battalion's B Company, one would be killed within two months.
On the evening of Monday 12th of September, the Battalion held the front line just east of Cordonnerie Farm, close to the hamlet of Petillon, and about five miles south west of Armentieres. This was the very first occasion on which 7/SLI held the line in its own right. The Germans exploded two closely spaced mines directly under the men of B Company, creating a forty yard crater. Five men were killed and seventeen injured. Intense shelling and mortar fire continued for the next three days, on 14th of September George Beck was killed. He was 29, and is buried in the Rue Petillon Military Cemetery, just a mile or so from where he fell.
Frederick Beck was wounded in action on 1st of October, on which date 7/SLI made a daring advance at Le Transloy (Somme area). According to his medical record, Frederick was buried by a shell, suffering injuries to his wrist and knee, after long spells in hospital, Frederick was graded as 'C3' meaning no longer considered fit for active service overseas. He then served with Agricultural Companies of the Labour Corps, firstly with No. 449 Company. Then No. 445 Company.
I don't know much about his brothers Charles and John Samuel, as their records were destroyed by fire. They both returned home to Somerset after the war. Frederick returned home to his wife and eight children. He passed away in 1974 age 91
At the time his brothers sailed to France, Harry Beck their younger brother, still only sixteen, perhaps a wilful attempt to prove himself the equal of his brothers, had already enlisted himself. Drafted to join 8/SLI on 4 October. Amongst a contingent of 248 NCOs and men as that Batallion refitted in the French town of Borre. Surely reflecting on the wisdom of his decision to enlist. Knowing as he would have done of his brothers death. His father wrote a letter: I have a son in France, his age being sixteen. Perhaps you may kindly consider the case as all my sons(five) has been sent to the front, one being killed in France. Army bureaucracy meant that Harry was not finally discharged until 25th of February 1916.
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Pte. Reginald Harry Lawrence 7th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry My Father Reginald Harry Lawrence enlisted at Nottingham Recruiting Centre on 19th October 1916 when he was 17 years old, like many other recruits he said he was older than he was. He joined the Army Service Corps and was mobilized on 23rd February 1917. On 10th July 1917 he left Southampton to join No.4 Base Remount Depot B.E.F. France arriving in Boulogne on 11th July.
He was compulsorily transferred to the Somerset Light Infantry for posting to the 7th Battalion on 13th March 1918. He was sent up line and on the second day up line was gassed. After this he complained of general nervousness & dibility but was not sent off Line. He carried on after this with much difficulty.
Everything else that happened is very vague. I know my Father had shrapnel wounds in his legs and that he spent almost two years in hospital after the war, his date of discharge from hospital was 5th March 1920.
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Sjt. William George Hunt 7th Btn. A Coy Somerset Light Infantry (d.16th Sep 1916) I never really knew anything about my grandfather, William Hunt, people didn't talk about it when I was young, but I obtained an interest when my great grandson joined the army cadets. I told him about my grandfather, and he was so interested I was determined to find out all I could, sadly mostly about his death, but I will try to gain other information. We have not one photograph of him, so that is my next project.
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Pte. Frederick Stanley Daymond 7th (Service) Battalion (d.22nd Sept 1917) Officers and men of the 7th. Somerset Light Infantry were conveyed in buses to Dawson's Corner, Elverdinghe Road (NW of Ypres) on the 22nd. September 1917 to provide carrying parties in support of the attack on the German's Eagle Trench, east of Langemarck which was planned for the 22nd but had to be postponed until the 23rd.
On the 22nd German Gotha aircraft dropped 2 bombs on the Somerset's tented camp, killing 8 and wounding 22. Those killed were Privates Shier, Gillett, Haines, Jarris, Chamberlain, Price, Daymond and Callow.
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