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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
Pte. Harry Nodding
British Army 21st Btn Durham Light Infantry
Served with 18th DLI
Pte. John Thomas Noe
British Army 9th Battalion East Surrey Regiment
A Prisoner Of War From 1915
A prisoner of war from 1915 until that great day The Armistice. Three years and three months. I began to wonder if dear old Blighty really was the place for me. Hoping on day after day, until it got to be year after year, it was anything but a time of pleasure. How often have I sat and thought, amidst my solidarity surroundings, after my unaccustomed hard days work was done, of home and dear ones. How vividly that beautiful picture came before my eyes, but I was all too soon, awakened from my reverie, and then the hoping on.
Looking back to 26th September, 1915 with a chill running through my veins, I recall the night or rather the early evening that I was put out of action. Under heavy shell fire, shrapnel flying all around us, I was very badly wounded and had to remain where I had fallen until five days had elapsed. Thirsty and worn out, in a semi conscious condition, weak through loss of blood and want of nourishment, I was suddenly aroused by being kicked, and not too lightly! Being brought to my senses thus, it all came back to me, the horrors of war. German language I could not understand - I only knew I was in the hands of the enemy. I think I must have lost myself completely for I do not remember them picking me up. I only know I found myself in Lens Cathedral and remained there for one night.
The following day in spite of our wounds we were conveyed in cattle trucks to Germersheim-on Rhine where I remained in hospital until January, 1916. Absolutely a wreck at this time and feeling far from robust in health I was sent to Hammelburg. From here we were sent to various other places. At one time I was working very hard in a stone quarry, at another in a forest felling trees, where, on one occasion, I got injured by a tree falling upon my shoulder and was in very great pain. Then I was transferred to Friesenhausen.
Fresenhausen, a small village in Bavaria, is situated about 300 kilometres from the Swiss frontier. The inhabitants of this village which numbered very few chiefly famers and farm workers. Women as well as children working very hard toiling on from morning till night, religion their one thought, work their only hobby, pleasure they very rarely got.
I was one of many prisoners here, our party consisting of English, French and Belgians. We all had our share of farm work, myself having to plough the fields with a couple of oxen of whom I did not greatly appreciate. Working on and on seeming to reach no end, the idea came to me to make a bid for liberty.
Freedom, what would it mean? Only those who were prisoners of war can perhaps realize what freedom meant. Living under the meanest conditions, insufficient food and working from morning to late at night. I look back and wonder how we could tolerate these conditions for so long. Yes, liberty, freedom, these thought would run through my brain, every moment thinking and trying to plan some way of escape, but I found it to be no easy task. The necessary articles such as a map, compass and food, how were we to procure them?
Watching every opportunity, although feeling our very movements were being watched, our hearts thrilled with the only joy we knew. Listening to the sentry's footsteps was like listening to a sentence of death. Consequences! What would they be? Freedom or capture and perhaps to pay a heavy penalty. Who knew? Never less do-or-die, and still retaining some of our old fighting spriit, we continued to make this bold endeavour to free ourselves from what seemed to be iron bonds or fetters holding us with their grasp. My fellow prisoners, and, I must say, my very good pals, one a Scotsman keen and alert, the other South African full of determination and spirit, reminded me of the gambler's den of Madam Tussauds tableau, as our heads were close together tracing a map trying to find a track across this unknown land, contemplating reaching the Swiss frontier.
Sleeping in the room at an old farmhouse we had many nights of planning and, I must, say, many days working and scheming, hiding and storing food away, chiefly that which had been sent to us from home, preparing for our escapade.
One day, while doing my usual routine of work on the farm, I cut my finger and bandaged it the best way I could with a piece of rag that was not, I am sorry to say, any too clean. I had not been working very long when I noticed someone coming towards me. A young girl of, I suppose 18 or 19 years stood before me, somehow I was rather astounded by her appearance and more astonished to hear her speak in broken English to me. Naturally I became very interested, and, after learning that she had previously to the war, been on a visit to England, and that she loved the English people who had been so good and kind to her, we were conversing very freely.
She seemed very sensible for a girl of her years, and noticing my finger tied up with the very soiled piece of rag immediately removed my clumsy bandage and ties a very dainty handkerchief around my finger. Little did I think what an important part this young Fraulein was to take in our attempted escape, but assistance I must obtain, one day, conversing as usual, I took an opportunity to ask if she possessed a compass. This she soon provided quite secretly, and, supplying her with chocolate that had been sent to me from England, I felt a bargain was indeed made.
Having a compass and necessary tools which we had got from the farm where we were working, and also a fair amount of provisions we thought it quite time to make this big attempt to get back to our allies.
The eventful night came. It is possible to describe our feelings? I think not. Watching and waiting until everything was quiet, we stole to the first door, picking the lock. We had yet another door to open. Should we be successful? Yes, the task was soon accomplished, and stealing from those prison walls, as they appeared to us, we made straight ahead for the most secluded spot we could find.
So the first night passed. Keeping our sprits up, feeling already we were breathing freely as we travelled on our way. Daytime! What would the daylight bring? Would it disclose our identity?
Making our way towards a thickly wooded forest that we could see in the distance, weary and tired through the walking we had done and feeling hungry by now, we all sat down and had a snack from our mean provisions and then our after dinner nap, which I am afraid was with one eye open all the time. Here we stayed in hiding until nightfall when we again started on our way.
Another day hiding. Another day tramping on. Hiding in a forest once more. Getting more accustomed to our lot. Throughly tired we slept more soundly and one day I must have been in a very deep sleep, when suddenly I started to my feet, for some fairly large animal had completely run over my body. I awoke just to see it disappearing through the bushes. It was a nightmare in reality which I shall never forget.
Another day in hiding, we very narrowly escaped being discovered. We heard voices and the tramp of feet quite near to us. Keeping as still as we possibly knew how, not daring to breathe lest these people should find us, they passed just a little more than an arms length from us. Another snack, almost the last we should get, for or food was getting low. Another nap. And so we continued until the fifth day.
Whether we got more daring as the days passed I cannot say but to our great disappointment we were captured near a small village. Not understanding what was being said to us while being arrested, we were put into a stable for the night and the following day were marched, under arrest back to Hammelburg. We were then searched and were deprived of our luxury - our cigarettes.
We were put in a prison cell and the following day were brought before the German authorities, not understanding anything about the proceedings in which were taking place. We were marched back to our cells in ignorance of what the penalty was to be. it was several days before we discovered what our sentence actually was. Our sentence turned out to be fourteen days in a dark cell living on bread and water, our rations consisting of half-a-pound of black bread and a jug of water per day. The dimensions of our dungeon were about 15ft by 12ft. It took just five paces to step from end to end and four paces across. I paced up and down this prison some hundreds of times during my sentence, hungry and weary in thought. I often think that if I had a repetition of these fourteen days I should certainly go mad.
We had no beds of any description, just an empty dark call with only the wooden floor to lie on. Not being provided with sufficient water to wash ourselves, we were indeed feeling very dirty. I can imagine my appearance by my two fellow companions. Not being allowed to shave or to wash was a punishment in itself and the pangs of hunger and the darkness of the cell seem too awful to recall. The only exercise we had was 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes during the evening. The first day or two in the cells we slept rather heavily, having had no proper sleep for some time but, as the days passed, our sides were too sore to lie down and we had to get what sleep we could in an upright position.
Our bread and water was brought in the early morning and we have been so hungry we have eaten the whole ration at the one time. On Saturday we had the double ration for Sunday but eagerly devouring it all in the same day, meant starvation on Sunday. The time we did not know, one day seemed endless. All we heard was the changing of the guard and the sentries nerve-racking footsteps. The fourteen days of our punishment at an end, weak and utterly worn out, we were taken back to the camp, being sent from there to resume the farm work again.
And so the time passed until the Armistice was signed. The Armistice was a day of all days, one that every soldier, parent and devoted wife living during that Great War will never forget. While we were overflowing with excitement overseas, so it was with the dear ones who were anxiously awaiting our return. And so the day came and I found "Dear Old Blighty" really was the place for me.
1426 Private J.T. Noe, East Surrey Regiment
Sgt. Alfred Ernest Nokes
British Army 6th Divisional Ammunition Column Royal Field Artillery
from:2 Sirdar Road, Tottenham
Alfred Nokes enlisted on 26th of February 1909. He was discharged, as the result of his wounds, on 9th of December 1918. He must have been to most places that the 6th Divisional Ammunition Column visited between 1914 and 1918. He received Pip, Squeak and Wilfred, but also a 1914 Star clasp and the Silver War Badge.
Tragically, he died in a double drowning, with his wife Lilian, in 1939. Both were recovered from the River Thames in Rotherhithe. He was living in Peabody Square, Blackfriars Road, Southwark, in 1937.
Rflmn. Harry Nokes
British Army 6th Btn. London Regiment
(d.13th Aug 1918)
Harry Nokes was the son of James and Florence Louisa Nokes of Wandsworth, London, aged 19.
Pte. Edmund Nolan
British Army 7th Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers
Private Nolan is buried South-West of the Church in the Rathtoe Catholic Churchyard, Rathtoe, Co. Carlow, Ireland.
Lcpl. James Nolan
British Army 24th (Tyneside Irish) Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
from:Langley Moor
James Nolan served in the Machine Gun Section, he took part in the trench raids on the nights of the 5th-6th and 25th-26thof June 1916. He was discharged in 1917 due to Gunshot wounds.
Fireman. John Thomas Nolan
Royal Navy HMS Princess Royal
from:Liverpool
John Nolan was my wife's grandfather. He joined in The Royal Navy in 1912 and finished his service in 1929. Over this time he was involved in a number of battles:
- Date 5th Aug 1917 Paid Prize bounty for sinking of the Blucher 24th Jan 1915
- 21 Jan 1918 Paid prize bounty Heligoland Bight 28th Aug 1914
- August 1918 - 1914 1915 1916 1917 Cheveron Arwarded
- Dec 1923 - 1918 Chevron Awarded
- 20 Aug 1921 paid 5s 1d Jutland Battle Prize bounty
Pte. John Nolan
British Army 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment
from:Castlecomer, Co.Kilkenny
(d.24th May 1915)
John Nolan served with the 2nd Royal Irish Regiment. The Battalion landed in Boulogne on the 14th of August 1914. They saw action in the Battle of Mons and the rearguard action at Solesmes, the Battle of Le Cateau, the Battle of the Marne and the Battle of Aisne.
They were virtually destroyed as a battalion near Le Pilly during the Battle of La Bassee. All but 135 men and one officer were either killed, wounded or taken prisoner. John Nolan was imprisoned in Dietkirchen an der Lahn (Limburg) Prisoner-of-War camp and he died on 24th of May 1916 aged 20.
Joseph Nolan
British Army 23rd Btn. Manchester Regiment
from:Eccles, Manchester
(d.22nd Oct 1917)
Pte. Laurence Nolan
British Army 1st Btn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
(d.31st December 1916)
Private Nolan is buried In the South-West part of the Sleaty Old Burial Ground, Sleaty, Co. Leix, Ireland.
Cpl. Leonard "Len" Nolan
British Army 20th Battalion Royal Fusiliers
from:Hawkshaw, Lancashire, England
Sgt. Michael Nolan
British Army 6th Btn. Royal Irish Regiment
from:Love Lane, Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny
(d.18th Dec 1916)
Bmdr. P. Nolan
British Army Royal Garrison Artillery
(d.30th July 1917)
Bombardier Nolan was 30 when he died and is buried in the south west part of the Killinure Old Graveyard, Leagh, Co. Leix, Ireland.
Pte. Thomas Nolan
British Army 2nd Btn. Leinster Regiment
from:Abbeyshrule, Co. Longford
(d.26th December 1918)
Thomas Nolan's next of kin was his cousin Thomas Daly Esq. of Abbeyshrule, Co. Longford. He is buried in the east part of Abbeyshrule Graveyard in Co. Longford. He was 44 years old.
Cpl. William Nolan
British Army 103rd Brigade Royal Field Artillery
from:Marylebone, London.
(d.9th Aug 1917)
William was my maternal Grandfather, he was born in Marylebone about 1886, his mother was Mary Nolan, father unknown. in 1901, according to the census, William aged 15 was living with his mother and his step father Thomas Edward Dwyer at 10 Linhope Street, Marylebone, London working as a Chemist Shop Boy. He married Frances Helen Larissey (my grandmother) on the 6th of Jun 1913 in London.
william enlisted for war service at Cockspur Street, London in Dec 1914. At the time of enlistment was living at Henry Street, St Johns Wood, London and his profession was thought to be Greengrocer & Fruitier. He went to France on the 28th of August 1915 and served with 'D' Battery 103rd Brigade RFA. William lost his life on the 9th of August 1917 and is buried in Dickebush New Military extension, Belgium
William H. Nolan
British Army 1st/10th Btn. London Regiment
from:Limehouse, Stepney
(d.19th April 1917)
The family oral history of William Nolan is that he was on a ship near the coast of Gaza when the Turks boarded. He had his throat cut in the fighting. He had 10 children, 9 of them daughters. He has many descendents through his daughters, including my self.
Pte. John Noon
British Army 22nd Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers
(d.5th June 1918)
John Noon enlisted at Newcastle, served in the 22nd Battalion (Tyneside Scottish) the Northumberland Fusiliers and died of wounds on the 5th June 1918 aged 46. He is remembered in St Paul's Church and is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery.
He was born in Edinburgh, son of James and Maria Noon. In the 1911 census he is single, age 37, living with his widowed mother Maria aged 69 who was born in Longford, Ireland. He is working as a shipyard labourer. Also living there are his younger brother Patrick, single, aged 28 (a rope manufacturer by trade) and his younger sister Ann, single, 21, working as a warehouse woman. Both Patrick and Ann were born in Sunderland.
Pte. Martin Noon
British Army 4th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment
from:Blackburn, Lancashire
(d.19th May 1915)
My Great Grand father Martin Noon was killed in Gallipoli his grave is in the Lancashire Landing Cemetery Turkey.
Sgt. P. Noon
British Army 24th (Tyneside Irish) Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
from:Wallend
P Noon suffered wounds to his leg and chest in 1916
Pte. Percy Frank Noon
British Army 19th (Western) Battalion Rifle Brigade
from:Finchley, London
(d.1st January 1917)
Pte. R. Noon
British Army 24th (Tyneside Irish) Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
R Noon was wounded in 1916
Pte. Michael Noonan
British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Irish Regiment
from:Waterford
(d.11th December 1917)
Michael Noonan was the Husband of Mary Noonan of 140 Barrack St., Waterford. He was 32 when he died and is buried near the south boundary of the Regina Caeli Cemetery, Mooncoin, Pollron, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland.
Pte. William Noonan
British Army Manchester Regiment
from:Stockport
Pte. William Noonan
British Army 13th Btn. Manchester Regiment
William Noonan was born in Clonmel on 14th April 1873. He moved to Manchester and married Elizabeth McDonald on 20th August 1895, in Hulme, Manchester.
On 8th September 1914 he joined the Army. He said he was 35, but we know he was 41. He lied about his age, maybe he was too old. His Army record shows: Army Reserve (special reservists) he completed three years service. Due to ill-health he was discharged on 9th July 1917. He had been posted to France from 07/09/1915 to 13/12/1916. He died six years later in Stockport of tuberculosis on 8th February 1923.
Pte E Norbury
British Army 19th Btn Northumberland Fusiliers
from:23, Alldis St, Mile End, Stockport
(d.13th Jul 1917)
Norbury, E. Private, 45001, Killed in action on 13th July 1917. Aged 19 years.
Buried in Templeux-Le-Guerard British Cemetery Somme, in grave II. F. 12.
Son of John and Sarah Norbury, of 23, Alldis St, Mile End, Stockport.
From the 19th Btn Northumberland Fusiliers Roll of Honour.
A/Cpl. William Arthur Norfolk
British Army 7th Btn. Norfolk Regiment
William Norfolk attested at Richmond on the 6th of June 1916 under the Derby Scheme. His initial attachment was to the 6th Norfolk Regiment, he then transferred to the 7th Battalion.
Gnr Percy Douglas Norgate
British Army 233rd Siege Bty Royal Garrison Artillery
from:Winchester
(d.10th August 1918)
Percy Norgate did not join up until he was in his late thirties, in the last year of the war. He served with the 233rd Seige Battery Royal Garrison Artillery in WW1.
He was captured by the Germans on 2nd of March 1918 and taken to their POW camp at Gustrow, Northern Germany. The well-remembered story is that while there, Percy managed to send a letter home. The family steamed off the stamp and found written underneath the sentence "Don't throw out the bacon rinds." This reference to the tough part of the bacon normally cut off and discarded told the family something about the conditions under which their beloved boy was living.
He died in hospital later that year on 10th of August 1918, 3 months before the Armistice.
Pte. Albert Norgrove
British Army 7th Btn. South Staffordshire Regiment
from:Smethwick, Staffordshire
(d.30th Sept 1916)
My Great Grandfather Bertie Norgrove volunteered for military service in August 1915, he enlisted into his local Infantry Regiment, the South Staffordshire Regiment, carrying out his basic training at Lichfield before joining the 7th (Service) Battalion. He initially deployed to the Balkans, sailing from Liverpool and landing at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli on 15 September 1915. He took part in Many Important Engagements before being evacuated with his battalion in December the same year, travelling to Egypt via Imbros.
The Battalion then deployed to the Somme, France in July 1916. He took part in several actions, finally fighting at the Battle of Thiepval Ridge between the 26th and 30th September 1916. The Battalion, as part of the 11th Northern) Division, 33rd Brigade fought decisively around the Stuff, Schwaben, and Zollern Redoubts but should have been relieved by elements of the Cheshire Regiment around this time. Unfortunately, their relief was late to arrive and consequently, Bertie was lost in action on the 30th September and has no known grave.
Pte. Arthur Robert Norman
British Army 13th Battalion Middlesex Regiment
from:London
(d.18th Aug 1916)
Arthur Norman served with the 13th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment.
Sgt. Beresford Grey Norman
Australian Imperial Forces 36th Btn.
from:"Berilla," Roxburgh St., Lorn, West Maitland, New South Wales
(d.9th Jun 1917)
Page 13 of 17
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