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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
Francis Sidney Thorpe
British Army Lincolnshire Regiment
I would like to know which Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment my Grandad served in during WW1. His name was Francis Sidney Thorpe born 1896 20th April, I think he joined up In Lincoln before the outbreak of war.
Pte. John Frederick Thorpe
British Army 3rd (Reserve) Btn Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment
from:Witnesham, Suffolk
John Frederick Thorpe served with the 3rd Btn, Royal West Kent Regiment and the Labour Corps. We are researching our grandfatherĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢s military service but we have limited information and would appreciate any further help on his regiment and where they were stationed. He married our grandmother in Suffolk in the early part of 1918 so may have been injured and had to cease military service. The battalion we think he was in was 3rd (Special Reserve). The photograph was taken in Chatham Kent on 16th September 1916 Thank you to anyone who can help us further our research.
Pte. Leonard Alfred Thorpe
British Army 13th Battalion East Surrey Regiment
from:Fulham
My grandfather, Leonard Thorpe was aged 16 when he signed up at Wandsworth on 13/07/1915 to the East Surrey Regiment. He was immediately assigned to the 13th (Wandsworth) Battalion. Moving to Le Havre in April 1916.
During action on 24th of April 1917 he is shot in the right wrist, leading to amputation. He is sent home on the Hospital Ship Essequibo on 1st of May 1917 before being honourably discharged on 17th of May 1917. It is believed that he saw action at the Battle of Ancre and was wounded on the assault of the town of Villers Plouich. He died in 1977. May he rest in peace, never forgotten. He earned the Silver War Badge, Victory Medal & British War Medal
Gnr. Major Thorpe
British Army 48th Brigade, 133rd Heavy Bty. Royal Garrison Artillery
from:Manchester
(d.22nd February 1919)
Major Thorpe was the son of Emma Thorpe of 214, Stretford Rd., Manchester, and the late Sedley Thorpe. He served with 133rd Heavy Battery, 48th Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery and died on the 22nd of February 1919 aged 27 years and is buried at Southern Cemetery Manchester, Lancashire.
Gnr. Major Thorpe
British Army 48th Brigade, 133rd Heavy Battery Royal Garrison Artillery
from:84 Pickering Street, Harpurhey
(d.22nd February 1919)
Gunner Major Thorpe of 133rd Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery Died of influenza and Bronchopneumonia at Alfred Military Hospital and is buried Manchester Southern Cemetery.
Pte. Robert Thorpe
11th Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers
from:Salford
(d.21st Oct 1916)
Gnr. Walter Thorpe
British Army B Bty. 75th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
from:Swineshead
My great-grandfather Walter Thorpe was gassed during WW1. We have a large photo of him in August 1919 as part of B Battery, 75th Brigade RFA, serving in the BAOR. Other than that, we are struggling to find more information about when he joined, if he joined originally as part of B Battery. I have managed to get hold of the 75th Brigade War Diaries but would be interested to know of anyone with personal war diaries.
Pte. Walton Albert "Jack" Thorpe
Australian Imperial Force 33rd Battalion
Jack Thorpe served with 33rd Battalion, AIF. He died in 1965
Gnr. William Thorpe
British Army 1st Lancashire Heavy Battery Royal Garrison Artillery
from:Liverpool
(d.18th September 1916)
Pte. J Thorpe-Tracey
British Army 2nd Battalion, D Coy. London Regiment
Pte J Thorpe-Tracey served with D Coy. 2nd London Regiment.
Pte. John Thomas Threader
British Army 1st Btn. Border Regiment
from:Battersea, Surrey
(d.28th Aug 1916)
John Threader served with the 1st Btn. Border Regiment.
Private Elias Threadgold
Army 4th Bn Kings Liverpool
(d.3rd February 1917)
Pte. John Threlfall
British Army 2nd Btn. Welsh Regiment
from:Turton, Lancashire
(d.9th Nov 1917)
John Threlfall was transferred from the Cheshire Regiment to the 2nd Btn. Welsh Regiment. He died at Passchendaele and is buried at Poelcapelle British Cemetery outside Ypres.
Pte. William Henry Threlfall
British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers
from:Burnley
(d.24th Aug 1918)
William Threlfall was killed in action on the 24th of August 1918, aged 29. Buried in Bouzincourt Ridge Cemetery, France, he was the husband of Minnie Threlfall, of 19, King's Terrace, Burnley.
William enlisted on May 17th, 1916 having previously worked as a weaver for Messrs. Whitehead and Leaver. He had been overseas since June 13th, 1917. His wife, Minnie received news of his death from one of his friends in the battalion: "He was on a night stunt, and when they called the roll next morning he was not there. I and a lad from Waterfoot could not rest, so we went over the ground to look for him, and found him, to our sorrow, dead."
Thomas William Threlkeld
British Army 2nd Battalion Border Regiment
from:148 Wellington Road, Liverpool
(d.22nd Feb 1916)
Pte. A. J. Thrift
British Army 3rd Bn. Essex Regiment
(d.9th March 1916)
Private Thrift is buried in the Rosendale Farm Cemetery, Western Cape, South Africa
Boy. Herbert Thripp
Royal Navy HMS Invincible
(d.31st May 1916)
Herbert Thripp died during the Battle of Jutland.
Pte Robert "Little Bob" Thrower
British Army 8th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders
from:Sutton on Hull
(d.25th Sep 1915)
Little Bob, Robert Thrower was my 2x great Uncle - the brother of my Great Gran Maggie Bayston. He is memorialised at St James' Church, Sutton on Hull War memorial. Bob was born in 1886 in Thorngumbald, East Riding of Yorkshire. The family don't know why he ended up in the Seaforth Highlanders when his cousins all joined the East Yorkshire Regiment. He was known to the family as Little Bob as his father was also Bob Thrower.
He died on Saturday 25th September 1915 during the first day of the battle for Loos. I recall my Great Gran had a letter that explained that Little Bob died under heavy enemy machine gun fire as his company "gloriously relieved the village of Loos".
I'd be delighted to hear from anyone with additional information.
Pte. Cecil Thomas Thubron
British Army 18th Btn. Durham Light Infantry
Pte. Thomas Thubron
British Army 24th (Tyneside Irish) Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
from:Coxhoe
Thomas Thubron was wounded in 1916
Rflmn. Albert James Thumwood
British Army 1st Battlion Rifle Brigade
from:Wandsworth, London
Albert Thumwood was already in the army when war broke out. Not sure were or when he joined the 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade. He received shrapnel wounds sometime during 1916-17 and returned to England to convalesce, retrained and became a Corporal training others for the remainder of the war. While convalescing in Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield he met his future wife Mercy Orgill and they married in March 1921. His brother George also a regular soldier and serving in the 4th Battalion Rifle Brigade, George died within 2 miles of Albert at Ypres on the 14th May 1915.
Pte. Henry Francis Thundercliffe
British Army 5th Btn. D Coy. 13 Pltoon. West Yorkshire Regiment
from:Hull, East Yorkshire
(d.9th Oct 1917)
203120 Private Henry Francis Thundercliffe of D Company, X111 Platoon, 1st/5th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales Own) was wounded on the morning of 9th of October 1917 during the assault on Peter Pan/Wolf Copse D.4.c.9.7 during the Battle of Passchendaele. He was found about 24 hours later in a shell hole at the bottom of the ridge and was taken toward a dressing station still under fire but had to be left in a shell hole about 80 yards from the dressing station due to mud and heavy firing. He was never seen again.
Here is an extract of the letter sent to his mother by The British Red Cross and Order of St John.
Dear Madam,
In reply to your enquiry, we have received the following report. Corp. C. Mitchell 202162. D Coy: now in France says; "We found Thundercliffe about 24hrs after our first advance at Passchendaele on 9th October. He was lying in a shell hole about 30yards from the bottom of the ridge. This was at night. He called out to us. We went to him and two of us took him back about 60 yards towards the Dressing Station. There we had to leave him in a shell hole. We could not go any further because of the mud and heavy firing. He was wounded but quite cheery. The spot we left him was about 80yards from the 1st Aid Post. I knew him well. He came from Hull." This report must leave your son's final fate still uncertain.
His body was never recovered and his name is engraved on the Tyne Cot Memorial.
John Thurgood
Army Yorkshire Regiment
My grandfather John Thurgood, known as Jack, served in the Yorkshire Regt. I believe he made a good friend in Capt. Nicholson. It was thought that he had died in action. However he returned home 6 months later saying he had been on official business elsewhere with Capt. Nicholson at the time his regt. had gone forward. If you have any information regarding my grandfather (or stories of his regt.) please contact me.
Pte. Edward Thurlaway
British Army 24th (Tyneside Irish) Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
from:Craghead
(d.1st July 1916)
Edward Thurlaway is named on the Thiepval Memorial
Pte. George William Thurley
Army 1st Btn. Dorsetshire Regt
from:26 Eden Grove, Islington London
i am looking for imformation on my grandfather Ive tried every ave but cant seem to trace him , he was born in islington london around 1894 his father was called charles thurley a platelayer, his mother was mary thurley nee hollister, george joined the army and in 1918 / 1920 he was stationed in northern ireland in a barracks called embrigton barracks in derry city nth ireland here he met my grandmother a nellie evans who he then married in may 1920 at all saints church near his barracks , they both went to england were they had 3 children all girls my grandmother returned to derry a few years later around 1930,s but on her own george did not make any attempt to contact any of his childern ,all of whom are now dead but they all married and had families of their own. georges wife nellie died on boxing day 1957. any info on george would be great
CSM. Victor Thurling
British Army 2nd Btn. Rifle Brigade
I have a photograph of my grandfather, Victor Thurling, at Allan House where he convalesced after having been wounded. I do not know the date or his rank at the time. He joined The Rifle Brigade in 1912 and I think started he war as a Rifleman and finished in 1919 as a Company Sergeant Major.
Pte. Harry William Thurlow
British Army 8th Btn. Middlesex Regiment
from:Staines, Middlesex
(d.25th April 1915)
Harry Thurlow was a soldier in the 8th Battalion Middlesex Regiment (Territorials)- he was aged 18 when he joined. He was a distant relative and his letters sent home during the war are now in my possession. The first was sent from Sittingbourne to his family in Staines. He says "We have been told that we are for the Mediterranean but whereabouts I do not know ... We are billeted in a large empty house which they say is haunted but have not seen a ghost yet ..." From October 1914 to January 1915 several letters were sent from barracks and hutments in Gibralter. His next letter was sent "somewhere near the fighting line ... the last three nights we have been digging trenches." Another letter states "we are billeted in a loft over some stabling." Generally his letters talk about the people back home and do not reveal the true horrors of his experience. In a letter sent from Belgium, he says "I spent my Easter Sunday in the trenches, it is not too bad as they do everything they can for us." In one of his last letters he says "I was just thinking how a nice piece of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, some greens and potatoes will go down when I can get it. Will write another letter tomorrow as I am rather tired now and am just going to sleep. Hope you are in the best of health, from your terrior boy."
The next letter was sent from Harry's father, William Thurlow who was in the same regiment. It reads:
"My Darling Wife. I am sorry to have to write and let you know that we have lost our Boy. He was killed on Sunday. A shell blast in the trench and killed nearly all of them. Harry was asleep at the time so he did not feel any pain. It is awful out here, it is simply murder. We have not got hardly anyone left in our regiment. Thank God I am alright at present, from your heartbroken Hub, Will xxx. God Bless you and help you in this trouble."
Private Harry Thurlow. Field post card dated 22nd April 1915 sent to his mother three days before he was killed.
Pte. Harry William Thurlow
British Army 1st/8th Btn. Middlesex Regiment
from:Elmfield, 73 Laleham Road, Staines, Middlesex
(d.25th Apr 1915)
I first made Harry Thurlow's acquaintance about twenty years ago when I bought a set of twelve Edwardian anthropomorphic (animals dressed as humans) cat postcards from an auction that was held in Nottingham. Included with them were six more postcards of monkeys by a different artist. The auction catalogue showed only the front of the cards but once I had received them it was then that I noticed the set of twelve cards had all been sent to Harry in Staines from Auntie Kate between 1906 and 1907. The fact that all of them had been sent to him made me want to find out more about him. The six postcards of monkeys had also been sent from his aunt, three of them to him whilst the other three appeared to have been sent to his sister. The Internet was still in its infancy and although I found Harry's General Register Office birth registration I could not find a marriage or a death for him. The address on the cards only had the house name, there was no house number and an Internet search wasn't enlightening. Letters I sent to the appropriate Record Offices did not enlighten me other than the fact that as not much development had taken place in Staines, his home was likely to still be standing. I had come to a dead end rather quickly.
As time went by I was able to look at the 1901 census which showed Harry at the familiar address; again, there was no house number. When more information had been made available on the Internet I suddenly found out why he didn't marry or die, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website showed that he had been killed abroad in the First World War. By a stroke of luck the details gave his parents' address and included the house number where he lived, so at last, I had found out what I wanted to know! Via Google Earth I was able to see the house in which Harry and his family lived. Still more time went by and I accumulated more information about Harry and his family, including the 1911 census when it became available. Most of the First World War Service Records were destroyed by fire in the Second World War when a German bomb hit the building in which they were housed. Amazingly, Harry's survived and provided quite a lot of new information.
In the last few years I have added greatly to what I had already found and have built up a complete picture of Harry's tragically short life. He was born on 6th of Nov 1896 and was baptised Harry William Robert just after Christmas on 27th December in St. Peter's church, only yards away from his home on the other side of the road. Harry's two other names were clearly chosen to include both of his grandfathers' and father's names. On Valentine's Day 1899, Harry's mum and dad gave him a sister, Valerie Lucy Alice and she was baptised at the same church as Harry just over two months later on St. George's Day, 23rd April. Again, Valerie's other two names were undoubtedly chosen because they were also her grandmothers' names. Harry started his schooling at the infants school in Wyatt Road which had opened the year he was born and he later transferred to the school in Kingston Road, another new school that opened in 1903. Whilst there, Harry learned to swim and also joined the scout movement. He probably left the school around the end of 1909 and then entered the world of work. What other jobs he may have had I don't know, but at one time Harry worked as a van boy for a draper's business of which there were a few in Staines. By April 1913 he was a gas fitter's mate, working for the Staines and Egham Gas Company. During that same year, Harry joined a large voluntary organisation, one to which his dad also belonged.
In August 1914 when war was declared, Harry was a Territorial soldier, a private in the 8th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. The Territorial Army was not obliged to serve overseas but upon the outbreak of war, many battalions did offer to do exactly that and Harry's was the first in the country to do so.
The 8th Middlesex was embodied and effectively became part of the regular army. Men generally joined the company appropriate to where they were living. A Company consisted of men living in Twickenham and Southall, B Company men were from Brentford and Staines, C Company had men drawn from Hounslow and D Company had men who were based in Ealing. Harry was of course in B Company.
Proclamations were received at the post offices from senior officers late on 4th August for everyone to report to their district Drill Hall in order to await instructions. Harry, his dad and everyone else reported to the 8th Battalion's headquarters in Hanworth Road, Hounslow and preparations were made for an immediate move. They were then all allowed to return home for the night with orders to return early the following morning.
Between eight and nine o'clock the next morning, Harry, his dad and around one hundred and fifty others arrived at Hounslow from Staines, having travelled on the train and said their goodbyes. Throughout the day a large concentration of men descended on the 8th Battalion's Headquarters. Horses, carts and motor cars were commandeered; baggage was packed, arms and equipment overhauled, ball ammunition (for muskets) served out and men went to get their bayonets and swords sharpened. All was ready at around nine o'clock in the evening and the battalion formed up outside the Drill Hall.
Headed by the band and under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel W. Garner, the men all marched to Feltham railway station where they boarded the train at ten o'clock destined for Sheerness in Kent. A large crowd came to see them off, wishing them good luck and cheering them on their way. Upon arrival, almost the whole of the 8th Battalion, twenty officers and a thousand other ranks were now on the Isle of Sheppey. Two of the four companies of the battalion went to Sheerness Barracks guarding German prisoners. Perhaps Harry was one of the guards. He, his dad and their comrades were in Sittingbourne for a total of four and a half weeks and then news arrived that they were being posted to foreign lands.
On the 10th September the battalion left Sittingbourne to journey to Southampton. Arriving at the dockyard shortly before eight o'clock, the men all then boarded a ship. Also with them was the 5th Territorial Battalion of the Manchester Regiment, which was en route for Egypt. At 8 o'clock in the evening of 17th September, they arrived at Gibraltar where Harry and his dad spent the next five months of their lives. By all accounts they had a very enjoyable time there. It was warm, they saw lots of local people, visited the town and saw wildlife that they would never have seen in England, although they were away from home at Christmas and it must have been quite unpleasant for Harry's mum, sister and gran as well as for him and his dad.
The battalion came back to England on 14th of February, arriving at Avonmouth. From there the men went by train to Feltham and then marched to Hounslow Heath Hutments. Several days later the men were given a few days leave and of course Harry and his dad went home to see the family that they had left behind some five months ago. Besides engaging in the ordinary routine drills and field training on Hounslow Heath, the battalion went on several route marches through different parts of the district which, amongst other things, gave people an opportunity to see them. Before long Harry and his dad were on the move again, to more foreign lands.
On the 8th March, the 8th Battalion marched from the Hutments to Hounslow railway station, where the men took a special train and left about nine o'clock in the evening for Southampton on the south coast. They had a very rough voyage from England but landed safely in France at Le Havre at around three o'clock in the morning. A booming noise from the heavy firing of the guns at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle could be heard. The battalion marched immediately to a rest camp.
The next day, 10th March, the men marched to a place where they were herded into cattle trucks, thirty-five men to each truck. The train took them to Bailleul, a distance of more than two hundred miles and took twenty hours or more to get there. Harry and his dad spent the next seven weeks doing a lot of marching to different villages and Harry was digging trenches at night. They and their comrades also had some near misses with different kinds of bombs landing near them and just a few of the battalion lost their lives this way.
The 2nd Battle of Ypres commenced on 22nd April and ended on 25th May. When it started, Harry, his dad and the rest of B Company were at Zonnebeke and relieved A company after nightfall, going into the trenches. The following morning it was fairly quiet but shelling commenced in the afternoon, continued for some hours and was intermittent all night. During the night there was a lot of rifle fire. B Company carried rations and water for the East Surreys, making two dangerous journeys.
On 24th April the Germans began shelling at around half past four in the morning and the heavy bombardment continued throughout the day. The new road to the railway station and also the railway line were badly hit and the railway embankment showed bomb holes all the way along. By the early afternoon several men from the East Surrey regiment had been overcome by shrapnel fumes and were replaced by parties from Harry's B Company. In turn those parties also had to be relieved later in the day. The remaining B Company platoons were moved up about four o'clock into old trench positions 50 yards behind the firing line and A Company was brought up from Zonnebeke to the support trenches.
The next day, 25th April, was Harry's very last day on earth. Around half past nine in the morning the Germans released poison gas in large quantities but the men couldn't see the chlorine that was blinding and choking them. The next few hours were awful. Bombing began about ten o'clock. By now, they were all so used to it that nobody took much notice of a shell exploding. B Company in the near support trench began to suffer from shrapnel fumes about an hour later but the men were kept fit by cold water douches thanks to instructions contained in a General Order circulated during the previous day.
About half past eleven a shell burst directly in the trench and practically wiped out B Company's Number 6 platoon, making the trench a complete mess. Harry was one of the very unfortunate soldiers who lost their lives in that instant; he knew nothing about it and felt no pain.
In many instances so many men fell in such a short space of time that those left behind were too busy engaging the enemy to bury the fallen. At some point if time permitted, those who had succumbed would be buried near to or where they died and Harry was buried in the Zonnebeke trench where he fell, along with many others.
He still lies with many of his comrades in a field in Flanders; he has no known grave, like so many others. Harry's name can be seen on eight different memorials, which is most unusual for a soldier like him; most have their name on only one or two. Seven are here in England and the other is at the Menin Gate, Ypres where The Last Post is played for him and all the other fallen comrades at eight o'clock every evening, every day of every year. Although it did not bear his name, he also had a poppy planted temporarily in his memory at the Tower of London in 2014. As well as here, on this website, Harry's name is on the the National Archives Lives of the First World War website, the British Legion Every One Remembered website and the Surrey In The Great War website too. All of these will be permanent archives. There are several memorials to his 8th Middlesex Battalion.
I managed to get a few pictures of Harry, his sister, parents and grandparents. Having found out so much about him, it was so nice to be able to put a face to his name. Harry would be pleased to know that I am writing a book about him (a purely private venture), containing everything I have found out about him and his immediate family. In my will, the book and the eighteen postcards that Auntie Kate sent to Harry and his sister have been left to an organisation which will take good care of them.
Harry was only 18 years old when he left his family behind. His life, like a huge number of others, was cruelly ended so very early and was far too short.
Pte. Percy Thurlow
British Army 1st/5th Btn. Bedfordshire Regiment
(d.20th July 1917.)
Percy Thurlow died on the 20th July 1917 and is buried in the Gaza War Cemetery in Gaza.
Pte. Percy Thurlow
British Army 1/5th Btn. Bedfordshire Regiment
(d.20th Jul 1917)
Percy Thurlow is buried in the Gaza War Cemetery in Gaza.
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