Soldiers I - P

Private Tom Inns

11983 8th Lincolnshire Regiment
Died 3rd May 1917 Aged 24
Station Road
Buried : Cologne Southern Cemetery, Germany 

Private Inns from Station Road enlisted in the Lincolnshire Regiment in May 1915 and went out to France in September of that year. There was some mystery surrounding his death and despite many enquiries from his friends and family it was some time before they received news that he had been taken prisoner by the Germans.

We have since uncovered his story  -  he was  in fact captured  by the Germans on 25th September 1915 -  within hours  of the start of the Battle of Loos and he remained in a prison camp in Germany until his death. 

He was 24 years old.

Grave ref:  XI.F.18

Prisoner of War -    Link to POW Page

Private George Insley

PO/1246(S) Royal Marine Light Infantry
Died 26th October 1918 Aged 26
John Street
Buried : St Symphorien Military Cemetery, Belgium

Private Insley was born in Brimington, the son Arthur and Ellen and by 1911 George was working as a boiler smith at a local colliery and living with his family at 55, John Street in the village.
He enlisted in Nottingham in November 1915 and his service records show he stood 5 feet 4 & 3/4 inches tall, and had brown hair and grey eyes. He was sent abroad in September 1916 but was invalided back home 6 months later in March 1917.
During his recuperation he married his sweetheart - Gertie Johnson in Brimington parish church. But after only two months of marriage he was declared fit enough to be sent back to the front.
According to official reports Private Insley was taken prisoner by the Germans on or around 27th March 1918. He died a prisoner of war some seven months later, cause of death was stated as ' died of disease' He was initially buried in Havre Old Communal Cemetery in Mons but shortly after the signing of the armistice his remains were moved to St Symphorien. 
Grave ref:   V.C.5  

“ He has Passed From the Scenes of Earths Alloy, To Fellowship Calm and Sweet “

Prisoner of War  - Link to POW page

Private Alfred Charles Ireland

23560 15th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regt)
Died 18th July 1916 Aged 37
Burnell Street
Unmarried
Remembered: Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

Private Ireland was 37 years old when he was killed at the Battle of the Somme in July 1916.
His parents Charles & Ann Ireland of Burnell Street first received news of their son’s death from his friend and comrade Private Albert Wilson (who was himself killed later that year). But it was many weeks later before it was officially confirmed that Private Ireland had been killed in action and the date given as 18th July 1916.

No Known Grave  - Private Irelands name is inscribed on Pier/Face  10D  on Thiepval Memorial
 

2nd Lieut Howard Jephson

6th Bn South Staffordshire Regiment
Died 23rd April 1917 Age 32
High Street
Unmarried
Remembered: Arras Memorial, France

2nd Lieut Jephson was the only son of Henry and Fanny Jephson of High Street and later Burnell Street. A local grammar school boy he became a school teacher and taught in Brimington for some time before he took up a position as school master in Birmingham. Shortly after the outbreak of war he joined the Birmingham City Battalion attached to the Royal Warwick's and soon received a commission and transferred to the South Staffordshire Regiment.
And on the 17th April 1916 it was announced in the LONDON GAZETTE that he was to be promoted to 2nd Lieutenant immediately. He specialized in signalling and also became a signalling instructor until he was sent to France in late 1916.
It is reported that he died leading his men into battle at Arras. He was 32 years old.

No Known Grave :  2nd Lieut Jephsons name can be found in Bay 6 of the Arras Memorial

Private Ernest Jervis

11999 7th Bn Lincolnshire Regiment
Died 10th July 1916 Aged 24
Victoria Street
Unmarried
Remembered: Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

Private Jervis lived with his parents William and Sarah Jervis at 77 Victoria Street. He joined the forces in 1914—one of a number of Brimington lads who signed up on the same day for the Lincolnshire Regiment. He was sent out to France once his basic training had been completed and landed in Boulogne in summer 1915. From there his unit saw heavy fighting whilst defending the Ypres Salient from the continuing German assault. He was moved on to the Somme area of France in 1916, where the Lincolnshire’s were involved in the terrible battles of Albert and Delville Wood. A few weeks later he was killed in action in the continuing battle of the Somme at the age of 24. It had been reported by a comrade that Private Jervis had his leg blown off by a shell, and died almost immediately. Before the war he had been heavily involved with the Bethel Chapel and had been a keen cricketer for the team.

No Known Grave -  Private Jervis' name is inscribed on Pier/Face  1C  on Thiepval Memorial 

 

Corporal Luther Johnson
240060 1st/6th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regt)
Died 1st July 1916 Age 26
Burnell Street
Unmarried
Remembered: Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

Corporal Johnson originally joined the Territorial Army as an 18 year old in 1908 and trained with the Sherwood Foresters for many years. His Army Service record, reports his progress and his physical appearance as 5’5” tall, blue eyed with light brown hair and in excellent health. He lived with his parents Walter and Elizabeth at 33 Burnell Street, and worked as a fitter at Staveley Iron & Steel. When war broke out he rejoined his old regiment on 4th August 1914, and remained in Britain until March 1916 when he was finally sent to France. He was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme – 1st July 1916 - but it was many months before his death could be confirmed to his parents. He was 26 years old

No known grave  -  Corporal Johnsons name is inscribed on Pier/Face  10C  on Thiepval Memorial

Private George Jones

19385 3rd Bn South Wales Borderers
Died 16th August 1917 Aged 25
Station Road
Unmarried
Buried: Artillery Wood Cemetery, Belgium

Private Jones enlisted in the army March 1916 and by August of that year he was fighting in the Dardanelles. His battalion was then sent to Egypt where again he encountered fierce fighting. His unit was eventually moved to the Western front in February 1917 as reinforcements for the Ypres Salient around Langemarck and Pilckem Ridge. There on 16th August according to the War Office official report he was hit by a shell and died a few minutes later. He was 25 years old and worked as a miner at Markham No 1 pit and lived with his family at 40 Station Road, Brimington. And it was his widower father who received the sad news of his eldest son’s death.

Grave ref:  VII.A.8

Private John W Keeling

19330 10th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regt)
Died 12th August 1916 Aged 22
Cotterhill Lane
Buried : London Cemetery & Extension, Somme, France

Private Keeling joined the Sherwood Foresters in 1915 and shortly afterwards his battalion was sent to France as reinforcements for the planned Somme Offensive in the summer of 1916. It is reported that his battalion were active in a number of places around the Somme area. The soldier was killed during the terrible fighting for High Wood, near Longueval, France. The wood, which the Germans had defended aggressively for years, was not taken by the British until late September of 1916. The losses were so great that it took many months for the bodies of the British soldiers to be found and buried and Private Keeling was amongst those who were missing for some time. He was eventually found and buried. Born in Whittington, he was the son of Arthur and Emily Keeling. He was 22 years old when he was killed in action. 

Grave ref:  4.F.18

Private Horace Kirby

28220 1st Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regt)
Died 15th September 1917 Aged 19
Princess Street
Unmarried
Buried : Menin Road South Military Cemetery, Ypres, Belgium

Private Kirby was only 16 years old when he joined the forces at the outbreak of war in 1914. He was the youngest son of Albert and Emily Kirby of 6 Princess Street. The young soldiers battalion arrived in Le Havre, France in November 1914 as badly needed re-enforcements for the B.E.F. He saw heavy fighting in Neuve Chapelle and Albert in France during 1916. And again in 1917 he engaged the enemy in Belgium at Langemarck and Ypres. It was near Ypres that he received the wounds which lead to his death on 15th September 1917 aged 19.

Grave ref:  II.B.9

“ A  Loving Son,  A Brother Kind,
 A Beautiful Memory Left Behind “  

Private Luke Knott

13550 1st Bn Grenadier Guards
Died 29th October 1914 Aged 28
Station Road Married
Remembered: Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium

Private Knott of 54 Station Road, had been a Reservist in the Grenadier Guards for a number of years before the war, and so on the outbreak of hostilities he was sent to France in the first detachment of the B.E.F ( British Expeditionary Force) in 1914 and saw action immediately. His battalion was involved in the retreat from Mons and the battle of the Marne, before they were re-deployed to Belgium and to the initial and bloody battles for Ypres. The soldier wrote to his wife Florence on the 16th October, to tell her he was alright and the …’fighting was going well ’ But he was not heard of again, and despite extensive enquiries by his family it was not until 21st July the following year that official notice was given that he had been killed sometime between 20th and 29th October 1914 around Ypres area. He was 28 years old and had been a blacksmith before the war.

No Known Grave - Private Knotts name is inscribed on Panel 9 of the Menin Gate Memorial

Private Harold Lowe

87659 Royal Army Medical Corps
Died 7th Sept 1917 Aged 25
Church Street
Unmarried
Buried : Dar Es Salaam War Cemetery, Tanzania, East Africa

Private Lowe, Church Street Brimington, joined the forces on 26th August 1916 and after initial training in Blackpool was sent out immediately to Africa to join the campaign there. Within months he was transferred to Tanzania, and it was there that Private Lowe caught malaria. His parents William and Susannah Lowe received a letter in October 1917 from the War Office informing them that their son had died on September 7th of cerebral malaria fever, at No.19. Stationary Hospital, Kilwi-Kivingi, Tanzania and had been buried there. Before the war the Brimington soldier had worked as an ironworks labourer at Staveley Iron & Steel - alongside his twin brother. He was also a very talented footballer who helped Brimington school boys to challenge for the Clayton Shield competition over a number of years. He was 25 years old. 

Grave ref:  2.D.6

Private Herbert Lygo

335711 8th Bn Royal Scots Guards
Died 11th April 1918 Aged 41
Canal Side, Station Road
Remembered: Loos Memorial to the missing at Dud Corner British Cemetery

Private Lygo was almost 40 years old when he joined up to fight in The Great War. He originally joined the Yorks & Lancs regiment but transferred to The Scots Guards in late 1917, after many of the Guards units had been almost obliterated in the Somme region and around the Ypres Salient. He was married for some years to Florence and worked as a coal miner but returned to live with his sister at some point - Mrs Maud Griffiths at Canal Side, Station Road Brimington - before he died. And it was she who received the official notice that he had been killed in action at the Battle of Loos, on 11th April 1918.
 

No Known Grave - Private Lygo's name is inscribed on Panel 10 of Loos Memorial

Sergeant George Mace MM

207 16th Bn Australian Infantry
Died 22nd October 1917 Aged 31
King Street
Married Buried: Lijssenthoek Cemetery, Belgium 

Sergeant Mace was originally from King Street Brimington before he emigrated to Australia in 1911. At the outbreak of war he joined the Australian forces and saw action in Gallipoli then Egypt and finally France. At the Battle of Bullecourt he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery. His father James Mace who at that point still lived in Brimington was informed of his son’s death at 10th Casualty Clearing Station in Belgium. Sergeant Mace was 31 years old.

Citation for Sergeant Mace- Military Medal
..... 'Is brought to notice for his bravery and gallant conduct on the night of the 10th/11th April 1917. He volunteered for patrol duty in "No Man's Land" prior to the attack on the HINDENBURG Line near REINCOURT. He patrolled "No Man's Land" from our Outpost Lines to the line held by the enemy, on the night of the 9th/10th April and secured valuable information. He accompanied several Officers up to the enemy's wires for the purpose of ascertaining to what extent they had to be cut by our Artillery fire, and in his patrol duties on that occasion displayed great enterprise and bravery. Again on the night of 10th/11th April he assisted the Intelligence Officer in placing the jumping off tapes in "No Man's Land".
Before dawn on the 11th April he rendered valuable assistance in guiding the several companies of the Battalion on to their jumping off tapes. On the morning of the 11th April after the attack had been launched he went out into a veritable hail of Machine gun bullets and attended to and assisted to bring in wounded men. This Non Commissioned Officer is strongly recommended for distinction.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 169

Grave ref:  XXV.G.19A

The soldiers headstone was not inscribed with his 'MM'  We  informed the Commonwealth War Graves Commisson of this omission and they confirmed the error and promised to put it right.  In December 2014 they sent us confirmation by photo and email that the job was done!

Link to update

Private Alfred Malam
1494612th Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regt)
Died 27th March 1918 Aged 27
Princess Street & Cotterhill Lane
Unmarried
Remembered: Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France

Private Malam was born at 10 Princess Street Brimington the son of Thomas & Eliza Malam, who were well known in the village for their work and fund raising in the community. Alfred Malam eventually moved out and went to live with his sister, Mrs Mary Purcell at 35, Cotterhill Lane. He enlisted in the army at the outbreak of war in August 1914 and served in France until his death. He was one of three sons serving in the army. One brother - Walter was also killed, in 1916. Private Malam was 27 years at the time of his death and had worked as a miner and was unmarried.

No Known Grave   - Private Malam's name is inscribed on Panel 53 of Pozieres Memorial 

Sergeant Walter Malam

15996 11th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regt)
Died 20th Jan 1916 Aged 34
Princess Street & Cotterhill Lane
Unmarried
Buried : Royal Irish Rifles Cemetery, Laventie, France

Sergeant Malam was born at 10 Princess Street Brimington the son of Thomas & Eliza Malam but at the time of his death he lived with his sister, Mrs Mary Purcell at 35 Cotterhill Lane, Brimington. It was she who received the following news of her brother’s death from Sergeant Ingleton of "B" Company... "...I regret to inform you that your brother Walter Malam was killed on the 20th January, he was shot through the head and left shoulder, so he did not suffer long. Being his platoon sergeant I thought it my duty to let you know as soon as I could, you have the deepest sympathy of all his company. He was a most promising and hard-working NCO.’’
He was one of three sons serving in the army. His brother Alfred was killed two years later. Sergeant Malam was 34 years at the time of his death and had worked at Staveley Works.

Grave ref: IV.D.14

Private Fredrick Mann

11205 8th Bn Lincolnshire Regiment
Died 26th Sept 1915 Aged 25
Station Road
Unmarried
Remembered: Loos Memorial to the Missing, Dud Corner Cemetery, France

Private Mann lived at 91 Station Road, with his parents Joe and Charlotte and a number of siblings. He joined the forces in September 1914 together with his best friend Harry Marshall, -who also lost his life – in 1916. Standing only 5’4” tall and weighing less than 9 stone, the young recruit spent the first year of his army career in England, and was then shipped out to France on the 10th September 1915. He was killed just 16 days later. Private Mann also had two brothers serving, both of whom survived the war. And it was his brothers Ernest and Frank who first alerted their parents that Fredrick was missing. It was however weeks later before it was officially confirmed that he had lost his life. He died on the 2nd day of the infamous Battle of Loos which was known as ‘The Big Push’ and caused some 50,000 British casualties in just a few weeks. 

No Known Grave -   Private Mann's name is inscribed on Panel 32 of the Loos Memorial

Private Harry Marshall

11202 7th Bn Lincolnshire Regiment
Died 6th July 1916 Age 22
Coronation Road
Unmarried
Buried: Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France

Private Marshall was born in Staveley, but as a young man he went to live with his sister—Mrs Bertha Whittaker - in Coronation Road, Brimington. And most of his family lived in Brimington at that time. He joined the forces in September 1914 together with his best friend Fred Mann, who also lost his life in the war, but Private Marshall’s unit did not leave for the front until 14th July 1915. By the summer of 1916, Private Marshall’s battalion had been through some of the most terrible bloody campaigns of the war, until they reached the Somme area in July. Three Brimington lads were killed from the 7th Bn. Lincolns in the first two weeks of July 1916 and Private Marshall was one of them. His records show that he received severe gunshot wounds to his hip and back and was transported to a field hospital. Private Marshall’s death was conveyed to his sister by the hospital where he died ‘’You will have heard the sad news of your brother. He came in hospital this morning about 9 o'clock but only lived until 12 o'clock. Everything possible was done for him. He passed away peacefully. His last words were ‘.....you will tell my sister, wont you?' " Prior to the war Private Marshall had been employed at Staveley Works and was 22 years old when he lost his life. 

Grave Ref :  VIII C 98                “Loved in Life, Remembered in Death”

Unusually, the headstones  in this cemetery are laid flat , this is due  it is believe to the sandy soil

Private George H Mellors

24778 2nd/4th KOYLI
Died 29th September 1918 Aged 21
School House, Brimington Common
Unmarried
Buried : Flesquieres Hill British Cemetery, France

Private Mellor was the son of Harry and Alice Mellor, who lived at 19 Queen Street, and later moved to the ‘’School House’’ at Brimington Common. The soldier was said to be a gifted student and was employed as a clerk at Brian Donkin’s Ltd before he joined the forces in 1914 at the age of just 17. He became part of a training battalion for some time before he was finally moved to the western front. He saw action all over France including the bloody Battles of Arras and Cambrai. He was wounded in April 1918 and after recovering for some time in England he was sent back to the front in August where he was killed in action only weeks later at the bloody battle to retake Flesquières village from the Germans. He was 21 years old.  

Grave ref:  III.E.38        “ Loved in Life, Not Forgotten in Death “             

Captain Harry Forster Mills

Royal Field Artillery
Died 21st March 1918 Aged 33
Tapton Grove, Tapton
Unmarried
Remembered Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France

Captain Mills was the eldest son of Mr & Mrs R F Mills of Tapton Grove. His father was the chairman of Chesterfield Brewery Ltd and later a chairman of Mansfield brewery. Captain Mills was 33 years old and his younger brother Captain Robert N F Mills was also killed - the previous year. He died at Pozieres in France at the beginning of the Spring Offensive when the Germans launched the final push to regain the initiative. And according to a report in the Derby Telegraph of April 12th 1918 his death had still not been officially declared at that date and there was hope that he had ben taken prisoner. His parents were finally informed that they had lost a second son, some time in late April.
 

No Known Grave-   Captain Mills' name is inscribed on Panel 7 

Link to Captain Mills story

Captain Robert N F Mills

Royal Flying Corps
Died 23rd September 1917 Aged 29
Tapton Grove, Tapton
Married
Buried: Pont-du-Hem Military Cemetery, France

Captain Mills was the second son of Mr& Mrs R F Mills of Tapton Grove. He was educated at Rugby and upon leaving school went to work at Clay Cross Iron and Steel and at Markham & Co as a foundry manager. He joined the forces as soon as war was declared, first as an officer in the Sherwood’s where he saw action in the Dardanelles and where he was mentioned in dispatches. He then went on to Egypt, and saw action there before he applied to join the Royal Flying Corps. Once he had obtained his ‘wings’ in June 1917 he returned home to marry his fiancée, Miss Marjory Frances Blake, youngest daughter of Sir Francis Blake MP. On his return to France he was shot down behind enemy lines whilst on observations and it was initially hoped that he had been taken prisoner. But he was officially listed as killed in action a few weeks later. His elder brother Captain Harry Mills was also killed  - in 1918.
He was 29 years old. 

Grave ref: IV.G.24   

Link to Captain Mills Story

Sergeant George Morley

1598 1st/6th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regt)
Died 25th November 1915 Aged 22
Victoria Street
Unmarried
Buried: St Vaast Post Military Cemetery, Richebourg-L'Avoue, France

Sergeant Morley lived with his parents at 31 Victoria Street. He joined the army reserves as an 18 year old in 1912 and so on the outbreak of war he was called to arms and mobilized to Harpenden initially for intensive training. He arrived in France in February 1915. He was promoted first to the rank of Corporal in June 1915 then to Sergeant in August that year. He was killed by the enemy in November, and his parents were informed of their son’s death by letter from Lieut Col. G D Goodman…’ …..Sergt Morley was buried on Friday last, immediately behind the trenches’’ The young soldier was said to be of a cheery disposition and his rapid promotion was ‘hailed with delight by his many friends’. He had worked for Staveley Iron and Steel before the war. He was 22 years old.
 

Grave ref:  II.E.9

“ A Tender String in Memory’s Heart is Deeply Touched Each Day “

Corporal Edgar Nadin

E/1624 7th Bn Royal Fusiliers
Died 17th April 1917 Aged 18
Victoria Street
Remembered : Arras Memorial, France

Corporal Nadin lived with his parents at 50 Victoria Street, Brimington. He joined the army when barely 17 years old and had been in France for just over a year before he was killed in action on 17th April 1917. His Captain relayed the sad news to his parents in a letter which read - ‘‘...He was by far the best corporal in my company and I looked upon him as an ideal soldier. I always found him as the best soldiers are - the best of men and he was universally popular in the Company. The Army had lost a future Sergeant-Major and I have lost someone I would have given anything to keep’’ He was 18 years old

No Known Grave -  Corporal Nadins name is inscribed  in Bay 3 of the Arras Memorial

L/Corp Edward F Newbery

25072 1st Bn Lincolnshire Regiment
Died 11th April 1917 Aged 28
Heywood Street & Coronation Road
Married
Buried: Wancourt British Cemetery, France

L/Corporal Edward Newbery was born on the Isle of Wight, and moved to Brimington upon his marriage to Ethel Annie Kirkham in 1913, and settled first in Heywood Street then moved to Coronation Road in the village. He joined the forces in 1916 and had only been in France for a few months before he was killed in action. His wife, Ethel, received the news from her husband’s Commanding officer, he also said that ’...he was a good fellow and liked in his platoon……. and he was cool and brave in performance of his duties.’ He is believed to be buried in Wancourt Military cemetery in France, but like so many others, the exact location of his grave is not known.

Grave ref:  Special memorial 9    “ He Lay Down His Life for His Country “

Private John Newey

267756 8th Bn Northumberland Fusiliers
Died 16th Aug 1917 Age 34
Hedley Cottages
Married
Buried: Brandhoek New Military Cemetery No 3, Nr Ypres Belgium

Private Newey died exactly 11 months after he enlisted in the army. He had joined the Northumberland Fusiliers on September 16th 1916.
His death was reported to his wife Louisa, who lived at 9 Hedley Cottages, Brimington, when she was informed that her husband had died at a casualty clearing station near Poperinge, Belgium from a shell wound to his head.
He was 34 years old and had been the manager of the Brimington branch of Messrs Frisby, Boot Dealers, for 13 years. He had 16 years of service with the firm to his credit, and Mrs Newey received a letter expressing their sympathy. 

Grave ref: II.B.22

Private James W Nicholson

11963 8th Bn Lincolnshire Regiment
Died 26th September 1915 Aged 21
Station Road
Remembered: Loos Memorial to the Missing, Dud Corner Cemetery

Drummer James Nicholson was killed on the 2nd day of fighting at the terrible battle of Loos in 1915, which resulted in 50,000 British casualties. He had only been in France for two weeks when he fell.
Married for only a short time, the soldier lived at Station Road and his wife Doris ( Stevenson) was first told that her husband may have been taken prisoner by the Germans and for months there was no news of his fate, until he was later confirmed as killed in action. He was one of three Brimington lads to fall on the same day and in the same encounter with the enemy.
His daughter who was born a few months after he was killed was given the middle name of ‘Loos’ in memory of her father. Unfortunately she died in early 1918. Only 21 years old the soldier had been a miner at Holmewood Colliery before enlisting.

No Known Grave    - Private Nicholsons' name is inscribed on Panel 31 of Loos Memorial

Private Arthur Percy Penney

267943 1st/7th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regt)
Died 27th April 1917 Aged 26
Tapton Grove
Unmarried
Buried : Canadian No 2 Cemetery – Vimy Ridge, France

Private Penney was the seventh son of Mr & Mrs J Penney and in 1901 the family were living at Tapton Grove where his father was the coach driver. Private Penney enlisted in the Sherwood Foresters in September 1916 and was sent to France in February the following year. He had been in the trenches for only two days when he was killed after his unit was sent to help the Canadians at the storming of Vimy Ridge in France.
The soldier had worked as a clerk at Eastwoods Wagon Works from leaving school. He had three brothers also serving, and all three appear to have survived the war.
He was 26 years old. 

Grave ref:  II.B.11

Private Robert G Perry

14933 2nd Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regt)
Died 9th August 1915 Aged 23
Ringwood Road
Married
Remembered : Menin Gate,Ypres, Belgium

Private Perry was born in Scotland and was the son of William and Ellen Perry, who eventually moved to Penistone Rd Sheffield. He married Rosella Ellen Rayson in 1913 and they moved to 59, Ringwood Rd, shortly afterwards.
He enlisted in the army in Sheffield in early 1915 and was sent to France as part of the reinforcements for the hard-pressed B.E.F (British Expeditionary Force) on the Aisne before the whole army moved north into Flanders.
It was near Ypres in Belgium where Private Perry was killed in action at the battle of Hooge just outside the town. It was here that the Germans first tested one of their most terrifying weapons—the flamethrower.
Private Perry was 23 years old when he was killed.

 No Known Grave  -  Private Perry's name is inscribed on Panel 40 on the Menin Gate Memorial

Private James B Pratt
241151 1st/6th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regt)
Died 13th August 1917 Aged 21
Victoria Street,
Unmarried
Remembered : Loos Memorial to the Missing Dud Corner British Cemetery

Private Pratt enlisted in the forces in 1915 and was sent immediately to France. He was one of four sons - of Mrs Louisa Pratt ( later Varo) of 98 Victoria Street- all of whom were serving at the front at that time.
It is understood that the soldier was lost when he went out on a trench bombing raid and failed to return. It was not until early in 1918 that his mother received the official confirmation that he had been killed in August 1917.   He was 21 years old.

No Known Grave -   Private Pratts name is inscribed on Panel 88 of the Loos memorial 

Private George E Pratt

1487 1st/ 6th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regt)
Died 14th July 1916 Aged 27
Queen Street
Married one child
Buried: Bellacourt Military Cemetery, France

Private Pratt was one of the first to join the 1st/6th Bn Sherwood Foresters which was formed in Chesterfield in August 1914.
On mobilization in November 1914 the battalion was moved to Essex ready to be shipped to France in February 1915. His unit went through some of the fiercest fighting during 1915 and into 1916, culminating in July at the Battle of the Somme. It was here that the soldier was confirmed as killed in action by his Commanding officer Lieut Col Goodman in a letter to Private Pratt’s wife, Gladys.
Aged 27 when he was killed, Private Pratt had lived at 41 Queen Street, and left behind a widow and one child. 

Grave ref: I.F.5        “Though Lost from Sight, To Memory Ever Dear “

Driver Arnold Purkiss

966744 235th Bty Royal Field Artillery
Died 31st May 1918 Aged 21
Brimington
Unmarried
Buried: Bavelincourt Community Cemetery, Somme, France

Driver Purkiss was the son of Fred and Lily Purkiss and was born in Sheffield and lived at New Whittington for some time, but is believed to have worked as a butcher’s assistant in Brimington.
He joined the forces as an army reservist in December 1915 and was mobilized for war on 6th April 1916 and was shipped to Rouen, France the following week. He was recorded as killed in action 31st May 1918.
After his death- his father wrote to the War office on the 9th July 1918 requesting the return of his young son’s personal belongings and queried the amount of pay due to his son. Stating that his son had been ‘ ..a steady young fellow’. So would not have spent the amount stated.
On 30th September 1918 the War Office returned the soldiers pocketbook, photos, postcards and testament to his father but there is no mention of money. The soldier was 21 years old. 

Grave ref:    B.12