Sally Mullins - The Men Who Came Home

The Men Who Came Home

It is difficult to calculate with any accuracy just how many men from Brimington signed up to fight in the Great War. The official 'Electoral list 1914-1918' for the village lists less than 300 men away on Military Service during that period, yet some figures show around 750+ enlistments from the village.

We know that many British army regiments recruited constantly in Brimington and the area to entice its young men to 'take the Kings shilling' throughout the war. So there were many men who are deemed to be from Brimington, but had never actually lived in the village – just enlisted there.

So the list below is therefore just a "snap-shot" of some of the men who returned from the war – and who had resided in Brimington at some time.

Rank	Name	Regiment	Army no	Known to have lived
Private	William Ernest Allen	ASC	143785	Heywood Street
Private	John Bernard Roden Allen	Leicesters	18317	33 Heywood Street
Private	Frederick Atherton	Roy Scots Guard	44708	18 Burnell Street
Private	Joseph Lewis Barlow	Sherwoods	14977	Brimington Common
Private	Rueben Baxter	Leicesters	11073	Heywood Street
Private	William Fred Bishop	General Service	78075	14 Princess Street
A/Corp	John James Brelsford	RFA	-	24 Coronation Road
A/Corp	Leslie Brelsford	RFA	203591	62 Princess Street,
Sgt	Vernon Brelsford	Durham Light Inf	2897	62 Princess Street,
Private	Claude Henry Briggs	RFA	21618	Heywood Street
Private	Clifford Higton Brown	Gren Guards	32182	21 High Street
Private	Albert Brown	Lincolns	11984	142 Station Rd
Private	Norman Butler	Sherwoods	203524	18 Princess Street
Gunner	Ambrose Cantrell	RFA	84802	Born in Brimington
Private	John E Cappendell	Lincolns	11203	King Street
Private	Wallis Cappleman	Labour Corps	-	60 High Street
Private	William Chamberlain	Sherwoods	-	Station Road
Gunner	Daniel Davenport	RGA	43747	Brimington Common
Private	Harold Davies	ASC		Heywood Street
Driver	Sydney John Duckmanton	ASC	55050	Church Farm, Brimington
Gunner	Jack Eaton	MGC	27345	67 Victoria Street
Private	John Wilfred Edinboro	Tunneling Comp	-	Church Street
Driver	Arthur Edwards	RFA	-	13 Ringwood Road
Private	Birsha Edwards	Royal Fusiliers	1620	38 Burnell Street
Private	Charles Harold Evans	Yorks & Lancs	4981	3 Drakes Terrace
Gunner	John Thomas Fry	RGA	55445	50 Foljambe Road
Private	Harry Gregg	Royal Garrison Art		21 Heywood St
Private	Frank Hardy	Lincolns	61645	8 Burnell street Brother
Private	Walter Hardy	Sherwoods	26876	8 Burnell street Brother
Private	Alfred John Harvey	ASC	116642	Coronation Road,
Sapper	Ernest Harvey	RE	65823	Heywood St & Foljambe Rd
Private	Alfred Hawes	Coldstream Guards	14769	14 Cemetery Terrace
Private	Reuben Henry Henson	Royal Warwicks	65313	Coppress Farm
Private	Walter Henson	RFA	22139	Coppress Farm
Driver	Frederick Hoole	RFA	21151	Fidlers Lane, Brimington
Sapper	George Arthur Howard	RE	76300	193 Southmoor Road
Private	Benjamin Hutson	MGC	102371	74 Victoria Street
Private	John Jakins MM	Leicesters	12985	9 Grove Lane Brimington
Gunner	Bernard Lewis	Royal Artillery	21607	Farm, High Street Brimington
Private	Ernest Reginald Lowe	Coldstream Guards	86666	47 Ringwood Road
Private	Joseph Lygo	Leicesters	14326	Station Rd
Private	Thomas Lynam	Seaforth Highlanders		70 Victoria Street
Private	Samuel Hermann Marsh	Sherwoods	23892	122 Brimington Common
Private	Burton Moore	Sherwoods	240083	110 Station Road
Rifleman	Richard Henry Philipps	Rifle Brigade	7711	Victoria Street
Private	Arthur Revill	General Service	6582	74 Northmoor Road
Private	James Henry Reynolds			John Street
Private	William Rice	Scottish Rifles	22886	Newbridge Lane
Private	Albert James Scotney	ASC	81461	26 Foljambe Road
Private	Fredrick Smith	Sherwoods	24017	Cotterhill Lane
Private	Albert Victor Sperring	Yorks & Lancs	11988	26 Queen Street
Sapper	Anthony Starbuck	R E	60986	The Farm, High Street,
Private	Ivan Steele	Lincolns	52093	63 South Moor
Sapper	David Stevenson	RE	18296	Station road
Private	Frederick Strong	Durham Light Inf	105658	Station Terrace, Station Road
Private	Ernest Swift	Durham Light Inf		17 Cotterhill Lane
Private	James Swift	Sherwoods	4965829	22 Cemetery Terrace
Private	John Edward Swinson	Labour Corps	521457	66 North Moor Road
Private	John Henry Tims	GS Battalion	52738	High Street
Private	Horace Tomlinson	RE	35726	Hillside Cottage, Station Rd
Private	William Wisbey	ASC	26542	10 Queen Street
Private	Charles William Witham	Yorks & Lancs	13913	Brimington

Survivors Stories

Private Frederick Smith

Photo 'Derbyshire Times'

Fred Smith was one of the village men who went to war and came back. He was born in Cotterhill Lane in 1896 to George and Annie Smith. He was a miner at Oxcroft Colliery – before and after the war.

He joined the Sherwood Foresters in November 1915 and on 1st July 1916 on the first day of the battle of the Somme; he was shot in the jaw. A bullet entered one side of his face, smashed his teeth and lodged in his other cheek. He was taken from the field and was eventually transported to Rouen Hospital, in France where he remained unconscious until the 4th July. He wrote to his mother from there and shortly afterwards he was shipped home.

He was my godfather and I saw at first hand the affect his war had on him. A quiet reserved man, he would spend many hours alone, and never spoke of the war. He worked as a miner until his retirement.

As we started this pilgrimage I often thought of him and I still do, for he was an exceptional gentle man with a deep rooted sense of honour and dignity despite the horrors he endured

Stuart Mullins

Brimington's Six - Brothers in Arms

All six sons of Henry & Jane Hill of Church Street, Brimington fought in the Great War - all were volunteers and each of them had a different experience. Five came home. ---

William Hill ( born 1883) was a miner and married his American wife Sarah in 1908. He joined the Sherwood Foresters in 1915 and served with the regiment throughout the war and saw action in Belgium and in France. He survived the war and had three children. He died in Brimington

Thomas Hill ( born 1885) was already a soldier when war broke out – serving the Sherwoods. He married his wife Sarah in spring 1914, was captured by the Germans in October 1914 and remained a prisoner of war throughout the next four years and wasn’t released until after the armistice was signed. Unfortunately during his absence his wife had given birth to a child by another man. Thomas divorced in Dec 1919, and remained in the Brimington area for many years.

Corp Ernest Hill

Ernest Hill (born 1893) was a Corporal with the 6th Bn Sherwoods (Territorial’s). He went out to Belgium in early 1915 and was one of the first from his battalion to be wounded - he received a shrapnel wound to the foot. It is reported that Hill '.... with characteristic pluck of a Derbyshire soldier bandaged his wound and stayed at his post day and night until he was absolutely compelled to give as septic poisoning had set it’ He was shipped back to Derby Hospital for treatment and eventually returned to his battalion . He survived the war and died in Chesterfield in 1960.

Private Wilfred Hill

Wilfred Hill (born 1896) joined the 7th Leicester in early 1915 along side a number of other Brimington men.- many who perished. He appeared to come through the conflict unscathed. without a single injury. He probably died in Chesterfield around 1950.

Private Job Hill

Job Hill (born 1888) He joined the Sherwood Foresters in early 1915 and won the Military Medal in April 1917 and suffered a gunshot wound to his back and right thigh. He wrote to his wife Isabella from a military hospital in Oxford where he was recovering from his wounds to tell her how he had won the medal- ‘. .....we made an attack in the early morning and were making another about dinner time. A tank went into action with us but was badly hit and set on fire in no mans land I and a sergeant at once went to the rescue and I am pleased to say I succeed in getting one man out and carried him to safety under heavy fire. So you see it wasn’t much and I only did my duty’. He survived the war and lived for many years in Coronation Road. He died in Brimington in 1958.

The one brother who did not survive was L/Corp Henry Rodgers - the eldest 'Hill' brother who used the 'Rodgers' name for personal family reasons. He died of his wounds on 17th July 1917. His story is told on our 'Fallen' pages

(Our thanks to Peter Rodgers for the Hill brothers photographs)

Medals & Awards>>

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