Plumtree, Nottinghamshire

The War Memorial in the Churchyard of St Mary the Virgin

Hallowed be the memory of the Men of this Parish
who gave their lives in the Great War 1914-1919

Ernest Astill, Royal Engineers
Gerald Barlow, Sherwood Foresters
Frank M Braisby, Lincolnshire Regiment
John W Cooper, King’s Own Scottish Borderers
Joseph Cooper, Royal Garrison Artillery
Frank Costall, Sherwood Foresters
Bryant A Cutler, Sherwood Foresters
John  Darby, King’s Own Yorks Light Infantry
Robert Davis, Royal ASC (MT)
John L Hallam, Sherwood Foresters
John T Hayward, Northd Fusiliers
Walter Huyton, King’s Liverpool Regiment
Amos Leon, Sherwood Foresters
A Henry Longden, Sherwood Foresters
John W Martin, Royal Sussex Regiment
Thomas Mitchell, Army Labour Corps
Herbert Pendleton, Shell Filling Factory
S Benjamin Smith, Sherwood Foresters

The victor heroes rest in many lands
but here the symbol of their glory stands

1939 - 1945:
Gareth Bernard Banting Chaplain No 2 Commando
Frederick Henry Holmes Flight Lieut, RAF
Richard Alfred Terry Parachute &  Linc’s Regts
Melville Francis Fortune Cpl RAF

Thank you Fiona Carruthers for the photos and your kind help with this research
Her website is http://www.plumtreeparishcouncil.org.uk/plumtree-war-memorial.asp

The Fallen in WW1

Ernest ASTILL
Pioneer, 5th Battalion, Special Brigade, The Royal Engineers. Army no 147233. He was formerly with The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). Army no. 11875
He was killed in action on 17 October 1916 in the fighting on the Somme. He was 21
He was the son of Edward and Elizabeth Astell
He is remembered on pier and face 8A and 8D of the Thiepval Memorial
Additional information
Birth Place: Plumtree, Enlisted: Nottingham
​
Gerald Walker BARLOW
Sergeant, 17th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
(Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment), 117 Brigade, 39th Division. Army no 27429
He was killed in action in the fighting on the Ancre on 3 September 1916. He was 28
He was the son of Edwin and Sarah Barlow of Plumtree
He is remembered on pier and face 10C 10D and 11A of the Thiepval Memorial
Additional information
Born: Lowdham, Residence: Plumtree, Enlisted: Nottingham

Frank Machin BRAISBY
Private, 10th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment. Army no 49688
He died of his wounds on 1 May 1918. He was 19
He was the son of Sarah Ellen Braisby of Plumtree and the late Benjamin Braisby
He is buried in grave IX B 23 Boulogne Eastern Cemetery
Additional Information
Birth Place: Plumtree, Residence: Plumtree Enlisted: Ilkeston
Boulogne was a major hospital centre

John William COOPER
Private, 2nd Battalion, The King's Own Scottish Borderers, 13 Brigade, 5th Division. Army no 40061. He was formerly with The South Staffordshire Regiment. Army no. 40456
He was killed in action on 8 November 1917 in the second Battle of Passchendaele. He was 27
He was the son of Jerry and Francis Cooper of Plumtree and the brother of Joseph
He is buried in enclosure No 4 IV E 10 Bedford House Cemetery
Additional information
Birth Place: Colworth, Lincoln, Residence: Plumtree
Enlisted: West Bridgeford

Joseph COOPER
Probably Gunner, 265th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison
Artillery. Army no. 89341
He died of his wounds on 3 October 1917. He was 38
He was the son of Jerry and Francis Cooper of Plumtree and the brother of John William
He is buried in grave XX F 9A Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery
Additional information
Birth Place: Colworth, Lincoln, Enlisted: Nottingham

Frank COSTALL
Private, 1st Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
(Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). Army no. 4774
He died of his wounds on 13 May 1915. He was 22
He was the son of William and Ellen Costall of Normanton-on-the-Wolds, Plumtree
He is buried in grave VIII C 30 Boulogne Eastern Cemetery
Additional Information
Birth Place: Radcliffe, Enlisted: Nottingham
Boulogne was a major hospital centre

Bryant Alfred CUTLER
Private, 1st/8th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
(Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). Army no. 50239
He died, probably of natural causes, on 23 October 1918. He was 32
He was the son of Alfred and Annie Cutler and the husband of Charlotte F Cutler of Normanton-on-the-Wolds, Plumtree
He is buried in grave IV E 15 Tourgeville Military Cemetery
Additional Information
Birth Place: Seale, Surrey, Residence: Plumtree
Enlisted: Nottingham

John DARBY
Private, 2nd/5th Battalion, The King's Own (Yorkshire Light
Infantry), 187 Brigade, 62nd Division. Army no. 42544
He died of his wounds on 25 May 1917 after the fighting on the Hindenburg Line.
He is buried in grave I I 8 Achiet-Le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension
Additional Information
Enlisted: Mansfield

Robert DAVIS
Private, attached to XVII Corps, Heavy Artillery "R" Siege Park, Royal Army Service Corps. Army no M2/188907
He died after the Armistice probably of natural causes on 3 December 1918. He was 34
He is buried in grave I F 32 St Roch Communal Cemetery, Valenciennes
He was the son of Thomas and Mary Jane Davis of Normanton on the Wolds and the husband of Annie Davis,  Long Acre, Bingham.

John Longley HALLAM
Private, 8th Battalion, The Prince of Wales’s (North
Staffordshire Regiment), 57 Brigade, 19th Division. Army no 27675
He was killed in action on 7 June 1917 in the Battle of Messines. He was 27
He was the son of Thomas and the late Rhoda Hallam
He is remembered on panel 55 of the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres
Additional Information
Born: Plumtree, Enlisted: Nottingham, Residence: Plumtree

John Thorpe HAYWARD
Private, 1st/4th Battalion, The Northumberland Fusiliers. Army no 3709
He died of his wounds on 21 September 1916. He was 33
He was the son of John Needham and Rachel Hayward, Hawford House, Plumtree
He is buried in grave XVI A 8A Étaples Military Cemetery
Additional Information
Born: Wormhill, Derby, Enlisted: Bridgeford

Walter HUYTON
Private, 2nd/7th Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment),
171 Brigade, 57th Division. Army no. 57883. He was formerly with The Army Cyclist Corps. Army no. 16726
He was killed in action on 27 September 1918 at the Battle of the Canal du Nord.
He is buried in grave I B 4 Anneux British Cemetery
Additional Information
Residence: Plumtree

Amos Lawrence LEON
Private, 1st/6th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
(Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment), 139 Brigade, 46th Division. Army no 57880
He was killed in action on 3 October 1918 at the Battle of the
Beaurevoir Line. He was 33
He was the son of William and Eliza Leon of Saxmundham and the husband of Mary Leon of Harby, Melton Mowbray
He is buried in grave V I 6 Bellicourt British Cemetery
Additional Information
Enlisted: Nottingham

Alfred Henry LONGDEN
Captain, 5th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
(Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment)
He died at the Military Hospital, Rugeley on 2 March 1919. He was 38
He was the son of J A and J B Longden and the husband of Amy Longden, of Ash Mount, Plumtree
He is buried in the Churchyard of St Mary’s Church, Plumtree
Additional Information
His address at Probate was Ash Mount, Plumtree

John William MARTIN
Private, Royal Sussex Regiment. Army no. G/366
Additional Information
He had been transferred to Class Z Army Reserve on demobilzation on 9 February 1919
He died from influenza and flu on 4 March 1919 at New Street, Station Road, Pilsley, Derbyshire. He was 37
His death is registered Deaths Mar 1919 MARTIN John W 37 Chesterfield 7b 1102 
The pre-war detail i have gleaned is: He had been a coal miner/heaver and he had previously served for 4 years with South Nottinghamshire Hussars
His family were: father William , Mother Elizabeth and Brother Hubert Baden of Flawford Cottage, Plumtree
He had married Eliza Dodson 31 October 1916 at The Primitive Methodist Chapel, Keyworth 
He had initially arrived in France on 29 November 1914 with the Royal Sussex Regiment
If you can add to or clarify this please tell me

Thomas MITCHELL
Private, The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and
Derbyshire Regiment) Army no. 40465. He was transferred to The Labour Corps  Army no. 125340
He died in England on 1 November 1918. He was 35
He was the son of Robert and Sarah Ann Mitchell
He is buried in in the Churchyard of St Mary’s Church, Plumtree
Additional Information
Residence: Normanton on the Wolds, Enlisted: West Bridgford

Herbert Pendleton
A worker at the Shell Filling Factory
The National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell, was a Government-owned  WW1 Factory. Its formal title was National Filling Factory No. 6. It was located near Chilwell on the main road from Nottingham to Ashby de la Zouch.
A substantial part of the Factory was destroyed in an explosion of 8 tons of TNT on 1 July 1918. The blast was heard twenty miles away. 134 people were killed, of whom only 32 could be positively identified. A further 250 were injured. The unidentified bodies are in a mass grave in St. Mary's Church, Attenborough.
The factory returned to work the next day, and within one month of the disaster reportedly achieved its highest weekly production. Winston Churchill, Minister of Munitions, sent a
telegram "Please accept my sincere sympathy with you all in the misfortune that has overtaken your fine Factory and in the loss of valuable lives, those who have perished have died at their stations on the field of duty and those who have lost their dear ones should fortify themselves with this thought, the courage and spirit shown by all concerned both men and women command our  admiration, and the decision to which you have all come to carry on without a  break is worthy of the spirit which animates our soldiers in the field. I trust
the injured are receiving every care."  A telegram was also sent from Buckingham Palace, on behalf of the King

Samuel Benjamin SMITH
Private, 1st/8th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
(Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment), 139 Brigade, 46th Division. Army no 2153
He was killed in action on 14 October 1915 at Hohenzollern Redoubt in the Battle of Loos. He was 19
He was the son of Samuel Henry Smith, Church Road, Plumtree, and the late Eliza Smith
He is buried in grave XXVII M 14 Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez
Additional Information
Birth Place: Plumtree, Residence: Plumtree Enlisted: Newark


The Fallen in WW2

Gareth Bernard BANTING
Chaplain 4th Class, attached to No. 2 Commando, Royal Marines. Army no. 159706
He died of his wounds on 10 October 1944. He was 32
He was the son of the Revd Edgar Banting and Charlotte Emily Banting, Plumtree Rectory, Nottingham
He is buried in Tirana Park Memorial Cemetery 
Additional Information
MA (Cantab)
His address for Probate was The Rectory, Plumtree
Quote from the No. 2 Commando War Diary dated 10 October 1944 at Sarande: "Revd. Banting takes party from 3 Tp. to bury Capt. Parsons, Lieut. Coyle, Gnr. Clarke, and Pte. Lyons. After burial he moved fwd. to bury German dead in the same posn., but is blown up on a mine. Stretcher party finds he has died of wounds - carried back to Sarande by M.O. before nightfall.
Stretcher party moving down hillside encounter mines - 3 men badly wounded. Parties brought down to Sarande in pouring rain."
Rev Banting was buried the next day at 3pm
For a photo see: http://gallery.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/2/In+Remembrance/Padre+Gareth+Banting+-+No_2+Commando.jpg.html 
See also: http://www.plumtreeparishcouncil.org.uk/revd-gareth-banting.asp

Frederick Henry HOLMES
Flight Lieutenant Pilot, 487 (RNZAF) Squadron, Royal Air Force. RAFVR no. 76583
He died on active service on 4 December 1944. He was 31
He was the son of Henry and Florence Bradfield Holmes and the husband of Daphne Freda Holmes of Minting, Lincolnshire
He is buried in Joint grave 16 E 14-15 Reichswald Forest War Cemetery

Richard Alfred TERRY
Private, 2nd Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment. Army no 4341834
He was killed in action on 2 March 1945 in Operation
Veritable which was a campaign to clear and occupy the land between the Rhine and the Maas rivers. He was 32
He was the son of Alfred and Daisy Maud Terry and the husband of Esther Winifred Terry of Muston, Nottinghamshire
He is buried in grave 48 C 6 Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
Additional Information
His description on the Memorial states Parachute & Linc’s
Regts

Melville Francis FORTUNE
Corporal, Royal Air Force. RAF no. 620140
He died on active service on 30 April 1943. He was 22
He was the son of Melville and Florence Fortune of Plumtree
He is buried in grave 1 A 15 Karachi War Cemetery