Waterford, Hertfordshire

The War Memorial in Waterford, Hertfordshire

 
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN THE MEMORY OF
THE MEN OF WATERFORD
1914 -  1918


     WILFRID ABEL SMITH       HARRY JAMES EVERETT
        JOHN BYGRAVE          AUBREY JAMES FARNHAM
ALBERT  CLAPHAM              JOHN HEWITT
WILLIAM WALLIS EVERETT    THOMAS WILLIAM WARD

The Fallen in WW1

Wilfrid Robert Abel SMITH CMG
Lieutenant Colonel, 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, 4 Guards Brigade, 2nd Division. 
He died on 19 May 1915 from the wounds he received in the Battle of Festubert. He was 44
He was the son of Robert and the late Isabel Smith of Goldings, Hertford and the husband of the Hon. Violet K E Smith of Upton Lea, Slough.
He is buried in grave II D 14 Le Touret Military Cemetery, Richebourg l’Avoue

John BYGRAVE
Mechanic, HMS Formidable, Royal Navy. RN no. 308718
He died when his ship was sunk on 1 January 1915. He was 28
He was the son of George and Mary J Bygrave of Waterford 
He is remembered on panel 11 of the Chatham Naval Memorial
Additional information
HMS Formidable, 15,250 tons, a Battleship, was launched in 1898, commissioned in 1901 and torpedoed by German U-boat 24 on New Year's Day 1915 whilst on exercises. She sank in 180 feet of water, the first British battleship to be sunk in WW1. Only 199 men were saved out of a complement of about 750.
HMS Formidable was sunk by two torpedoes 20 miles off Start Point at 02.00 hours on 1 January 1915. The first torpedo hit the number one boiler, port side; a second explosion caused the ship to list heavily to starboard.  Huge waves thirty feet high lashed the stricken ship, with strong winds, rain and hail, sinking it in less than two hours.

Albert John CLAPHAM
Private, B Company, 7th Battalion, The Bedfordshire Regiment, 54 Brigade, 18th Division.  Army no. 14149
He was killed in action on 3 May 1917 in the third Battle of the Scarpe. He was 37
He was the son of James and Emma Clapham of Waterford Common
He is remembered on bay 5 of the Arras Memorial

William Wallis EVERETT
Captain, 9th Battalion attached to 2nd Battalion, The Norfolk Regiment, 37 Indian Brigade, 14th Indian Division. 
He was killed in action on 8 October 1918. He was 27
He was the husband of Alice I O Everett, Thistledowne, Alnwick, Northumberland.
He is buried in grave A 1 Montbrehain British Cemetery, Aisne
Additional information
Montbrehain was taken on the 3 October 1918 by three battalions of the Sherwood Foresters of the 46th Division but it could not be held at the time.  It was finally captured two days later by the 21st and 24th Australian Infantry Battalions

Henry (Harry) James EVERETT
Private, 1st/1st Battalion, Hertfordshire Yeomanry. He had two Army nos: 1659 and 105185
He was killed in action on Saturday, 12 October 1918
He is buried in grave O 286 Cairo War Memorial Cemetery
Additional information
It would appear that he served as part of the XXI Corps Cavalry Regiment

Aubrey James FARNHAM
Private, 98th Company, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), 33 Division. Army no. 34174
He was killed in action on 25 October 1916 in the capture of Dewdrop and Boritska Trenches in the Battle of the Somme. He was 17
He was the son of the late George and of Mary Farnham of Waterford
He is remembered on pier and face 5C & 12C of the Thiepval Memorial

John HEWITT
Private 1st/4th Battalion, The Norfolk Regiment. 163 Brigade,
64th Division. Army no. 201288
He was killed in action on 19 April 1917. He was 22
He was the son of Mr and Mrs W Hewitt, 4 Council Cottages, South Common, Redbourn, Hertfordshire.
He is remembered on panels 12 to 15 of the Jerusalem Memorial
Additional Information
This is the most likely candidate but..

Thomas William WARD
Private, 13th Battalion, The Royal Sussex Regiment, 118 Brigade, 39th Division. Army no. 15563. He was formerly with The Hertfordshire Regiment. Army no. 2825
He died of his wounds on 28 July 1918. He was 34
He was the son of Joseph and Jane Ward of Waterford
He is buried in grave I C 12 Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery
Additional information
After the War, the graves of Commonwealth servicemen who had died in Poland as prisoners of war were gathered together in this cemetery and, based on the fact that the Cemetery is in Germany, it is probable that he was a prisoner.