Wootton in the Church and churchyard of St Mary the Virgin
The seven wooden Grave markers in alpha order are:
235049 L/CPL G CLIFFORD OX & BUCKS 20-12 -17 1592 PTE T FIELD 1-4TH OXFORD & BUCKS L I 22 7 16 IN MEMORY OF 2ND LT J D MARRIOTT THE CAMERONIANS KILLED IN ACTION 26 9 1917 CAPTAIN A W N PONSONBY 2ND OXFORD AND BUCKS LIGHT INFY 8TH SEPTEMBER 1915 2/LIEUT S J STEVENS 5 OX & BUCKS 10-4-17 211120 GNR H VARNEY D/ 64TH BDE HB R F A 18 SEPT 1917 9945 PTE A WASHBROOK 5TH BN OX & BUCKS L I 24 8 16 RIP In Memory of MAJOR J F WILKINSON MC 54 BATTERY RFA Killed in Action 30 10 18 The marble wall plaque is inscribed NONE UNTIMELY DIE WHO DIE FOR ENGLAND TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF THE MEN OF WOOTTON WHO DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 - 1919 AND FOR THOSE WHO DIED IN THE WORLD WAR 1939 – 1945 In the left panel
Oxfordshire Yeomanry CPL JOHN CLIFFORD PTE REGINALD BUGGINS Oxford & Bucks Light Infy CAPT ERNEST DASHWOOD CAPT ASHLEY PONSONBY 2ND LIEUT JAMES STEVENS COY SGT MAJ JESSE GUBBINS SERGT GEORGE MORRIS PTE HENRY BOWLER “ JAMES BROOKS “ TOM DAY “ THOMAS FIELD “ HERBERT HOARE “ WALTER SHAYLER “ LEWIS STROUD “ ALBERT WASHBROOK “ JAMES VARNEY Canadian Mounted Rifles PTE VICTOR BARNES In the right panel
Royal Marine Arty PTE WILFRID DAWSON Herts Yeomanry PTE WILLIAM BARNARD Royal Field Arty BTY SGT MAJ EDWARD JOINES GUNR HARRY VARNEY Royal Warwickshire Regt PTE WILLIAM DRINWATER PTE WILLIAM MOSS Lancashire Fusiliers PTE WILLIAM TOOLEY The Cameronians 2ND LIEUT. JOHN MARRIOT West Riding Regiment PTE ROBERT HARRIS Middlesex Regt PTE ROBERT HEDGES London Scottish PTE GEORGE TIDMARSH Left and Bottom panel for WW2
Royal Navy L/SEA FRANK MILLS O/SEAEDWARD HENRY MOSS Royal Air Force SGT J DOUGLAS NEVITT Right and Bottom panel for WW2
Royal Artillery CAPT J REGINALD JONES GR FRANK WILLIAM BRAIN Coldstream Guards LT JOHN ASLEY PONSONBY A marble plaque
TO THE DEAR MEMORY OF JOHN GEORGE CLIFFORD OF HORDLEY WHO WAS KILLED IN ACTION AT PASCHENDAELE 20TH DEC 1917 AGED 20 & WAS BURIED IN THE NORTHERN CEMETERY AT YPRES HE JOINED THE QOOH IN 1915 AND WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE 5TH BATTN OXFORD AND BUCKS LI IN 1917 A stained Glass Window inscribed
In proud memory Ashley William Neville Ponsonby Capt 52nd Light Infantry who gave His life for his country at Givenchy In France 8th Sept 1915 A carved plaque
All that he had he gave REMEMBER JOHN DOUGLAS MARRIOTT 2ND LIEUT CAMERONIANS WHO AFTER A HAPPY BOYHOOD SPENT AT WOOTTON FELL IN BATTLE NEAR YPRES 26 SEPT 1917 AGED 19 Bronze plaque inscribed
IN LOVING MEMORY OF ERNEST GEORGE DASHWOOD OF LUDWELL FARM IN THIS PARISH, CAPTAIN 4TH BN OXON AND BUCKS L I KILLED IN ACTION MAY 12TH 1915 AND BURIED IN PLOEGSTEERT WOOD FLANDERS – AGED 35 YEARS A wooden plaque
IN THANKFULNESS TO GOD FOR A MOST PRECIOUS GIFT AND IN MEMORY OF A DEAR SON JAMES FISCHER WILKINSON MC MAJOR 54TH BATTERY ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY HE FOUGHT IN FRANCE FOR FOUR YEARS WITH THE FIRST DIVISION IN THE GREAT WAR AND WAS KILLED IN BATTLE AT CATILLON 29 OCTR 1918 AGED 23 WE FALL TO RISE ARE BAFFLED TO FIGHT BETTER SLEEP TO WAKE In the Churchyard there is a stone cross WITH A SUN DIAL inscribed
PRO PATRIA 1914-1919 AS THE SUNNY HOURS DIRECT OUR THOUGHTS ABOVE SO THE LIVES OF VALIANT MEN LEAD US TO HIM WHO IS THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS |
The Fallen from WW1
William John BARNARD Private, Herts Yeomanry. Army no. 2413 He died on active service at sea on 8 July 1916. He was 19 He was the son of William and Edith Barnard He is remembered on panel 3 of the Basra Memorial Additional Information I cannot find a reference to explain why he is on the Basra Memorial and yet died at sea. The Basra Memorial was until 1997 situated in a Dockyard Birth place: East Hagbourne, Berkshire Residence: Woodstock Enlistment Location: Hertford Frederick Victor BARNES Private, 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles (British Columbia Regiment) Battalion. Army no. 443885 He died on 4 June 1916. He was 24. He was the son of William and Emma C Barnes of Glympton He is buried in grave V E 1 Étaples Military Cemetery Additional Information Étaples was a major hospital centre therefore it is probable that he died from his wounds. His Canadian Attestation papers record that he was an orchardist. Henry BOWLER On the Memorial it is clear that he was a Private in The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. There is no military record of his death but there is a civil record stating that Henry Bowler, age 43 died in the quarter ending 30 June 1919 and the death was registered in the Woodstock Registration District His Medal Card shows that he served in: The Suffolk Regiment Army no. 4802 The Gloucestershire Regiment, Army no. 241515 And The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, Army no. 238089 He was discharged because of his wounds and awarded the Silver War Badge. This was awarded on 13 July 1919 after his death. James BROOKS Private, 4th Reserve Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Army no. 202017 He died on 17 June 1918. He was 39 He was the son of Thomas and Emily Brooks of Wootton. He is buried in the Churchyard of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Wootton Additional Information Birth Place: Wootton Enlistment Location: Oxford Residence: Wootton Reginald BUGGINS Private, Oxfordshire Yeomanry (Queens Own Oxfordshire Hussars) Household Cavalry and Cavalry of the Line. Army no. 285783 He died of his wounds on 2 November 1917. He was 22 He was the son of Frederick and Annie Buggins, Ivy House, Wootton He is buried in grave P III S 2B St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen Additional Information Birth Place: Wootton Residence: Wootton John George CLIFFORD Lance Corporal, 5th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Army no. 235049. He was formerly with the Oxfordshire Yeomanry (Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars). Army no. 2786. He died on 20 December 1917 of the wounds he received at Passchendaele. He was 20 He was the son of Arthur John and Elizabeth A O Clifford, Manor Farm, Wootton and previously of Hordley, Woodstock. He is buried in grave IV B 11 Ypres Reservoir Cemetery Additional Information A plaque in the Church records that he was buried in the northern cemetery at Ypres Ernest George DASHWOOD Captain, 1st/4th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 145 Brigade, 48th (South Midlands) Division He was killed in action on 12 May 1915 shortly after the regiment had arrived in Belgium. He was 35. Five sons of Sir George J E Dashwood, 6th Bart. and Lady Mary M Dashwood served in WW1. Three were killed Ernest, Lionel and Wilfred. Robert and Henry survived. He is buried in grave III F 2 Cemetery, Rifle House Cemetery, near Ploegsteert, Belgium Additional information His address for Probate was Ludwell Farm, Woodstock which is repeated in the plaque in Wootton Church. The plaque also records that he was buried in Ploegsteert Wood. His name also appears on the Kirtlington Memorial Wilfrid G DAWSON Private, Royal Marine Artillery HQ (Eastney). RM no. RMA/2137(S) He died on 5 December 1916. He was 19 He was the son of Herbert and Jane Elizabeth Dawson of Wootton. He is buried in the Churchyard of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Wootton Tom DAY Private, 1st/4th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 145 Brigade, 48th Division. Army no. 200639 He was killed in action on 15 June 1918 in the Battle of Asiago when the Austrians attacked the British, French and Italian line. He was 25 He was the son of John and Susannah Day of Wootton He is buried in plot 2 row B grave 14, Boscon British Cemetery, near Asiago, Italy Additional Information Residence: Wootton Enlistment Location: Oxford Willie DRINKWATER Private, 14th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 13 Brigade, 5th Division. Army no 1468 He was killed in action on 23 July 1916 in the attacks on High Wood in the Battle of the Somme. He was 28 He was the son of Harry and Hannah Drinkwater, Castle Hill, Wootton He is buried in grave IX K 32 Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval Additional Information Born: Wootton Enlisted: Birmingham Residence: Cape Hill, Birmingham On the Bletchington memorial it says he was in the Worcestershire Regiment The Wootton memorial says The Warwickshire Regiment Thomas Alfred John FIELD Private, 1st/4th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 145 Brigade, 48th Division. Army no. 1592 He died from his wounds on 22 July 1916 received during the Battle of the Somme. He was 21 He was the son of Fredrick and Sarah Field of Wootton He is buried in grave I F 46 Puchevillers British Cemetery Additional Information Born: Banbury Enlisted: Woodstock Jesse GUBBINS MM Company Quartermaster Sergeant, D Company, 7th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 78 Brigade, 26th Division. Army no. 9699 He died on 29 October 1918. He was 40 He was the son of Henry and Harriett Gubbins of Wootton and the husband of Edith Gubbins, 26 Pembroke Street, Swindon He is buried in grave 701 Mikra British Cemetery, Kalamaria, Greece Robert William HARRIS Private, 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment), 12 Brigade, 4th Division. Army no. 26037 He was killed in action on 10 October 1917 in the fighting around Ypres. He was 22 He was the son of William James and Alice Mary Harris, 1 Somerset Villas, New Marston, Oxford. He is remembered on panel 82 to 85 and 162A of the Tyne Cot Memorial Additional Information Birth Place: Wootton Residence: Woodstock Enlistment Location: London Robert Alfred HEDGES Private, 23rd Battalion, The Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), 123 Brigade, 41st Division. Army no. F/2392 He was killed in action on 15 September 1916 in the Battle of Flers Courcelette. He was 35 He was the son of Emily and the late James Hedges He is remembered on pier and face 12D and 13B of the Thiepval Memorial Additional Information Birth Place: Tackley Residence: Woodstock Enlistment Location: Aldershot Herbert HOARE Private, 2nd Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 5 Brigade, 14th Division. Army no. 20981 He was killed in action on 28 April 1917. He was 30 He was the son of the Sarah and the late James Hoare He is remembered on bay 6 and 7 of the Arras Memorial Additional Information Birth Place: Wootton Residence: Wootton Enlistment Location: Oxford Edward George JOINES Sergeant, B Battery, 84th Army Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Field Artillery Division. Army no. 12614 He was killed in action on 17 August 1917 near Arras. He was 34 He was the son of the late Mr and Mrs Charles Joines, 67 Rock Hill, Chipping Norton and the husband of Laura Mabel Joines, 5 Church Lane, Bicester, He is buried in grave I B 39 Bleuet Farm Cemetery Additional Information Birth Place: Chipping Norton Enlistment Location: London John Douglas MARRIOTT Second Lieutenant, 1st Battalion, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), 19 Brigade, 33rd Division. He was killed in action on 26 September 1917 at the Battle of Polygon Wood near Ypres. He was 19. He was the son of the Rev. Frank Ransome Marriott, Rector of Wootton and his wife Maud Georgina Marriott He is buried in grave IX A 7 Hooge Crater Cemetery George Henry Hedges MORRIS Sergeant, 6th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 60 Brigade, 20th Division. Army no. 13844 He was killed in action on 3 September 1916 at the Battle of Guillemont, Somme. He was 21. He was the son of Elizabeth J Oliver formerly Morris of Wootton He is buried in grave VI B 6 Guillemont Road Cemetery, Guillemont Additional Information Birth Place: Wootton Residence: Wootton Enlistment Location: Oxford William MOSS Private, 2nd/6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 182 Brigade, 61st Division. Army no. 28874 He was killed in action on 31 March 1918 on the Somme. He was 34 He was the son of Philip and Harriet Moss of Wootton He is remembered on panel 18 and 19 of the Pozières Memorial Additional Information Enlistment Location: Woodstock Ashley William Neville PONSONBY Captain, 2nd Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 5 Brigade, 2nd Division He was killed in action at Givenchy on 8 September 1915. He was 34 He was the son of the Hon. Edwin Charles William and the late Emily Dora Ponsonby, Woodleys, Woodstock. He is buried in grave II D 1 Guards Cemetery, Windy Corner, Cuinchy Walter SHAYLER Private, 6th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 60 Brigade, 20th Division. Army no. 13516 He was killed in action on 3 September 1916 in the fighting at Delville Wood. He was 21 He was the son of Henry and Jane Shayler, Union Square, Wootton He is remembered on pier and face 10A and 10D of the Thiepval Memorial Additional Information Born: Wootton Residence: Wootton Enlistment Location: Oxford James STEVENS Second Lieutenant, 5th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 42 Brigade, 14th Division. He was killed in action on 9 April 1917 during the Battle of the Scarpe. He was 26. He was the son of Henry Thomas and Emma Stevens of Wootton. He is buried in grave III F 5 Tilloy British Cemetery, Tilloy-Les-Mofflaines Lewis STROUD Private, 6th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 60 Brigade, 20th Division. Army no. 20979 He was killed in action at the Battle of Delville Wood on 3 September 1916. He was 29 He was the son of Henry and Harriot Stroud and the husband of Kate Winifred Stroud, Castle Road, Wootton He is remembered on pier and face 10A and 10D of the Thiepval Memorial Additional Information Birth Place: Wootton Residence: Wootton Enlistment Location: Oxford George TIDMARSH Private, 14th (County of London) Battalion (London Scottish) London Regiment. Army no. 6294 He was killed in action near Arras on 23 October 1916. He was 29 He was the son of Charles and Eliza Tidmarsh of Wootton He is buried in grave III J 11 Maroeuil British Cemetery Additional Information Residence: Woodstock Enlistment Location: London William Henry TOOLEY Private, 3rd/5th Battalion, The Lancashire Fusiliers, 197 Brigade, 66th Division. Army no. 39102 He was killed in action on 17 November 1917. He was 34 He was the husband of Rose Ellen Tooley of Enstone, He is buried in grave V C 7 Oxford Road Cemetery in Belgium Additional Information Birth Place: Wootton Enlistment Location: Newbury Harry Coleman VARNEY Gunner, D Battery, 64th Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Field Artillery. Army no. 211120 He was killed in action on 18 September 1917. He was 30 He was the son of Arthur and Mary Ann Varney of Wootton and the husband of Edith Varney He is buried in grave IX G 28 Vlamertinghe New Military Cemetery Additional Information Residence: Woodstock Enlistment Location: Woodstock James Lawrence VARNEY Private, 5th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 42 Brigade, 14th Division. Army no. 22135 He was killed in action on 30 July 1916. He was 20. He was the son of Arthur and Mary Ann Varney of Wootton. He is buried in grave XXV C 3 Serre Road Cemetery no. 2 Additional Information Birth Place: Wooton Residence: Wootton Location: Woodstock Albert WASHBROOK Private, 5th Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 42 Brigade, 14th Division. Army no. 9945 He was killed in action at the Battle of Delville Wood on 24 August 1916. He was 22. He was the son of William and Alice Washbrook, Castle Road, Wootton He is buried in grave III G 7 Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval Additional Information Birth Place: Wootton Residence: Hatfield Enlistment Location: Oxford In the Church there is a wooden plaque and a grave marker for: James Fischer WILKINSON MC Major, 54 Battery, 39th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery He died from his wounds on 29 October 1918. He was 23 He was the son of Alfred Maximilian Wilkinson and Ione Mary Wilkinson of Wittersham, Kent. He is buried in grave A 40 Communal Cemetery Extension La Vallée Mulatre Additional Information This is unusual in several ways He does not appear on the memorial but the plaque is very personal referring to " a most precious gift and in memory of a dear son" and the presence of the grave marker also implies a strong family connection with the Church. The presence of the plaque and the grave marker can only have been provided by his parents. What we know is that his Father was born in Honk Kong and his Mother in India. Father was a teacher in Eastbourne in 1911 and their son was born there 16 years earlier. Father died in 1948 in Devon leaving a significant sum of money. His wife had died 6 years earlier What we do know about James Wilkinson is that he was educated at Sandroyd School, Cobham, Harrow, (he was a boarder there in the 1911 Census) and Royal Military Academy, Woolwich He was posted to France from 31 10 1914 His address for Probate was Top Hill Cottage, Wittersham, Kent. My best guess is that Alfred and Ione moved to Wootton and he was a School Master in the area |