Dulwich Hamlet Football Club - The Great War 1914-1919

[PartisanDulwich]

It is important to pay respect to those players and former players of Dulwich Hamlet Football Club who served during WW1 and especially the 22 that lost their lives.

We should never glorify War, but it is important to pay due respect, especially on the occasion of 100th Anniversary of the Great War.

"Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone."
Edith Cavell

 

[EDC]

I wholeheartedly agree.

 

[PartisanDulwich]

Hamlet historian Roger Deason drew up a Dulwich Hamlet FC Roll of Honour in 2005 based on the Dulwich Hamlet FC Handbook for 1919. More details of the individuals named can be found at the Hamlet Historian http://thehamlethistorian.blogspot.co.uk/2011_08_01_archive.html



DULWICH HAMLET FOOTBALL CLUB
ROLL OF HONOUR 1914-1919
THE GREAT WAR

Walter Lester Lawrence
Date of Death : 2 December 1914 aged 22.
Rank & Unit : Private, A Squadron Royal Bucks Hussars.
Buried : Norwood Cemetery.

George Ernest Vasey (Ernie)
Date of Death : 27 April 1915. (The officially recorded date, contemporary news-
papers report 26th.)
Rank & Unit : Lance Corporal, 1st/5th Battalion London Regiment. London Rifle Brigade.
Buried : No known grave. Recorded on the Menin Gate Memorial.

Stanley Brace Peart
Date of Death : 25 May 1915.
Rank & Unit : Rifleman, 1st/21st Battalion, London Regiment. 1st Surrey Rifles.
Buried : No known grave. Recorded at the Le Touret Memorial.

Reginald Astill (Reg.)
Date of Death : 1 July 1916.
Rank & Unit : Rifleman. 1st/9th Battalion, London Regiment. Queen Victoria Rifles.
Buried : No known grave. Recorded on Thiepval Memorial at The Somme.

George Arthur Popple
Date of Death : 1 July 1916.
Rank & Unit : Sergeant. 1st/12th Battalion London Regiment The Rangers.
Buried : No known grave. Recorded on Thiepval Memorial, The Somme.

Tommy Rose
Date of Death : 2 August 1916 aged 35.
Rank & Unit : Bombardier. 156th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.
Buried : St Sever Cemetery, Rouen.

Louis F. Seidel
Date of Death : 14 August 1916.
Rank & Unit : Commander, Uganda
Volunteer Reserve. (Railway)
Buried : Voi Cemetery, Kenya.


Francis W. Hagger (Frank)
Date of Death : 1 October 1916.
Rank & Unit : Rifleman 1st/16th Battalion
London Regiment
Queen’s Westminster Rifles.
Buried : No known grave. Remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.

Reginald Walker*
Date of Death : 23 December 1916.
Rank & Unit : Private 11th Battalion The Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment.
Buried : Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery.

William George Dunbar Clarkson (Willie)
Date of Death : 31 March 1917.
Rank & Unit : Private, 7th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment.
Buried : No known grave. Honoured on the Arras Memorial.

Walter Reginald Wheeler (Reginald)
Date of Death : 31 March 1917 aged 27.
Rank & Unit : Rifleman 2nd/21st Battalion London Regiment.
1st Surrey Rifles.
Buried : Salonika Military Cemetery.

Leonard John Rawling
Date of Death : 12 April 1917 aged 29.
Rank & Unit : Private. 7th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment.
Buried : No known grave. Honoured on the Arras Memorial.

William Henry Nixon
Date of Death : 24 April 1917 aged 26.
Rank & Unit : 2nd Lieutenant 298 Siege Battery, Special Reserve, Royal Garrison Artillery.
Buried : Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery near Ypres.

Frank Sydney Marsh
Date of Death : 28 April 1917 aged 23.
Rank & Unit : 2nd Lieutenant 1st R.M Bat, R.N.
Royal Marine Light Infantry.
Buried : No known grave. Honoured on the Arras Memorial.

Edward L. Bescoby* (Eddie)
Date of Death : 18 June 1917 aged 25.
Rank & Unit : Second Lieutenant, Royal Fusiliers.
Buried : Ljssenthoek Military Cemetery.

Gilbert Furmage Chignall
Date of Death : 7 June 1917.
Rank & Unit : Lance Corporal 1st/23rd County of London Battalion London Regiment.
Buried : No known grave. Honoured on the Menin Gate Memorial.

Ernest William Dearne Astill
Date of Death : 30 March 1918.
Rank & Unit : Second Lieutenant 2nd/9th Battalion London Regiment
(Queen Victoria Rifles).
Buried : No known grave. Remembered on the Pozieres Memorial,
The Somme.

Jack Harold Chance Butler
Date of Death : 6 August 1918 aged 27.
Rank & Unit: Sergeant, 237 Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery.
Buried : Terlincthun Cemetery.

Sidney Herbert Beales
Date of Death : 25 August 1918 aged 34.
Rank & Unit: Private, 1st/13th Princess Louise’s Battalion, London Regiment.
Buried : No known grave. Remembered at Vis en Artois Memorial.

Albert Charles Andrews
Rank & Unit: Serjeant AJ Andrews (530016), London Regiment
(Prince of Wales Own Civil Service Rifles), date of death, 21/05/1916, aged 26
Buried: Souchez Canadian Cemetery, four miles from Lens.

Robert Charles Lawrence D.C.M.
Date of Death : 19 October 1918 aged 29.
Rank & Unit : Sergeant, 231st Brigade Royal Field Artillery.
Buried : Vadencourt British Cemetery, Maissemy.

Percy Sills
Date of Death : 6 November 1918.
Rank & Unit : Acting Lance Corporal, Labour Corp.
Buried : Scartho Road Cemetery, Grimsby.

 

[PartisanDulwich]

DULWICH HAMLET FC
ROLL OF HONOUR
THE GREAT WAR

1914
Walter Lester Lawrence - 2 December 1914

1915
George Ernest Vasey (Ernie) - 27 April 1915.
Stanley Brace Peart - 25 May 1915.

1916
Albert Charles Andrews - 21 May 1916.
Reginald Astill (Reg.) - 1 July 1916.
George Arthur Popple - 1 July 1916.
Tommy Rose - 2 August 1916
Louis F. Seidel - 14 August 1916.
Francis W. Hagger (Frank) - 1 October 1916.

1917
Reginald Walker - 23 December 1916.
William George Dunbar Clarkson (Willie) - 31 March 1917.
Walter Reginald Wheeler (Reginald) - 31 March 1917
Leonard John Rawling - 12 April 1917
William Henry Nixon - 24 April 1917
Frank Sydney Marsh - 28 April 1917
Edward L. Bescoby (Eddie) - 18 June 1917.
Gilbert Furmage Chignall - 7 June 1917.

1918
Ernest William Dearne Astill - 30 March 1918.
Jack Harold Chance Butler - 6 August 1918
Sidney Herbert Beales - 25 August 1918
Robert Charles Lawrence - 19 October 1918
Percy Sills - 6 November 1918.

 

[EDC]

I still have a bit of work to do myself as this is a subject I have a close interest in myself. Some of the same names appear on the memorial board in Dulwich Hamlet Junior School.

 

[PartisanDulwich]

ARCHIBALD JOHN ANDREWS
Civil Service Rifles
Killed in Action: 21st May 1916 at Vimy Ridge
Buried: Souchez Canadian Cemetery, Lens.


From History in Portsmouth website

Born in 1890, to Walter and Alice (nee Woodthorp) Andrews, Archibald spent the whole of his life in Portsmouth living at Cemetery Lodge at the entrance to Highland Road Cemetery.

The Andrews family seems to lived in Portsmouth for several generations as before he had moved to Cemetery Lodge

Archibald must have been an intelligent child as he joined what was later known as Southern Grammar school in 1900 aged 10 years.

Archibald justified this confidence in his abilities by carrying off various school prizes and by matriculating at London University when but 16 years of age. At the same time he displayed athletic activities and became the leader of the School Football Team.

Successful in 1907 in gaining a Second Division Clerkship, he became attached to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and removed to London. His enthusiasm for football continuing, he became a member of the Dulwich Hamlet and Civil Service Teams, and acquitted himself so well that he was selected to play for both Surrey and Middlesex. On several occasions, also, he gained a place in representative teams appearing on the Continent.

Having joined the Territorials in 1912, Archibald was ready for the mobilisation of Forces at the outbreak of war. In the early part of 1915 he went as a Lance Sergeant with his Battalion, the 15th County of London (Civil Service Rifles), to France, and for a year served continuously on the Western Front, mostly in the Souchez area, taking part in such battles as those of Festubert and Loos. At last in the early morning of Monday, 22nd May, 1916, (CWG state 21st May) came the order to recapture some trenches on the Vimy Ridge, taken by the enemy the previous afternoon. B Company of the Civil Service Rifles was the first to go over the top in the face of a withering fire, No. 8 Platoon being led by its officer and Sergeant Andrews. When last seen this gallant pair were still side by side near the German barbed wire and making for the German line. Only 18 men of B Company returned.

Some days later the body of Sergeant Andrews was discovered by a patrol, and he now lies buried in the Souchez Canadian Cemetery, four miles from Lens.

By his comrades Sergeant Andrews was affectionately known as "The Driver." Those who survived him all bear testimony to his worth. One speaks of him as 'always clean and straight' and 'a leader of men.' Another says, 'We all loved him very much, he was a gay and splendid chap, such a sportsman and such a real pal that no one who knew him could help but like him. With all this he was a keen and efficient soldier and sergeant.' Others again, in making reference to his personal bravery, add : 'he was always a splendid soldier in the trenches—none better,' that 'he was very cool and collected under fire,' and that, on the last occasion of all, 'he led the attack laughing and singing.'

PHOTOGRAPH

The photograph reproduced is from a snapshot taken in the trenches with his own camera. It comes from a memorial booklet published by Southern Grammar School from which extracts also appear above.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) website lists Lance-Serjeant AJ Andrews (530016), London Regiment (Prince of Wales Own Civil Service Rifles), date of death, 21/05/1916, aged 26, remembered on the Arras Memorial. He was the son of Walter Finch Andrews and Alice A. Andrews. The CWGC website says the cemetery was begun by the Canadians in March 1917 which was after the date that Andrews was supposed to have been buried there. According to www.WW1cemeteries.com The Souchez Canadian Cemetery was opened in March 1916 and used mainly by the 47th London Division and the Canadian Corps. There were only about 150 burials here until after the armistice when 7000 men were re-interred there. A third of the original burials are unidentified.

Archibald Andrews name has survived on the Southern Grammar and Portsmouth Grammar School WW1 memorial Plaques as well as on the Cenotaph. His father Walter died in 1925 and his mother Alice in 1933.

From History in Portsmouth web site

 

[PartisanDulwich]

Stanley Peart (see below)

 

[PartisanDulwich]

Stanley Brace Peart
Rifleman B Coy 21st Battalion (1st Surrey Rifle) The London Regiment
Service No: 2436
Killed in Action: Givenchy, France 25th of May 1915
Buried: No known grave. Recorded at the Le Touret Memorial.

Stanley Brace Peart A.C.I.S., Rifleman, No 2436 B Coy 21st Battalion (1st Surrey Rifles) The London Regiment

The third and youngest son of George Peart and Marie (55 Silverdale, Sydenham) daughter of Francis Henry Moller

Born in Adelaide, South Australia 10th of August 1891, educated at Bellenden Road London County Council school and Dulwich College; passed the Intermediate Examination in June 1914 and was admitted an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries the following months and prior to the outbreak of the war was engaged on the staff of the Kamf hotsdam Mines Ltd of Gresham House, and Broad Street and Mr W. Howarth FCIS who held a highly opinion of his abilities. He joined the first Surrey Rifles for active service 31st of August 1914 and after training at St Albans, Luton and Harpenden went to France 14th of March 1915 and was killed in action at the village of Givenchy 25th of May 1915

His Company officer Liet H. Persse wrote " on 25 May the battalion was ordered to attack Givenchy in the ordinary course of attack the bombs go first as to prevent what are known as flank attacks. Your brother was with them, and I saw him myself go right in to the German front-line trench and then to the second line trench. The last I saw of him was when his supply of bombs had run out - he was standing his ground very cooley on top of a German trench using a bayonet to great effect. I am afraid he was hit by a bomb, for when we found him next day, he was greatly damaged but quite dead. I buried him myself with the lot of his comrades and I am sure it will relieve your sorrow somewhat to know that the" fellow Tommies" put a beautiful cross to him with his name and Regiment upon it. I always knew Stanley Peart as one of best men . When the call came for bombers (a most dangerous job) Peart didn't wait to be selected; he volunteered and paid the price. No work was too hard to him and he certainly fulfilled my great expectations when the time came for the battalion to show what it was made of"

And a Comrade wrote: " he was my fellow bomber in our platoon . Although I did not actually see him fall I know pretty well what his end was. It happened just before our platoon went over the parapet to support the other fellows who were holding the captured trench in front. There was an urgent call for bombs and bombers and as Stan happened to have a bandolier of bombs on him, he was detailed to go with some more bombers. He was with me when we got the order but he went to join the others a few yards further down the line. It was just in the act of getting over the parapet that he was shot. I think a machine gun caught him. At any rate it was a bullet that caused the death not as Shell...... He was one of the most popular fellows in our platoon".

Peart was well-known in South London as a most versatile athlete. He captained Bellenden Road LCC School in cricket, football and swimming.

He won the Rutherford Harris Shield, with the Championship south London breast stroke swimming in 1904, the Championship of Dulwich 1904 and 1905 and played in the cricket and the boys for East versus West at the Oval in 1905 and 1906, captaining the team in 1906.

He was in his Dulwich Hamlet reserves in the season and 1910-11 when they won the southern suburban league championship he played in the first team of Honor Oak Cricket club for several years, until he gave up playing by his doctor's order's
------------------------------------

Hamlet Historian notes

Peart in 1901 was resident at 15 Camden Street, Camberwell. It was in Camberwell that he enlisted, but by then had moved to Peckham.

The 1st/21st Battalion spent the early days of the war based in Camberwell, before transferring to the Western Front between 9 – 22 March 1915. On 9 May they took part in the Battle of Aubers Ridge, an unmitigated disaster for the Allies.

==========

This is an extract from the 1/24th Battalion London Regiment's War Diary for the 25th May 1915:

Tuesday May 25th: 5.30 PM. The Battalion took over the SCOTTISH TRENCH section of GIVENCHY relieving a company of the 23rd Battalion. Battalion in the following order from front to rear: A, B, C, D Companies; MG; in a position of readiness in SCOTTISH TRENCH. ½ section 3rd London Field Company RE (T.F.) and a trench mortar battery attached, the latter being stationed in the trenches held by the 18th London regiment on our right.

 

[Dulwich Mishi]

It is important to pay respect to those players and former players of Dulwich Hamlet Football Club who served during WW1 and especially the 22 that lost their lives.

We should never glorify War, but it is important to pay due respect, especially on the occasion of 100th Anniversary of the Great War.

"Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone."
Edith Cavell

As a Club we DO pay respect...

 

[EDC]

As a Club we DO pay respect...

We certainly do.

Here's the memorial from Dulwich Hamlet Junior School, low down and tucked away but safe from thieving bastards stealing the lead lettering as has happened to the one at Dulwich College a couple of times.

Note some of the same names appear of the football club's board, school old boys and possibly founding Hamlet players.

 

[Dulwich Mishi]

We certainly do.

Here's the memorial from Dulwich Hamlet Junior School, low down and tucked away but safe from thieving bastards stealing the lead lettering as has happened to the one at Dulwich College a couple of times.

Note some of the same names appear of the football club's board, school old boys and possibly founding Hamlet players.

View attachment 59932

Thank you, I've not seen that before.

 

[PartisanDulwich]

Would be good to put up pictures of all the Dulwich WW1 Memorials - may also offer some cross referencing of information on players/ex players

Must be one in the Hospital ?

Alleyns is by the picture gallery
Dulwich College

other schools ?

Churches ?

Horniman Museum ?

Public Memorials (cross)

 

[EDC]

Would be good to put up pictures of all the Dulwich WW1 Memorials - may also offer some cross referencing of information on players/ex players

Must be one in the Hospital ?

Alleyns is by the picture gallery
Dulwich College

other schools ?

Churches ?

Horniman Museum ?

Public Memorials (cross)

Yes there is one in the hospital but I don't have photos. Alleyn's is inside the school so no access unless arranged, the Dulwich College one is huge and I have a lot of pictures but not of the individual name plates (interesting they also have a Boer War one on the back of the old library hidden by bushes). The church by Sydenham Hill Station has a memorial individually named from memory and probably most importantly St. Giles Church in Camberwell which is the memorial for the 1st Surrey Rifles the regiment many Dulwich men were in. This one doesn't have individual name plates although the church may have one inside.

 

[PartisanDulwich]

Dulwich’s first fatality in WW1 was according to The Dulwich Society
Lieutenant John Rudolph Wissman, an officer in the Royal Field Artillery, who was killed on 15th September 1914

Ironically, his father (who lived at Bell House in College Road) was a naturalised German married to an English wife.

John Randolph Wissman
Lieutenant 22 Battery Royal Field Artillery
Killed in action at the Battle of the Aisne 15 September 1914, aged 23
Buried Vendresse British Cemetery, France 1E11
Remembered on Tongham War Memorial

 

[PartisanDulwich]

Evidence would point to others as the first Dulwich casualty of WW1 such as

Private Charles Smith
Aged 22
16th The Queens Lancers
D Squadron
killed 29 August 914
Buried Flavy le Martel

son of William and Agnes Mary Smith
44 Melbourne Grove, Dulwich
He was born in Camberwell

Sergeant Arthur George Charles Farmer
Aged 29
East Surrey Regiment
Killed 14 September 1914
Buried La Ferte Sous Jouarre
Husband of Mabel
12 Landcroft Road, Dulwich

Private John William Howard
Aged 27
Killed 14 September 1914
Duk of Cornwall Light Infantry
D Coy 1st battalion
Buried L Fete Sous Jouarre
Son of Frederick & Charlotte Howard 8 Silvester Road, Dulwich

Frederick Horgan aged 26 killed 27 October 1914 3rd Field Ambulance RAMC son of Daniel & Priscilla Horgan 42 Goodrich Rod, East Dulwich

What is surprising is that many of those killed in 1914 with links to Dulwich were killed at sea while in the service of the Royal Navy

22nd September 1914 was a particularly bleak day when 3 ships were torpedoed by a German U boat off Ostend with the loss of over 1,400 lives

Clifford Arthur Rawlins (stoker 1st Class) HMS Aboukir (son of Walter & Annie Rawlins of 77 Henslowe)
James William Watson(Private Royal marines) HMS Aboukir (son James & Hannah Watson Dulwich)
Thomas Edward Hooper (Able Seaman) HMS Aboukir ( Son of Theophilas Geoerge Hooper East Dulwich)
Charles Sparkes (Private Royal Marines) HMS Cressy (son Thomas & Fanny Sparkes 45 Clive Road, Dulwich
William Skarratt (Private Royal Marines HMS Cressy (Husband of Emily Skarratt 34 Darrell Road, Dulwich)
Edward Joseph Gailey (Able Seaman) HMS Hogue (son of Joseph & Elizabeth, 9 Silvester Road Dulwich)

Not forgetting 18 year old Ronald Davidson Symmons of the London Regiment (London Scottish) 1st/1th Battalion) killed 1st November 1914, son of Mrs M A Symmons "Struan" 506 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich)

and Edwin Franklin, aged 19 Sapper Royal Engineers, 2nd Field Squadron, killed 27 October 1914 son of Matthias Franklin 22 Henslowe, East Dulwich

 

[PartisanDulwich]

Parish of St Barnabas ordered 3 carved wooden tablets for the north wall of the church with names of the fallen. (about 85 names of those killed in WW1) unveiled 1922, but destroyed in the fire of 1992
so now no full record

 

[Al Crane]

Image from the 1949-50 season handbook below. Looks like the vase element of the plaque has disappeared.

 

[PartisanDulwich]

East Dulwich Post Office hand carved WW1 memorial (Roll of Honour)
still preserved and tenderly cared for by the postal workers

Names

A. J. E. Duke DCM
F. Horgan
J. H. Kingsbury
C. A. V. Russell

 

[PartisanDulwich]

Private FREDERICK HORGAN,
Rank: Private
Service No:4066
Date of Death: 27/10/1914
Age 26
Regiment/Service: Royal Army Medical Corps - 3rd Field Ambulance
Memorial: Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial - Panel 56
Frederick Horgan was the son of Daniel and Priscilla Horgan, of 42, Goodrich Rd., East Dulwich, London.

Lance Corporal ALFRED JAMES EDMUND DUKE,
Rank: Lance Corporal
Service No: 43145
Date of Death: 13/04/1918
Regiment/Service: Essex Regiment 10th Bn.
Awards: D C M Distinguished Conduct medal
Panel Reference: Panel 51 and 52.
Memorial: Pozieres Memorial panel 51 and 52

Additional information suggests grave in Camberwell New Cemetery
Son of Alfred and Frances Emily Duke.

Gunner J.H. Kingsbury
Rank: Gunner
Service No: 169369
Date of Death: 17/05/1918
Regiment/Service: Royal Garrison Artillery 14th Siege Bty.
Grave Reference: V. J. 10B. Cemetery: Mont Huon Military Cometary, Le Treport
* Closest match CWG - High probability

C.A.V Russell
Awaiting information

But don't think he is one of four sons out of five of Mr Russell of Pond Cottages killed in WW1).

 

[PartisanDulwich]

WW1 Great War Memorial at St Peter (CofE) Church, Lordship Lane, Dulwich Common
Known as the Dulwich common War Memorial

St Peter Church 1875-1984
now Deeper Life Life Church

Dulwich Volunteers Brigade 1914-1919



Extra Information from East Dulwich Forum

The Dulwich Volunteer Battalion originally the Dulwich and District Athletic Association. then the Dulwich Defence league originated from a meeting held in Sep 1914 at Lordship Lane Hall.

A memorial board with the names of the members of the St. Peter's congregation who lost their lives in WWI was moved from the building to St. Clement's Church on Friern/Barry Road.


Headquarters of the Battalion was in the row of shops opposite the memorial

A total of 293 soldiers enlisted in WW1 told their enlisting officers that they were born in Dulwich

High Wood Territorial Army and Cadets Barracks were named to commemorate the Battle of High Wood fought on the Somme, Northern France by the men from the villages of Dulwich, Camberwell and Peckham who made up the two battalions of Dulwich's own regiment, the 21st County of London Regiment (The First Surreys).

The 2nd Battalion fought in Egypt while the 1st Battalion on the Somme. The Battle of High Wood began in the afternoon of 15 September 1916 when 550 men led by 19 officers of "The First Surreys" were ordered to make a direct attack on a line of German fortifications which was separating two wings of a British force. When the battalion reached the ridge of High Wood, they came into full view of the enemy guns. The leading platoons were wiped out by heavy German fire, but the survivors kept steadily on until they were able to make a final assault on the German trenches. The engagement had lasted for one hour, during which time "The First Surreys" were virtually annihilated, and when they were ordered to withdraw the following morning, 60 men and two officers returned.

The war memorial on Dulwich Common was erected to honour the 1100 dead of Dulwich's own regiment in that war and of course now, like other memorials other wars too. In 1932 the Barracks were built and named "High Wood" for the same reasons.

 

[PartisanDulwich]

The 100th anniversary of the famous WW1 Christmas Day truce is this year

Maybe we could mark this important event, especially given our friendship with Altona

I note we are away on Boxing Day 27th Decemeber - but maybe we could ensure we wear the altona inspired away strip

But I am sure we could mark this event

 

[Dulwich Mishi]

The event is actually being marked throughout football next week, with 'joint team photos'...and the Isthmian League has asked our member clubs to participate too. So, if Peacehaven & Tescombe have done their bit, there should be a joint team photo on Saturday.

 

[PartisanDulwich]

Billy Millward

William "Billy" "Colsey" Millward, born in the Eastbourne area and by the early nineteen hundreds was playing for Eastbourne Cricket club (playing with WG Grace) He played for Dulwich Hamlet FC prior to the Great War.

Millward was posted to work on the Argentina Railway and ended up playing for Belgrano Athletic scoring a goal in their famous 10-1 victory over River Plate in 18th august 1912

He enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment as a private and unusually ended up as Brigadier in command of his original battalion, he fought at the battle of the Somme and at Passchendaele unfortunately in November 1918 he lost a leg, Colsey's wife was summoned to France to be with him in the aftermath of his injury as they feared for his life. He was later awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French and the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) by the British

Millward retired to Blackpool and was still living their in 1948 . He later moved back to Sussex to Pevensey (5 miles from Eastbourne).
He died on 23rd October,1956, aged 68 and is buried in St. .Nicolas Churchyard, Pevensey

source: Hamlet Historian #Jack and Dulwich Hamlet V Kingstonian programme 3 April 1948

Note: Believe longer article is to be found in Hamlet Historian 2013

also on the web

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=55847

Posted 15 April 2014 - 02:48 PM

MILLWARD, William Colsey, D.S.O., Croix de Guerre.

Lieutenant Colonel, 11th Battalion The Royal Sussex Regiment. While on home leave from his work with the Argentine Railways, he enlisted during September, 1914, as a Private in the first of three South Down' Battalions raised at Bexhill by Colonel Claude Lowther, M.P. These three Battalions, which became known as 'Lowther's Lambs', were taken over officially by the War Office in May, 1915, and became the 11th, 12th and 13th Battalions The Royal Sussex Regiment. They trained at Cooden Mount Camp, Bexhill, later at Detling, Kent, and finally at Witley Camp near Godalming, Surrey. On 4th June, 1916, they sailed from Southampton to Le Havre, France. They entered the front line trenches for the first time on 12th June, 1916, at Fleurbaix south of Armentières, Artois, France. The Battalions remained on the Western Front until the late summer of 1918 when they were disbanded. They fought in Artois; on the Somme; along the River Ancre, Somme; at the 3rd Battle of Ypres (otherwise known as Passchendaele); at the Hindenburg Line and through the retreat during the German 'Spring Offensive' of 1918. During his service on the Western Front he was three times buried by shell explosions and, on one of those occasions, he was the only man to be dug out alive. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) and the French Croix-de-Guerre.

William Colsey Millward was commissioned from the rank of Private to become acting Brigadier General, as Lieutenant Colonel of the 11th Battalion, The Royal Sussex Regiment with effect from the 31st March, 1917. During a sleepless retreat forced by the German 'Spring Offensive' which began on 21st March, 1918, the Battalion fell exhausted into a wood near the village of Ignaucourt, south of the River Somme. Next morning, Good Friday 28th March, 1918, Lieutenant Colonel Millward stood outside his tent shaving when a stray German shell fell close by. He was severely wounded and had to be evacuated down the line. He spent six months in a British Army Hospital at Rouen where the whole of his left leg was amputated. After the war he came to live at Banks Lodge, Pevensey. Before the war he had played football for Dulwich Hamlet including an all-England Amateur Cup Final; he had also played cricket for Worcestershire and Sussex. He died on 23rd October,1956, aged 68 and is buried in St. .Nicolas Churchyard, Pevensey. [G & M: S. 48].The gravestone is close to the derelict Church Farm buildings.

 

[PartisanDulwich]

Post

From Roger Deason

As per the clubs tweet Jack will be selling a 40 page Hamlet Historian booklet about the Hamlet's WW1 dead on Saturday.

For those of you who remember the 2005 Hamlet Historian article of the same title I'd like to make clear this is nearly a total re-write. Please don't think you have already read this, you haven't.

There is now much more information available on many of the dead, for example it identifies a death that led to questions in the House of Commons. The new release also positively identifies one of the two men we could not positively identify in 2005 and a second error on the Dulwich Hamlet war memorial. With apologies to the club committee but you need a third war memorial now.......

Jack and I have signed over all profits to the Inter City 125 fund.

 

[Roger D]

Years ago I did a long HH article on Billy / Colsey. Some of the stuff quoted above is wrong.

It was his dad who played with W.G. Grace.

Colsey was an acting Brigadier General when wounded but was granted the retirement rank and pension of Lieutenant Colonel.

From memory he was wounded in March 1918 not November - though the leg was amputated after the wound.

I have not found a contemporary record of him being buried alive though I can't rule it out. However given the rapidity of his rise his time spent in the from line would have decreased and it seems unlikely. His medical record doesn't suggest such traumas either.

Contemporary evidence is contradictory as to whether his wound was a shell fragment or bullet. Post war medical reports say one, a contemporary interview with his wife the other.

He did not play in an amateur cup final.

He did not play first class cricket though he does appear to have played second X1.

What is certainly true is that Colsey had one of the most remarkable rises through the ranks in the history of the British army. He was also a lucky man, few of those who enlisted into his battalion in 1914 made it through the war.

As an aside he played tennis at Wimbledon and was a Davis Cup umpire. His dad was the first man to score a goal for Kidderminster Harriers and a test match umpire. Colsey, his middle name but the one he answered to for most of his life, was in honour of his fathers partner up front for the Harriers. He died as a result of wounds sustained whilst playing for Harriers around the time Colsey was born.

From memory, Friday is the anniversary of his birth.

He is also one of the few Hamlet men to appear in Who's Who and almost certainly the only one to feature in a WW1 poem by a famous poet, by Edmund Blunden.

 

[PartisanDulwich]

Thanks for corrections (as important) all details came from web sources as stated

Look forward to your booklet and all the amendments and corrections

 

[Dulwich Mishi]

Thanks for corrections (as important) all details came from web sources as stated

Look forward to your booklet and all the amendments and corrections

That is the problem with the 'beast of the internet'. Sometimes-even in modern times-people tell a' truth' from one inaccurate source, and if repeated often enough it becomes 'fact'.

 

[PartisanDulwich]

Good to see the article on Dulwich Hamlet and WW1 in the programme


This is called the

East Dulwich Street Shrine

(but still unclear about origins, but need to cross reference with local names and obviously any players

East Dulwich, London, Street Shrine

 

[Dulwich Mishi]

Although not DHFC related that is a fascinating read .I wish I had (more) spare time to investigate more...

 

[PartisanDulwich]

If it is our East Dulwich it may have DHFC players names on it ?