Category Archives: Northamptonshire Regiment

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Lance Corporal, Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire Regiment, photography, Private, story, war

Lance Corporal Charles Webb

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Lance Corporal Charles Webb

Charles Edward Webb was born in Wootton, Northamptonshire in the autumn of 1894. The oldest of seven children, his parents were clay pit foreman David Webb and his wife, Hannah.

When Charles finished his schooling, he found work as a brewer’s labourer: the 1911 census found the family living in a four-roomed cottage on Wootton High Street.

Little information is available about Charles’ time in the army. A later report, however, confirms that he enlisted not long after the declaration of war in 1914. He joined the Northamptonshire Regiment, and was assigned to the 7th (Service) Battalion.

Private Webb’s unit fought in some of the fiercest battles of the conflict, including at Loos in 1915, the Somme in 1916 and Ypres in 1917. During this time Charles was promoted to Lance Corporal.

Webb, Lce.-Corpl. CE (23), Northants, eldest son of Mr and Mrs Webb of Wootton, and fiance of Miss M Seamark, of Northampton; died in the University War Hospital, Southampton, on December 3, of wounds received in action on June 7; enlisted at the outbreak of war.

[Northampton Chronicle and Echo – Monday 31 December 1917]

The date of Charles Edward Webb’s injuries coincide the the first day of the Battle of Messines, in which the Northamptonshire Regiment played a crucial role. He was 23 years old when he died: his body was taken back home for burial and he was laid to rest in St George’s Church Cemetery, not far from the homes of his grieving family and fiancée.

Charles’ younger brother William also served in the First World War. As a Private in the 10th (Service) Battalion of the Essex Regiment, he was caught up in the Battle of Amiens on 8th August 1918, and was declared missing presumed dead: he was just 18 years of age. He is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois British Memorial in Harcourt, France.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire Regiment, photography, Private, story, war

Private Thomas White

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Private Thomas White

Thomas White was born on 17th October 1889, and was the fourth of nine children to William and Minnie White. William was an agricultural labourer for Hartwell, Northamptonshire, but the family were raised in the village of Hardingstone, to the south of Northampton.

When they finished their schooling, Thomas’ older siblings also found work on local farms, and Thomas was to do the same. By the time of the 1911 census, the white family had moved to Wootton, and were living in a four-roomed cottage on the village’s high street.

On 25th July 1914, Thomas married Nellie Westbury. The daughter of a groom from Wootton, she was employed as a cook at The Hermitage in the village when they couple exchanged vows. They would go on to have a daughter, Phyllis, the following year.

Details of Thomas’ military service are a challenge to pull together. His entry on the Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects confirm that he enlisted on 20th July 1918, joining the 3rd Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment. This was a training and depot unit, and, by the time Private White signed up, they were based in Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent.

Thomas’ time in Kent was to be brief. While training, he came down with a combination of influenza and pneumonia, conditions to which he would succumb. Private White passed away on 11th November 1918, the day that Armistice was signed: he was 29 years of age.

The body of Thomas White was taken back to Northamptonshire for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful surroundings of St George’s Churchyard in Wootton.

Nellie went on to make a life for herself and her daughter. The 1921 census found them living at 28 Alton Street, Far Cotton, Hardingstone, Nellie working as an office cleaner for the Midland Railway.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, illness, injury, Kings Royal Rifle Corps, Norfolk, Northamptonshire Regiment, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Corporal Norman Allard

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Corporal Norman Allard

Norman Stanley Allard was born on 3rd December 1892 in the village of Corsley, Wiltshire, halfway between Frome and Warminster. The younger of two children, his parents were Benjamin and Mercy Allard. Benjamin was a farmer who passed away when his son was only 14 years old. Mercy, who was born in Frome, moved the family back to her home town and Norman found work as a clerk at a printing firm in the area.

War came to Europe and, in December 1915, Norman was called up. There is little specific information about his military service, although his records show that he was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall and had varicocele – enlarged veins in his scrotum – listed as Distinctive Marks.

Initially assigned to the King’s Royal Rifles, Private Allard spent the first year of his service on home soil. He was eventually dispatched to France in March 1917, serving there for a year. On 22nd March 1918, he was wounded in a gas attack, and medically evacuated back to England.

He was called back into service, and assigned to the 9th Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment. He remained on home soil, working as part of the Labour Corps in Cley-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. Sadly, however, it seems that his injuries were to prove too much, and the now Corporal Allard was discharged from military service after just three months.

At this point, Norman’s trail goes cold. He returned home, and passed away there on 13th March 1919. He was just 26 years of age.

Norman Stanley Allard was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church. This became a family grave, and his mother and sister were also buried there when they passed in 1924 and 1940.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, Northamptonshire Regiment, photography, Private, story, unknown, war

Private Charles Debney

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Private Charles Debney

Charles William Debney was born in the spring of 1887, one of eight children to George Debney and his wife Susannah. George was a cooper for a cement works, who had brought his family from Norfolk to Kent in the mid-1890s, presumably for employment.

When Charles left school, he found work as a bricklayer; war was on the horizon, though, and when the call came, he signed up quickly.

While full details of Charles’ service are not available, it is evident that he had joined the Northamptonshire Regiment by November 1914. He was assigned to the 5th Service Battalion as a Private. Formed in Northampton, the battalion moved to Kent in the early months of the war, before moving to the Western Front at the end of May 1915.

Sadly, there is limited additional information available on Private Debney. He passed away on 29th May 1915, but there is no confirmation of the cause of his death. He was just 28 years of age.

Charles William Debney was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery, in his home town of Gillingham, Kent.