Cheshire Regiment - Roll of Honour of Officers of the Cheshire Regiment Who Died in the Great War Whilst Serving With 1/7th Battalion Cheshire Regiment TF

No	Date Died	Surname	Forenames	Rank	Decs	Age	Cause	Country	Location/Sector	Cemetery/Memorial	Notes
Died in 1915
1	10th August	CAMERON	Colin Neil	Capt	-	28	KIA	Gallipoli	Scimitar Hill	Helles Memorial (Panel 76/78)	-
2	10th August	COOKE	Charles Taylor	Capt	-	33	KIA	Gallipoli	Scimitar Hill	Helles Memorial (Panel 76/778)	-
3	10th August	HEATH	Geoffrey	Capt	-	31	KIA	Gallipoli	Scimitar Hill	Helles Memorial (Panel 76/78)	-
4	10th August	TURNER	William Tom	Capt	-	27	KIA	Gallipoli	Scimitar Hill	Helles Memorial (Panel 76/78)	-
5	10th August	WORTH	Thomas	2Lt	-	21	KIA	Gallipoli	Scimitar Hill	Helles Memorial (Panel 76/78)	-
6	15th August	BECK	Charles Broughton Harrop	2Lt	-	24	DOW	Greece	Hospital at Lemnos	East Mudros Military Cemetery (II.E.84)	(1)
7	19th September	McKAY	Ernest	Lt	-	21	KIA	Gallipoli	Northeast of Suvla Bay	Azmak Cemetery, Suvla (II.G.23)	-
8	7th December	SEEL	Horace Arthur	2Lt	-	19	KIA	Gallipoli	Suvla Bay	Helles Memorial (Panel 76/78)
9	30th December	BACKHOUSE	Henry	Lt Col	TD	42	SEA	Mediterranean	Off Crete	Chatby Memorial (Panel 4B), Egypt	(2)
Died 1917
10	26th March	CLAYTON	John Arnold	2Lt	MiD	25	KIA	Palestine	Gaza	Jerusalem Memorial (Panel 19)	-
11	26th March	FOSTER	Norman Roe	Lt	-	26	KIA	Palestine	Gaza	Gaza War Cemetery (XI.C.12)	-
12	26th March	GREGG	George Philip	2Lt	-	21	KIA	Palestine	Gaza	Jerusalem Memorial (Panel 19)	-
13	26th March	LAYBOURNE	John Oscar	2Lt	-	25	KIA	Palestine	Gaza	Gaza War Cemetery (XVIII.A.2))	-
14	26th March	SCOTT	Arthur Blake	2Lt	-	36	KIA	Palestine	Gaza	Gaza War Cemetery (XI.C.11)	-
15	29th March	CLAYE	Geoffrey Woolley	Lt	-	23	DOW	Egypt	Hospital at Kantara	Kantara War Memorial Cemetery (F.30)	(3)
16	27th April	WILSON	John Victor	2Lt	-	19	KIA	Palestine	Gaza	Gaza War Cemetery (XIII.A.4)	-
17	19th October	GOODWIN	George	2Lt	-	29	DOI	Egypt	Hospital at Alexandria	Alexandra (Hadra) War Memorial Cemetery (B.27)	(4)
18	6th November	MOSS	Charles	Capt	MC	32	KIA	Palestine	Near Gaza	Beersheba War Cemetery (E.2)	-
19	25th November	DODD	Stanley Preston	2Lt	-	30	DOW	Egypt	Hospital at Kantara	Kantara War Memorial Cemetery (F.3339)	(5)
20	15th December	GOUGH	George Henry Waldron	Lt	MiD	23	KIA	Palestine	Jerusalem	Jerusalem War Cemetery (R.48)	-
Died in 1918
21	29th July	FOSTER	Charles Clifford	Lt	-	32	KIA	France	Oulchy le Chateau, near Soissons	Raperie British Cemetery (VI.D.1)	(6)
22	30th July	SPROSTON	Frederick Alvin	2Lt	-	22	DOW	France	CCS at Oulchy le Chateau	Oulchy le Chateau Churchyard Extn (I.F.5)	(7)
23	31st July	FULTON	Thomas	Capt	-	39	DOW	France	No.2 Red Cross Hospital, Rouen	St Sever Cemetery (Offr.B.8.20)	(8)
24	6th October	CARSWELL	Henry Bradshaw	Capt	-	32	KIA	Belgium	Near Klijfmolen, southeast of Gheluvelt	Perth Cemetery (China Wall) (III.D.12)	(9)
25	7th October	GARDINER	Ellis Hubert	Lt	-	31	DOW	Belgium	CCS at Poperinghe	Poperinghe Military Cemetery (XXX.C.7)	(10)
26	14th October	LEIGH	Herbert	Capt	-	34	KI\|A	Belgium	South of Gheluvelt	Hooge Crater Cemetery (XIX.C.11)	(11)
27	14th October	WINNINGTON	Charles	2Lt	-	31	KIA	Belgium	South of Gheluvelt	Tyne Cot Memorial (Panel 61/63)	-
28	23rd October	DODD	Herbert	2Lt	-	26	KIA	Belgium	Near Moen, northeast of St Genois	Heestert Military Cemetery (O.4)	(12)
Died in 1919
29	1st April	TOWNLEY	John	Lt	-	37	DOI	UK	Worsley Hall BRCS Hospital, Manchester	Manchester Southern Cemetery (D.CE.2391)	(13)
Notes: 1. BECK was wounded at Scimitar Hill on 10th August 1915. 2. BACKHOUSE was lost when the SS Persia was torpedoed by German submarine U-38, 40 miles off Crete. Of the 519 people aboard, 343 were lost. 3. CLAYE was wounded near Gaza on 26th March 1917. 4. GOODWIN was wounded at ? on ? 5. DODD was wounded neat Tikrit on ? 6. FOSTER was originally buried in a battlefield grave in Oulchy le Chateau and reburied in Raperie British Cemetery in March 1920. 7. SPROSTON was wounded near Montlognon on 19th July 1918. He was originally buried in the Oulchy le Chateau Communal Military Extn and reburied in Oulchy le Chateau Churchyard Extn in September 1920. 8. FULTON was wounded near Oulchy le Chateau, near Soissons on 29th July 1918. 9. CARSWELL was originally buried in a battlefield grave to the north of Klijfmolen and reburied in Perth Cemetery (China Wall) in August 1919. 10. GARDINER was wounded near Gheluvelt on 5th October 1918. 11. LEIGH was originally buried in a battlefield grave to the southwest of Gheluvelt and reburied in Hooge Crater Cemetery after the Armistice. 12. DODD was originally buried in Moen Churchyard and reburied in Heestert Military Cemetery in November 1921. 13. TOWNLEY died of illness contracted whilst serving in Egypt. He was previously attached to 1/4th Battalion Norfolk Regiment.

Those Officers of Other Regiments Who Died in the Great War Whilst Serving With

1/7th Battalion Cheshire Regiment TF

No	Date Died	Surname	Forenames	Rank	Decs	Age	Cause	Country	Location/Sector	Cemetery/Memorial	Notes
1	4th September 1918	BRANDON	Brian Lloyd	2Lt	-	25	KIA	Belgium	Near Kemmel	Pond Farm Cemetery (P.3)	(3)
2	25th October 1918	DAVIES	James Parton	2Lt	-	34	KIA	Belgium	Bossuyt, southeast of Courtrai	Tournai Communal Cemetery Allied Extn (V.J.5)	()
Notes: 1. BRANDON was detached from The King's (Shropshire Light Infantry). 2. DAVIES was detached from the King's Shropshire Light Infantry. He was originally buried in a battlefield grave near Bossuyt (now Bossuit) and reburied in Tournai Communal Cemetery in April 1920. The Battalion War Diary for 25th October 1918 believes he, with others, were taken POW by the Germans.

Battalion History

The 7th Battalion TF (formerly the 5th Battalion Rifle Volunteer Corps) was formed on 1st April 1908 as a result of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907, and was based at The Drill Hall, Macclesfield, part of the Cheshire Brigade, Welsh Division TF. The Cheshire Regiment units of the Cheshire Brigade (which became 159th Brigade in May 1915) were: 4th Battalion TF, 5th Battalion TF (departed for the BEF for 14th Brigade, 5th Division in February 1915), 6th Battalion TF (departed for the BEF for 15th Brigade, 5th Division) and 7th Battalion TF (departed as 1/7th Battalion in June 1918 for 160th Brigade).

On 3rd August 1914 the Infantry Brigades of the Welsh Division TF were at their annual camps when all training was cancelled and the Battalions were ordered back to their HQs; war was declared next day. On 5th August they mobilised, and began to concentrate at their war stations at Shrewsbury and Church Stretton. Soon after arrival, all personnel of the Territorial Force (TF) were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service and on 15th August the War Office issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into Reserve (2nd Line) units. On 31st August, the formation of a Reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line TF units where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way duplicate Battalions, Brigades and Divisions were created, mirroring those 1st Line TF formations being sent overseas. (Later in the war, 3rd Line units were formed to train and supply drafts for the 1st and 2nd Line Battalions).

1/7th Battalion TF

The Welsh Division moved from Shrewsbury to Northampton at the end of August 1914, where on 18th November it was warned for service in British India, but this was subsequently cancelled. Intensive individual and collective training was interrupted by periods spent digging trenches for the East Coast Defences. In December the Division moved to Cambridge, then to Bedford in May 1915, where it was redesignated as the 53rd (Welsh) Division, and the Cheshire Brigade became the 159th (Cheshire) Brigade. On 2nd July 1915 the Division was ordered to refit and re-role for service in the Mediterranean. The Battalion sailed from Devonport on 16th July and arrived at Alexandria on 28th July. The Battalion remained at Alexandria between 25th and 30th July before going on to Lemnos between 29th July and 7th August. On the night of 8/9th August the Division was landed at Suvla Bay on the Gallipoli peninsula, where an assault landing had been made two days before.

On 10th August the 159th Brigade was ordered to capture Scimitar Hill. The advance by 1/4th Cheshires, 1/5th Welsh and 1/7th Cheshires began from trenches north of Sulajik at 06.00 on the morning of 10th August with no cohesion. The leading troops were thrown back in disorder, despite acts of individual gallantry'. Troops of 158th (North Wales) Brigade, coming up in support but equally ignorant of the terrain or the situation, met parties of 159th Brigade coming back in full retreat, and the whole advance came to nothing.

After the failure of the Suvla Bay operations, the troops dug in and endured months of trench warfare and sickness. Due to casualties, the 1/4th and 1/5th Welsh had to be amalgamated as the 4th Welsh Composite Battalion. The number of sick grew worse after a three-day blizzard began on 27th November, and 53rd (W) Division was greatly reduced in fighting strength. The159th Brigade was attached to 2nd Mounted Division from 29 November to 9 December while preparations were made for evacuation. On 11th and 12th December the survivors of 53rd (W) Division were taken off the beach to Mudros, where they transshipped to transports to take them back to Alexandria.

53rd (Welsh) Division began arriving at Alexandria on 20th December and entrained for Wardan, where the last unit arrived on 23rd December. Once in Egypt the Division was slowly rebuilt from drafts and returned casualties. The 1/4th and 1/5th Welsh resumed their separate identities on 20th February 1916. The Division then took its place in the Suez Canal defences.

In late 1916 the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) initiated the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, during which 159th Brigade participated in the following:

First Battle of Gaza 26–27 March 1917
Second Battle of Gaza 17–19 April 1917
Capture of Tel el Khuweilfe 7 November 1917
Capture of Jerusalem 7–9 December 1917
Defence of Jerusalem 27–30 December 1917
Battle of Tell 'Asur 9–12 March 1918

The German spring offensive on the Western Front led to urgent calls for reinforcements for the BEF, and the EEF was forced to relinquish many of its veteran British Battalions. 53rd (Welsh) Division was among those changed to an Indian Army establishment of one British and three Indian Battalions to each brigade. 159th Brigade lost its two remaining Cheshire Battalions (1/4th and 1/7th) who were redeployed to France on 31st May 1918.

On 1st July 1918 the 1/7th Battalion was placed under command of 102nd Brigade, 34th Division after the Division was reconstituted after suffering heavy casualties during the Battle of the Lys and Battle of the Marne 1918. The Battalion remained with 34th Division until the end of the war.

On 1st November 1918 the Division was relieved and was in the area east of Courtrai at the Armistice. It was selected to join the Army of Occupation and began its move across Belgium and into Germany on 14th November. Between 12th-19th December it was billeted near Namur. On 22nd December a large number of miners and others with industrial skills left to be demobilised. By 29th January 1919 the Division had occupied the Cologne bridgehead. The infantry of the Division was once again reconstituted in March 1919 and on 15 March the whole formation was renamed the Eastern Division.

Regimental History

YEAR	BE	EG	FR	GA	GR	PA	SEA	UK	TOTAL
1915				7	1		1		9
1917		3				8			11
1918	5		3						8
1919								1	1
TOTAL	5	3	3	7	1	8	1	1	29