St. Paul's Church Memorial

Members of the Group had the opportunity on Tuesday to visit the crypt beneath St. John’s Parish church.

The purpose of our visit was to see and asses the condition of a memorial plaque that was placed there on an unknown date. A Goole Times article from August 1998 showing the then Warden, Peter Dunleavy, pictured with it after he found it while preparing for the Church’s 150 year anniversary, with the accompanying article stating that there was only one name recorded – John F. Thorpe “who was killed in the Great War”.

John Fillingham Thorpe was born on 6th July 1894. Just over twenty years later on 29th August 1914, while employed as a labourer, he presented himself at an enlistment office and ‘joined up’. Initially assigned to the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (No. 18463), he was reassigned to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on 8th September (No. KW/129). After several months of training at Blanford Camp, Dorset, he was posted to Nelson Battalion, Royal Naval Division, then being prepared for transportation to Egypt as part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, to be ultimately engaged in the landings at Gallipoli, where Nelson Battalion landed at Anzac Cove on 29th April, in company with Deal Battalion, Royal Marine Light Infantry.

John reported ‘sick’ on 5th October 1915, being diagnosed with gastritis; it was to be the 2nd of the following month before he was able to return to his unit. The Gallipoli campaign came to an end in December with all units being withdrawn by the 20th. After refitting and bringing units back up to ‘strength’ in Egypt the Division was then transported to France, arriving in Marseilles between 12th – 23rd May 1916. Two days shy of his twenty-second birthday John was killed in action. He is buried in Tranchée de Mecknes Cemetery, Aix-Noulette.

 

The exterior of the memorial plaque to John Fillingham Thorpe seemed to be in relatively good condition, in part with thanks to Peter Dunleavy who had carried out some restoration work on it. Unfortunately, the condition of the paper hadn’t faired so well – at some point water had damaged the paper within, the left hand side being easier to read than the right. The text appears to be based on Requiem Æternam.

Prior to our visit, a copy of a postcard of a memorial that was once erected within St. Paul’s Church was passed on to Chris; this shows the memorial placed above several floral arrangements, but the occasion for this is not recorded. This scene was photographed by James George Powles.

This plaque lists the names of 37 men who were associated both with the Church of St. Paul’s and the Sunday School to which many of them attended. Sometime after the picture of the memorial within St. Paul’s was produced an extra name was added to the left column, Herbert Clarke replacing the R.I.P. at the base.

A great deal of information is known about a number of the men named on this plaque – including three Service Records, for John Brunyee (d.28.06.1916), Stanley Brunyee (d.30.03.1917) and Herbert Clarke (d.22.09.1917); along with biographies of Edgar Bowles (d.21.03.1918) and Percy Jeeves (d.22.07.1916).

At some point members of the Group confused the two plaques mentioned above and came up with ‘one’, as such it was a great surprise to see both memorials and the good condition they are currently in.

A Name on a List

2nd Lieutenant Henry Guy Thorp

The memorials erected in Goole are lists commemorated to those who were killed during the First World War. The method of gathering these lists involved extensive work by the Members of the Church or Organisation responsible for erecting the memorial. Typically the research involved a door to door survey of the town and a compilation of a central list. Lists of those in service or those who has been killed were also compiled in the local papers throughout the war. Therefore one would expect that the memorials erected within the town are representative of all those who were killed on active service. However a study of the local newspapers show that several Goole people who were killed during the war were not included on the Goole memorials.

An example of those not included on local memorials is Henry Guy Hanning Thorp, a Goole born 2nd Lieutenant of the 3rd Battalion of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. Henry Guy was born in Goole in 1895 and lived in the town before attending Public School. His father, Henry Bell, was the Director of the Local Board, and prominent local architect. By 1911 Henry Bell had moved to Doncaster but was still working as a Valuer in Goole and designed the Fever Hospital on Westfield Lane in 1912. In the months leading up to the First World War Henry Guy was touring Canada but returned to Britain upon the declaration of War. Gazetted as a 2nd Lieutenant Henry Guy joined the 3rd Battalion of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and served in France from March 1915. Lieutenant Thorp’s service was short as he was announced dead on the 13th March 1915, age 19. The local newspaper reported the death and described Lieutenant Thorp as a well-known figure around Goole.

The reasons for people not been included on the War Memorials vary. This may range to clerical error or families not wanting to register the loss of a family member. Other practical aspects include whether any next of kin survived in the town to register the deceased for the memorial. Recently revision of historical practice has also allowed those killed for cowardice clemency and the right to be included on War Memorials.

Lieutenant Thorp was included in several weekly/monthly Rolls of Honour Published in the Goole Times during 1916 and listed within the Roll of Honour published by the Goole Times for the period from the start of the War until June 1917. Despite been known as a Goole Man and listed in the Rolls of Honour Lieutenant Thorp is not included on Goole’s First World War memorials. During 1915 Lieutenant Thorp’s father is noted as living in Doncaster but after this period little information is known about the Thorp family. Therefore it is likely that nobody was available to register Henry Guy Thorp for his name to be placed on one of Goole’s Memorials.

D Coy. 5th Bn King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

They say that every picture tells a story, and to a degree the one below is no different.

Goole had prior to the 'Great War' a 'company' of Territorial soldiers which formed part of D Company, 1/5th Battalion King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. This battalion landed in France, at Boulogne, on 12th April, 1915, along with 1/4th Bn K.O.Y.L.I. On 2nd February, 1918, the 1/5th and 2/5th were absolved in to one unit which became 5th Battalion K.O.Y.L.I.

Taken in early 1919 it shows the Goole 'Territorials' of D Company 5th Bn King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry marching behind members of the Queens Own Yorkshire Dragoons, during a parade to mark their return from France. The evidence for this can be seen from the 'bunting' that adorns the buildings of Boothferry Road - No.13 'Anglesey House', formerly the home of Dr. Blair (now NatWest Bank); No.15, the premises of Fred N. Huggins, Ironmonger, on the corner with Paradise Place (later Woodcock Travel); No.17, Arthur Rockett, Hosiery, and No.19 the offices of 'The Goole Times' newspaper. The building with the double chimney was the shop run by Harry Bloom.

Further evidence of when the picture was taken can be seen by looking at the faces and demeaour of the men themselves. Many of the faces betray the effects of having seen action in the trenches, the ever-lasting mud, and other horrors that formed the enduring hell that was the 'Great War'. Another feature of when the picture was taken is that, aside from one man, nobody else is wearing any medals. The man who is is Colour Quarter-Master Sergeant Sugden, and the medals he wears are the King's and Queen's Medals for service in South Africa, both of which appear to have 'bars' (denoting 'actions' at which he and his unit was present at). The officer leading the detachment of the K.O.Y.L.I. is Lieutenant L. W. Silvester (with the officers belt over his right shoulder and seen between the last two men of the right column wearing shoulder pouches of the Q.O.Y.D.).

The men of Goole who fought as part of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and who lost their lives during the First World War form a signifiacnt number of those named on Goole Cenotaph - 121 men of the 452 named on the plaques; of this number thirty-nine served in either 1/5th, 2/5th or 5th Bn. This number is further increased when examining those who had connections to Goole who also lost their lives, but who are not named upon the Cenotaph - 16 men from a total of 99 who served within the K.O.Y.L.I.