Wye - Kent Fallen

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AGNEW J.P Lieutenant Joseph Paul AGNEW MC. 42 nd Training Squadron, Royal Flying Corps (RFC). Formerly 79 th Company, Machine Gun Corps (MGC). Died Flying Accident Boughton Corner Farm, Wye, Ashford, Kent. (Sopwith Camel) 14 th August 1918 aged 22 years. Born Cowper, Northumberland. Son of Thomas and Jane Ann Agnew of The Post Office, Cowpen Village, Blyth, Northumberland. Buried in the Ashford Cemetery. Grave reference RC.1725. Joseph was buried in Ashford which is close to the site of his flying accident. Joseph’s name appears on the Blythe Civic War Memorial, Cowpen, Blythe, Northumberland. Upon the outbreak of war in August 1914, Joseph was one of the very first men to volunteer for overseas active service. He responded immediately to Earl Kitcheners call for men enlisting into the army as a Private soldier. Joseph worked up through the ranks and by 1916 he was a Second Lieutenant in the Machine Gun Corps. In June 1917 he was awarded the Military Cross for his previous service in Egypt in 1916 for bravery in the face of the enemy – At night he was in charge of 2 guns and whilst moving up with the infantry to an assembly position his sub-section came under heavy shell fire. Several of his men were killed outright and others were badly wounded. He ordered his men to scatter and take cover. Joseph was wounded by a shell and badly concussed. Despite this he took charge of the situation and carried on directing his men. Joseph and an NCO went forward under heavy shell-fire and joined a small party of infantry, where he remained until daybreak ordering his own men and
taking charge of the infantry men too. By this time he and his men had captured 8 enemy soldiers. Joseph was awarded the Military Cross personally by Field Marshall the Duke of Connaught (the King’s brother) for encouraging his men by way of example to hold on in the face of a furious enemy counter-attack. In June 1918 Joseph’s parents received an erroneous notification from the War Office advising them that their son Joseph had been wounded and then subsequently killed by gassing in Egypt. Two days later they received a telegraph from Joseph telling them he was wounded but still alive! After being awarded the MC, Joseph transferred into the Royal Flying Corps with the commissioned rank of Lieutenant. In June 1917 Joseph returned to the UK on leave and shortly after was sent to 42 nd Training Squadron, Royal Flying Corps at Wye to learn to fly. During this training Joseph was involved in a tragic flying accident. His commanding officer Major Lucey reported the circumstances of his death – Lieutenant Agnew was ordered to attack and fire at a ground target which necessitated low flight. He approached the target in his Sopwith Camel and fired three bursts into it. After hitting his target Lt Agnew performed a series of rolls. On the third roll, his machine got into a spin and nose dived to the ground! The manoeuvre he was making was not necessarily disobeying orders, because it was an accepted practice at that time to celebrate victories by “barrel rolling”. Corporal James Talbot left the airfield at Wye with a rescue team and headed for Boughton Corner Farm where Joseph’s machine had appeared to come down in a cornfield. Upon arriving on the scene Corporal Talbot was met with a picture of sheer carnage! Lieutenant J.P Agnew was found in the wreckage of the machine very severely injured. Lieutenant Agnew was extricated from the wreckage of the Sopwith machine and taken with all haste to Ashford Hospital. Upon arriving at the hospital in Ashford Lieutenant Agnew’s condition worsened and he died of his injuries. The Kent County Coroner held an inquest into the circumstances of the fatal accident on 16 August 1918. Its verdict was “Death by Miss-adventure”. He died of a fracture of the back of the skull and other serious internal injuries consistent with a violent impact. Joseph was given the honour of a full military funeral. The Reverend F.T McSweeney conducted the ceremony in Ashford’s Canterbury Road Municipal Cemetery. The military representatives were commanded by Captain Larduci with Lieutenants Alexander, Mackintosh, Butler, Brandt and Cadet Gray also in attendance. Private Spearing sounded the “Last Post” on a bugle and a firing party under Sergeant Kingston fired the volley. Captain Larduci laid a wreath from all members of 42 Training Squadron, RAF from Wye. Joseph’s body was interred in the Roman Catholic Section at Ashford’s Municipal Cemetery, Canterbury Road, Ashford. The reason why he was buried in Ashford and not alongside his other fallen colleagues at Wye Churchyard is the fact he was a Roman Catholic. The 42 nd Training Squadron, RFC was a reserve training squadron based at the Wye Aerodrome, Bramble Lane, Wye, Kent. No trace of the airfield today other than a few bits of concrete in a ploughed field. Joseph’s father Thomas Agnew was killed in another tragic accident on 14 August 1937.
Page 1 and 2: RFC Wye Not much is really known ab
Page 3: On 18 th May 1917 No 66 Reserve Squ
Page 7 and 8: DAVIDSON A.B Second Lieutenant Alex
Page 9: HILLEBRANDT F.E Second Lieutenant F
Page 12 and 13: McCARTNEY-FILGATE D.M Second Lieute
Page 14 and 15: Dorchester War Memorial
Page 16 and 17: ROBINSON G Captain George ROBINSON
Page 18 and 19: TOMBS C.E Airman 1 st Class 4951 Ce
Page 20 and 21: VINE H.C.L (Chum Vine) Flight Serge
Page 22 and 23: WYE 1 mile from Wye railway station

Wye - Kent Fallen

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