The <strong>Lichfield</strong> Fallen of WWII By Jono Oates WW2 plaque on M<strong>in</strong>ster Pool Walk At 11am on Friday 11th <strong>November</strong> the nation will once aga<strong>in</strong> fall silent to remember those that gave their lives for their country dur<strong>in</strong>g the years of conflict and war. A service will also be held <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Lichfield</strong> Garden of Remembrance by M<strong>in</strong>ster Pool on Remembrance Sunday to commemorate the <strong>Lichfield</strong> fallen from World War I and II, whose names appear on the War Memorial. The memorial was orig<strong>in</strong>ally unveiled <strong>in</strong> October 1920, with the names of the soldiers who fell dur<strong>in</strong>g the 1914-1918 conflict listed on three panels. Follow<strong>in</strong>g the 1939-1945 war the names of <strong>Lichfield</strong> men killed <strong>in</strong> action, or on active service, were <strong>in</strong>scribed on to the panels underneath the names from World War I. The names of 83 <strong>Lichfield</strong> men killed, or miss<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> action, are listed on the World War II panels, many of them from well-known Lichfeldian families. These are some of their stories. WW2 panel on the War Memorial Thomas Henry Hatchett (known as Harry) of the Royal Artillery, Durham Light Infantry, was killed <strong>in</strong> action on 16th December 1944, <strong>in</strong> Belgium, aged 31. Before the war he had a job as a carpenter, work<strong>in</strong>g for noted <strong>Lichfield</strong> builder’s Joseph R Deacon and Sons, and was said to be a jovial character with a large circle of friends. The only son of Mr and Mrs E. Hackett of Chesterfield Terrace, he was a member of the Conservative Club and an active member of the <strong>Lichfield</strong> Cricket Club. ‘Harry’ is buried at the Schoonselhof Cemetery <strong>in</strong> Belgium. Lieutenant Fredrick William Taylor, also of the Royal Artillery, lost his life on 24th April 1944, fight<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the area around Monte Cass<strong>in</strong>o, southern Italy. Freddie, as he was known, was the elder son of Capta<strong>in</strong> George Frederick and wife Edith, Taylor who were the headmaster and matron of the Beacon Residential School on Beacon Street. He had been a pupil at K<strong>in</strong>g Edward VI School on St John Street where he had excelled at rugby and cricket. Before the war he had worked at the Chamberl<strong>in</strong> and Hill foundry (see the history feature on the Foundries of <strong>Lichfield</strong>, also <strong>in</strong> this edition) on Beacon Street and he was dest<strong>in</strong>ed for a brilliant career until the war <strong>in</strong>tervened. Freddie had seen service <strong>in</strong> Tunisia and Sicily before tak<strong>in</strong>g part <strong>in</strong> the attack on Monte Cass<strong>in</strong>o, where he lost his life, and he is buried <strong>in</strong> the Cass<strong>in</strong>o War Cemetery. War Memorial at the Garden of Remembrance On 21st May 1940 Ernest Cook of the North Staffordshire Regiment was killed <strong>in</strong> action <strong>in</strong> Flanders, Belgium. Cook was, appropriately, a cook with the regiment and met his death when he was called up to the l<strong>in</strong>e of battle. Ernest lived on the Curborough Road and, aged just 25, he left a widow and two young children. Three men who lost their lives <strong>in</strong> August 1944 were reported <strong>in</strong> the same edition of the <strong>Lichfield</strong> Mercury. Charles Henry Shipley, another member of the Royal Artillery, died on 2nd August 1944 <strong>in</strong> Normandy aged just 20 and is buried at the Ranville Cemetery, near Caen, Normandy. Stoker Ernest William Swann, of the Royal Navy, was killed at sea serv<strong>in</strong>g with the Royal Naval Patrol Service on August 3rd 1944, aged 27. His parents lived at Dean’s Croft and before the war Ernest had worked at the Regal C<strong>in</strong>ema on Tamworth Street and he is buried at the Lowestoft Naval Memorial, Kent. Private Percy Clews, of the South Staffordshire Regiment, died a week after Ernest on 10th August 1944, fight<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> France. Aged 33 he left a widow, Meg, and a two-year-old son. Percy is buried at the Bayeux War Cemetery, Normandy, the largest cemetery of Commonwealth soldiers who died dur<strong>in</strong>g World War II. The <strong>Lichfield</strong> Mercury started a Cigarette Fund <strong>in</strong> May 1940, with readers contribut<strong>in</strong>g monies, with which the Mercury purchased large quantities of cigarettes and then despatched 40 them to soldiers who were on active duty abroad. One of the recipients <strong>in</strong> May 1940 was Lance Sergeant Charles Creffield, of the Royal Artillery 30 Field Regiment, serv<strong>in</strong>g with the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk, France. Charles died sometime between 1st and 2nd June 1940. His body was never recovered and his wife, Mercedes, only received official notification that he was ‘miss<strong>in</strong>g presumed dead’ <strong>in</strong> May 1942. His name is <strong>in</strong>scribed on the Dunkirk Memorial. Charles was just 23 years-old and he left a widow and a young son, whom he had never seen. Charles never received his quota of cigarettes. To these, and to all of the men listed on the War Memorial, May They Forever Rest <strong>in</strong> Peace. Sources: The British Newspaper Archive; Ancestry.co.uk; The Commonwealth War Grave Commission website.
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