Thorne Mayor's tribute to the fallen of the First World War
Feb 22 2010
When the Mayor of Thorne/Moorends, Cllr. Tony Brookes, laid the wreath at the town's war memorial on Remembrance Sunday 2009 he decided to personally carry the message of remembrance to as many of the graves/memorials of the 113 men who died in the conflict as he could during his term in office. He planned to leave a small wooden remembrance cross with the serviceman's name at each grave/memorial inscribed 'from the people of Thorne'
On the following day he travelled to Belgium visiting the graves/memorials of 29 of the men of Thorne. These included 5 men whose names are listed on the Menin Gate at Ypres and a further 7 recorded at the nearby Tyne Cot Memorial. These memorials alone record the names of over 89,000 soldiers who died in the Ypres area and have no known grave. The visit took in several cemeteries from Lijssenthoek in which two Thorne men were laid to rest amongst almost 10,000 graves to Cabin Hill Cemetery which has only 50 burials including Thorne man, John Darvill.
Tony has just returned from a visit to France where he remembered a further 62 Thorne men who died in the conflict. Of these 9 were listed on the Thiepval Memorial which commemorates over 76,000 men who died in the Somme region and have no known grave. Visits to some of the smaller remote cemeteries were hampered by snow drifts and walking through frozen fields was the only means of access, a reminder of the cruel conditions experienced by the soldiers in their trenches. Tony was able to remember two Thorne brothers John and Horace Pilgrim who emigrated to Canada in the early years of the century for a new life in farming. They were killed while serving with Canadian Regiments and their names are recorded side-by-side on the stunning Canadian Memorial to the missing at Vimy Ridge. He also visited the grave of James Oliver, Thorne's oldest casualty (45 years), who is buried at Sangatte, near Calais.
Tony has also visited graves/memorials of 7 Thorne men in England. Two of them are buried in St. Nicholas Churchyard in Thorne; a further two seamen who died on mine-sweeping operations are commemorated on the Naval Memorial at Chatham, in Kent. He hopes to remember a further 7 men in France and England before his term of office ends in May.
Tony has been researching the backgrounds of the 113 men from Thorne for several years and is now writing a book about them. He has gleaned information from newspaper archives and from censuses, services records and war diaries at the National Archives at Kew. Their employment before military service gives a picture of life in Thorne at the time. Many of the men were employed on keel boats which plied their trade from Thorne to Hull, others on the railways or in farming. Several men were involved in sinking Thorne Colliery, others worked at the long gone Thorne Brewery and Dunston's shipyard. Geoffrey Kenyon, who died on the Somme, was a solicitor in Thorne, along with his brother Harold, who officially 'opened' Thorne War Memorial on Remembrance Day 1921. The solicitor's firm survives today as Kenyon, Son and Craddock.
The newspaper archives and war diaries tell poignant tales about the casualties of war. Jonas Kaye, a Thorne tobacconist, was killed by shrapnel while trying to save a wounded colleague near Poelcapelle. Albert Butler, a shipyard apprentice, was one of 19,000 British soldiers who died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1st July 1916. The war diary shows that he was one of 680 men of his battalion (8th York and Lancaster) who went 'over the top' at 7.30 am that day. When the men re-grouped the next day only 68 could be accounted for. Not all casualties resulted from fighting. John Woodcock, an apprentice tin smith, was killed in a rock fall at a quarry while collecting chalk to reinforce trench parapets. He was one of over 30 Thorne men who served with the King's Own Yorkshire light Infantry. Several men also died from influenza which swept through Europe in late 1918, including Leiutenant William Crampton M.C., Royal Field Artillery. He was one of only three commissioned officers commemorated on the Thorne War Memorial and the only casualty to be awarded the Military Cross.
Despite his research, Tony has not identified all of the names on the memorial as they are difficult to match with census data or Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists. These include a T. Smith, one of 614 servicemen with this initial and surname who died in the conflict! If any relatives can provide Tony with information about any the 113 men on the Thorne memorial he would be grateful if you contacted him via Thorne/Moorends Town Council offices Tel: 01405 812092 or e-mail Thorne-Moorends Council
PHOTOGRAPHS: Tony can provide photographs from France/Belgium. Alternatively he could be photographed by two First World War graves at St. Nicholas Churchyard Extension in Thorne.
When the Mayor of Thorne/Moorends, Cllr. Tony Brookes, laid the wreath at the town's war memorial on Remembrance Sunday 2009 he decided to personally carry the message of remembrance to as many of the graves/memorials of the 113 men who died in the conflict as he could during his term in office. He planned to leave a small wooden remembrance cross with the serviceman's name at each grave/memorial inscribed 'from the people of Thorne'
On the following day he travelled to Belgium visiting the graves/memorials of 29 of the men of Thorne. These included 5 men whose names are listed on the Menin Gate at Ypres and a further 7 recorded at the nearby Tyne Cot Memorial. These memorials alone record the names of over 89,000 soldiers who died in the Ypres area and have no known grave. The visit took in several cemeteries from Lijssenthoek in which two Thorne men were laid to rest amongst almost 10,000 graves to Cabin Hill Cemetery which has only 50 burials including Thorne man, John Darvill.
Tony has just returned from a visit to France where he remembered a further 62 Thorne men who died in the conflict. Of these 9 were listed on the Thiepval Memorial which commemorates over 76,000 men who died in the Somme region and have no known grave. Visits to some of the smaller remote cemeteries were hampered by snow drifts and walking through frozen fields was the only means of access, a reminder of the cruel conditions experienced by the soldiers in their trenches. Tony was able to remember two Thorne brothers John and Horace Pilgrim who emigrated to Canada in the early years of the century for a new life in farming. They were killed while serving with Canadian Regiments and their names are recorded side-by-side on the stunning Canadian Memorial to the missing at Vimy Ridge. He also visited the grave of James Oliver, Thorne's oldest casualty (45 years), who is buried at Sangatte, near Calais.
Tony has also visited graves/memorials of 7 Thorne men in England. Two of them are buried in St. Nicholas Churchyard in Thorne; a further two seamen who died on mine-sweeping operations are commemorated on the Naval Memorial at Chatham, in Kent. He hopes to remember a further 7 men in France and England before his term of office ends in May.
Tony has been researching the backgrounds of the 113 men from Thorne for several years and is now writing a book about them. He has gleaned information from newspaper archives and from censuses, services records and war diaries at the National Archives at Kew. Their employment before military service gives a picture of life in Thorne at the time. Many of the men were employed on keel boats which plied their trade from Thorne to Hull, others on the railways or in farming. Several men were involved in sinking Thorne Colliery, others worked at the long gone Thorne Brewery and Dunston's shipyard. Geoffrey Kenyon, who died on the Somme, was a solicitor in Thorne, along with his brother Harold, who officially 'opened' Thorne War Memorial on Remembrance Day 1921. The solicitor's firm survives today as Kenyon, Son and Craddock.
The newspaper archives and war diaries tell poignant tales about the casualties of war. Jonas Kaye, a Thorne tobacconist, was killed by shrapnel while trying to save a wounded colleague near Poelcapelle. Albert Butler, a shipyard apprentice, was one of 19,000 British soldiers who died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1st July 1916. The war diary shows that he was one of 680 men of his battalion (8th York and Lancaster) who went 'over the top' at 7.30 am that day. When the men re-grouped the next day only 68 could be accounted for. Not all casualties resulted from fighting. John Woodcock, an apprentice tin smith, was killed in a rock fall at a quarry while collecting chalk to reinforce trench parapets. He was one of over 30 Thorne men who served with the King's Own Yorkshire light Infantry. Several men also died from influenza which swept through Europe in late 1918, including Leiutenant William Crampton M.C., Royal Field Artillery. He was one of only three commissioned officers commemorated on the Thorne War Memorial and the only casualty to be awarded the Military Cross.
Despite his research, Tony has not identified all of the names on the memorial as they are difficult to match with census data or Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists. These include a T. Smith, one of 614 servicemen with this initial and surname who died in the conflict! If any relatives can provide Tony with information about any the 113 men on the Thorne memorial he would be grateful if you contacted him via Thorne/Moorends Town Council offices Tel: 01405 812092 or e-mail Thorne-Moorends Council
PHOTOGRAPHS: Tony can provide photographs from France/Belgium. Alternatively he could be photographed by two First World War graves at St. Nicholas Churchyard Extension in Thorne.
