LEST WE FORGET
Here are the details of the names of the young men from the parish who made the ultimate sacrifice during the two World Wars and read out by the Explorer Scouts at the Remembrance Service. The information was researched during the Remember Them Project undertaken by the local Scout Group in 2007 to add more meaning to the list of names read out during the Service.
William Ames was born in Bere Regis and lived at Skippets. He served in the 5th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment and was killed in the attack on Mouquet
Farm during the Battle of the Somme on 14 October 1916 He was 21 years old.
Alfred Applin was born in Bere Regis and lived at Rye Hill. He served in the 5th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment. He died on the 8th May 1920 as a result of
wounds sustained during the war. He was 34 years old.
Frederick Bartlett was a Lance Corporal in the Gordon Highlanders. His family lived at Barrow Hill. He died on the 18 July 1916 at the age of 26 and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the 72,000 men who were killed during Battle of the Somme and whose have no known grave.
Frederick Bartlett was born in Athelhampton and lived at Southbrook. He served in the King’s Liverpool Regiment and died in the UK on the 16 July 1918, possibly from disease contracted while serving.
George Bowditch was born in Briantspuddle and lived in the Old School House, Shitterton. He served in the Coldstrem Guards and was killed in Normandy in June 1944 at the age of 19. He is buried in the same cemetery as Frederick Lovell who was killed 12 days later.
Fred Brierley was born in Bere Regis and lived at The Kennels, Bere Down. He served in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry and was killed in action on the 26 November 1917 during the Battle of Cambrai. He is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial to the 7,000 men who have no known grave. He was 20 years old.
Charles Bright was born in Bere Regis and lived at Shitterton. He served in the 5th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment. He was killed in action in Gallipoli on the 21 August 1915 on the same day as four other men from Bere Regis. He was 22 years old.
Henry Bright, half-brother of Charles Bright, was a farm labourer from Shitterton. He served in the Royal Fusiliers and was killed on the 13 October 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. He was 37 years old.
Harry Brown was born in Bere Regis and lived at Roke Farm Cottages. He served in the 5th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment and died from wounds sustained during the battle of the Somme. He died in one of the base hospitals at Etaples, France. He was 21 years old.
Frederick Burgess, Army Service Corps, died from wounds sustained during the Battle of Loos, on 18 November 1915 at the age of 33. He left a widow and four young daughters at 48 West Street, Bere Regis.
William Burt was born in Bere Regis and lived in Shitterton. He served with the Hampshire Regiment and was killed in action on the 26 October 1918, ten days before the end of the war. He was 21 when he died and was an only son.
Charles Churchill was born in Milborne St Andrew. He enlisted, under age, at 15½ into the 5th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment. He was 17 when he was sent to Gallipoli and just 18 when he was killed on the 21 August 1915.
Percy Cobb was born in Bere Regis and lived at Court Green Farm. He was a Corporal in the Royal Field Artillery and was killed on the 14 April 1917. He was 19 years old.
Percy Cox served with the 1st Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment and died on 11th August 1918 during the Battle of Amiens, at the age of 22.
His brother, William Cox, was a ship’s cook on HMS Good Hope and died on1st November 1914, aged 28, when his ship was sunk with the loss of all 1000 sailors during the Battle of Coronel, the first naval engagement of the Great War.
Arthur Crabbe served with the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry and was killed in action on the 2 April 1918 at the age of 36. His parents lived at Roke Farm.
Fred Davis was born in Bere Regis and lived with his widowed mother and 8 siblings in West Street, opposite the Royal Oak. He emigrated to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian Army. He was killed on the 13 June 1916 during the Battle for Mount Sorrell. He was 26 years old. He was a cousin of Frank Miller.
Frank George was born in Bere Regis and was a son of the landlord of the Royal Oak. He was a cousin of Thomas Hardy. He was a Second Lieutenant in the 5th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment and was killed in Gallipoli, at the age of34, on the 22 August 1915, in the same action as 3 other men from Bere Regis.
Frederick Johnson was born in Bere Regis and lived in West Street. He emigrated to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian Forces. He was killed on 6 June 1916 at the age of 27 together with 200 other soldiers when a mine was exploded beneath their trench at Hooge, near Ypres. He is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial to 55,000 men who were killed in the Ypres Salient and who have no known grave.
Percy Lockyer was born in Bere Regis and lived at Lane End, Middle Heath as a thatcher’s assistant, He was killed on 14 April 1917 at the age of 34 while serving with the 1st Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
His brother, William Lockyer, was killed a year later on 15 May 1918 at the age of 37, near Arras in France while also serving with the Dorsets.
Federick Lovell’s parents lived in Bere Regis. Frederick served in the Royal Artillery and was killed on the 11 July 1944 in Normandy during the breakout from the DDay beaches. He is buried in the same cemetery as George Bowditch. He was 19 years old when he was killed.
Frank Miller was born in Bere Regis and lived at Townsend Farm. He was a cousin of Fred Davis who lived nearby in North Street. He served in the 5th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment. He died of wounds on 19 August 1917 at the age of 35 during the Battle of Passchendaele and is commemorated on the Tyne CotMemorial to the 35,000men killed in the Ypres Salient who have no known grave.
Herbert Morris was born in Cerne Abbas and in 1901 was living in Briantspuddle as a ploughboy. He emigrated to Canada and was killed on 13 October 1915 while serving with the Canadian forces south of Ypres. He was 30 years old.
Walter Rawles was born in Bere Regis and lived at the Warren. He served in the 5th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment and was one of the four men from Bere Regis killed in the same action in Gallipoli in August 1916. He was 21 years old at the time of his death.
William Rowland was born in Spetisbury and lived in West Street, Bere Regis. He was killed in action during the first poison gas attack on Allied Forces on 26 April 1915 while serving with the Royal Fusiliers near Ypres. He was 20 years old.
Henry Stickley was born in Bere Regis and lived at Woodbury Hill. He served with the Coldstream Guards and was killed in action on 9 October 1918, aged 26, a month before the end of the war.
His cousin, Harry Stickley, was born in Bere Regis and lived at Doddings where he was a dairy boy at the age of 15. He was killed in action while serving with the Welsh Guards. He was 31 years old.
Herbert Trevett, believed to be his step-brother, Herbert Diffey, served with the Canadian Forces. He was killed on 6 June 1916, the same day as FrederickJohnson, at Hooge near Ypres. He was 29 years old.
Arthur William White was born in Bere Regis and served with the 5th Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment. He was killed on 17 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme.
Harold Whiteside was one of two sons of the Headmaster of Rye Hill School. He served in the Royal Air Force Reserve and was killed on the 5 March 1943.
His brother, Leslie Whiteside, also served in the Royal Air Force Reserve and was killed flying over Germany on 22 April 1945, just before the end of the war.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
