His body was never found
THROUGHOUT the centenary of the First World War, we have been remembering the soldiers from the Loughborough area who lost their lives while serving their country. Here, with the help of Marigold Cleeve and a small number of researchers from the Loughborough Carillon Tower and War Memorial Museum, we look back at more of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in August 1917.
Eric Arthur North was born in Loughborough on Christmas Day 1897 and baptised on 10th April 1898 at Holy Trinity Church, Loughborough.
He was the only son of Arthur North, a baker, and his wife Harriet Ann (née Grant) who were married on 11th March 1897 at the Chapel, Tur Langton, Leicestershire. Arthur had two younger sisters Alice and Harriet Ida.
In 1901 the North family lived at 25 Queen Street, Loughborough, but in 1910 emigrated to Canada. Eric’s father travelled in advance and Eric, with his mother and sisters, sailed from Bristol for Quebec on the SS Royal George on 21st July 1910.
By 1911 the North family had settled at 271 Hunter Street, Hamilton, Ontario, and Eric, now 13, was employed as an office boy. Two years later he was a clerk and his family had moved to 801 King Street West. By 1921 the family had moved again to 52 Margaret Street, Hamilton, and Eric’s father had become a sheriff.
Eric enlisted on 10th September 1915 at Hamilton and joined the 12th Canadian Machine Gun Coy as Private 174355. The Company was attached to the 12th Infantry Brigade, 4th Canadian Infantry Division.
By early June 1916 the Company had crossed the Atlantic and was training in Bramshott, Hampshire, with three Colt guns. One month later the Colt guns were withdrawn in favour of Vickers guns, with practice at Longmoor Range, south of Bordon.
Eric landed in France on 12th August 1916. In early September the 12th Coy was sent to Kemmel in Flanders to support units of the Canadian Infantry Brigade in the front line.
After this the Company moved to Houlle in the Pas de Calais for tactical training. Further training in map reading followed in early October before the Company was attached to the 10th Canadian Infantry in Destremont Trench, Albert. Here their guns took part in an action which resulted in the capture of Regina Trench, the Company incurring a number of casualties.
For the last two weeks of November they stayed in the line at Albert before moving to Maisnil-lèsRuitz until 21st December for rest, reorganisation and re-equipment.
Christmas was spent at Cambligneul and on Boxing Day the Company went into the line at GouyServins.
Here they carried out many night-firing operations until 8th March 1917. After a brief respite at the Bois de Bouvigny the Company began a firing operation aimed at Hill 145, the highest point on the Vimy Ridge. The Company was then heavily involved in the Battle of Vimy Ridge (part of the opening phase of the Battle of Arras) which followed from 9th-12th April.
After this battle the 12th Coy was withdrawn to Compigny Huts and provided a battlefield clearing party. On 24th April the Company was moved to the Zouave Valley where they remained in the line from May to August 1917, with breaks at Chateau de la Haie.
The Company was in the area of Hospital Corner on 3rd August when Eric was wounded in action. He died the same day, aged 19.
Eric was buried at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, Grave II. F.7. He is remembered on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and on the Carillon.
Albert Edward Bacon
Albert Edward Bacon was born in 1895 at 5 Fox Yard, Baxter Gate, Loughborough and baptised on 23rd October 1895 at All Saints Church.
He was the eldest child of Henry Bacon and his second wife Mary Elizabeth (née Bates) who were married at All Saints Church on 4th December 1894.
Albert’s father was a bricklayer’s labourer.
Albert had one brother Walter and one sister Elizabeth; he also had two older half-brothers from his father’s first marriage to Mary Jane Fox who died in 1889. Albert’s own mother died in 1903, aged 32, when Albert was only eight.
In 1901 the Bacon family lived at 25 Factory Street, Loughborough, but after his father was widowed for the second time he moved firstly to 5 Wheatsheaf Yard and then to 10 George Street.
In 1911 Albert was a labourer at Piper House Farm, Long Whatton.
Albert enlisted when war broke out. He first joined the 9th (Service) Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment as Private 16042 but was subsequently transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the Essex Regiment as Private 43442. As Albert’s service papers have not survived his precise date of enlistment and transfer to the Essex Regiment are unknown.
It is, however, documented that he was sent to France on 29th July 1915 and it seems likely that he went to France with the 9th Battalion of the Leicesters on that date.
The 9th (Service) Battalion was raised at Leicester in September 1914 as part of Kitchener’s Third New Army and joined 23rd Division as Divisional Troops.
The units of the Division began to assemble at Bullswater and Frensham in Hampshire from September 1914 and the King, Queen and Princess Mary visited the fledgling Division on 29 September. In early December, as the weather worsened, the Division moved into Aldershot and then, at the end of February 1915, to Shorncliffe in Kent.
In April 1915 Albert’s battalion became part of the newly established 37th Division of Kitchener’s 2nd New Army and the Division began to concentrate on Salisbury Plain. On 29th July the battalion travelled from Folkestone to Boulogne on the SS St. Serial and moved initially to Tilques.
The battalion then moved via Watten, Houlie, St. Omer, Eecke and Dranoutre to Wulverghem and Bienvillers-au-Bois, a short distance from the front line.
In the months that followed the 9th Battalion did tours in the trenches, alternating with the 7th Leicesters who relieved them. They were Involved in operations in Bailleul, Le Bizet, Armentières, Mondicourt, Beauval and Berles-au-Bois. In April 1916 the 9th Leicesters moved to the Doullens area for six weeks for cleaning up, resting and training.
In mid-May they returned once more to the trenches in the Bienvillers-Bailleulmont sector. In June there was a series of nightly excursions into No-Man’s Land with patrols attempting to gather information on the enemy’s dispositions.
On other occasions there were working parties out repairing the British barbed wire entanglements.
The situation became increasingly hazardous as the month wore on when the Germans began to use a new and more accurate type of trench mortar. On 1st July 1916 the 9th Leicesters moved into position at Souastre in readiness to reinforce the troops attacking at Gommecourt.
No orders came, however, and the men marched back to Humbercamps.
Training continued on the 4th and 5th July.
On 6th and 7th July they marched via Talmas to Crouy and on 8th and 9th July they rested and were addressed by the Divisional Commander on the forthcoming battle. On 10th July they moved to Ailly-sur-Somme and then entrained for Méricourt before going by bus to bivouacs in Méaulte northeast of Amiens.
They then took over as Quadrangle Trench and Quadrangle support. On 11th there was heavy shelling but no infantry attack. On 12th July the 9th battalion was relieved and moved back to Fricourt.
On 14th July the battalion moved up to the south edge of Mametz Wood just as an intense bombardment of the German positions began, and on to Bazentin-Le-Petit Wood.
Finally relieved on 16th July the battalion, which had suffered heavy casualties, marched to Fricourt and on to Ribemont on the following day.
On 18th July they entrained at Méricourt for Saleux.
On 16th September the battalion moved to bivouac near Fricourt and after two days moved again to bivouac in front of Bernafay Wood.
On 24th September the battalion moved up to the assembly trenches in front of Gueudecourt in preparation for an attack on the following day.
From 25th to 28th September the battalion took part in the Battle of Morval and sustained considerable casualties - 12 officers and 274 ordinary ranks.
Between October 1916 and June 1917 the 2nd Essex Battalion received large numbers of reinforcements on a number of occasions and Albert might have been in any one of these batches.
It is reasonably safe to assume that Albert was with the 2nd Essex by early June 1917.
In June 1917 the 2nd Essex Battalion was in training at Mazières. On 10th June the battalion moved by bus to Arras and on 11th June went into the support position at Balmoral Camp, setting up in tents and dugouts. The battalion moved into the front line from 15th until 19th June when they went to Blangy Park camp.
Here they remained until 28th June, supplying working parties. The battalion went next into the Reserve position on the south of the River Scarpe to the left of Monchy before moving into the front line from 3rd to 7th July.
After being back in the Reserve position from 7th – 10th July the men returned to the front line until 15th of the month when they went back to Blangy Park for re-equipment and training.
On 29th July the battalion went into Brigade Reserve and on August 2nd proceeded to Wilderness Camp to practice for an oncoming raid. After returning to the front line on 7th August the raid took place on 9th.
The war diary includes the following account:
“Front Line, France 180 men of the Battalion plus 30 men of the 2nd Duke of Wellington’s took part in a raid on the enemys front line in conjunction with a large raid made by the 12th Division on our right.
“The object of the raid was, to capture or kill as many of the enemy as possible and to obtain identifications.
“The objectives were two portions of the German front line. Zero hour was 7-45 pm, at Zero – 4 minutes the raiding party crawled out on to the ridge in front of our line, at Zero hour they advanced towards the enemy’s lines under a creeping barrage which was not very intense.
“The party soon came under very heavy machine gun fire and in some places the enemy came out of his trenches to meet them and formed a bomb barrage, what remained of the raiding party then had to retire. ‘
Eighteen Ordinary Ranks were killed in the raid and thirty-eight wounded.
Albert, aged 22, was one of those killed. His body was never found and he is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Bay 7.