Brother also killed just 10 days later

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 September 1917.

David Francis Brandon was born in Manchester in 1883.

He was the son of Henry Brandon, a fish dealer, and his wife Caroline (née Bentley), a varnisher, who were married in West Bromwich in the summer of 1880. David would hardly have remembered his father who died in 1885 when David was only two years old.

David’s widowed mother moved with her children from Manchester to Leicester to live with her parents David and Elizabeth Bentley at 16 Dryden Street, Leicester.

David had two brothers Henry and John. He also had a half-sister Doris Cadby Brandon born in Leicester in 1890. David’s mother later moved to 60 Crafton Street and supported her children by working as a charwoman for the Board of Guardians. By 1917 she had moved again to 7 Kentish Street, Leicester.

David, aged 18 and a shoe hand, enlisted at Leicester with the Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire Regiment) on 6th November 1900. As Private 6725 he was sent to the Depot until 21st February 1901 and posted to the 2nd Battalion at the Mtarfa barracks, Malta, on 5th July 1901.

The battalion moved back to Britain from Malta in 1902, but just prior to this a draft of soldiers from the 2nd Battalion were transferred to the 1st Battalion in South Africa. David was in this draft and played his part in the final stages of the Boer War before its conclusion that year, being awarded the King’s South Africa Medal.

David was then sent with the 1st Battalion to Hong Kong where the troops carried out mopping up exercises and secured strategic objectives around Tien-Tsin and Peking after the Boxer Rebellion.

Two companies were stationed at the British Legation in Peking and two at Tien-Tsin.

A special force was also sent to Wei-hai-wei, a port on the Chinese coast.

In August 1904 David, now a Corporal, was court-martialled for conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline and sentenced to fourteen days imprisonment.

In November 1904 the battalion was on the move again, leaving Taku Bar on their way to Singapore. About 1000 Sherwood Foresters arrived in Singapore on the SS Avoca on 12th December 1904 for their tour of duty.

After two years in the Straits Settlements the battalion moved to India. David returned to England on 23rd January 1909, became a Reservist and completed his time in the army on 4th November 1912. By 1911 he had found living-in employment as a barman at the Old Dixie Arms, Humberstone Road, Leicester.

When the First World War broke out David re-enlisted with the Sherwood Foresters. Although his WW1 service record has not survived it is known that as Lance Corporal 22490 he was sent to join the 1st Battalion in France on 18th March 1915.

At that time the 1st Battalion was in the trenches at Pont du Hem. Trench tours continued in this area until 6th May when preparations began for an attack at Aubers Ridge on 9th May.

After the battle the battalion did trench tours near Laventie, north-east of Béthune, with rest periods at Estaires. In mid-August the battalion moved to the Fleurbaix/Bois Grenier area. Here further trench familiarisation began and the battalion went into the front line sector in mid-September. At Bois Grenier on 25th September the battalion was in action in an attack to capture part of the German front line as an adjunct to the Battle of Loos. The battalion remained in the Bois Grenier area for a considerable time instructing inexperienced troops. On 3rd March 1916 orders were received to relieve the French 17th Division in the Carency sector, an area subject to severe shelling. After a break at Bruay in April the battalion moved back to the Souchez-Angres front line.

In June the battalion went to Enguinegatte where intensive training commenced. On 25th June the battalion moved to Ailly-sur-Somme and in the Somme Offensive took part in the Battle of Albert from 1st to 10th July. On 11th July the battalion withdrew to Dernancourt and then to billets at Bresle.

August was spent either resting in Béthune or in the trenches at Sailly-Labourse, September in the trenches or resting in the Fouquières area and the first half of October at Sandpits Camp near Albert before moving to Trônes Wood south of Longueval. In mid-November the battalion left Trônes Wood for the Château de Selincourt, near Dieppe, to undergo further training.

On 6th November 1916 David was admitted to No. 10 British Red Cross Hospital (known as the Lady Murray’s Hospital) at Le Treport. He was suffering from dysentery and had been sent there by train from Corbie. He was discharged to duty on the following day.

In mid-November the battalion left Trônes Wood for the Château de Selincourt, near Dieppe, to undergo further training. On 29th December the battalion left Selincourt and entrained for Albert. From 26th January to 4th March 1917 the battalion was operating in the Bouchevesnes sector, after which they moved via Moislains and Nurlu to Heudicourt.

The Germans were retreating to the Hindenburg Line and the Allies were planning an attack on the enemy at nearby Gouzeaucourt. David must have been on leave in England at the end of March 1917 as he was married on 26th March at Emmanuel Church, Loughborough, to Beatrice Ellen Sharpe who lived at 31 Granville Street, Loughborough.

David is known to have been transferred to the 2/8th Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters at some point after November 1916 but his precise date of transfer is unknown.

The 2/8th Battalion arrived in France on 23rd February 1917 and, given that David was on leave in the latter part of March 1917 his transfer may have taken place in April 1917.

In April 1917 the 2/8th Battalion had just had its first taste of trench warfare at Le Verguier north-west of St. Quentin. On 19th April the battalion was sent to dig trenches at Hesbicourt prior to a short break at Hervilly.

In May they were in the trenches at Harbicourt and then went to Hamelet for thirteen days rest and training before moving into a quarry area to strengthen the line and carry out essential wiring. After the quarries were shelled the battalion withdrew to Equancourt and moved to Neuville-Bourjonval.

On 6th June they began a trench tour at Havrincourt Wood. Between 11th and 22nd June they were training at Equancourt and for the rest of the month in the support trenches at Gouzeaucourt Wood. On 1st July the battalion went to the front and support lines at Beaucamp. From 9th July until 30th August they were at Le Mesnil and Aveluy for training and tactical exercises.

On 31st August the battalion began a move to the Ypres Salient via Beaucourt and Gomovdewaersvelde to a camp near Wormhoudt for further training. On 20th September they marched to Watou, on 23rd moved to Brandhoek, and on 24th to Wieltje. On 26th September 1917 they went into action at the Battle of Polygon Wood (a phase of the Battle of the 3rd Battle of Ypres or Passchendaele) and David, aged 36, was one of 43 Ordinary Ranks killed.

David is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, Panels 99 - 102 & 162 & 162a.

David’s brother Henry who also served with the Foresters died of wounds on 2nd December 1917. In 1919 David’s widow married Frank Ward in Loughborough. Thomas Hutton

Thomas Hutton was born in Quorn in 1881, the son of James Hutton and his wife Emma (née Scotney) who were married in Quorn in 1877.

He was baptised on 20th April 1888 at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Quorn.

Thomas’s father was a carpenter and joiner and in 1891 the family lived in New Quorn, moving later to a cottage in Loughborough Road, Quorn. Thomas had one brother James and four sisters Clara, Eliza, Edith and Ethel. Two other brothers Albert and Harry and two other sisters Alice and Mary had died young.

Thomas enlisted with the Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) in 1900. He was sent as Private 7121 to join the 1st Battalion of the Regiment in South Africa for service in the 2nd Boer War and remained there until 1903.

The battalion was placed in the 3rd Division under the command of Sir William Gatacre and much of the time was spent on mobile column work, patrolling and raiding expeditions rather than being engaged in any major battles.

They provided support in the relief of Wepener in April 1900, cleared the enemy from Zwaggershoch in September 1900 and from the autumn of 1900 to the close of the war operated in the Eastern Transvaal, some doing garrison work around Balmoral and Middleburg and some companies trekking. Thomas was awarded the King’s South Africa Medal.

In 1906 Thomas was transferred to the Army Reserve, became a brickyard labourer and came to live at 6 Park Row, Loughborough.

On 3rd July 1909 he married Mary Ann Page (known as ‘Polly’) at Emmanuel Church, Loughborough.

In 1911 Thomas and Polly were living with Polly’s parents at 120 Belvoir Road, Coalville. With them was Polly’s son Thomas Charles who was born in March 1909 not long before Thomas and Polly were married and whose father has never been disclosed. They subsequently moved to 19 Chapel Terrace, Southfield Road, Loughborough.

When war broke out in 1914 Thomas, as a Reservist, was recalled. Posted to the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Scots he was sent to France with a batch of reinforcements on 7th September 1914 and joined the battalion at Chauffry on the advance towards the River Aisne.

Having crossed the river but unable to penetrate the German defensive position on the heights and after suffering from much German artillery fire the battalion withdrew back across the Aisne on 25th September and marched to Courcelles.

In early October 1914 the battalion was moved to Cornet Malo, north of Béthune, with orders to advance north-east to secure the Pont du Hem – Neuve Chapelle road.

Following action in the Battles of La Bassée and Messines the battalion moved into reserve at Aubers and La Pluiche. Trench tours in the area of Chapigny-Fauquissart road ensued.

In early November the battalion was in support near Le Tournay and Richebourg St. Vaast and in the front line trenches at Neuve Chapelle with breaks at La Couture and Bailleul. After a move to Neuve Eglise in mid-November the battalion was in the trenches at Messines and Wulverghem before moving to Westoutre and then Locre. From the trenches at Kemmel the battalion attacked the enemy on 14th December incurring more than a few casualties.

1915 began with training at Scherpenberg followed by trench tours at Kemmel, Wyschaete, and Vierstraat with breaks at La Clytte until 12th May,

The battalion next moved to trenches north of Hill 60 in the Zillebeke sector. On 16th June the battalion was in action at the 1st Battle of Bellewaarde before moving to bivouac near Poperinghe for several weeks training.

On 12th July they were ordered to take over trenches south of Hooge where they remained, apart from one break at Brandhoek, until 7th August. The remainder of August and first part of September were spent at Dickenbusch resting, route marching and practising attacks.

On 12th September the battalion returned to the trenches at Hooge before a break at huts on the Ouderdom road. By 24th September the battalion was in the trenches at Sanctuary Wood and took part in an attack on 25th September in which casualties were very high.

A further attempt to drive the enemy out of the Salient was made on 30th September. Trench tours in the Sanctuary Wood area continued until 23rd October when the battalion moved to Steenvoorde for rest, parades and sporting activities.

From 29th November 1915 to 5th February 1916 the battalion did trench tours at St. Eloi, with breaks at Reninghelst camp, after which they moved via Bayenghem and Poperinghe to Dickenbusch. From 27th March to 16th April they took part in the actions of the Bluff and St. Eloi Craters, where large explosive charges were blown under the German defences. May included trench tours at Vierstraat.

On 21st June they left the Ypres Salient, entraining at Hopoutre for Moulle in the Pas de Calais. After instruction at Moulle they entrained at Wizernes for Candas, Somme, on 1st July and marched to billets in Berneuil.

Over the summer and autumn of the Somme Offensive they were in action at the Battles of Albert, Bazentin (where they helped to capture Longueval), Delville Wood and the Ancre (where they met stiff resistance).

At the end of August the battalion moved by train and march to Mazingarbe and the trenches in the Hulluch sector to hold the line near the Hohenzollern Redoubt. After training in Coyecque at the end of September they moved again to Acheux for further instruction and working parties until 18th October. A further move for trench tours in the Serre sector took place on 23rd October, where they were heavily shelled, with breaks at Vauchelles.

On 29th November 1916 until 28th January 1917 the battalion did trench tours at Hébuterne, with rest and training at Berteaucourt. Training continued at La Thieuloye until 9th February, followed by trench digging at Beaufort and Liencourt and working parties at Arras, with breaks at Magnicourt and Liencourt, until 4th April.

In April the battalion was in action in three battles of the Arras Offensive – the 1st and 2nd Battles of the Scarpe and the Battle of Arleux, after which there was a short period when they provided working parties at Tilloy. Much of May was spent in training at Izel-lès-Hameau prior to a return to the trenches at Arras and Monchy for repair work, followed by instruction at Estrée-Wamin in June.

By 1st July the battalion had moved to the Louverval sector for trench tours, with breaks at a camp near Vélu, north-west of Haplincourt.

On 28th August the battalion transferred to huts in the area of Ytres-Léchelle for attack practice and tactical exercises and on 19th September marched via Proven to a camp near Poperinghe. Having transferred to a camp south of Ypres on 23rd September the battalion went into the support line trenches on either side of the Ypres-Zonnebeke road.

On 26th September 1917 the Battle of Polygon Wood (a phase in the Battle of Passchendaele) began.

Thomas, aged 39, was killed in this action. He was buried in La Brique Military Cemetery No. 2, St. Jean-Les-Ypres, Grave I. M. 29.

Thomas is commemorated on the Carillon Memorial in Loughborough and on two war memorials in Quorn (the War Memorial at The Cross and the memorial at St. Bartholomew’s Church) near where members of his mother’s family lived.

Thomas’s brother James who served with the Royal Field Artillery was killed in action only 10 days after Thomas and is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

Thomas’s widow Mary Ann was remarried to William Mellors in 1920 in Loughborough and she and William had a daughter Violet that same year.