Rolleston's War Heroes

THE ROLLESTON FALLEN - FIRST WORLD WAR CASUALTIES

There were 25 men from the village of Rolleston who died during the Great War. 23 of these are named on our Lych Gate, the village War Memorial. The same 23 are pictured inside St Mary's church. The Lych Gate memorial was built in 1919. It was built by Robert Bridgman of Lichfield at a cost of £310, raised by public subscription. Sir Oswald Mosley 5th Baronet had subscribed £50 and given seasoned oak from the Rolleston estate. This generous donation enabled the architect to add the beautiful bronze crucifix. The Lych Gate was dedicated on 26th October 1919, less than a year after the Armistice, and the first anniversary of the Armistice was celebrated there on 11th November of that year.

The inscription over the outer arch reads: “LEST WE FORGET”. Inside the east side is a list of those who fell in the First World War, arranged in order of their rank around a bronze crucifix. On the west side is a list the names of those men, and one woman, who fell in the Second World War: these are arranged in alphabetical order.

Of the twenty-five Rolleston men who fell in the Great War, twenty died in France and Belgium, two in Turkey, one in Serbia, one in what is now Iraq and one in England.

We are grateful to local historian Arnold Burston for providing us with details of these brave men.

Albert Edward Alexander (“Alec”) Beck

Albert Edward Alexander (“Alec”) Beck, MC, was a Captain in 5th Battalion Norfolk Regiment. He was killed in action at Gallipoli on 12th August 1915, aged 34. It is likely that he died in the same action as Trooper Harry Norris (q.v.). He was the son of Edward William Beck, an estate agent and valuer, and his wife Emily Mary Beck of Home Close, Stoke Holy Cross, Norwich. Alec was born in 1881 in Melton Constable near Walsingham, Norfolk. His wife was born in 1880 as Noel Harriette Rosetta Chamberlin. They were married in Norwich in 1905, and must have moved shortly after to Rolleston, where the Baptismal Register for December 1907 records the name of Evelyn Rosamond, daughter of Albert Edward Alexander and Noel Harriette Rosetta Beck, of The Cottage, Rolleston (see Guy Winterbottom). His occupation was given as “Agent”. Alec was a keen sportsman who captained the Rolleston cricket team.

Albert Rusconi

Private Albert Rusconi of the 1st/4th Battalion King’s Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment died on 16th April 1919, aged 33, from injuries sustained on the Ypres Salient where he was wounded by machine gun fire after seven months’ service in France and Belgium. Shortly after Albert was wounded the 1st /4th Battalion returned to England. The War Memorial gives his place of death as Ypres, but in fact he died in Leeds. He was born in Burton and enlisted there in August 1916. He is buried in Stapenhill Cemetery, Grave Reference 1824, in a family grave rather than a War Grave. Because the name is so unusual, it is probable that his widow is the Mrs. Rusconi mentioned in the 1919 Rolleston estate sale catalogue as living in part of Lot 90, a Block of Four Brick and Tiled Cottages adjoining Mosley Farmhouse on the outskirts of the Village of Rolleston.

Arthur Franklin

Private Arthur Franklin of the 7th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment died of wounds in Mesopotamia on 2nd February 1917 aged 20. He was one of twin brothers, the sons of Robert E. and Sarah Franklin of Rolleston. His twin, Harold, died in infancy. Sarah had 14 children but only 6 survived. The 1901 Census lists Robert’s employment as railway signalman. He, Sarah and their eldest daughter Harriet (then 21) were all born in Chesterton. The next child, Abraham (8) was born in Marston on Dove, and Arthur (4) and Evelyn (2) were born in Rolleston. In Marston, Robert manned one of the signal boxes on the triangular junction between the NSR main line and Burton branch and the Great Northern Derby branch.

Arthur Royall

Private Arthur Royall of 2nd/6th Battalion Durham Light Infantry died of wounds on 3rd September 1918, aged 27. He was the son of William (born in Derby), a brewer’s labourer, and his wife Annie Royall of Rolleston. They lived at “Nithsdale” No. 78 in New Row on Station Road. The name is just visible on the gable end, next door to the Sudale family and almost opposite the De Ville family in the Gas House. The War Memorial gives Arthur’s place of death as Aire. From March 1915 to February 1918 Aire, a small town south of St. Omer, was a relatively peaceful place used by Commonwealth Forces as Corps Headquarters. It was also home to several casualty clearing stations. Later in 1918 the German lines came within 13 kilometres of the town, and it was at this time that Arthur was killed. Arthur is buried in the Aire Communal Cemetery, which contains 894 Commonwealth burials of the Great War and a few French and German graves.

Arthur Topliss

Arthur Topliss died in north-eastern France on 5th September 1916 at the age of 20. He was the son of Benjamin Topliss (born in Normanton Heath, Leicestershire) of Burton Road, Rolleston, and of Sarah Topliss, who was born in Rolleston. Arthur was a corporal in the 2nd/8th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment. The War Memorial gives his place of death as Laventie. He is now buried in the Laventie Military Cemetery, La Gorgue, Nord, where there are 495 identified Commonwealth casualties, but was originally buried in Epehy Wood Cemetery between Cambrai and Péronne.

Benjamin Smith

Private Benjamin Smith of the Army Pay Corps is buried in a War Grave in St. Mary’s churchyard, Rolleston (C35), although his name is not on the War Memorial. He was killed in the last Zeppelin raid in London on 20th May 1918, aged 38. This was not the Zeppelin dirigible which immediately springs to mind, but Rfa 501’s R VI Staaken “giant” heavy bombers which carried out 11 raids on Great Britain between 28th September 1917 and 20th May 1918. Before the war, Ben was the manager of the Pearl Assurance Company in Pinxton. He was married to Mary, née Ault. They had four children, William Henry, Albert Edward, Mary and Sidney Arthur, the last two born in Rolleston.

Charles Cook

Private Charles Cook of the 2/6th West Yorkshire Regiment was killed on 13th February 1917. The War Memorial gives his place of death as Hebuterne.
At the time of the 1901 Census, he was, at the age of 15, living with his grandparents, Joseph and Eliza Camp, in Cinder Lane, now Beacon Road. Joseph, aged 58, was a brewer’s labourer: he and Eliza (aged 57) also had a daughter aged 20, who was a domestic servant. Charles is buried in Serre Road Cemetery No. 1, which was begun in May 1917. It was greatly enlarged after the Armistice, and there are now 2,426 casualties of the First World War buried or commemorated there; only 698 of these are identified.

Charles Rawlins

Private Charles Rawlins of No. 3 Company 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards was killed in action on 17th October 1915 aged 22. He was the only son of Charles and Margaret Rawlins of Dove View, Rolleston. According to the Burton Daily Mail of 23rd October 1915, “Private Rawlins who was in the employ of Mr W. R. Hues, chemist and grocer, Bargates Corner, up to about twelve months ago when he enlisted, was generally believed to be one of the strongest men in the Midlands, and was very well known as an expert wrestler and weight lifter. The War Memorial gives his place of death as Hulluch. He died a few days after Lance Corporal Ewers, and was probably killed in the same action. Like those of Leonard Ewers and Harry Grimley, his name is recorded on the Loos Memorial.

Clifford Guy Scattergood

Private Guy Scattergood of the Royal Army Medical Corps (95th Field Ambulance) died on 27th September 1917, aged 22. The War Memorial gives his place of death as Arras. He was the son of Ellen Mary Ann Scattergood of Rowney Lodge, South Avenue, Littleover, Derbyshire, and the late Thomas Harold Scattergood. Guy is listed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as “native of Rolleston”. Guy is buried in the Roclincourt Military Cemetery which contains 916 Commonwealth burials of the First World War. Roclincourt is a village between Arras and Lens.

Eric Duncliffe

Able Seaman Dunnicliffe, of Hawke Battalion Royal Naval Division, was killed in action on 13th November 1916. The Royal Naval Division was formed from sailors for whom there was no room on ships and who were therefore redeployed as infantry. The RND Memorial is on the edge of Beaucourt. It takes the form of a tall stone obelisk with bronze plaques on the front. When it was being planned, Lord Rothermere offered to provide funding, as his son, the Honourable Vere Harmsworth, had been killed at the battle of the Ancre. The position in which it stands was in No Man’s Land during the offensive. Eric Dunnicliffe’s name also appears on the Thiepval Memorial.

Fred Richardson

Private Fred Richardson of 1/7th Sherwood Foresters (Notts. and Derby Regiment) died on 17th June 1917. He was the son of John Richardson (born in Horninglow), a “farm milk producer” of Netherfield Farm, and of Theresa Richardson (born in Chartley, Staffs). The War Memorial gives his place of death as Lens. He is buried in the Fosse 10 Communal Cemetery Extension, Sains-en-Gohelle, Pas de Calais. Sains-en-Gohelle is an old mining village between Arras and Béthune. The cemetery contains 471 identified casualties.

Frederick Matthews

Fred Matthews of the 4th Battalion The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment was killed in action on the Ypres Salient on 28th September 1917, aged 20. He was born at 2 Marston Lane in Rolleston one of the 11 children of William (born in Wall, Staffs) and Mary Ann Matthews of Rolleston. The 1901 Census lists William’s employment as agricultural labourer, living in Marston Lane. It lists two older brothers, Samuel (then aged 12) and John (9), an older sister, Alice (6) and two younger sisters, Annie May (1) and Mabel (4 months). In 1911 Fred was working for Sir Oswald Mosley as a gardener’s errand boy, but he later worked at Nestlé’s factory. Fred’s name is recorded on the Tyne Cot Memorial, like that of C.S.M. Harry Lowe.

Frederick Smith

Fred Smith, a Bombardier in the Royal Field Artillery (52nd Brigade H.Q.) died of wounds in the Pas de Calais on 27th September 1915 at the age of 20. He was born in Tutbury the son of Malcolm and Emma Smith of Castle Street. Malcolm was a gardener when Frederick was baptised in July 1895. His sister Nellie was baptised there in 1897. By 1901 the family had moved to Craythorne Farm in Rolleston, where Malcolm was a groom/gardener to the farmer, Thomas Ward. Fred is buried in Béthune Town Cemetery, 29 kilometres north of Arras. It contains 3181 identified casualties.

Guy Winterbottom

Major Guy Winterbottom died in hospital on 9th August 1917 at the age of 27, from shell wounds sustained near Salonika (Thessaloniki), while on patrol. He was a major in the Derbyshire Yeomanry, and had been awarded the Order of the White Eagle 4th Class (Serbia). This order, instituted in 1883 and re-established in 1903 by King Peter I, was divided into 5 classes. The 4th Class (“Officer”) medal was silver gilt with enamel. It was awarded to prominent foreigners as well as Serbian citizens, for distinguished civil or military service.
An article from the Burton Chronicle in the Magic Attic in Swadlincote says of Guy:
“By reason of his frank and generous nature, and indifference to danger, the late major was immensely popular with his men, and he will be greatly mourned by all ranks. He had a very wide circle of friends. He was 27 years of age, married in 1912 Miss Reva Morrison of Faceby Manor, Northallerton, and they resided at The Cottage, Rolleston [later called the Dower House, then the Dove Clinic, and now once again a private house] where he farmed on model lines, and took a keen interest in all work appertaining to this important industry." Guy is buried in the Struma Military Cemetery, 65 kilometres north of Thessaloniki, which contains 947 Commonwealth burials.

Harry Austin

Private Harry Austin of the 9th Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry died in the Somme area on 23rd. March 1918 at the age of 33. He was the son of Henry and Kezia Austin of Horninglow, Burton-on-Trent, and the husband of Lilian Maria Austin (née Jenkins) of Brookside, Rolleston. The War Memorial gives his place of death as Saulcourt. He had joined the Royal Engineers in January 1916 and was drafted into the K.O.Y.L.I after arrival in France. Harry Austin is buried in the Péronne Communal Cemetery Extension which was begun in 1917 and enlarged after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields to the north and east. There are 1,405 identified casualties, including 29 Germans and one Allied airman.

Harry Grimley

Harry Grimley was born in Hall Farm, Rolleston. He was the son of Edward Dicken Grimley and his wife Mary. Edward was a farm manager for Sir Oswald Mosley. Harry, who enlisted in Burton, was a Private in the 1st/6th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment, the same unit as Lance Corporal Ewers. They were killed in action in the charge on the Hohenzollern Redoubt on 13th October 1915. Harry was 33, Leonard only 23. Both their names are recorded on the Loos Memorial.

Harry Lowe

Harry Lowe was killed in action in Belgium on 4th October 1917 at the age of 22. He was Company Serjeant Major (C Company, 15th Battalion) in the Durham Light Infantry. He had joined up in October 1914 and had been in France for over two years. The War Memorial gives his place of death as Passchendaele Ridge. Harry was the son of John and Alice Lowe of 39, Kedleston Street, Derby. At the time of his death, his mother was living at 100, Whitecross Street, Derby. His Rolleston connection was that he was employed as valet to Rev. Canon Tyrwhitt at Rolleston Rectory. Harry Lowe’s name is on the Tyne Cot Memorial in the Laventie Military Cemetery. The Tyne Cot Memorial bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men. It forms the north-east boundary of the Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world.

Harry Norris

Harry Norris was a Trooper in the Derbyshire Yeomanry. The War Memorial gives his place of death as Suvla Bay. He may well have died in the same action as Alec Beck. His Rolleston connection is that he was groom to Captain (later Major) Guy Winterbottom.

Herbert Cox

Lance Corporal Herbert Cox of the Leicestershire Yeomanry was killed in action in north-eastern France, probably in the Gommecourt-Maricourt area, on 15th July 1916 at the age of 35. The War Memorial gives his place of death as Ovillers.

John Hardwick

Lance Corporal John Hardwick died in Le Cateau Hospital in north-eastern France on 13th April 1918 at the age of 29. He was born on 21st December 1887 in Newhall, Derbyshire, the son of Joseph and Mary Ann Hardwick, née Smith, who later lived at 13, Osborne Street, Winshill, Burton-on-Trent. Joseph was a brewer’s traveller and, before he enlisted, John was a brewer’s clerk. John lived at Eaglehurst, Tutbury Road (now Church Road), Rolleston, as tenants of the Mosley estate. John, who had been wounded and taken prisoner, is buried in Le Cateau Military Cemetery, designed by Charles Holden, which contains the graves of over 5,000 German soldiers, 38 Russian prisoners of war and 698 Commonwealth casualties, 513 of which were identified. John’s grave has typically English plants around its foot: London pride, hebe, thrift and a red rose.

Leonard Ewers

Lance Corporal Leonard Ewers of 1st/6th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment was killed in action in Pas de Calais on 13th October 1915 at the age of 23. The War Memorial gives his place of death as Hulluch (see also Charles Rawlins). Hulluch is a village a mile north of Loos. He was probably killed at the Battle of Loos (25th September to 19th October), in which 7,766 men were killed. Leonard’s name is recorded on the Loos Memorial, which forms part of Dud Corner Cemetery. It bears the names of over 20,000 officers and men who have no known grave and who fell in the area between the River Lys and the southern boundary of the First Army near Grenay. Dud Corner was called after the large number of unexploded enemy shells found in the area after the Armistice. Leonard lived at Horninglow Cross which is on Horninglow Road on the left before the junction with Harehedge Lane and Bitham Lane.

Nicholas Mosley

Although strictly speaking Captain Hon. Nicholas Mosley is not one of “our” war dead, he had strong connections with Rolleston, and his memorial tablet is in the Mosley aisle of St. Mary’s Church. He was a Captain in the North Staffordshire Regiment but was serving as Adjutant to the 5th Sherwood Foresters on the Western Front when he was wounded by a sniper’s bullet on 20th April 1915. He died of his wounds in hospital in Vincent Square, Westminster on 1st August the same year. His father was Tonman Mosley (son of Sir Tonman Mosley), who was born at East Lodge, Anslow on 16th January 1850. Tonman later became the First and Last Baron Anslow of Iver, Buckinghamshire. His mother was Lady Hilda Rose Montgomerie, the daughter of the 13th Earl of Eglinton.

Sydney De Ville

Lance Corporal Sydney De Ville of the 1st. Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment died in the Pas de Calais on 27th June 1918 at the age of 27. He was the son of John and Sarah Deville of 143 Wyggeston Street, Burton-on-Trent. He was born in Rolleston and enlisted in Burton. At the time of the 1901 Census, the family lived at the Gas House, Rolleston, where John was a gasworks stoker. Sydney is buried in Pernes British Cemetery, Pernes-en-Artois. The cemetery was begun in April 1918 when the 1st and 4th Canadian Casualty Clearing Stations were driven back to Pernes by the advancing Germans. During the next few months, they were joined by three other Casualty Clearing Stations. There are 1,075 First World War burials and 18 from the Second World War.

Wilfred Arnold

Corporal Wilfred James Arnold of the 17th Battalion Royal Fusiliers died in north-eastern France on 13th November 1916. He was born in Borrowash and enlisted in Burton. He was the husband of Mrs. K. Arnold who was living at 200 Rolleston Road, Burton-on-Trent, at the time of his death, although they had previously lived in Station Road, Rolleston. Before the war, he was a clerk with Ind Coope & Co., and played in their cricket team. The War Memorial gives his place of death as Beaumont-Hamel. He was probably killed in the Battle of the Ancre in November 1916, when Beaumont-Hamel was captured. This battle was part of the great Battle of the Somme, intended to take some of the pressure off the faltering French. The burials were carried out the following spring when the Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg Line. The Munich Trench Cemetery is on the edge of Beaumont-Hamel. There are 98 identified casualties. Wilfred’s name is also recorded on his parents’ grave in Buxton cemetery.

William Sudale

Sapper William Sudale of 249th Field Company Royal Engineers died of gunshot wounds on 23rd March 1918, aged 33. He enlisted in Birmingham in the Royal Naval Division (Engineers) in February 1915, and served in the Gallipoli campaign before being transferred to France. The War Memorial gives his place of death as Arras. In March 1918 the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station came to Dernancourt, a village just south of Albert. The village was evacuated on 26th March ahead of the German advance and remained in enemy hands until it was recaptured on 9th August. William is buried in the Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. The original cemetery was extended first in 1916, and again in after the Armistice. It now contains 2,162 Commonwealth burials of the First World War.

THE ROLLESTON FALLEN - SECOND WORLD WAR CASUALTIES

Ten soldiers from Rolleston lost their lives in the Second World War. 1 man and 1 woman in England, 2 in Singapore, 1 in Holland, 2 in Italy, 1 in Tunisia, 1 in Israel and 1 over France.

Colin MacGilp

Major Colin Campbell MacGilp joined the Sixth North Staffordshire Regiment (T.F.) in 1929 and had the distinction of bearing the battalion colours at the coronation of His Majesty King George VI in 1937, for which he was awarded the Coronation Medal. He was transferred to the Second Battalion on going abroad, and saw much service in North Africa and Italy, for which he was awarded the North Africa Star. He was killed in action on 8th February 1944, aged 36. His name is recorded on the Cassino Memorial in Cassino, 140 kilometres south of Rome, which bears the names of over 4,000 Commonwealth servicemen who took part in the Italian campaign and who have no known grave.

Douglas Taylor

Douglas was the son of Charles Henry and Dorothy Lillian Taylor of Modwena, Beacon Road, Rolleston. His parents were still living there at the time of the 1951 Census. Douglas was born on 13th December 1919 and attended Guild Street School. In civilian life he was a clerk at The Poplars, Rolleston Road, Burton. His RAF records show that at the time of enlistment he was 5 feet 9½ inches tall, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. He married Stella Mary Dunn of Ingleby Road, Bradford, in a Catholic church on 20th September 1941 and, while serving as a Flight Sergeant in the Royal Air Force Voluntary Reserve, was posted missing presumed killed on operations on 9th July 1942 aged 22.

Ernest Hudson

Ernest Hudson was the son of Charles and Ann Hudson of Burton. He and his wife Ethel Maud, also of Burton, lived at Eddystone, Rolleston Road. In the Great War, after three months in the Royal Garrison artillery, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, becoming a Leading Aircraftsman and serving in France for some 18 months before the Armistice. On 9th September 1939, he rejoined the RAF with his former rank, and was quickly promoted Sergeant. In October 1941 he was sent to Burma. He landed at Rangoon shortly before the Japanese landed there. Many of his comrades got away by sea, but Ernest with 14 other members of the RAF joined the American Volunteer Group and made for Chunking in China. He was posted missing for six months, but in fact he spent that time servicing planes to help the Chinese. His work was so highly appreciated that he received a personal invitation from Madame Chiang Kai-Shek to a barbecue on 4th July 1942 at President Lin Sen’s villa. The same month he had tea at the home of the British Ambassador in Chunking and was presented with Order of the Flying Tiger by Madame Chiang Kai-Shek for the help that he had given to the Chinese. Ernest was taken ill with a tropical disease in August 1942 and, after two months in hospital in Chunking, was flown to Calcutta, then taken by sea to Cape Town, where he spent a further 17 weeks in hospital. He arrived in England in September 1943 and died in a military hospital on 26th January 1944, aged 54. His funeral was taken in St. Mary’s Church by Rev. William Bagnall on 31st January and he was buried in the churchyard of St. Mary’s.

Francis Slater

Francis Haydn Slater was the son of Edwin and Gladys Slater of Dovecliff Road, Rolleston. Before he volunteered in April 1940, at the age of 28, he was employed at the Midland Joinery Works. At the time of his death, his wife and baby son were living in Burton. He was a guardsman in 5th Battalion Grenadier Guards when he was killed in action in Italy on 7th – 8th February 1944. His name, like that of Colin Campbell MacGilp, who was killed on the same day, is recorded on the Cassino War Memorial.

Frederick Trowell

Frederick John Trowell was the son of George Edwin and Nellie Trowell of 69, Dover Road, Burton. He was educated in Rolleston, where he was well known, and had been a member of Burton YMCA. Before the war he was employed by Burton Corporation in New Street. He joined the forces at the age of 17 and, at one camp, won a prize for horsemanship and general smartness. He was a trooper in the Royal Armoured Corps (Staffordshire Yeomanry) when he died of a ruptured liver in Palestine on 29th August 1940 aged 20. According to his family “he had never had a day’s illness in his life”, so the news of his death came as a terrible shock. He is buried in the Haifa War Cemetery near Tel Aviv, which contains 305 British and Commonwealth burials of the Great War and 36 of the Second World War.

John Nixon

John William Nixon lived with his parents at Glen Moy, 61 Knowles Hill. He had a sister, Rene, and two brothers. Jack, as he was known, worked in the locomotive department at Messrs. Bass, Ratcliff and Gretton. He was engaged to Alice Swann of 12, Branston Road, Burton, whose father would not let her marry until Jack came back from the war. Jack had been a Territorial in the Staffordshire Yeomanry for about 8 years when he was mobilised with the Regiment in 1939. He died on 23rd March 1943 aged 26, when he was a trooper with the Royal armoured Corps in North Africa. The Staffordshire Yeomanry were originally cavalry but converted to tanks when horses proved useless in the desert. On the day of his death, the tank unit had been given the all clear late in the afternoon to get out and brew tea. A shell exploded nearby and Jack was hit in the stomach by shrapnel: he died that night in a field hospital. He is buried in the Sfax War Cemetery in Tunisia.

Marcus Hutchinson

Marcus Hutchinson was born on 23rd August 1906, the son of Alfred Tapley Hutchinson and his wife Kathleen of Sothorpe Lodge, Manor Road, Leicester. He was married to Hazel Mary Hutchinson of Rolleston. Their marriage was announced in the Times. They lived at Elm Leigh, just past Cross Lane. Marcus’s grave, a standard war grave in St. Mary’s churchyard, Rolleston, gives his date of death as 9th April 1944, aged 37. He died when the Tiger Moth IIDF185 he was piloting sideslipped into the ground at Bishops Cleeve near Cheltenham, Glos, when an aileron became jammed during aerobatics.

Norah Jones

W.119369 Norah James, a Private in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), attached to 103 AA Brigade, was killed on 11th. May 1943, together with 25 other ATS girls. They had just marched back from a PT session to their hostel, a pre-war hotel on the North Drive sea front at Great Yarmouth. Norah was the daughter of Francis and Sarah Annie James of Bladons' Yard, (formerly James's Yard, Rolleston. She is buried in St. Mary’s Churchyard, Rolleston, Plot K18. She was 24 when she died.

Philip Cuff

Flying Officer Philip Cuff was the son of John and Grace Cuff. He and his wife, Peggy, lived in Rolleston. He was a flying officer in 99 Squadron the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He died on 1st January 1945 aged 41. His name is on the Singapore Memorial in the Kranji War Cemetery, which bears the names of 24,000 Commonwealth casualties who have no known grave. Many of these died during the construction of the Burma-Thailand railway or on the “hell ships” used by the Japanese to transport prisoners.

Ronald Harrison

Ronald Harrison was the son of Mary Ann Taylor, née Harrison, and stepson of George Ernest Taylor of Rolleston. He was a Sergeant in 156 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He died on 19th April 1943 aged 20. 156 Squadron was a Pathfinder Squadron flying out of Warboys near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. Of 13 aircraft detailed for a raid on Spezia in North West Italy, only one failed to return. A Lancaster I, Captain Sergeant Cooper, took off at 21.21 on 19th April. It was reported missing, presumed lost, over the French coast. One of the crew, Sergeant Eley, lies in the Merville-France-Plage cemetery near the Orne estuary in Normandy. The others, including Ronald Harrison, are recorded on the Runnymede Memorial

William Cox

William John Cox, of “Newholme”, now No. 81 Knowles Hill, was the son of John William and Fanny May Cox. Bill worked as a steeplejack at Worthington’s brewery in Burton, and he’d served in the North Staffs Territorials for seven years, before enlisting in 1/5th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts. and Derbys). In late 1941 he was sent to Bombay where, having spent Christmas on board ship, he arrived early in January 1942. Bill died of wounds while a Prisoner of War in the Roberts Hospital in Singapore on 27th June 1942, aged 37. He is buried in the Kranji War Cemetery, which was developed by the Japanese on the site of the prisoner-of-war camp.