Guide to Radcliffe on Trent WWI Military
Territorials go to War by Michael Lees, MBE
The painting is currently on loan to Newark Town Council for the duration of the Great War centenary commemoration.
Radcliffe on Trent WWI Servicemen covers material on the website relating to local men’s involvement in the military. The main topic areas are listed below, followed by a full description.
Radcliffe on Trent WWI servicemen: 1914 – 1918 Roll of Honour
How Radcliffe on Trent Servicemen Died: WWI Timeline
Biographies of Holme Pierrepont Servicemen
A Personal Account of WWI by G. V. Elwin
Radcliffe on Trent WWI Letters: Cecil Bolton, John Robert Talbot, Thomas Flower, Bernard Patrick Fitzgerald, Charles Wightman Pike, Herbert Sudbury Smith, John Barry, John Ould, Diary: Edward Rockley
Featured stories: Archibald Simpson, Gordon Litchfield, Sidney Newbury, Frank B Daniels
Easter Uprising 1916 and the Sherwood Foresters
RAF: Radcliffe’s WW1 Air Servicemen
Radcliffe on Trent Servicemen: 1914 – 1918 Roll of Honour
Radcliffe on Trent Roll of Honour is a long list of four hundred First World War servicemen. The names listed refer to members of the British Forces who were either born, lived in or worked in Radcliffe on Trent; it includes those who survived as well as those who died. The broad ranging list includes both people ‘born and bred’ in the village and those with more tenuous connections, some of whom had 1918 military addresses in Radcliffe on Trent. The list also includes members of staff from Notts. County Asylum, located in the Parish of Radcliffe on Trent, who left the hospital to enlist.
The Radcliffe on Trent Roll of Honour is based on extensive and original research conducted by the research and website team. The only known servicemen’s names at the start of the project were those on two local memorials, on CWGC headstones in the cemetery and those reported by village residents. The Roll of Honour was expanded considerably through researching other sources, notably the 1918 Electoral Register, the 1918 Absent Voter list and electoral registers for the early 1920s. Once a name had been identified it was checked with online military service records. Officers’ records have been researched through visits to the National Archives at Kew.
Search the Radcliffe on Trent Roll of Honour to find men’s names, birth and death dates, ranks and units (you can also search for a name using the search button on the tool bar). Each name on the Roll of Honour links to a page of biographical details about the man concerned which includes his family background, occupation before 1914, marriage, children, where he lived, military service including where he served, medals awarded and, where known, address, occupation and household in 1939. Details vary between men according to available information. Transcriptions of service records, war diaries and photographs are included where possible.
How Radcliffe on Trent Servicemen Died: WWI Timeline
‘How Radcliffe on Trent Servicemen Died’ is a journey through the war uncovering the circumstances in which these men’s lives were lost. Starting with the retreat from Mons, follow the men through conflicts in 1915, the Battle of the Somme, Passchendaele, the German Spring Offensive, the last hundred days and up to the Armistice. Regimental war diary entries describing in close detail what happened on specific days at the place where men died or were taken prisoners of war are included in the text, if available.
Radcliffe on Trent War Memorial
Discover more about the men on Radcliffe on Trent War Memorial. Find out why they were chosen to be on it, the causes of their deaths, their ages, ranks, when they were killed, family circumstances and much more. The article also includes a description of the memorial tablet at Notts. County Asylum.
Medals received by Radcliffe on Trent men and women after the war are described here. You will find information about campaign medals, gallantry awards, orders of chivalry, civilian medals and silver war badges. Citations for gallantry awards for Radcliffe on Trent personnel are given together with lists of those receiving the 1914 Star and silver war badges.
A personal account of WWI by G V Elwin
Gilbert Elwin was a Radcliffe on Trent bombardier who served with the Royal Garrison Artillery. He was born on 22nd June 1895 and died 20th May 1995, just before his 100th birthday. A Personal Account of World War 1 was written when he was ninety-seven years of age, the events vivid to him after all that time. Gilbert Elwin narrates his experiences with the Royal Garrison Artillery from the moment he enlisted in 1915 to returning home after the Armistice. His description of fighting in major battles runs alongside amusing stories of a soldier’s life at the Front. Later in life he was keen to share his experiences with researchers, Dayncourt School pupils and their history master Jason King, and with Vic Piuk, a journalist and writer who recorded Gilbert’s memories of fellow servicemen.
Radcliffe on Trent WWI Letters
Radcliffe on Trent men sent many letters from the front. Copies of several originals can be read in the ‘Letters’ section alongside letters from family members seeking information about the whereabouts of missing men.
Our research on Radcliffe on Trent men and the military is ongoing. We are aware that the information in the Radcliffe on Trent 1914–1918 Roll of Honour and biographies is not yet complete. We may not have included all those from Radcliffe on Trent who served and there are some gaps in military details. We are continuing to collect new information and to revise the material we have. We hope to have a final version to present to the village at the end of 2018. Please let us know if you have any relevant material, to add to our continuing project. We are particularly interested in building up our collection of photographs from the period.
Please get in touch through our ‘contact us’ page if you have stories, new information and photographs to share with us.
Sources
The main sources for the Roll of Honour and linked servicemen biographies are:
Local sources and records: Radcliffe on Trent and Saxondale war memorials, Radcliffe on Trent CWGC war graves in the local cemetery, the 1918 Electoral Register, Absent Voters List 1918, Radcliffe on Trent Parish Registers, 1911 census, Radcliffe on Trent bell ringers AGM minutes 1919, Annual Reports of the Chief Medical Officer 1911–15 and 1916–1920 for Notts. County Asylum, showing staff who served, personal contact with various people who have shared their relatives’ stories with us.
Main Websites: Ancestry, BBC History, British Newspaper Archive, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Find My Past, Forces War Records, Imperial War Museum, The Long Long Trail, National Archives, the Red Cross.
Museums and archives: The National Archives, Kew, London, The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regimental Museum, Nottinghamshire Archives.
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