At the June meeting, Winterton Town councillors unanimously approved the addition of 12 WW1 soldiers names to the town’s war memorial. To do justice to these brave young lads, here are the stories of the first four men. The other soldiers will appear in forthcoming issues of Out 'n About.
1304 Private Charles William Stubbins - 5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
Charles William Stubbins was born on 16th February 1890, Queen Street, Winterton, and was the son of Joseph Shacklock & Hannah Maria STUBBINS. In 1891 he was living with his parents in Queen Street, Winterton, but by 1901 the family had moved to 2 Claude Terrace, Sculcoates, Hull. In 1911 Charles and his parents were living in 4 Carlisle Street, Gainsborough.
Charles enlisted in Gainsborough and is listed on the 1914-15 Winterton Roll of Honour as being in the 5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment.
He entered France on 1st March 1915, but was killed in action on 20th May 1915, aged 25 (see below for more details on the circumstances), and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.
His Medal Index Card shows that he was posthumously awarded the 1915 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Photo: by kind permission of Lynne Thompson, great niece of Charles William Stubbins.
Charles enlisted in Gainsborough and is listed on the 1914-15 Winterton Roll of Honour as being in the 5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment.
He entered France on 1st March 1915, but was killed in action on 20th May 1915, aged 25 (see below for more details on the circumstances), and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.
His Medal Index Card shows that he was posthumously awarded the 1915 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Photo: by kind permission of Lynne Thompson, great niece of Charles William Stubbins.
3217 Private Jack Parrott - 5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
Jack Parrott was born on 26th January 1884, Earlsgate, Winterton, and was the son of James and Sarah PARROTT. In 1891 and 1901 he was living with his parents in Earlsgate, Winterton, but by 1911 he had moved to 5 Lindley Street, Ashby.
Jack enlisted in Scunthorpe (residing in Thealby) and is listed on the 1914-15 Winterton Roll of Honour as being in the 5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment. He entered France on 1st March 1915, but was killed in action on 20th May 1915, aged 33 (see below), and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.
His Medal Index Card shows that he was posthumously awarded the 1915 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Jack enlisted in Scunthorpe (residing in Thealby) and is listed on the 1914-15 Winterton Roll of Honour as being in the 5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment. He entered France on 1st March 1915, but was killed in action on 20th May 1915, aged 33 (see below), and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.
His Medal Index Card shows that he was posthumously awarded the 1915 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
3106 Private James Emerson Proctor - 5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
James Emerson Proctor was born in Northamptonshire in 1894 and was the son of John Wattam & Lily PROCTOR. In 1901 he was living with his parents in Chapel Lane, Winterton, but by 1911 the family had moved to 102 Frodingham Road, Scunthorpe.
James enlisted in Grimsby and is listed on the 1914-15 Winterton Roll of Honour (qualified by upbringing) as being in the 5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment.
He entered France on 1st March 1915, but was killed in action on 20th May 1915, aged 21 (see below), and is buried in Packhorse Farm Shrine Cemetery, Belgium. His Medal Index Card shows that he was posthumously awarded the 1915 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
James is shown standing in the photo, but in a further cruel twist of fate, his brother, Ernest Arthur Proctor (seated), who was also serving with the 5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, was killed on the same day and is buried in the same cemetery.
Photo: by kind permission of Jim Cross (nephew) and Denise Swanson (great niece) of James Emerson Proctor.
James enlisted in Grimsby and is listed on the 1914-15 Winterton Roll of Honour (qualified by upbringing) as being in the 5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment.
He entered France on 1st March 1915, but was killed in action on 20th May 1915, aged 21 (see below), and is buried in Packhorse Farm Shrine Cemetery, Belgium. His Medal Index Card shows that he was posthumously awarded the 1915 Star, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
James is shown standing in the photo, but in a further cruel twist of fate, his brother, Ernest Arthur Proctor (seated), who was also serving with the 5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, was killed on the same day and is buried in the same cemetery.
Photo: by kind permission of Jim Cross (nephew) and Denise Swanson (great niece) of James Emerson Proctor.
5485 Private Septimus Hare - 8th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
Septimus Hare was born on 25th July 1879 in Winterton, and was the son of James & Elizabeth HARE. In 1881 Septimus and his parents were living in Park Street, Winterton and by 1891 he had moved to 9 Fosters Yard, Gainsborough. Septimus doesn’t appear in the 1901 census, but he reappears in 1911 at 5 Victoria Street, Gainsborough.
Septimus enlisted in Gainsborough. He disembarked on 6th September 1914, but was killed in action at Armentières on 6th January 1916, aged 36 and is buried in Cité Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentières, France. The war diary for that particular day states “Bn in trenches. Trench 69 heavily bombarded. Casualties 1 killed, 9 wounded (one serious)”. His Medal Index Card shows that he was posthumously awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
UPDATE: Photo and additional information below kindly supplied by Gainsborough historian Peter Bradshaw
Extracts from Gainsborough News 4th February 1916: Septimus fought along with his brother James in the South African War and “they were on the reserve when war broke out, both living in Gainsborough, James married and Septimus living at home. They immediately rejoined the Colours, and landed in France with the gallant 1st Lincolns at the very onset of the war, coming into contact with the German advance at Mons. Here, on the 16th September, James was killed, being the first Gainsborough soldier to fall in the war. Septimus, who saw his brother fall, took part in all the early battles in those critical early stages of the war in which the little British Army played so brave a part. He was invalided home wounded, and just before Christmas went back again to the firing line, being attached to the 8th Lincolns. He had only been up a week when on January 6th, he was killed by a “whizz-bang” which fell in the dugout where he was getting his breakfast.
The article goes on to say that his sister received a letter from Private T W Cook, of the 8th Lincolns. He said:- “Poor old Sep. We were the best of pals. We came away from Grimsby together and always stuck together. I am pleased to tell you he was put away nice and comfortable, in a nice coffin and the Union Jack was placed over it and a proper service held. I was only five yards away when he was killed. We all thought our time had come. It happened at 7.30 in the morning, January 6th. The enemy started shelling our trenches, and we had a terrible time. We only lost one killed and twelve wounded, but poor old Sep was the one that got killed. I dare not tell you where he is buried, but it is a nice little cemetery behind our lines. I went across the other day to have another look and a nice white cross marks his grave with his name and regiment on it. Give my greatest sympathy to your mother. You can't tell what my feelings were when this lot happened, for I was pals with both your brothers, Jim and Sep, but we don't know whose turn it is going to be next”.
Septimus enlisted in Gainsborough. He disembarked on 6th September 1914, but was killed in action at Armentières on 6th January 1916, aged 36 and is buried in Cité Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentières, France. The war diary for that particular day states “Bn in trenches. Trench 69 heavily bombarded. Casualties 1 killed, 9 wounded (one serious)”. His Medal Index Card shows that he was posthumously awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
UPDATE: Photo and additional information below kindly supplied by Gainsborough historian Peter Bradshaw
Extracts from Gainsborough News 4th February 1916: Septimus fought along with his brother James in the South African War and “they were on the reserve when war broke out, both living in Gainsborough, James married and Septimus living at home. They immediately rejoined the Colours, and landed in France with the gallant 1st Lincolns at the very onset of the war, coming into contact with the German advance at Mons. Here, on the 16th September, James was killed, being the first Gainsborough soldier to fall in the war. Septimus, who saw his brother fall, took part in all the early battles in those critical early stages of the war in which the little British Army played so brave a part. He was invalided home wounded, and just before Christmas went back again to the firing line, being attached to the 8th Lincolns. He had only been up a week when on January 6th, he was killed by a “whizz-bang” which fell in the dugout where he was getting his breakfast.
The article goes on to say that his sister received a letter from Private T W Cook, of the 8th Lincolns. He said:- “Poor old Sep. We were the best of pals. We came away from Grimsby together and always stuck together. I am pleased to tell you he was put away nice and comfortable, in a nice coffin and the Union Jack was placed over it and a proper service held. I was only five yards away when he was killed. We all thought our time had come. It happened at 7.30 in the morning, January 6th. The enemy started shelling our trenches, and we had a terrible time. We only lost one killed and twelve wounded, but poor old Sep was the one that got killed. I dare not tell you where he is buried, but it is a nice little cemetery behind our lines. I went across the other day to have another look and a nice white cross marks his grave with his name and regiment on it. Give my greatest sympathy to your mother. You can't tell what my feelings were when this lot happened, for I was pals with both your brothers, Jim and Sep, but we don't know whose turn it is going to be next”.
As the original WW1 panel on the war memorial is displayed in chronological order, our editor, Estelle listed the 13 additional names in the same manner and it quickly became evident that 20th May 1915 was a very dark day for Winterton.
Jack Parrott, James Emerson Proctor and Charles William Stubbins, all serving with the 5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, were all killed in action on that dreadful day.
A search of the History of the Lincolnshire Regiment 1914-1918 booklet, reveals the following details:
“The records of the 1/5th Battalion are more detailed than those of the 1/4th; even so, there is little in them of more than ordinary interest.
One item, however, does deserve mention. Those who went through the agonies of the trenches will know full well the nerve-wracking tension occasioned by the knowledge that the enemy was preparing a mine which might go up at any moment beneath the trench in which they stood.
This experience fell to the lot of the 1/5th Lincolnshire (for the first time) on the 26th of April. Suspicions were aroused on that date by muffled noises beneath the trench heard by the mining officer near Eil* and confirmed on the 28th by sounds of voices underground. But no further mention appears in the records until the 20th May when the inevitable result occurred: on that date at 3 p.m. the Germans blew the mine, killing eleven men and wounding twenty-two others of the 1/5th Lincolnshire, four men also being “missing, believed killed.” One officer (Lieutenant Dyson), who had been buried for fourteen hours in the debris, was recovered at 5 a.m. on the 21st bruised, but sound and cheery.
The next day suspicious noises were heard by R.E. officers under Eil, as if a mining charge was being placed in position.
On the 6th miners working in rear of Eil (which had been rebuilt since the explosion) discovered an enemy sap and heard the German sentry snoring. The Royal Engineers then placed a charge of 150lbs. ammonal and fired it, destroying the enemy’s gallery, but leaving our own intact. On the 15th of June, just before midnight, the 1/5th returned to bivouacs in Dranoutre.”
*Refers to a trench called ‘E1 Left’, also known as ‘Hell’s Kitchen’.
Jack Parrott, James Emerson Proctor and Charles William Stubbins, all serving with the 5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, were all killed in action on that dreadful day.
A search of the History of the Lincolnshire Regiment 1914-1918 booklet, reveals the following details:
“The records of the 1/5th Battalion are more detailed than those of the 1/4th; even so, there is little in them of more than ordinary interest.
One item, however, does deserve mention. Those who went through the agonies of the trenches will know full well the nerve-wracking tension occasioned by the knowledge that the enemy was preparing a mine which might go up at any moment beneath the trench in which they stood.
This experience fell to the lot of the 1/5th Lincolnshire (for the first time) on the 26th of April. Suspicions were aroused on that date by muffled noises beneath the trench heard by the mining officer near Eil* and confirmed on the 28th by sounds of voices underground. But no further mention appears in the records until the 20th May when the inevitable result occurred: on that date at 3 p.m. the Germans blew the mine, killing eleven men and wounding twenty-two others of the 1/5th Lincolnshire, four men also being “missing, believed killed.” One officer (Lieutenant Dyson), who had been buried for fourteen hours in the debris, was recovered at 5 a.m. on the 21st bruised, but sound and cheery.
The next day suspicious noises were heard by R.E. officers under Eil, as if a mining charge was being placed in position.
On the 6th miners working in rear of Eil (which had been rebuilt since the explosion) discovered an enemy sap and heard the German sentry snoring. The Royal Engineers then placed a charge of 150lbs. ammonal and fired it, destroying the enemy’s gallery, but leaving our own intact. On the 15th of June, just before midnight, the 1/5th returned to bivouacs in Dranoutre.”
*Refers to a trench called ‘E1 Left’, also known as ‘Hell’s Kitchen’.