210852 Pte. Frederick George Richard Townley British Army 2/7th Battalion Royal Warwickshire from:Foleshill (d.19th July 1916) Frederick Townley was killed at the Battle of Fromelles on July 19th 1916 whilst serving with the 2/7th Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He is commemorated on the 1914-1918 plaque in St Peter’s Church, Hook Norton. During research into his family tree in April 2009 the writer discovered that Frederick, a distant relative, was one of the soldiers of the 2/7th Royal Warwick’s, listed missing from an attack at Fromelles, France on July 19th 1916. He also found that Frederick had no known grave.
The discovery of mass graves at Pheasant Wood in 2008, containing up to 400 bodies from the attack, opened up the possibility that Frederick was among those discovered. Work by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) began in May 2009 to try and identify the remains unearthed using historic records, artefacts found and also DNA evidence from living relatives.
Frederick George Richard Townley was born in Hook Norton on April 11th 1886, the youngest son of William and Charlotte Townley. In 1891, along with siblings John, Eliza, Tom, William and Fanny, he lived at Lower Nill Cottages. In 1893 mother Charlotte died, followed by father William in 1900. This resulted in Frederick and his siblings being dispersed to work in and around the surrounding area. In 1901 aged 14, Frederick was employed as a Ploughboy boarding with James and Martha Hall and family at Lower Nill. By 1911 he was working as an Ironstone digger while lodging with Christopher and Annie Luckett and family in High Street, Hook Norton.
Sometime later Frederick moved to Foleshill, Coventry, where he joined the Royal Warwickshire’s. In March 1916 after training, the Regiment being part of the 61st (South Midland) Division, moved to Salisbury Plain prior to deployment to France. During June he trained in trench warfare before being deployed in the trenches at Fauquissart. Frederick’s regiment, with an Australian Division, was chosen to take part in the attack on the German lines planned for July 19th. The attack went ahead with disastrous results, some 1,547 casualties being recorded for the 61st Division, and 5.533 for the Australian’s. Afterwards the German Infantry began clearing the area and, anxious to avoid disease, arranged hurriedly to bury the dead in large mass graves near Pheasant Wood, here they would lay undisturbed until rediscovered in 2008.
During 2010, the writer assisted the CWGC in the identification process by obtaining a DNA sample from a living relative of Frederick in the hope that this would help ascertain if Frederick was among those remains found. As of July no match has been established but the process is on-going.
In the meantime, all the remains found so far have been laid to rest in graves at a new CWGC Military Cemetery at Fromelles (the first new CWGC cemetery for 50 years). This was opened and dedicated on July 19th 2010, 94 years after the battle took place. Hopefully, Frederick will be eventually identified so that his final resting place can be positively confirmed with an inscribed headstone.
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