|
|
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies.
If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.
Site Home
Help & FAQs
Features
Submissions
Information
Advertisements
World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
Cpl. John Ritchie
British Army 2nd Battalion Royal Berkshire
(d.1st July 1916)
My Great Uncle, John Ritchie was killed first day of the Battle of the Somme 1st July 1916. I remember my Grandfather talking with great pride about his older brother. I have all of his letters home to my great grandmother, Mary box, hip flask and medals.
We will never forget you.
Pte. John Ritchie
British Army 51st Btn. Machine Gun Corps
(d.21st March 1918)
John Ritchie was the son of David and Mary Kennedy Ritchie of Belvedere, Redgorton, Perthshire. John was 20 years old when he died at 29 Casualty Clearing Station, Grevillers on 21st March 1918. He is buried in Grevillers British Cemetery, Grave XI.E.16.
2nd Lt. Kenneth James Ritchie
British Army 2nd Btn. Hertfordshire Regiment
Kenneth Ritchie, born 1896, served as Lieutenant Acting Captain in the Bedfordshire Regiment, and later as Second Lieutenant in the Hertfordshire Regiment. He fought in the battles Passchendaele and Pilckem Ridge, the Battle of Ypres, in 1917. He was wounded whilst being caught in barbed wire, but luckily survived.
Rflmn. Thomas Geddes Ritchie
British Army 2nd Btn. Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)
from:Langholm, Dumfriesshire
(d.26th October 1917)
Rifleman Thomas Geddes Ritchie was wounded in September 1917, at Paschendaele on the Western Front and died the following month after being sent back to the UK to hospital in Darlington. He had volunteered in 1914 for the Rifle Brigade (Prince ConsortĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢s Own).
Rifleman Ritchie was 22 when he died. His family have a letter he wrote to his father in his native Langholm in Dumfriesshire after the Battle of Aubers Ridge in May 1915. It is thought to be one of the very few letters still surviving which is an ordinary private soldierĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢s account of the battle which was one of the most wasteful of life in the entire WW1 with more than 11,000 British killed, wounded and missing in just two or three days. Rifleman Ritchie survived to fight in other battles until the Third Battle of Ypres when he was mortally wounded.
Research by his family recently has shown that Rifleman Ritchie fought only yards from a young Austrian lance corporal, Adolph Hitler, who was serving as a messenger with the 16th Bavarian Reserve in the Battle of Aubers Ridge. Hitler survived Aubers Ridge unscathed and it is quite a thought that Rifleman Ritchie could have changed the course of history in a way he could never have imagined with one lucky shot.
Rifleman Ritchie is buried in the family grave in the Wauchope Cemetery, Langholm.
Pte. William James Ritchie
British Army 2nd Btn. Middlesex Regiment
from:Westminster, London
(d.21st February 1918)
William Ritchie was my great-uncle (my grandfather's brother), born in Westminster, London. I knew that one of granddad's brothers had been killed in the Great War but it was not until researching my family's history in recent years that I have been able to discover a little more about him.
Having joined up with the Middlesex Regiment, William's war service began in October 1915, serving in France on the Western Front. He was killed in action near Ypres on 21st February 1918 and is buried in Poelcapelle British Cemetery. He was just 30 years old and left a widow and two small children.
When I was much younger I heard a family story that my grandfather John Ritchie, who by the end of the war was serving on the Western Front in the Labour Corps, actually came across his brother William's grave. Sadly, I never took much notice then, but now I wish I'd listened more to the reminiscences of older family members and the precious memories they shared.
We owe so much to William and his generation for the huge sacrifices they made in the service of their country.
"We will remember them".
Pte. William Thomas Trewin Ritchings
British Army 2/7th Btn. Royal Warwickshire Regiment
from:Beckington, Somerset
William Ritchings, at the outbreak of WW1 in 1914 joined the Royal Berkshire Territorials at the age of 15, he later transferred to Y Company, 2/7th Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He served in France and was wounded in knee. He returned home in 1920 and died in 1942 age 43.
Pte. George Ritson
British Army 2nd Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers
from:Barrow-in-Furness
George Ritson was born on 29th December 1890 and joined the 5th Militia Lancashire Fusiliers on 13th January 1908 service number 3133. He joined the regiment in the 2nd Battalion as a private on 6th March 1908 at 17 years and 3 months. His army record shows 18 years and 0 months. His service number was 1400.
He sailed for France on 20th August 1914 as part of the BEF and saw 4 years and 1 month service during the war. He transferred to the Royal Engineers as a motorcycle dispatch rider on approximately 22nd March 1918 service number 359642. In April 1920 he was transferred to the reserves and discharged after completing 12 years service. He had the 1914 Star with the rose on his ribbon, also the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He continued in the reserves until April 1929. He was present at some of the greatest battles of the First World War. He died in Troon, Scotland in 1954.
Lancashire Fusiliers
Pte. Isaac James Ritson
British Army 2/4th Battaion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
from:Burnley, Lancs
(d.10th August 1917)
Isaac Ritson was born on 13th of July 1887 at 6 Doctor St, Habergham, Lancashire to Mary Ann Barclay, age 24, and William Ritson, age 24. He lived in Habergham Eaves, Lancashire, England, in 1891. His mother Mary Ann passed away on 10th January 1899, in Burnley, Lancashire, England, at the age of 35. By 1901 Isaac and his father William have moved back to Burnley, Lancashire, England. They have returned to live with William's father Thomas Ritson; also a widower. Isaac is now 13 years of age and working as an apprentice moulder. By 02 April 1911 Isaac and his father are living at 6 Back Albion St., Burnley. Isaac has changed jobs and is now a labour in a brickyard. On 15th June 1912, when he was 24 years old, Isaac married Ethel May Stephenson in the parish church according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Established Church, in the parish of Brierfield in the county of Lancaster, England. In attendance were Bertram Stephenson the bride's brother, and Dorothy Avrail Bailey. On the 30th November 1912 a son was born to Isaac and Ethel in Burnley, Lancashire, they named him Herbert Wallace Ritson. His father William passed away in March 1916 in Burnley at the age of 53.
On 12th of December 1915 Isaac James signed up for service in the British Army as can be seen in the Short Service Attestation papers for the British Army. Isaac had received a notice for enlistment received from J J Brown PPR. He was assigned to the 2/4th Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, once certified by the approving officer, on 5th of October 1916. He was assigned the service number 6944 and later 203172.
Isaac reported for duty on 5th of October 1916 with the 2/4 Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. While away Isaac James wrote to his son Herbert. For Christmas of that year the men of the 2/4th Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment were given a regimental photograph. According to the regimental diary the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment left England for France near the end of February 1917.
203172, Private Isaac James Ritson serving with the 2/4th Battalion (Territorial Force)., Loyal North Lancashire Regiment was killed in action, France & Flanders, 10th of August 1917 Born: Burnley, Lancs, Enlisted: Burnley.
A letter from an NCO or officer in charge of the company wrote Ethel a letter explaining and detailing the nature and circumstances pertaining to the death of her husband. The following is my best recollection as to the nature of the letter. This letter being lost by a family member who had borrowed it to have the letter copied. Pte Isaac James Ritson was killed in action on 10 August 1917 when a horse landed on him. Reading the regimental diaries, they tell us that there was artillery fire almost every day as a common occurrence.
An excerpt from Moina Belle Michael's poem:
- And now the Torch and Poppy Red
- We wear in honor of our dead.
- Fear not that ye have died for naught;
- Well teach the lesson that ye wrought
- In Flanders Fields.
- In Flanders Fields we fought.
Isacc is remembered on the World War 1 Memorial inside The Salvation Army in Burnley.
Capt. J. A. S. Ritson
Army 8th Btn. Durham Light Infantry
Pte. James Bede Ritson
British Army 1/20th Btn. London Regiment
(d.27th Sep 1915)
James Bede Ritson, enlisted at Blackheath, London and served in the 1st/20th Battalion the London Regiment. He died on the 27th September 1915 and is remembered at Loos Memorial. His medal card records that he was killed in action and awarded the 1915 Star, War and Victory Medals.
James was born in Jarrow 1894, son of Ernest George Ritson and the late Isabella Ritson nee Wright, stepson of Isabella Ritson formerly Norfolk nee Wright. In the 1911 census the family is living at 12 Eastdown Park, Lewisham with Ernest George Ritson (45) mechanical engineer at Ordnance Engineering and his wife Isabella Ritson (39) married 4 years. His son James Bede Ritson (16) a nursery gardener and her son Reginald Edwin Norfolk (16) a student, his son Ernest Ritson (13) and her daughter Maud Isabel Norfolk also 13 years old and both at school.
Pte. John Ritson
British Army 18th Btn. Durham Light Infantry
served with 18th & 12th & 20th DLI
Dvr. George Edward Ritter
British Army D Bty. Royal Horse Artillery
from:Bolton, Lancashire
George Ritter was the son of my Great Grandmother, Ellen Clode, and her first husband a Mr George Joseph Ritter of German extraction living in London near Regents Park. George had served in the Royal Horse Artillery from 1902-1905,he rejoined in May 1914 serving in Flanders throughout the war and was demobbed Jan 1919.
My Great Grand Mother was remarried to my Great Grand Father Mr Fredrick Albert Hinton (born to Belgian extraction with the surname Van Der Stock). He served in the 18th Hussars. They had a son, my Grandfather on my mothers side, Fredrick Alfred Hinton, George's half brother. This information was taken from Gmy Grandfather's notebook. The picture is from my late mothers collection of pictures.
Pte. Jacob Rivers VC
British Army 1st Btn. Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment)
from:Bridge Gate, Derby
(d.12th March 1915)
Jacob Rivers was killed in action on the 12th of March 1915, aged 32 and is commemorated on The Le Touret Memorial in France. He was the son of Mrs. Adeline Rivers, of 4 House, Wide Yard, Bridge Gate, Derby
An extract from the London Gazette, dated 27th April, 1915, records the following:- "For most conspicuous bravery at Neuve-Chapelle on 12th March, 1915, when he, on his own initiative, crept to within a few yards of a very large number of the enemy who were massed on the flank of an advanced company of his battalion, and hurled bombs on them. His action caused the enemy to retire, and so relieved the situation. Pte. Rivers performed a second act of great bravery on the same day, similar to the first mentioned, again causing the enemy to retire. He was killed on this occasion."
Pte. Robert Samuel Rivers
British Army 8th Battalion East Kent Regiment
from:London
(d.18th Aug 1916)
Robert my Grandad was killed in action in France aged 34 leaving a wife and six children, one of them my Dad.
Pte. Thomas Rivers
British Army 13th Btn. Kings (Liverpool Regiment)
from:Kirkdale, Liverpool
(d.5th May 1917)
Thomas Rivers is a member of my family, I have his medals. Still trying to find out more about him.
James Rivett
Australian Imperial Forces 10th Australian Machine Gun Coy
from:Adelaide, Australia
(d.14th Sep 1918)
James Rivett was born in London and emigrated as a child to Adelaide. He volunteered a year under age, was badly gassed, taken to hospital in Rouen where he died a few days later on 14th September 1918, his 21st birthday (Army records show 22). He is buried St Sevre extension, Rouen.
Sgt. Arthur Albert Rix
British Army 2/14th Btn. London Regiment
from:London
Pte. Edward William Rix
British Army 2nd Btn. Durham Light Infantry
from:Jarrow
(d.21st Sep 1914)
Edward William Rix, enlisted at Jarrow and served in the 2nd Battalion Durham Light infantry. He died age 18, on the 21st September 1914 and is buried at St. Paul's Church and Vendresse British Cemetery. His medal card records that he died of wounds and was awarded the 1914 Star, War and Victory Medal.
He was born in Jarrow 1896, the son of Elizabeth Ellen Rix. In the 1911 census Elizabeth (40) widow, is living at 29 Tyne Street Back, Jarrow, with her daughter Elizabeth (21) a domestic servant and son Edward (14) a carrying off labourer in a tubeworks. There are two younger daughters one at school, Ruth (11) and Ellen aged 4.
Pte. George Rix
British Army 7th Btn. Norfolk Regiment
(d.3rd Jul 1916)
George Rix lost his life on the 3rd of July 1916, age 30.
Pte. Robert Earnest Rix
British Army 21st (Tyneside Scottish) Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers
from:2 East Terrace, Bomarsund, Stakeford, Northumberland
(d.27th Jun 1916)
I have found my great uncle Robert Rix enlisted in the Northumberland Fusiliers at Bedlington, England in 1916. Robert was born in Widdrington pit village (coal mine), in the North East of England in 1894 and would become one of 14 children of George and Alice Rix. His father was a coal miner. The family moved to Bomarsund/Stakeford in 1911 and were living at 2 East Terrace. Many of the older boys and their father worked in the coal mine there also. Robert was a pit pony driver, from the about the age of 13.
Robert enlisted as a private in the 21st (2nd Tyneside Scottish) Battalion. After training he landed in France, and his battalion was sent to the Western Front (and finally, the Somme). No more is noted in the records until he next turns up at the 38th Casualty Clearing Station. He was gassed, and died there on the 27th of June 1916 aged 20. His effects went to his family who were also posthumously awarded his medals; the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
He will always be remembered for his sacrifice for his country. Family memories say Robert's father George, was never the same man after Robert was killed. George died of heart failure less than a year later. Possibly it may have also been a broken heart.
Private Robert Earnest Rix is buried at Heilly Station Cemetery, Mericourt-L'Abbe, Somme, France and is remembered on the following memorials:
- Bedlington Coal Company memorial in the Chapel of Rememberance at St Cuthberts Church of England Church, Bedlington.
- Also in a memorial in the forecourt of Stakeford Memorial Hall.
- Also on a Roll of Honour to The Heroic Dead originally at the West Sleekburn Middle School. The school is now closed and the plaque was moved to St Peters Church Hall.
Pte. Edward James Rixon
British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Berkshire Regiment
from:Fawley Green, Henley-on-Thames
(d.4th April 1917)
Edwin Rixon died on 4th of April 1917, aged 22. He was the son of James and Elizabeth Rixon, of Fawley Green, Henley-on-Thames. He lived in the village of Fawley, nr. Henley on Thames, with his parents, his brother Jack (my grandfather) and sister Amy (Cis).
Pte. Henry Rixon
18th Aux Bus Coy.
from:Southwark
(d. 24th Aug 1918)
I am trying to trace more information about Henry Rixon. I do know that he served in the Hundred Days Offensive, the final period of World War 1. He was killed in Action 24th August 1918 and is commemorated at Heath Cemetery, Harbonnieres.
FarrierQMS. Cyrus Owen Roach
British Army Royal Field Artillery
from:Bodmin
(d.23rd Aug 1915)
Cyrus Roach served during Anglo Boer War and was apparently serving in India for 10yrs. He received the Royal Humane Society Medal for bravery for saving the life of a pallbearer on the Brahmaputra River. However this has been told through family members but cannot find evidence of this. His original Headstone at Bodmin has been replaced with CWWGC which apparently was put on after the death of Cyrus Owens' spouse Naomi Edith Ethel Maud Roach and the Original headstone was not put back, but it has been told to me by my father that there were a lot of decorations on the original headstone. Unfortunately a lot of photos and information have been burnt and I only have snippets told to me by surviving relatives.
Cyrus Owen apparently was a Farrier Quarter Master Sergeant who also was a Veterinary Surgeon or what we now today would call Animal Husbandry. He served with the 17th Battery Royal Field Artillery during WW1 and died at Ayot Exeter on the 23rd August 1915. From the photo he was with C Battery (Farriers), 46th Brigade, RFA
George H. Roach
British Army D Bty. 176th (Leicestershire) Brigade Royal Field Artillery
I was given a post card of St Peter's church, Shipton Bellinger, Wiltshire which is dated Oct 1915 and is addressed to a Miss H Preston, 1 The Hill, Ashby de La Douch, Leicestershire.
Before the message to this lady, it reads: 32272, D Battery, 176 Brigade, RFA, 34 Division, No 1 Camp, Boyton Park, Codford, Wilts. It is signed only by the initials GHR.
I would very much like to know who this soldier was and what happened to him.
Update: A search for the service number in the medal records reveals him to be George H Roach.
Pte. George Roach
British Army 15th (Carmarthenshire) Btn. Welch Regiment
from:Llangloffan
(d.11th Mar 1918)
George Roach was killed in action along with six of his fellow soldiers during a German raid on post 6 at Houplines on the 11th of March 1918. Another 20 were injured and 3 missing. I am continuing to search deeper into his service. He is listed at the Llangloffan Mmemorial. George is buried with others from the same Regiment at the Cite Bonjean Cemetery.
Pte. James Roach
British Army 7th Btn North Staffordshire Regiment
from:Trimdon, Durham
(d.6th Dec 1915)
Unfortunately I don't know much about my Great Grand Uncle, John Roache, he was one of many of my relatives who served during the Great War and one of several who it appears were casualties. I know that his name is inscribed on the Helles Memorial for those who fell in Gallipolli but know little about him apart from that.
John Roach
British Army 20th Heavy Battery Royal Garrison Artillery
from:Blyth
Pte. Patrick Roach
British Army 1st Btn. B Coy Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
from:Walton Liverpool
(d.14th Sep 1914)
Patrick Roach served with B Coy. 1st Btn. Loyal North Lancashires.
Pte. Patrick Roache
British Army 4th Btn. transf. to (412977) Labour Corps Royal Irish Regiment
from:Callan, Co. Kilkenny
(d.2nd October 1918)
Private Roache was the husband of Bridget Roache of 11 Cottage, Green St., Callan, Co. Kilkenny.
He was 39 when he died and is buried in the South-East part of the Mallardstown (Whitechurch) Cemetery, Mallardstown, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland.
Pte. D. Roachford
British West Indies Regiment
(d.2nd November 1919)
Private Roachford is buried in the Westbury Cemetery, St. Michael, Barbados
Page 25 of 51
Can you help us to add to our records?
The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them
Did your relative live through the Great War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial?
If so please let us know.
Do you know the location of a Great War "Roll of Honour?"We are very keen to track down these often forgotten documents and obtain photographs and transcriptions of the names recorded so that they will be available for all to remember.
Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice.
Celebrate your own Family History
Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Great War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc.
Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.
The free section of The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers.
This website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions.
If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running.
Hosted by:
The Wartime Memories Project Website
is archived for preservation by the British Library
Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV
- All Rights Reserved -We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.
