QOOH / OY ROLL OF HONOUR
Remembered this Month - October
During this month we pay our tributes and due reverence to those soldiers who had served in a unit holding the QOOH or OY appellation, who gave their lives in pursuit of peace for the Nation. And especially that we are able to live our lives as we wish, without fear of dictatorships, race, or creed.
The names of the Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Other Ranks who were either killed in action (K), died of wounds (DW), died in captivity (DC), or otherwise died in service (D) for remembrance during OCTOBER are listed below.
Age at date of death, if known, is in brackets following date of death.
2nd Anglo-Boer War
1901
18/10/1901 Tpr Robert Calderhead D, drowned near Wepener, Free State Province, S Africa
21/10/1901 Tpr Thomas Brazier K, Roodeval, Free State Province, S Africa
21/10/1901 Cpl William Henry Catch K, Roodeval, Free State Province, S Africa
21/10/1901 Cpl William Harkiss Meggison K, Roodeval, Free State Province, S Africa
21/10/1901 Tpr Edward Frederick Pethers K, Roodeval, Free State Province, S Africa
First World War
1916
7/10/1916 (32) 2Lt William Henry Lovell Vernon K, on the Somme, France (attd to Oxf & Bucks LI)
Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
10/10/1916 (21) 2Lt Harold Crawford Smith D, accidently in England
Buried at Chingford Mount Cemetery, Essex, UK
1917
28/10/1917 (24) Pte Cyril Augustine Hitchman K, France
Buried at Cement House Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
28/10/1917 (24) Pte George Tustin DW, France
Buried at Dozinghem Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
29/10/1917 (20) Pte Henry Lindsay DW, Belgium
Buried at Dozinghem Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
29/10/1917 (20) Pte Frederick Woodley DW, France
Buried at Dozinghem Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
1918
20/10/1918 (24) Pte Sydney Arthur Sheppard D, France
Buried at Mont Huon Military Cemetery, Le Treport, Seine-Maritime, France
24/10/1918 (22) Pte Charles Bertram Fowler K, Battle of Selle, Nord, France
Buried at Romeries Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France
27/10/1918 (27) Pte William George Youens D, England
Buried at High Wycombe Cemetery, Buckinghamshire, UK
World War Two
1939
29/10/1939 (48) LtCol Anthony John Muirhead MC & Bar D, at Great Haseley, Oxon, England
Buried at Great Haseley (St. Peter) Churchyard, Oxfordshire, UK
1943
21/10/1943 (19) Gnr Thomas Henry Davies D, UK
Buried at Merthyr Tydfil (Pant) Cemetery, Glamorganshire, UK
29/10/1943 (24) LBdr John William Rymill DC, of general weakness at Chungkai camp, Thailand
Buried at Chungkai War Cemetery, Thailand
30/10/1943 (23) Gnr Patrick Clarence Gould DC, of Beriberi at H Force hospital, Kanburi, Thailand
Buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand (initially buried at Kanburi)
1945
25/10/1945 (26) Gnr Edward Haggerty Ralston D, nr Kiel, Germany
Buried at Kiel War Cemetery, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
QOOH Men Who Were Transferred Into Other Units in the First World War
During the First World War, and with the high number of casualties happening, there was an urgent need for replacement soldiers to back-fill these gaps. Many hundreds of these came from men of the 2/1st and 3/1st QOOH. Whilst being given a Service Number when signing up to the QOOH, these men were then re-issued a second Service Number on transfer and a great many men were lost to the QOOH records. Over time, a lot of records have been found informing us of a number of these transfers and where they ended up, and of course their casualty numbers. In the section below we list the QOOH men who were transferred into these other units and subsequently lost their lives. I would like to give great credit to Mike Cross and Harry Staff who have been delving into these further records and without their diligence these QOOH men would most likely not be remembered here on this page. As new information comes to light, these lists will be updated and is certainly a ‘Work-in-Progress’ situation.
In the lists below can be found the soldier’s original QOOH Service Number, his new secondary Service Number, and the Battalion he was posted to. It has been found that some QOOH soldiers had been transferred more than once, and this is mentioned in the text below where this has been uncovered.
QOOH Men Transferred Into Secondary Units
Infantry Battalion Names
1916 QOOH OBLI Bn
7/10/1916 (24) Pte James William Biles 2677 32754 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
7/10/1916 Pte Herbert Frederick Evans 2647 32781 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
DW, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
7/10/1916 (21) Pte Wilfred Clarence Goldby 2260 32739 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
7/10/1916 (22) Pte Thomas Arthur Grantham 2445 32798 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
7/10/1916 (28) Pte Herbert William Reynolds 2684 32849 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Buried at Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France
7/10/1916 Pte Isaac Smith 3131 32879 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
7/10/1916 Pte John Thomas Hammerton 3414 32811 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
7/10/1916 Pte Reuben Goddard 3058 32800 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
7/10/1916 (20) Pte Percy Pargeter 3110 32846 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
7/10/1916 (19) Pte Maurice John Pratt 2246 32839 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Buried at Serre Road Cemetery No.2, Somme, France
8/10/1916 LCpl Thomas John Gee 1771 32732 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
DW, and Buried at Grove Town Cemetery, Meaulte, Somme, France (CWGC records rank as Sjt)
9/10/1916 Pte Aubrey Cato 2774 32773 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
9/10/1916 Pte Edward Hudson 1643 32819 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
9/10/1916 Pte Henry Thomas Knott 2326 32823 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
DW, and Buried at St Sever Cemetery, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France
9/10/1916 (30) Pte Ernest Padbury 3421 32833 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
9/10/1916 Pte Oscar Rimington 2502 32854 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
9/10/1916 Pte Frederick Charles Rolfe 2456 32850 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
9/10/1916 Pte Richard Tyrrell 3134 32889 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
DW, and Buried at Grove Town Cemetery, Meaulte, Somme, France
9/10/1916 Pte Sydney Alfred Woodhouse 5537 32868 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
9/10/1916 Pte Victor Cunningham 3126 32775 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
9/10/1916 Pte William Ernest Lovell 2589 32733 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
17/10/1916 Pte Philip Charles Benfield 2471 32762 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
19/10/1916 (23) Pte Leslie John Richards 3080 32852 6th Oxf & Bucks LI
DW, and Buried at Grove Town Cemetery, Meaulte, Somme, France
1917
16/10/1917 (27) Pte William James Dorsett 3552 235064 5th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
17/10/1917 Pte Ronald Sidney Keates 3470 235080 5th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Buried at Hooge Crater Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
22/10/1917 (22) Pte Frederick Webb 2596 235106 5th Oxf & Bucks LI
K, and Commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Machine Gun Corps Names
1918 QOOH MGC Sqn
18/10/1918 (23) Pte Charles Robert Sharp 3154 101111 15th Sqn, MGC (Cavalry)
D, in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Commemorated at Tehran Memorial, Iran
Rank Abbreviations
2Lt – Second-Lieutenant
Bdr – Bombardier (artillery equivalent to Corporal)
BQMS – Battery Quarter Master Sergeant (artillery equivalent to Company QMS)
Capt – Captain
Cpl – Corporal
Gnr – Gunner (artillery equivalent to Private)
LBdr – Lance-Bombardier (artillery equivalent to Lance-Corporal)
LCpl – Lance-Corporal
LSgt – Lance-Sergeant (a local promotion of a Bombardier /Corporal by his commanding officer, usually with extra pay)
Lt – Lieutenant
Lt Col – Lieutenant-Colonel
Maj – Major
Pte – Private
QMS – Quarter Master Sergeant
RSM – Regimental Sergeant Major
Sdlr – Saddler
Sgt – Sergeant
SSgt – Staff Sergeant
SSM – Squadron Sergeant Major
Tpr – Trooper (cavalry equivalent to Private)
Tptr – Trumpeter (cavalry equivalent to Bugler)
Post-Nominal Letters
Post-nominal letters, are letters placed after a person’s name to indicate that an individual holds a military decoration, or honour:-
DSO – Distinguished Service Order (awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime).
MC – Military Cross (for officers only until 1993, when it was opened up to all ranks) – awarded for acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land.
MM – Military Medal (other ranks’ equivalent to the Military Cross until 1993) – awarded for bravery in battle.
MiD – Mentioned in Dispatches (is one whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which his or her gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy is described)
These awards in the British Armed Forces, are published in the London Gazette.
As more details of soldiers who have served with the OY and QOOH become available, this Roll of Honour list will be updated. This is very much a ‘work-in-progress’ item.
If you know of any person whom you think should be remembered in the Roll of Honour, please inform any of these people –Mick Luxford, Mike Cross, or Harry Staff – for consideration, thank you.
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