Roll of Honour – qooh.org.uk

QOOH / OY ROLL OF HONOUR

Remembered this Month - July

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 July are listed below.

Age at date of death, if known, is in brackets following date of death.

2nd Anglo-Boer War

1900
12/7/1900 Tpr Henry Harris D, of disease at Kroonstad, Free State Province, S Africa
13/7/1900 Tpr Calverley Trevelyan Hancock K, Bethlehem, Free State Province, S Africa

First World War

1915
16/7/1915 (18) Pte Frederick John Wilson D, France
Buried at St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France

1917
1/7/1917 (27) LCpl William Alison Blelock K, Templeux Quarries, Somme, France
Buried at Templeux-Le-Guerard British Cemetery, Somme, France
1/7/1917 (27) Pte Frederick Cox K, Templeux Quarries, Somme, France
Buried at Templeux-Le-Guerard British Cemetery, Somme, France
1/7/1917 (18) Pte Frederick William John Macey, MM K, Templeux Quarries, Somme, France
Buried at Templeux-Le-Guerard British Cemetery, Somme, France
1/7/1917 (23) Pte Charles Henry Thompson K, Templeux Quarries, Somme, France
Buried at Templeux-Le-Guerard British Cemetery, Somme, France
5/7/1917 (31) Sjt William Alexander Smith Bayliss, MiD K, Gillemont Farm, Somme, France
Buried at Templeux-Le-Guerard British Cemetery, Somme, France
5/7/1917 (23) Pte George Lewis Buckle K, Gillemont Farm, Somme, France
Buried at Templeux-Le-Guerard British Cemetery, Somme, France
5/7/1917 (20) Pte James Hamilton DW, Gillemont Farm, Somme, France
Buried at Tincourt New British Cemetery, Somme, France
5/7/1917 (21) Pte Alfred Edwin Old K, Gillemont Farm, Somme, France
Buried at Templeux-Le-Guerard British Cemetery, Somme, France
5/7/1917 (20) Pte Albert James Podbery, MM K, Gillemont Farm, Somme, France
Buried at Templeux-Le-Guerard British Cemetery, Somme, France
28/7/1917 (29) 2Lt Arthur James Lewis O’Beirne DW, received whilst attd to RFC in aerial combat over Houlthulst Forrest, Belgium Buried at Coxyde Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

World War Two

1942
7/7/1942 (23) Gnr Albert Edward Wignall DC, Changi, Singapore
Buried at Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore

1943
1/7/1943 (34) BQMS Victor Lewis Green DC, Tonchan, NW Thailand
Buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand
3/7/1943 (32) Sgt Jack McPherson Coles DC, Tonchan, Thailand
Buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand
9/7/1943 (21) Gnr Harold Percy Brown DC, Nanchon Yai, Thailand
Buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand
22/7/1943 (32) Gnr Stephen Cooney DC, Tasao No2, Thailand
Buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand
31/7/1943 (32) Bdr Samuel G Miles D, UK
Buried at Stalybridge (St. Paul) Churchyard, Cheshire, UK

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 a great need of 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 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. 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.

Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry

1st/4th Bn

1917
31/07/1917 (35) Pte Edwin James Maccabee K Buried at New Irish Farm Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

31/07/1917 (22) Pte Percy Sydney Pidwell K Commemorated at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

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.