Beeston St John the Baptist

War Memorial

The War Memorial panels

Principal War Memorial

The 1914 War Memorial is on the north side, recording all the names on five bronze tablets which are fixed in the organ arch near the chancel. Those who died in the 1939-45 War, the Falklands War and Gulf War are recorded in a book supplied by the British Legion and kept in a display cabinet supplied by Broxtowe Council. A British Legion standard has been laid up in the church and hangs by the memorial altar.

Setting up the War Memorial

After the First World War, these bronze memorial plaques were installed here, recording the names of all the local men who died in the War ‘without any distinction’. Articles from the Beeston and West Nottinghamshire Gazette 1919-21 detail how the money for this memorial was raised:

12 July 1919

Church War Memorial

In connection with the proposal to erect five bronze tablets to commemorate within the walls of Beeston Parish Church the names of local heroes without distinction of creed subscriptions are coming in well. Already £269 14s 6d has been received and a further £12 1s 6d promised. The work is now in hand and the cost of the memorial is expected to be between £500-600. Tablets are to be erected in the organ arch close to the chancel so that they will be in view of the whole congregation.

17 July 1920

Church War Memorial: the bronze tablets cost £450, the total nearly £650. The cost is more than expected, especially to enamel the names. A large number of names and ranks were incorporated. It was hoped the money will be raised.

19 March 1921

The memorial screen at the Beeston Parish Church on which is inscribed all the names (as far as can be ascertained) of Beeston men who sacrificed their lives in the Great War will be dedicated and unveiled on Sunday afternoon 3 April by the Venerable Archdeacon of Nottingham and the Colonel Dennis R Bayley respectively. Readers are asked to note that the screen is not yet paid for and the Committee are anxious that the dedication will take place with the memorial being free from debt. Mr A Nicholson of Grove Street will be pleased to receive subscriptions.

2 April 1921

The unveiling takes place at 3.00pm tomorrow. Considerable sums are still required to defray the cost of the memorial and it is hoped that with the offerings on Sunday afternoon a memorial will be unveiled which is free from debt.

9 April 1921

War Memorial unveiled in Beeston Parish Church

‘And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels’ is the inscription on the War Memorial unveiled and dedicated at Beeston Parish Church on Sunday afternoon. The church was packed with representatives from Beeston Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, political organisations, St John Ambulance Brigade, Girl Guides and all religious denominations. The service opened with singing ‘Through the night of doubt and sorrow’ followed by the 27th Psalm ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom then shall I fear’. The lesson was read by Rev LAW Graves MA. The ceremony of unveiling the memorial was performed by Col Sir H Dennis Bayley KBE, DL who released the Union Jack while repeating the words ‘To the Glory of God and in grateful memory of those who gave their lives for King and Country and the Righteous Cause of Freedom’.

The Ven Archdeacon of Nottingham dedicated the memorial saying ‘In the faith of Jesus Christ we dedicate this memorial to the Glory of God and in memory of those who gave their lives in the Great War for their country and in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection from the dead and in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.’

The Archdeacon preached the sermon taking for his text ‘For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.’ (1 Thess 4.14).

Inscriptions on the War Memorial

The panels are engraved as follows:

First Panel
Royal Navy    
RH Beckett Stoker HMS Bulwark
J Coxon Artificer HMS Mascot
H Foster AB    
GE Jenoure Signaller HMS Good Hope
A Rothera Lt Com    
JF Williams AB HMS Bulwark
     
Royal Naval Air Service    
L Hardstaff Flt Com    
     
3rd Hussars Kings Own    
H Morton Tpr    
     
Notts Yeomanry (South Notts Hussars)
FW Piggin MC Capt    
     
Royal Field Artillery    
SG Booth Gnr    
AE Clarke Gnr    
F Hazzledine Gnr   H Lea Sergt
AE Mee Gnr   AH Parker Gnr
C Thorpe Bombr   R Trease DSO MC Lieut
     
Royal Garrison Artillery    
E Hollingworth Gnr   T Peach Gnr
P Robinson Bombr    
     
Royal Engineers    
AE Barnes Pioneer   W Baxter Spr
TW Church Spr   EM Singleton Driver
     
Grenadier Guards    
TH Belfield Pte   J Cox Pte
R Gosling Sergt   SH Pearson 2nd Lieut
CA Porter Corp   W Robotham Sergt
W Rogers Pte   HE Ryall MM Corp
JS Turton Pte   H Ward Sergt
CH Whadcoat Pte    
     
Coldstream Guards    
CS Jackson Pte   EA Jackson L/Cpl
     
Bedfordshire Regiment    
FH Cox 2nd Lieut    
     
Cheshire Regiment    
JW Brackner L/Cpl   WH Jackson Pte
TF Sweeney Pte    
     
Royal Dublin Fusiliers    
T Buckley Pte    
     
Durham Light Infantry    
F Adcock Pte   AS Bostock 2nd Lieut
     
Essex Regiment    
P Boulzer Pte   AP Page L/Cpl
T Riley Pte   EO Taylor Pte
     
Highland Light Infantry    
AB Smith Pte    
     
The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment
H Buckingham Pte   J Hodgkinson Pte
     
King’s Own Scottish Borderers
JM Crampton Pte   CE Hayes Pte
WL Pearson Pte    
Second Panel
King’s Own Rifle Corps
H Barnes Rfn   S Goodall Corp
L Goodband Rfn   J Greening Rfn
BH Spray Rfn   WH Thornhill Rfn
SE Tonks L/Corp    
     
Lancashire Fusiliers
E Calladine Pte   JS Castledine Pte
J Moodie Pte   G Oldham Pte
G Sutton Pte   J Thorley Pte
     
Lancashire Regiment (Loyal North)
WT Tebbutt Pte    
     
South Lancashire Regiment
GT Spendlove 2nd Lieut   CC Stuart Pte
     
Leicestershire Regiment
W Aram Pte   HA Blackwell L/Corp
W Phillips Pte   F Sewell Pte
JG Stafford    
     
Lincolnshire Regiment
WE Barsby Pte   C Garner Pte
WR Jackson Signaller   WL Morley L/Corp
PH Peadon 2nd Lieut   C Slack MM Sergt
W Stevens Pte   C Tebbutt Pte
     
London Regiment
ER Lanes MC Capt    
     
Middlesex Regiment
C Coxon Pte    
     
Norfolk Regiment
T Clarke Pte   TV Sparrowe Pte
     
Northants Regiment
HE Jeffries Pte    
     
Northumberland Fusiliers
CH Austin L/Sergt   W Chalk Pte
AV Guy Pte   J Hallam Pte
H Horne L/Corp   L Hoult Pte
H Hudston Pte   GH Newton Pte
E Pridmore L/Corp    
     
Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own)
H Ashton Sergt   E Bywater Corp
HA Holloway CQMS   AEM Smith Rfn
     
The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
JP Abell Pte   JT Cowlishaw Pte
JE Spencer Pte    
     
The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment)
AJ Blagdurn Pte   F Bust Pte
     
Royal Scots Fusiliers
F Paling Pte    
     
Shropshire Light Infantry (The King’s)
J Kerry Pte    
     
North Staffordshire Regiment
J Calvert Pte   O Tailby Corp
     
South Staffordshire Regiment
T Knowle Pte   W Oldham Pte
W Turton Pte    
Third Panel

AMDG

In proud memory of those here recorded
who gave their lives on Active Service in the
Great War 1914-19 and of all who made sacrifice
then for the liberties and honour of our Motherland.

‘They shall be mine saith the Lord of Hosts
in that day when I make up my jewels’

Mal iii 17

Fourth Panel
Sherwood Foresters
JW Aby Pte   R Adcock Pte
PD Alsop Pte   S Bagshaw Pte
AE Barker Pte   RH Barker Sergt
P Bettle L/Corp   WF Booth Pte
G Brackner Pte   W Brackner Sergt
B Brewer DCM Sergt   H Brewster Pte
HC Brown Sergt   WC Brown Pte
JR Bruce Pte   S Burdett Pte
AH Calvert Pte   T Calvert Pte
E Clark Pte   W Clark Pte
P Corden Pte   J Corthorn Sergt
H Coulson Pte   JA Cox Pte
H Croom Pte   C Dean Pte
CJ Dixon Pte   AF Dobson Lieut
CW Fisher Pte   FD Fox Lieut
A Franklin Pte   S Freeman Pte
P Frettingham Pte   GA Gimson Pte
P Hadden Pte   W Hancox Pte
EH Harper Sergt   H Harper Pte
H Hartshorn Pte   SL Hartshorn Pte
A Hayes L/Corp   G Hazzledine Pte
H Hazzledine Corp   WD Humphreys L/Corp
F Hunt L/Corp   WH Jackson Pte
JH Johnson Corp   E Lambert Pte
J Lawton Pte   J Lea CSM
A Lee Pte   H Lee Pte
W Lewis Pte   BM Limb L/Corp
FW Lowe L/Corp   EG Luntley Pte
R Manley Corp   J Martin L/Corp
GH Moore Pte   AJ Newton Pte
A Nicholls Pte   A Oldham Pte
F Oldham Pte   WW Oldham Pte
E Orchard Pte   F Parkes Pte
ME Pass Pte   RR Pearce Pte
GA Pembleton Pte   FWV Pilmore Signaller
P Pillmore Corp   AW Preston Pte
SL Price Pte   H Priestley Pte
CD Randall Capt   GSG Richardson L/Corp
HH Robinson Pte   SW Robinson Corp
W Rooms Sergt   JG Rowland Pte
WC Ryall Pte   JF Scott Pte
W Shrewsbury Pte   AN Sibley Pte
AM Smedley Pte   B Smith Pte
P Smith L/Corp   W Smith Pte
BG Stark Pte   G Stenson Pte
GR Straw Pte   A Tebbutt Sergt
P Turner Pte   AE Turton Pte
CA Turton Pte   GL Tutin Lieut
W Wallis Pte   HH Walton MC Capt
LGL Webb Pte   JW West Sergt
WG Wilkins Pte   A Wright Pte
     
Suffolk Regiment
J Johnson Pte    
     
Royal Warwickshire Regiment
CE Barnes Pte   JR Clifford Pte
Fifth Panel
AO Dawn Pte   F Harper Pte
GW Letting Pte   J Oldham CSM
J Stevenson Pte   JF Watts Pte
     
West Riding Regiment (Duke of Wellington’s)
J Cudworth Corp   S Robinson Pte
     
Wiltshire Regiment
C Prowett Pte    
     
York and Lancaster Regiment
J Bywater Pte   R Draycott Pte
H Manley Pte    
     
Yorkshire Light Infantry (The King’s Own)
HG Bennett Pte   SS Boot Pte
WH Bywater Pte   HG Cudworth Pte
GA Dean Pte   CE Green Pte
C Hazeldine Pte   Frank Lee L/Corp
WJ Sanders Corp    
     
Yorkshire Regiment (Alexandra
Princess of Wales’ Own)
A Cudworth Pte   EE Jarrett Pte
     
Yorkshire (West) Regiment
(Prince of Wales’ Own)
AE Blacknell L/Corp   AC Russell Pte
     
Royal Air Force
VJ Solloway 3rd AM    
     
Royal Army Service Corps
FB Armitage Pte   SR Armitage Lieut
AE Clifford Pte   JR Hogg Butcher
JD Lawton Pte   CA Smith Driver
     
Royal Army Medical Corps
AE Ellis Pte   WH Haddon Pte
H Tebbutt Pte    
     
Army Cyclist Corps
J Calcraft Pte   GW Searson Pte
     
Labour Corps
JW Bettle Pte    
     
Machine Gun Corps
AW Jackson Pte   EGW Sharp Pte
A Wheatley L/Corp    
     
Tank Corps
T Glover Gnr   L Hodgkinson Gnr
     
Royal Marine Artillery
W Bates Bombr HMS Natal    
     
Royal Marine Light Infantry
G Goodall Pte HMS Laurentie   G Towle Pte
     
Australian Infantry Force
E Holland CSM   A Holmes Pte
     
Canadians
FA Jebbett Pte    
     
Canadian Mounted Rifles
AE Osborn Corp    
     
War Office Petrograd
MC Mansfield Lieut    

Other War Memorials in the Church

Also dedicated to people who lost their lives in war are: The Sunday School Teachers’ Memorial, the Fox Plaque, the Spendlove Memorial, the Walton Memorial, the Howard Charlton Brown window.

Crimean War Memorial in the Churchyard

In the churchyard there is an stone obelisk to those who died in the Crimean War. The wording reads:

This monument was erected by the inhabitants of Beeston to perpetuate the memory of those who left this village to serve their country and died in the discharge of their duty in the Crimean War.

Sergeant W Jowett, Royal Fusiliers, enlisted January 8th 1847, fought at Alma, Inkerman, twice at Redan Battery where he was struck by a shell Sept 8th 1855 which necessitated the amputation of the right leg and died from its effects at Plymouth Hospital 11th October 1856. Aged 26 years.

Private John Lees 17th Lancers, enlisted April 26th 1846, was slain in the cavalry charge at Balaclava October 23rd 1854. Aged 30 years.

Private Thomas Toulson 17th Lancers, enlisted April 26th 1846, was in the charge at Balaclava and died of diarrhoea at Scutari Hospital December 15th 1854. Aged 32 years.

Private Joseph Oldham 35th Regiment, enlisted September 1840 fought at Alma and Inkerman, and died of diarrhoea at Scutari Hospital, December 17th 1854. Aged 31 years.

‘No farther seek their merits to disclose or drain their frailties from their dread abode’. DA Chall Beeston June 1st 1857

The Crimean Memorial
The Crimean Memorial
(north and west faces)