Roll of Honour - Cambridgeshire

Ministry of Defence

Lest We Forget

The Royal British Legion

ELSWORTH WAR MEMORIAL

World War 1 & 2 - Roll of Honour with detailed information
Compiled and copyright © Phil Curme 2000

The Elsworth War Memorial is to be found in the grounds of Holy Trinity parish church, Elsworth and takes the form of a weeping angel holding a laurel wreath mounted on a square column, the whole standing on a three-stepped base. There are 18 names listed for World War 1 and 8 for World War 2. There is also a Roll of Honour, hand written, on the wall inside the church of Holy Trinity.



Photographs Copyright © Phil Curme - 2000

EUROPEAN WAR
1914-1918
LEST WE FORGET
THESE MEN OF OURS,
UNSELFISH, UNAFRAID,
WENT TO THE
WORLD-WIDE FIGHT,
FORGET NOT
HOW THEY DIED,
AND HOW WE PRAYED
FOR ENGLAND
AND THE RIGHT

PRO PATRIA

BISHOP	Alfred	14th (Service Battalion) Hampshire Regiment. Born Elsworth. Enlisted Cambridge. Resident Elsworth. 23/9/16 Died of wounds at home. Private 26721. Buried Elsworth Particular Baptist Churchyard. Died aged 40. Son of John and Mary Ann Bishop of Elsworth.
BRAND	[Frederick] John	Rifleman S/28950 [incorrectly listed as S/26950 on CWGC], 12th Battalion, Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own). Killed in action 17 August 1917. Born Knapwell, resident Hardwick, enlisted Bexley Heah, Kent. No known grave. Commemorated on TYNE COT MEMORIAL, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Panel 145 to 147.
CIRCUS	Arthur	Lance Cpl. 3/8946. 2nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. 20th July 1916. Aged 21. Son of Mr and Mrs R Circus. Church Lane, Elsworth. Thiepval Memorial.
CIRCUS	Thomas Edwin	Lance Cpl. 11th Battalion Suffolk Regiment Son of Thomas and Sarah Circus, Brook St Elsworth. Killed 28th April 1917. Aged 28. Arras Memorial.
CHILDERLEY	Frederick	G/18129. Royal West Kent Regiment. Died 30th September 1916. Aged 19. Son of Mrs Francis Childerley, Paddock Row, Elsworth. Serre Road Cemetery No. 1. From Andy Pay's research into the Marquis de Ruvigny' s Roll of Honour the following: Volume 2, Part 3, Page 53 - (different spelling in Roll of Honour) CHILDENLEY, Frederick - Private, No 18129, 7th (Service) Battalion, The Queens Own (Royal West Kents) Eldest son of the late John Childenley, by his wife Francis (Paddock Row, Elsworth, co Cambridge), dau of William Tabraham. Born Elsworth aforesaid, 16th April, 1897; educated there, was an Agricultural Labourer; enlisted 29th March, 1916; served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders from 27th August; was reported wounded and missing after the fighting at Thiepval on 30th Sept, 1916, and is now assumed to have been killed in action on that date. Unm. Extract from Cambridge Independent Press - Friday 1 December 1916, page 4: CAMBS. ROLL OF HONOUR. ELSWORTH. News has reached the village that Pte. F. Childerley, Royal West Kent Regiment, is reported wounded and missing. He is the son of Mrs. Francis Childerley, of Paddock-row, and enlisted in the Suffolk Yeomanry last March. He went to France in August, and was transferred into the Royal West Kents. Any information concerning him will be gratefully received by his mother. The last letter received from him was dated August 25th.
CLARK	Charles	6th Battalion Northants Regiment. Private 43036. Born Bourne, Cambs. Enlisted Huntingdon. Died 15/12/17. Formerly 26724 Bedfordshire Regiment. Aged 28. Son of Emily Clark of Alms Hill, Bourn, Cambs and the late Charles Clark. Buried Niederzwehren Cemetery, Germany.
CLARK	King [Richard]	[Spelt CLARKE on memorial] Private 2617A, 47th Battalion, Australian Infantry, A.I.F. killed in action on Passchendaele Ridge 12th October 1917. Aged 24. Born Elsworth, 1893. Son of Alfred King Clark and Eleanor Stone (nee Lack) Clark, of Brockley Rd., Elsworth. Enlisted 17th August 1915 at Brisbane, into the 25th Battalion. He was sent to Egypt for about 12 months, after which he was transferred to the 47th Battalion and sent to Belgium. Born near Cambridge. Labourer by trade. Previously spent 3 years in the Suffolk Regiment prior to emigrating. In the 1901 census he lived at the Plough Inn in Brooke Street with his parents and 2 of his sisters. Buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Plot XXXIX. Row F. Grave 16.
DAY	Walter	[Memorial states 11th Battalion Suffolk Regiment 1st July 1916. Thiepval Memorial - details extracted from Cambridge Independent Press 16 June 1916] Coldstream Guards. Killed in action 18 May 1916. Served three years in the Metropolitan Police.
DESBOROUGH	Herbert	Corporal. 14436. 11th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. Thursday, 3rd August 1916. Aged 28. Son of William & Louisa Desborough. Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
DESBOROUGH	John	3/10210. 1st Battalion Suffolk Regiment. Died 19th Feb 1918. Aged 28. Husband of Dorothy Alma Desborough of Cowdell End, Elsworth. Colougne Southern Cemetery.
DRIVER	George Percy	Corporal. 14432. 11th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. 1st July 1916. Aged 24. Son of Thomas and Lydia Driver. Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
HINSON	John	Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own). Rifleman S/5682. Born Elsworth. Enlisted St Neots. Resident Knapwell. Died 12/9/18. Commemorated Vis-En-Artois Memorial, Pas De Calais.
KIRBY	Frank Philip	London Regiment. 3rd (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers). Private 4404. Died 23/9/16. Enlisted London. Resident Elsworth. Aged 25. Only son of Frank and Mary Ann Kirby, Elsworth, Cambs. Husband of Mary Ann Kirby, Elsworth. Boisguillaume Communal Cemetery, Seine Maritime, France.
MANNING	Stanley Methuen	Private, 44287, 11th Battalionn Essex Regiment. Born Elsworth. Enlisted Cambridge. Resident Elsworth. Killed in action 17th September 1918. Formerly 44916 Beds Regiment. Son of John & Lucy Manning of Manor House, Elsworth. Aged 18. Trefcon British Cametery, Caulaincourt, Aisne, France.
PARNWELL	Israel	Private 325886, 1st/1st Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment formerly 2695, Cambridgeshire Regiment. Killed in action 26th September 1917 having served for two years and eight months. Aged 23. Born Elsworth, enlisted Cambridge. Son of Frederick and Sarah Parnwell, Brook Street, Elsworth. Enlisted 7 September 1914. Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke.
POULTER	Joseph	1st Battalion Suffolk Regiment. Private 7518. Born Connington, Cambs. Enlisted Elsworth. Died 25/5/15. B Company. Aged 25. Son of Benjamin and Sophia Poulter, The Poplars, Hardwick, Cambridge. Commemorated on the Menin Gate, Ypres. See also Madingley St Mary.
SMITH	James	Duke of Cambridgeshire's Own (Middlesex Regiment). 18th Battalion. Private G/26949. Born Elsworth. Enlisted Framlingham. Died 21/5/17. Killed in action.
SMITH	John	Lance Corporal 3/8287, 2nd. Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment. 3rd, Division. Killed in action on the Somme 16th August 1916. Son of Mr.Smith & Mrs Edith Smith of Church Lane, Elsworth. Born in Lewisham. Enlisted in Cambridge. Commemorated on The Thiepval Memorial MR.21.
WORLD WAR 1939-1945
BARRY	Cyril Rasmussen	Chief Yeoman of Signals. C/J 93268. HMS Avenger. 15th November 1942. Aged 39. Husband of Mary Elizabeth Barry. Commemorated Chatham Naval Memorial.
BOSWORTH	Aubrey	Gunner 948986. 67 Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery. 19th June 1942. Aged 23. Son of John William and Clarissa Alice Bosworth. Husband of Elsie Ada Bosworth. Tobruk War Cemetery, Libya.
DESBOROUGH	Douglas Arthur	Cpl 5933216. 1st Bn Cambs Regiment. 15th Feb 1942. Aged 23. Husband of Vera May Desborough of Swavesey. Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore.
DESBOROUGH	George Henry	Private 5933781, 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment. Died 28 June 1944. Aged 22. Son of Annie Desborough, and stepson of Walter J. Rolt, of Knapwell, Cambridgeshire. Buried in ASSISI WAR CEMETERY, Italy. Plot I. Row D. Grave 12.
HEPHER	Walter	Lnc Cpl 5933783. 1st Bn Cambs Regiment. 11th October 1941. Aged 21. Son of Alfred and Florence. Buried Holy Trinity Churchyard, Elsworth. Greater Love Hath No Man Than This That A Man Lay Down His Life For His Friends
KENDRICK	John	Sgt 936286. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. 2nd April 1943. Aged 25. Son of John and Edith Kendrick. Buried Holy Trinity Churchyard, Elsworth. He Lives For Ever In The Hearts Of Those Who Love Him
LAWRENCE	Henry James	Pte 5823319. 2nd Bn Suffolk Regiment. 25th April 1941. Aged 35. Son of John and Emma Elizabeth Lawrence. Husband of Blanche Harriett of Suffield, Norfolk. Buried Holy Trinity Churchyard, Elsworth.
WATTS	Robert Andrew	Pte 5933842. 1st Bn Cambs Regiment. 21st September 1944. Aged 25. Prisoner of War. Died at sea. Son of Arthur Lewis Watts and Annie Watts. Husband of Joan Watts of Elsworth. Commemorated on the Singapore Memorial.

Last updated 2 March, 2022

War Memorials Trust