LINCOLN - LINCOLNSHIRE
War Memorial
War Memorial
Lincoln is a city in the English East Midlands.
Lance Corporal Harold Reeve BEECHEY 200
Born: Friesthorpe, Lincoln, England Enlisted: 13-10-1914, Helena Vale, Western Australia Occupation prior to Enlistment: Labourer 48th Battalion Australian Infantry Departed Australia from Melbourne, Victoria on 22-12-1914 Killed in Action 10-4-1917, France aged 26years Son of the Rev P W Thomas Beechey and Amy Beechey of 197 Wragby Rd, Lincoln. Honoured: Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France Honoured Australian War Memorial Panel 145 Also Honoured De Aston School War Memorial, All Saints Church, Lincoln & his mothers grave Newport Cemetery, Lincoln |
The nickname for a Lincolnshire native is a yellowbelly - but L/Cpl Harold Beechey was no coward. Harold emigrated to Australia with his brother Chris to make a life as a farmer but after his harvest failed because of a drought, he ended up training as an Anzac in Egypt and fighting in Gallipoli in 1915. Harold overcame illness and mortal danger, battling Turkish forces in hand-to-hand combat at the same time as fighting dysentery. He was sent back to Egypt in 1916 and then to France that summer. His family must have thought he was a survivor when he wrote home from the Western Front in August: "Very lucky - nice round shrapnel through arm and chest but did not penetrate ribs. Arm not out of action hardly at all." After just a few months' recovery, Harold was back in France for a freezing winter, which he described in a letter as "pretty gruelling". His luck finally ran out in April 1917 when he was hit by a so-called "whizz-bang" shell in the trenches, aged 26.
The cross for Harold Beechey has been placed in his adopted home of Western Australia, in Perth's Anglican Cathedral.
The cross for Harold Beechey has been placed in his adopted home of Western Australia, in Perth's Anglican Cathedral.
Even by the standards of that bloodiest of wars, Amy Beechey's suffering was extreme: five of her eight sons would not live to see the end of World War One. A century on, stone crosses have been erected across the world in a symbolic effort to reunite the five brothers.Even for the time, the Beechey family was a big one. Amy, the wife of a country vicar, had eight sons and six daughters. All eight boys would serve in World War One.
Amy lost five of those eight sons - and one of the survivors she never saw again. It was a loss she was not prepared to take quietly.
When she was presented to King George V and Queen Mary in April 1918, the Queen thanked her for her sacrifice. She replied: "It was no sacrifice, Ma'am - I did not given them willingly."By the time war broke out, the family had moved from the Lincolnshire hamlet of Friesthorpe to a terraced house at 14 Avondale Street in Lincoln, where the city's cathedral was a constant presence.
Each time the postman called, Amy hoped for good news. But more than anything she feared the message that began: "It is my painful duty to inform you…" The many letters and telegrams sent to Avondale Street that survive trace the devastating impact of the war on the family.In recognition of their sacrifice, crosses for the fallen five sons have been crafted from Lincoln Cathedral limestone and placed at locations around the world, from Europe to east Africa and Australia.
Her fourth son Chris had also been an Anzac, having emigrated with his brother Harold.Chris, a private, was a stretcher-bearer in Gallipoli and was badly injured in a fall from a cliff. He was sent back to Australia where he lived with life-changing injuries until the age of 85.
His mother was never to see him again. -BBC News
Amy lost five of those eight sons - and one of the survivors she never saw again. It was a loss she was not prepared to take quietly.
When she was presented to King George V and Queen Mary in April 1918, the Queen thanked her for her sacrifice. She replied: "It was no sacrifice, Ma'am - I did not given them willingly."By the time war broke out, the family had moved from the Lincolnshire hamlet of Friesthorpe to a terraced house at 14 Avondale Street in Lincoln, where the city's cathedral was a constant presence.
Each time the postman called, Amy hoped for good news. But more than anything she feared the message that began: "It is my painful duty to inform you…" The many letters and telegrams sent to Avondale Street that survive trace the devastating impact of the war on the family.In recognition of their sacrifice, crosses for the fallen five sons have been crafted from Lincoln Cathedral limestone and placed at locations around the world, from Europe to east Africa and Australia.
Her fourth son Chris had also been an Anzac, having emigrated with his brother Harold.Chris, a private, was a stretcher-bearer in Gallipoli and was badly injured in a fall from a cliff. He was sent back to Australia where he lived with life-changing injuries until the age of 85.
His mother was never to see him again. -BBC News
Corporal Arthur CAPPS 144
Born: Lincoln, England Enlisted: 15-10-1914, Helena Vale, western Australia Occupation prior to Enlistment: Orchardist 16th Battalion Australian Infantry Departed Australia, from Melbourne, Victoria on 22-12-1914 Killed in Action 2-5-1915, Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey aged 29years Son of Ann Capps, of Pinjarra, West. Aust, & the late John William Capps, Lincoln, England. Resting: Quinn's Post Cemetery, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey Honoured Australian War Memorial Panel 78 |
Private Leonard INKLEY 3872
Born: Lincoln, England
Enlisted: 20-7-1915, Melbourne, Victoria
Occupation prior to Enlistment: Labourer
5th Battalion Australian Infantry
Departed Australia from Melbourne, Victoia on 23-11-1915
Killed in Action 18-8-1916, France aged 19years
Son of Benjamin Morland & Emma Inkley, 12, Victoria Street, West Parade, Lincoln, England.
Resting: Pozieres British Cemetery Ovillers-La Boisselle, Pozieres, Picardie, France
Honoured Australian War Memorial Panel 44
Born: Lincoln, England
Enlisted: 20-7-1915, Melbourne, Victoria
Occupation prior to Enlistment: Labourer
5th Battalion Australian Infantry
Departed Australia from Melbourne, Victoia on 23-11-1915
Killed in Action 18-8-1916, France aged 19years
Son of Benjamin Morland & Emma Inkley, 12, Victoria Street, West Parade, Lincoln, England.
Resting: Pozieres British Cemetery Ovillers-La Boisselle, Pozieres, Picardie, France
Honoured Australian War Memorial Panel 44
Private James Ewart MATHERS 349
Born: Lincoln, England Enlisted: 2-3-1915, Perth, Western Australia Occupation prior to Enlistment: Labourer 28th Battalion Australian Infantry Died of Wounds, United Kingdom 12-10-1916 aged 27years Son of James and Martha Mathers, of 15, Camden St., Sneinton Rd., Nottingham, England Resting: Canwick Road Cemetery, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom Honoured Australian War Memorial Panel 114 |