Lest we forget - the men of Guarlford
 Contents
Roll of the fallen
About the fallen
List of men to be prayed for
A memorial board commemorating the men of Guarlford who fell in
two World Wars was dedicated at the back of St Mary's church in 2008
by Revd Sue Irwin.
The board was largely due to the efforts of
Charlie Williams
BEM, who
launched a fund raising drive by both giving a talk in the
Village Hall about 'the old days' and starting the fund.
If you know the names of other men with a connection to
Guarlford please let us know.
John Eyton-Lloyd
On the north wall of the church, near the
British Legion Standard, is a plain wooden cross in memory
of Second Lieutenant John Wathen Eyton-Lloyd of the 10th
Squadron Royal Flying Corps, who died on 24th June 1917 in
France, aged 22 years, and is buried in Choques Military
Cemetery, Pas de Calais.
He was the grandson of the first Rector
of Guarlford Revd John Bateman Wathen.
The basic construction of the cross and
the rudimentary metal labels recording his details leads to
the assumption that it may have been the original grave marker.
He was
the youngest son of Dr Albert Eyton-Lloyd and Bertha Midwood
Wathen, of 'Alanwood', Avenue Road, Great Malvern,
previously of Rhyl, who are buried in Guarlford churchyard.
Herbert Little
Herbert Little, Private 204245, 6 Bn Somerset Light
Infantry died on 22nd August 1917 aged just 23 years.
He was the third son in the large family of John Little, a salmon fisherman, and
Mary Ann Green of Clevelode, born 14th August 1894,
Guarlford.
Thomas W Panting
Thomas William Panting, Driver 86463,
Royal Field Artillery is buried in Guarlford churchyard.
Educated at Guarlford National School, he was the son of
'waggoner' Thomas William (senior) and Ellen Panting of the
Herriots, Clevelode.
He served in France and Egypt, but, at
the age of twenty-one, after a painful illness, he died in
the Military Hospital at Woolwich on the 10th May 1917.
His body was conveyed by train to
Malvern, where, by kindness of the Wireless Depot of the
Royal Engineers at Worcester, a military funeral was
arranged. The coffin draped with the Union Jack was brought
from the station to Guarlford Church on a gun carriage with
a firing party in attendance. After the service, at the
graveside, three volleys were fired and the Last Post
sounded.
Phillip C Panting
Phillip Charles Panting, Private 39852,
2nd Bn The Wiltshire Regiment was Thomas’s younger brother.
Born 1897, he was also educated at Guarlford School before
going to work in Dudley. He was then conscripted as a
Private into the Duke of Edinburgh’s Wiltshire Regiment.
After only nine months service and only one month in France,
he was killed in action on the 1st June 1918, at the age of
twenty. He is remembered on the British Memorial at Soissons
in France. The memorial stands in the main square of
Soissons and commemorates nearly four thousand war dead from
1914 - 1918 who have no known graves.
Thomas and Philip were survived by a
sister Myra, who died in 1923, and by their younger brother
Joseph, who married Lily Edwards, as well as their mother
Ellen and their grandmother who though blind knitted over a
hundred pairs of socks for the troops in WWI.
Their cousin Reg Green became a Malvern
Town Councillor and was Chairman of Malvern Urban District
Council 1967 - 68.
Frank Scrivens
Frank Scrivens, Lance Corporal
10385, 4th Bn The Worcestershire Regiment, was a regular
soldier who had served in India and died of his wounds at
Etaples, Pas-de-Calais, France on 1st May 1917, aged 31
years. He is buried in the Military Cemetery there.
One of another large family he was born at
Poolbrook in 1886 the son of Thomas Scrivens, a gardener,
and Mary Ann. He was the brother of Rosina who married into
the Beard family and lived for a time at The Malthouse in
Penny Lane, Guarlford.
John Henry Tandy
John Henry Tandy, Private 251965, The Essex Regiment was
killed at Ypres on 28th May 1918. He was the son of William
Tandy, Sexton of St Mary Guarlford, and Mary Ann, who had
lived in Clevelode Lane.
Click to read the story
of John Tandy and his family.
James Joseph Walker
We have subsequently discovered that
James A Walker was born James Joseph Walker at Malvern in
1897. At the time of the 1911 census he was living with his
family at Barn Cottage, Guarlford, and his occupation was
recorded as a 'waggoner's boy'.
We think Barn Cottage is the now
derelict barn across the road from New House Farm cottages
not far from the junction of the Guarlford Road and Chance Lane.
James Joseph Walker, Private 236092 1st
Bn Herefordshire Regiment died on 17th April 1917 aged only
20 years. He is listed on the Jerusalem memorial, so he may
have fought against Turkish forces in Palestine.
He was the son of farm labourer James
Walker (senior) and Margaret Cunniffe, both born
Staffordshire, and brother of Francis Michael Walker, who is
listed in the CWGC database as his brother Frank of New
Street, Upton upon Severn.
James (senior) also enlisted aged 52
years at Worcester on 19th December 1916. He was
assigned to the Royal Engineers (Road Construction Company)
Pioneer 227870. He was discharged in 1917 as medically
unfit; his record shows that he had previously worked for
the Medcalf family of New House Farm, Guarlford.
Olaf Petersen
Sadly Olaf Petersen is not listed on the roll
of the fallen. Olaf, also known as Olave Charles
Peterson,
was born in Cardiff about 1895. He came to Malvern as a small
boy, after his father Karl, a Danish seaman died, to live with his Aunt Eliza
Taylor nee Davies and her husband John Taylor, a carter. They lived at The Old
Elm Cottages at the junction of the Guarlford Road and Hall
Green.
Olaf is recorded in the 1911 census as a grocer's errand boy.
Later he worked for Mr Bullock of Mill Farm and joined the King's
Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) at the outbreak of World War I.
He was attached to headquarters as a Company
Runner when he was killed by a shell on the morning of 5th September
1917, aged 22 years.
He was the battalion's only casualty that day.
Olaf was buried at Wulverghem - Lindenhoek Road Military
Cemetery, which is in the Valley below Mesen (Messines in 1917).
The transcript of the letter sent to his Aunt Eliza Taylor nee
Davies, copied to the Guarlford History Group by Mary, a relative,
reads as follows:
'It is with greatest sorrow that I have to report to
you the death of your nephew, Pte O C Petersen. He was
unfortunately killed by a shell early in the morning. His death
mercifully was painless and I personally saw him buried. A cross
has been erected to his memory. Pte Petersen was attached to my
headquarters as a company runner. He was a man who could be
thoroughly trusted with an important message and his courage at
all times was splendid. Please accept my deepest sympathy in your
trouble.'
 Olaf started with the 6th
battalion KSLI then moved to the
5th battalion. He may have been injured or sick, sent home then
returned to 5th battalion. At the time of his death the 5th
battalion was on
the front line in the area of Wambeke which is 4 miles from
Lindenhoek.
His death is recorded on the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission (CWGC) website as,
O C Peterson
Private 12102
5th Battalion King's Shropshire Light Infantry
Died: 5 Sep 1917
Buried: Belgium
Unfortunately the CWGC did not know either Olaf's age or who
his parents were. In addition, sadly, no information about Olaf's
links with the parish was forthcoming when the Guarlford History
Group were making enquiries about War casualties to be
commemorated on the new memorial board.
Dennis A Jackson
Dennis Alfred Jackson, Private 14529318,
The Worcestershire Regiment, died from gunshot wounds on
12th August 1944, at the age of twenty, in No 4 Canadian
General Hospital, Farnborough.
He was the son of William Henry Jackson
and Sarah Ann Scarrott of Guarlford, born 1924.
His coffin was conveyed to Malvern and
laid to rest in Guarlford churchyard. The funeral service
was conducted by the Revd Newson and the Revd Townsend,
Vicar at the Wyche, where the family was then living.
At one time the Jackson family had lived in a cottage (since
demolished) in Clevelode Lane next to The Homestead.
A plaque near the base of Dennis's
Commonwealth War Grave headstone records the death of his brother John William
Henry Jackson, who died 22nd February 2008 aged 86 years.
Their cousin Amy Neal tells her story of
Growing up in Guarlford on another page. The 1911 census
records their grandfather, a farm labourer, living with his
family at Grove House cottages, in Chance Lane.
John G Woolley
John Gordon Woolley, Sergeant 754953,
78 Squadron, RAF Volunteer Reserve, was the son of the
last headmaster of Guarlford National School. He was
reported missing in June 1941, when his Lancaster aircraft
went down in the North Sea. He is remembered on the
Runnymede Memorial in Surrey for airmen lost in the Second
World War with no known grave.
He was aged 26 years, the son of
schoolmaster Clarence
William and Lucy Margerie Woolley, of Guarlford,
Worcestershire.
David Henry Milward
Buried in Guarlford churchyard is
Lawrence Sidney Milward, a teacher of mathematics at Malvern
College, who lived at Stoberry, next to Lawnside school, in
Albert Road. He was very likely a friend of the Rector of
Guarlford, Rev Newson, who taught at Southlea School next
door to Lawnside. Lawrence's headstone also records the death of his
son David in 1944. David Henry Milward, born Malvern 1907, Corporal 13006110
Royal Engineers, formerly a civil engineer, died on 28th April 1944 and is remembered on
the war memorial in Great Malvern Priory and at the library.
Before the new memorial board was erected, a small faded type-written list on the wall near
the organ was the only record of those who went to the Great War.
It is thought the list may be of people the
congregation had been asked to pray for, as many of the men
listed returned safely, although some did die, and
others from the village died who were not on the list.
Above the list is a picture of a soldier in front of the
Union Jack flag.
The two small images at the side bear the Latin inscription "Libera
nos, domine" ("Deliver us, O Lord").
The list of names
includes a former Rector of Guarlford, Hubert Jones, and
another priest Harold Bell.
We have not found any connection between Harold Bell and
Guarlford, but possibly he was Rev Harold Chalmer Bell (1873 -
1959) who became an Army
Chaplain and may have been an aquaintance of the Rector.
We have looked for these men in the 1911 census,
with mixed results. Below are details.
Some of these men were from the
neighbouring parish of Hanley and some names appear on the
Roll of the Fallen in Hanley Swan village Hall.
If you can either add
to or correct this information, please let us know.
George Gough
The England 1911 census records a
George William Gough who was born at Old Elm, Barnards Green in
1894. Old Elm cottages once stood near the junction of the
Guarlford Road with Hall Green.
According to his military record George worked for the
fishmongers 'Woodyatts' in Abbey Road, and joined the
Territorial reserve of the Worcestershire Regiment in 1911.
He survived the Great War and was demobbed in 1919.
He may have worked for fishmonger Thomas Woodyatt
of Glenhome, Como Road, born Great Malvern about 1861.
Earlier Thomas, who was a member of the 'cab proporietor'
family, had been a tobacconist.
Henry Lane
In 1911 Harry Lane (junior), an
apprentice carpenter, born Guarlford about 1893 was also living
with his parents at Old Elm. He was the son of Harry Lane, a
postman, and Mary.
On 14th February 1910 Harry enlisted at
Great Malvern in the Territorial reserve with 2nd South Midland
Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. He was then an apprentice
carpenter in the employ of Messrs Cox and Painter Ltd; Cox
and Painter was a large department store, later Warwick
House on Belle Vue Terrace.
Harry Lane Sergeant 830062 RFA was
injured by a gunshot wound to the abdomen in 1916 and was
finally discharged as physically unfit on 21st October 1917.
George Lane
In 1911, Harry's brother George Lane,
born about 1896 in Malvern was an apprentice boat builder.
Nothing further known.
Ronald Lechmere
This is likely Sir Ronald Berwick
Hungerford Lechmere (1886 - 1965) 5th Baronet of Rydd Court,
a member of the Lechmere family of Hanley Castle, who fought
and was wounded in WWI. There is a memorial to him in St Mary's, Hanley
Castle.
The 'Roll of the Fallen' in Hanley Swan
Village hall sadly records his uncle:
Nicholas George Berwick Lechmere
(not recorded at Guarlford)
Nicholas George Berwick Lechmere, born
1881,
Lieutenant 2nd Bn Scots Guards, died in France on 17
October 1915, aged 34 years. He was the youngest son
of Sir Edmund Anthony Harley Lechmere, 3rd Baronet, MP for
Worcestershire, and Lady
Lechmere of Rhydd Court who offered part of their house for
use as a Red Cross hospital.
Westminster School records:
Nicholas enrolled at RMC Sandhurst and became 2nd Lieutenant
of the Scots Guards in May 1902, just when the Scots Guards
were returning home from the Boer War, but he retired from
the army in 1906.
On the 23rd June 1904, Nicholas had married Mary Katherine
Pegg of Basingstoke, who was the only daughter of Major John
Pegg, but she died after only six years of marriage. They
had no children.
When war broke out, he re-joined the army as Captain of the
10th Service Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding)
Regiment and was attached to the 2nd Battalion. He was sent
out to the western front in June 1915.
He was killed in action, aged 34, while attempting to
capture the Hohenzollern Redoubt, near Loos.
Charles Robbins
The 1911 census records a Charles Robbins
born Malvern about 1890. He was a Private 2nd Bn The
Worcestershire Regiment, in India. Nothing further known.
George Beard
Several members of the Beard family
served in the Great War, and more about the family can be
found in the Guarlford history books.
Archie Gatfield
Archibald Gatfield, son of Harvey and
Emma, born Guarlford about
1891 is recorded in the 1901 census living with his family
at the Sewage Farm in Mill Lane. In the 1911 census he is
recorded as a machinist (motor engineer).
He married Flora and enlisted 5th
December 1914 at Birmingham giving his trade as mechanic,
chauffeur. He served with the Kings Liverpool Regiment
before being transferred to the Army Service Corps. He
survived the Great War.
His brother Harvey born 1874 was a career
soldier spending most of his time in the north of England;
married in Westmoreland and had children in Lancashire.
His brother William born 1878 was a
postman in 1911.
The three brothers had a cousin, another
Harvey Gatfield, born 1880, who trained as a policeman in
Birmingham, later coming to live in Upton on Severn.
Arthur Fowke
Possibly this was Charles Arthur Freer
Fowke, born Aberdeen about 1893. He was the son of Rev
Charles Rowland Fowke who in 1911 was living at St Giles,
Malvern Wells; he became a Captain in the Oxford and Bucks
Light Infantry and survived the war.
Percy Banford
Percival Edgar Banford, was born Guarlford
about 1895. He was the son of Josiah Banford, a postman, and Maria
Hill. In 1911 he was employed at a stationer's shop. Later
he became Private 240277, 8th Bn the Worcestershire Regiment; he
survived the Great War and married Florence Amy Bridges in
1919.
Walter Thomas Banford
Sadly, Percy's younger brother William Thomas
Banford Private 41426, 3rd Bn the Worcestershire Regiment,
born 1899, Hanley Castle died of wounds in Belgium on 3rd
August 1917, aged only 18 years.
He is not recorded at St Mary but is
remembered on the Great Malvern Priory war memorial.
Gilbert Woodward
This may be Gilbert William Woodward,
born about 1888, Hanley Castle, son of a farm labourer.
He became Corporal 1878 the Worcester Yeomanry, later a Lieutenant in
the Machine Gun Corps. He survived the Great War.
James and George Price
James and George Price may have been the
brothers who lived at Vine Cottage at the end of Chance
Lane. Their sister Florence Price became a school teacher
and married Victor Bradshaw of Guarlford Court. Florence was the
mother of village historian Joan Bradshaw.
Their father
Francis is recorded in the 1901 census as a caretaker at a
bank. So far, we have been unable to trace Thomas Price.
Leslie Percival
Possibly he was Leslie George Percival
born Birmingham about 1896, who was a nephew of James Somer,
farmer of Blackmore End, Hanley Swan.
John Clingo
The 1911 census records that John Philip
Clingo, a married Colour Sergeant in the Coldstream Guards,
was living with his parents and siblings at the sewage farm in Mill
Lane. He was born Norfolk about 1882.
After the Great War he emigrated to
Canada with his wife and children.
Walter Clingo
John's younger brother, Walter James
Clingo, Sergeant 1803, B Company 1st Bn, South Wales
Borderers, previously Coldstream Guards, sadly died in
France on 27th September 1915 at the battle of Loos, aged 31
years.
He is remembered on the Ettington war
memorial (his mother's village).
Howard Munn
We found a Howard John Munn born Bromyard
about 1894 whose father Richard Henry Munn, a farm labourer,
died at Hanley Castle.
Howard John Munn, Lance Coporal 14966, 2
Bn the Worcestershire Regiment was killed in action in
France on 21st May 1917 aged 23 years.
He is remembered on
the Arras memorial and on the memorial in Hanley Swan
Village and Memorial hall (see photo of Hanley memorial below).
George Bruton
The 1911 census records a George Bruton
aged 15 years living with his parents Walter, a basket
maker, and Rosetta, at Clevelode.
Frederick Edward Bruton
In searching for George we came across a casualty with the same surname in Barnards Green.
Frederick Edward (or Edwin) Bruton,
Private
George and Edward Jackson
Several members of the Jackson family
served in the Great War, and more about them can be
found in the Guarlford history books.
Frank Bateman
Francis Bateman Private 27063, was
born at Birlingham near Defford about 1895. He was the son
of Charles and Dinah Bateman. The 1911 census records his
father as waggoner on a farm at Guarlford. Frank enlisted at
Malvern on 14th September 1914, and was transferred from the
Worcestershire Regiment into the Machine Gun Corps. He
suffered illnesses in hospital but survived the Great War;
his home address was given on his
service record as Grove Cottages, Guarlford, Malvern.
William Saunders
While searching for William Saunders, we
came across Leonard William Saunders, Sapper 471720, 497th
Field Company, Royal Engineers who died of wounds Belgium
11th July 1917, aged 29 years. He was born at Malvern 1888,
the son of bricklayer Charles Saunders and Theresa Eleanor;
he was the husband of Elizabeth.
Harold George Saunders
Harold George Saunders, Leonard William's younger
brother, Private 240609, 8 Bn the Worcestershire Regiment
died on 27th August 1917 aged 23 years.
He was born Malvern about 1894 and in
1911 he was living with his parents at Rockville Villa,
North Malvern; his occupation then was a nursery gardener.
The boys' father Charles Saunders who was
born Hanley Castle died in 1918 aged 55 years, so within
just a few months Theresa lost both two sons and a husband.
Edward Williams
The 1891 census records Edward Williams
born about 1880 Great Malvern, the son of cab driver William
and Elizabeth Williams of Pickersleigh Road. He enlisted in
1898 at Malvern, and joined the Liverpool Regiment. He served
in South Africa and India. Called up again, Edward Williams Rifleman
6172, 1st Bn the Liverpool Regiment was killed in action in
France on 11th November 1914.
William Probert
The 1911 census records William Probert,
a farm labourer, born Coddington Herefordshire about 1897
living at the Herriots, Guarlford. Nothing further known.
Herbert Major
Herbert Major, born Long Buckby
Northamtonshire, Private 203511 10 Bn, the Worcestershire
Regiment, died of wounds in France on 15th April 1918 aged
28 years. He was the eldest s
Herbert's brother Percy George Major,
Driver 113584, A Battery 93rd Brigade Royal Field Artillery
had earlier been killed on 23rd July 1916 aged only 18
years.
William Nicholls
In 1911 William George Arthur Nicholls,
born about 1895 in Worcester, was a baker living with his
parents George Henry, a master baker, and Emily Agnes
Nicholls in Guarlford. He married and survived the Great
War.
Albert Lane
In 1911, Albert Lane, born about 1900 in
Malvern was living with his parents at Old Elm,
Barnards Green, Guarlford. He was the son of Harry Lane, a
postman, and the brother of Harry and George who are
mentioned above.
George Graham
The 1901 census records a George
Muncaster Graham living at the old half timbered house
opposite the junction of Chance Lane with the Guarlford Road
with his grandmother Hannah Woodland. Her daughter Annie
married lodger William Shinn. Nothing further is known about
George.
Leonard Hill
The 1901 census records a Leonard Hill
born about 1895 Great Malvern, son of Emma Hill, laundress,
of Barnards Green, Guarlford. In 1911 he was a bricklayer,
boarding in Wolverhampton. Nothing further known.
James Attwood
The 1911 census records a James Attwood,
farm labourer, born Guarlford about 1890, living with his
parents Charles, a farm labourer, and Annie at Guarlford.
William Attwood
Brother of James born Guarlford about
1893.
George Willis
The 1911 census records a George Willis,
hay cutter, born Guarlford about 1889, living at Sherrards
Green with his widowed mother Elizabeth, and brothers
Albert, John and William, and sisters Louisa and Edith.
Nothing further known.
More information about Malvern WWI casualties can be found on the
Malvern Remembers website
which has been revamped and now has a search facility.
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Based upon research by Don Hill, Angus and Rosemary
McCulloch
Last updated 27th October 2018
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