Saturday, February 14, 2015

Bassenthwaite Village War Memorial, Cumbria

1. St John's Church, Bassenthwaite
(Built in 1878 to replace a Chapel-of-Ease)
[The village war memorial is in the churchyard]
2. Bassenthwaite Village War Memorial
[Situated in St John's Churchyard]
3. Headstone of F/Sgt. (Pilot) John M. Moore, R.A.F.
[Accidentally killed in a plane crash, 12 April 1945]
 For additional information click on 'Comments' below.
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6 Comments:

Blogger ritsonvaljos said...

Additional information

Bassenthwaite in the English Lake District

Bassenthwaite parish and village in the county of Cumbria (previously Cumberland) is situated between the towns of Keswick and Cockermouth and to the North-east of Bassenthwaite Lake. The lake shore forms part of the western boundary of the parish while part of the watershed of the Skiddaw massif forms part of the eastern boundary of the parish.

The main economic activity in the parish has been farming, fishing and some tourist related activities and its population has remained relatively stable over two centuries, approximately 400 - 550 (412 in the 2001 census). Ecclesiastically, the parish church of Bassenthwaite (Church of England) is St Bega's near the lake side. However, a second church, St John's, was built closer to the main village settlement in 1878 replacing an earlier 'Chapel of Ease' [Photograph No. 1].

In the churchyard of St John's is the Bassenthwaite village war memorial [Photograph No. 2]. Close to a main road, this war memorial commemorates the villagers who lost their lives in the two World Wars.
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Saturday, 14 February, 2015  
Blogger ritsonvaljos said...

Bassenthwaite Village War Memorial

Bassenthwaite's war memorial was erected in St John's churchyard following the 1914 - 1918 World War commemorating fourteen men of the district who lost their lives in that war. Its form is that of a traditional Celtic cross and made of local Skiddaw slate. After the 1939 - 1945 World War the names of four additional villagers who died in that war were added to the front plinth of the cross. There is a slight amount of damage to the base of the cross where the WW2 names are listed but the names are still legible.

The wording on the war memorial is as follows:

"To the men of Bassenthwaite who gave their lives for King and Country in the Great War 1914 - 1918"
Louis Willis Bell
John Edward Borthwick
Joseph Percy Bowman
Ernest Boyd
David Cannon
Robert Carruthers
John James Cleminson
William Edwin Laurence Cleminson
Richard Corfield
William Corfield
Albert Jesse Crowhurst
John Martin Hall
Ernest Slater
Alfred John Stainton
Frederick Watts
......................
1939 - 1945
Thomas Fitzhardinge Hartley
John Maurice Moore
Thomas Rickerby
Henry Stoddart
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Saturday, 14 February, 2015  
Blogger ritsonvaljos said...

Additional parish war memorials of note

There are two additional commemorations found inside St John's Church, Bassenthwaite connected to the First World War. Firstly, there is a framed, decorative "Bassenthwaite parish Roll of Honour" listing the names of forty-eight men of the district who served in the Armed Forces in the 1914 - 1918 war. Secondly, there is a mounted bronze memorial tablet on a wooden backboard remembering Lieutenant Henry Rathbone Hele-Shaw, R.F.C. (70th Squadron), who was killed while flying over the Somme on 19 July 1916.

Lieutenant Hele-Shaw is not listed on the village war memorial in the churchyard as he was not from the village. According to his memorial inside the church Lieutenant Hele-Shaw's maternal grandparents had lived in the parish, at nearby Bassenfell manor.

Inside the parish church of St Bega's near the lakeside is a memorial for a local officer, Captain Walter Vane, 1st Foot Guards (Duke of York's Regiment), who died in France during the Napoleonic Wars. The memorial was erected by his father, Sir Frederick Fletcher Vane.

According to the memorial inside St Bega's Parish Church, Captain Walter Vane was mortally wounded at the Battle of Bayonne on 14 April 1814 and died of his wounds on 19 April 1814. He was buried with full military honours between Bayonne and the village of Boucat in S.W. France.

There are two Commonwealth War Graves Commission burials in the churchyard: one from the First World War and one from the Second World War. These are Private Joseph Percy Bowman, Cheshire Regiment (First World War) and Flight Sergeant John Maurice Moore, R.A.F. (Second World War). Flight Sergeant Moore's headstone is found at the rear of the main war memorial [Photograph No. 3].
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Saturday, 14 February, 2015  
Blogger ritsonvaljos said...

Commonwealth War Graves Commission citations

(a) The WW2 casualties commemorated on the Bassenthwaite War Memorial

Below are the Commonwealth War Graves Commission citations for the WW2 casualties listed on Bassenthwaite's war memorial.

Thomas Fitzhardinge Hartley
Name: HARTLEY, THOMAS FITZHARDINGE
Rank: Major Service No: 58005
Date of Death: 04/09/1942
Age: 29
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery attd. 3 Lt. A.A. Regt., Hong Kong and Singapore Royal Artillery
Grave Reference: 1. K. 11.
Cemetery: DELHI WAR CEMETERY, India
Additional Information: Son of Thomas Milham Hartley and Cicely Joan Hartley, of Reading, Berkshire.
.....................

John Maurice Moore.
Name: MOORE, JOHN MAURICE
Rank: Flight Sergeant
Trade: Pilot
Service No: 573817
Date of Death: 12/04/1945
Age :22
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force, 157 sqdn.
Grave Reference: South plot, Row 6, Grave 24.
Cemetery:BASSENTHWAITE HALLS (ST. JOHN) CHURCHYARD, Cumbria.
Additional Information: Son of William Robinson Moore and Ruth Hannah Moore, of Bassenthwaite.

N.B. Flight Sergeant Moore was accidentally killed on 12 April 1945 while piloting a De Haviland Mosquito (XIX MM 617 RS) after the aircraft caught fire and crashed near Feltwell (Norfolk). The epitaph on his headstone in Bassenthwaite churchyard reads as follows:
"A day of remembrance
Sad to recall
Without farewell
He left us all."
....................

Thomas Rickerby
Name: RICKERBY, THOMAS
Rank: Driver
Service No: T/3718026
Date of Death: 07/12/1943
Age: 37
Regiment/Service: Royal Army Service Corps
Grave Reference: 10. E. 10.
Cemetery: BERLIN 1939-1945 WAR CEMETERY, Germany
Additional Information: Son of Joseph and Mary Jane Rickerby;
husband of Nora Rickerby, of Bassenthwaite, Cumberland.
.....................

Henry Stoddart
Name: STODDART, HENRY
Rank: Driver
Service No: T/7047176
Date of Death: 28/06/1944
Age: 37
Regiment/Service: Royal Army Service Corps
Grave Reference: II, D, 30.
Cemetery: ROME WAR CEMETERY, Italy
Additional Information: Son of John and Jane Ann Stoddart, of Bassenthwaite, Cumberland.
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Saturday, 14 February, 2015  
Blogger ritsonvaljos said...

(b) The WW1 casualties commemorated on Bassenthwaite War Memorial

Below are the Commonwealth War Graves Commission citations for the WW1 casualties of Bassenthwaite that have been identified.

Louis William Bell .
Name: BELL, LOUIS
Rank: Private
Service No: 1891
Date of Death: 01/05/1916
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: Border Regiment 5th Bn.
Grave Reference: A. 20. 18.
Cemetery: ST. SEVER CEMETERY, ROUEN (France)
Additional Information: Son of John and Elizabeth Hannah Bell, of Castle Hill, Bassenthwaite, Cockermouth, Cumberland.
..................

John Edward Borthwick
Name: BORTHWICK, JOHN EDWARD
Rank: Private
Service No: 19928
Date of Death: 30/07/1916
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: Border Regiment, 1st Bn
Panel Reference: Panel 35. Memorial:YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL (Belgium)
Additional Information: Son of Isabella Borthwick, of 6, Ratcliffe Place, Keswick, Cumberland, and the late John Borthwick.
.........................

Joseph Percy Bowman
Name: BOWMAN, JOSEPH PERCY
Rank: Private
Service No: 12688
Date of Death: 27/04/1918
Age: 23
Regiment/Service: Cheshire Regiment 8th Bn.
Grave Reference: In South part.
Cemetery: BASSENTHWAITE HALLS (ST. JOHN) CHURCHYARD, Cumbria.
Additional Information: Son of Anthony and Mary Bowman, of Bassenthwaite.
.........................
David Cannon
Name: CANNON, DAVID
Rank: Private
Service No: 51759
Date of Death: 30/09/1917
Age: 35
Regiment/Service: Manchester Regiment, 24th Bn.
Panel Reference: Panel 120 to 124 and 162 to 162A and 163A.
Memorial: TYNE COT MEMORIAL (Belgium)
Additional Information: Son of Daniel and Margaret Cannon;
husband of Jessie Barnes (formerly Cannon), of High Abbey, Embleton, Cockermouth, Cumberland.
...................

John James Cleminson
Name: CLEMINSON, J J
Rank: Private
Service No: 225733
Date of Death: 24/04/1918
Age: 35
Regiment/Service:Northamptonshire Regiment, 2nd Bn.
Grave Reference: II. J. 2.
Cemetery: ADELAIDE CEMETERY, VILLERS-BRETONNEUX (France)
Additional Information: Son of John and Janet Cleminson, of Bothel, Carlisle, Cumberland;
husband of Elizabeth Lucy Cleminson, of 8, Ferme Park Mansions, Crouch End, London.
.....................

Richard Corfield
Name; CORFIELD, RICHARD
Rank: Private
Service No: 16386
Date of Death: 08/05/1915
Age: 30
Regiment/Service: King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment), 2nd Bn.
Panel Reference: Panel 12.
Memorial: YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL (Belgium)
Additional Information: Son of Mary Jane Corfield, of North Row, Bassenthwaite, Keswick, Cumberland, and the late Alfred Corfield.
....................

William Corfield
Name: CORFIELD, WILLIAM
Rank: Private
Service No: 17247
Date of Death: 08/05/1915
Age: 22
Regiment/Service: King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment), 2nd Bn.
Panel Reference: Panel 12.
Memorial: YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL (Belgium)
Additional Information: Son of Mary Jane Corfield, of North Row, Bassenthwaite, Keswick, Cumberland, and the late Alfred Corfield.
.........................

Saturday, 14 February, 2015  
Blogger ritsonvaljos said...

Albert Jesse Crowhurst
Name: CROWHURST, ALBERT JESSE
Rank: Private
Service No: 25815
Date of Death: 22/12/1917
Age: 33
Regiment/Service: Border Regiment, 7th (West. and Cumb. Yeomanry) Bn
Grave Reference: II. G. 15.
Cemetery: HERMIES HILL BRITISH CEMETERY
Additional Information: Son of William Crowhurst, of Bassenthwaite, Keswick, Cumberland;
husband of Ethel Way (formerly Crowhurst), of Hintonburg, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
....................

John Martin Hall
Name: HALL, J M
Rank: Private
Service No: 202670
Date of Death: 16/05/1918
Regiment/Service: Border Regiment, 8th Bn.
Grave Reference: III. A. 23.
Cemetery: ARNEKE BRITISH CEMETERY (France)
Additional Information: Husband of M. J. Semple (formerly Hall), of The Green, Lamplugh, Workington, Cumberland (formerly of Bassenthwaite).
..................

Alfred John Stainton
Name: STAINTON, ALFRED JOHN
Rank: Private
Service No: 12845
Date of Death: 03/08/1916
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: Border Regiment, 7th Bn.
Grave Reference: IX. B. 9.
Cemetery: DANTZIG ALLEY BRITISH CEMETERY, MAMETZ (France)
Additional Information: Son of Thomas and Mary Jane Stainton, of Ghyll Foot, Gosforth, Cumberland (previously Bassenthwaite)
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Saturday, 14 February, 2015  

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