Stockwell War Memorial

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Stockwell War Memorial

Cecil Ernest Philcox

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Cecil Ernest Philcox
Cecil Ernest Philcox

C. E. Philcox
Lieutenant (temp), South Staffordshire Regiment, 1st Battalion
Died on 24 May 1917, aged 21
Awards Military Cross; mentioned in despatches
CWGC: “Son of Alice E. and the late Alfred James Philcox.”
Remembered at Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension, France, on the war shrine at St Michael’s Church, Stockwell Park Road, London SW9 0DA and at family memorial at West Norwood Cemetery

Brother of Percy William Arthur Philcox

Cecil Ernest Philcox was born in 1895. After attending Dulwich College he worked in a timber broker’s office in the City (his father was a timber merchant). He enlisted in the ranks of 12th Battalion of the London Regiment (The Rangers). One of his two brothers, Percy William Arthur Philcox, was killed in action with the Rangers on 8 May 1915.

Cecil was transferred to the Inns of Court Officers Training Corps at Berkhamsted on 20 April 1915 and in July was given a temporary commission in the 10th (Reserve) Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment at Harrogate. He took part in action at High Wood, Mametz, Beaumont-Hamel, Arras, Serre, Martinpuich, Bullecourt.

In November 1916 Cecil was appointed Battalion Bombing Officer. He died on 24 May 1917 at No. 45 Casualty Clearing Station near Bullecourt of wounds received three days earlier when a defective No. 5 Mills grenade thrown by Private T. Hindley exploded during training, fracturing Cecil’s skull and injuring Hindley himself and Lance Corporal Carrington. A court of enquiry held in the field, at which three witnesses gave evidence, and Hindley made a statement, concluded that no one was to blame for Cecil’s death. All described how Cecil had given the order to throw, how Hindley’s throw was a good one and made in the “regulation manner” and how the grenade exploded only six feet away from the bombing party.

Cecil was mentioned in despatches and awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.

Cecil’s family lived at 255 South Lambeth Road. His father, Alfred James Philcox, who died in 1913, was a timber merchant, originally from Kentish Town, north London. His mother, Alice Eliza Philcox was born in Lambeth. After Cecil and his brother Percy died in the war, two children survived: Alfred Reginald, who in 1911 was working as a clerks in a timber merchant’s office (presumably his father’s) and Ethel Beatrice Philcox.

Information from the censuses
On the night of the 1911 census Cecil Ernest Philcox, aged 15 and still at school (Dulwich College), was at his cousin’s house at 29 Kingsmead Road, Streatham. Leonard Wilfred Philcox, 13, was the son of Mervyn Philcox, 50, a watch and jewellery dealer born in Wandsworth, and Martha Jane Philcox, 51, from Lambeth. Meanwhile, his family were at 255 South Lambeth Road.

Alfred James Philcox, 59, was a timber merchant, born in Kentish Town, north London. His wife, Alice Eliza Philcox, 55, was born in Lambeth. They had five children: Cecil; Alfred Reginald Philcox, 22, and Percy William Arthur Philcox, 19, both clerks in a timber merchant’s office (presumably working with their father); Ethel Beatrice Philcox, 18; and one other. All the children were born in Lambeth. Florence Maud Philcox, 19, a niece born in Lambeth, lived with the family, as did Kate Elizabeth Percival, a 20-year-old single domestic servant from Rotherhithe, south-east London.

Arthur Edward Perry

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A. E. Perry
Service no. 8367
Private, King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, 7th Battalion
Born in Lambeth; enlisted in London; lived in Stockwell
Killed in action on 14 July 1916, aged 28
CWGC: “Son of William James and Selina Perry, of 45 Edithna Street, Landor Road, Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

Information from the censuses

In 1911 Arthur Edward Perry’s parents and brother were living in four rooms at 45 Edithna Street, Stockwell. (I could not find Arthur Edward Perry on this census; the 1901 census shows him working, aged 14, as an errand boy.) William James Perry, 57, was a coach painter born in Lambeth; Selina Perry, 62, was from Bothamsall, Nottinghamshire. They had had six children; three survived: Arthur Edward; William John Perry, 36, a poulterer born in Lambeth; one other (name unknown).

William George Percy

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W. G. Percy
Service no. 3950
Lance Corporal, London Regiment (London Irish Rifles), 18th Battalion
Killed in action on 22 May 1916, aged 34
CWGC: “Son of William Percy, of 11 Grantham Road, Clapham, London.”
Remembered at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, France

Information from the censuses

In 1911 William George Percy, 29, worked as an optician’s assistant. Born in Kennington, he lived with his wife, Nellie Ethel, 24 and from Leeds, in five rooms at 52 Hearnville Road, Balham. His parents, meanwhile, lived at 11 Grantham Road, Stockwell; William Percy, 52, was an optician, and while Etheldreda Percy, 49, from Portland, Dorset, does not give an occupation in the 1911 census, she was described as a teacher-assistant mistress in the 1901 census.  Percy’s sister, called Etheldreda like her mother and grandmother, was 17 and at school. Lucy Howard, a 29-year-old single live-in servant from Holbeach, Lincolnshire, is also on the 1911 census.

Benjamin Charles Peploe

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B. C. Peploe
Service no. 453135
Rifleman, London Regiment (Finsbury Rifles), 1st/11th Battalion, formerly 6329, 9th London Regiment
Born in Stockwell; enlisted in London; lived in Stockwell
Killed in action on 2 November 1917, aged 25
CWGC: “Husband of Josephine Elsie Peploe, of 30 Lingham Street, Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at Gaza War Memorial, Israel and St Andrew’s Church, Landor Road, London SW9

Information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

At the end of March 1917, Gaza was attacked and surrounded by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in the First Battle of Gaza, but the attack was broken off when Turkish reinforcements appeared. The Second Battle of Gaza, 17-19 April, left the Turks in possession and the Third Battle of Gaza, begun on 27 October, ended with the capture of the ruined and deserted city on 7 November.

Information from censuses

Stockwell-born Benjamin Charles Peploe, 19 in 1911, lived at 70 Lingham Street, Stockwell, where his family had four rooms. His widowed mother, Mildred Elizabeth Peploe, 54, was a greengrocer from Euston, north London. He had four siblings, two of whom lived at home: Violet Daisy Peploe, 16, who is described as “assisting in the business”; Milly Rebecca Savill, 30, a restaurant manageress born in Clapham. The household included Milly’s husband, George Alfred Savill, 31, a meat carver born in Stockwell.

The family at lived at 70 Lingham Street for at least 20 years (they are there on the 1901 and 1891 censuses).  In 1881 the family were at 14 The Polygon, Clapham. The census gives Benjamin’s father Charles Peploe’s occupation as fishmonger and states that he was born in Bermondsey.

Henry John Penney

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H. J. Penney
Service no. 7074
Rifleman, London Regiment (Queen Victoria’s Rifles), 1st/9th Battalion
Enlisted in Putney; lived in Brixton
Died of wounds age 21 on 20 October 1916
CWGC: “Son of Henry and Louisa Mary Penney, of 29 Knowle Rd., Brixton, London. Native of London.”
Remembered at Etaples Military Cemetery, France and on the war shrine at St Michael’s Church, Stockwell Park Road, London SW9 0DA

Information from the 1911 census

Henry John Penney, 15 in 1911, was a goldsmith’s apprentice. He lived at 29 Knowle Road, Brixton where his family had four rooms. His father, Henry Penney, 42, was a stone mason from Southwark, and his mother, Louisa Mary Penney, 41, was from Lambeth. They had three surviving children (of four): Henry, born in Lambeth; Beatrice Jessie Penney, 10; Irene Grave, 8. Both girls were born in Brixton. There were two boarders: Elizabeth McCallum, 46, a married daily housekeeper from Tilbury, Essex, and Gladys Lilian McCallum, 6, born in Portsmouth, possibly Elizabeth’s daughter.

Henry William Penn

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H. W. Penn
Service no. 22577
Private, King’s Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment), 8th Battalion
Killed in action on 16 June 1917, aged 34
Born in Clapham; enlisted at Lambeth
CWGC: “Son of William and Lucy Penn, of 74 Hargwyne Street, Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at Arras Memorial, France, and St Andrew’s Church, Landor Road, London SW9

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

Henry Penn enlisted in the Suffolk Regiment on 11 November 1915, and was later transferred to the Lancasters. Not much survives in his service file, but gives us an indication of how he looked (he was 5 feet tall and had a 34-inch chest, which he could expand by 2½ inches, and had a squint in his left eye).

In June 1916 he was wounded in the face and right arm. About a year later, he was killed in action. His effects were sent to his mother, Lucy Penn: photograph, a small bag, four identity discs, a notebook, a letter case, letters, safety razor and blades, a pipe and tobacco pouch, a silver cigarette case, a metal mirror, a regimental book cover, buttons, a farthing, a card and two cap badges.

Information from the censuses

Henry (or Harry) William Penn lived at 74 Hargwyne Street with his parents, William Kenward Penn, 62, a boiler stoker born in Clapham, and Lucy Mary Penn (née Harris), 57, from Marlow, Buckinghamshire. The family had three rooms. There were two other siblings. In 1901 the family lived at 121 Hargwyne Street.