Stockwell War Memorial

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France

Ernest Alexander Potts

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E. A. Potts
Second Lieutenant, Royal Fusiliers, 24th Bn. attd. 10th Bn.
Died of wounds on 15 October 1918, aged 26
Military Cross
CWGC: “Son of Edward and Emma Potts, of 9, Mordaunt St., Brixton, London.”
Remembered at St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen

Ernest Alexander Potts, the son of a police constable and a former railwayman, volunteered for the Coldstream Guards in September 1914 and was sent to the Western Front later that year. He fought at the Battles of Ypres, Arras, Le Bassée and Givenchy. He was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in the Field during heavy fighting on the Somme in 1918. Potts rose to Lance Serjeant and in early 1918, was discharged to join the Royal Fusiliers on a temporary commission. Severely wounded on 8 October, he died a week later.

At 6 feet 3 inches, Potts was the tallest man I have been able to acquire vital statistics for, but he was slender rather than sturdy – weighing just over 11 stone and with only a 36½-inch chest. He was pale-complected, with blue eyes and brown hair.

Potts suffered from eczema and he was hospitalised several times. In early 1917, he was admitted to the Bethnal Green Military Hospital at Cambridge Heath, for which he was treated with a staphylococcal vaccine. In addition, he suffered from impetigo of the scalp, myalgia and a bout of flu.

National Roll of the Great War 1914-1918

POTTS, E. A. (M.C.), 2nd Lieutenant, 10th Royal Fusiliers and Coldstream Guards
Volunteering in September 1914, he was sent to the Western Front later in that year. During his service overseas he fought at the Battles of Ypres, Arras, Le Bassee, Givenchy, and many other engagements of note. He was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in the Field during heavy fighting on the Somme in 1918. He was severely wounded on October 8th, 1918, and subsequently died from the effects of his injuries on October 15th. He was entitled to the 1914-15 Star, and the General Sevice and Victory Medals.
“A valiant soldier, with undaunted heart he breasted Life’s last hill.”
9, Mordaunt Street, Landor Road, S.W.9.

Information from the 1911 census

Ernest Alexander Potts was one of four children of Edward Alexander Potts, 56, born in Gateshead, County Durham, a police pensioner now working as a watchman at the Bon Marche, Brixton, and Emma Potts, 55, of Kennington. Ernest, 18, was a railway employee, as was his brother Edward William Potts, 20. His elder sisters worked too: Violet Mary Potts, 25, was a cashier in a restaurant, and Annie Elizabeth Potts, 23, was a drapery assistant. All the children were born in Brixton. The family had six rooms in their house at 9 Mordaunt Street, Stockwell.

George Hand Porter

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Service no. 290873
Serjeant, Royal Garrison Artillery, 126th Heavy Bty.
Born in Brixton; enlisted in Camberwell; lived in Brixton
Killed in action on 12 September 1918, aged about 26
Remembered at Queant Communal Cemetery British Extension, France
British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920
In civilian life George Hand Porter was a copperplate engraver. His job was to incise a design on the surface of a copper plate.
The job is highly skilled and the process demanded sureness of touch combined with a light, delicate artistry. That work could not be more different to Porter’s role in the 126th (Camberwell) Heavy Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery.

Porter’s three-year Army career was a series of appointments and promotions. Before he had even left England, on 29 May 1915 he was appointed acting Bombardier and within two weeks he was promoted to Bombardier; in less than a month he was made a Corporal. On 29 April 1916 he proceeded to France. There, on 15 August 1916, he reverted to Gunner at his own request, but by November he was again acting Bombardier. Less than two months later he was a paid Bombardier. By September 1917 he had reverted to acting Bombardier, immediately becoming a paid Corporal, but by March 1918 he was an acting Serjeant, and then confirmed in this rank. In April 1918 he was wounded, but managed to remain on duty. Five months later he was killed in action.

What was the reason for so many promotions? Was Porter stepping into the breach left by the death of his fellow soldiers? The records do not say. Heavy batteries, however, attracted a lot of attention from the enemy. The attrition rate was high.

Porter’s Army service started when he was 24. On 12 May 1915 he signed up at Camberwell. The form shows that he opted to allot sixpence a day from his pay for his family – just as well because his wife, Daisy Porter (nee Kennett), was pregnant with their first and only child. It is likely that Porter was able to see his baby, Iris Georgina Porter, who was born in November 1915, as he did not leave England until April the following year.

Porter, blue-eyed with brown hair and a fresh complexion, was 5 feet 8¼ inches tall – a good height for the time – and weighed 138 pounds (getting on for 10 stone). His chest was 35 inches, which he could increase by 2 inches. His physical development was judged “fair”.

George and Daisy Porter lived at 66 Kellett Road, Daisy and Iris later moved to 61 Hinton Road, Herne Hill. From that address she sent a pained note to the Army:
“Dear Sir,” she wrote on 2 January 1919, “Could you inform me the reason why my late husband George Hand Porter No. 290873. 126 Heavy Battery R.G.A.’s effects have not been sent to me as it is nearly four months since he was killed.”

These effects, when they reached her (“Effects sent” is written across the letter) included: two wallets, photos, calendar, metal mirror, watch, pen, guard and chain, collapsible cup, pocket knife, scissors, gold ring, rosary, cap badge, belt, match box cover, whistle, safety razor and case, cap badge, belt, tobacco pouch, cigarette case, celluloid whistle, letters, spectacles in case, magnifying class and three lenses, five compasses, watch protector, razor strap, newspaper cuttings, fob watch, chevrons, brass crown. These objects together speak of a careful, sensitive man used to close work, ideal for work in copperplate engraving.

Information from the 1911 census
Before he married in 1914, George Hand Porter lived with his family at 111 Loughborough Road, Brixton. His widowed mother Martha Porter, 55, was from Walworth. There were four children: George, then 19 and working as a copperplate engraver; John Porter, 24, a machine minder (L.P); Fred Porter, 23, a corrector of the press; Henrietta Porter, 16, a dressmaker. All were born in Lambeth. The 1901 census shows that George’s father, “J. Porter,” was a printer.

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.

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.