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Project Launch & Commemorative Church Service 21/9/14

The project was formally launched on Sunday 21st September 2014 with a display of the research conducted to that point and also a service in St Werburgh’s Church.

A link to the same article in Cheadle Post is HERE

Below is the press release that was in local papers the following week:

 

Last Sunday saw the village of Kingsley and its wider parish coming together to commemorate the centenary of the start of the first world war.

The day was chosen as it was on the eve of the centenary of the parish’s first fatality when George Harris Smith lost his life when his ship was sunk in the north sea whilst serving with the Royal Navy.

A very fitting and at times moving service in St Werburgh’s Church was conducted by the Reverend Carol Richardson with over a hundred persons present including school children from the local school who gave their thoughts on what the war meant to them.

A cross of  candles was lit by the congregation with readings and the poem  In Flanders Field by John McCrae recited during the act of commemoration.

This saw the 27 names on the villages war memorials read out plus the addition of Leonard Edwards who died as a result of his war service but seems to have been missed out.

Present were descendants of some  of those remembered as well as the small committee that have been working on the event for the last few months.

Either side of the church service the village hall was open and again over a hundred people visited a display of research conducted into the 28 from the area who are on the war memorials with of course the exception being Leonard Edwards.

Some  of the families bought photographs and other mementos of their descendants and shared them with the community.

Martin Clewlow who is a descendant of James Millward from Kingsley Moor (who survived the war) and featured in a Cheadle and Tean Times article earlier this year attended and put on a display of memorabilia from the war which was of great interest to both young and old alike.

As a result of event several families provided additional information and lines of enquiry to the committee in their quest to document as much as possible about the lives of those who died and their links with Kingsley.

Said Martyn Hordern one of the organisers ‘today was a real community event and one that allowed us to pause and reflect in a most appropriate way, having spent several months researching these men it was different this time when their names were read out’ he added ‘its ninety four years this week since Leonard Edwards died as the result of his war service and today was the first time his name has ever been read out’

The research and display created by the committee will now be loaned to St Werburgh’s school to allow the children studying the war to better understand its impact on the local community.

 

 

 

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George Harris Smith Died 22nd September 1914

George Harris Smith was born on 23rd August 1890 in Ipstones, Staffs, the son of Hugh (a Copperworks Labourer) and Anne Smith, the third of their seven children.  (1901 Census).  Later the family moved to 7 The Green, Kingsley. (CWGC Records).  As a young teenager George was employed locally as a Collier working for his uncle William Smith.  (Navy Records).

On 16th October 1908, aged 18 yrs, George joined the Royal Navy, Service No:  SS/107831, for a period of 5 + 7 years.  He completing basic training as a Seaman / Stoker at Chatham, Kent, at which that stage he was described as being 5 feet 9 inches tall, with a 36 inch chest and brown hair.  Over the following years he served on several Royal Navy ships.  (Navy Records).

Why a young man from landlocked Kingsley would join the navy is unclear. His family tell the story of an argument with fellow workers as he was getting paid the same rate by his uncle as the older men. To settle the argument he joined up alongside another local Kingsley man whose name was thought to be Bert.

He saw service on several ships including the Formidable between April 1909 and April 1911. It was during this posting that he had a portrait picture taken whilst on leave. It is believe it was taken by Lowndes’ in Cheadle High Street.  At the same time he had a picture taken with his sister Mary and a naval friend Fred Cope from Cheadle who was to serve on all the same ships as George prior to the war.

George Smith 038

The service record of Frederick Cope shows that like George he was a collier and came from Cheadle. They joined the navy within a week of week of each other. Whether this man is the one referred to as ‘Bert’ by mistake is unclear. During WW1 Fred Cope saw service on several ships the main one was HMS Sapphire which served in home waters, the Mediterranean and the gulf. He is referred to in one of the Weekly Sentinel articles as being a friend of Arthur Carr another soldier serving from Kingsley. He was demobbed in 1919. (It is hoped to have a photo of the two shortly)

The last time his family saw him was at around the time of the outbreak of war when he left home in the Green and was seeing walking towards Kingsley Moor.

On 2nd August 1914 George Harris Smith was transferred to HMS Hogue, a 12,000 ton armoured cruiser with a crew of 680.  In the early stages of World War 1 HMS Hogue, together HMS Aboukir and HMS Cressey, formed part the 7th Cruiser Squadron deployed in the southern North Sea to protect the British merchant fleet carrying supplies to Expeditionary Force troops in northern Europe.

At 07.00hrs on Tuesday 22nd September 1914 HMS Hogue was deployed to assist the crew of HMS Aboukir which had been struck by a torpedo from a German U Boat and was sinking.  During the rescue HMS Hogue was struck by two torpedoes from the same U Boat and sank within 15 minutes with the loss of the majority of its crew, (including George Harris Smith). HMS Cressey was hit a short time later and also sank.  A total of 1459 crew were lost from all three cruisers causing a public outcry and loss of confidence in the ability of the Royal Navy to protect the merchant fleet.

Although a stoker in the navy at the time of his death according to contemporary press reports he was in charge of the ships magazine.

The Service Record of George Harris Smith is concluded, “Drowned in the North Sea when HMS Hogue was sunk by a German Submarine.”  He and other crew members are commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial, Chatham, Kent.

One of his brothers John William Smith served with the North Staffordshire Regiment.

A grave stone was erected by the family in St Werbrugh’s Church yard near to the stile adjacent to Church Stile Farm – however for reasons unknown it was removed or fell down and is no longer to be seen.

Estelle Cope and her brother George Smith are niece and nephew to George Harris Smith. They reside in the Cheadle area.

They both tell how George’s mother had a collage of George’s pictures and medals over the mantelpiece of her home.

 George Smith was born on 22nd September and named in remembrance of the uncle he never knew.

 The family have supplied three photos including two of George. One shows him amongst a group of sailors (on the right second row with a clay pipe) The ship name on his cap band and the life preserver has the letters TCHEN – this would appear to be HMS Itchen a River Class destroyer launched in 1903 and sunk on 6th July 1917. This ship does not appear on George’s service record but clearly he was on board at some point.

George Smith 037

 

 

HMS Hogue:

 HMS Hogue

 

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New web site launched

Post PoppyMonday 5th January 2015 saw the launch of a web site intended to honour those men from the parish of         Kingsley who lost their lives as a consequence  of their service in the First World War.

A small group of parishioners has over the last twelves months or so worked to highlight the parishes links to the war and its effects on those who lived here during those times.

This website will hopefully record the work of the group as we carryout the aims we have set ourselves as a result of a successful bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Please do keep returning to see the site and out project develop in the coming months.

One feature will be a monthly focus where in chronological order we will detail on the anniversary of their deaths the history of the men who died.

The first one to be featured is George Harris Smith who died in the opening weeks of the war and whilst this feature is out of sync as it were we felt it important to start with him as he was the first to loose his life.

If anyone visiting the site has information to give on these men or indeed any local man who fought in the war please get in touch via the contact us page.

In addition we are keen to recruit more volunteers to the group as the project will offer many opportunities to get involved.