For all we have and areby Rudyard Kipling
For all we have and are, For all our children's fate, Stand up and take the war. The Hun is at the gate! Our world has passed away, In wantonness o'erthrown. There is nothing left to-day But steel and fire and stone! Though all we knew depart, The old Commandments stand:— "In courage kept your heart, In strength lift up your hand." Once more we hear the word That sickened earth of old:— "No law except the Sword Unsheathed and uncontrolled." Once more it knits mankind, Once more the nations go To meet and break and bind A crazed and driven foe. Comfort, content, delight, The ages' slow-bought gain, They shrivelled in a night. Only ourselves remain To face the naked days In silent fortitude, Through perils and dismays Renewed and re-renewed. Though all we made depart, The old Commandments stand:— "In patience keep your heart, In strength lift up your hand." No easy hope or lies Shall bring us to our goal, But iron sacrifice Of body, will, and soul. There is but one task for all— One life for each to give. What stands if Freedom fall? Who dies if England live? |
Southall Military Hospital, Middlesex 1918
"Please don't send me to the Western Front"
Thousands of men pleaded not to go and fight. A variety of reasons were cited for resisting conscription, including medical, family and economic grounds. The majority of appeals were dismissed and may people did go on to fight. The hearings of these cases were considered so sensitive that after the war, most files were destroyed.
Below are some case studies of those who asked not to be sent to the Western Front.
Below are some case studies of those who asked not to be sent to the Western Front.
Harry Ward Describing himself as a foreign correspondent and book-keeping clerk, he resisted serving on conscientious grounds on the basis of this socialist beliefs. He lost his initial hearing after the chairman said that as a socialist he could not possibly have a conscience. The manner of this dismissal was raised in Parliament by and MP and Ward, 20, appealed. He lost this hearing too, but later appealed to the central tribunal. |
Harry Harris A 35-year-old from Wood Green, north London, he applied for an exemption so he could continue to run his grocery and general store, of which he was sole proprietor. He submitted a photograph of himself in front of the store as part of his appeal. He said he had to run it single-handed as all his assistants had gone to fight. If he were made to serve, he said, he risked losing his life savings. The tribunal dismissed his case, but gave him one month to make arrangements for the business. |
Charles Horace Cunningham He resisted conscription as a conscientious objector on the grounds of his Anglican beliefs and membership of the anti-war "Fellowship of Reconciliation" group. Cunningham, from Muswell Hill, north London, was initially granted an exemption on the condition that he remained in his job at London county council. However, his employers suspended him without pay, on the grounds of his conscientious objector status. He kept his exemption after travelling to East Anglia to work as a farm labourer. |
Life continues in Hanworth
Whilst the men and boys continued to fight, life continued in Hanworth. John Alexander Whitehead founded Mothers' day in England, in recognition of his own mother. The first Mother's Day was held on Tuesday, August 8th, 1916 at Hanworth Park.
The event was organised for mothers with sons in the military. The man in the foreground, attempting to eat the bun, is J. A. Whitehead, owned of Whitehead Aircraft Ltd, which built the Sopwith Pups aircraft used extensively in the War.
The event was organised for mothers with sons in the military. The man in the foreground, attempting to eat the bun, is J. A. Whitehead, owned of Whitehead Aircraft Ltd, which built the Sopwith Pups aircraft used extensively in the War.
John Alexander Whitehead was born in England in 1876. Leaving school at the age of 16, he worked his passage to the USA. He became a US citizen and settled in Oakland, California and married Clarissa, a professional pianist. Together they had three children, Rodney, Keith and Helene. The marriage ended in divorce and Whitehead returned to England in 1915, along with the three children. A second marriage to Molly in December 1915 produced two more children, daughters Jean and Pat.
It was at this time that Whitehead started his business, Whitehead Aircraft Company (Ltd.), located in Richmond and Feltham, England, manufacturing fighter aircraft. This enterprise lasted from 1915-1919.
Reported as a carpenter by trade, there is little doubt that he was a good judge of timber and he found ready employment with the Aircraft Manufacturing Company, then producing Farmans under license for school work. It was evidently here that Whitehead aspired to build aircraft in a factory of his own. Local gossip has it that Captain R. H. Vaughn Thompson, who had acquired the old Richmond Drill Hall, first became aware of Whitehead's interest by observing him painting his name in the structure. Whatever the circumstances they became legally occupied by Whitehead Aircraft Ltd., a company registered with a capital of £5,000.
Following Whitehead's approach to the War Office, who were in need of new contractors because the Admiralty had monopolised many of the established aircraft firms, a test order for six B.E.2 b.s was given to judge his firm's worth. With a ceremony in November 1915, well stage-managed by Whitehead, the first aircraft, R.F.C. No. 2884, was christened by breaking a bottle of champagne over its nose and being formally name "The Helene" after his first daughter who now, as Mrs. Winslow, still has its brass nameplate.
That the aircraft passed inspection is evident from the service records of Reserve Squadrons and the order that followed; but how a drill hall workshop came to receive an order for a hundred Maurice Farman Shorthorns could only be through Whitehead's undoubted ability to sell himself. New premises were acquired and large assembly sheds were erected at Feltham, while the existing factory was extended (the site of the present Black Horse Garage, Richmond). Aircraft parts built at Richmond were transported by road for erection in the new Feltham works. To finance this, a new company, Whitehead Aviation, was floated with a capital of 1/4 million pounds sterling. The money was certainly needed. There were no half measures with Whitehead. His new premises in his mind's eye were the site of the great Whitehead factories. While the erecting sheds went up in wood and galvanised iron for quickness, a large brick, concrete-bedded powerhouse with a battery of boilers and well equipped control-room was built, together with a riverside wharf, timber-store and saw-mill. Ever mindful of his workers, a fine canteen was built and equipped down to crested cutlery; when meat was once in short supply, Whitehead immediately went out and bought up a local butcher's shop.
Short of producing an aircraft of his own design, no one was more delighted than Whitehead when he received orders to build Sopwith Pups -a type currently in service at the Front. They were represented in the firm's full-page advertisements in Flight and The Aeroplane, as "Whitehead's Fighting Scouts"- a matter that apparently still confuses a well-known American writer. Building a new type that was proving equal to the enemy's best on the Western front meant that Whitehead's wish to publicise the production of his first Sopwith Pup was smothered under security regulations.
Restricting the airfield space from expanding into the 300 acres of Hanworth Park was the Cardinal river dividing the land on its run to feed the Hampton Court lakes. Whitehead set in motion a vast engineering scheme to put the river underground, using the inverted syphon method for a low-level flow. Much of the manual work was done by German prisoners of War. As early as October 1917, Whitehead revealed his conception of this London Airport of the future, as it was well placed for the receipt and despatch of aerial mails.
The mansion in Hanworth Park, then a convalescent home for wounded soldiers, he had earmarked as a country club. A work's magazine, modeled on Avro's Joystick, was issued to the employees under the title Whitecraft and a house in Gretna Road, Richmond, was taken over as the editorial offices.
During 1917 the Whitehead Flying School was established at Hanworth when the first machine, a Caudron G.III, was purchased for £150. The training charges were up to £125 for the complete course to qualify for the Royal Aero Club certificate. Two more aircraft were acquired, but further expansion was limited by the difficulties in obtaining suitable aircraft for private schools at this stage of the war.
Whitehead, reveling in publicity, encourage his firm's participation in outside activities. They entered London Munitions Football League and played such teams as Napier who made R.E.8s, Handley Page, the aircraft manufacturing company who produced the D.H. designs, Darracq who were constructing D.H.5s, Wilkinson Sword, Fiat and the Gramophone Company among others. Works outings and sports days were all part of the firm's activities to which J. A. Whitehead made sure that representatives of the national and aeronautical, as well as the local, press were invited. At the Whitehead Aircraft Sports Carnival, held at the Hanworth Aerodrome on 7th August 1917, some 6,000 spectators saw the Sopwith Company win the tug-of-war against Whitehead, their largest Pup sub contractor.
Whitehead entertained dignitaries and even royalty, presenting solid silver casts of a Sopwith Pup - labeled the "Whitehead Flying Scout" - to those he favoured. The press were advised that the true answer to the menace of the German air raids was to combat them with Whitehead Scouts! He was soon to need the newspapers as advocates for the £1 million grant he needed from the Treasury.
The footage below shows a Sopwith 'Pup' Fighter aircraft at Hanworth Park aerodrome in 1917. The company founder Mr. J. A. Whitehead may well be gentleman who looks back at the camera, his Rolls Royce is parked beside the row of planes.
The Defence Geographic Centre,
and mapping in the First World War
Defence Geographic Centre (DGC) is based at Feltham in Middlesex. Its mission is to deliver geographical information (GEOINF), geographical intelligence (GEOINT), services and liaison to support the achievement of Defence objectives. Its primary role is to provide land maps, aeronautical charts, positional information, geo-referenced imagery and digital data in raster, matrix, and vector formats for UK defence planning, operations and training.
In the First World War a massive and unprecedented mapping and survey effort was made in support of the British Army, especially the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France and Flanders. This effort encompassed revolutionary development in mapping and surveying and the legacy of the war is still very strong in the work the Defence Geographic Centre caries out today. On the Western Front many new survey and mapping methods and techniques were developed which together greatly enhanced the spatial awareness of the British Army. A new era opened with aerial photography, the provision of air charts, the provision of large scale maps, the use of an alphanumeric reference system, the use of coloured overprints, the use of sound-ranging, the use of flash-spotting, the making of artillery boards, of panoramas, of photo mosaics and of relief models. Many of these methods and techniques are still in use by the Defence Geographic Centre today.
First days
At the outbreak of war in August 1914, it was fortunate that the War Office had at its disposal the Geographical Section of the General Staff, the Royal Engineers and the Ordnance Survey, all well established organisations experienced in producing maps. Supported by civilian personnel, they were all staffed by military personnel well trained in mapping techniques and very familiar with surveying in a variety of conditions around the world.
On mobilisation, the Printing Division of the Royal Engineers accompanied the British Expeditionary Force and was based at General Headquarters at St Omer in France. It was equipped with cameras, litho-presses, duplicators and a letter-press. On the staff was Major (later Brigadier) E M Jack RE. All Royal Engineer surveyors and map-makers in France and Flanders worked under the direction of Jack. Eventually, he had nearly 4,000 officers and men at his direction.
It was the first war in which British soldiers were provided in advance with adequate medium scale mapping, thanks to the foresight of the Geographical Section of the General Staff. The British Expeditionary Force was originally provided with two sets of maps of Belgium and France, based on native mapping. They were suitable for the mobile operations which were anticipated and in fact occurred in the opening phase of the war, but not for the unforeseen static operations which followed. Warfare ceased to be about manoeuvre and became about trenches, barbed wire, machine guns and artillery.
Large scale maps
Trench warfare rendered medium scale maps useless and created the urgent need for large scale maps.
The Ordnance Survey enlarged the 1:80,000 map to 1:40,000 but the inaccuracies of the original (surveyed in the early nineteenth century) meant that it could not be relied upon for either infantry or artillery use.
After a further attempt at revising the 1:80,000 was abandoned in December 1914, a decision was taken to carry out a full scale survey of that part of the British front in France. The 1st Ranging Section under Captain H Winterbotham RE was tasked with the job. The section was experimental and had been deployed in the expectation that it could, from disparate known ground locations, intersect Allied aircraft flying over enemy gun batteries and thus locate those batteries and enable them to be targeted for counter-bombardment. It had been unsuccessful however. Comprising Royal Engineer observers and topographers, the section began the task of re-triangulation in January 1915. The work was often hazardous as they were taking measurements within range of the enemy.
The work of Winterbotham's section resulted in a new series at 1:20,000, which eventually covered the whole of the British front. During the war over 12,000 square miles were surveyed (initially on the ground and later from the air) at the scale of 1:20,000. On this firm basis accurate large scale maps were produced. The main series were at 1:40,000, 1:20,000 and 1:10,000 scales. Smaller and larger-scale maps were also produced (including 1:5,000 scale used by the infantry for patrols and raids) but these three scales addressed respectively the main needs of administration, the artillery and the infantry. The most commonly used maps were the 1:20,000. They were often very detailed, for they were designed for use by heavy and medium artillery, which required a precise locational aid to pinpoint particular targets.
That part of the British Expeditionary Force operating in Flanders was more fortunate in that it was already in possession of detailed and accurate maps, reproduced from Belgian 1:10,000 scale sheets taken to the Ordnance Survey by Belgian personnel evacuated from Antwerp in 1914. From the Belgian sheets the British adopted sheetlines for their own 1:40,000 and later 1:20,000 and 1:10,000 maps. These sheetlines were extended to cover the entire British front including that part in France. The maps reflected the numbered and lettered squaring of the front in a way which enabled the artillery and infantry to pinpoint locations more accurately and easily.
Aerial Photography
Aerial photography, taken by the Royal Flying Corps and its successor the RAF, was in invaluable tool both for improving mapping and for locating and confirming locations of enemy artillery made by flash-spotting and sound-rainging. On his own initiative, in January 1915 Lieutenant CC Darley RFC took air photos of part of the German frontline, which he interpreted and made into a map. His superiors were impressed, realising that useful intelligence could be derived from the study of air photos and displayed in an understandable way on a map. From then on aerial photography, Photographic Interpretation and the depiction of the results on maps became standard practice.
Trench maps
By July 1915 each of the British Armies on the Continent had its won team of expert survey staff responsible for the compilation of larger scale trench maps. The information, usually obtained from aerial photographs and sketches undertaken by staff on the ground, culminated in a large number of 1:5,000 scale sheets. The battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 had shown up a large number of inaccuracies and it became clear that new series of large scale maps was necessary if operations were to be mounted effectively. GHQ had started to introduce a new series of 1:10,000 trench maps in June to 2nd Army and, by August, 1st Army was also provided with such maps. These maps were reproduced by the Ordnance Survey then shipped to St Omer.
By the end of 1915, Maps and Printing Sections had evolved into more independent Topographical Sections and were now making extensive use of the new advances in technology. The recently formed 3rd Army had taken advantage of the newly acquired Camera Lucida to provide detailed plotting. The information gained by these new techniques was used to revise a set of nineteenth century cadastral plans, obtained from the Land Office at Amiens, to provude a new series of 1:20,000 scale maps. So accurate and fine was the detail that 1:10,000 scale maps could be produced direct from them. Better photographic equipment, both aerial and land based, together with improved printing presses and developments in flash-spotting and sound-ranging, ensured that the 1:20,000 and 1:10,000 scale maps became the standard issue for artillery and infantry respectively for the rest of the war.
The Topographical Sections evolved into the Field Survey Companies in February 1916 and each army in the British Expeditionary Force was assigned one company. The maps for the Somme offensive (July to November 1916) were produced by 4 Field Survey Company under Major (later Major-General) M N MacLeod RE. The Defence Geographical Centre at Feltham named a building in his honour in 2003.
Artillery support
Sound-ranging and flash-spotting were developed to locate the positions of enemy artillery so that they could be targeted by the Royal Artillery. Sound-ranging was and electro-mechanical means of recording the sound waves set up by the discharge of a gun and so computing its position. Flash-spotting aimed at the same result by taking cross bearings of a gun flash. At the beginning of the war, the Royal Artillery investigated sound-ranging, which had been invented by Lucien Bull, and Englishman working in Paris, and which had been under development by the French Army. The Royal Artillery discounted the method as unworkable but Jack took the idea up and appointed the young and brilliant Nobel Prize winner for Physics, Lawrence Bragg, to develop the idea. Bragg developed very successful equipment and each Field Survey Company controlled the work of Sound-Ranging sections. In parallel, Harold hemming developed flash-spotting, a visual method of synchronised observation of gun flashes from known, surveyed, observation posts. These sections were also controlled by the Survey Companies. In 1915 artillery boards were designed to make map use more convenient for the Royal Artillery and to avoid inaccuracies resulting from an un-mounted map. The earliest boards were simple, carrying only a grid, the fun positions and other conspicuous points. An improved version, made from the 1:20,000 scale map, was designed in 1916. The complementary methods of flash-spotting and sound-ranging enabled the location of enemy artillery batteries, and their depiction on maps and their engagement by counter-battery artillery, to devastating effect at the battles of Cambrai in November 1917 and Amiens in August 1918.
Relief models
Using the 1:20,000 scale maps, relief models were made of the entire British front. This was necessary because the Germans had the advantage of holding the high ground and occupying the reverse slope. These models consisted of layers of sheet, cut to the shape of a contour. The result was a model which represented the ground in a series of steps. The GHQ master set in its special cabinet, used personally by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Hair and his Staff (as crayon marks and diary entries testify), was held in storage by the Imperial War Museum for many years. It was eventually transferred to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. After restoration and research work over several years by Defence Geographic Centre personnel, it was unveiled at Sandhurst in 2011 by Lord Astor, Defence Minister and Haig's grandson. Today, the Defence Geographic Centre still produces relief models exaggerating the vertical axis to enhance appreciation of ground, both its dangers and its possibilities.
Printing
The first Map and Printing Sections used lithographic hand presses which printed sheets up to 17.5 x 22.5 inches in size. This continued until early 1917 when a larger press (30 x 20 inches) was introduced. Flat bed presses continued to be used until the end of the war, producing maps up to 22.5 x 35 inches in size. From 1916 Field Survey Company personnel were equipped with new cameras. The Ordnance Survey organised short courses in new photo-mechanical reproduction processes, such as heliozincography, which the staff were sent back from the front to attend.
Despite an increase in personnel and better reproduction processes, the ever-growing scale of the war meant that demand for maps constantly outstripped supply. At the end of 1917 the Ordnance Survey established an Overseas Branch near Wimereux to support the British Expeditionary Force directly and especially to make up the shortfall of maps. By the spring of 1918, it was in full production. However, the German breakthrough on the Marne in March 1918 mean that maps of areas well in the rear of the front line had to be produced urgently and despite the loss of equipment. Such areas had not been surveyed. Field Survey Companies were enlarged into Battalions in June 2018. Together with the Ordnance Survey the Battalions were able to carry out the entire process of map production in theatre. The large number of sheets being produced at 1:20,000 scale by the Ordnance Survey was sufficient to allow the Battalions to concentrate on 1:10,000 scale sheets. Production of maps at these two scales now met demand.
Under its Director General, Col (later Sir) Charles Close RE, the Ordnance Survey was fully mobilised in support of the British Army's mapping and surveying effort during the war. A total of 34 million maps were produced for the Western Front.
Last days
With the battle of Amiens, the British Expeditionary Force broke through the German lines and brought the return of mobile warfare, which made trench maps redundant. In 100 days of unrelenting offensive action by the British Expeditionary Force following Amiens, the Germans were driven back into Belgium and forced to surrender.
After the war, the mapping and survey effort on the Western Front received a flowing tribute in Haig's Final Dispatch:
The great development of air photography, sound-ranging, flash spotting, air-burst ranging and aerial observation brought counter battery work and harassing fire both by day and night to a high state of perfection. Special progress was made in the art of engaging moving targets with fire controlled by observation from aeroplanes and balloons. The work of the Field Survey Sections, in the location of hostile batter positions by re-section and the employment of accurate maps, was brought into extended use. In combination with the work of the Calibration Sections in the accurate calibration of buns, and by careful calculation of corrections of range required to compensate for weather conditions, it became possible to a large extent to dispense with registration, whereby the change of effecting surprise was greatly increased. In the operations east of Amiens on the 8th August, 1918, in which over 2,000 guns were employed, practically the whole of the batteries concentrated for the purpose of the attach opened fire for the first time on the actual morning of the assault.
Conclusion
The effort over the four years of the war was unquestionably the largest survey and mapping operation in history up to that time. During the war the Geographical Section of the General Staff, Royal Engineers and Ordnance Survey were all greatly expanded to meet the huge needs of the British Army. After the war it was said that no surveyor, however large or varied his military experience, could have foreseen the extraordinary growth which took place. This growth was a common feature in all the armies in every theatre of the war, though in only the British Army was the investment in such a scale. During the war the peacetime links between the Royal Engineer surveyors, the Survey of India, the Survey of Egypt and the Ordnance Survey, all commanded and staffed by the Royal Engineers, enabled a very high degree of co-operation. Working together, the Royal Engineers, civil surveyors, colonial surveyors and civilian specialists such as physicists revolutionised mapping and survey during the war. Flash-spotting, sound-ranging, aerial photography, squared and overprinted mapping all combined to produce a dramatic effect on the battlefield, an effect that amounted to a revolution in military affairs and contributed greatly to the Allied victory.
The enormous efforts and revolutionary advances made by the predecessors of the Defence Geographic Centre at Feltham during the First World War should not be forgotten. The legacy is important: the foundations of the work that the Defence Geographic Centre carries out today were laid during the First World War.
In the First World War a massive and unprecedented mapping and survey effort was made in support of the British Army, especially the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France and Flanders. This effort encompassed revolutionary development in mapping and surveying and the legacy of the war is still very strong in the work the Defence Geographic Centre caries out today. On the Western Front many new survey and mapping methods and techniques were developed which together greatly enhanced the spatial awareness of the British Army. A new era opened with aerial photography, the provision of air charts, the provision of large scale maps, the use of an alphanumeric reference system, the use of coloured overprints, the use of sound-ranging, the use of flash-spotting, the making of artillery boards, of panoramas, of photo mosaics and of relief models. Many of these methods and techniques are still in use by the Defence Geographic Centre today.
First days
At the outbreak of war in August 1914, it was fortunate that the War Office had at its disposal the Geographical Section of the General Staff, the Royal Engineers and the Ordnance Survey, all well established organisations experienced in producing maps. Supported by civilian personnel, they were all staffed by military personnel well trained in mapping techniques and very familiar with surveying in a variety of conditions around the world.
On mobilisation, the Printing Division of the Royal Engineers accompanied the British Expeditionary Force and was based at General Headquarters at St Omer in France. It was equipped with cameras, litho-presses, duplicators and a letter-press. On the staff was Major (later Brigadier) E M Jack RE. All Royal Engineer surveyors and map-makers in France and Flanders worked under the direction of Jack. Eventually, he had nearly 4,000 officers and men at his direction.
It was the first war in which British soldiers were provided in advance with adequate medium scale mapping, thanks to the foresight of the Geographical Section of the General Staff. The British Expeditionary Force was originally provided with two sets of maps of Belgium and France, based on native mapping. They were suitable for the mobile operations which were anticipated and in fact occurred in the opening phase of the war, but not for the unforeseen static operations which followed. Warfare ceased to be about manoeuvre and became about trenches, barbed wire, machine guns and artillery.
Large scale maps
Trench warfare rendered medium scale maps useless and created the urgent need for large scale maps.
The Ordnance Survey enlarged the 1:80,000 map to 1:40,000 but the inaccuracies of the original (surveyed in the early nineteenth century) meant that it could not be relied upon for either infantry or artillery use.
After a further attempt at revising the 1:80,000 was abandoned in December 1914, a decision was taken to carry out a full scale survey of that part of the British front in France. The 1st Ranging Section under Captain H Winterbotham RE was tasked with the job. The section was experimental and had been deployed in the expectation that it could, from disparate known ground locations, intersect Allied aircraft flying over enemy gun batteries and thus locate those batteries and enable them to be targeted for counter-bombardment. It had been unsuccessful however. Comprising Royal Engineer observers and topographers, the section began the task of re-triangulation in January 1915. The work was often hazardous as they were taking measurements within range of the enemy.
The work of Winterbotham's section resulted in a new series at 1:20,000, which eventually covered the whole of the British front. During the war over 12,000 square miles were surveyed (initially on the ground and later from the air) at the scale of 1:20,000. On this firm basis accurate large scale maps were produced. The main series were at 1:40,000, 1:20,000 and 1:10,000 scales. Smaller and larger-scale maps were also produced (including 1:5,000 scale used by the infantry for patrols and raids) but these three scales addressed respectively the main needs of administration, the artillery and the infantry. The most commonly used maps were the 1:20,000. They were often very detailed, for they were designed for use by heavy and medium artillery, which required a precise locational aid to pinpoint particular targets.
That part of the British Expeditionary Force operating in Flanders was more fortunate in that it was already in possession of detailed and accurate maps, reproduced from Belgian 1:10,000 scale sheets taken to the Ordnance Survey by Belgian personnel evacuated from Antwerp in 1914. From the Belgian sheets the British adopted sheetlines for their own 1:40,000 and later 1:20,000 and 1:10,000 maps. These sheetlines were extended to cover the entire British front including that part in France. The maps reflected the numbered and lettered squaring of the front in a way which enabled the artillery and infantry to pinpoint locations more accurately and easily.
Aerial Photography
Aerial photography, taken by the Royal Flying Corps and its successor the RAF, was in invaluable tool both for improving mapping and for locating and confirming locations of enemy artillery made by flash-spotting and sound-rainging. On his own initiative, in January 1915 Lieutenant CC Darley RFC took air photos of part of the German frontline, which he interpreted and made into a map. His superiors were impressed, realising that useful intelligence could be derived from the study of air photos and displayed in an understandable way on a map. From then on aerial photography, Photographic Interpretation and the depiction of the results on maps became standard practice.
Trench maps
By July 1915 each of the British Armies on the Continent had its won team of expert survey staff responsible for the compilation of larger scale trench maps. The information, usually obtained from aerial photographs and sketches undertaken by staff on the ground, culminated in a large number of 1:5,000 scale sheets. The battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 had shown up a large number of inaccuracies and it became clear that new series of large scale maps was necessary if operations were to be mounted effectively. GHQ had started to introduce a new series of 1:10,000 trench maps in June to 2nd Army and, by August, 1st Army was also provided with such maps. These maps were reproduced by the Ordnance Survey then shipped to St Omer.
By the end of 1915, Maps and Printing Sections had evolved into more independent Topographical Sections and were now making extensive use of the new advances in technology. The recently formed 3rd Army had taken advantage of the newly acquired Camera Lucida to provide detailed plotting. The information gained by these new techniques was used to revise a set of nineteenth century cadastral plans, obtained from the Land Office at Amiens, to provude a new series of 1:20,000 scale maps. So accurate and fine was the detail that 1:10,000 scale maps could be produced direct from them. Better photographic equipment, both aerial and land based, together with improved printing presses and developments in flash-spotting and sound-ranging, ensured that the 1:20,000 and 1:10,000 scale maps became the standard issue for artillery and infantry respectively for the rest of the war.
The Topographical Sections evolved into the Field Survey Companies in February 1916 and each army in the British Expeditionary Force was assigned one company. The maps for the Somme offensive (July to November 1916) were produced by 4 Field Survey Company under Major (later Major-General) M N MacLeod RE. The Defence Geographical Centre at Feltham named a building in his honour in 2003.
Artillery support
Sound-ranging and flash-spotting were developed to locate the positions of enemy artillery so that they could be targeted by the Royal Artillery. Sound-ranging was and electro-mechanical means of recording the sound waves set up by the discharge of a gun and so computing its position. Flash-spotting aimed at the same result by taking cross bearings of a gun flash. At the beginning of the war, the Royal Artillery investigated sound-ranging, which had been invented by Lucien Bull, and Englishman working in Paris, and which had been under development by the French Army. The Royal Artillery discounted the method as unworkable but Jack took the idea up and appointed the young and brilliant Nobel Prize winner for Physics, Lawrence Bragg, to develop the idea. Bragg developed very successful equipment and each Field Survey Company controlled the work of Sound-Ranging sections. In parallel, Harold hemming developed flash-spotting, a visual method of synchronised observation of gun flashes from known, surveyed, observation posts. These sections were also controlled by the Survey Companies. In 1915 artillery boards were designed to make map use more convenient for the Royal Artillery and to avoid inaccuracies resulting from an un-mounted map. The earliest boards were simple, carrying only a grid, the fun positions and other conspicuous points. An improved version, made from the 1:20,000 scale map, was designed in 1916. The complementary methods of flash-spotting and sound-ranging enabled the location of enemy artillery batteries, and their depiction on maps and their engagement by counter-battery artillery, to devastating effect at the battles of Cambrai in November 1917 and Amiens in August 1918.
Relief models
Using the 1:20,000 scale maps, relief models were made of the entire British front. This was necessary because the Germans had the advantage of holding the high ground and occupying the reverse slope. These models consisted of layers of sheet, cut to the shape of a contour. The result was a model which represented the ground in a series of steps. The GHQ master set in its special cabinet, used personally by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Hair and his Staff (as crayon marks and diary entries testify), was held in storage by the Imperial War Museum for many years. It was eventually transferred to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. After restoration and research work over several years by Defence Geographic Centre personnel, it was unveiled at Sandhurst in 2011 by Lord Astor, Defence Minister and Haig's grandson. Today, the Defence Geographic Centre still produces relief models exaggerating the vertical axis to enhance appreciation of ground, both its dangers and its possibilities.
Printing
The first Map and Printing Sections used lithographic hand presses which printed sheets up to 17.5 x 22.5 inches in size. This continued until early 1917 when a larger press (30 x 20 inches) was introduced. Flat bed presses continued to be used until the end of the war, producing maps up to 22.5 x 35 inches in size. From 1916 Field Survey Company personnel were equipped with new cameras. The Ordnance Survey organised short courses in new photo-mechanical reproduction processes, such as heliozincography, which the staff were sent back from the front to attend.
Despite an increase in personnel and better reproduction processes, the ever-growing scale of the war meant that demand for maps constantly outstripped supply. At the end of 1917 the Ordnance Survey established an Overseas Branch near Wimereux to support the British Expeditionary Force directly and especially to make up the shortfall of maps. By the spring of 1918, it was in full production. However, the German breakthrough on the Marne in March 1918 mean that maps of areas well in the rear of the front line had to be produced urgently and despite the loss of equipment. Such areas had not been surveyed. Field Survey Companies were enlarged into Battalions in June 2018. Together with the Ordnance Survey the Battalions were able to carry out the entire process of map production in theatre. The large number of sheets being produced at 1:20,000 scale by the Ordnance Survey was sufficient to allow the Battalions to concentrate on 1:10,000 scale sheets. Production of maps at these two scales now met demand.
Under its Director General, Col (later Sir) Charles Close RE, the Ordnance Survey was fully mobilised in support of the British Army's mapping and surveying effort during the war. A total of 34 million maps were produced for the Western Front.
Last days
With the battle of Amiens, the British Expeditionary Force broke through the German lines and brought the return of mobile warfare, which made trench maps redundant. In 100 days of unrelenting offensive action by the British Expeditionary Force following Amiens, the Germans were driven back into Belgium and forced to surrender.
After the war, the mapping and survey effort on the Western Front received a flowing tribute in Haig's Final Dispatch:
The great development of air photography, sound-ranging, flash spotting, air-burst ranging and aerial observation brought counter battery work and harassing fire both by day and night to a high state of perfection. Special progress was made in the art of engaging moving targets with fire controlled by observation from aeroplanes and balloons. The work of the Field Survey Sections, in the location of hostile batter positions by re-section and the employment of accurate maps, was brought into extended use. In combination with the work of the Calibration Sections in the accurate calibration of buns, and by careful calculation of corrections of range required to compensate for weather conditions, it became possible to a large extent to dispense with registration, whereby the change of effecting surprise was greatly increased. In the operations east of Amiens on the 8th August, 1918, in which over 2,000 guns were employed, practically the whole of the batteries concentrated for the purpose of the attach opened fire for the first time on the actual morning of the assault.
Conclusion
The effort over the four years of the war was unquestionably the largest survey and mapping operation in history up to that time. During the war the Geographical Section of the General Staff, Royal Engineers and Ordnance Survey were all greatly expanded to meet the huge needs of the British Army. After the war it was said that no surveyor, however large or varied his military experience, could have foreseen the extraordinary growth which took place. This growth was a common feature in all the armies in every theatre of the war, though in only the British Army was the investment in such a scale. During the war the peacetime links between the Royal Engineer surveyors, the Survey of India, the Survey of Egypt and the Ordnance Survey, all commanded and staffed by the Royal Engineers, enabled a very high degree of co-operation. Working together, the Royal Engineers, civil surveyors, colonial surveyors and civilian specialists such as physicists revolutionised mapping and survey during the war. Flash-spotting, sound-ranging, aerial photography, squared and overprinted mapping all combined to produce a dramatic effect on the battlefield, an effect that amounted to a revolution in military affairs and contributed greatly to the Allied victory.
The enormous efforts and revolutionary advances made by the predecessors of the Defence Geographic Centre at Feltham during the First World War should not be forgotten. The legacy is important: the foundations of the work that the Defence Geographic Centre carries out today were laid during the First World War.
The First World War in Hanworth
The men who marched away....
"In the corner of some foreign field there is a place that is forever England"
The names listed on the war memorial in Hanworth
The names listed on the war memorial in Hanworth
Alderman, James, born at Hanworth. Englisted Kingston on Thames. Z/960 Rifleman in the 2nd Battalion, The Rifle Brigarde. Died of wounds 19th march 1915 France and Flanders. Aged 39.
Austin, Frank, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Hampton. 74053 Gunner in the 26th Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. Killed in action 12th march 1918 France and Flanders. Aged 29.
Batten, James, born at Hanworth. Enlisted at Twickenham. 476569 Private in the Labour Corps. Formerly G/14037 of The Buffs. Died of wounds 24 May 1918 France and Flanders. Aged 29.
Batten, Edwin, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Hanwell. 10260 Private in the 20th Hussars. Died of wounds 30th June 1918 France and Flanders. Aged 23.
Batten, John, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Sunbury. 14006 Private in the 9th Battalion Royal Fusiliers. Killed in action 7th October 2916 France and Flanders. Aged 21.
Bowers, Henry, born at Limbury Surrey. Enlisted Kingston on Thames. Living Hanworth. Y/1072 Rifleman in the 7th Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps. Killed in action 15th September 1916 France and Flanders. Aged 19.
Brown, Fred, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Hounslow. G/5833 Private in the 2nd Battalion - Middlesex Regiment. Killed in action 14th March 1915 France and Flanders. Aged 24.
Catchpole, Horace, born at Hampton. Enlisted Hampton Hill. G/5835 Lance Corporal in the 1st Battalion - Middlesex Regiment. Died of wounds 11 October 1918 in the United Kingdom. Aged 26.
Coker, Ernest, born at Sunbury. Enlisted Hounslow. Living Hanworth. 41617 Private in the 7th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment. Formerly 49315 Private in the Northamptonshire Regiment. Killed in action 27 May 1918 France and Flanders.
Collins, Horace, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Hampton Hill. 130072 Gunner in the 192nd Siege Battery - Royal Garrison Artillery. Killed in action 23 March 1918 France and Flanders.
Collin, James, - no information available.
Cook, Frank, born at Feltham. Enlisted Feltham. Living Hanworth. 43281 Private in the 11th Battalion Royal Fusiliers. Killed in action 10 August 1917. France and Flanders. Aged 30.
Davey, Charles, born at Hanworth. Enlisted in London. A/2875 Sergeant in the 7th Battalion - Kings Royal Rifle Corps. Killed in action 30 July 1915 France and Flanders. Aged 22.
Davies, Frank, living Hampton Hill. G/6572 Private in the 2nd Battalion The Royal Fusiliers. Died Gallipoli 30 November 1915.
Eagling, James, born at Norwich. Enlisted in London. Living Hanworth. A/2877 Acting Lance Corporal in the 8th Battalion - Kings Royal Rifle Corps. Died of wounds 10 October 1917, France and Flanders.
Edwards, Ben, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Charing Cross Road London. 409 Sergeant in the 12th Royal Lancers. Holder of the Distinguished Conduct medal. Died of wounds 28th November 1917, France and Flanders. Aged 31.
Edwards, Edward, born Finchley. Enlisted London. Living Hanworth. 10005 Lance Corporal in the 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire regiment. Killed in action 16 August 1917, France and Flanders. Aged 21.
Emmett, Thomas, born Hanworth. Enlisted Hounslow. TF202253 Private in the 7th Battalion - Middlesex Regiment. Killed in Action 4 October 1916, France and Flanders. Aged 28.
Glenister, Albert, born Iver. Enlisted London. Living Hanworth. 9388 Regimental Sergeant Major in 6th Battalion - South Wales Borderers. Killed in action 30 May 1918, France and Flanders. Aged 29.
Glenister, John, born Hampton. Enlisted Kingston on Thames. Living Hanworth. 13210 Corporal in the 10th Service Battalion, The Devonshire Regiment. Killed in action in Salonika 24th April 1917.
Goddard, George, born Feltham. Enlisted Hampton. Living Hanworth. TF240049 Private in the 1/8th TF Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. Died of wounds 25 February 1918 France & Flanders. Aged 25.
Guymer, Henry, born at Wood Green. Enlisted Stratford. 11099 Guardsman in No 1 Company, 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards. Killed in action between 14/16 September 1914. Aged 28.
Hawkes, Edward, Living Hanworth. CH/20165 Private in The Royal Marine Light Infantry. Killed aboard HMS Laurentic 25 January 1917. Aged 18.
Hedges, Henry, born Hanworth. Enlisted Hounslow. 20039 Acting Corporal 2nd Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers. Formerly 17267 of The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Killed in action 18 October 1918 France and Flanders. Aged 23.
Hedges, William, born Hanworth. Enlisted Feltham. 41093 Private in the 8th Battalion The Suffolk Regiment. Formerly 2384 of the Suffolk Yeomanry. Killed in action France and Flanders 4 May 1917. Aged 21.
Herries, Herbert, Born at Hertford. Enlisted Hampton. Living Hanworth. TF/2138 Private in the 1/8th Battalion Middlesex Regiment. Killed in action 24th April 1915 France and Flanders.
Kent, George, born at Hanworth. Enlisted London. 6784 Private in the 14th (County of London) Battalion, The London Scottish. Killed in action 9 September 1916 France and Flanders.
Langham, Arthur, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Staines. G/17364 Private in the 11th Battalion - Royal Sussex Regiment. Killed in action 3 April 1918 British Expeditionary Force.
Langley, James, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Feltham. G/7625 Private in the 11th Battalion Royal Fusiliers. Formerly 3580 of the Middlesex Regiment. Died of wounds 10 July 1916 France and Flanders. Aged 17.
Lewcock, Arthur, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Hounslow. G/6750 Private 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment. Killed in action 1 July 1916, France and Flanders. Aged 36.
Nobes, Wilfred, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Staines. G/18734 Private 11th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment. Killed in action 3 April 1918 British Expeditionary Force. Aged 19.
Oakley, Louis, born at Dumbleton Gloucestershire. Enlisted Hounslow. Living Hanworth SE/5534 Private, Royal Army Veterinary Corps. Died in Egypt 17 July 1915. Aged 42.
Phillips, Albert, born at Hounslow. Enlisted Hounslow. Living Hanworth. TF203456 Private in the 2nd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. Killed in action 25 May 1918 France and Flanders.
Pope, Fred, living Hanworth. SS111165 Stoker 1st class HMS Hawke. Killed in action 15 October 1914. HMS Hawke was a protected cruiser sunk by a German torpedo of the NE coast of England.
Pope, Edward, born Hanworth. Enlisted Hove. G/121 Lance Corporal in the 7th Battalion - Royal Sussex Regiment. Killed in action 7 July 1916, British Expeditionary Force. Aged 23.
Purdey, Laurence, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Hounslow. 38912 Private in the 8th Battalion - Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. Killed in action 28 October 1918, France and Flanders. Aged 23.
Read, Fred, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Hampton Hill. Killed in action in Egypt 19 April 1917. Aged 23.
Ried, John, born Hanworth. Enlisted Feltham G/43760 Private in the 1st Battalion the Middlesex Regiment. Died of wounds France and Flanders 28 December 1916. Aged 22.
Reynolds, Bert, living Hanworth. 213766 Airman 1st Class in the Royal Air Force. Formerly a Leading Seaman in the Royal Naval Air Service. Killed in an accident at RAF Manston, Thanet on 23 April 1918. Aged 22.
Rice, Henry - no information available.
Robbins, Frank, born at Bedfont. Living Hanworth. Enlisted Kingston on Thames. S/7417 Private in the 7th Battalion - East Surrey Regiment. Killed in action 31 March 1916, France and Flanders. Aged 21.
Sainsbury, William, born Hanworth. Enlisted Kingston on Thames. Y/983 Rifleman in the 13th Battalion - Kings Royal Rifle Corps. Killed in action 28 May 1916 France Flanders. Aged 22.
Sainsbury, Herbert, born Hanworth. Enlisted Sunbury. 21080 Private in the 32nd Battalion - Royal Fusiliers. Killed in action 15 September 1916, France and Flanders. Aged 20.
Smith, Thomas, born at Lenham in Kent. Enlisted in Woolwich. Living Hanworth. 51518 Bombardier in the 21st Heavey Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. Died of wounds 13th September 1918 France and Flanders. Aged 33.
Thompson, Mark, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Kingston on Thames. 33032 Acting Lance Corporal 7 Field Company Royal Engineers. Died of wounds 17 October 1918, France and Flanders. Aged 23.
Tilling, Herbert, living hanworth. 3793 Driver in "B" Battery 62nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. Died of wounds 28 November 1918 France and Flanders. Aged 30.
Ward, Charles, born at Twickenham. Enlisted Holmbury Surrey. Living Hanworth. F/1881 Private in 23rd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. Died of wounds 27th July 1916 France and Flanders.
Webb, Arthur - no information available.
Williamson, Alex, enlisted Hampton. Living Hanworth. 554589 Rifleman in the 1st/16th (County of London) (Queens Westminster Rifles) The London Regiment. Formerly 3624 of the 18th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. Killed in action France and Flanders 13 August 1917.
Willis, Albert, born at Stoke Newington. Enlisted Hounslow. Living Hanworth. TF3234 Private in the 1/8th (TF) Battalion The Middlesex Regiment. Killed in action 8th October 1916 France and Flanders. Aged 20.
Woodrod, Edward, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Kensington. 491051 Lance Corporal in the 13th (County of London) (Princess Louises Kensington) Battalion. The London Regiment. Killed in action 12 May 1917 France and Flanders. Aged 27.
Woods, David, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Kingston on Thames. G/5733 Private in the 2nd Battalion - East Surrey Regiment. Killed in action 12 April 1915, France and Flanders.
Austin, Frank, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Hampton. 74053 Gunner in the 26th Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. Killed in action 12th march 1918 France and Flanders. Aged 29.
Batten, James, born at Hanworth. Enlisted at Twickenham. 476569 Private in the Labour Corps. Formerly G/14037 of The Buffs. Died of wounds 24 May 1918 France and Flanders. Aged 29.
Batten, Edwin, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Hanwell. 10260 Private in the 20th Hussars. Died of wounds 30th June 1918 France and Flanders. Aged 23.
Batten, John, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Sunbury. 14006 Private in the 9th Battalion Royal Fusiliers. Killed in action 7th October 2916 France and Flanders. Aged 21.
Bowers, Henry, born at Limbury Surrey. Enlisted Kingston on Thames. Living Hanworth. Y/1072 Rifleman in the 7th Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps. Killed in action 15th September 1916 France and Flanders. Aged 19.
Brown, Fred, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Hounslow. G/5833 Private in the 2nd Battalion - Middlesex Regiment. Killed in action 14th March 1915 France and Flanders. Aged 24.
Catchpole, Horace, born at Hampton. Enlisted Hampton Hill. G/5835 Lance Corporal in the 1st Battalion - Middlesex Regiment. Died of wounds 11 October 1918 in the United Kingdom. Aged 26.
Coker, Ernest, born at Sunbury. Enlisted Hounslow. Living Hanworth. 41617 Private in the 7th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment. Formerly 49315 Private in the Northamptonshire Regiment. Killed in action 27 May 1918 France and Flanders.
Collins, Horace, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Hampton Hill. 130072 Gunner in the 192nd Siege Battery - Royal Garrison Artillery. Killed in action 23 March 1918 France and Flanders.
Collin, James, - no information available.
Cook, Frank, born at Feltham. Enlisted Feltham. Living Hanworth. 43281 Private in the 11th Battalion Royal Fusiliers. Killed in action 10 August 1917. France and Flanders. Aged 30.
Davey, Charles, born at Hanworth. Enlisted in London. A/2875 Sergeant in the 7th Battalion - Kings Royal Rifle Corps. Killed in action 30 July 1915 France and Flanders. Aged 22.
Davies, Frank, living Hampton Hill. G/6572 Private in the 2nd Battalion The Royal Fusiliers. Died Gallipoli 30 November 1915.
Eagling, James, born at Norwich. Enlisted in London. Living Hanworth. A/2877 Acting Lance Corporal in the 8th Battalion - Kings Royal Rifle Corps. Died of wounds 10 October 1917, France and Flanders.
Edwards, Ben, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Charing Cross Road London. 409 Sergeant in the 12th Royal Lancers. Holder of the Distinguished Conduct medal. Died of wounds 28th November 1917, France and Flanders. Aged 31.
Edwards, Edward, born Finchley. Enlisted London. Living Hanworth. 10005 Lance Corporal in the 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire regiment. Killed in action 16 August 1917, France and Flanders. Aged 21.
Emmett, Thomas, born Hanworth. Enlisted Hounslow. TF202253 Private in the 7th Battalion - Middlesex Regiment. Killed in Action 4 October 1916, France and Flanders. Aged 28.
Glenister, Albert, born Iver. Enlisted London. Living Hanworth. 9388 Regimental Sergeant Major in 6th Battalion - South Wales Borderers. Killed in action 30 May 1918, France and Flanders. Aged 29.
Glenister, John, born Hampton. Enlisted Kingston on Thames. Living Hanworth. 13210 Corporal in the 10th Service Battalion, The Devonshire Regiment. Killed in action in Salonika 24th April 1917.
Goddard, George, born Feltham. Enlisted Hampton. Living Hanworth. TF240049 Private in the 1/8th TF Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. Died of wounds 25 February 1918 France & Flanders. Aged 25.
Guymer, Henry, born at Wood Green. Enlisted Stratford. 11099 Guardsman in No 1 Company, 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards. Killed in action between 14/16 September 1914. Aged 28.
Hawkes, Edward, Living Hanworth. CH/20165 Private in The Royal Marine Light Infantry. Killed aboard HMS Laurentic 25 January 1917. Aged 18.
Hedges, Henry, born Hanworth. Enlisted Hounslow. 20039 Acting Corporal 2nd Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers. Formerly 17267 of The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Killed in action 18 October 1918 France and Flanders. Aged 23.
Hedges, William, born Hanworth. Enlisted Feltham. 41093 Private in the 8th Battalion The Suffolk Regiment. Formerly 2384 of the Suffolk Yeomanry. Killed in action France and Flanders 4 May 1917. Aged 21.
Herries, Herbert, Born at Hertford. Enlisted Hampton. Living Hanworth. TF/2138 Private in the 1/8th Battalion Middlesex Regiment. Killed in action 24th April 1915 France and Flanders.
Kent, George, born at Hanworth. Enlisted London. 6784 Private in the 14th (County of London) Battalion, The London Scottish. Killed in action 9 September 1916 France and Flanders.
Langham, Arthur, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Staines. G/17364 Private in the 11th Battalion - Royal Sussex Regiment. Killed in action 3 April 1918 British Expeditionary Force.
Langley, James, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Feltham. G/7625 Private in the 11th Battalion Royal Fusiliers. Formerly 3580 of the Middlesex Regiment. Died of wounds 10 July 1916 France and Flanders. Aged 17.
Lewcock, Arthur, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Hounslow. G/6750 Private 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment. Killed in action 1 July 1916, France and Flanders. Aged 36.
Nobes, Wilfred, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Staines. G/18734 Private 11th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment. Killed in action 3 April 1918 British Expeditionary Force. Aged 19.
Oakley, Louis, born at Dumbleton Gloucestershire. Enlisted Hounslow. Living Hanworth SE/5534 Private, Royal Army Veterinary Corps. Died in Egypt 17 July 1915. Aged 42.
Phillips, Albert, born at Hounslow. Enlisted Hounslow. Living Hanworth. TF203456 Private in the 2nd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. Killed in action 25 May 1918 France and Flanders.
Pope, Fred, living Hanworth. SS111165 Stoker 1st class HMS Hawke. Killed in action 15 October 1914. HMS Hawke was a protected cruiser sunk by a German torpedo of the NE coast of England.
Pope, Edward, born Hanworth. Enlisted Hove. G/121 Lance Corporal in the 7th Battalion - Royal Sussex Regiment. Killed in action 7 July 1916, British Expeditionary Force. Aged 23.
Purdey, Laurence, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Hounslow. 38912 Private in the 8th Battalion - Kings Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. Killed in action 28 October 1918, France and Flanders. Aged 23.
Read, Fred, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Hampton Hill. Killed in action in Egypt 19 April 1917. Aged 23.
Ried, John, born Hanworth. Enlisted Feltham G/43760 Private in the 1st Battalion the Middlesex Regiment. Died of wounds France and Flanders 28 December 1916. Aged 22.
Reynolds, Bert, living Hanworth. 213766 Airman 1st Class in the Royal Air Force. Formerly a Leading Seaman in the Royal Naval Air Service. Killed in an accident at RAF Manston, Thanet on 23 April 1918. Aged 22.
Rice, Henry - no information available.
Robbins, Frank, born at Bedfont. Living Hanworth. Enlisted Kingston on Thames. S/7417 Private in the 7th Battalion - East Surrey Regiment. Killed in action 31 March 1916, France and Flanders. Aged 21.
Sainsbury, William, born Hanworth. Enlisted Kingston on Thames. Y/983 Rifleman in the 13th Battalion - Kings Royal Rifle Corps. Killed in action 28 May 1916 France Flanders. Aged 22.
Sainsbury, Herbert, born Hanworth. Enlisted Sunbury. 21080 Private in the 32nd Battalion - Royal Fusiliers. Killed in action 15 September 1916, France and Flanders. Aged 20.
Smith, Thomas, born at Lenham in Kent. Enlisted in Woolwich. Living Hanworth. 51518 Bombardier in the 21st Heavey Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. Died of wounds 13th September 1918 France and Flanders. Aged 33.
Thompson, Mark, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Kingston on Thames. 33032 Acting Lance Corporal 7 Field Company Royal Engineers. Died of wounds 17 October 1918, France and Flanders. Aged 23.
Tilling, Herbert, living hanworth. 3793 Driver in "B" Battery 62nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. Died of wounds 28 November 1918 France and Flanders. Aged 30.
Ward, Charles, born at Twickenham. Enlisted Holmbury Surrey. Living Hanworth. F/1881 Private in 23rd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. Died of wounds 27th July 1916 France and Flanders.
Webb, Arthur - no information available.
Williamson, Alex, enlisted Hampton. Living Hanworth. 554589 Rifleman in the 1st/16th (County of London) (Queens Westminster Rifles) The London Regiment. Formerly 3624 of the 18th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. Killed in action France and Flanders 13 August 1917.
Willis, Albert, born at Stoke Newington. Enlisted Hounslow. Living Hanworth. TF3234 Private in the 1/8th (TF) Battalion The Middlesex Regiment. Killed in action 8th October 1916 France and Flanders. Aged 20.
Woodrod, Edward, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Kensington. 491051 Lance Corporal in the 13th (County of London) (Princess Louises Kensington) Battalion. The London Regiment. Killed in action 12 May 1917 France and Flanders. Aged 27.
Woods, David, born at Hanworth. Enlisted Kingston on Thames. G/5733 Private in the 2nd Battalion - East Surrey Regiment. Killed in action 12 April 1915, France and Flanders.