Name
Joseph Hosier
28 March 1890
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
03/05/1917
27
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
20841
Bedfordshire Regiment
7th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
ARRAS MEMORIAL
Bay 5.
France
Headstone Inscription
N/A
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, We are not aware of any memorial in Two Waters
Pre War
Joseph Hosier was born on 28 March 1890 in Hemel Hempstead, Herts, the son of Joseph and Mary Ann Hosier, and baptised there on 17 October 1890 at St Mary's Church. He had an older sister Sarah.
On the 1891 Census the family were living at 7 Bury Hill, Hemel Hempstead, close to both paternal and maternal grandparents. His father was working as a bricklayer's labourer.
He started school at Bury Mill End infants school on 25 September 1895 and his teacher noted in the school log that Joseph was very backward and scarcely knew his letters. When he was eight years old, Joseph moved to Boxmoor School and the school log lists his parent/guardian as Mrs Atkins of 24 Hammerfield. The log also recorded that Joseph left the school on 3 March 1900 because he had "gone to the Hemel Hempstead Union" (workhouse), however six months later he returned to Boxmoor School under the guardianship of Thomas Lea of Vine Cottage, South Hill, only to be moved back to Bury Mill End School shortly after.
On the 1901 Census his mother was listed as a patient in the Hertfordshire County Lunatic Asylum and died the same year and Joseph and his sister Sarah were boarding with Thomas and Eliza Lea at their home in Cemetery Road, Hemel Hempstead.
Joseph left school in 1903 to start work as a 'printer' with John Dickinson & Co Ltd in the Envelope Department at Apsley Mills. His father died in 1908 and by the 1911 Census he was a boarder at the home of George and Frances Feary in Railway Terrace, Kings Langley, Herts when he was working as a Printer.
He married Ethel May Hunt (a fellow worker in the Envelope Department), in Hemel Hempstead in 1913. They had a son William Joseph born 23 May 1914 and they lived at 126 London Road, Two Waters, Hemel Hempstead, Herts. His widow later lived at 1 The Limes, Orchard Street, Apsley End.
Wartime Service
Joseph enlisted in Bedford in April 1915 and joined the Bedfordshire Regiment, being posted the 7th (Service) Battalion and going to Salisbury Plan for basic training. He was sent to France in February 1916 and saw his first major action in the Battle of Albert, part of the Somme offensive, at the beginning of July. Later in he month he fought at Bazentin Ridge and then was admitted to hospital for treatment on his teeth. Poor dental health was common at this time but he was in hospital for a month and may have suffered an infection or had extensive treatment. He returned to his unit on 11 September.
He was killed in action in France on 3 May 1917 during the The third Battle of the Scarpe (Battle of Arras) when there was a failed attack on Cherisy. It was due to commence at 3.45 am but was not light enough to attack until 4.15 am. After the initial advance the men lost direction and could scarcely see each other. They were supposed to be supported by 4 tanks but one wouldn't start, another went only a short distance and yet another turned and came through the advancing line causing confusion. They were held up by heavy enemy machine gun fire and wire which was thick and undamaged by the earlier barrage. Eventually they all fell back to their original front line. Losses were heavy.
Joseph was 27 years old and has no known grave, but his name is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, France. He is among 66 men from the 7th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment named on the Memorial who died that day.
Additional Information
His widow received a war gratuity of £9 and pay owing of £1 10s 7d. The pension of 18s 9d a week for his widow and child was paid to Mrs Pensell, Moorlands, Grove Road, Boxmoor, Herts, for administration (in trust) on widow's behalf. In 1919 the widow's pension was suspended and the child's pension continued to be paid to Mrs Pensell in trust for administration. His widow had another child in early 1917 named Violet Hosier but this child is not mentioned on pension records. Ethel M Hosier remarried to Thomas Potter in Berkhamsted in 1918.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.dacorumheritage,org.uk, www..hemelatwar.org, www.bedfordregiment.org.uk, www.hemelheroes.com.
