Name
Vincent Michael Joseph Power
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
30/07/1916
27
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
17443
The King's (Liverpool Regiment)
No. 1 Coy. 19th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
GUILLEMONT ROAD CEMETERY, GUILLEMONT
III. M. 6.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
St Edmunds College Memorial, Old Hall Green
Biography
The following text was transcribed from the The Edmundian (1814-1819) – The contemporary magazine of St Edmund’s College:
With feelings of great regret we have to record the death of Vincent Joseph. Power. After many months of suspense and anxiety, mingled, nevertheless, with a faint gleam of hope, due to the War Office report - "Vincent Power, wounded and missing" - we must now face the inevitable conclusion, namely, that he has joined the ranks of that noble band of heroes who have made the supreme sacrifice for their King and Country.
Vincent Power came to the College in September, 1905 as a Church Student, and, although his stay here was a comparatively short one, we recall him to mind as one extremely keen on College life, which keenness was very conspicuous in the playing fields. In attempting to give some idea of his character, perhaps the best criterion is the esteem in which he was held by his fellow-students. He was regarded by them as one of their ‘popular heroes'. At different times he was captain of various junior games, and when in the class of Grammar filled the office of Public Keeper. Perhaps one of the greatest sorrows of his life came in the autumn of 1909, when, thinking it advisable to discontinue his studies for the priesthood, he decided to leave time College.
On leaving he immediately plunged into another sphere of life with characteristic energy and keenness. Entering the Engineering Department of the British American. Tobacco Company, he soon made himself efficient in his business. After three years he was sent to. the Liverpool branch of the Company and was there, waiting to be sent to one of the branches in the Indies, when war was declared. He was then confronted with a choice between duty to his country and the continuation of the career he had adopted. Like a true citizen and Edmundian he joined the Forces. becoming attached to the 19th Service Bn. of the King's Liverpool Regiment. Towards the end of 1915 he went to France and underwent his 'baptism of fire’ on Christmas Day. He spent the next six months journeying to and from the trenches until July saw an outbreak of fighting of a more violent nature. He took part in the Somme offensive and presumably met his death in the neighbourhood of Trones Wood. His officer saw him go over the parapet in the charge, and he was shortly afterwards seen to fall wounded. No further particulars are to hand, and, as it is now nine months ago, we must sorrowfully conclude that he was killed in action.
His letters home display that usual keenness and energy which marked his life. He went to the front with the feeling of one going to fight for a noble cause. Such was his duty and he performed that duty to the best of his ability. His interest in his Alma Mater never declined: he was always most eager to receive the Edmundian immediately it appeared and devoured its contents with avidity and interest, and he looked forward with eagerness to his visit after the War. To his family we extend our deepest sympathy whose greatest consolation must be that they have lost a son of whom they may be justly proud.
Acknowledgments
Jonty Wild, Di Vanderson, The Edmundian (1814-1819) – The contemporary magazine of St Edmund’s College
