Name
John (Jack) Satterthwaite
23 March 1891
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
22/04/1916
25
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Quartermaster Serjeant
1623
Hertfordshire Regiment
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 (Mons) Star, British War and Victory Medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
ST. VENANT COMMUNAL CEMETERY
II. G. 1.
France
Headstone Inscription
THOUGH FAR AWAY WE MOURN HIM STILL PEACE PERFECT PEACE
UK & Other Memorials
Church of St Nicholas Memorial, Norton, Letchworth Town Memorial, 4 Co' Hertfordshire Reg' Territorials’ Memorial, Hitchin, St Mary's Church Roll of Honour, Hitchin, Hertfordshire Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford
Pre War
John Satterthwaite (known as Jack) was born on 23 March 1891 in East Finchley, London, the son of James and Alice Satterthwaite, and baptised on 14 Jun 1891 at St Bartholomew the Less, London. He was one of four children, although his brother Robert died in 1905.
On the 1901 Census the family were living at Guest Street, Finsbury, London, where his father was working as a Bookbinder. By 1911 they had moved to Letchworth in Hertfordshire where they were living at 6 North Fork.
John had worked at Messrs W H Smith at their bookbinding works, the Letchworth Model Dairy in Station Road, Letchworth and the Garden City Press. He was well known at The Skittles Inn in Letchworth, where he liked a game of billiards.
His parents address was given as 6 North Avenue, Letchworth, Herts at the time of his death.
Wartime Service
Jack had been in the Letchworth Territorials for a long time and was called up at the outbreak of war in 1914. He enlisted in Baldock, was given Regimental Number 1623 and served in 4 Company of the 1st Battalion, Hertfordshire Regiment. He arrived in France on 6 November 1914.
He had been home on leave three times since the war began and although he had served his period of service with the Territorials had expired some months before, he signed on again for foreign service. In recognition of this he was given a month's furlough which he spent at home in Letchworth. He was promoted to Acting Quartermaster Sergeant.
The Battalion was in billets at the village of Busnettes on 19 February 1916 and on 28 February entrained at Lillers for Ebbingham to a back area not far from General Headquarters.
In April the Battalion was in trenches near Festubert, and Jack had only recently returned from home leave just over a week, when he was severely wounded from shellfire in the abdomen on the 17th. He underwent an operation and his parents received a letter from the minister of the hospital in France telling them he was dangerously ill. His condition deteriorated and they received another letter saying he had died on 22 April 1916.
He is buried at St Vennant Communal Cemetery, France where the Casualty Clearing Stations were posted from 1915 to 1917.
Additional Information
His mother received a war gratuity of £12 10s and pay owing of £13 2s 8d. She also received a pension of 6 shillings a week for life.
His brother Walter was also in the Army and survived the war, but was severely wounded in the knee later in the war and was discharged in 1919. His right leg remained immobile for the rest of his life.
A more detailed biography of John and his brother Walter is included in this site's Archive section at: http://www.hertsatwar.co.uk/archives/hertfordshire-men-women-individuals-stories/
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Dan Hill, Ellen Barnes, Jonty Wild, David C Baines, www.hitchinatwar.org.uk
