Name
Lewis James Cole
1883
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
30/08/1916
33
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
2946
Hertfordshire Regiment
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
MAILLY-MAILLET COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
D. 19.
France
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
4 Co' Hertfordshire Reg' Territorials’ Memorial, Hitchin, St Mary's Church Roll of Honour, Hitchin, Tewin Village Memorial, St Peter’s Church Muster Roll, Tewin, Hertfordshire Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford
Pre War
Lewis was born around 1884 in Guilden Morden, Cambridgeshire and his parents were and (née)
In 1901 the family were living at Grub’s Barn, Tewin. Present were both parents: David W (47) and Elizabeth W (45), with David and working as a farm labourer and agricultural horsekeeper. Their children were: Kate (21), Herbert (20), Lily (17), Lewis J, 16 and a packer in a beehive factory, and Robert (4).
By 1911 the family were living at Archers Green, Tewin, Welwyn. Present were both parents, David now working as a farm labourer. The census recorded they had been married for 33 years with 5 children all living. All the children listed above were present except Kate. Herbert Cole, now 30, was working as a tin smith for a bee appliance manufacturer.
He enlisted in Hertford on 8 September 1914 and embodied into the Herts Regiment on the same day. He was described as 5’ 4” tall, with black(or dark) hair and brown eyes.
Officially Lewis was recorded as born Guilden Morden, Cambs., and living in Tewin, when he enlisted in Hertford.
Wartime Service
He served in 4 Company of the Hertfordshire Regiment. His Regimental number was 2946 and went to France on 20 January 1915.
He was reported to have had leave in January 1916.
At the time of his death the 1st Battalion of the Herts was part of the 118th Brigade of the 39th Division of III Corps in the 1st Army.
They were not involved in the early fighting on the Somme, arriving in Grouches on the 24th August 1916 and went to Bus-les-Artois the next day. They bivouacked in a wood close behind Engelbelmer on the 26th August. This is a little over a mile west of Thiepval and was near the front line on the 30th August 1916. Mailly-Maillet is a short distance from Engelbelmer. He was wounded on that date, and died of those wounds at the Field Ambulance later that day.
He is buried in Row D, Grave 19 in the Mailly-Maillet Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France.
Additional Information
His personal property was sent to his mother on 12 December 1916 and his Death Plaque and scroll were sent to his father on 25 June 1919 at his Tewin address
His pension cards record his mother as his dependant, living at Upper Green, Tewin, Welwyn. She was awarded a pension of 6s a week from 15 May 1917. However, at some point her name was struck out and his father’s name added. Suggesting that she may have died.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Brenda Palmer, Paul Johnson, Jonty Wild, www.bedfordregiment.org.uk/hertsrgt
