Name
Frederick Cox
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
31/07/1917
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
266835
Hertfordshire Regiment
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL
Panel 54 and 56.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Letchworth Town Memorial, Church of St Nicholas Memorial, Norton, Addenda to the Pirton Village Memorial, Hertfordshire Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford, Not on the Hitchin memorials
Biography
While researching Sidney Cox, who appears in the Pirton scrapbook owned by the Marshall family, and is included as one of Pirton’s survivors, his brother Frederick was identified. The Hitchin census of 1901 identifies their parents as William and Ruth Cox who were living at 6 Taylors Cottages, Old Park Road, Hitchin. William was born in Hitchin and Ruth in Pirton. They had four children; Sidney William (b c1894), Lilian (b c1896), Frederick (b c1898) and Arthur (b c1900). All the children were born in Hitchin, although Sidney was baptised in Pirton.
By 1911 his mother, Ruth, had died. The household now included Frederick’s grandmother Sarah, another brother, Cecil (b c 1903) and another sister, Nellie (b c1906). They were living at 47 Green Lane, Letchworth. Fred was being educated at the local school. Both Cecil and Nellie were born in Hitchin.
At first the Pirton connection, just through his mother’s place of birth, seems weak, but it was strengthened with more research. Their father, William, was born in Hitchin, and was thirty-one at the time of the 1901 census. So he would have been born around 1870. Pirton records identify a William Cox as born in Hitchin and baptised in Pirton on October 2nd 1870, so he could be the same man. His parents were William and Sarah Cox (née Males) and they were both from Pirton. Returning to the Hitchin 1901 census, they show that a Sarah Cox was living next door to William and Ruth and she is the right age to be his mother, so it seems likely that Frederick’s father and the son of William and Sarah are the same man. This means that Frederick’s mother was born and his father was baptised in Pirton. They had lived in Pirton, as did his grandparents on his father’s side. Although the evidence is less conclusive, it is likely that his grandparents on his mother’s side also lived in Pirton. It is probably because of the family’s strong connection with Pirton that Sidney, Frederick’s older brother, was baptised here.
Frederick served as Private 266835 in the Hertfordshire Regiment. He enlisted in Hertford while living in Letchworth. He served in France and Flanders and, as he is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres (Belgium), we know that he died in Belgium. The date of his death is recorded as July 31st 1917. From the location, the date and Battalion war diary it looks very likely that he served with the 1st Battalion, of the Hertfordshire Regiment.
The war diary gives the following information for the date of his death:
‘31-7-17. About 3.50am the Battalion moved forward in 4 lines behind the 116th & 117th Infantry Brigades east of the river Steenbeek. Up till this time the casualties had been very slight indeed but as the Battalion advanced from the Steenbeek toward the Langemarck line (the Battalion objective) casualties grew heavier from sniper and machine gun fire. However the Battalion continued advancing. About half way to the objective some of No. 3 Company came upon a German strong point which they gallantly charged, capturing or killing most of the garrison and sending the remainder back as prisoners. On reaching the enemy wire this was found to be practically undamaged (except in one place) & very thick. 2/Lieut Marchington & a handful of men of No. 3 Company got through the only gap and got into the enemy trench & killed a lot of Germans. The remainder of the Battalion, being unable to get through the wire and suffering severe casualties from enfilade machine gun fire & the Germans making a strong counter attack from our left flank about this time, had to fall back having suffered exceptionally heavy casualties. The remnants of the Battalion subsequently dug themselves in line with the 1st Cambs Regiment on the west side of the Steenbeek.’
This action was part of the Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres. The soldiers called it the ‘Battle of Mud', which describes the conditions in which they fought. Although estimated figures were higher, casualties for the Battalion on July 31st were recorded as 8 men died of wounds, 129 were listed as missing and 188 more were listed as wounded. The fact that Frederick is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial means that his body was never found or at least never identified, so he would have been one of the 129 missing men.
The impressive memorial in Ypres commemorates 54,322 officers and men with no known grave and is situated a few hundred yards from the beautiful town square of Ypres. Frederick’s name appears on Panel 56 and he is also recorded on the Letchworth War Memorial.
Interestingly, Corporal 265408 Harry Smith from Pirton, who does appear on the Village War Memorial, was killed on the same day, fighting with the 1st Hertfordshire Regiment. His body lies in Tyne Cot Cemetery a few miles away and so they would have been fighting in the same battle, in the same Battalion and perhaps even together.
Additional Information
Text from the book: The Pride of Pirton
Acknowledgments
The Pride of Pirton book – www.pirton.org.uk/prideofpirton Chris Ryan / Tony French / Jonty Wild
