Coveney Remembers
Details about Remembrance Sunday on 12th November
Find out more about the lives of Coveney’s fallen
Remembrance Sunday
A time to remember not just those from previous generations who have lost their lives or felt the trauma of war, but also a time to hold in our hearts and prayers all those whose lives are shattered by wars and conflicts still raging today
10:45 am
Service starts in church
11:00 am
Act of Remembrance including 2 minutes silence at Lych Gate (entrance to the church
All are welcome to join us from either the service or just for the 11am Act of Remembrance (please be at the Lych Gate by about 10:55)
(Please note the ‘Learn More’ button below shouldn’t be there but it can’t be deleted!)
The Lives Behind the Names
Every year at the Act of Remembrance we read out the names of those from this parish who lost their lives in service to this Country. Thanks to Coveney’s own military historian, Nick Mumford, we can start to see the real people emerge, and the tragic stories behind the names. He has been engaged in serious and detailed research into where they were born and lived before they were called-up (and let’s remember these were young men when they left their homes for war), and where they died, or are believed to have lost their lives.
Reading out these names each year is always a sombre and important communal act. But the work that Nick has done here, (and he hopes to develop this work further over the coming year), places them firmly back into a meaningful context for us. Consider the brothers Albert and Ernest Harrison, from Crown Cottage in Coveney, both in domestic service, finding themselves hundreds of miles away from home in the early 1900s, Albert killed in the battle of the Somme and Ernest in Gallipoli, with no known grave. And then consider the devastating, long-lasting impact the loss of two sons in these circumstances would have had on the parents, family and wider community. Then consider how the exact same traumas are being felt and lived-with by families and communities of the over 30 wars that are raging around the world. Most prominent in our minds at the moment in the Middle east. So thank you again to Nick for joining these dots for us, reminding us that through the lens of history we can commemorate both the lives of those past and hold their memory alongside those who suffer today amidst the evils of war.
(Please note the ‘Learn More’ button below shouldn’t be there but it can’t be deleted!)
Coveney’s Fallen
Sapper Reginald Bowgen. Service No 266630.
Parents:
Arthur and Ellen Ann Bowgen. Reginald was born in Coveney in 1898. The family lived in a Public House on Main Street. His father was the Cowman on Manor Farm.
Enlisted:
25th September 1916. Served with the 263rd Railway Company, Royal Engineers. Badly wounded on the 20th of May 1918 at Glissy, in Northern France. He died on the 20th of May 1918 in the 47th Casualty Clearing Station at Crouy-sur-Somme on the same day. His grave is in Crouy-sur-Somme British Cemetery, Row 11, C.7
Private George Frank Stanley Coulson. Service No 16841.
Parents:
Thomas and Janet Coulson. George was born in 1893 in Waterbeach. The family lived in Bottisham. His father was a Farm Labourer.
Enlisted:
2nd November 1914. Served with the 11th Battalion Suffolk Regiment. Missing/Killed inAction, on the 1st Day of the Battle of the Somme 1st of July 1916. He has no known grave. His name is on The Thiepval Memorial, Pier andFace 1C, with the 73,000 names of the men who were reported Missing during theBattle.
Private Walter William Cox. Service No 5539
Parents:
Frederick and Elizabeth Cox. Walter was born in 1897 in Coveney. The family lived on Hundred Foot Bank, Oxlode. His father was a Farm Labourer. His occupation was a Farm Worker with livestock.
Enlisted:
13th of October 1914. Served with the 3rd Battalion, The Rifles. He was Killed in Action opposite Hooge Stables in the Ypres Salient, Belgium, on the 2nd ofFebruary 1916. He is buried in the Men in Road South Military Cemetery, Row1. E. 3
Private John Ding. Service No 7447
Parents:
John T and Sarah Jane Ding. John was born on the 11th of October 1885 at Wayhead, Coveney. In 1901 thefamily lived in the Bell Tavern, Main Street, Coveney.
Enlistment:
4th August 1914. A Regular Army soldier. Served with the 1st Battalion NorthamptonshireRegiment. Reported Missing/Killed in Action on the2nd of February 1914during the Battle of the Aisne in Northern France at the Chemin Des Dames and later confirmed Killed in Action. He has no known grave. His name is commemorated on the La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial Stone 20A.
Private Thomas (Tom) Ding. Service No 26488
Parents:
John T and Sarah Ding. Tom was born on the 31st of July 1888 at Wayhead, Coveney. In 1901 the family lived inthe Bell Tavern, Coveney. His occupation was Farm Labourer.
Enlisted:
27th of March 1916. He served with the 4th Battalion Suffolk Regiment. Reported Missing/Killed inAction on the 26th of September 1917 during the attack onPolygon Wood, Belgium, during the 3rd Battle of Ypres. He has no known Grave but is commemorated on Panels 40 and 41 on the Tyne Cot Memorial inBelgium.
Lance Corporal Albert William Harrison. Service No 16158.
Parents:
Charles and Mary Harrison. Albert wasborn on the 5th of June 1892 in Bull Lane, Coveney. In 1891 they lived in Crown Cottage, Main Street, Coveney. His occupation was a Footman inDomestic service.
Enlisted:
16th of November 1914. He served with the 9th Battalion Norfolk Regiment. Killed in Action on the 16th of September 1916 at the Battle of the Somme at the Quadrilateral near Trones Wood in France. Over 400 men out of the battalion strength of 800 were Missing or Killed. He is buried in Guillemont RoadCemetery, Northen France in grave V.A.9.
Private Ernest Charles Harrison. Service No 10135.
Parents:
Charles and Mary Harrison. Ernest was born on the 12th of May 1885. In 1891 they lived in Crown Cottage, Coveney. His occupation was a Footman in Domestic service.
Enlisted:
26th of August 1914. He served in the 5th Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment. He was Killed in Action on the 21st of August 1915 during the attack on Chocolate Hill inGallipoli. Of a battalion strength of 650 only 280 men survived. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, panels 137-140, inGallipoli, Turkey.
Private Ernest Charles Houghton Service No 10135.
Parents:
Charles and Clara Houghton of Wardy Hill. Ernest was born in 1891 in Wardy Hill, Cambridgeshire. His occupation was a Rural Postman.
Enlisted:
19th of November 1915. He served with the 18th Heavy Trench Mortar Battery, Royal FieldArtillery. The German offensive, ‘Operation Michael’, began on the 21st of March 1918. Ernest was captured with 21,000 other men. He died of ‘exhaustion’ on the 3rd of July 1918 in Stendhal POW Camp. He is buried in grave 1. C. 11. In the Berlin South-Western Cemetery, Germany.
Private George William Parson. Service No 16303
Parents:
George and Emily Parson of WardyHill, Coveney. George was born on the 26th of April 1895 in WardyHill. His occupation was a Farm Labourer.
Enlisted:`
29th of September 1914. He served with the 11th Battalion Suffolk Regiment. Whilst at the Cherry Hinton Camp in Cambridge he developed Pneumonia and was admitted to the1st Eastern Hospital, Cambridge where he died on the 17th of May 1915. He is buried in St Peter ad Vincula church yard.
Lance Corporal George King. Service No 6915
Parents:
John and Jane King. George was born in1886 in Witcham, Cambridgeshire. He was a Regular Soldier in the 2nd Battalion Suffolk Regiment.
Enlisted:
He was serving in Egypt on the 4th of August 1914 at the outbreak of war. He served through out the war in France at the Battles of St Eloi, Delville Wood, the Ancre, Arras, and 3rdYpres. The German Offensive, ‘Operation Michael’ began on the 21st of March 1918. George was in the frontline on the Arras-Cambrai Road. He, along with 414 men of the Suffolks, were Missing/Killed in Action on the 28th of March 1918. He has no known grave but is commemorated on the ArrasMemorial.
Private Albert Edward Pedley. Service No 42109
Parents:
Albert and Fanny Pedley. Albert was bornin 1900 whilst the family were living in Thorney, Northamptonshire.
Enlisted:
23rd September 1917. He served with the 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire’s. On the 22nd of September 1918 they attacked towards Epehy from the Bellecourt Road near St Quentin, Northen France. George was posted Missing/Killed in Action 22nd of September 1918. He has no known grave but is commemorated on the Vis-En-ArtoisMemorial, Panels 4&5.
Private John Frederick Victor Poole. Service No 58649/34992
Parents:
William and Emma Poole. John was born in Witcham, Cambridgeshire on the 7th of June 1897. His occupation was a Farm Labourer.
Enlisted:
18th of February 1916initially with the 3rd Battalion Suffolk Regiment before transferring to the Machine Gun Corps. The German Offensive, ‘OperationMichael’, began on the 21st of March 1918. John was one of the 21,000 men captured that day. He was imprisoned in Altdamn Prisoner of WarCamp. He developed Tuberculosis and was repatriated on the 26th ofDecember 1918. He was to be discharged to Hill House, Coveney but sadly died in Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge on the 25th of February 1920.He was buried in Coveney Wesleyan Methodist Church Yard.
Private Herbert William Walker. Service No 33384.
Parents:
Joseph and Sarah Walker. He was born inCoveney in 1883. His occupation was a Farm Labourer.
Enlisted:
August 1915. He served with Suffolk Regiment and later with the 3/4th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. It is possible that he was always on Home Service. He died of CardiacFailure in a ‘War Hospital’ on the23rd of December 1918 and is buried in Coveney Wesleyan Methodist Church Yard.
