Leonard was the son of John William and Charlotte Mary Beauchamp, John was a gardener of Lover. Leonard was born in Huntingford, Dorset in 1884, he was baptized at West Dean, Wiltshire, and died in March 1945 in Warminster. In the 1911 census he resided in Gillingham, Kent where his occupation is given as a military soldier. As his residence was in Gillingham he may well have served with the Royal Engineers as their barracks is in Gillingham. No details of Leonard’s military record exist, he may not have served overseas.
Contributor: Redlynch Local History Society
Sidney Hickman
Sidney Hickman
Sidney Hickman was one of seven children born in Redlynch to Walter and Jane Hickman of Highcliffe, Woodfalls. Walter was a grain merchant. Sidney farmed at Ridge Farm, Woodfalls. He was married to Winifred Emma Thorne (photograph shown of Sidney and Winifred), and according to the 1911 census had three children, Harry (9 years), Cyril (8 years) and Winifred (3years). He was a gunner with the Royal Garrison Artillery, and had enlisted at Salisbury in 1915. He died in Italy on 4 October 1918 of pneumonia; he was 39 years old. He is buried at Montecchio Precalcino Communal Cemetery Extension, Italy. Two photos of Sidey’s grave are shown, one shortly after his burial showing the original wooden cross, and a modern day equivalent showing the Portland stone headstone.
His brother, Garnet also served in the Great War in the Devonshire Regiment and survived. He was a corn merchant and farmer and lived on The Ridge with his wife Ida.
(Photograph of Sidney’s grave from the late Peter Hickman).
Soldiers of the Parish of Redlynch
The vicar of Redlynch had reported that by mid-September twenty-seven local men were in the army or the navy, and a month later that figure had risen to fifty-six. These figures did not include men from Morgan’s Vale and Woodfalls for, at that time, those areas were part of the parish of Downton.
By the end of the war over 350 men from the area from what is now the civil parish of Redlynch had served in the forces, more than fifty of them had lost their lives in the service of their country. It is most probable that nearly all the population of this area (1,930 in 1921) in common with the rest of the country had lost at least one relative on active service. One man who is on the Redlynch memorial, and who was killed in late 1918 had six brothers who had seen active service and a sister who had served as a nurse in France.
The following soldiers have their photographs shown here:
- Albert Targett
- William Targett
- William Plaskett
- Taunton Viney
- Sidney Walter Hickman
- Reg Nicklen Reg Amey
- G H Rose
- Fred Burnham
- Ernest King
- Walter King
- Edward Shelley
- Cecil Pilgrim
- Alfred Edward Brown
- William James Hand
War Memorial: Memorials in the Parish of Redlynch
War Memorials in the Parish of Redlynch
Redlynch Village Memorial
The Redlynch Memorial situated at Quavey was financed by Captain George Eyre-Matcham of Newhouse, who had served with the 3rd Battalion Wiltshire Regiment from 1915 to 1919. It was dedicated on Peace Day, 19 July 1919 by the Reverend A.C. Muller. The inscription reads: – ‘This shrine was erected to the Glory of God and in Memory of those who died for and served their country in the Great War and was presented to the Parish of Redlynch by George and William Eyre-Matcham’. Colonel William Eyre-Matcham served as Deputy Director of Remounts throughout the Great War. The shrine, built of oak, has been renovated on several occasions, but remains essentially the same, although other names have been added commemorating those who fell in the Second World War and in later conflicts. The latest restoration of the memorial took place in 2014. It was re-dedicated by the Reverend Len Lunn on 25 July 2014 at the beginning of the commemorations of the centenary of the First World War.
(See photo titled Redlynch Memorial)
(See photo titled Redlynch Memorial Inscriptions)
The Morgan’s Vale and Woodfalls Memorial
In 1919 a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Mr J.W. Taunton of Paccombe Farm to promote the building of a memorial to those who had died in the Great War. The Celtic cross on a plinth was erected on the corner of The Ridge and Morgan’s Vale Road, and was unveiled on Sunday 6 June 1920. The names of the fallen are inscribed on it, but unlike the monuments at Redlynch and Nomansland there is no list of men who served. Names were added after the Second World War, and after conflicts in Palestine and Malaya.
In March 1975 the Parish Council discussed the re-siting of the monument as it was considered to be a traffic hazard. On Remembrance Sunday 1976 it was re-dedicated by the Reverend Roger Sharpe on its new site across the road where it now stands on the protected area of grass that was created when Bowers Pond was filled in. On Remembrance Sunday 2001 the cleaned and renovated memorial was re-dedicated at a service conducted by the Reverend Ian Provost.
(See photo titled Morgan’s Vale and Woodfalls Memorial in its original position)
(See photo titled Morgan’s Vale and Woodfalls Memorial in its present position)
(See photo titled Morgan’s Vale and Woodfalls Memorial inscriptions)
Nomansland War Memorial
On 30 June 1919 it was decided that the war memorial for Nomansland should take the form of a well house on the village green. The sum of £270 was raised and the Reverend T. Harper and the Reverend H. Livens dedicated the Memorial Well on the evening of Monday 11 April 1921. It was built from New Forest oak with a drinking trough behind. During the 1950s the well was re-dedicated with the added names of those who died in the 1939-45 war.
Restoration work began in 1999 and eight iron panels were inserted to protect the memorial. The well has now been paved over and the trough for animals to drink from has been filled in with concrete.
(See photo titled Nomansland Memorial)
(See photo titled Nomansland Memorial inscriptions)
The Church Memorials in the Parish of Redlynch
(See photo titled St Mary’s Church, Redlynch – the Men who Fell)
(See photo titled St Mary’s Church, Redlynch – Roll of Honour)
(See photo titled St Birinus Church, Morgan’s Vale – Roll of Honour)
Acknowledgement: – some of the information courtesy of Pat Millington ‘Rank on Rank’.