Charles Winter (1891-1916)

Post date: Jan 11, 2016 10:2:44 PM

Charles' birth was registered in the third quarter of 1891. He was the son of Thomas and Sarah Winter. In 1901 the family was living on the Tonbridge Road in East Barming. Thomas in 1901 was a farm labourer but by 1911 when the family had moved to a cottage on Hermitage Farm, Wateringbury, he was a waggoner on the farm. In 1911 Charles, aged 20, was a farm labourer. The Cottage had 5 rooms for the parents and 4 children at home. Altogether Sarah had had 6 children born alive but one had died by 1911.

In the 3rd quarter of 1915 he married Dorcas Pearson but this was not at Wateringbury Church although Dorcas was in 1901 living in Bow Terrace with her family she cannot be traced in the 1911 census.

Charles enlisted in Maidstone but his personal service record does not survive and there is some confusion as to which battalion (7th or 17th ) of The Royal Fusiliers he was serving in. Both battalions were involved the Somme, the 17th forming part of the 5th Brigade of the 2nd Division and the 7th being part of the 190th Brigade of the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division. On balance I believe Charles was in the 17th (following Wateringbury vicar) rather than the 7th (as per the CWGC) as the 17th was active in the Redan Ridge area on the date he was killed whereas the 7th was not.

The 17^th Battalion Royal Fusiliers on the night of 12^th November advanced from Mailly Wood, part of a large assault, attempting to capture Redan Ridge and Munich Trench and Frankfurt Trench. They were part of the second wave, on the right wing of the attack. A mine had been exploded under Hawthorn Ridge with limited success on 1st July because it preceded the attack by 10 minutes; on 13th November a second mine (30,000 lbs) was blown at the same spot exactly at the time of the attack with greater success, killing all but 60 of the 350 Germans occupying the crater.

At this time, after a lot of rain, mud had become a serious issue severely inhibiting movement, shell holes and trenches partially filled with water, rifles clogged with mud making it necessary to rely on bayonets, and fog restricting visibility. Because of the fog the 17th Royal Fusiliers who were to 'leap-frog' the 1st wave occupying Beaumont trench lost direction and veered to the left. More details can be read in Michael Renshaw's book "Redan Ridge"(ISBN 1 8445 055 0).

From Parish magazine of August 1917:

On the previous Tuesday a Memorial Service was held for Private Charles Winter, 17^th Royal Fusiliers, privately reported missing, but killed in action at Beaumont Hamel¹, Nov. 13^th, 1916.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission records C. Winter killed on 13^th November 1916, service number 49434, of 7^th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, as one of over 250 buried (100 unidentified) at Redan Ridge Cemetery No 2, close to Beaumont-Hamel village and 25 km south of Arras.

Notes:

1. Beaumont Hamel was the sector of the Somme in which William Butchers (from Fuller's Corner, very close to Hermitage Farm) was killed on the first day, 1st July 1916. Beaumont Hamel was in 1914 a village of 162 houses making it the third largest village on the Somme. The village had a system of caves excavated to obtain hard chalk for building. It did not fall on 1st July and remained in German hands until the 13th November 1916 when taken by the 51st (Scottish) division.