Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence

Lest We Forget
British Legion
The Royal British Legion

ROXTONWAR MEMORIAL

World War 1 & 2 - Roll of Honour with detailed information
Compiled and copyright © 2001 Martin Edwards
additional RFC/RNAS/RAF information David Manning

Photographs Copyright © Martin Edwards 2001

The Memorial stands in the churchyard of the parish church, St Mary Magdelene adjacent to the road through the village. The memorial lists the men from the parish who died in World War 1 as well as those who served along with those who died in World War 2. The three CWGC graves contain the names of men not listed on the memorial.

TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN GRATEFUL REMEMBERANCE OF
....<the list>....
WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE DURING THE GREAT WAR
1914-1919
"GREATER LOVE HAS NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT A MAN
LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS."

   
Died
COVINGTON Alfred John
Private 17831, 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. Killed in action 30th July 1916 in France & Flanders. Age 24. Born and resident Roxton, enlisted Bedford. Son of Rosina Covington, of 2, Council Cottages, Roxton, and the late Caleb Covington. Brother of the below. Commemorated on THIEPVAL MEMORIAL, Somme, France. Pier and Face 2 C
COVINGTON Wilfred
Private 27546, 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. Killed in action 12th October 1916 in France & Flanders. Age 26. Born and resident Roxton, enlisted Bedford. Son of Rosina Covington, of 2, Council Cottages, Roxton, and the late Caleb Covington. Brother of the above. Commemorated on THIEPVAL MEMORIAL, Somme, France. Pier and Face 2 C
DARRINGTON Alfred

Private 242109, 2nd/5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment, formerly 4113, 5th Bedfordshire Regiment. Killed in action 22nd November 1917 in France & Flanders. Age 21. Born Roxton, enlisted Bedford. Son of Mrs. H. E. Ekins of the Post Office, Roxton. Commemorated on ARRAS MEMORIAL, Pas De Calais, France. Bay 6.

Extract from the National Roll of Honour:

DARRINGTON, A., L/Cpl., 5th Bedfordshire Regt.
Volunteering in September 1914, he was sent to France in 1915. Whilst overseas he was transferred to the 5th Gloucestershire Regiment, and took part in the Battles of Loos, the Somme, Ypres and Passchendaele, prior to being killed in action in November 1917. He was entitled to the 1914-15 Star, and the General Service and Victory Medals.
“Courage, bright hopes, and a myriad dreams, splendidly given.”
Roxton, Bedfordshire.

DARRINGTON Peter

Private 20317, "D" Company, 7th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. Killed in action 1st July 1916 in France & Flanders. Born and resident Roxton, enlisted Bedford. Son of Hannah Elizabeth Ekins (formerly Darrington), of Roxton, and the late George Darrington. Commemorated on THIEPVAL MEMORIAL, Somme, France. Pier and Face 2 C. Mentioned in the National Roll of the Great War, Bedford/Northampton, page 66.

From "Hunts & Beds News 14th July 1916".

Another Roxton Soldier Killed

Roxton was deeply distressed on Sunday by an unhappy coincidence - the very day that had been chosen for the special services to be held in the PArish Church in memory of Lance-Cpl. B. Rutland, of this village, whose death was recently reported, was the day that Mrs. C. Ekins received the sad tidings that her eldest son, Private Peter Darrington, had met his death while charging the German trenches during the big push made on the Western Front on July 1st. Pte. Darrington, of the Beds, was trained at the Duke of Bedford's camp at Ampthill, and had been on active service for about six months. The village unites in offering heartfelt sympathies to his mother, brothers and sisters in their sad loss.

From "Beds Times 21st July 1916"

The Late Pte. P. Darrington, of Roxton.

Mr. C. E. Ekins, of Roxton, step-father of the late Pte. Peter Darrington, has received the following letter:-

Bedfords, B.E.F., 19/7/16

Dear Sir, - I am in receipt of your post-card of the 15th inst.

It is with the deepest regret that I have to inform you that Pte. Darrington, 20317, of this Company, met his death in action on July 1st. The part which the Bedfords, and D Company in particular, played in the Battle of the Somme was a crowning success, and in that success Pte. Darrington gave of his best and met his death like a true Englishman. He was buried by the Padre where he fell and his grave has been marked by a wooden cross. At that date I was an A Company officer, and so I have no personal knowledge of Darrington, but I hear though he had only recently joined us, he had won favour with all, and made himself popular.

Will you convey to his mother, not only the deepest sympathy of myself, but of his platoon and his company. I feel very deeply for her in her great trouble. Will you break the news to her, if she has not already heard from the W.O., and show her this letter.

May it be of comfort to her to know he died, as she would have wished, doing his duty, and in the height of a glorius success for the new armies.

 

Yours very sincerely,

 

H.J.CARTWRIGHT

DICKENS
Christopher [Wesley]
Corporal 5566, 4th (Queens Own) Hussars. Died of injuries and the effects of gas on 3 May 1915. Aged 28. Son of William and Ellen Dickens who lived in Sandy and Chawston. His mother was resident at Grange Cottages, Hardwick, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, at the end of the war. born in Notting Hill in 1886. In the 1901 census his family (but not Christopher who aged 15 was working as a gardener in Alton, Hants) had moved to Sandy and were living in Church Path (William J, Ellen, William 17 and Herbert 5). Since Herbert was born in Sandy, the family must have moved to Sandy in at least the mid 1890s and Christopher who would have been 10 in 1896, must have been with them, so was clearly a ” Sandy boy”. By 1911 William J had died and Christopher appears to have joined the 4th Hussars and is at an Army Barracks in Colchester, Essex, Ellen and Herbert had moved to Chawston/Roxton. In its report of 11 Sept 1914 the Biggleswade Chronicle reported William Dickens, Arthur Dickens and Chris Dickens, all of Cambridge Road, Sandy, were amongst the Sandy men serving in the British Army or Navy, and that William was a member of the Hussars. William Dickens’ military records shows that he had a brother, Christopher, also in the Hussars. The Biggleswade Chronicle of 4 June 1915 records that the (unnamed) son of Mrs Dickens of Chawston’s had died of his wounds, and the Beds Times 30 July 1915 records a memorial Service for Christopher Dickens of the Hussars having been held at Roxton Church on Sunday 25 July 1915. Buried in BAILLEUL COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION, NORD, Nord, France. Plot I. Row D. Grave 11. Also commemorated on the Sandy War Memorial

Extract from Bedfordshire Times and Independent - Friday 30 July 1915, page 3:

ROXTON

A memorial service was held in the parish church on Sunday evening to the memory of Christopher Dickens, of the Hussars, who died of gas poisoning.

Thanks to Alistair Gammell for this information

EKINS Albert Walter
Airman 2nd Class, 46133, 100th Sqdn., Royal Flying Corps. Killed in action Sunday, 6th May 1917, aged 19, while serving as observer with 100 Squadron, Izel-le-Hameau; flying an FE.2b. with pilot 2nd Lt. Thomas George Holmes, from Redhill, Surrey (also killed, buried in the plot next to Albert in Douai Cemetery), failed to return from night-bombing sortie against Dorignies Aerodrome. Eleven 100 Squadron aircraft took part in the aerodrome that night, becoming airborne from their airfield at 21.50 hours. Native of St. Neots. Only son of Albert Alexander and Ada Ekins, of Roxton. Educated Bedford Modern School (1911-13). Buried in DOUAI BRITISH CEMETERY, CUINCY, Nord, France. Grave F. 7. See also Bedford Modern School and Roxton Congregationalist
GADSON F
No further information currently
GILBERT John William
Private 3/10746, 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment. Age 22. Died of wounds 9th May 1917 in France & Flanders. Born Roxton, enlisted Bedford. Son of Alice and the late George Gilbert, of Roxton. Buried in BARLIN COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION, Pas de Calais, France. Grave III. B. 3.
JONES Frederick
Private 23706, 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. Died of wounds 14th June 1918 in France & Flanders. Age 37. Born Roxton, enlisted and resident Bedford. Son of Frederick and Elizabeth Jones, of Roxton. Buried in AIRE COMMUNAL CEMETERY, Pas de Calais, France. Grave III. C. 20.
NEWELL G F
No further information currently
RUTLAND Bertie [John George]

Lance Corporal 17735, 6th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. Died of wounds 27th June 1916 in France & Flanders. Age 27. Born Roxton, resident Chawston, enlisted Bedford. Son of John and Jane Rutland, of Roxton; husband of Martha May Rutland, of Willow Deane, Clapham, Bedford. Buried in WARLINCOURT HALTE BRITISH CEMETERY, SAULTY, Pas de Calais, France. Grave I. D. 3.

From "Hunts & Beds News 14th July 1916".

The Late Lance Corporal B. Rutland, of Roxton

A the aprish church on Sunday a special service will be held in mmeory of Lance-Corpl. B. Rutland, who died in France on June 27th from wounds received while on active service. His wife has received the following letter:-

20th Casualty Clearing Station
B.E.F., France, July 2nd. 1916.

My Dear Madam, - A letter is a very poor means (though the only means I have) of conveying to you the very real sympathy I feel for you and yours in the loss of your husband, Lance-Corpl. B. Rutland. I officiated at his funeral in are little cemetery here in the afternoon, and it will be a small consoloation to you to know that your dear one received orderly and Christian burial. The grave will be well cared for, and already a neat wooden Cross has been erected. If at a later date you desire a photograph of the grave, you may be able to obtain one by applying to the Chaplain 20th C.C.T., France. Again assuring you of my deep sympathy,

Yours sincerely,
O.N. Swift, C.F.
Chaplain C. of E.

SIMCOE Joseph
Lance Corporal 33511, 8th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. Killed in action 18th April 1917 in France & Flanders. Age 25. Born and resident Roxton, enlisted Bedford. Son of George William Simcoe, of Roxton, and the late Susan Simcoe; husband of Edith Rosina Bruce (formerly Simcoe), of Meagre Cottage, Hail Weston, St. Neots, Hunts. Commemorated on the LOOS MEMORIAL, Pas de Calais, France. Panel 41.
STAY Arthur [George]
Lance Corporal 65340, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry). Killed in action 21st September 1917 in France & Flanders. Age 33. Born Rugby, enlisted Lambeth, resident Roxton. Formerly 6341, London Regiment. Husband of Emily Stay, of 59, Claremont Rd., Rugby. Commemorated on TYNE COT MEMORIAL, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Panel 154 to 159 and 163A
WOOD Gilbert Henry
Private 29804, "a" Company, 7th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. Killed in action 15th March 1917 in France & Flanders. Born Greasly, Notts, enlisted Bedford, resident Roxton. Pte Wood was wounded and died in the operations to capture Achiet-le-Grand, on this day a colleague in the same Battalion (Pte Christopher Cox) was awarded the VC for his work bringing in A Coy men. Commemorated on THIEPVAL MEMORIAL, Somme, France. Pier and Face 2 C
  NOT ON MEMORIAL BUT IN CHURCHYARD
AYRES W U
Private G/73487, Royal Fusiliers. Died 8th May 1919. Age 18. Buried in St Mary Magdelene churchyard, Roxton.
  ALSO SERVED
BALL F
No further information currently
BAMBRIDGE T
No further information currently
BAMBRIDGE W
No further information currently
BANNISTER A
No further information currently
BARTRAM G
No further information currently
BONE A
No further information currently
BRACE F
No further information currently
BRIMLEY J
No further information currently
BRIMLEY K
No further information currently
BRITAIN R
No further information currently
CAVE S
No further information currently
CLARKE J
No further information currently
COVINGTON H
No further information currently
DARRINGTON G
No further information currently
DICKENS W
No further information currently
EKINS J
No further information currently
FOLBIGG B
No further information currently
FULLER A
No further information currently
GADSDEN C
No further information currently
JEFFERIES J
No further information currently
JARVIS G
No further information currently
JARVIS L
No further information currently
JARVIS R
No further information currently
JOHNSON H
No further information currently
JONES C
No further information currently
JONES J
No further information currently
JONES R
No further information currently
KIDMAN M
No further information currently
KIDMAN R
No further information currently
KING W
No further information currently
MINNEY J
No further information currently
PARTRIDGE L
No further information currently
PELL J
No further information currently
PELL W
No further information currently
RUTLAND H
No further information currently
SUGARS F
No further information currently
SWEPSTONE W
No further information currently
THEIDD W
No further information currently
WATTS H
No further information currently
THIS CROSS WAS ERECTED BY THE PARISHONERS
THE GROUND
IS THE GIFT OF THE VICAR
Wm. Fk. PYM M.A. A.D. 1919
1939-1945
ALSO IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF
LOVELL Cyril [Charles]
Driver T/ 5960387, Royal Army Service Corps who died on Friday, 11th September 1942. Age 22. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Herbert Lovell, of Colesden. Buried in TRIPOLI WAR CEMETERY, Libya. Grave 6. D. 13.
  Colin PANTON
No further information currently
   
NOT ON MEMORIAL BUT IN CHURCHYARD
  John William HUNT

Sapper 1921012, 121 Road Construction Company, Royal Engineers. Died 6th February 1940. Age 24. Son of Cuthbert and Florence Ada Hunt; husband of Florence Lilian Hunt, of Chawston. Buried in Roxton St Mary Magdelene churchyard, north west of church near lych gate.
  Arthur John PAYNE

Leading Aircraftsman 1144434, Royal Air Force. Died 13th August 1945. Age 23. Son of Thomas and Jessie Payne; husband of Gladys May Payne, of Bath, Somerset. Buried in Roxton St Mary Magdelene churchyard, north west of church near lych gate.

"THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE."

Last updated 18 November, 2024

Friends of the War Memorials
War Memorials Trust
Main page
Commonweath War Graves Commission
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Copyright © Roll-of-Honour.com 2002- | GDPR Cookies
Email: webmaster@roll-of-honour.com