Winton in World War One

Wartime Winton 1914-18

Unlike the Second World War, which struck Winton's civilians and their homes, the "Great War" of 1914-18 almost exclusively took its toll from the ranks of young men who enlisted to fight for King and Country on the battlefields of Flanders and France.

Alma Road 1915

The human cost was horrific. As in most other towns and villages, there would not have been a family in Winton who had not lost a relative or the son of a friend. Many men returned after the war mentally scarred by their experiences for the rest of their lives. Nearly half of the Winton lads who took part in Baden-Powell's Brownsea Island experiment were to die as a result of war wounds or gassing. No less than eleven members of the choir of St John's Church lost their lives as soldiers in the Great War.

A survey of the war memorials of the three parishes of St Luke's, St John the Baptist, and St Alban's yields a total of approaching three hundred dead across the Winton, Moordown and Charminster area. The real total is almost certainly considerably more than this. The list of names shows sometimes as many as four from the same family. In some cases it was brothers. In others it was uncles, cousins and even fathers and sons.

War breaks out in August 1914. Waiting for news. Hants Regiment Battalion HQ Holdenhurst Road

Many local young men enlisted for the Hampshire Regiment and signed up at the 7th battalion headquarters building which still stands in Holdenhurst Road. The Royal Welsh Fusiliers were also billeted in the area for some time. Two of them (Captain Frederick Barter and Staff Sergeant Joseph Davies) went on to win the Victoria Cross in France and subsequently return to Bournemouth in later life to retire.

The Fusiliers and other units conducted firing practice on a rifle range at Winton Rec.

Rifle practice. Winton Rec

The experience of those who reached the battlefields is typified by the event that prompted a little-known memorial in the junction between Green and Firbank Roads.

The memorial in the Fampoux gardens

The Fampoux gardens were opened by Major General Brooking on 21 April 1923 - five years after many soldiers of the Hampshire Regiment died in a heroic struggle to defend the village of Fampoux during the massive German Spring Offensive of March 1918. The operation cost hundreds of lives. Symbolically set up on a miniature hill is a simple stone marker bearing the words "These gardens laid out by ex-servicemen are named to commemorate the gallant stand of the Hampshires at Fampoux". Click here to read more about the history of the Fampoux Gardens.

Although local men served in many different regiments, the Hampshire Regiment was always considered the "local" one. It raised no fewer than 36 battalions and nearly all of them contained a large number of local volunteers. An appallingly high rate of casualties was sustained in all major offensives, such as Ypres, Loos, the Somme, Passchendale, and the Aisne, as well as in the disastrous Dardanelles landings. The Hampshires earned 56 Battle Honours in France and a further 34 in actions elsewhere.

The Commemorative Plaques
St John's, Moordown
St Alban's	St Luke's

A transcribed list of the men of the three parishes who died in the 1914-18 War
ADAMS, JOSEPH ALEXANDER, FRANK ANDERTON, CHARLES ANDREWS, ALFRED F ANDREWS, PERCY W ARNOLD, HUBERT F. ARNOLD, P. CHARLES AUSTIN, CHARLES H AUSTIN, CYRIL AXFORD, HENRY. F. BAILEY, CHARLES BAILEY, LEWIS BAKER, ALBERT G BALDWIN, J.D. BALL, HENRY BARNES, EDWARD.J. BARNES, WILFRED BARNES, WILLIAM BARRETT, BERT BARRETT, FRED BARRETT, SIDNEY G BARTER, LEONARD H J BARTLETT, PERCY G BATHO, JOHN BEALE, SIDNEY V BEARE, LIONEL BEAUMONT, ERNEST BENNETT, HARRY C. BILES, ALBERT BLAIR, ALEXANDER M. BLAKE, BERT BLAKE, BERTRAM BLAKE, CHARLES BLAKE, WILLIAM BLANDFORD, BERT L BONDFIELD, WILLIE B BRISENDON, ARTHUR C. BUDDEN, RONALD BURDEN, ARTHUR BURDEN, HERBERT BURNETT, WILLIAM BURRIDGE, HARRY S. P BURSEY, JAMES BURT, P. REGINALD BUSCALL, ALFRED BUSCALL, JOHN BUTLER, LESLIE J BYGRAVE, ROBERT CAMPEN, ARTHUR CARSWELL, EDWARD CARTER, ARTHUR J. CARTER, CHARLES CARTER, THOMAS CHAPMAN, HAROLD CHEEVERS, MATTHEW CHINCHEN, ALFRED H. CLEMENTS, JESSE COLE, ALBERT COLLINGBOURNE, ROBERT B. COLLINS, WILLIAM M COOPER, ERNEST L. COPELAND, ALBERT CORKE, GUY HAROLD COX, ALBERT C. CROSS, JAMES CROSSMAN, TOM	CURTIS, WILLIAM C CUTLER, WILLIAM G. DAVIDGE, ERNEST V. DEAN, BERTRAM DIFFORD, GEORGE F. DONOVAN, E. M. DOWDING, JAMES DOWLER, GEORGE F DOWLER, GORDON DOWLER, REGINALD DOWNTON, HARRY C DRAKE, LEONARD W. DREW, HERBERT. W. DUFALL, GEORGE EDWARDS, GORDON ELLIOTT, JACK ELLIOTT, TED EVANS, HERBERT EVANS, WALTER FANCY, REGINALD J. T. FELTHAM, HENRY FOSKETT, CHARLES A. FOX, THOMAS HENRY FRY, FRANK G FRY, HENRY FRY, LEONARD G FRY, MARK W FRY, VICTOR FULFORD, ARTHUR F. J. FULLER, CECIL T GALLOP, ALBERT R GALLOP, ALPHONSO GALTON, PERCY GARDINER, HARRY GARDINER, RICHARD GORRINGE, MERVYN GREASLEY, JOHN N. GREEN, SIDNEY A. GREEN, STANLEY GROVES, CHARLES GRUNDY, LEONARD E. F. GUNNINO, WILLIAM GUY, ERNEST GUY, GILBERT L GUY, WILLIAM HAMILTON, EDWARD HAMMERTON, HARRY H HAMMOND, JOHN M. HARCOURT, WILLIAM HARDY, W. HARMER, JOSEPH C HARMER, WILLIAM E HARRIS, ALFRED E. HARRIS, ARTHUR C HARRIS, WILLIAM JOHN HAWES, ERNEST T HAWKES, ERNEST HAYES, SIDNEY HAYWARD, PERCY T. HAYWARD, WILLIAM H. HEWLETT, GEORGE A. HILL. IVOR BERT HINCHCLIFFE, RONALD HOLLAND, ARTHUR H HOLLOWAY, WILLIAM F. HOOSAN, GEORGE	HORLOCK. HENRY G. HUNT, ALBERT W. HUNT, JOE IVAMY, C FRANK IVAMY, GEORGE IVAMY, GEORGE F JAMES, ALBERT J S JEFFERIS, FRANK S. JONES, LEONARD H JOY, PATRICK JUBB, CYRIL O. D. JUDGE, SYDNEY M. KELLAWAY, FREDERICK W. J. KENTELL, IVOR F KING, EDWARD LATHAM, PERCY LAW, SIDNEY LAY, GEORGE LEADLEY, PERCY G. LEGG, HAROLD C LIGHTFOOT, ARTHUR G. LINTER, OWEN GEORGE LOGSDAIL, HUGH LONG, ALBERT E MACDONALD, RONALD M. MACEY, EDWIN H. V MARLOW, CHARLES MARLOW, HERBERT R. MARTIN, ARTHUR JOE MASON, ERIC HAROLD MEARING, FRANK MEARING, FRANK P MEECH, SIDNEY G. MILLER, CHARLES E MONCKTON, ALBERT MUSGRAVE, WILLIAM NEWMAN, ALBERT H NEWMAN, GEORGE R NEWMAN, GEORGE.R. NEWMAN, W. WILFRED OSBORNE, ALBERT OSBORNE, HERBERT OSBORNE, WILLIAM G PARKER, WILLIAM W. PEARCE, REGINALD G PEARCE, REGINALD G. PEATY, WILLIAM H PECK, ROLAND H PEEKE, OSCAR P.A. PERRETT, ERNEST PERRIAM, ALBERT S PETTIS, WALTER W PETTITT, EDWARD PHILLIPS, W. CHARLES PICKERING, ARTHUR L. PITWOOD, HARRY PLOWMAN, LEONARD D RANCE, THEODORE W. RANDALL, EDWIN S RAY, DENTON REY, ERIC C RICE, FRANK RIGLER. HERBERT T. ROBERTS, FREDERICK J ROFFEY, FREDERICK ROLLS, TOM	ROSE, LEONARD A. C. RUFF, HERBERT B. SALTER, WILLIAM G. SAUNDERS, NOEL M. SCOTT, LEONARD SHILCOCK, HENRY E. SHILCOCK, REGINALD SHINAR, ALFRED SHIRLEY, LEONARD J SINGLETON, HAROLD F. SLATER, RONALD SMITH, ERNEST SMITH, HAROLD P. E. SMITH, PERCY SMITH, WALTER E SPENCE, BERTRAM SPENCE, BERTRAM SPICER, DICK SPICER, HAROLD SPICER, SAMUEL SPICER, VICTOR W. O. SQUIBB, HERBERT G STACEY, WILLIAM STARKE, HAROLD STEELE, FREDERICK C STONE, CHARLES D STYLES, WILLIAM SYMES, PERCIVAL E TAYLOR, WILLIAM G THOMAS, FRANK H. THOMPSON, HAROLD THOMPSON, STANLEY THOMSON, JOSEPH TILLER, GEORGE TOLLEMACHE, H. M. TOWNS, JOHN TRIDGELL, CECIL EDWIN TRIMBY, WILLIAM G. TRIVETT, FRANCIS C TURNER, FREDERICK TURNER, FREDERICK J TURNER, GEOFFREY TURNER, JOHN R. USHER, SIDNEY.J. VINCENT, THOMAS VINE, HARRY VINE, MALCOLM W. VIVIAN, FRANK WALKER, BERTRAM WARE, W. FREDERICK WAREHAM, GEORGE F WARNER, WILLIAM WATKINS, THOMAS WATTON, WILLIAM J WESTCOTT, HARRY WICKENS, GEORGE WILKINS, RONALD WILLIAMS, EDWARD S WILLIAMSON, ALBERT WILLIS, CHARLES WILLIS, CHARLES W. E. WILSON, ARTHUR A WISE, EDWIN WRIGHT, BERNARD T WRIGHT, WILLIAM S ZEBEDEE, CHARLES

Three local men were awarded the Victoria Cross in the two World Wars. Read all about them here.

Winton in the Second World War

Click here for the full story of how people got by in the face of rationing and air raids. We even tell you the streets where the bombs fell.