No. 13758, Lance Corporal, Frank William TOLWORTHY
Aged 29
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Frank William Tolworthy was born in Freckenham (Mildenhall Q1-1887 4A:710). Baptised 13th March 1887 in Chippenham, the son of Frederick and Hannah
TOLWORTHY (née SPARKS) 1891 census... Aged 4, he was in Freckenham with his father Frederick TOLWORTHY [40] a miller, born in Freckenham; his mother Hannah [37] born Chippenham; brother Fred John [11] and sister Annie [8]. The children were all born in Freckenham. He had 2 elder sisters, Amelia E. [b.1874] and Ada Mary [ b.1876] 1901 census... Aged 14, a farm labourer, he was in Mortimers Lane, Freckenham with his parents, brother Frederick (now a domestic gardener), sister Mary (Ada Mary) and a cousin Jessie STUART [7] 1911 census... Aged 24, a farm labourer, he was at Mortimers Lane, Freckenham with his widowed mother, brother Frederick John and sister Amelia Elizabeth who was a shopkeeper/tobacconist. His father had died in 1908. His mother later moved to Market Place, Mildenhall. |
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He enlisted in Newmarket. 99th MG Company joined 2nd Division on 28 April 1916. Moved into No 2 Battalion, Machine Gun Corps on 4 March 1918. At this stage in the war the machine gun was still thought of mainly as a defensive weapon. Using it in attacks was only slowly beginning to be planned. On the 18th February 1917 they were engaged in action at Miraumont. Of the 11 of his company killed that day, only 3 have known graves. In 1919 several bodies were found in the marked area and re-interred in Regina Trench Cemetery (which can not be reached from Grandcourt and even from Courcelette an off road vehicle is advisable in all but the driest weather.) |
photo: Rodney Gibson photo:Rodney Gibson
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