ROLL OF HONOUR                                              

Please help us with this important project - to find out more about the men of Speen (& Bagnor*) who gave their lives in the First World War.  St Mary's does not have a memorial to these men, and whilst a Speen village memorial exists (at the Bath Road end of Speen Lane), it does not include the names of those connected to St Mary's who didn't live in the parish.   We hope to rectify the omission with a memorial inside the church to those from the villages and/or congregation who died in (or as a result) of the conflict.  Before such a memorial can be placed, we  need to identify the names that should be recorded. Below are some names under consideration;  this list is not considered to be complete, and we should welcome any additions to it.  The main criterion for inclusion is that the deceased must have a clear connection with the villages or the church. Please contact us if you have any information to offer, or if you would like to know more about the project.  
    
*   In times past, St Mary's was the parish church of Speen, Speenhamland, Bagnor and Stockcross.  In the 19th century, churches were built in Speenhamland and Stockcross, and both now have WWI memorials.  Bagnor has neither a church, nor a village memorial; this project will include the men of that parish.    

VILLAGE MEMORIAL
The following names are already commemorated on the village memorial:
  • Captain  George Lechmere Anson of the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment).  Killed in action on at the 1st Battle of Ypres on 20th October 1914.  Aged 31.
  • Private  James Edwin Blatch of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.    Killed in action at Bois-Grenier  - north of Loos - on 25th September 1915.  Aged 29.
  • Lance Corporal  John Douglas Bowley of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.  Killed in action at the Battle of Loos on 28th September 1915.  Aged 21.
  • Private  Frederick George Coburn of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.  Killed in action in France during the Advance to Victory on 5th September 1918.  Aged 18.
  • Private  William Collins of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.   Died on 29th April 1917 whilst a prisoner in Germany.  Aged 30.
  • Private  Bertie Stuart Cox of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.  Died on 7th May 1917 of wounds received at the Battle of Arras.  Aged 38.
  • Private  Edward Thomas Crocker of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars.  Killed in action at Gallipoli in Turkey on 21st August 1915.  Aged 36.
  • Private  Charles Freeman Goddard of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.   Died on 18 October 1918 ‘somewhere in Bulgaria’.  Aged 35.
  • Private  Harry Goddard of the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays).  Killed in action at the Battle of Arras on 11th April 1917.  Aged 33
  • Lieutenant  John Lionel Heath of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.  Killed in action at the Battle of Loos on 1st October 1915.  Aged 23.    
  • Private  Albert Hillyer of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.  Killed in action at the Battle of Loos on 25th September.  Aged 25. 
  • Corporal  Isaac Frank Minchin of the East Lancashire Regiment.  Died in France on 16th January 1916 of wounds received in the trenches.  Aged 23.
  • Private  Henry John Radbourn of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.  Died in Sweden on Christmas Eve 1918 on his way home from imprisonment as a PoW.  Aged 26. 
  • Private  Christopher William Seymour of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.  Died in France on 29th March 1916 of wounds received in the trenches.  Aged 20. 
  • Private  Joe Seymour of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.  Killed in action at the Battle of Loos on 25th September 1915.  Aged 20. 
  • Lieutenant  Montague Ernest Squirl of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.  Died in France on 15th December 1918 of wounds received during the Advance to Victory.  Aged 21.    
  • Lance Corporal Edward Cornelius Thick of the Wiltshire Regiment.  Killed in action at the Battle of Loos on 25th September 1915.  Aged 33.
  • Gunner  William Charles Thick of the Royal Garrison Artillery.  Killed in action in France on 26th April 1918 during the German Spring Offensive.  Aged 31.
  • Private  Edward Watts of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment .  Killed in action at the Battle of Arras on 3rd May 1917.  Aged 31.

    • BURIED IN ST MARY'S CHURCHYARD
    The following soldier died locally and was buried in the churchyard:
  • Private  Frank Tancock of the Army Service Corps.  Died on 27th January 1918 in England from tuberculosis contracted on active service.  Aged 39. 

    • COMMEMORATED IN ST MARY'S CHURCHYARD
    The following soldiers are commemorated on family headstones in the churchyard, but were buried elsewhere:
  • Captain  George Lechmere Anson of the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment).  Killed in action at the 1st Battle of Ypres on 20th October 1914.  Aged 31. 
  • Second Lieutenant  Basil Henry Belcher of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.  Killed in action at the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916.  Aged 32. 
  • Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Henry Daukes of the South Staffordshire Regiment .  Killed in action at Gallipoli in Turkey on 7th August 1915.  Aged 45. 
  • Second Lieutenant Bertram Antony Medley of the Highland Light Infantry.  Killed in action at the Battle of Loos on 25th September 1915.  Aged 20.
  • Second Lieutenant  Geoffrey Paxton Ravenor of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.  Killed in action at the Battle of the Somme on 20th October 1916.  Aged 23. 
  • Lance Corporal  Herbert Ravenor of the Australian Infantry.   Killed in action at the Battle of the Somme on 27th August 1916.  Aged 44.
  • Richard Bland Ravenor.  Drowned at sea off the Solomon Islands on 20th June 1916. 

    • COMMEMORATED ON THE NATIONAL ROLL OF HONOUR
    The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains a 'Debt of Honour' database that commemorates men and women who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars. The following names are identified in this database as having a Speen connection and who are not included in the above lists:
  • Private Walter John Butler of the Royal Fusiliers. Died in Belgium on 22 June 1917. Killed in action during the Battle of Passchendaele. Aged 24.
  • Rifleman Charles Anthony Downham of the King's Royal Rifle Corps. Died in France on 12 April 1917. Died of wounds received at the Battle of Arras. Aged 38.
  • Second Lieutenant Charles Frederick Fearn of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Died in France on 04 July 1915. Died of wounds received in the trenches. Aged 19.
  • Serjeant Marshall Coulter Macaulay of the Royal Irish Rifles. Died in France on 14 February 1917. Killed in action in the trenches. Aged 27.
  • Corporal David John Mcaulay of the Royal Irish Rifles. Died in Belgium on 16 August 1917. Aged 33.
  • Corporal John Peck of the Army Service Corps. Died in United Kingdom on 27 October 1918. Aged 27.
  • Captain Arthur Duncombe Shafto of the Royal Scots. Died in France on 26 August 1914. Aged 34.
  • Gunner William Francis Whiley of the Royal Garrison Artillery. Died in France on 21 March 1918. Aged 27.