{"id":832,"date":"2019-04-20T19:03:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-20T19:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/?p=832"},"modified":"2025-07-15T15:38:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T14:38:17","slug":"tom-telford-one-more-casualty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/20\/tom-telford-one-more-casualty\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Telford – one more casualty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom Telford is another of the men recorded on the 1920 Penrith Congregational Church memorial plaque<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It’s ‘just’ one plaque among countless tributes to the dead of the First World War. But, each name was a person, each person had a life and hopes for the future. Each person had a family. Each death was a tragedy.<\/p>\n

The Battle of Arras<\/h2>\n

On April 9, 1917, British Empire forces launched a major offensive around Arras. It ended on May 16.The toll of dead and wounded over those few weeks is hard to comprehend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 39 days of fighting, some 300,000 men on both sides were wounded, missing or dead. The British suffered on average more than 4,000 casualties every day, the highest average daily casualty rate of any of their First World War assaults. (source: CWGC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tom Telford, of Penrith, didn\u2019t make it beyond Day One.<\/p>\n

Who was Tom Telford?<\/h2>\n

In 1911, at Bank Cottage, Penrith, Tom Telford was aged 17 and a grocer\u2019s assistant. He was living with with dad Thomas W Telford, mother Mary, brothers Ronald, (Henry) Eustace, and John. (There was also a daughter, Alice)<\/p>\n

Tom was Thomas William, after his father (who was a hairdresser).<\/p>\n

Tom Telford had grey eyes, brown hair, and was 5ft 6in and 112lbs.<\/p>\n

‘Lucky’ once<\/h2>\n

Penrith Observer<\/em> Tuesday August 8 1916.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Mr T W Telford had a letter from his third son, Private Tom Telford, saying he had been wounded in the arm and shoulder. The letter, which had apparently been written with his left hand, asked his father not to communicate with him as he did not know where he would be sent. Private Telford, who is 23, served his apprenticeship with Messrs J & J Graham, Penrith, and afterwards worked for a Liverpool firm. It was from Liverpool he enlisted in the King\u2019s Own Liverpool Regiment (\u201cPals\u201d).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tom Telford was in the 19th Battalion and served in France from December 16, 1915, until his death on April 9, 1917.<\/p>\n

The records are confusing, but after being shot, he seems to have been sent to Rouen for treatment. He was awarded a Good Conduct badge on Boxing Day 1916. Which was better than 1915, when he put on fatigues for 7 days for an \u2018unswept and untidy bed\u2019 in May, and 4 days for leaving the rifle range without permission in August, both at Belton Park.<\/p>\n

A sad legacy<\/h2>\n

After his death, the effects sent back to his parents were:<\/p>\n

3 cloth numerals; 2 brass numerals; 1 \u2014- book; 1 crucifix; 1 wallet; letters; cards; \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>2 cap badges; 1 cigarette case; 1 medal; 2 discs; 1x 25 cents note; \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1 medallion; 1 pipe; 1 MG badge, broken; 1 comb; 2 safety razors; 1 bag.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0The ordinariness of the list makes it poignant. This was all he had ‘out there’. And this was all his\u00a0grieving parents got\u00a0back to remember him by.<\/span><\/p>\n

A fortunate accident?<\/h2>\n

Tom\u2019s brother Henry Eustace Telford, a hairdresser like his father, joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in May 1916. His physical development was \u2018poor\u2019 and he had a glass eye (left). He was deemed fit for home service only, \u2018very unfit for any service\u2019 on one form.<\/p>\n

His service record says: \u2019left eye lost as result of shooting accident before enlistment\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Losing an eye in a shooting accident sounds like a painful brush with death. But at least it spared him from the nightmare of the trenches and being blown up or mown down by bullets in the snow and ice at Arras.<\/p>\n

Ebay had a 1906 receipt for sale (\u00a35 starting price) for \u2018Telford, hairdresser and cycle agent, 47 King Street\u2019. An unsual combination!<\/p>\n

Tom Telford is one of just 59 men buried at H\u00e9nin Crucifix Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais. A photo<\/a> online\u00a0is captioned \u2018soldiers of the Liverpool Regiment who died on 9th April 1917\u2019.<\/p>\n