Readers of these articles are reminded that these are extracts of research work I did some years ago. The results of the research are available in Littleport Adams Heritage Centre. Anyone may read the research free of charge but there are two conditions: You may not copy any of the material, and you may not remove any material. It cost me a lot of money to visit, and photograph, many of the memorials and headstones where Littleport men are commemorated. I am happy for people to read the results of my research but the ownership remains in my hands.
Moving on we come to 1916 in the Great War and we see that the nature of the British Army is changing once again. By now the young men who had rushed to enlist in 1914 were starting to take their places in the trenches, and, more importantly, were beginning to train for their first major battle. Plans were in preparation for a joint operation with the French at the boundary of the two nations’ armies. However an early attack by the Germans at Verdun put a strain on these plans and we will discuss them in a later edition.
Meanwhile the Littleport losses in early 1916 were:-
8867 Private Robert Goodge, 2nd Battalion Suffolk Regiment, died of wounds 22nd January 1916. He is buried in Grave 36, Row c, Plot II, Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Poperinghe, Belgium.
16882 Private Horace William Johnson, 11th Battalion Suffolk Regiment, killed in action 12th March 1916. He is buried in Grave 33, Row B, Plot IV, Brewery Orchard Cemetery, Bois Grenier, France.
9162 Private William Nightall, 7th Battalion Suffolk Regiment, killed in action 18 March 1916. He is buried in Grave 14, Row E, Plot I, Spoilbank Cemetery, Zillebeke, Ieper, Belgium.
16254 Private Samuel Wilding, 11th Battalion Suffolk Regiment, died of wounds 31st March 1916. He is buried in Grave 9, Row E, Plot VI, Etaples Military Cemetery, France.
G/12310 Private Harry Plumb, 9th Battalion The Queens (Royal West Surrey Regiment), died of illness 28th April 1916. He is buried in Littleport New Cemetery.