© Avening Parish Council 2023
“Preserve, Conserve, Enhance”

Avening’s Roll of Honour

Forty two men from Avening died during the First World War or afterwards from their injuries. Their names can be seen on the Roll of Honour in the parish church and at the front of the Memorial Hall. The latter was built to commemorate their sacrifice. Fred Vening researched and wrote articles about all of the men except one for whom he could find no information: number 23, William Freeman. These life stories, which first appeared in Avening’s magazine The Villager, are published below. They are in chronological order of the men’s deaths, from the first to die in October 1914, Frederick Robert Pollock, to William George Tanner, who died from his injuries in 1921. I have made a few minor changes to the original articles, mainly where Fred mentions proposals to install the blue plaques, as the latter are now all in position. View the following pages to read the stories of all 42 heroes. The village history archive has much supporting material found by Fred during his research, such as Commonwealth War Graves Commission information, family trees, extracts from official war diaries and so on. If relatives of any of the war dead would like to see the additional material pertaining to their family member please contact me. Acknowledgements Many thanks to Fred Vening for permission to use his work, to Ann Brick, who helped with the research and supplied digital copies of the research material, to Gail Dawson, for additional material on Hubert Ind, to Jane Archer for back copies of The Villager and to Nicholas Winkfield for lending me the hard copies of Fred’s material. Jean Chatelain (email: ajeanchatelain@icloud.com)

Avening in the First World War

In Avening Parish Church, the Roll of Honour shows that the village lost 42 men in the First World War. Many of the family names can still be found among the current inhabitants of Avening. Military records list a total of 87 men serving in the forces during the first year of the war. This was from a total population of 823 in 1914. The hamlet of Nag’s Head alone sent 17 men from only 18 houses. Most of the men served in the Gloucestershire Regiment; some were in other regiments or the Royal Navy. One Baptist minister, the Reverend Edward Fowles, who had been working as a missionary in China, was enlisted as an officer in the Chinese Labour Battalions in France because of his knowledge of Chinese customs and language. Avening men fought in nearly all the theatres of the war, from Flanders to Mesopotamia. Those who died were killed in action or fatally wounded at Ypres, Loos, Cambrai, Arras, the Dardanelles and many other places. Some were decorated for their bravery, with at least three Military Medals and two Distinguished Conduct Medals being awarded to local men. Click on the WW1 Heroes link to read the stories of the 42 men who died in the conflict:
AveningArchive

1: Frederick R Pollock

2 Frederick J Fletcher

3 William C Richings

4 Herbert J Bridgeman

5 Martin Viner Pollock

6 Richard Ayres

7 Hubert Vivian Ind

8 Charles Wm. Fletcher

9 Charles Smith

10 Samuel Fletcher

11 Ralph John Dee

12 George Newman

13 Jesse William Robins

14 Frank Locke

15 Albert Harry Cuff

16 Ernest Cooke

17 Arthur Charles Stratford

18 Albert Ayres

19 Percy Sharp

20 Joshua Albert Ford

21 Alfred William Risby

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Avening Angels

‘We will remember them’

November 2020

Avening Angels

‘Mansions of the lord’

November 2020

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22 George John R Blackwell

23 William Freeman

24 Arthur George King

25 Samuel Luker

26 George Hill

27 Hubert Charles Ayres

28 Albert Henry Chipp

29 Rowland Fowles

30 Augustus Clapton

31 Harold Henry Newman

32 Charles Nurding

33 Charles Eldridge

34 Frederick Townsend

35 Percy Lynn Hill

36 Frederick Tanner

37 George Dickerson

38 Charles Barnet Payne

39 Adolphus W Sharp

40 George Hicks

41 Walter Ind

42 William George Tanner

MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO
© Avening Parish Council 2023
AveningArchive

Avening in the First World War

In Avening Parish Church, the Roll of Honour shows that the village lost 42 men in the First World War. Many of the family names can still be found among the current inhabitants of Avening. Military records list a total of 87 men serving in the forces during the first year of the war. This was from a total population of 823 in 1914. The hamlet of Nag’s Head alone sent 17 men from only 18 houses. Most of the men served in the Gloucestershire Regiment; some were in other regiments or the Royal Navy. One Baptist minister, the Reverend Edward Fowles, who had been working as a missionary in China, was enlisted as an officer in the Chinese Labour Battalions in France because of his knowledge of Chinese customs and language. Avening men fought in nearly all the theatres of the war, from Flanders to Mesopotamia. Those who died were killed in action or fatally wounded at Ypres, Loos, Cambrai, Arras, the Dardanelles and many other places. Some were decorated for their bravery, with at least three Military Medals and two Distinguished Conduct Medals being awarded to local men. Click on the WW1 Heroes link to read the stories of the 42 men who died in the conflict:

Avening Angels

‘We will remember them’

November 2020

Avening Angels

‘Mansions of the lord’

November 2020

Avening’s Roll of Honour

Forty two men from Avening died during the First World War or afterwards from their injuries. Their names can be seen on the Roll of Honour in the parish church and at the front of the Memorial Hall. The latter was built to commemorate their sacrifice. Fred Vening researched and wrote articles about all of the men except one for whom he could find no information: number 23, William Freeman. These life stories, which first appeared in Avening’s magazine The Villager, are published below. They are in chronological order of the men’s deaths, from the first to die in October 1914, Frederick Robert Pollock, to William George Tanner, who died from his injuries in 1921. I have made a few minor changes to the original articles, mainly where Fred mentions proposals to install the blue plaques, as the latter are now all in position. View the following pages to read the stories of all 42 heroes. The village history archive has much supporting material found by Fred during his research, such as Commonwealth War Graves Commission information, family trees, extracts from official war diaries and so on. If relatives of any of the war dead would like to see the additional material pertaining to their family member please contact me. Acknowledgements Many thanks to Fred Vening for permission to use his work, to Ann Brick, who helped with the research and supplied digital copies of the research material, to Gail Dawson, for additional material on Hubert Ind, to Jane Archer for back copies of The Villager and to Nicholas Winkfield for lending me the hard copies of Fred’s material. Jean Chatelain (email: ajeanchatelain@icloud.com)

1: Frederick R Pollock

2 Frederick J Fletcher

3 William C Richings

4 Herbert J Bridgeman

5 Martin Viner Pollock

6 Richard Ayres

7 Hubert Vivian Ind

8 Charles Wm. Fletcher

9 Charles Smith

10 Samuel Fletcher

11 Ralph John Dee

12 George Newman

13 Jesse William Robins

14 Frank Locke

15 Albert Harry Cuff

16 Ernest Cooke

17 Arthur Charles Stratford

18 Albert Ayres

19 Percy Sharp

20 Joshua Albert Ford

21 Alfred William Risby

MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO

22 George John R Blackwell

23 William Freeman

24 Arthur George King

25 Samuel Luker

26 George Hill

27 Hubert Charles Ayres

28 Albert Henry Chipp

29 Rowland Fowles

30 Augustus Clapton

31 Harold Henry Newman

32 Charles Nurding

33 Charles Eldridge

34 Frederick Townsend

35 Percy Lynn Hill

36 Frederick Tanner

37 George Dickerson

38 Charles Barnet Payne

39 Adolphus W Sharp

40 George Hicks

41 Walter Ind

42 William George Tanner

MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO MORE INFO
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