Leatherhead War Memorials - WW1

This page complements the individual WW1 pages for:

A[lfred James] Taylor  Frederick Benjamin Taylor  Percy Edward Taylor  William Taylor

By the end of the War Louisa’s sons Frederick, William, Alfred and Percy had died in the service of their country.

Louisa’s great-granddaughter, Marion Haines, recollects that after the First World War War ‘[Louisa's] door was never locked again’ - just in case the boys did come home from the battlefields.

When the newspaper report below was published five of the Taylor boys were serving in the Army.

Four had joined since the outbreak of the War. At the time of the report William had already served eight years in the Army and was in Egypt.  Alfred was with the British Expeditionary Force, Arthur was in training in Dover and John Taylor was stationed at Chatham. Unknown to the reporter, Frederick, aged 32, had already died at Ypres.

FIVE BROTHERS IN THE WAR ¹
A PATRIOTIC LEATHERHEAD FAMILY

Since the outbreak of the war, Leatherhead has sent a large contingent of men to the Army and Navy, and every week there is an addition to the already lengthy Roll of Honour. Our illustrations this week reproduce the photographs of the five sons of Mr and Mrs F Taylor of Woodbridge, Kingston-road, Leatherhead, who are now serving with the Colours, four having joined since the outbreak of the war.

Pte Alfred Taylor

Pte Arthur Taylor

Pte Frederick Taylor

Pte Jack Taylor

Pte William Taylor

Ptes Fred Taylor, Alfred Taylor and Arthur Taylor are well known local football players, having played in the Dorking League almost from its institution.

Their brother  Percy Edward Taylor enlisted on 28 December 1916 at Guildford. He was discharged as no longer fit for service on 8th May 1917 due to 'tubercle of lung'. He died five months later.

It is not yet established what relation the other Taylors among the WW1 names on the War Memorial, Lance Corporal Albert Edward Taylor and Private Archibald Edward Taylor may have had to Frederick Benjamin and Louisa Taylor. 

The pages for Alfred James, Frederick Benjamin, Percy Edward and William are linked back to this page for coverage of the childhood in each man's story.

The Taylor sons who survived the War were John aka Jack and Albert Henry:

John/Jack Taylor Private 191110 John (Jack) Taylor, 2nd Royal West Surrey Regiment (The Queens). Born 23 Feb 1895 and baptised 16 June 1895 in Wescott , Surrey. The 2nd Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) took part in the Battle of the Somme. They saw action at Danzig Alley, Albert and Bazentin. Their objective was secured but the casualties listing included 13 officers and 307 men killed, wounded and missing.

At some stage John was wounded and lost his leg.

Before he joined up John's name appeared in the press when he was up before the magistrates on a couple of occasions:

Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser
Saturday 5 August 1911

A CADDIE'S BAD SHOT
John Taylor, a youth of 1, Woodbridge Cottages, Leatherhead, was summoned for damaging a window, the property of Charles Cude. Defendant said he did not break the window wilfully. Complainant, who lives opposite the golf links, said the damage caused by the defendant amounted to 5s.

Cyril Shepherd, a youth, of Leatherhead Common, said he was on the golf links. Defendant was there, and striking a golf ball sent it through the window of complainant's house.

Sir Wm. Vincent, asked if defendant made a bad shot or hit the ball purposely through the window.  Witness: Well, he pulled the ball, if you understand golf, sir (laughter).

In answer to Inspector Faulkner, witness said he had been threatened by defendant's relatives. Defendant's sister-in-law said to him. "If you say anything but the truth look out for yourself when you get  outside."

Mr. B. Braithwaite said if a threat of that kind came to anything it would be severely dealt with by the Bench.

For the defence, Fredk. Taylor said the window was 175 yards from where the defendant hit the ball and that showed it was not done intentionally, as the golf professional said it could not done once in a thousand times. The Bench ordered defendant to pay 3s. damage and remitted the amount of the costs.

Local folklore is that after the War, despite the loss of his leg, John caddied at Leatherhead Golf Club.

With his brother Alfred there was another incident in 1914:

Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser
Saturday 7 February 1914

AFTER FIREWOOD
At the Epsom Petty Sessions, on Monday, before Col. F. A. H. Lambert (in the chair), and other magistrates, Alfred Taylor and John Taylor, of Woodbridge, Leatherhead, were summoned for cutting certain underwood, the property of Mr. John Henderson, Randall's Park, Leatherhead, and doing damage to the amount of 2s.
 
Defendants pleaded not guilty. P.C. Self said on the morning of January 23rd he was walking up the Oak Lawn-road, Leatherhead, when heard the sound of breaking wood coming from the direction of a copse the property of Mr John Henderson. He proceeded in the direction of the sound, and there saw defendants pulling off a branch of a thorn tree. He went up to them, and saw three other branches lying on the ground.

Witness took their names and address, and left them, as he had to go further along the road. On returning to the spot about hour and a half later he found that defendants had removed the wood in question.

Mr. E. T. Wade, steward to Mr. John Henderson, said on receiving information from the last witness he went to the copse, and found that two or three branches had been broken off the' same tree. The copse was not enclosed, and they had had a lot of trouble through people breaking off the wood, and taking it away for firewood.

Defendants asserted that it was dead wood, and said they were in the act of picking it up when the constable came along.
The Bench decided to convict, and fined defendants 6s. inclusive each.

John died on 25 June 1942 and is buried in Leatherhead Parish Churchyard:

D/348 TAYLOR JOHN b1895 d1942 47 25/06/1942

Arthur Henry Taylor Private Arthur Henry Taylor served with the Royal Fusiliers. His service records show that he enlisted on 11 January 1915. Towards the end of that year he was hospitalised in Malta, sending a Saint David's Hospital Malta 1915 Christmas card home. The number of sick and wounded treated in Malta from May 1915 up to February 1919 was around 58,000 from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and 78,000 from the Salonica Expeditionary Force.

In July 1915, after a period of very hard work, the ground being exceedingly uneven and rocky, St David’s Camp Hospital in Malta was ready to receive nearly 500 patients; in August it was fully equipped for 1000 beds. The cases received were at first mild surgical and convalescents. As with other hospital camps in Malta, St David's was soon busy with the ever-increasing stream of dysentery and enteric casualties

His nickname was Lucky but his records show that he was wounded and suffered the effects of a gas attack, before being wounded again in March 1917. In October 1917 the local press reported "Pte. A. Taylor, of the  "Queen’s," [sic] who was wounded in the Dardanelles in 1915, is just recovering from wounds received in France in March last."

Arthur also suffered from rheumatism and frostbite.

Arthur’s pay book had  a bullet hole in it. He told his family it was his pay book and cigarette tin that saved his life.

He returned to Leatherhead after the War and, like his parents, he went on to have a large family of 13 children.

On Arthur's 90th birthday the local papers ran an article in which was mentioned his participation in the building of the Crescent  Cinema, Leatherhead Hospital and the Post Office. 

Taffer, as he was affectionately known, had over 100 grandchildren and great grandchildren. Many of his descendants were still living in the Leatherhead area.

Arthur remained in Leatherhead until his death in 1978. He was laid to rest in the cemetery at Randalls Park Crematorium, the site of the training ground for the University and Public Schools Battalion in 1914.

Their parents

Frederick and Louisa were married at Leatherhead Parish Church on 29 July 1878. In the entry in the Parish Church's Register of Marriages: Frederick Benjamin Taylor - age 20 - Fairfield, Leatherhead -  Bricklayer: Father - Edward Taylor, Labourer Louisa Colcell [it has also been read as Coell/Colvell/Covell] - age 17 - Spinster - Leatherhead: Father - George Colcell, Marine Store Dealer Louisa was a feisty woman. At Leatherhead Rose football matches before the War she would run on to the pitch and wave her umbrella at any player who committed a foul against one of her sons.  Fred, Alfred and Arthur were mentioned many times in the local papers when they played football for the local teams Red White and Blues, and the Leatherhead Rose, from about 1910. image via Marion Haines: Louisa at the wedding of Fred and Alice 24 Dec 1929