A very well researched book, Hitler’s First War, provides readers insight into a large amount of original source material.
The 2/4th Ox and Bucks came across Hitler’s List Regiment (RIR 16) during the Battle of Fromelles, 19th July 1916, which is detailed on pages 146 – 148.
The remains of Sugar Loaf Salient and its concrete shelters. The photograph was taken two years after the battle of Fromelles, fought on 19 July 1916, which was the first major engagement in France in which the 5th Australian Division participated. After several hours of bitter and desperate fighting under disastrous conditions, the Australians were ordered to withdraw. Australian casualties totaled over five thousand. Note the debris visible across the landscape.
From: http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/E03964
Check out the great article: http://www.awm.gov.au/wartime/36/article.asp
George E. L. TOLLEY (1895–1916)
“George E. L. Tolley was born in Barton in 1895, the son of Edward Tolley (born in Headington and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 23 October 1859) and Mary Jane White (born at the White Horse on the London Road and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 28 August 1861). His parents were married (probably in haste) at St Andrew’s Church, at the respective ages of 20 and 19, on 9 May 1880 and had the following children:
* Edward Albert (also known as Albert Edward) Tolley (privately baptised on 13 August 1880, died aged 2½, buried at St Andrew’s churchyard on 6 January 1883)
* Percival Charles Tolley (born in Old Headington 12 March 1883 and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 29 April 1883)
* Sarah Maria Tolley (born in Old Headington on 4 May 1887 and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 11 September 1887)
* Edith Tolley (born in Barton on 19 December 1890 and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 11 May 1890)
* Thomas Tolley (born in Old Headington on 9 October 1892 and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 27 November 1892)
* George E. L. Tolley (born in Barton on 23 August 1895 and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 24 November 1895)
* Alice Tolley (born in Old Headington in c.1897)
* Edward Tolley (born in Old Headington on 14 January 1904 and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 6 March 1904).
In the 1881 census the family can be seen living in Old Headington (probably in Old High Street, and Edward’s father is a brewer’s drayman (which may explain how he got to meet his wife, who was the daughter of Daniel White, landlord of the White Horse on the London Road) and his mother a dressmaker. They still had the same jobs in 1891, but were living in Church Lane.
By 1901 they had moved again, to one of the cottages between the Priory and the Black Boy in Old High Street: George’s father was now a mason’s labourer, and his mother still a dressmaker. George was a 5-year-old “scholar”: he would almost certainly have attended Old Headington Infant School, which had recently moved into an old building behind the present St Andrew’s School.
George’s father Edward died in Old Headington at the age of 46, and was buried at Headington Cemetery on 24 February 1906. The 1911 census shows George’s mother as a widow of 49, earning her living by dressmaking in Western (now Holyoake Road). George (15) was now a printer’s labourer, as was his brother Thomas (18).
Poppy In the First World War George Tolley served as a Private in the 2nd/4th Battalion of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Service No: 3022). He was aged only 20 when he was killed in action in France on 19 July 1916, and is buried in the Laventie Military Cemetery, La Gorgue ( II. D. 6). He is listed on the roll of honour of St Andrew’s Church in Old Headington.
After the War
Tolley’s mother died at 1 Holyoake Road and was buried in Headington Cemetery on 7 February 1927. Miss Tolley (presumably one of George’s sisters) was still living in that house in 1962.”
Name: TOLLEY
Initials: G E L
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry
Unit Text: 2nd/4th Bn.
Date of Death: 19/07/1916
Service No: 3022
Additional information: Son of Mrs. M. J. Tolley, of I, Western Rd., Headington, Oxon.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: II. D. 6.
Cemetery: LAVENTIE MILITARY CEMETERY, LA GORGUE
Name: George Tolley
Residence: Oxford
Death Date: 19 Jul 1916
Enlistment Location: Headington Quarry, Oxon
Rank: Private
Regiment: Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Battalion: 2/4th Battalion.
Number: 3022
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Name: William Arthur Taylor
Residence: Oxford
Death Date: 19 Jul 1916
Enlistment Location: Buckingham
Rank: Private
Regiment: Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Battalion: 2/4th Battalion.
Number: 4167
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Name: TAYLOR, WILLIAM ARTHUR
Initials: W A
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry
Unit Text: 2nd/4th Bn.
Age: 30
Date of Death: 9/07/1916
Service No: 4167
Additional information: Son of Frederick and Harriet Taylor, of Buckingham.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: III. C. 17.
Cemetery: LAVENTIE MILITARY CEMETERY, LA GORGUE
Name: SIMPSON, GEORGE EDWIN LOVELL
Initials: G E L
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry
Unit Text: 2nd/4th Bn.
Age: 20
Date of Death: 19/07/1916
Service No: 4317
Additional information: Son of William Joseph and Elizabeth Simpson, of 30, Marlborough Rd., Grandpont, Oxford.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: II. D. 3.
Cemetery: LAVENTIE MILITARY CEMETERY, LA GORGUE
Name: George Edward L. Simpson
Residence: Oxford
Death Date: 19 Jul 1916
Enlistment Location: Osney, Oxon
Rank: Private
Regiment: Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Battalion: 2/4th Battalion.
Number: 4317
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Name: REYNOLDS, ERNEST EDWARD
Initials: E E
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Rifleman
Regiment/Service: Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry
Unit Text: 2nd/4th Bn.
Age: 16
Date of Death: 19/07/1916
Service No: 6762
Additional information: Son of William and Clementina Matilda Reynolds, of 72, Craddock St., Riverside, Cardiff.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: II. G. 2.
Cemetery: LAVENTIE MILITARY CEMETERY, LA GORGUE
Name: Ernest Edward Reynolds
Birth Place: Roath, Glam.
Residence: Cardiff
Death Date: 19 Jul 1916
Enlistment Location: Roath, Glam.
Rank: Private
Regiment: Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Battalion: 2/4th Battalion.
Number: 6762
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Theater of War: Aldershot
Comments: Formerly 2122, Welsh Regt.
Name: LUNN, ARTHUR
Initials: A
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Lance Corporal
Regiment/Service: Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry
Unit Text: “C” Coy. 2nd/4th Bn.
Age: 34
Date of Death: 19/07/1916
Service No: 3560
Additional information: Son of Daniel and Elizabeth Lunn, of Basingstoke, Hants.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference:II. D. 8.
Cemetery: LAVENTIE MILITARY CEMETERY, LA GORGUE
Name: Arthur Lunn
Residence: Oxford
Death Date: 19 Jul 1916
Enlistment Location: Basingstoke, Hants
Rank: L/Sergeant
Regiment: Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Battalion: 2/4th Battalion.
Number: 3560
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Name: JONES, WILLIAM JOHN
Initials: W J
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry
Unit Text: 2nd/4th Bn.
Age: 28
Date of Death: 19/07/1916
Service No: 6736
Additional information: Son of William and Annie Jones, of 6, Inkerman St., St. Thomas, Swansea; husband of Florence Jones, of Pontshill, Weston-under-Penyard, Ross, Herefordshire.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: III. B. 16.
Cemetery: RUE-DU-BOIS MILITARY CEMETERY, FLEURBAIX
Name: William John Jones
Birth Place: Swansea
Residence: Swansea
Death Date: 19 Jul 1916
Enlistment Location: Weston-Under-Penyard, Hereford
Rank: Private
Regiment: Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Battalion: 2/4th Battalion.
Number: 6736
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Theater of War: Aldershot
Comments: Formerly 1347, Welch Regt.
Name: BUTLER, SIDNEY
Initials: S
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry
Unit Text: 2nd/4th Bn.
Age: 19
Date of Death: 19/07/1916
Service No: 202028
Additional information: Son of Harry and Sarah Annie Butler, of Oxford Rd., Kidlington, Oxon.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 83 to 85.
Memorial: LOOS MEMORIAL
Name: Sidney Butler
Birth Place: Kidlington, Oxon
Residence: Oxford
Death Date: 19 Jul 1916
Enlistment Location: Kidlington, Oxon
Rank: Private
Regiment: Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Battalion: 2/4th Battalion.
Number: 202028
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Theater of War: Aldershot
Is Sidney related to the Butlers below?
Ernest James BUTLER (c.1895–1916)
Ernest James Butler was born in Oxford in c.1895, the son of James Butler (born in Kidlington in c.1872/3) and his wife Emily Jakeman Bryan (born in Headington on 11 October 1869 and baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 28 November 1869; she was the illegitimate daughter of Sarah Bryan, who obtained an order of affiliation against George Jakeman on 22 January 1870).
Ernest’s parents were married in Kidlington on 4 June 1892 and had three children:
* Percival Butler (born in Kidlington in the last quarter of 1893)
* Ernest James Butler (born in Oxford in the last quarter of 1895)
* Sidney Butler (born in Oxford in the first quarter of 1900).
Ernest’s father was a cattle man on a farm in Kidlington until at least 1901.
By 1911, Ernest’s father was employed as a builder’s carter, and the family was living at 73 St Mary’s Road in East Oxford. Ernest (15) was then working as a page boy in a refreshment department. At some point between 1911 and 1916 the family moved up to Headington, where they lived at 59 Windmill road in Quarry parish.
Poppy In the First World War Butler served as a Private in the 5th Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment (Service No. 10868), and was killed in action in Mesopotamia (Iraq) at the age of 20 on 9 April 1916. He was buried in the Amara War Cemetery (XVI. K. 12). He is listed on the stone plaque in the porch of Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry, and the words: “And of Ernest James, son of the above killed in action in Mesopotamia April 9th 1916. Aged 20 years” were added to his parents’ gravestone.
After the War
Butler’s parents continued to live at 59 Windmill Road. His father James died there at the age of 53 and was buried at Holy Trinity churchyard on 26 March 1921.
In 1922 Ernest’s widowed mother Emily Butler opened a grocer’s shop in her house, which continued to be listed at 59 Windmill Road in Kelly’s Directory right up until 1954. She died aged 84 on 24 January that year, and was buried with her husband.
