We are grateful to Rae Taylor for providing us with this detailed account of the life and death of Charles Lavelle.
24703 Private Charles Patton Lavelle,
Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment)[i]
Jan-Mar 1893 - Born in Lythe, Yorkshire, (about 4 miles up the coast north of Whitby) second and eldest son of the five children of his Irish parents, Patrick Rowan Lavelle (gamekeeper from County Galway) and Elizabeth (Eliza) Jane (nee Patton, from County Monaghan)[ii]
16/2/1893 - Baptized in Lythe while living at Mulgrave Park, in the estate of the Marquess of Normanby[iii]
1901 census – (as Charlie) Aged 8, living at The Hall, Lythe, Yorkshire with parents Patrick (aged 35, game keeper) and Hannah (aged 38) and five siblings: Elizabeth (aged 10), Kathleen (aged 6), Norah (aged 4) and Greta (aged 2). Also a domestic servant Amelia Wilson (aged 19) and a boarder John H walker (aged 23, under gamekeeper) living at the same property [iv]
1911 census – Aged 18 and working as a game keeper, living at Bramcote, Nottingham with parents Patrick R (aged 44, game keeper) and Eliza (aged 47) and younger sister Greta (aged 12)[v]
December 1912 –While a gamekeeper at Marsh Baldon, he was summoned to Bullingdon petty sessions for riding a bicycle without a light a Toot Baldon. He did not appear but was fined 1s with 2/6 costs[vi]
Enlisted into the Sherwood Foresters 24703 Private Charles Patton Lavelle while living at Bramcote, Nottingham.[vii]
3/8/1915 – Landed in Egypt[viii] [This record is problematic as it suggests he was with the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) when he landed in Egypt on what appears to be 3/8/1915 (though there is a mark which could amend this to 23/8/1915). The MCG was not created until October 1915 so this cannot be correct. Furthermore none of the Sherwood Forester battalions were in Egypt at this time so, if his first encounter with service abroad was in Egypt, he must have already been detached from his original Sherwood Foresters battalion and attached to another regiment as a machine gun specialist.]
In or after October 1915 – Transferred to the Machine Gun Corps as 13011 Private Charles P Lavelle from the Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). [Machine Gun Corps formed in October 1915]
Transferred from Egypt to France?
1/7/1916 – Killed in Action while serving with 103 Brigade Company of the Machine Gun Corps[ix]
Buried in Gordon Dump Cemetery, Ovillers-La Boisselle. His grave was subsequently lost and so he is commemorated on a special memorial (Sp Mem.B.19) along with 25 other men who are also known or believed to have been buried there but whose graves were lost.
31/1/1917 – Death of father, Patrick Rowan Lavelle in University College Hospital, London (aged 55)[x]
26/1/1918 – Mother living at 27 Bramcote Road, Beeston, Notts.[xi]
Apr-Jun 1950 – Death of mother, Elizabeth Jane Lavelle (nee Patton) at Basford, Nottinghamshire (aged 88)[xii]
--------
Narrative of Pte Charles Lavelle and the Events of 1 July 1916
On 1 July 1915, Charles Lavelle’s MGC Company was in the 103nd (Tyneside Scottish) Brigade, which was part of the 34th Infantry Division within III Corps. The attack was preceded by the blowing of a mine on the northern side of what was known as Sausage valley (which was to lead to the creation of “Lochnagar” Crater). The 101st and 102nd Brigades were to lead the attack just south of the crater and take the first two German front lines. The 103rd Brigade was then to follow up and pass through these leading troops press on to their objective just beyond the village of Contamaison.[xiii] As Charles was buried in Gordon Dump Cemetery (which is at the head of Sausage Valley) with several 103rd Brigade men from the 24th and 27th Battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers, it is reasonable to believe that he was helping to provide the machine gun support for these two battalions.[xiv] The companies on the left of both of these battalions began to take severe casualties from German machine gun fire from their left as they reaches Chapes Spur and then on reaching the forward trenches they found that they remained in German hands. Those on the right had more success and some men even managed to reach Contalmaison, but without support, the survivors had to withdraw initially to Shelter Wood. At the end of the day only two small footholds into the German lines in this were still held by the 34th Division and at a huge cost in terms of casualties.[xv]
Trench Map around La Boiselle on 1 July 1916
annoted with significant locations relating to Pte Charles P Lavelle[xvi]
[i] Photograph "IMG_1522" of 24703 Private Charles Patton Lavelle, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) posted onto ancestry.co.uk by Joyce Thompson on 18 Feb 2017.
[ii]Birth index, "Charles Patton Levelle", Jan-Mar 1893, RD: Whitby, Vol: 9d, p464.
Irish civil registration marriages index, Oct-Dec 1880, Rathdrum, Wicklow, Ireland, Vol: 2, p803, FHL film no.: 101256.
1891 census, RD: Abingdon, Sub RD: Nuneham Courtenay, ED: 3, Piece: 980, Folio: 23.
1901 census, RD: Whitby, Sub RD: Lythe, ED: 6, Piece: 4562, Folio: 36, p4, HSN: 20.
1911 census, RD: 434, Sub RD: Stapleford, ED: 03, Piece: 20824.
[iii] Baptism record, Lyth, York, 1893, p276.
[iv] Op cit 1901 census.
[v] Op cit 1911 census.
[vi] Bicester Herald, 13 December 1912, "Bullingdon Petty Sessions".
[vii] Register of UK soldiers effects, "13011 Private Charles Patton Lavelle", ref: 332364.
[viii] Medal index card, "13011, Charles P Lavelle".
[ix] Op cit Register of UK soldiers effects.
[x] Death index, "Patrick R Lavelle", RD: Pancras, 1917, Vol: 1b, p54
[xi] Dependents pension card, 13111 Lavelle, Charles P, Case no: SA6845.
[xii] Death index, "Eliza/Elizabeth J Lavelle", RD: Basford, 1917, Vol: 3c, p43.
[xiii] Mace M & Grehan J, "Slaughter on the Somme 1st July 1916", 2016, Pen & Sword, pp286-293.
[xiv] Commonwealth War Graves Commission, "Gordon Dump Cemetery, Orvillers-La Boiselle".
[xv] Op cit Commonwealth War Graves Commission, "Gordon Dump Cemetery, Orvillers-La Boiselle".
National Archives,24th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers War Diaries , 1 July 1916, WO-95-2466_4.
National Archives,27th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers War Diaries , 1 July 1916, WO-95-2467_3.
[xvi] Western Front Association Trench Mapper, 57D SE 4 – 1:10000 – Ovillers – 2c – Trenches corrected to 1/7/1916 and 19/8/1916