Henry Leonard Chappell Smith
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Henry (Harry) Leonard Chappel was the eldest son of Henry and Annie Smith (née Severn).His father was born in Cropwell Butler in about 1857 and his mother in Nottingham in 1859. They were married in 1887 (reg. Upton on Severn, Worcestershire) and had four children. The children were born in Cropwell Butler and with the exception of the eldest child who died in infancy were baptised at Tithby Holy Trinity: May (or Mary) Dorothy birth registered 1888 (J/F/M) d. 1888 (J/F/M), Annie Elfrieda b. 1889, Henry (Harry) Leonard Chappell b. 11 January 1891 bap. 18 February 1891 and Cuthbert Chappell b. 1899.In 1891 Henry, a farmer, Annie and their children Annie and Henry, together with Annie's widowed mother Jane G Wodehouse, were living at The Cottage, Cropwell Butler. Henry employed a cook and housemaid.The family had moved to Village Street by 1901 and then by 1911 were living at The Grove with Henry's widowed father, Henry Smith, a retired farmer/threshing machine owner, while Henry jnr. was described as a farmer and landowner. All three children were in the home on the night of the census: Annie (21), Henry (20) a student, and Cuthbert (11). Also in the household were three domestic servants.Henry and Annie were still living at The Grove when the later CWGC record was compiled. Henry predeceased his wife who died in April 1939; she was still living in Cropwell Butler. Probate was awarded to her surviving son, Cuthbert, and married daughter Annie Lilley (m. Rev. David Edwin Lilley, 1925).Harry's sister Annie Elfrieda served with the Notts 94 Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross during the war. In September 1914 she was a voluntary nurse at Bagthorpe Infirmary, Nottingham, and also worked at the General Hospital and the VAD Hospital in West Bridgford, Nottingham (Trent Bridge Pavilion Hospital). From March 1916 to March 1919 she was in charge of the linen store at the Military Hospital, Musters Road, West Bridgford, which was based in a council school and had beds for 220 patients (other ranks).According to a Royal Tank Corps record, Cuthbert Chappell transferred to the RTC (543522) in March 1924 from the Notts (SR) Yeomanry on the occasion of the conversion of the Yeomanry regiments to the Territorial Army. He may have held the rank of second lieutenant. The RTC record was annotated that Cuthbert had served with the Sherwood Foresters (99728) for 1 year 149 days. He was 24 years old, married (m. Marguerite M Price, 1920) and a farmer.
2nd Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment)Harry Smith was a member of King's School Worcester OTC. On the outbreak of war in August 1914 he was with the Special Reserve and attached to the 2nd Battalion Sherwood Foresters which he joined at Sheffield. Harry served with the BEF from 11 September. The battalion was in the Battle of the Aisne on 20 September and at Ennetieres, near Lille, the following month where, according to the entry in 'De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour 1914-1918': 'on or about the 18th October 1914' Harry was 'said to have been killed in hand-to-and fighting. He was never heard of again'. The CWGC record gave his date of death as 20 October. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial, Belgium (Panel 7).He was Mentioned in Despatches in Sir John French's Despatch of 14 January 1915 (see 'Extra information'). He qualified for the 1914 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.CWGC - History of the Ploegsteert Memorial (extract): the memorial stands in Berks Cemetery Extension, 12.5km south of Ieper [Ypres]. 'The Ploegsteert Memorial commemorates more than 11,000 servicemen of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in this sector during the First World War and have no known grave. The memorial serves the area from the line Caestre-Dranoutre-Warneton, in Belgium, to the north, to Haverskerque-Estaires-Fournes, in France, to the south, including the towns of Hazebrouck, Merville, Bailleul and Armentieres, the Forest of Nieppe, and Ploegsteert Wood ... Most of those commemorated by the memorial did not die in major offensives, such as those which took place around Ypres to the north, or Loos to the south. Most were killed in the course of the day-to-day trench warfare which characterised this part of the line, or in small scale set engagements, usually carried out in support of the major attacks taking place elsewhere.' (www.cwgc.org)
CWGC: ' Son of Henry and Annie Smith, of The Grove, Cropwell Butler, Notts.'WMR 32243 Worcester Cathedral King's School memorial stained glass windows, north cloisters (HLC Smith). Also commemorated on a WW1 memorial in College Hall, King's School, College Green, Worcester (HLC Smith).Nottingham Evening Post, 29 October 1914: ‘Sherwood’s Losses on the Asine. Nine Officers and 300 Men in One Fight.’ Gave a description of the fighting as recounted by one of those wounded in the action, Private P Phillips, 2nd Battaltion, who lived on Fisher Street, Hyson Green. Among those in the battalion who died on 20 October was Sergeant Percy Smith (see record on this Roll of Honour).Nottingham Evening Post, Thursday 18 February 1915: ‘ Gallant Services in the Field. Sir J French’s Honours. Local Recipients. A supplement to the London Gazette issued by the Press Bureau last night devotes 28 pages to the names of those whom Field-Marshal Sir Jobhn French recommends for gallant and Distinguished service in the field. Notts and Derby Regiment 2nd Battalion ... Smith Sec.-Lieut HLC, Special Reserve (attached).’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
