Frederick George Tinker
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Frederick George Tinker was born in 1894 the only son of Tom England Tinker, a steel bar manufacturer and the late Annie Emma Tinker née Hingley , of 9 Cambria Grove, Cranmer Street, Nottingham , he was the brother of Elizabeth and Florence Tinker born 1896 London. In 1911 the family are living at 55 Tormont Road, Plumstead, Kent and are shown as George Tinker 69 yrs a retired fitter, he is living with his sons Tom England 45 yrs a an engine fitter George 35 yrs and Alice 37 yrs. It has not been possible to trace Frederick George Tinker on the 1911 census. On the death of Frederick his father is living at 9 Cambria Grove, Cranmer Street, Nottingham.
Lance Corporal Frederick George Tinker enlisted at Nottingham, He is commemorated on the Arras Memorial. Tinker’s battalion’s position was in the line near Bullecourt when it was attacked at 9.40am on 21st March at the start of the German offensive and totally overwhelmed. Within the hour the battalion was completely surrounded and virtually ceased to exist. The casualty toll was horrific with 12 officers and 159 other ranks killed and 12 officers and 470 other ranks taken prisoner. The Battalion War Diary records the following: 7th Sherwood Foresters, 21st March 1918 At 4.56 a.m. the enemy put down a very heavy barrage on the front line system; trench mortars and field artillery continued the bombardment at an intense rate until about 9.45 a.m. At the same time, our battery positions were heavily engaged by the enemy's heavy and field artillery. At 5.05 a.m. communication by wire to Bde. H.Q. was broken; the only message that went through after that was one by pigeon timed about 6 a.m. reporting a heavy bombardment. At about 8 a.m. the shelling, which had been very largely gas, changed to H.E. At about 10 a.m. the barrage was reported to have lifted on to the second system, i.e. it was behind the Battalion. Only 14 men of the Battalion escaped unwounded from the trenches and it appears from their reports that the enemy broke through on both flanks, and, coming round behind the QUEANT-ECOUST railway cut off and completely surrounded the Battalion. This must have been between 9.30 and 10 a.m. Captain H.C. WRIGHT and Lieut. G.W. BLOODWORTH were wounded and escaped; all the other Officers are still missing, with the exception of 2/Lieut. J.L. MOY and 2/Lt. A.G.J. MELHUISH who were reported killed. Owing to this and the capture of all documents at Battalion Headquarters, no accurate or detailed account of the action is possible. During the evening a few men who were not in the trenches were collected by the Brigade H.Q. and sent up to man the Reserve Line of the Third System; the Support Line of the Third System was taken over by the 177th Infantry Brigade, who had been relieved in the firing line of the Third System by the 40th Division. Tinker was killed the same day as Lieutenant R W Hoyte, see above, his contemporary at school and an officer in his battalion. They are both commemorated on the Arras Memorial. 2/7th and 1/7th had been amalgamated by his time, thus becoming simply the 7th Sherwood Foresters (aka The Robin Hoods). It is worth noting that, of the one thousand or so strong 1/7th Sherwood Foresters (The Robin Hoods) territorial battalion that had answered the call to war in August 1914 only 11 were still serving in January 1918, showing the attrition rate due to disease, death, wounds and other factors such as promotion etc. Research Simon Williams
Nottingham Evening Post obituary (abridged) 4 February 1919: 'TINKER missing March 21st 1918 now reported killed, Corporal (sic) Frederick George Tinker, 7th Sherwood Foresters, age 24, only son of TE Tinker, 9 Cambria Grove, Cranmer Street.' The 1901 Census cites his father's Christian name as Tom which contradicts CWGC and Nottingham High School's records.
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