Thomas Beall

Corpl. Thomas Beall Worksop Guardian 14 June 1918 The long list of Worksop men who have fallen in the War is continually being added to, and this week again it is our sorrowful duty to record the death of several gallant Worksop lads who have fallen fighting. Amongst them is Corpl. Thomas Beall, R.E., son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Beall, 144, Carlton Road and one of five brothers. Mr. and Mrs. Beall are an old and respected residents and the townspeople as a whole will extend their sympathy to them in their bereavement which has filled their hearts with sorrow. Corpl. Beall was 26 years of age. He enlisted voluntarily in September, 1914, being amongst the first lot of Worksop men to respond to the country’s call. At that time he was in the employ of Steel and Garland, Ltd. Priory Foundry, Kilton Road. He was very well known and very popular amongst his associates in the Sherwood Foresters, in which regiment he served for some time, and later was transferred to the Royal Engineers. He had been in France three years and was at home in March last, returning to France on the 19th, in time to take part in the heavy fighting launched by the Germans on the 21st. He had seen much previous fighting and hitherto he had escaped uninjured, and this good fortune continued until he was killed by a shell on June 5th. The news was conveyed to his parents by his brother, Spr., Ben Beall, in a letter dated June 6th. He says:- “I am very sorry indeed to have to break to you this sad news, but I know you would rather hear it from me than a stranger. I have just come back from Tom’s company, and I am sorry to say he was killed last night, while working in the front line, a piece of shell going through his pocket book and through his heart. We have the satisfaction of knowing he suffered no pain, death being instantaneous. I was sent for by his C.S.M., but I am sorry to say I did not get there in time to see him buried. I have seen his grave, and he lies in a small cemetery along with other British Soldiers. All his company send their deepest sympathy and they are erecting a cross on his grave, and while I stop here I will go to see it now and again, and let you know how it is kept. I know you will be very upset, but I hope you will bear up as much as you can under the circumstances. Some further particulars are continued in a letter from Serge. Jack Beall, R.F., a brother of the deceased soldier, from a comrade, who states that several men were wounded and “young Tom” as we all knew him here, was killed on the spot. It was all over in a second. When it was dark, and the work completed, some of his chums brought him back as far as the dressing station. It was impossible to do anything in daylight at this particular place, and this morning he was put to rest in a little cemetery near our billets, with the best little soldiers funeral we could possibly give him. I at once dispatched a cycle orderly for your other brother, but owing to the fact of him being so far away he arrived just too late for the funeral. I am having a nice little cross made; it will be ready for erecting tomorrow morning. It will, no doubt, be pleasing to his mother, father, and yourself to know that the greatest respect was shown by his comrades to the most respected N.C.O., of the company” The writer asks to be excused the wording of his letter “as it is out of my line”, more so when it concerns friends”. Whilst Corpl. Beall held the rank of Second Corporal, he sent a card home to his parents, which has been presented to him by Brigadier General S. Crawford. It is a stirring message, and states. “Out of the 1,600 men in all ranks who went into action on the morning of the 21st, only 80 men came out on the morning of the 23rd., retaining their discipline to the last. On the 22nd, the remnants of the Brigade still held the Corps. Line intact till 8 p.m., when fresh troops on the left gave way and the flank of the Brigade was driven in and overwhelmed. It is not too much to say that the stand of the brigade was not only of extreme importance to the Fourth Corps, but it has also had a decisive result on the Third Army battle front.” A copy of the above was given to all the 80 men who came out of the action. Mr. and Mrs. Beall’s other sons serving is Serge. Jack Beall, R.H., seventeen years service, Spr. Ben Beall, reservist; Spr., Harry Beall, two years service; and Corpl. Arthur Beall, two years service. A grandson, Gunner William Cross, R.F.A., is a prisoner of war.

Formerly 14375, Notts and Derby Regt. (12Th Field Coy., R.E.) Research by Colin Dannatt