Wilfred Frank Booth
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
He was the fourth son of William and Elizabeth (née Hewitt) Booth of 59 Wollaton Road, Beeston. The mother of twelve children - seven girls and five boys - Mrs. Booth brought many other children into the world, being the local midwife for the area. As well as bringing up a large family, Elizabeth spent thirty two years in the nursing profession until she died at the age of sixty-six in 1925. Her husband William was to die five years later in 1930; both are buried in Wollaton Road Cemetery. Two other sons of William and Elizabeth, Percy William and Herbert served in the local Sherwood Foresters Regiment. The eldest boy Percy William who was born in 1884 was a sergeant in the 13th Battalion. Herbert born in 1890 was wounded in 1917 while serving with the 2nd Battalion. Daughter Mildred born in 1885 married Herbert Mayfield who served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Sherwoods. The couple later emigrated to Australia. Daughter Sarah Amy who was baptised in 1888 also emigrated to Australia and married there. Daughter Ethel Mary, baptised in 1891 married Albert Lee who was killed during the Somme Battles in 1916. Another daughter Edith Annie who was baptised in 1894 married Arthur Johnson who was to be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal during the Great War. Wilfred Booth was educated at the Church Street School. After leaving school at the age of thirteen, he worked as a card puncher at Whitwell’s of Chilwell. One of the original members of the 17th Nottingham (Beeston) Company Boys Brigade when it was founded by Stephen Hetley Pearson in 1909, Wilfred was an active member both at the premises in the Anglo Scotian Mills Building and later at the Beeston Lads Club, when the company moved to Station Road in 1913. At the age of seventeen he joined the newly formed Beeston Old Boys Association who shared a room the Station Road Building. He was one of a party who marched from the club to a Recruitment Centre in Nottingham with Captain Stephen Hetley Pearson in late August 1914. Most of this group enlisted in the Sherwood Foresters.
He was killed at Neuve Chappelle. The Battle of Neuve Chapelle - Despite poor weather conditions, the early stages of the battle went extremely well for the British. The Royal Flying Corps quickly secured aerial dominance and set about bombarding German reserves and transportation (railways) en route to defend the area. By noon, Neuve Chapelle itself had been secured. It was at this point that the advance ground to a halt. Though the aerial photography had been useful to an extent, it was unable to efficiently identify the enemy's strong defensive points. Primitive communication also meant that British commanders had been unable to keep in touch with each other and the battle thus became uncoordinated and this, in turn, disrupted the supply lines. On 12 March, German forces launched a counter-attack which, although unsuccessful, did at least manage to end any chance of further advancement; the campaign was officially abandoned on 13 March. 40,000 Allied troops took part during the battle and of these 11,200 (7,000 British, 4,200 Indian) failed to return. The Germans lost around the same number. In total, the British succeeded in recapturing just over 2 km of lost ground.
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