Herbert Oldershaw

2nd Bn Grenadier Guards Herbert was in civilian employment when he married in 1913, but had previously been a regular soldier in the Grenadier Guards, serving for about three years. An army reservist, he was mobilised on the outbreak of war in August 1914. Herbert was killed on 4 September 1914 during the rearguard action at Forêt de Retz. Initially reported missing, his body was later recovered and identified and he is buried in Guards Grave, Villers Cotterets Forest, France (grave ref. I. 33.) He qualified for the 1914 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. CWGC - History of Guards Grave (extract): Villers-Cotterets is a small town 22km from Soisssons. 'The Forêt de Retz was the scene of a rearguard action fought by the 4th (Guards) Brigade on 1 September 1914. In the aftermath of the fighting, many of the dead Guardsmen were buried by the people of Villers-Cotterêts. The cemetery was formed by the Irish Guards when the British forces regained this territory two months later ... Just north of the cemetery on the road to Vivières stands a memorial to the Coldstream, Grenadier and Irish Guardsmen who were killed or mortally wounded during the rearguard action. 'The 4th (Guards) Brigade and the Rearguard Action at Villers-Cotterêts - In the aftermath of the Allied defeat at Battle of Mons on August 23 1914, the British and French forces began a long, hard retreat south west toward Paris. On the evening of 31 August, the officers and men of the 4th (Guards) Brigade halted just north of the great forest around Villers-Cotterêts. They had been marching in hot weather for over a week with little sleep and many of them had been involved in fighting at Landrecies and elsewhere. A large detachment of German troops was expected to attack from the north early the following morning and shortly after midnight the entire brigade was ordered to form a rearguard to cover the retreat of the Second Division. The 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards and the 3rd Coldstream Guards entrenched between Soucy and Mont-Gobert, while units of the Coldstream and Irish Guards formed a second line further south along the northern edge of the forest. 'When the German attack began at about 10 a.m., the Guardsmen in the forward positions came under heavy rifle and artillery fire and were forced to retire and join their comrades in the forest. The dense undergrowth, along with a heavy morning mist, slowed the German advance through the forest, but also caused much confusion and made it difficult for British officers to communicate with each other and direct their men. By mid-morning all units of the Grenadier, Coldstream, and Irish Guards were engaged in close-quarter fighting among the trees. In some parts of the forest, the opposing forces were no more than seventy yards apart and during the course of the morning two platoons of the Grenadiers were cut off from the rest of the Brigade and overrun by the attackers. The clearing at Rond de la Reine was the scene of some the heaviest fighting as the Guardsmen fought their way back to the village of Villers-Cotterêts under sustained machine-gun fire. The commanding officer of the Irish Guards, Colonel George Morris, was killed early in the action, while Brigadier-General Scott-Kerr, who was in overall command, was badly wounded as the Brigade retired from Ronde de la Reine. The loss of these two very senior officers added to the general confusion, but the Brigade continued to gradually retire through the forest in good order. 'Fighting continued until well into the afternoon, but by 6 p.m., with support from units of the Royal Berkshire Regiment and the 5th Infantry Brigade, the surviving Guardsmen finally left the forest and rejoined the general retreat. The Brigade had successfully covered the Second Division but had suffered heavy losses with over 300 officers and men killed.' (www.cwgc.org)

Herbert's older brother Philip, formerly a shoe hand, joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class, on 27 August 1904, serving on a 12 year continuous service engagement from his eighteen birthday, April 1906. He was rated signaller on 12 April 1906 (HMS Talbot), leading signaller on 10 December 1909 (HMS Actaeon) and to yeoman signaller on 10 December 1915 (HMS Shannon). He served at the Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916, in HMS Shannon. He was discharged shore on demobilization on 3 August 1919 at Greenwich. Rugby Advertiser, 24 October 1914: ‘Bilton Guardsman Missing. The wife of Pte H Oldershaw (13655) of the 2nd Grenadier Guards, has received official intimation that her husband has been posted as missing after an engagement at an unknown place on September 20th. Pte Oldershaw, who had served three years in the Guards, and was called up at the mobilisation on August 4th, and is 25 years of age, and has resided in Rugby for several years. Since his marriage a short time ago he has been living at Bilton. His young wife, who has a baby seven months old, has only received two letters from her husband since the outbreak of war, the second of which informed her that he had been ordered to Belgium. The fact that the scene of the engagement was unknown would appear to indicate a surprise attack, and the probability is that Pte Oldershaw is a prisoner of war, and hopes are entertained that this surmise may prove correct.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Rugby Advertiser, 21 November 1914 (photograph): ‘Still Missing. No futher news has been received by Mrs H Oldershaw, late of Bilton, and now residing at 129 Oxford Street, Rugby, concerning the fate of her husband, Pte Herbert Oldershaw (13655), of the 2nd Grenadier Guards, who has been posted as missing since September 20th, after an engagement at an unknown place. Pte. Oldershaw was 25 years of age and was a reservist.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Rugby Advertiser, 4 November 1921: published two photographs and a detailed report of the unveiling of the British Thomson Houston Co. memorial to the men from ‘all the English and foreign branches of the Company.’ Around 1700 employees served in the war, 245 of whom were killed, including Herbert Oldershaw. The memorial was designed by Sir Edward Lutyens RA and erected near the Brownsover Road entrance to the Works at Rugby. The memorial was unveiled on 29 October 1921 by Field Marshall Sir William Robertson, Bart. GCB GCMG KCVO DSO. Flowers were left at the memorial the following Sunday.' (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) WMR 19466: British Thomson Houston Company memorial. GE [General Electric] Energy Power Conversion Ltd, Technology Drive, Rugby CV21 1AR. The BHT site was redeveloped and the memorial relocated from the former entrance to the BTH factory on Mill Road to a site on Technology Drive which was formerly the compayy’s electrical engineering works. (Grade II Listed Building, June 2007). WW1 Pension Ledgers Index Cards: named his widow, Violet Annie Oldershaw, and daughter Ivy May b. March 1914. Violet was awarded a pension of 15 shillings a week for herself and child, payable from 21 June 1915.