This site commemorates the men and women of Collingham, Linton and Micklethwaite who served during World War 1.

Some statistics about the men of Collingham, Linton and Micklethwaite during World War 1

The exact numbers of British men who served in World War 1, and the numbers killed or wounded are still not exactly known. The BBC web site gives numbers as around six million mobilised, and of those just over 700,000 were killed. That's around 11.5%. Extending those figures to Britain and the British Empire, figures suggest around 9 million British soldiers, of whom 900,000 were killed (about 10%) and 2 million were injured. But how do these figures compare with those for our villages?

World War 1 is often thought of as synonymous with trench warfare in France and Belgium. However World War 1 was a global war. Over 30 nations declared war between 1914 and 1918. The majority joined on the side of the Allies, including Serbia, Russia, France, Britain, Italy and the United States. They were opposed by Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, who together formed the Central Powers. What began as a relatively small conflict in southeast Europe became a war between European empires. Fighting occurred not only on the Western Front, but in eastern and southeast Europe (Italy and Salonica), the Middle East (Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia (Modern Iraq)) and both West and East Africa. The war was not only fought on land - there were also Naval engagement and battles. So where did the men of Collingham, Linton and Micklethwaite serve?

Finally what about the men themselves? How old were they? What did they do before the war? When, and for how long, did they serve? What units did they serve with?

Click on the following links to go to that section


Casualty rates

We have identified 180 men and women from the villages who served in the Great War. Of these 31 were killed in the war or about 17.2%, slightly higher than the averages given above.


Where did they serve?

The following chart shows where the men from Collingham and Linton served. All the men served for some time in the UK, but UK is shown only for those men who did not serve overseas. Some men served in more than one theatre of war.


What units did they serve in?

The men and women of Collingham, Linton and Micklethwaite served in many regiments. Around 18% of these are as yet unidentified, but we continue to work on trying to identify men and their service. Please contact us if you have any information that might help. Even the smallest piece of information can help us make a connection.

Notes: Support units include Labour Corps, Army Pay Corp, Army Ordnance Corps, Army Service Corps and Royal Defence Corps. Although the term 'Armoured' was really coined later, we use it here for the precursors to modern armoured units such as the Tank Corps and the Machine Gun Corps.


Death Rates per unit

It is interesting to see the proportion of soldiers who died during service for each of the types of unit identified above.


Marital status, rank and deaths

The following figures show the marital status of the men who served, whether they served as officers or other ranks, and compares the number of men who were killed in the war in each category.

About 30% of the men who served were married when they enlisted. Eight of the single men who enlisted married during the war.

About one fifth of the men who served lost their lives during the war. This proportion was about the same whether the man was married or single.

20% of the men who served ended the war as officers.

The survival rates for officers and other ranks of the men from Collingham and Linton are very similar, with about three quarters surviving. However many of the survivors bore physical or mental scars for many years after the war.


When Did They Die?

The cumulative number of deaths for the men of Collingham, Linton and Micklethwaite are plotted against time below. This shows when the most deaths occurred and deaths can be correlated with major events in the war. Hover over the line to see when deaths occurred. The deaths around August 1915 marked the Gallipoli campaign where the local men were heavily involved with the 9th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment. The next step, around July to October 1916, are deaths at The Battle of The Somme. In July to August 1917, a cluster of deaths occurred but not associated with any single action, battle or attack; finally the cluster of deaths between August and September 1918, generally mark the final push for victory by the Allies on The Western Front.


How many were serving in each month?

The following chart summarises how many men were serving between the 1st Jan 1914 and 1st Jan 1920. In this chart service reckons from mobilisation date (and not the date of attestation). The chart is not complete as it only contains data for those men where we know start and end service dates.



When Did They Serve?

The following chart summarises when each man served and for how long. The chart is not complete as we do not know when service started for some men.
Periods of time after enlistment while waiting for mobilisation are shown in yellow. Service is shown in green. In some cases, the date that service started is not known but can be estimated from the War Gratuity amount that was paid after the war. In other cases it is estimated from when the soldier went overseas. For those with records annotated RAF, the man would have joined the Royal Flying Corps (part of the Army) before the RAF was formed on the 1st April 1918.

If the soldier died during the war, the bar ends when he died and is annotated using the data from The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (KiA = Killed in Action, DoW = Died of Wounds, Died = Died of some other cause). If the soldier was invalided out of the services, the bar ends when the man was discharged due to illness or injury. For men who decided to remain in the services after the war the bars are arbitrarily terminated at 31st December 1920.


Only men that we have identified are shown on this table.

 


What did they do before the war?

To give a view of the trades, professions and occupations of the men before the war we have used the descriptions given on either the Attestation forms that each man completed as he signed on, or, in cases where a service record has not survived, we have used the description given on the 1911 census. This means that for some men the record will be at least 4 years out of date. To analyse the data we have used the 10 major groups of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) (ISCO-08), plus a further group (group 11) of those who were still studying, either at school, college or university.

Managers. Managers plan, direct, coordinate and evaluate the overall activities of enterprises, governments and other organizations, or of organizational units within them, and formulate and review their policies, laws, rules and regulations.

Occupations represented in this group from the men who served are:

  • Insurance company manager
  • Timber Merchant
  • Manager - blouse manucturer
  • Director of woollen mill

Professionals. Professionals increase the existing stock of knowledge; apply scientific or artistic concepts and theories; teach about the foregoing in a systematic manner; or engage in any combination of these activities.

Occupations represented in this group from the men who served are:

  • Draftsman
  • Architect & Surveyor
  • Solicitor
  • Railway metallurgist
  • Optician
  • Engineer
  • Chartered Accountant
  • Vicar
  • Private means

Technicians and associate professionals. Technicians and associate professionals perform technical and related tasks connected with research and the application of scientific or artistic concepts and operational methods, and government or business regulations.

Occupations represented in this group from the men who served are:

  • Civil servant, telegraphist, PO engineer
  • Estate agent

Clerical Support Workers. Clerical support workers record, organize, store, compute and retrieve information, and perform a number of clerical duties in connection with money-handling operations, travel arrangements, requests for information, and appointments.

Occupations represented in this group from the men who served are:

  • Civil servant - clerk
  • Law clerk
  • Clerk
  • Auctioneer's clerk

Services and Sales Workers. Services and sales workers provide personal and protective services related to travel, housekeeping, catering, personal care, protection against fire and unlawful acts; or demonstrate and sell goods in wholesale or retail shops and similar establishments, as well as at stalls and on markets.

Occupations represented in this group from the men who served are:

  • Warehouseman
  • Railway porter
  • Publican's son
  • Railway clerk
  • Clerk
  • Insurance agent
  • Salesman Millinery Warehouse
  • Lad porter
  • Butcher
  • Milkman
  • Clerk - wholesale grocery
  • General servant
  • Valuer and estate agent
  • Grocer
  • Ironmonger's buyer
  • Pawnbroker's assistant
  • Auctioneer
  • Bank clerk
  • Traveller
  • Picture house operator
  • Hall boy
  • Clothing warehouseman

Skilled Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Workers. Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers grow and harvest field or tree and shrub crops; gather wild fruits and plants; breed, tend or hunt animals; produce a variety of animal husbandry products; cultivate, conserve and exploit forests; breed or catch fish; and cultivate or gather other forms of aquatic life in order to provide food, shelter and income for themselves and their households.

Occupations represented in this group from the men who served are:

  • Domestic gardener
  • Farmer
  • Tea planter
  • Market gardener
  • Nurseryman

Craft and related trades workers. Craft and related trades workers apply specific technical and practical knowledge and skills to construct and maintain buildings; form metal; erect metal structures; set machine tools or make, fit, maintain and repair machinery, equipment or tools; carry out printing work; and produce or process foodstuffs, textiles, wooden, metal and other articles, including handicraft goods.

Occupations represented in this group from the men who served are:

  • Joiner
  • Hide and skin worker
  • Stone mason
  • Plumber & fitter
  • Motor mechanic
  • Tailor
  • Munitions worker
  • Plasterer

Plant and machine operators and assemblers. Plant and machine operators and assemblers operate and monitor industrial and agricultural machinery and equipment on the spot or by remote control; drive and operate trains, motor vehicles and mobile machinery and equipment; or assemble products from component parts according to strict specifications and procedures.

Occupations represented in this group from the men who served are:

  • Threashing engine driver
  • Chauffeur
  • Motor driver

Elementary occupations. Elementary occupations involve the performance of simple and routine tasks which may require the use of hand-held tools and considerable physical effort.

Occupations represented in this group from the men who served are:

  • Horseman, cowboy
  • Farm horseman
  • Undergroom
  • Farm horseman/beastman
  • Farm labourer
  • Gardener
  • Foundry agent
  • Letter carrier
  • Mason's labourer
  • Farm servant/errand boy
  • Railway platelayer
  • Farm lad
  • Farm hand
  • Farming and carting
  • Miner
  • Joiner's apprentice
  • Railway labourer
  • Horseman
  • Jobbing gardener/labourer
  • Farm waggoner
  • Farming
  • Van Boy
  • Stockroom Assistant
  • Garden help
  • Farm horselad
  • Canal boatman
  • Groom
  • Farm shepherd
  • Railway employee
  • Footman

Military service. Service in the Army, Royal Navy or Air Force (Royal Flying Corps). We have also included Merchant Seamen in this category.

Occupations represented in this group from the men who served are:

  • Soldier
  • Merchant seaman
  • Army Officer
  • Royal Navy Officer
  • Merchant Navy
  • Royal Navy
  • Seaman