ERIC BERNARD HOUGH – Died 29th April 1918

(Eric) Bernard Hough was the son of Ernest Edward Hough and Luisa Hough, and service records show his home address as “Sherwood”, Vyner Road, in Bidston. In the 1911 census he is a boarder, born West Kirby, Cheshire, residing in The Mount School, Caldy Road, West Kirby.

He served in the 19th Battalion of The King’s (Liverpool Regiment) as a Captain and was the recipient of the Military Cross. He was killed in action on 29th April 1918 at the age of 21, while defending the village of Voormezeele in the Ypres Salient. Voormezeele was immediately behind the British lines at St. Eloi before it finally fell to advancing German forces during the great Spring push of April 1918.

He is remembered with honour at the Tyne Cot Memorial in Belgium, which bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known.

WILLIAM GEORGE SMITH – Died 30th October 1917

(William) George Smith was a teacher at the Sunday School at St. Luke’s before joining the Armed Forces and he is commemorated on an individual memorial which may be viewed in the Small Hall at the church.

He was a Gunner in the 113th Heavy Battery, the Royal Garrison Artillery, and is likely to have died at the third battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), which lasted from 31st July until 10th November 1917.

Military records show he died from gas wounds on 30th October 1917, aged 31, but show no other details. The local ‘Book of Remembrance’ indicates he died while on an ambulance train.

GEORGE WOODS – Died 19th July 1916

George Woods born in Hoylake in 1896 and was the son of Charles Woods (listed on the 1911 Census as a fisherman) and Harriet Woods (a charwoman). On the same Census document, George’s employment is shown as a golf caddie. The family lived at Lee Road in Hoylake.

A former member of the Hoylake Boys Brigade, he was a Lance Corporal in the 16th Cheshire Regiment, which was formed at Birkenhead on 3 December 1914 by Alfred Bigland MP as a Bantam Battalion. This was a battalion in which the normal minimum height requirement for recruits was reduced from 5ft 3in to 5ft.

George lost his life in France in July 1916, aged 20.

LAWRENCE POPE LUCAS – Died August 1915

Lawrence was a ‘Comrade in Arms’ of John Hore (see his details elsewhere in the exhibition). They both lived in Ferndale Road – the Lucas family lived at No. 30 – and probably enlisted at the same time, with both boys serving in the 1st/4th Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment.

The Cheshires landed at Suvla Bay on the Gallipoli peninsular in early August 1915, but Lawrence was reported missing and subsequently presumed killed in action on, or about 12th or 13th August 1915. He was 19 years of age.

GEORGE VINEY HENING – Died 4th October 1916

George Viney Hening was born in Walton, Liverpool on 29th December 1889, but by 1911, Census records show him living at 55 Cable Road in Hoylake, and employed as a farm servant.

Details of his life over the next four years are unclear, but we do know he enlisted in Edmonton, Canada, in October 1915, with his employment listed on the Canadian military records as being a butcher. He served with the 49th Canadian Infantry and was killed during the Battle of the Somme.

Also known as the Somme Offensive, the Battle of the Somme took place between 1st July and 18th November 1916 and was one of the largest of World War One, with more than 1,000,000 men wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history.

The War Diaries of the 49th Canadian Infantry show the savagery of the fighting in the Somme Valley in France in 1916. On 2nd October 1916, the 49th moved to the Front Line to relieve elements of the 8th Canadian Infantry. During 2nd and 3rd October, they suffered 63 casualties, with 14 men killed and 49 wounded before being relieved by the 11th Canadian Infantry. The War Diary report states “Weather very bad and men were greatly fatigued on their relief”.

George is listed as losing his life on 4th October 1916. He was 26 years of age.

JOSEPH PUGH – Died 28th February 1917

Lance Corporal Joseph Pugh was the son of Joseph and Sarah Ann Pugh, who lived at 11 Lake Place in Hoylake. Tragedy had already befallen the family before the War when older brother Thomas had drowned at Holyhead in July 1904, aged 17.

Joseph served with the 12th Battalion of The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment and died in hospital from wounds on 28th February 1917. He was 19 years of age

He is commemorated at the Etretat Churchyard (Extension) Memorial, near Le Havre.

GEORGE HOLDEN – Died 30th July 1916

At the time he enlisted with the 3rd/19th Battalion of The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment, also known as The Liverpool Pals, George Holden lived at 26 Manor Road, Hoylake with his mother, Sarah. His father, also named George, had died some years earlier.

After training in the Liverpool area, the battalion proceeded to France on 7th November 1915 and in 1916 they were in action during the Battle of the Somme, in which Montauban was captured on 1st July.

George was killed in action on 30th July 1916, aged 29, and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.