John Henry Timms of Bodicote, Banbury

[janjim]

Hi,
I wonder if someone could help me please.  Not having access to Ancestry, I am trying to find what happened to my Great Uncle, John Henry Timms who was born 1899 in Bodicote.   From some written records of my Mother, she noted that John Henry Timms was killed.  Whether it was during the war or not, not sure, but if we could find him in census information, might get a better picture firstly of what happened to him, but have the feeling he may have been killed during the 1st World War.

John Henry Timms was younger son of William Timms and Annie (nee Elliman)

janjim

[rosie99]

John Henry Timms
Born Bodicote, Oxon
Residence   Handley, Northamptonshire
Death 7 October 1916
Location   France & Flanders
Enlisted   Towcester, Northants
Rank    Private
Regiment   Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
Battalion   10th Battalion
Number   G/10391
Killed in action
Theatre of War   Western European Theatre
Formerly 22204, Northants Regt.

http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/264769/TIMMS,%20JOHN%20HENRY

[bucksboy]

In the latest available census, John (Henry) Timms is living in Silverstone, Northants.

Father - William Timms c.1854. Bodicote.
Mother - Annie Timms c.1852. Priors Marston, (Northants), Warwickshire.

1901 census, John Timms, p.o.b has been missed off the census return, but he is living in Harbury, Warwickshire with his family.  Class: RG13; Piece: 2948; Folio: 61; Page: 1


Steve.

[NDRFT]

janjim

If you PM me your e mail address I will send you his Medal Information / Index Card on which you can see he was awarded the Victory Medal and British War Medal.

Nigel

[NDRFT]

Oh yes and if you re post this on the Northants board I bet Seahall will be along and she researched so so much about N Hants WW1 soldiers. She may have more info on him

Nigel

[NDRFT]

and at the time of his death on the Somme in France his family were listed as ;

W. T. and Ann Timms, of 4, Paradise Row, Silverstone, Towcester, Northamptonshire.

[NDRFT]

and i ve got a picture of his grave in the cemetery for you - not very good but it is his grave,

[NDRFT]

G/10391

From his service number and referring to the brilliant web site - Army Service Numbers we can deduce;

10330 joined on 23rd January 1913
10641 joined on 27th July 1914

Queens (Royal West Sirrey Regiment) recruits to the service battalions, joining up for war-time service only, were given numbers from a new series which began with the number 1 and was prefixed with the letter G/.

You may ask why the Queens when he was originally entered with the Northants. This was quite usual in that after attestation into one regiment, usually that of the mans home county or next nearest, men were vied across to other aligned regiments where there were shortages of personnel of specific trades.

If he was not serving under fire during 1914 /1915 he would have been awarded the 1914/15 Star so it seems from his MIC that as he is not listed as a recipient of that medal he went over to France at the start of 1916.

Hope all this helps - PM me if you want copies of the photos?

Nigel

[NDRFT]

This is where the battalion was and from well documented reords it was a significant battle and the Queens suffered horrendous casualties in this part of france;

 Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) during WW1
The Regiment formed 28 Battalions and was awarded 74 Battle Honours and 4 Victoria Crosses, losing 8,000 men during the course of the First World War.

10th (Service) Battalion (Battersea)
03.06.1915 Formed by the Mayor and Borough of Battersea and joined the 124th Brigade of the 41st Division.
Feb 1916 Moved to Stanhope Lines, Aldershot.
06.05.1916 Mobilised for war and landed at Havre and engaged in various actions on the Western Front including;
1916
The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, The Battle of the Transloy Ridges.