Charles William Beach
 1896 - 1917

Private 235060
1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment
(formerly 203148 1/5th Battalion
South Staffordshire Regiment)

Enlisted 19th February 1917,
went to the Western Front 19th May 1917.

Died 5th July 1917

Researched and compiled by Fiona Lowe

Contents:
1.     Family background
2.     Charles at War
3.     Photos of the battlefield
4.     Memorials and documents related to Charles
5.     Sources.

1. Family background

Charles (or Charlie as he was known) was born in Burntwood on 9th December 1896 and baptised at the Burntwood Primitive Methodist Church on 10 January 1897. He was one of 7 children born to Robert BEACH and his wife Sarah (née ATKINS).

Robert Beach was born 11 December 1864 in Walsall, the son of John Beach and Tamar WIDDOWSON. John Beach was born in 1842 in Neen Sollars, Shropshire and Tamar, also born in 1842, was born in Awsworth, Nottinghamshire.  John and Tamar married at St Peter’s Church in Walsall on the 8 February 1863 and were both living on Garden Street at the time. John’s father was a labourer and Tamar’s father was a miner. It is unclear when John arrived in Walsall as there is no record for him on the 1861 census so he may have been still living in Shropshire at that time.

Prior to moving to Burntwood, sometime between 1867 and 1869, John and Tamar had 3 children:

Eliza (born 1863)
Robert (born 1864)
and George Jesse (born 1867).

The next 5 children were born in Burntwood:

Tamar (born 19 December 1869, baptised 13 January 1870)
Emily (baptised 14 July 1872 and buried 4 September 1872 at Burntwood Christ Church)
Rachel (born 1 September 1874, baptised 13 September 1874)
John Edgar (born 7 February 1876, baptised 2 March 1876)
and Albert (born October 1878, baptised 17 November 1878).

Tamar, Rachel, John Edgar and Albert were baptised at the Burntwood Primitive Methodist Chapel. John and Tamar’s first born, Eliza, died aged about 6 months in Walsall. Emily died as an infant, aged about 10 weeks, and Albert died at about 3 months. Emily is buried at Burntwood, Christ Church. John Edgar emigrated to New Zealand in 1923. The 1911 census indicates John and Tamar had ten children altogether but records for only eight have been located; it seems, sadly, that they must have had two more children who did not survive and for whom no record has been found.

When the family moved to Burntwood, they lived on Lichfield Road and John was a sawyer. By 1881 they had moved to Ball Lane, and by 1891 they were living on Cannock Road. From census records and his marriage certificate it appears that John was a sawyer throughout his life and the boys were all coal miners. In 1891, daughter Tamar was a dressmaker and Rachel was a servant.

Robert Beach married Sarah Atkins at Burntwood Christ Church on 9 March 1889; he was 24 and she was 19. Sarah was born in Chase Terrace and baptised 30 January 1870. Sarah’s parents were George Atkins (born 1844) and Lucy Derry (born 1849), who were both born in Burntwood, and had married at Burntwood Christ Church on 26 December 1867. Charles’ siblings were George (born 2 November 1891, baptised 29 November 1891), Rachel (born 19 June 1893, baptised 21 June 1893), John Josiah (born 23 April 1895 and baptised in 1895), Lily Tamar (born 17 September 1899 and baptised 22 October 1899), Albert (born 16 November 1901 and baptised 18 December 1901), and Gertrude Blanche (born 19 February 1905 and baptised March 1905). All the children were baptised at the Burntwood Primitive Methodist Chapel. In 1901, the family were living on Elder Lane in Burntwood. Their son Albert died aged 20 months in 1903 and was buried at Burntwood Christ Church on 21 August 1903.

By 1911 they had moved to 18 Cannock Road, next door to the Chapel.

The family were very involved with the Methodist Chapel. John Beach was the first Chapel Keeper of a new chapel, previously on Chase Road, that opened on Cannock Road in 1875. He also led a Catechumen class when it was first created in 1898.
Item (e): Information from the booklet “Burntwood Methodist Church History 1849-1990” supplied by Keith Rothery.

At the time of the 1911 Census, John - now aged 70 - was living at Heathfield Cottage on Cannock Road with Tamar, their widowed daughter Rachel and her three children. He kept bees and was famed for his honey, which he took to market. John Beach was an active member of the Staffordshire Beekeeper’s Association and served on their Committee for a few years.  As well selling his honey, he won prizes at the various shows he entered.  

Charles attended the Burntwood No 1 Board School and left in 1910, aged 14, with a certificate. In 1911 Charles was a telegraph boy but by the time he enlisted in 1917 he was working in No. 3 Pit at the Cannock Chase Colliery. 

The Beach Family Photograph

It is thought the occasion of the photograph below may be the commemoration of John and Tamar’s Golden Wedding anniversary and it is possible the young lad sitting on the grass at the front is Charles William Beach, who would then have been aged 16. Robert Beach is 3rd from the left and John Beach (Senior) is 5th from the left in the back row. In the middle row, Tamar Beach (Senior) is 5th from the left and Robert’s wife Sarah is next to her, 6th from the left.

There was a presentation made of a bible to John and a tea service to Tamar by the Friends of the Primitive Methodist Church on the 9th April 1913. At the time, John and Tamar were the oldest members of the church.

2. Charles at war

Charles enlisted in the South Staffordshire Regiment in Lichfield on 19 February 1917 and, after being transferred to the Worcestershire Regiment, was sent to the Western Front on 19 May 1917. Sadly Charles’ army service record cannot be found and, most likely, is one of those destroyed during the Second World War. In the short time that he served before his death, Charles saw action in France and Flanders.

It is unclear exactly where he landed on the Western Front but it was less than two weeks before the 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment headed north to Belgium as reinforcement for the Battle of Messines. However, they were not needed as there was victory in that Battle on 11 June.  On 14 June 1917, the 1st Battalion went to the front line and spent four days in the trenches, in Hooge and in Sanctuary Wood, where they came under heavy bombardment. On 19 June, they marched back through Ypres to Vancouver Camp where they were employed on working parties until 28 June. They marched back to Ypres where they stayed, under constant bombardment, until 5 July when they moved on toward Winnipeg Camp on the Overdam-Vlamertinghe Road.

Note: The official Dutch spelling is Ieper, however the French spelling of Ypres is more commonly used.
Item (h): Notes from Wikipedia: Ypres, retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ypres

The following extract is taken from the Worcestershire Regimental history and relates to the circumstances of Charles' death:

The capture of the Messines Ridge, in June/July 1917, by the 3rd Worcestershire and the 10th Worcestershire had cleared the way for the projected offensive at Ypres, and the final preparations for the new attack were taken in hand.

Northward into the Salient poured the main strength of the British Armies in France; great guns, stores of all kinds, and over a hundred marching battalions—Guards, Highlanders, Welshmen, and the best of the stubborn old regiments of the English Line; one after another all the Battalions of the Regiment came in succession up into the Salient.

The 1st Battalion led the way. On the1st of June 1917 the 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment had commenced its move northward from the Somme area. The journey was broken at Godewaersvelde, whence on June 2nd the 8th Division marched to billets near Merris in readiness to support the attack at Messines. For a week the companies lay billetted, listening on June 7th to the thunder of the battle in front at Messines but the completeness of that victory rendered reinforcement unnecessary, and on June 11th the journey north was resumed. The 24th Brigade marched to Caestre and the 1st Battalion Worcestershire found billets nearby at Hazewinde. Next day the Brigade marched onward and that night the 1st Battalion Worcestershire slept at a camping ground north of Reninghelst, in crowded bivouacs under pouring rain. The 8th Division had now joined the 2nd Corps, commanded by Lieut.-General Sir Claud Jacob.

As a preliminary to taking over the line, two battalions of the Brigade were ordered forward to Ypres. On June 13th the Worcestershire marched forward independently into the ruined city, where the companies found good quarters in the old barracks.

Next night the 1st Battalion Worcestershire went up to the front line. After dark, the platoons marched forward in succession through the Menin Gate and along the Menin Road to “Hell-fire Corner” and then by covered ways to the front trenches astride the road at Hooge. The line taken over by the Battalion (from the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers) included the trenches in Sanctuary Wood immediately south of the road.

The 1st Battalion Worcestershire held those trenches for four days under constant bombardment: for the obvious preparations for the offensive had roused the German artillery to continuous action (casualties of the 1st Battalion Worcestershire June 14th to 18th:3 killed, 12 wounded). Then the Battalion was relieved by the 2nd Scottish Rifles and marched back through Ypres to Vancouver Camp, south of Vlamertinghe. There the companies were employed on working parties until June 28th, when the 24th Brigade again went into the line and the 1st Battalion Worcestershire, temporarily in reserve, marched to quarters in Ypres. Headquarters were billetted at the Lille Gate and the companies were separated in various billets in the ruined city. The enemy bombarded the city without a break. Twelve of the Battalion were killed or wounded by shell-fire within a week, and when on the night of July 5th the Worcestershire marched out of the city westwards to camp near Vlamertinghe the movement unfortunately coincided with a heavy “strafe.” Over forty of the Worcestershire were killed or wounded (of the rank and file 8 were killed, and 38 were wounded) before the companies were clear of the city: the casualties included one officer (2nd/Lieut. F. C. Kent) killed and the Regimental-Sergeant-Major G. Grover M.C. wounded."
Item (i): The Worcestershire Regiment: 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment (1917) ©  http://www.worcestershireregiment.com/bat_1_1917.php

Below are the men of the 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment killed on the 5th July 1917 :

Private Charles Beach (235060), killed on the 5th July 1917
Sergeant Walter Boxley (13887), killed on the 5th July 1917
Private James Edward Bullingham (201685), killed on the 5th July 1917
Private Frank Ernest De Vere (37072), killed on the 5th July 1917
Private John Thomas Edgson (42637), killed on the 5th July 1917
Lance Corporal William Hackett (6714), killed on the 5th July 1917
2nd/Lieutenant Frederick Charles Kent, killed on the 5th July 1917
Private Harry Topliss (9011), fatally wounded on 5th July 1917
Lance Corporal Harold Lawrence Walters (27514), died of his wounds on the 6th July 1917

Item (j): Personal correspondence with Louis Scurry (2004)

In a letter to Charles’ parents, his Commanding Officer writes

“…… Although he had not been in my Company long, he was well liked by everyone. He died one of the noblest deaths. He was killed instantly, and six others were wounded ……”

 3. Photographs of the Battlefields

 The photographs that follow show the area surrounding Ypres (Flanders), and were taken around the time that Charles was there:

This town was on the front line for much of the war and many of its famous medieval buildings, including the Cloth Hall and the Cathedral, were destroyed. When rebuilding the town took place between 1920 and 1960, the aim was to re-construct it as it was and for it to look as much like the old town as possible.
Item (m): Extract from the book “Ypres 1914-18: A Study in History Around Us” by Les Coate, first published in 1982 by Tressell Publications

4. Memorials and documents related to Charles

Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery, Ypres, West Vlaanderen, Belgium

The cemetery was begun by the 8th Division in June 1917 after the Battle of Messines (although one grave in Plot III, Row A, predates this) and it was used until October 1918, largely for burials from a dressing station in a cottage near by. Almost half of the graves are of casualties who belonged tp, or were attached to, artillery units. There are now 573 First World War casualties buried or commemorated in this cemetery. Seven of the burials are unidentified and special memorials commemorate three casualties known to have been buried in the cemetery, but whose graves could not be located. The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

Identified Casualties: 568 {United Kingdom 428, Australia 123, New Zealand 8, Canada 7, India 2}
Unidentified Casualties: 5
Total 573

Item (n): Extract from the information provided on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website about the Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery
Item (o): Extract from the website “Remembering the Fallen”

The inscription on Charles Beach’s grave
“Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away”
is taken from Song of Solomon Chapter 2 Verse 17

The inscription on Charles Beach’s grave
“Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away”
was requested by his mother Sarah Beach.

Charles was posthumously awarded the British Military Medal and the Victory Medal. He was not entitled to the Star medal because he did not see service in France prior to 1916.

The extract below, from the 27 July 1917 edition of the Lichfield Mercury, recorded the death of Charles William Beach on the Western Front.

Charles also appears in the Worcestershire Regiment Roll of Honour – Great War

Charles was remembered every year by his family on the anniversary of his death as the family notices from the Lichfield Mercury show. The only exception was 1929, the year Charles’ father Robert Beach passed away.

5. Sources

Extract images and information

(a) Certified copy of an entry of marriage for John and Tamar Beach © The General Register Office
(b) Extract from the 1891 Census for John Beach (Head of Family) © Ancestry
(c) Extract from the 1901 Census for the family of Robert and Sarah Beach © Ancestry
(d) Extract from the 1911 Census for the family of Robert and Sarah Beach © Ancestry
(e) Extract from the booklet “Burntwood Methodist Church History 1849-1990” © Information supplied by Keith Rothery
(f) Extract from the 1911 Census for John and Tamar Beach © Ancestry
(g) Newspaper cutting from Lichfield Mercury Friday 18th April, 1913 © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
(h) Extract from Wikipedia: Ypres © https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ypres
(i) The Worcestershire Regiment: 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment (1917) ©  http://www.worcestershireregiment.com/bat_1_1917.php
(j) Personal correspondence with Louis Scurry (2004)
(k) Extract from the War Diary of the 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment covering the period 1 July to 11 July 1917 and including the day Charles was killed, 5 July 1917 ©  The Worcestershire Regiment and The National Archives
(l) Map of the area around Ypres © The book “Ypres 1914-18: A Study in History Around Us” by Les Coate, first published in 1982 by Tressell Publications
(m) Extract from the book “Ypres 1914-18: A Study in History Around Us” by Les Coate, first published in 1982 © Tressell Publications
(n) Extract from the information provided on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website about the Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery © https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/8900/BELGIAN%20BATTERY%20CORNER%20CEMETERY/
(o) Extract from the website “Remembering the Fallen” © https://www.ww1cemeteries.com/belgian-battery-corner-cemetery.html
(p) Comprehensive Report of Headstone Personal Inscriptions- Charles William Beach © Commonwealth War Graves Commission, https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/92632/
(q) Plan of Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery, Charles William Beach is buried in plot I. D. 7 © Commonwealth War Graves Commission
(r) Commonwealth War Graves Commission certificate commemorating 235060 Private Charles William Beach © Commonwealth War Graves Commission
(s) Additional information about the grave of Charles William Beach © Commonwealth War Graves Commission, https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/92632/CHARLES%20WILLIAM%20BEACH/
(t) Handwritten copy of the poem “In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae © Wikipedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:In_Flanders_fields_and_other_poems,_handwritten.png
(u) Charles William Beach’s WW1 Medal Card © Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/1262/images/30850_A000111-01500?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=d780ceefbc6bf0941fb097a440cf2bbd&usePUB=true&_phsrc=SKd106&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.153498488.1736746048.1600198375-1249295234.1595448929&_gac=1.15016578.1598210306.EAIaIQobChMI6aTHqIWy6wIVmK3tCh1wwwPzEAAYASAAEgIgB_D_BwE&pId=846689
(v) Extract from the Roll of Individuals entitled to the Victory Medal and/or British War Medal showing the entry for Charles William Beach © Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/5119/images/41629_636897_11003-00104?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=08b933c7d741bc2e0ac12d18a4425dbc&usePUB=true&_phsrc=SKd111&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.115357254.1736746048.1600198375-1249295234.1595448929&_gac=1.177923729.1598210306.EAIaIQobChMI6aTHqIWy6wIVmK3tCh1wwwPzEAAYASAAEgIgB_D_BwE&pId=4764638
(w) Extract from the Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects showing the entry for Charles William Beach © Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/60506/images/42511_6129999_0086-00251?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=e2ae373a80de9c7bc87f9665e44816d0&usePUB=true&_phsrc=SKd114&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.178606564.1736746048.1600198375-1249295234.1595448929&_gac=1.216280610.1598210306.EAIaIQobChMI6aTHqIWy6wIVmK3tCh1wwwPzEAAYASAAEgIgB_D_BwE&pId=423733
(x) Extract from the 27 July 1917 edition of the Lichfield Mercury recording the death of Charles William Beach © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
(y) Dependent’s Pension Record Card for the mother of Charles William Beach © Ancestry and Fold3, WW1 Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923, https://www.fold3.com/image/668246624?xid=1022&_ga=2.149249910.1736746048.1600198375-1249295234.1595448929&_gac=1.48959506.1598210306.EAIaIQobChMI6aTHqIWy6wIVmK3tCh1wwwPzEAAYASAAEgIgB_D_BwEindiv=1&dbid=61588&h=151544&tid=&pid=&queryId=e2ae373a80de9c7bc87f9665e44816d0&usePUB=true&_phsrc=SKd115&_phstart=successSource
(z) Entry for Charles William Beach on the Worcestershire Regiment Roll of Honour © Worcestershire Regiment Roll of Honour, http://www.worcestershireregiment.com/roll_honour_WW1_B.php
Item (a1): Family memorial to Charles from the 5 July 1918 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
Item (b1): Family memorial to Charles from the 4 July 1919 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
Item (c1): Family memorial to Charles from the 2 July 1920 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
Item (d1): Family memorial to Charles from the 8 July 1921 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
Item (e1): Family memorial to Charles from the 7 July 1922 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
Item (f1): Family memorial to Charles from the 6 July 1923 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
Item (g1): Family memorial to Charles from the 4 July 1924 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
Item (h1): Family memorial to Charles from the 5 July 1925 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
Item (i1): Family memorial to Charles from the 2 July 1926 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
Item (j1): Family memorial to Charles from the 8 July 1927 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
Item (k1): Family memorial to Charles from the 6 July 1928 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
Item (l1): Family memorial to Charles from the 4 July 1930 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
tem (m1): Family memorial to Charles from the 3 July 1931 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past

Photographs

Photo 1 Robert Beach © Fiona Lowe
Photo 2 Sarah Beach © Fiona Lowe
Photo 3(a) The Beach Family © Fiona Lowe
Photo 3(b) Colour enhanced copy of The Beach Family photograph © Fiona Lowe
Photo 4 The Ridge at Messines 11 June 1917 © Imperial War Museum, https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205078199
Photo 5 Frontline trenches in Sanctuary Wood July 2017 © The Worcestershire Regiment, http://www.worcestershireregiment.com/dcm_C_Richards_10324.php
Photo 6 The Ypres to Menin Road © Imperial War Museum, https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205079794
Photo 7 Ruins of Ypres © Imperial War Museum, https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205193440
Photo 8 Ypres (2002) © Fiona Lowe
Photo 9 Ypres (2002) © Fiona Lowe
Photo 10 Ypres (2002) © Fiona Lowe
Photo 11 The grave of Charles William Beach (2002) © Fiona Lowe
Photo 12 Photograph of Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery © Commonwealth War Graves Commission, https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/8900/
Photo 13 Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery (2002) © Fiona Lowe
Photo 14 Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery (2002) © Fiona Lowe
Photo 15 Burntwood Institute War Memorial Plaque © Alan Betts and Burntwood Family History Group, https://www.bfhg.org.uk/
Photo 16 Burntwood Christchurch War Memorial © Alan Betts and Burntwood Family History Group, https://www.bfhg.org.uk/
Photo 17 Memorial Stone at St Anne’s Church, Chasetown, honouring Charles and the other miners from No. 3 Pit who died in the Great War © Alan Betts and Burntwood Family History Group, https://www.bfhg.org.uk/
Photo 18 Burntwood Memorial Institute War Memorial © Alan Betts and Burntwood Family History Group, https://www.bfhg.org.uk/
Photo 19 Burntwood Memorial Institute War Memorial © Alan Betts and Burntwood Family History Group, https://www.bfhg.org.uk/