19156 Sergeant Thomas Carroll
10th Battalion
Worcestershire Regiment
1886 - 1917

The story of 7 brothers from Rugeley

Written and researched by Chris Graddon and Jacqueline Fitzpatrick

Thomas Carroll was born in 1886 and, apart from his time in the Army, he spent all his life in the Rugeley area of Staffordshire. His grandparents, Patrick and Bridget Carroll, came to England from Ireland around 1851, most likely to escape the Irish Potato Famine which began in 1845 and lasted for 7 years.

The 1861 and 1871 censuses show Patrick and Bridget and their family living in Rugeley. The censuses also show that both Patrick and Bridget were born in Ireland. The 1881 census reveals that they were both born in Galway.

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Patrick and Bridget had 5 children - John, Mary, James, Ellen and Thomas. The 1861 and 1871 censuses record John’s age as being 18 and 28 respectively, indicating that he was born around 1843. Both censuses state that John, like his parents, was born in Ireland.

It seems likely that Thomas’s grandparents, Patrick and Bridget, moved to England from Ireland some time during 1851. We can surmise this because there is no trace of the family in Rugeley on the 1851 census, but the birth of their daughter, Mary, was registered, in Rugeley, in December 1851; that record also shows that her mother’s maiden name was Brannan.

Mary Carroll was christened Maria on 7 September 1851 at the St Joseph & St Etheldreda Catholic Church in Rugeley. The church record shows that she was born on 28 August 1851, and it confirms that her mother’s surname was Brannan.

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Mary was the oldest girl in the family. Her three younger siblings - James, Thomas and Ellen - were also christened at the St Joseph & St Etheldreda Catholic Church in Rugeley: James (born 18 June 1854, christened Jacobus Carroll on 20 June 1854), Thomas (born 30 March 1858, christened Thomas Carroll on 14 April 1858) and Ellen (born 3 January 1862, christened Helena Carroll on 12 January 1862). All three christening records show the mother’s maiden name as Brannan or Brannon. Another son, Patrick Carroll was born on 27 February 1857 ; he was christened Patritius but sadly died the same day.

This family information suggests that Patrick Carroll married Bridget Brannan in Ireland some time before the birth of their son John in 1843. Unfortunately, no record has been found for their wedding so it is impossible to be more precise.       

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At the time of the 1861 census, Patrick and Bridget had 4 children, 3 of whom - John, Mary and Thomas - are shown living at home. It is not clear why James - who would have been 6 at the time - does not appear on the census, and it has been impossible to locate him at another address in Rugeley. For the Carrolls, home was a place in the Marle Pits area of Rugeley which they shared with 2 lodgers. Marle Pits was a very poor area of Rugeley. At this time, Thomas’s grandfather, Patrick, was a labourer and Patrick’s eldest son - Thomas’ uncle John - was a blacksmith.

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By the 1871 census, the Carroll family had moved and were now living at 9 Brereton Road, Rugeley, along with one lodger. Patrick and Bridget now had 5 children, 3 of whom lived at home. Patrick and his two sons, James and Thomas, were all working as coal miners. James and Thomas were miners from the age of 13.

The 1881 census shows Patrick and Bridget living with two lodgers at 29 Brereton Road, Marlepits. Patrick died in Rugeley in 1890 aged 71 and the 1891 census shows Bridget still at 29 Brereton Road but now living with her daughter Ellen (Helen), her son Thomas, and his wife Elizabeth and 7-month old daughter Helen. Bridget died in Rugeley in 1898 at the age of 74.

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Sergeant Thomas Carroll’s father was Patrick and Bridget’s second son James. Born in 1854, James married Catherine Hagan in the second quarter of 1880. In 1881 James and Catherine (Katherine) were living in the Marle Pits area of Rugeley and had a baby son, also called James.

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10 years later, the 1891 census shows James and Catherine (recorded then as Katherine or Kate) and their 7 children - James, Helen, Mary, Thomas, John, Annie and Joseph - living at 26 Brereton Road. James’s mother was living opposite at 29 Brereton Road with her daughter Ellen, son Thomas, daughter-in-law Elizabeth and granddaughter Helen.

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By the time of the 1901 census, James and Katherine had been blessed with 5 more children -Frank, Margaret, William, Albert and Catherine - bringing the family to 12 children. They were still living at 26 Brereton Road and their sons aged 14 and over worked in the coal mines like their father.

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No more children were born during the next ten years as the family continued to live at the same house in Rugeley.

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James’ younger brother Thomas - Sergeant Thomas Carroll’s uncle - was born in 1858 and, by the time of the 1881 census, he was serving as a bombardier in the Royal Artillery.

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Thomas joined the British Indian Army and in 1891 - when he and his wife were home on leave and staying with his mother Bridget - Thomas was serving as a Sub-Conductor in the Ordnance Department. Warrant officers in the Indian Army held the ranks of Sub-Conductor and Conductor and served mainly in the Ordnance, Commissariat and Public Works Departments. 

Thomas married Elizabeth Ann Hamilton in 1888 in Mumbai, Maharashtra in India. She had been born in Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh in India on 14 January 1868 and was the daughter of Sergeant James Hamilton and his wife Marmara. Thomas and Elizabeth Carroll had two children. Their daughter, Helen, was born in Arabia in 1890, presumably while the couple were en route to England because Helen is shown in Rugeley on the 1891 census - aged 7 months - staying with her parents at the home of her grandmother, Bridget. The couple returned to India and on 23 September 1893 their son Arthur Thomas Carroll was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Sadly, Thomas Carroll died from Hepatitis in Karachi in 1895. His widow, Elizabeth, subsequently married Alfred James D'Souza on 14 February 1899; she died in 1932 at the age of 64.

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James and Catherine’s eldest child, their son James - the elder brother of Sergeant Thomas Carroll - was born in 1880, 4 years before Thomas himself. After starting his working life as a coal miner, James joined the Royal Artillery on 9 November 1898. A year later he left for a tour of service in Malta on 23 December 1899 which lasted until October 1902. Four years service in India followed, followed by just under four years back home in the Army Reserve, by which time he had completed 12 years in the Royal Artillery. On 8 November 1910, at the age of 30, James was discharged from the army and returned to Rugeley where he resumed work as a collier; he is shown living back at home with his parents, James and Catherine, on the 1911 census, working as a loader in the local coal mines.

When the First World War came, James signed up again, this time with the 1/6th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment. Posted to the Western Front on 4 March 1915, Sergeant James Carroll survived the war and left this Territorial Battalion on 10 January 1919.

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James’ younger brother Thomas was born in 1885 and by the time of the 1901 census he was working with his father James and younger brother John in the local coal mines. He was employed as a horse driver, working underground. The driver would work the pit ponies, collecting the tubs full of coal and pulling them along the main roadways to the pit bottom where they could be taken up to the surface. Ten years later, the 1911 census show him still working down the mines, as a loader, filling the carts with coal at the coal face.

Thomas joined the army and served with the 10th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment; his regimental number was 19156 and he rose to the rank of Sergeant. The 10th (Service) Battalion Worcestershire Regiment was formed at Worcester in September 1914 as part of Kitchener’s 2nd Army and moved to Perham Down on the edge of Salisbury Plain for training. The Battalion was under the orders of the 57th Brigade in the 19th (Western) Division and, in March 1915, moved to Tidworth. Thomas’ battalion was mobilised for war and sent to the Western Front, arriving in France on 19 July 1915. The Worcestershire Regiment website has a page devoted to the 10th Battalion giving extensive details of the Battalion’s experiences during the First World War. These include:

1915 The Action of Piètre, (a diversionary action during the Battle of Loos).
1916 The Battle of Albert, The attacks on High Wood, The Battle of Pozières Ridge, The Battle of the Ancre Heights, The Battle of the Ancre.

The start of the Battle of the Somme
The Lochnagar mine was detonated beneath the German lines, south of the village of La Boisselle, at 7.28 a.m. on 1st July 1916, following 7 days of bombardment by the British artillery. Eight successive waves of infantrymen from the 34th Division then emerged from their trenches and, with their officers leading, walked in straight lines to attack the German front line trenches. This would prove to be the bloodiest day in British military history.

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The preliminary bombardment began on 24th June, all along the British line. The first days of the bombardment were fine and hot, then the weather broke and rain fell heavily, causing the date of the attack to be postponed at the last minute from June 28th to July 1st. The postponement came so late that the 10th Battalion had already started to march to their assembly position before the arrival of their counter-order. The Battalion strength stood at 700, with 17 officers. The night of 30th June/1st July saw long columns of British troops on the move along a twenty mile front from Hannescamps to the River Somme. As part of the 57th Brigade, the 10th Battalion was the first of the four battalions from the Worcestershire Regiment to move.

The British Third Army Corps was given the task of capturing the fortresses of Ovillers and Pozières. However, despite the explosion of the enormous Lochnagar mine to its south, the fortified village of La Boisselle obstinately withstood the assault by the 34th Division, and a fresh attack was ordered.

After spending the night before the battle in trenches between Millencourt to the west and Albert to the east, the 10th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment moved forward at about 9 a.m. on 1st July to assembly positions nearer the front line. They lay there all day, surrounded by the noise of gunfire and explosions, trying to make sense of conflicting rumours and alarms. At 9.15 p.m. orders came through for the 10th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment and 8th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment to move to the original front line to support the second attack.

The 10th Worcestershire moved off and, as their War Diary describes,  "In the communication trench confusion reigned. Wounded were being brought out - we were trying to get in - carrying parties were trying to go both ways - it was raining and the trench was knee-deep in mud." A Company, B Company and C Company managed to reach the British front line opposite La Boisselle at about 1.00 a.m. but, by then, it was too late for the assault which had been scheduled to begin at midnight. The attack was cancelled, and the three companies had to make their way back to the reserve trenches. By dawn on 2nd July, the 10th Worcestershire had collected in trenches and dugouts; the officers and men were utterly exhausted. "The remainder of the day was spent in sleep—which was greatly interrupted by the bombardment of La Boisselle".

That afternoon the 58th Infantry Brigade attacked the La Boisselle salient; they secured a foothold on the southern face and orders were sent for the 57th Infantry Brigade to move up after midnight. Rather than risk another jam in the communication trenches, the 10th Worcestershire moved forward, across the open, in three lines of platoons. When they reached the old front line, they lay down opposite the extreme western end of the enemy salient and waited for the attack. The other battalions of the Brigade - the 10th Royal Warwickshire, the 8th Gloucestershire and the 8th North Staffordshire - formed up behind them and to their side. Unfortunately, flares and bursting shells disclosed the 10th Worcestershire’s position to the enemy, and heavy enemy shrapnel fire caused a considerable number of casualties: even so, the men lay still, waiting for the attack.

As gun-fire rattled all around, a warning order was passed along the line shortly after 2 a.m. on 3 July. A few minutes later, the men rose to their feet and -in platoons - rushed forward across "No Man's Land" to attack the German trenches. A fierce hand-to-hand fight followed but, in the confusion, control became impossible and the platoons stormed forward as best they could, led by their officers and NCOs, fighting their way into the ruins of the village. Ten days of intense bombardment had shattered every house in La Boisselle, and the enemy had constructed deep dugouts and reinforced the cellars. The German troops had survived the British bombardment in those underground strongholds and now they swarmed out to meet the attack. The British platoons fought on through the ruins as the enemy appeared suddenly and unexpectedly from every direction. It was only by the fleeting flashes of light from the flares and shell-bursts that it was possible to tell friend from foe. The fighting was at point-blank range, with hand grenades, bullets and bayonets, and some small parties penetrated right through the village but were forced to retire when they ran short of grenades. Previously-prepared explosive charges were brought up and thrown into the dugouts, but the fighting was too involved, and the casualties too rapid, for any permanent control to be established.

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As Battalion Headquarters followed the companies forward across the trenches, the Commanding Officer - Colonel George Arthur Royston-Piggott - and his Adjutant - Captain Henry Allay Gillum Webb - made their way forward to the Lochnagar crater and verified that the 10th Worcestershire had indeed reached the village. Just after he finished dictating a progress report to his Adjutant - to be sent back to the 57th Infantry Brigade - the Colonel was shot dead; the Adjutant was wounded a few minutes later.

With the first lights of dawn, the fighters in the village could at last tell comrades from the enemy. A few strong points held out as the struggle to take La Boisselle continued, some for several hours, but they were gradually isolated, surrounded and removed. The majority of the enemy defenders were killed or captured, and strong German counter-attacks were repulsed. Fighting continued until about midday on 3rd July when a line was established in the village. Two companies from the Warwickshire Regiment then held this line while the 10th Worcestershire consolidated a second line 30 yards behind.

The 10th Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment had every reason to be proud of their success in this battle, the position they had captured was one of immense strength, with dugouts that were so deep and of such solid construction that many were left undamaged. The German defenders - troops from the German 13th, 23rd and 110th Reserve Regiments - had fought to the last. But that success took a dreadful toll, the Battalion losing a third of its fighting strength, including its Commanding Officer and Adjutant.

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During the first four days of April 1917, the 10th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment moved about 40 miles west from Curragh Camp at Locre in Belgium, via Caestre, Hazebrouk and Arques to Acquin. Two weeks of drill and training followed, with time allocated to church parades, cross country runs, football and boxing. The Battalion then returned to Curragh Camp, about 10 miles south west of Ypres. Working parties and the training of specialists followed over the next 10 days and, two drafts saw 16 other ranks join the Battalion, bringing the fighting strength to 702 other ranks. After baths, the Battalion moved on the last day of April to the St Lawrence Camp near Poperinge.

On 1st May, 1 officer and 43 men from the ranks were attached to the 1st Australian Tunneling Company, and the day after the Battalion relieved the 8th Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in the centre subsector of the Hill 60 sector of the Ypres Salient.

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On 3rd May, all was quiet in the Battalion’s sector. The artillery were very quiet the day after and a patrol went out to examine the crater and reported that its front lip was unoccupied. At 9.30 p.m. on the 5th May, heavy enemy bombardment of the Battalion’s line began and lasted for half an hour. The Support Company was shelled until 4.30 a.m. the following morning and Battalion Headquarters was also shelled during the night until 4.20 a.m. A hostile aeroplane was brought down outside Larch Wood on 6 May but, otherwise, the day was a quiet one. Thar evening the Battalion was relieved in the trenches by the 8th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment and returned to the Bund and Railway Dugouts in Brigade Reserve.

At half past nine the following morning, 7th May, the Germans began a heavy bombardment of Railway Dugouts with 4.2-inch and 5.9-inch shells. The 10th Worcestershire War Diary records that there were relatively few casualties, that five men were wounded and two were killed. In fact, three men from the Battalion lost their lives that day:

42733 Private Albert Hughes, who was from Luton in Bedfordshire; he had enlisted at Bedford and had served previously with the Bedfordshire Regiment (regimental number 27211);

40039 Private John William Smith, who was born in Himley in Staffordshire and lived in Dudley, Worcestershire.

19156 Sergeant Thomas Carroll from Rugeley in Staffordshire.

When the shelling subsided, a working party of 5 officers and 230 other ranks were given the task of carrying materials and building up dugouts. The next day some of the men were allotted bath times at Transport Farm in the morning or the afternoon. Meanwhile, a working party of 8 officers and 380 other ranks carried out a variety of duties, carrying materials, repairing dugouts and burying cable. This work continued on 9th May and on 10th May the Battalion was relieved and entrained at Ypres to return to St Lawrence Camp near Poperinge. So, for the men of the 10th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment, the war continued relentlessly, day after day for the next 18 months.

The Battalion War Diary does not record the names of the three men who were killed in action on 7 May 1917, nor the five who were wounded in the heavy bombardment that day.

Sergeant Thomas Carroll was buried in Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm), West-Vlaanderen in Belgium. The reference for the gravestone for Thomas is Special Memorials G.2. A large number of graves in Railway Dugouts were lost due to heavy shelling, particularly during the summer of 1917, and the Stone of Remembrance is surrounded by special memorials to men who are known to be buried somewhere in that cemetery but for whom the precise location is not certain. 

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Some 2048 casualties of the war are buried there, including Private John William Smith (cemetery reference IV. D. 4) and Private Albert Hughes (cemetery reference Special Memorials G.3). 415 of the casualties have yet to be identified.

The next two photographs show a very early image of Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) and a far more recent view of the same scene. 

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The medal card of Sergeant Thomas Carroll shows that he was posthumously awarded the three traditional medals, the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal - “Pip, Squeak and Wilfred”. It also confirms that he entered the war zone, the Western Front, on 19 July 1915.

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By the time of the census in 1911, James and Catherine Carroll had been married for over 30 years. Together they had 12 children, 7 sons and 5 daughters of whom 11 were still living. Details regarding the five daughters are unfortunately somewhat sketchy:

• The earliest daughter, Ellen Carroll, was born in Rugeley in 1882. She is recorded on the 1891 census as a 9-year old school pupil; her name is recorded then as Helen but this could just be mishearing on the part of the census enumerator. On the 1901 census, “Nellie” is working as a domestic housemaid in the employ of Harry and Sarah Grimley at the Railway Inn in Colton, Staffordshire. In 1911, Ellen is shown, unmarried, living back in the family home in Rugeley. The details of her life thereafter are unclear; there is a suggestion that she died in the Lichfield area in 1922 but that is very far from certain.

• Mary Carroll, the second daughter, was born on 15 August 1883, and the 1891 census shows her as a 7-year school girl. Ten years later, she is working in 1901 as a servant to the Woollen Draper Henry George Hills at 146 Bristol Road in Birmingham. Mary does not appear on the 1911 census so it seems likely that she died at some time between 1901 and 1911, but it has not been possible to find any confirmation of this.

• James and Catherine’s third daughter Annie was born on 14 July 1888. At the time of the 1911 census, Annie was working as a domestic servant in the household of the Chartered Accountant Theodore Neal and his wife Sarah and their family at 6 Court Oak Road in Harborne, Birmingham. Annie married Sydney Deakin in a civil ceremony at Lichfield in the first quarter of 1921. The couple had two sons, both born in Rugeley, Sydney Maurice James Deakin in 1923 and Cecil Joseph Deakin in 1925. At the time of the 1939 census, the couple were living at 74 Church Street in Rugeley,; Annie was a housewife and Sydney was working as a lorry driver. Annie died in Rugeley later that year at the age of 51.

• Fourth daughter Margaret (Margaretta) was born on 13 October 1893. She married Horace Spragg in a civil ceremony at Lichfield in 1919. Five children followed, all born at Daventry: Joan Y. Spragg in 1919, Pamela Y. Spragg in 1922, Brian J. Spragg in 1924, John A. Spragg in 1927 and William H. Spragg in 1932. At the time of the 1939 census, Margaret and Horace were living at 64 High Street, Weedon, Daventry in Northamptonshire, Horace was working as a store labourer and Margaret was a housewife. Margaret died in Daventry in 1971 at the age of 77.

• James and Catherine’s youngest daughter, Catherine Agnes (Kathleen, Katie, Kitty) was born on 7 March 1899. She married Cecil Carthy in a civil ceremony at Lichfield in the third quarter of 1922, when her first name was recorded as Kathleen. The couple had two children, both born in Rugeley: Maureen Veronica Carthy in 1923 and Cecil James Lawrence Carthy in 1931. At the time of the 1939 census, Kathleen was living with her husband at 122 Green Lane in Rugeley, Cecil was working as a miner and Kathleen was a housewife. Kathleen died in Rugeley at the age of 69 in 1968.
  

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James and Catherine Carroll had 7 sons, James, Thomas, John, Joseph, Francis, William and Albert. All were of an age where they could have served in the British Army but coal mining was one of the “Scheduled or Reserved Occupations” so Francis and William were exempt from conscription and spent the war working underground at home in Rugeley.

When the First World War came, the eldest son James (“Jim”) signed up again, this time with the 1/6th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment,initially with regimental number 1780, later 240150. They were posted to the Western Front as part of the 137th Infantry Brigade in the 46th (North Midland) Division, and Sergeant James Carroll arrived in Le Havre on 4 March 1915. Towards the end of September 1915, the British Army launched a concentrated attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt, the massive German fortification near Auchy-les-Mines in France. The position was captured by the 26th Brigade of the 9th (Scottish) Division on 25th September, the first day of the Battle of Loos. The Germans recaptured it shortly afterwards and an attempt to take it again by the British 28th Division ended in failure. That task now fell to the 46th (North Midland) Division but their heroic assault on 13 October - also unsuccessful - resulted in 3,643 casualties, most of them in the first few minutes, losses that were comparable to those suffered during the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

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James’ medical records show that he suffered gunshot wounds to the left and right buttocks and was admitted for treatment on 19 October 1915 and discharged on 26 November 1915. He was listed as wounded on the Casualty List issued by the War Office on 30 October 1915, and the severity of his injuries entitled him to wear a Wound Stripe. The reports in the 30th October 1915 and 6th November 1915 editions of the Staffordshire Advertiser on the recent injuries suffered by James, and his two brothers John (“Jack”) and Albert, suggests that he sustained his injuries during the fighting at the Hohenzollern redoubt. It is thought that James was also badly gassed later in the war. In the years that he had left, James’ health was certainly affected by his experiences on the Western Front . However, he did survive the War and, after being demobbed from the Army and his Territorial Battalion on 10 January 1919, he spent the later years of his life living in Stratford upon Avon, where he died at the age of 52, either late in 1932 or early in 1933.

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John Carroll - the eldest of the younger brothers of Sergeant Thomas Carroll - was born on 24 December 1886. Known in the family as Jack, he began his working life in the coal mines. The 1901 census shows him working as a horse driver at the age of 14. Although he was still working in the coal industry, the 1911 census shows that - ten years later - John had risen to the position of contractor in the mines.

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When war came, John joined the 1/6th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment, initially with regimental number 3017, later 240709. He arrived on the Western Front on 5 March 1915 and saw action at Loos. He was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal. The article in the the 6th November 1915 edition of the Staffordshire Advertiser reports that John was badly injured - probably during the attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt on 13th October 1915 - with wounds to his neck, back, side and arm. John was treated for a gunshot wound to the right shoulder, discharged from hospital on 15 March 1917, the injury being sufficiently serious that he was awarded a pension from 20 June 1917. He was eventually discharged from the Army on 21 August 1917 and family anecdotes suggest that he saw out the rest of the war guarding German prisoners of war in the camp on Cannock Chase.

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After the War, John married Ethel Lily Brookes in June 1924 in Lichfield, Staffordshire. They had six children during their marriage: John Thomas Carroll in 1924, Kathleen Jean Carroll in 1925, Stella Elizabeth Carroll in 1927, Patrick James Carroll in 1930, Michael Joseph Carroll in 1933 and Anthony Carroll in 1937. The family lived in Rugeley and John Carroll died there at the age of 89 in 1975 .

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Born on 23 February 1890, the fourth brother Joseph Carroll - known in the family as “Joe” - also started his working life in the Staffordshire coal pits, the 1911 census showing him working as a 21-year old loader in the mines. Like his elder brothers, Joseph joined the 1/6th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment of the Territorial Force, initially with regimental number 3016, later 240708. His records show that he served throughout the war, from 22 October 1914, until his discharge on 2 March 1919.

The 1/6th North Staffs mobilised for war on 4 March 1915 and, on landing in France, became part of the 137th Brigade of the 46th (North Midland) Division. That year the Battalion suffered the German liquid fire attack at Hooge, and later took part in the attack on the Hohenzollern Redout. In January 1916, the Battalion moved briefly to Egypt before returning to France in February 1916, fighting the rest of the War on the Western Front. The 46th (North Midland) Division suffered heavy losses in the diversionary attack at Gommecourt Wood at the start of the Somme Offensive on 1 July 1916. The Battalion saw further action in 1917 and in 1918 was part of 46th Division’s capture of the St Quentin canal.

Alone out of the five brothers who served their country at the Western Front, Joseph was the only one to emerge unscathed, rising to the rank of Sergeant. After the War, he returned to Rugeley and to work in the mines. Joseph never married and, at the time of the 1939 census, he was living at 1 Green Lane, Rugeley, working as a colliery hewer. Joseph passed away in his home town in 1965 at the age of 75.

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This photograph shows Sergeant Joseph Carroll, possibly at Catterick Camp in 1916. There are no photographs of any of the other brothers in uniform.

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The youngest of the brothers, Albert Carroll was born in Rugeley on 6 December 1896 and his birth was registered in the first quarter of 1897. By the time he was 14, as the 1911 census shows, he had already followed his brothers into the coal industry, working as a labourer in a local colliery. When war came, he followed his brothers once more, joining up with the 1/6th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment, initially with regimental number 3014, later 240706.

Albert was reported injured on the list issued by the War Office on 25 October 1915. The report from the 6 November 1915 edition of the Staffordshire Advertiser (Picture 33B) says that he was injured in the left thigh and knee; the injuries were severe and entitled him to wear a wound stripe. Later in the War, Albert was treated at the 17th Ambulance Train on 2nd and 3rd July 1916 for shell shock; while there he also received treatment for scabies, the severe itching caused by tiny mites suffered by many soldiers in the trenches. As the Lichfield Mercury reported on 4th and 18th August 1916, Albert was injured for a third time, wounded in the back and completely buried by the explosion of an enemy shell, probably during the attack on the German salient at Gommecourt Wood.

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Despite being wounded a number of times, Albert did manage to survive the War and he was discharged from his Battalion and the Army on 11 January 1919.

Albert married Evelyn Moore in a civil ceremony in Lichfield in the 3rd quarter of 1920. The couple had 4 sons: Albert Thomas Carroll on 2 September 1920, William Denis Carroll on 28 August 1924, Bernard James Carroll in 1927 and Terence Paul Carroll in 1930. In 1939, Albert and Evelyn were living with their family at 85 Hagley Road in Rugeley; Albert was working as a coal miner, doing rock work. Albert and Evelyn continued to live at the Hagley Road address until Albert’s death on 26 May 1961. His wife Evelyn died in 1987.

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For the other two brothers, Francis (“Frank”) Carroll and William (“Bill”) Carroll, the War meant a continuation of their normal working lives in the local mines, producing the coal that would keep the country’s factories operating, building the armaments that would enable Britain not just to wage the War but eventually to win it. Some miners went to war and used their skills and experience of working underground to build complex systems of tunnels, running from the Allied trenches to positions underneath the enemy lines, where explosives would be placed and detonated. Miners were used to danger, to grueling hard work, and to obeying strict regulations when working underground, and they therefore made good soldiers. Friends, family and work colleagues often joined together, serving alongside one another in “Pals Battalions”. This closeness frequently resulted in high numbers of casualties in the mining communities from which they were drawn.

At the beginning of the war, miners formed Britain’s largest group of industrial workers and coal production increased during the first few months of the conflict as miners increased output to provide the coal the munitions factories desperately needed. However, by March 1915, over 190,000 miners had joined the armed forces, approximately 40% of the miners of military age, just over 17% of the men engaged in the coal industry at the start of the war. By the Spring of 1916, as the number of deaths on the Western Front continued to climb, the number of men coming forward to volunteer was insufficient to meet Britain’s military needs. Reluctantly, the British Government was forced to introduce conscription, which meant that all medically fit single men between the ages of 19 and 41 were deemed - by the Military Service Act - to have enlisted in the armed forces on 2 March 1916. Later, in May 1916, conscription was extended to include married men, and the lower age limit was reduced from 19 to 18. Conscripted men had no choice about which service or regiment they joined.

Some men were exempt from the draft, including clergymen, teachers and some classes of industrial worker, the so-called “Scheduled (or Reserved) Occupations”; these included coal miners and doctors, and those working in the iron and steel industries producing the vital armaments and ammunition Britain needed for the war.  There were exemptions from the draft - for example because of poor health, family hardship or conscientious objection - but they required an application to a military service tribunal.

Unlike their brothers, Francis and William Carroll chose to spend their war working in the Scheduled Occupations.

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James and Catherine Carroll’s eighth child and fifth son, Francis Bernard Carroll, was born 29 December 1890. Known in the family as Frank, he inevitably followed his father and elder brothers down the mines, as the 1911 census shows. In November of the following year, Frank and his youngest sister Katie took part in a charity event, a children’s operetta, to raise money for the new Catholic school.

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In 1923, Frank married Edith May Goodman (born 9 November 1902) in a civil ceremony in Lichfield. The couple had four children: Frances Peter Carroll (born 4 July 1923), Sheila May Carroll (born 1924), Michael Joseph Carroll (born 1928) and Margaret Ann Carroll (born 1937). In 1939, the census shows the family living at 7 Upper Cross Road in Rugeley, Frank working as a Colliery Rockhandler Below Ground, Heavy Worker.

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Frank Carroll died in Rugeley at the age of 68 in the summer of 1960; his wife Edith died on 10 January 1991

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William (“Bill”) Carroll was born in Rugeley on 10 April 1895. In 1911, at the age of 16, he was already working in the local coal mines. Bill married Florence Collins (who was born on 9 July 1906) in 1930. The couple had two children during their marriage - Mary Margaret Carroll (1931–2013) and William Charles Carroll (1933–2003). At the time of the 1939 census, the family were living at 16 Jubilee Street in Rugeley, Bill still working as a coal miner.

Picture 49

William died at the age of 69 on 26 November 1964 . His wife Florence died on 14 September 1993.

 Reference, Item and Source

1.   Extract from the 1861 Census for Patrick and Bridget Carroll © Ancestry
2.   Extract from the 1871 Census for Patrick and Bridget Carroll © Ancestry
3.   Extract from the 1881 Census for Patrick and Bridget Carroll© Ancestry
4A.    Extract from Ancestry for the registration in 1851 of the birth of Mary Carroll © Ancestry
4B.    Extract from Find My Past for the registration in 1851 of the birth of Mary Carroll © Find My Past
5A. Page from the 1851 Christening record of the St Joseph & St Etheldreda Catholic Church, Rugeley © Find My Past
5B. Christening record for Mary Carroll on 7 September 1851 at the St Joseph & St Etheldreda Catholic Church, Rugeley © Find My Past
6A. 1854 Christening record for James Carroll at the St Joseph & St Etheldreda Catholic Church, Rugeley © Find My Past
6B. 1858 Christening record for Thomas Carroll at the St Joseph & St Etheldreda Catholic Church, Rugeley © Find My Past
6C. 1862 Christening record for Ellen Carroll at the St Joseph & St Etheldreda Catholic Church, Rugeley © Find My Past
6D. 1857 Christening record for Patrick Carroll at the St Joseph & St Etheldreda Catholic Church, Rugeley © Find My Past
7A. Extract showing Rugeley from Ordnance Survey Map: Staffordshire Sheet XLV, 1924 version, 6 inches to 1 mile © Ordnance Survey and the National Library of Scotland
7B. Extract showing Rugeley from Ordnance Survey Map: Staffordshire Sheet XLV, 1924 version, 6 inches to 1 mile © Ordnance Survey and the National Library of Scotland
8.   Extract from the 1891 Census showing Bridget Carroll, now widowed, living with her daughter Ellen and son Thomas and his family © Ancestry
9. Extract from the 1881 Census showing James and Catherine Carroll and their infant son James © Ancestry
10. Extract from the 1891 Census showing James and Catherine Carroll and their 7 children © Ancestry
11. Extract from the 1901 Census showing James and Katherine Carroll and their family living at 26 Brereton Road, Rugeley © Ancestry
12. Extract from the 1911 Census showing James and Catherine Carroll and their family living at 26 Brereton Road, Rugeley © Ancestry
13. Extract from the 1881 census showing Jame’s brother Thomas serving as a bombardier with the Royal Artillery © Ancestry
14. 1893 baptism record for the birth of Thomas and Elizabeth’s son Arthur Thomas Carroll © Find My Past
15A, 15B, 15C and 15D. Four pages from James Carroll’s military record 1898 - 1910 © Ancestry
16A. James Carroll’s entry in the WW1 Medal Roll © Ancestry
16B. James Carroll’s WW1 Medal Card © Ancestry
17A. Extract from the 1916 British Trench Map 57D.SE.4 (Albert), scale 1:20,000 Edition 2D with trenches corrected to 15 August 1916 © McMaster University Digital Archive
17B. Trench map showing the location of the Lochnagar Mine © “Richard Dunning, owner of the Lochnagar Memorial Crater” webpage on the Rotary Club of Grimsby website https://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/page.php?PgID=464655&ClubID=1306
18A. Photograph of Lochnagar Crater © http://www.somme-battlefields.com/
18B. British troops running along the lip of the Lochnagar mine crater at La Boisselle, 23rd October 1916 © Imperial War Museum
18C. Interior of the Lochnagar Crater at La Boisselle, August 1916 © Imperial War Museum
18D. British graves with human bones on the surface in the Lochnagar mine crater at La Boisselle, 21 September 1917 © Imperial War Museum
18E. La Boisselle mine crater, October 1916 © Imperial War Museum
19A. British artillery bombarding the German trenches prior to the attack on La Boisselle, 1st July 1916 © Imperial War Museum
19B. Troops advancing during the attack on La Boisselle by the 34th Division, 1st July 1916 © Imperial War Museum
20. Extract from the War Diary of the 10th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment recording the casualty list on 3rd July 1916, immediately after the battle to take La Boisselle © The National Archives
21. Extract from the 1917 British Trench Map 28 N.W. (Ypres), scale 1:20,000 Edition 5A with trenches corrected to 1 April 1917 © McMaster University Digital Archive
22. Cemetery Plan for Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm), West-Vlaanderen in Belgium © Commonwealth War Graves Commission
23A. Photograph of Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) © ww1cemeteries website https://www.ww1cemeteries.com/railway-dugouts-burial-ground.html
23B. Photograph of Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) © thebignote website http://thebignote.com/2011/04/23/a-tour-of-zillebeke-south-part-two/
23C. Photograph of Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) © thebignote website http://thebignote.com/2011/04/23/a-tour-of-zillebeke-south-part-two/
23D. Photograph of Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) © thebignote website http://thebignote.com/2011/04/23/a-tour-of-zillebeke-south-part-two/
24A. Photograph of Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) © World War One Battlefields website http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/pages/flanders/zillebeke.ht
24B. Photograph of Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) © World War One Battlefields website http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/pages/flanders/zillebeke.html
25A.   Sergeant Thomas Carroll’s medal card © Ancestry
25B. Extract from the First World War Service Medal and Award Rolls, including the entry for Sergeant Thomas Carroll © Ancestry
26. 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal © Ghillie Mòr website
27. Extract from the Register of Soldiers’ Effects, showing the entry for Sergeant Thomas Carroll © Ancestry
28A. Photograph of Sergeant Thomas Carroll’s gravestone at Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) © The War Graves Photographic Project www.twgpp.org
28B. Photograph of Sergeant Thomas Carroll’s gravestone at Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) © Simon Johnson
29A. Commonwealth War Graves Commission certificate in memory of Sergeant Thomas Carroll © Commonwealth War Graves Commission
29B. Photograph of Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) © The War Graves Photographic Project www.twgpp.org
30. Photograph of Hohenzollern Redoubt © Imperial War Museum
31A. Details from the medical record for James Carroll © Forces War Records
31B. Further details from the medical record for James Carroll © Forces War Records
32A. Report from the 30 October 1915 edition of the Staffordshire Advertiser © Staffordshire Advertiser and Find My Past
32B. Report from the 30 October 1915 edition of the Staffordshire Advertiser © Staffordshire Advertiser and Find My Past
33A. Report from the 6 November 1915 edition of the Staffordshire Advertiser © Staffordshire Advertiser and Find My Past
33B. Report from the 6 November 1915 edition of the Staffordshire Advertiser © Staffordshire Advertiser and Find My Past
34. First page of the WW1 Pension record card for James Carroll © UK WWI Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923, Ancestry and Fold3
35.   John Carroll’s medal card © Ancestry and Fold3
36. Extract from the First World War Service Medal and Award Rolls, including the entry for John Carroll © Ancestry
37A. Extract from the WW1 Pension record card for John Carroll © UK WWI Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923, Ancestry and Fold3
37B. Second extract from the WW1 Pension record card for John Carroll © UK WWI Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923, Ancestry and Fold3
38. Details from the medical record for John Carroll © Forces War Records
39. Partially redacted entry in the 1939 census showing Ethel Lily Carroll and three of her children living at 12 Upper Cross Road, Rugeley © Find My Past
40A. Extract from the WW1 Pension record card for Joseph Carroll © UK WWI Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923, Ancestry and Fold3
40B. Second extract from the WW1 Pension record card for Joseph Carroll © UK WWI Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923, Ancestry and Fold3
41. Details from the medical record for Joseph Carroll © Forces War Records
42A.   Joseph Carroll’s medal card © Ancestry and Fold3
42B. Extract from the First World War Service Medal and Award Rolls, including the entry for Joseph Carroll © Ancestry
43. Photograph of Sergeant Joseph Carroll at Catterick Camp in 1916 © Jacqueline Fitzpatrick
44A. Details from the medical record for Albert Carroll © Forces War Records
44B. Details from the medical record for Albert Carroll © Forces War Records
44C. Details from the medical record for Albert Carroll © Forces War Records
45A. Extract from the 4 August 1916 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
5B. Extract from the 18 August 1916 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
46A.   John Carroll’s medal card © Ancestry and Fold3
46B. Extract from the First World War Service Medal and Award Rolls, including the entry for John Carroll © Ancestry
47. Extract from the 29 November 1912 edition of the Lichfield Mercury © Lichfield Mercury and Find My Past
48. Extract from the 1939, the census showing Frank Carroll and his family living at 7 Upper Cross Road in Rugeley © Ancestry
49. Extract from the 1939, the census showing William Carroll and his family living at 16 Jubilee Street in Rugeley © Ancestry
50A. Photograph of William Carroll © Jacqueline Fitzpatrick
50B. Photograph of Florence Carroll © Jacqueline Fitzpatrick