THE Townend family were among the many Barnsley families who suffered immense and tragic losses during the First World War a century ago.
Two brothers were killed at the Somme and another brother was captured in Holland. Two cousins in the family were also killed.
Edward Townend, 71, born in Barnsley but who today lives in Darlington, has prepared a detailed booklet outlining his family’s tragic history - including that of his grandfather and uncle - the two brothers killed.
The brothers’ parents were Joss Townend, a carpet weaver, who was 27 when he married 23-year-old Alice Exley in June 1879. They had 11 children in all, but one was killed in a pit accident, three died in infancy, and two were killed in the Great War.
They were Fred Blackburn Townend, Edward’s grandfather, and George Henry Townend.
Fred had been working at Church Lane Pit in Dodworth, and had married a Barnsley girl, Alice, in 1901. They were living at Higham in 1911, and had seven children before he enlisted in 1914 - three died in infancy.
Fred was 34 when he enlisted and lived at New Street, Dodworth, and joined the 13th York and Lancaster Regiment - known as the 1st Barnsley Pals.
In December 1915 he set sail for Egypt where he played a part in strengthening the Suez Canal defences until the end of February 1916.
Then he headed to France where his division engaged in various actions on the Western Front including the Battle of Albert and the Battle of the Ancre.
Many of Fred’s battalion were miners, and they were attached to the Royal Engineers as a mining battalion. They had to tunnel under the German lines near Serre, in preparation for the Battle of the Somme.
Defending Beaumont Hamel was the Germans’ deep dugouts and trenches called Hawthorn Redoubt. This would have to be taken out before any attack over no man’s land could take place. The plan was to mine under it, place explosives, and blow it up from underneath.
But the Germans had similar ideas and often miners would break through into each others’ tunnels. Often the Germans would hear British tunnelling from their own tunnel and decide to blow up the tunnel there and then to kill the British tunnellers.
“It is our family’s theory that this could be how Fred met his end as he would most definitely have been engaged in this mining activity,” said Edward.
Both Barnsley Pals battalions had taken part in the attack on Serre on the first day of the Somme, July 1 1916. It was started with the famous explosion of the Hawthorn Redoubt at Beaumont Hamel which was filmed and the crater of which is still there to this day.
“Fred maybe had a part in mining this tunnel,” he said.
But Fred had been killed before the main carnage of that battle erupted. He died on June 17 in the Mailly Maillet area, along with two other miners as they were tunnelling. A shell landed above them and exploded. The tunnel collapsed and Fred and his two fellow soldiers were killed instantly.
He was 35 and has no known grave. He is remembered on Pier and Face 14A and 14B on the Theipval Memorial, France, and Dodworth war memorial. He was killed just two days after brother, George Henry had arrived in France.
George Henry, 19, was killed two months later, and just four miles away from where his older brother had fallen. He is remembered on Pier and Face 6A and 6B on the Theipval Memorial and the Heckmondwike war memorial where he was born.
