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Roll of Honour - First Leek Casualties
Written and Researched by C.W.Sheldon
Published by Three Counties Publishing (Books) Ltd
Retail: £15.95
To purchase this publication please write to:
TCP (Books) Ltd
P.O. Box 435,
Leek
Staffordshire
ST13 5TB
United Kingdom
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The first Leek Casualties
"How noble the aim, how different the reality"
Following a plan drawn up in 1905 by Count von Schlieffen, the then Chief of the German General Staff, the Germans marched
through Belgium and into northern France with the intention of encircling Paris and forcing the French to surrender within
six weeks. That would allow time for troops to be transferred back to the Russian frontier to face the threat there. Several
things happened, however, to disrupt the plan and slow the Germans down. The Belgiums were not such an easy walk-over as
expected and the invaders were seriously delayed by the unexpected resistance. The Russians reached the eastern frontier far
quicker than anticipated and the small but highly-trained British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had arrived on Belgium soil.
27 year old Private Edward Merriman, a former footballer with Leek Alexandra, was a regular soldier with the 2nd Battalion,
Royal Irish Regiment. He was single, one of five children and lived with one of his brothers and sister-in-law at 14
Ashbourne Road, near to the Coffee Tavern. His parents came to live in Leek from their native Ireland when their children
were small, making their home in Talbot passage. As Ted Merriman and his comrades arrived at the Belgian mining town of Mons
on the night of 22nd August 1914, they were halted by their officers. Rumours were rife about German troops advancing in
large numbers and there was talk about the BEF being cut off. There had been minor skirmishes between British and German
troops that day, when the first British shots of the war were fired, and a large attack was expected the next day. Little
did Ted Merriman know that this night would be his las and that he would be the first of over 400 Leek men to die for his
country.
On the morning of 23rd August, the two sides collided in what became known as the Battle of Mons. At first, the BEF held its
own against superior German forces but was soon forced to retreat to keep in line with French forces on either side which
were falling back towards Paris. But the Germans had had a shock. The German Kaiser had called the BEF a "contemptible
little army" (hence the phrase: 'Old Contemptibles'), but not reckoned with its rate of fire and accuracy with the rifle.
German soldiers at Mons thought they were actually facing machine gun fire. At the end of the days battle at least 5000 of
the enemy were killed, wounded or missing. The cost to the BEF was also high, some 1600 casualties. Amongst those killed
was Private Merriman. his body was never found after the war and he is commemorated on the Le Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial
on the banks of the River Marne, 50 miles east of Paris. He has a number of relatives still living in Leek. One of these is
a niece who was born just three days after Ted was killed. Another is Keith Harrison, a Moorlands Councillor, Chairman of
the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council in 2002 and town Mayor in 2003. He is a great-nephew of Ted Merrimans, as was
his brother, the late Geoff harrison.
The next major battle with the Germans took place at Le Cateau, France on 26th August, as the BEF retreated. The British
decided to make a stand here but despite their brave defiance, were forced to continue the retreat. During the fighting,
which resulted in nearly 8000 soldiers of the BEF becoming casualties (including some 2000 taken prisoner), the second
Leek soldier fell in action. Corporal George Henry Graham, like Ted Merriman, was in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish
Regiment. He came from 43 Parker Street and was killed whilst his unit defended the orderly retreat of other units of the
BEF from the battlefield. George was also a regular soldier and, whilst serving in Guernsey, Channel Islands, before the
war, met the lady who was to become his wife. She was expecting his child when he was killed. Corporal Graham is buried in
the Bethencourt Communal Cemetery near Le Cateau.
The third Leek man to die during this first month of the war was Warrant Officer John Edward Walker. He was 36 and died at
Shorncliffe Hospital in Kent on 29th August. He was serving in the Royal Garrison Artillery but attached to the Royal Corps
of Schoolmasters. it is thought that warrant office Walker died of illness. He was a married man and lived at 19 Shoobridge
Street, Leek. His grave is in Dover Cemetery.
As the BEF and French forces continued their retreat towards Paris the Germans gave chase. The Schliffen Plan, however, was
now in ruins. The French capital would never be reached in time. In a decisive battle, the Allied armies stood and fought on
the banks of the River Marne in early September. The Germans, exhausted by weeks of fighting, retreated to the River Aisne
and made a stand there. The troops of the opposing forces dug the first trenches on 16th September, little knowing that
most of them would be spending the next four years in 'holes' in the ground. Private James Drury from 7 Pickwood Road, Leek,
was one of these men. Serving with the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, he had landed in France on 12th August,
a week after war broke out and marched many miles on the retreat from Mons towards Paris. As Jim Drury and his friends manned
their new trenches, the Germans made determined attacks on the British lines. There were casualties on both sides and
Private Drury was one of them. He died of his wounds on 20th September, 1914 and is buried at Braine Communal Cemetery
where there are some 80 British graves from the First World War.
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