Pte 51915 Joseph Henry Madden

Joseph Henry Madden was born in the March quarter of 1890, the youngest son of Thomas Madden and Eliza (née Essery).  Thomas was born in Liverpool and Eliza in Barnstaple, Devon; they married 19^th February 1871 at Walton –On-The-Hill, Liverpool. They  had twelve children, three of whom died young.  Eliza Mary was born in 1871, and another child in 1873 (who appears to have died young as she does not appear on any census).  The next child, Thomas Ralph, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1876. It is not known how or why the parents travelled to Russia, but by 1878 they have returned to Liverpool, where the rest of their children were born:   Elizabeth Louisa in 1878, Florence Amy 1880, Frederick Arthur 1885, George 1886, Edith Alice 1889, Joseph Henry 1890, and Adelaide May in 1892.  

In 1891 the family is living at 25 Rennie Street, Kirkdale, with eight children.  His father is a tinsmith. Joseph is 1 year old. 

By 1901 they have moved to 72 Burleigh Road South, Everton.  His father works for a rubber manufacturer. There are seven children in the household; Joseph is 11.  Also in the household is his widowed grandfather Richard Essery, 75. 

They are still at 72 Burleigh Road South in 1911.  His father Thomas, 67, is a tinsmith for a rubber shoe manufacturer, his mother Eliza is 59, George, 24, is a telegraphist for the Canal Company, Edith is 22, no occupation, Joseph, 21, is a butcher, and Adelaide, 18, is a machinist for a rubber shoe manufacturer.  

His father died later in 1911.   

Although his military record has not survived, we do know that Joseph enlisted in Liverpool, and was serving in the 17th Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 51915 when he was killed in action on the 12th October 1916 aged 26 during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive. 

17^th Bn War Diary:  Battle of Transloy Ridge –                                               

11-10-16 - Gird Trench/Gird Support – Battalion in front line and support trenches. British bombardment of enemy front line system commenced about midday.  Hostile shelling was intermittent throughout the day.

12-10-16  - Our bombardment continued. Enemy reply weak.  2.5 p.m. Zero hour. Attack on German front line system commenced.  Enemy wire was found to be uncut and attack was unsuccessful.  Hostile machine gun fire was very heavy and caused many casualties. Battalion H.Q. and Support Trench were heavily shelled throughout afternoon and evening. […] During this action all communication had to be carried out by runners and carrier pigeons as all wires were being continually cut by enemy shelling.

Casualties: 5 officers killed,  5 officers wounded, 38 OR killed, about 225 OR wounded/missing etc.

Graham Maddocks, in “Liverpool Pals” p.140, adds: “As the whistle blew, the 17^th Battalion left its trenches to move forward.  […]  As soon as the attacking waves left their trenches the enemy artillery began to register on them, and at the same time, the defending infantry commenced a murderous rain of fire.  […]  Although their numbers had been depleted by the British bombardment, they were trained and experienced soldiers, well dug in on high ground, and for the most part, looking out on uncut wire.  As such, it was virtually impossible for them to miss the City Battalion men struggling to advance in the mud towards them.   The 17^th Battalion, on the left, was particularly badly hit, as its portion of No Man’s Land contained a slight rise in the ground, and as the troops emerged onto it they were silhouetted against the sky and became easy targets.  Those on the left of the attack, who managed to avoid the hail of bullets and make it to the German wire, then found that it was totally uncut, and thus trapped, they too became easy targets, to be picked off almost at the enemy’s will.  It was hardly surprising that, seeing the first waves being wiped out, some of the following waves turned back and made for their start lines. These lines were now packed with other waves of troops, however, and the fleeing men added to the congestion already there, and became easy prey for the German gunners.  There is some evidence also, to suggest that at this stage, the British trenches were also being hit by their own heavy artillery shells which were falling short.”

Joseph Henry has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, France.

The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.

On 01st August 1932 the Prince of Wales and the President of France inaugurated the Thiepval Memorial in Picardy. The inscription reads: “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.”

He is also remembered on St Cuthbert’s C. of E. Church, Everton.

We currently have no further information on Joseph Henry Madden, if you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.