Pte 52871 John Maxwell

• Age: 28
• From: Southport, Lancs
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 12th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

John Maxwell was born the 18th September, 1888 in Southport and baptised on 11th November, 1888 at St Paul’s C. of E. Church, Southport. He was the son of John Maxwell and his wife Harriet (nee Todd). His father, born in Kirkudbrightshire, Scotland, and his mother, from Southport, married in 1884 at St Luke, Southport and had six children.  John had older sisters Janet Ellen C., born in 1885 and Edith Harriet 1887 (who died in infancy), and younger siblings Gordon 1890, Harriet 1893, and Gwendolyn, born in 1899.  

At the time of the 1891 census the family is living at 38 Hope Street, Southport.

His father is a tailor, both his parents are 30 years old, Janet is 5, John 2, and Gordon 1 year old.  Also in the household are his widowed maternal grandmother Ellen Todd, 56, and his uncle William Todd, 14.

By 1901 they have moved next door to No. 40 Hope Street and have five children. His father aged 40, is employed as a tailor, and his mother aged 40, is a dressmaker working on her own account, children Jane Ellen 15, John 12, Gordon 11, Harriet 8, and Gwendolyn 1. 

John married Maria Fluke at St Andrew’s Church on 25^th December, 1910. Both the bride and groom were aged 22. John’s father was recorded as a tailor and Maria’a father, Robert (deceased) had been a gold refiner.  

The 1911 Census shows John and his wife living at 76 Eastbank Street, Southport. The head of the household is Edward Marshall aged 40, born 1871, occupation boot finisher who had married Maria’s mother Mary now aged 48, born 1863 and was assisting in the business, and she had been born in Cradley Heath, Staffordshire. John, a gentlemen’s tailor, and Maria who was a woman’s tailoress lived at the address along with Henry Fluke, aged 21, born 1890 occupation boot repairer, Rosannah Fluke, aged 16, born 1895, occupation tailoress, Robert Marshall, aged 13, born 1898, Elizabeth Marshall aged 11 born 1900 and Florence Marshall aged 9, born 1902, all still at school. Also at the address was a lodger Ellen Brookfield, aged 72, born 1839.

His parents, with Gordon, 21, Harriet, 18, and Gwendolyn, 11, are living at 17 Hope Street.

His daughter Marjorie was born on 02nd September 1913.

He enlisted in Bootle, Liverpool. The amount of the War Gratuity suggests that he served for no more than one year before he was killed.

John was serving in the 17th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 52871 when he was killed in action on the 12th October 1916, aged 28, 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.”

Maxwell—Killed in action October 12^th, 1916, Aged 28, Pte. John Maxwell,

Could I have raised his dying head,

Or heard his last farewell,

The grief would not have been so hard,

For one who loved him well,

From his heartbroken wife and child.

His death was reported in the Southport Visiter on 24th October 1916:

The sad news was received on Sunday by M Maxwell, of 76 Eastbank street, Southport, that her husband Private. John Maxwell of the Kings (Liverpool Regiment) had been killed in action. The information was contained in a letter from Private George Robinson, a local lad, dated October 14th, in which it was stated  stated that Maxwell was "shot through the heartthree days ago" "We were in the front line," continues the writer , "and it will be some consolation to you to know that death was instantaneous and that he did not suffer at all. We all admired his cheerful spirit. He died nobly, doing his duty.Please accept the sympathy of all his comrades here."
The deceased soldier who was the eldest son of Mr & Mrs Maxwell, Virginia street, was in business in the town as a tailor, previous to joining the forces in April last, and had only been on active service three months. He was 28 years of age, and a member of the local R.A.O.B. Much sympathy will be felt for his wife and child.  

Liverpool Daily Post on 30th Oct 1916. 

SOUTHPORT CASUALTIES. 

Official intimation has been received that Private Maxwell. K.L.R., 76 East Bank-street, and Private Isaac Halsall, K.L.R., 5 King Street have been killed. 

John has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, 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.”

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 01^st 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 Southport Civic Memorial and Holy Trinity C. of E. Church and St Andrew’s C. of E. Church, Southport.

Maria, living at 76 Eastbank Street, received his Army pay and a War Gratuity of £3, and was awarded a pension of 18/9d from April 1917, subsequently changed to an Alternative Pension of £1-15s from June 1918.

His father appears to have died in 1936 aged 75, and his mother in 1937 aged 76.

In 1939 Maria, 51, a “war pensioner”, is living at 58 Cypress Road in Southport with married daughter Marjorie, 26, and her husband. Maria died in 1973, at the age of 84. His daughter Marjorie lived until 2003, dying at age 90.

We currently have no further information on John Maxwell, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.