Pte 52186 Thomas Alexander Sawer

At the time of the 1901 census the family is found at 46 & 48 Tintern Street, Salford. This seems to be the address of his father’s business as well as the the family’s home, as his father is a grocer/shopkeeper working on his own account at home.  They have four children; John aged 6, Elizabeth aged 5, Thomas is 4 years old, and Mary just 1 month old. 

In 1911 they are living at the same premises. His father is 44, a grocer working on his own account, his mother is 40, they advised that they had been married for 21 years, and had 5 children, 4 of whom have survived; John, 16, is a plumber’s apprentice, and Thomas, 14, Elizabeth, 12, and Mary, 10, are at school.

His father died on the 22nd November 1916, at the age of 50. 

His death was reported in the Manchester Evening News on Thursday 23 November 1916: 

SAWER—On the 22nd inst., JOSEPH BUXTON, the beloved husband of Elizabeth SAWER, aged 50 years, at 32, Taylorson-street, Salford. Inter St Paul’s, Kersal, Monday, Nov. 27, at 3 o'clock.   

Thomas enlisted in Manchester and originally served as Private 3280, in the Manchester Regiment. Based on the amount of the War Gratuity, Thomas served for about 34 months, enlisting not long after war was declared.  He would have been 17 or 18 years old.  SDGW gives his Manchester Regiment number as 3280, which was one of a series issued in August or September 1914 to men joining Depot, 11th, 12th and 13th Bns. However, a 1914-1915 Star medal roll has not been found, suggesting that he did not arrive in France until 1916. (Perhaps his true age was revealed and he was not sent overseas until he turned 19.)  The Medal Roll shows service overseas with the K.L.R. only.

Following a transfer he was serving in the 19th Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 52186 when he was killed in action on the 18th October 1916 aged 21 during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive.

19th Bn Diary  

18^th October 1916

Zero hour for attack 3.40am. The 21^st Brigade attacked on our left, the Battalion immediately on our left being the 2^nd Battn. Yorkshire Regiment, to whom 2^nd Lieut Rendell was sent as Liaison Officer. The 12^th Division attacked on the right, the Battalion immediately on our right being the 5^th Battalion Royal Berks Regiment, from whom Lieut Debono was sent to us as Liaison Officer .  Advances were made on the far right and far left of the attack, but the Brigades immediately on our left and right were held up. The Battalion was not called upon to advance, merely to hold its position. Two tanks went into action, one got into the German trenches, remaining there for about 25 minutes, killing many Germans and causing many others to run away. Casualties 4 O.R. killed and 4 O.R. wounded. Late in the evening orders were received for the Battalion to take over a portion of the line held by the 21^st Infantry Brigade, and No.1 Company, under Captain Dodd, was brought up to effect this, his Company being relieved at Factory Corner by 2 Companies of the 20^th Battn K.L.R.        

Thomas was buried close to where he fell and his grave marked with a cross.  The CWGC Graves Registration form shows F. A. Sawyer date of death 11th October 1916. After the war when graves were concentrated, he was correctly identified, and his initial, surname, and date of death amended.

He now rests at Caterpillar Valley, Cemetery, Longueval, France.

Caterpillar Valley was the name given by the army to the long valley which ran west to east, past "Caterpillar Wood", to the high ground at Guillemont.  Caterpillar Valley was captured during a successful night assault on 14th July 1916.  It was lost in the German advance of March 1918 and recovered on 28th August 1918, when a little cemetery was made (now Plot 1 of the cemetery) containing 25 graves. After the Armistice, this cemetery was hugely increased when the graves of more than 5,500 officers and men were brought in from other small cemeteries, and the battlefields of the Somme. The great majority of these soldiers died in the autumn of 1916.

His death was not officially recorded until September 1917:  

Weekly Casualty List Tuesday 11th Sept 1917 

Previously reported wounded and missing, now reported 

KILLED. 

King’s(Liverpool Regiment) - Sawer, 52186, T. A. (Salford);   

His mother Elizabeth received his Army pay and a War Gratuity of £8.  The pension card, giving her address as 32 Taylorson Street, Salford, shows that she was awarded a pension of 4/- a week from August 1917, increased to 5/- in November 1918.  An entry on the card notes, “increase refused”; however, the pension was increased to 10/- in March 1923 for one year. 

His mother appears to have emigrated to Canada in June 1923 (possibly to join one of her daughters), her address on the pension card c/o Mrs. Taylor, 15 Southgate Street, London, Ontario. 

His elder brother John enlisted in the Army in January 1916 and transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in December 1917 then served with the R.A.F.  until he was discharged in April 1920.  He also emigrated to Canada, in 1929 with his family.

His mother died in Sarnia, Ontario, in 1929.

Thomas has not been found on any local memorial.

He is commemorated on the Fallen Men of Broughton online site.