Pte 25828 Thomas Cooper

• Age: 25
• From: Ellesmere Port, Cheshire
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Wednesday 18th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

Thomas Cooper was born on the 25^th January 1891 in Ellesmere Port and was baptised on the 29^th March, 1891 at Ellesmere Port. He was the son of William Cooper and his wife Mary (nee Brown), who married in 1870 at St John's Church, Chester.   

On the 1891 Census the family are living at 96 Worcester Street, Ellesmere Port. His father, William, is a 44 year old warehouse labourer born in Ledsham, Ellesmere Port, his mother Mary is also aged 44 and was born  in Sutton, Ellesmere Port. They have seven children in the household; John aged 20 is a labourer born in Sutton, Lucy is an 11 year old scholar born in Sutton, Joseph is a scholar aged 10 born in Sutton, Emma aged 8 is also a scholar born in Sutton, Martha is aged 5 and a scholar born in Ellesmere Port, Mary aged 3 was born in Ellesmere Port and Thomas aged 2 months was also born in Ellesmere Port. 

At the time of the 1901 Census the family are living at 51 Queen Street, Ellesmere Port. His father, William is a 53 year old chip potato peeler now recorded as being born in Capenhurst, his mother, Mary, is also 53 but now shows as born in Hooton. They have four children in the household; Emma 18 b.Hooton, Martha 15 b.Hooton, Mary 13 b.Ellesmere Port and Thomas 10 b.Ellesmere Port. 

The 1911 Census shows the family living at 51 Queen Street, Ellesmere Port. His father William is aged 64, born 1847 and is a Farm Labourer and was born in Leadsham, Cheshire. His wife Mary is aged 64, born 1847 in Little Sutton, Cheshire. They have two children, Thomas aged 20, born 1891 and occupation Iron worker Sheet Mills, and Mary aged 23, born 1888 who is married to George Crow who is aged 25, born 1886 in Birmingham and is also an Iron Worker and they have two children.

Thomas married 23 year old Florrie Bailey (father Eli) on 21st February 1914 at Christ Church, Ellesmere Port. They had a son, Victor, born on 16th May 1915. 

The Chester Chronicle on Saturday 30 January 1915 gave details of Thomas' recruitment in the army: 

RECRUITING.—Ellesmere Port district continues to send its quota to the fighting forces, and recruiting has been kept up during the week for the various units, the following being amongst those who have enlisted: — Thomas Cooper, Liverpool Regiment; 

He was serving in the 18th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 25828 when he was killed in action on the 18th October 1916 aged 25 during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive.

18^th Bn Diary

18^th October 1916

Attacked German trenches commencing 3.40 am. Relieved by 19^th Manchester Regt. Took up position in support Bn trenches W. of Goose Alley.

Graham Maddocks in his book Liverpool Pals gives an overview of the events of the day:

“At 3.40 am the whistles blew, and the Battalion left its assembly trenches, in three waves, approximately fifty yards apart, and began to cross No Man’s Land. Almost immediately, the German Barrage fell on the first wave and halted its advance, so that the second wave soon caught up with it. This was not a great problem at first, and the two combined waves were able to advance together for about 300 yards, whereupon they encountered the German Grid Trench system. On the right of the advance, it was found that the wire was largely intact, apart from a few gaps, and the Germans bombed and machine gunned these gaps, which prevented any further progress. Elsewhere along the trench, however, the wire was cut and there did not seem to be any serious opposition. Nevertheless, the men hesitated to jump down into the German trenches, and instead, began to filter back across to the safety of their own lines.

By this time the third wave had caught up, as had a fourth wave, which had been detailed to mop up any opposition once the trenches had fallen, and all four waves became intermingled which added to the confusion. No less than three attempts were made to try to get the men to go forward again, but each attempt became markedly less successful than its predecessor, and eventually the attack came to a standstill. Although the British assembly trenches had received the attention of the German guns, the attackers in No Mans Land had not come under any great intensity of fire up until this point.

However, once it became obvious to the Germans that the attack was disorganised and faltering, they began to fire into the massed men from the flanks. It was probably this that finally settled the issue and convinced the Pals that they could no longer gain the enemy trenches, and all four waves, now merged into one, began to retreat to their own lines. The whole attack had been an abysmal failure, and no ground had been gained at all”.            

Thomas has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in 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 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.”

Thomas is also commemorated on the family headstone and his inscription reads:

He is also commemorated on the family headstone and his inscription reads: 

THOMAS killed in action 18th Oct 1916, aged 25.  

“GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN”

Soldiers Effects to widow Florrie, Pension to Florrie and child Victor, address 16 Exeter Rd, Ellesmere Port. 

His widow, Florrie, remarried on the 05th February 1921 to Walter Price at Christ Church, Ellesmere Port. 

His mother, Mary died on the 10th June 1926, aged 78. 

His widow, Florrie, her date of birth shown as 05th December 1894, appears on the 1939 register at 10 Oxford Street, Ellesmere Port with husband Walter and children Gwendoline(1921), Marjorie(1924) and Walter(1927). She died aged 75 in 1969. 

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