Remembrance: The players we lost at War
Saturday’s home game against West Brom took place on the 105th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the First World War.
To mark the occasion, a modest pre-match ceremony was held at the club’s plaque honouring the fallen Saints of two World Wars. If you’ve never seen the plaque (pictured above), it’s on the Itchen side of the stadium, near the Saints Store.
Ours is not the only club to have erected such a plaque but we know of no other club that invites a descendant of one of the named heroes to an exclusive commemoration on the matchday nearest to Armistice Day.
Yesterday’s descendant of the day was Roy Rogers, great-nephew of Harold Bamford, who died of his wounds in November 1915. Roy was accompanied by two younger generations, including his teenage grandson, Oliver Hayward, who played the Last Post at the plaque.
The first two Saints to be killed are both commemorated at this Memorial to the Missing in Ploegsteert, Belgium.
Listed below are all the names of former Saints who perished during the First and Second World Wars. We will remember them.
18 OCT 1914 JOSEPH THOMAS BEGLEY McGOWRAN
19 DEC 1914 FREDERICK COSTELLO
02 JUN 1915 WALTER ROBERT FAIRGRIEVE
27 SEP 1915 WILLIAM THOMAS BRACKENBOROUGH
26 NOV 1915 HAROLD WALLEY BAMFORD
07 DEC 1915 CHARLES IRELAND
01 JUL 1916 STANLEY THOMAS ARTHUR NEIL
01 JUL 1916 RALPH MOTSON THOMPSON
07 SEP 1916 EDWIN CECIL RUSSELL CHRISTMAS
12 SEP 1916 WILLIAM DURHAM
21 SEP 1916 ALEXANDER GLEN
18 NOV 1916 WILLIAM JOHN GRAY
21 NOV 1916 JOHN McFEAT
24 JAN 1917 ANDREW BENJAMIN PRICE
28 MAR 1917 MARK WILLIE FRY
30 APR 1917 HARRISON EKE
02 MAY 1917 WILFRED TOMAN
03 MAY 1917 WILLIAM GEORGE
21 AUG 1917 OWEN RICHARD THOMAS
18 SEP 1917 WILLIAM BEGG McDONALD
05 NOV 1917 HARRY HUNTER
20 NOV 1917 TOM HARGREAVES
02 JAN 1918 FREDERICK WILLIAM WHEELER
24 MAR 1918 EDWARD INKERMAN JORDAN BELL
27 MAR 1918 ERIC FITZ GEORGE WILLIS
08 AUG 1918 SAMUEL HARTNELL
27 SEP 1918 JOSEPH DINES
09 OCT 1918 JAMES QUINN
13 OCT 1918 FRANK MILLWARD NEWELL
24 NOV 1918 JOHN ROBERT SIBLEY
05 DEC 1918 ALBERT CHARLES PASSMORE
18 MAR 1921 DAVID AUGUSTUS COLEMAN
26 MAY 1940 WILLIAM WALTER CLAUDE JOHNSON
01 NOV 1940 EDWIN JAMES BUSHELL
22 MAY 1941 NORMAN JOHN CATLIN
16 JUN 1943 ALASTAIR KEYON CAMPBELL
27 AUG 1943 TERENCE MURRAY MCSWEENY
20 OCT 1943 DENNIS WALTER ANGELL
18 SEP 1944 SIDNEY FREDERICK CAMPBELL GUERAN
27 FEB 1945 CHARLES THOMAS SILLETT
29 APR 1945 JOSEPH ERIC BENNETT
09 OCT 1945 ALBERT EDWARD BONASS
Information gathered from SAINTS AT WAR, an upcoming book compiled by the Southampton FC historians and their press-ganged assistants, details of which can be found at Hagiology Publishing. Special thanks to Gary Chalk and David Bull.
