Private 18001 Harry ROLLINS

South Warwickshire Family History Society War Memorial Transcription Project

The Fallen Men of South Warwickshire - World War One

Private 18001 Harry ROLLINS - 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment

1s
Killed in Action on Wednesday April 11th 1917 aged 36

Military History


Theatre of War	Medals	Commonwealth War Grave or Memorial
France and Flanders	British War & Victory Medals	Arras Memorial

Arrived in Theatre	Medal Citation (if app)	SWFHS Area Memorials
After April 1916	~	Snitterfield

Action, Battle or Other Reason Killed	Date and Place Enlisted	Other War Memorials
First Battle of the Scarpe (Arras)	March 1916 at Sutton Coldfielf

Place of Death	Previous Regiments or Units
nr Plouvain	~

Circumstances of Death

Harry is listed as being killed in action on 11 Apr 1917, however he was originally reported missed and his death was not accepted for some and not before the family had written to the Red Cross to establish if he was being held as a Prisoner of War. The Battalion war diary for the 11 Apr 1917 is transcribed below along with a passage from The History of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

War Diary

Dug Outs S of Athies 11th April 1917:

2.30am: Conference held at Brigade HQ and orders issued that 10th Brigade will attack at 12noon. Operation Orders attached.

8.30am: Battalion moved off to W of Fampoux and arrived 10am

11.20am: Battalion moved up to Assembly position on Sunken Road, on E edge of Fampoux and arrived at 12 noon. A & C Coys attack on 2 Coy frontage of 500x [yards] per Coy and B Coy follows in rear as carriers.

12 noon: Attack commenced and the 1st R Irish Fus and 2nd Seaforth Highlanders start going forward.

12.10pm: A & C Coys followed by B Coy follow these battalions our Battalion supporting the 1st R Irish Fus. The enemy shelled our Assembly Positions heavily and we had many casualties before starting. The enemy's Machine Gun fire held up our attack almost from the start and the Brigade consolidated a line about 400x in front of Assembly Position.

Both Brigades on our right and left were held up also by M/Gun fire. Enemy put up a heavy barrage on Assembly Positions and vicinity. Battalion dug in and held a line from Huddle Trench at H.18.a.0.9 to H.18.b.1.3. with Seaforth Highlanders on left and 1st R Irish Fus on right.

Enemy fairly quiet at night. Very cold and snow.

Casualties: Killed 2 Officers and 33 Other Ranks; Wounded 5 Officers and 150 Other Ranks; Missing 1 Officer and 29 Other ranks.
Total loss 8 Officers and 212 other ranks.

Extract from The History of the Royal Warwickshire Regt

The following is an extract from the Story of the Warwickshire Regiment by C.L. KINGSFORD

On 11 Apr 1917 the 1st Battalion were in the lines at Fampoux and were ordered to attack Plouvain in support of Royal Irish Fusilers whilst the Household Battalion attacked towards Greenland Hill on their left. There were many casualties from shell-fire before starting and the attack was almost at once checked by the enemy's machine-guns. The 1st Battalion had advanced till they found the leading battalion held up. Then, since the fire from the Chemical Works and Railway Embankment (see below) made further progress impossible Major Sir G. Lacon (who was in command that day) ordered a line to be consolidated and at nightfall had established his battalion with the Royal Irish Fusiliers on the right and Household Battalion on the left.

The failure to achieve more was due partly to the fact that the brigade has been practically in the view of the enemy as it came up to the assembly and partly due to the heavy barrage which the Germans at once put down. The battalion remained in their advanced position till April 13th and were in support for a week longer. The losses from the 9th to 20th April were 50 killed, including Colin and 213 wounded or missing.

Trench Map

Map Courtesy of www.tMapper.com

Personal & Family History

Birth Date/Place	Baptism Date/Place
1 May 1877 at Snitterfield	24 Jun 1877 at Snitterfield

Parents Names	Abode
Charles and Catherine Rollins nee Goode	Snitterfield

Wife	Marriage Details
Mary Jane Rollins, a widow, formerly Morris nee Burt	Jul Qtr 1916 at Tamworth

Schools	Colleges
Snitterfield Council School 1884 to 1899	~

Address History	Employment History
1877 - Shakespeare Cottages, Park Lane, Snitterfield	1881 - Scholar
1881 - Wolverton Road, Snitterfield	1891 - Garden Boy
1891 - Shalford Road, Sherbourne, Warwick (servant)	1901 - Coachman
1901 - Stoney Lane, Yardley, Worcs	1911 - Domestic Groom
1911 - Canwell Hall, Sutton Coldfield (servant)	1915 - Coachman for Philip Staveley Foster MP (Stratford)
1915 - Sutton Coldfield

Harry married Mary Jane in the Jul-Sep Qtr 1916 at Tamworth. Mary's tale is a sad one. She was born to Frank and Ann Mary Burt in 1882 and in 1900 she married Herbert Morris, a blacksmith, in Sutton Coldfield.
They had one child who died at a young age.
Husband Herbert died during the Apr-Jun Qtr 1911, apparently committing suicide
Mary then married Harry in 1916 and about 1 year later at age 35 was widowed for the 2nd time when Harry was killed.

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