SETCHELL, Charles
No. 202872, Private, Charles Valentine SETCHELL
Aged 22
11th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment
Formerly 6318, Suffolk Regiment
Killed in Action between Tuesday 9th and Friday 19th April, 1918
|
Born in Q1-1896 in Stetchworth [Newmarket 3b:494], son of John Herbert and Emily SETCHELL (née STALLEY). 1901 census...At the Bell Inn, London Road,Hemel Hempstead were Charles [5], with his father John H [39] publican born Stetchworth, his mother Emily [38] born Mepal, and his sister Alice E [13] and brothers Alfred [11] and Henry [9]. All the children were born in Stetchworth 1911 census...His father had died in Hemel Hemstead on 13th April 1904 and the family had moved to Stetchworth living with his uncle Henry STALLEY and aunt Ann at Hall Farm. The family there was Charles with his widowed mother, with uncle and aunt Henry and Ann STALLEY. About the time of his death his mother was living at 2 Victoria Terrace, Lacey's Lane, Exning. "Soldiers Died" gives the date of his death as 19th April 1918, but officially it is not exactly known. |
|
In April 1918 the 11th Suffolks (often referred to as the "Cambridgeshires") were at La Rolanderie with the 12th Suffolks nearby at Fluerbaix. On the 9th
the Germans opened in intensive barrage south of the Lille railway but no attack developed along the 34th Division front. 101st Brigade ( of which 11th Suffolks were
part) set off as Corps Reserves to the south of Bac St Maur. An hour later news came that the Germans had broken through the Portuguese front and were
entering the 40th Division zone. With that, the 101st Brigade were ordered to cover the flank, but they found Bac St Maur occupied by the Germans and took up
position facing west and south west near Fort Rompu and began fighting immediately. A strange occurence when the Corps Reserve were actually the first to
engage the enemy. Terrific fighting followed and on the 10th the Suffolks formed a defensive flank, beating off attack after attack. Twice the Germans broke
through and twice were thrown back. At 3:20 pm they were ordered to withdraw to behind the River Lys. The struggle continued until on the night of 17th/18th
when they were relieved, moving back first into reserve trenches and three days later back to Boeschepe. These battles of the Lys cost the battalion nearly 500 casualties, CWGC figures give 116 dead. Most of these were on the 9th but it is highly likely that the 19th April with 28 killed was the first proper head count after the battle. Joseph TROWSDALE was another Exning man that died in that period, on the 11th April but he was with the 12th Battalion who suffered similar losses to the 11th. The Ploegsteert Memorial commemorates over 11,000 who have no known grave from the southern border of Belgium to the northen edge of France in the Lille, Armentieres and Lens area. Charles' entry in "Our Exning Heroes" reads as follows: Setchell, C. 11th Suffolks Charles Setchell was born at the Marquis of Granby Hotel, Stetchworth, on February 14th, 1897. He was educated at Stetchworth School and afterwards removed to Soham, where for about a year he was in the employ of Mr. Morley. For two years he was a billiard marker and waiter at the White Hart, Newmarket, and when the war broke out he worked in the ammunition factory at Stowmarket. He joined up in 1916, and was trained at Ipswich. He was reported missing in April, 1918, and nothing has been heard of him since. We give an extract from his last letter home: "We took a trench - well, a part of one, Fritz is in one part and we are in the other - so we have to keep a good look-out, we see him at work at night quite plainly." He was only five years old when his father died, and his mother is now living in Lacey's Lane with her father, Mr. Stalley. |
click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details