Private John J WYKES
1st Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment 5843
John was born in Spratton on 23 November 1868, the son of James Wykes, a shoemaker from Spratton and his wife Mary Ann (née Boswell). They lived in Bakers Lane, Spratton until the early 1890s and then moved to Northampton. John married Caroline Blunt on 16 July 1904 when he was 36 and by 1911 when he was 43 they were living at 45 Lawrence Street, Northampton. John worked as a brickyard labourer for Northampton Corporation. They had three children: Ada Emma Caroline, Mary Elizabeth and John Charles Henry.
John had been a Reservist in the army and so enlisted as soon as war was declared and was sent overseas with the 1st Battalion, the Northamptonshire Regiment on 20 September 1914 aged 46. He was wounded in November 1914 when the regiment was engaged in heavy fighting and many men were killed. Two months later, during intense shelling of the trenches at Cuinchy, a village to the east of Béthune, the regiment was ordered to support the King’s Royal Rifles in attacking an enemy post on a railway embankment. John was killed in action on 9 January 1915. He is commemorated in the Le Touret Memorial Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France. John was awarded the 1914 Star and Clasp, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
MORE INFORMATION
Le Touret Memorial and Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France
Le Touret Memorial and Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France
Northamptonshire Regiment badge
Northamptonshire Regiment badge
EXPLORE SECTIONS
MEN WHO SERVED
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- Corporal Frank AUSTIN
- Lance Corporal James William AUSTIN
- Private John Samuel AUSTIN
- Sergeant William Henry AUSTIN
- Sergeant Bertie Henry BALDERSON
- Corporal Frederick Charles BALDERSON MM
- Lance Corporal Robert Samuel BALDERSON
- Private George William BUCKBY (known as William)
- Private Henry Andrew BUCKBY
- Richard Henry Horne BUCKBY
- Transport Sergeant Thomas BUCKBY MM
- Company Quartermaster Sergeant William Gander BUCKBY
- William Archibald COPSON (known as Archibald)
- Sapper Ebenezer COPSON
- Private Ernest Edward COPSON
- Pioneer Henry Owman COPSON (known as Harry)
- Private James COPSON
- Private John William COPSON
- Private Joseph COPSON
- Private Arthur Sidney GOODEN (known as Sidney)
- Private Hugh Henry GOODEN
- Sergeant Joseph Eric GOODEN (known as Eric)
- Private Arthur Thomas HAYTER
- Driver Frank Leonard HAYTER
- Private Harold Herbert HAYTER
- Lance Corporal John Charles HAYTER DCM (known as Jack)
- Private Walter Ernest HAYTER
- Ordinary Seaman Arthur Charles HORNE
- Private John William HORNE (known as William)
- Lance Corporal Lewis HORNE
- Private Thomas HORNE
- Driver John Henry LEESON
- Corporal Joseph Henry LEESON (known as Harry)
- Thomas Baden Powell LEESON (known as ‘Bard’)
- Private Albert MANNING
- Corporal Amos MANNING
- Private Arthur Cecil MANNING
- Private George MANNING
- Sergeant George William MANNING
- Sapper Henry Stanley MANNING (known as Stanley)
- Private John Thomas MANNING
- Private John William MANNING
- Air Mechanic Nathaniel MANNING
- Driver/Saddler Samuel MANNING
- Gunner George Albert MARTIN
- Private Joseph MARTIN
- Private Thomas Henry MARTIN (known as Harry)
- Private Thomas Walter MARTIN (known as Walter)
- Pioneer Walter Ernest MARTIN
- Sergeant William Higgs MARTIN, DCM
- Private Arthur Walter PAGE
- Private Francis Samuel PAGE (known as Sam)
- Private Frank PAGE
- Private Stephen PAGE
- Lieutenant George REEVE MC MM
- Private Richard Henry REEVE (known as Harry)
- Private Samuel REEVE
- Private Sidney Philip REEVE
- Private Frederick Thomas RICHARDSON
- Private John William RICHARDSON
- Private Percy John Partridge RICHARDSON
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- Private Alfred SMITH
- Private Frank SMITH 46648
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- Private Charles Walter WADHAMS
- Private John Edward WADHAMS
- Private Thomas Edwin WADHAMS
- Private William WADHAMS