David's Story.
7th Brigade, 25th Division, 11 Corps Reserve Army
Buried Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension Nord France.
Grave number I. F.158
Bailleul is a large town near the Belgian border 14.5 kilometers south-west of Ypres [Now Leper]
Bailleul was occupied on 14 October 1914 by the 19th Brigade and the 4th Division. It became an important railhead, air depot and hospital centre, with the 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 11th, 53rd, 1st Canadian and 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Stations quartered in it for considerable periods.
David had 2 brothers and 1 sister. Arthur, Joseph, and Sarah Jane, they lived at 77 Park Lane Poynton with their parents Arthur and Ann. Arthur was a coal hewer at Poynton collieries. David was a colliery horse driver (Below ground)
David enlisted in Macclesfield on the 2nd September 1914 into The 10th (Service) Battalion the Cheshire regiment. The 10th Service Battalion was a Kitchener’s Battalion, raised at Chester in September, 1914. After training in Chester, at Codford St Mary, Bournemouth and Aldershot, they embarked from Folkestone landing in France on the 26th September, 1915. The Battalion joined the 7th Brigade, 25th Division in October, 1915.
The Battalion were concentrated around the area of Nieppe, a village 4 kilometres north-west of Armentieres on the road to Bailleul. They were in reserve billets behind the front line in a relatively safe area. The 10th Cheshires had not yet been involved in a major battle. Their time was spent alternating between tours of duty in the frontline and periods in reserve when they would carry out training and undertake fatigues work.
Sometime during the 18th members of “A” Company were formed into a working party and were sent to an area near Touquet Berthe. Unfortunately they were seen by the Germans and shelled with high explosive and shrapnel, 8 men were wounded, David was to die from his wounds.
LOCAL SOLDIERS DEATH PRIVATE DAVID GOODWIN
Stockpot Advertiser
Mr and Mrs Arthur Goodwin Park Lane Poynton have received the sad news that their son David Goodwin of the 10th Cheshires has been hit in the lower part of his body, the wound resulting in his death in hospital. He was 20 years of age and enlisted with others from the village in September 1914. He had however only been at the front a few weeks.
Before joining his regiment the deceased was a miner a Poynton collieries and generally esteemed in the village,
Letters have been received both from his nurse and from Lieut W M Longdon in charge of the platoon of which Goodwin was a member, In his communication Lieut Longdon writes in high terms of the deceased’s character as a soldier.
Nurse Jolly writing on October 21st to Mr Goodwin’s father said “I am sorry to tell you your son Private D Goodwin was brought in here to No 2 casualty clearing station severely wounded in the abdomen. Everything possible was being done for him but he passed away this morning at 6.35. You may be satisfied his last moments were made as comfortable as possible, for we did all we could. He will be buried tomorrow in the cemetery here, part of which is set apart for our brave troops, and a small wooden cross with name, regiment, and date mark, The resting place of each. Name of place and number of his grave will be sent to you from headquarters, I enclose a lock of his hair which you may like to have with much sympathy.”
Lieut Wilfrid Max Langdon wrote “It was a deep pang to me to hear yesterday evening that your son Private Goodwin died in hospital this morning. He was out with a working party on October 18th and unluckily was caught by a burst of a shell. You will be glad to hear that there was an ambulance near at hand so that he was immediately taken away and looked after. On the report which i received, it said that the cause of death was a wound in the stomach.Your son had been in my platoon ever since i first joined the Battalion and i feel his loss very greatly. He was one of my hardest workers, keen, capable, and intelligent, Whatever he had to do he carried it through to the finish and carried through well. No man had more friends or closer friends than he had in my platoon and the loss of none will be more regretted. May I send to you, and to your son's relatives and friends my sincere sympathy, and ask you to look with pride upon a life which was nobly ended”.
Cheshire County Memorial Project would like to thank Phil Underwood for compiling this page on David