Genealogical war memorials of Bournemouth’s fallen
Neuve Chapelle: March 10th, 1915
Introduction
Tales from the Front (27) recounts the life of Percy Lockyer, a native of Victorian Bournemouth, who fought in World War I. Before the war, he had worked as a stationer’s assistant, living in Ringwood during 1911. He had enlisted with the 6th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, but later changed to the 3rd Battalion, City of London Regiment. On March 10th, Private Lockyer participated in the first day of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, perhaps falling in the evening.
Tales from the Front (27): grabbing the opportunity
Improvement
A tradition of industrious, entrepreneurial activity ran through Lockyer’s family. In the early nineteenth century, they farmed in Cranborne. A document referred to his great-grandfather as ‘yeoman’, a term of distinction. His grandfather advanced further, marrying a potter’s daughter and becoming a dealer in earthenware. Lockyer’s father married into a widespread Bournemouth family of agricultural labourers, a connection that may have opened useful opportunities in the town. Soon after his marriage, he had secured employment as a poulterer’s shop assistant there. Later, he would launch and grow his own poultry and fish enterprise. It featured in the Bournemouth commercial listings for several decades. In 1911, he left an estate worth over £2,000. The business continued to prosper in the family thereafter. Much of Bournemouth’s immigrant population consisted of labourers fleeing from Dorset’s agricultural depression. The Lockyers differed: they understood business, and they used it to improve their position.
Success
This improvement appears in the presence of a domestic servant in the Lockyer household, a status symbol for ambitious families. Lockyer followed his older brothers into work in his mid-teens. He obtained a job as a stationer’s assistant. A decade later, still in the same job, Lockyer had set up his household in Ringwood. By that time, he had married. His wife, daughter of a printer’s proofreader, came from Birmingham. They may have met in Bournemouth. She and her family stayed on East Cliff in 1901. This area attracted well-to-do families. By 1912, the family had two sons. Lockyer had at first enlisted with the 6th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment. They went to India in October 1914, but Lockyer changed to the 3rd Battalion, City of London Regiment instead. His new battalion came to France and joined the Indian Meerut Division in time to fight at Neuve Chapelle.
Tales from the Front (27): closing the gap
Problem
The Battle of Neuve Chapelle began on the morning of March 10th, 1915. It represented a major British initiative as part of a larger strategy to push eastwards. Lockyer’s Meerut Division operated on the right. Its 1/39th Garhwal Rifles stepped forth. As their orders have not survived, nobody knew why some troops deviated to the right. Some thought that artillery fire had destroyed the large tree to serve as their direction finder. Others concluded that they had mistaken a ditch for the brook they had to reach. Perhaps because the trench from which they began curved to the right, they started from the wrong angle. Whatever the reason, soon after charging, the Garhwals’ first two companies swerved to the right into ground uncleared by artillery fire. Nevertheless, they overcame the enemy in a sharp fight, suffering heavy losses. Their deviation, however, had opened a 200-yard gap in the British line.
Solution
The day had begun well, however. The British artillery bombardment began at 0730. Within two hours, the enemy trenches fell to the attacking troops. The official military history observed that the rest of the Garhwal brigade advanced with little difficulty, taking prisoners and machine guns. During the day, action took place according to plan, but the gap left by the 1/39th Garhwal Rifles became a serious problem. Since it extended for around 200 yards, a vulnerable point opened in the British lines. For Lockyer’s battalion waiting behind them, the deviation meant that their own advance would be shaped not by plan but by crisis. Late in the afternoon, around 1700, two companies, C and D, of Lockyer’s battalion, came forward to block it. They attacked ‘with great gallantry’, but the Londoners suffered over 160 casualties. Percy Lockyer may have fallen during this brave and successful attack.
Tales from the Front (27): aftermath
Lockyer’s father had died in 1911, leaving his successful business to his oldest son. According to his estate, the firm continued to prosper. Frances Gertrude, Lockyer’s widow, remarried a decade after his death. Her second husband, son of a shopkeeper, worked as a civil servant and, later, a postman. She lived long. Both of Lockyer’s children appeared to have succeeded. One became a solicitor’s clerk, while the other became a precision tool engineer. He left almost £50,000 in 1981.
The Garhwal brigade went into billets at the conclusion of this battle, but remained in the area. Later, they participated in two more battles fought here. In May, they had some experience with gas. The division played a support role in the Battle of Loos during September. At the end of the year, the Indian battalions moved to Mesopotamia, but the 3rd City of Londoners remained to fight in Europe.
Takeaway
Tales from the Front (27) has explored the life, military service, and family of Percy Lockyer (1884-1915). His story reflects the determined upward mobility of a Bournemouth family that understood how business could transform circumstance. His service with the 3rd City of London Regiment placed him at the heart of a critical moment in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. The evidence suggests that he fell while helping to close a dangerous gap in the British line—a courageous act that ended a life poised to continue the family’s long tradition of improvement.
‘Tales from the Front’
A collection of personal stories honouring the natives of Victorian Bournemouth who gave their lives on the battlefield and the regiments with which they served. Blending social and military history with genealogical insight, it explores their roots, families, occupations, and the ultimate sacrifices they made for their country.
The posts weave genealogical data together with eyewitness accounts found in war diaries, contemporary press coverage, and official military histories. The series offers a powerful and intimate portrait of Bournemouth’s wartime heroes offset with live accounts of battlefield action.
Serving as a companion and continuation of Victorian Bournemouth, Tales from the Front forms part of News from the Past: History for the Rest of Us.
References
For references and engagement, please get in touch. Main primary sources: here and here (subscriptions needed). For War Diaries, go here. See also here. The featured picture shows an imagined scene—genealogical information based on available sources.
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