Name
Montague Crawley
6th February 1893
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
01/09/1918
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
235230
Royal Welsh Fusiliers
17th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
VIS-EN-ARTOIS MEMORIAL
Panel 6.
France
Headstone Inscription
N/A
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, Not on the Boxmoor memorials, Not listed on the Hertfordshire Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford
Pre War
Montague Crawley was born in Cowper Road, Boxmoor, Herts on 6 February 1893, the son of Daniel and Annie Crawley and one of eleven children.
On the 1901 Census the family were living at 9 Cowper Road, Boxmoor, where his father was working as a Sawyer's Labourer, for Foster's Sawmills on Kingsland Road.
He was educated at Boxmoor School and started school in 1897, although he and his brother George sometimes missed school as they were working illegally, employed by shopkeepers. Montague was however a good student and left in January 1906 to work for John Dickinson & Co Ltd at Apsley Mills.
By 1911, he was the only child still living at home with his parents in Cowper Road, and was then employed at Frogmore Mills, working for the British Paper Company. He remained working there until enlistment.
His address on enlistment was 54 Cowper Road, Boxmoor.
Wartime Service
He enlisted in Hertford on 23 October 1915 and initially served with the Hertfordshire Regiment. (reg. no. 5643), and was posted for basic training at Halton Camp, Wendover, being sent to France on 5 July 1916.
He was posted to the 1st Battalion, Hertfordshire Regiment (known as the Hertfordshire Guards) however he was not sent to the frontline, but to No. 3 Entrenching Battalion at the Base Depot in Boulogne where he remained for nearly a year. He was then transferred to the 4th (T.F.) Royal Welsh Fusiliers before being posted to the frontline with the 17th Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, but a short while later on 31 July 1917 he received a gunshot wound to his hand and was sent for treatment. A month later he was back with his Battalion in the field.
On 19 September he was granted 10 days leave and returned to Hemel Hempstead to visit family and friends but was back in France by the end of October.
During 1918 the majority of Montague's time was spent in support of other units but he fought in the Battle of Albert in August and shortly afterwards he was in action at the Battle of Baupame where he was killed on 1 September. The Battalion attacked German positions near Morval and made good progress, capturing a large number of prisoners, but did not receive the expected support from other units and were forced to retreat, suffering 32 casualties, one these being Montague.
He has no known grave but his name is commemorated on the Vis-En-Artois cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.
Additional Information
His father received a war gratuity of £13 10s and pay owing of £13 12s 2d. He also received a pension of 9 shillings a week for life. Brother to George Crawley who died on 1 July 1916 and is buried in Devonshire Cemetery, Mametz, France, He is also named on the Hemel Hempstead memorial.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.hemelheroes.com, www.hemelatwar.org, www.dacorumheritage.org.uk,
