Name
Herbert Henry Horwood
1899
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
09/05/1915
16
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
13754
Northamptonshire Regiment
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
LE TOURET MEMORIAL
Panel 28 to 30.
France
Headstone Inscription
He has no Headstone, He is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial to the missing in France.
UK & Other Memorials
Bushey Town Memorial, St James’ Church Memorial, Bushey, St Peter’s Church Memorial, Bushey Heath, St Matthew’s Church Memorial, Oxhey, Oxhey War Memorial.
Pre War
Born in Norwich in the third quarter of 1898, Herbert Henry Horwood was the son of John Stephen and Louisa Maude (née Willson) Horwood. His parents were married in 1895 at Elham, near Canterbury in Kent.
His father had an army career and at the 1901 Census his mother (recorded as Louie) is employed as a Lodging House Keeper at 20 The Leas, Folkestone, Kent. Herbert was 3 years old and had two brothers; John and Alfred. His mother was 31 years old and his brothers were 4 and 9mths old respectively. The birthplaces are given as Lynsted, near Sittingbourne in Kent for his mother, Norwich for John and Herbert and Wrexham in Denbighshire for Alfred. Also present are two servants and five visitors.
By the time of the 1911 Census, the family had moved to 13 Weedon Road, Northampton. Herbert was then twelve years of age. His father was an army pensioner and employed as a goods porter by the London and North Eastern Railway Company. Herbert’s brother Alfred had died in childhood and there were now four brothers and sisters; John Robert, Frederick William, Lilian Emily, and Ethel Louisa. Their ages are 14, 7, 5 and 3 respectively. Also present is brother-in-law, William Bellington, his wife Lilian and their two children, Gladys and Marjory.
Wartime Service
When war broke out, Herbert enlisted as an under-age recruit in Northampton. He became Private 13454 with the 1st Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment. The regiment was among the first in France with the BEF in 1914, taking part in the retreat from Mons and the first battle of Ypres. They also took heavy casualties the following year in the catastrophic attacks at Aubers Ridge and Loos and endured a dreadful winter in the trenches.
Herbert was killed in action on 9 May 1915, aged 16. He is remembered with honour on Le Touret Memorial in France. Herbert is commemorated on the Bushey Memorial, at St James’ Parish Church, at St Peter’s Church in Bushey Heath and on the memorial at St Matthew’s Church, Oxhey.
His connection with Bushey is currently unknown but there were several Horwood families in the area at that time, both in Bushey and in Watford.
Having previously served in the 7th Dragoon Guards, Herbert’s father also enlisted, aged 52 years and 7 months, as a training instructor.
His older brother, John Robert also enlisted on 15 April 1914, but was subsequently released on 6 December 1915 to civil employment with Smith, Major and Stevens of Abbey Works, Weedon Road, Northampton (a hydraulic and general engineering company) before re-joining his army unit on 27 May 1916.
Additional Information
Information provided with the kind permission of Bushey First World War Commemoration Project – Please visit www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk. The Value of his effects were £5-3s-10d, Pay Owing and £3, War Gratuity which went to his mother Louisa May Horwood. His mother Louisa was awarded a Dependants Pension of 5/- a week. Her address was 13, Weedon Road, St James, Northampton.
Acknowledgments
Andrew Palmer, Stuart Osborne
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
