Fatalities at the Somme
Oxhey during the Great War
This information relating to Oxhey is extracted from the image. The full version is in the attached pdf file.
William Gordon Blackwell, ‘Don’
was the seventh son of Samuel John Blackwell, JP, of the Crosse & Blackwell family. He joined the family firm and became a member of the Stock Exchange in 1908. On the Declaration of War he enlisted straight away in the Honourable Artillery Company and obtained his commission in the 4th Royal Fusiliers in 1915.
He fell at Flers in the Battle of the Somme on 5 October 1916, aged 31.
One of his Commanding Officers wrote of him:
‘I saw a great deal of him and he naturally endeared himself to me by his kind nature and manliness of character. I deplore his loss; the nation has lost a gallant soldier and a great gentleman.’
His Major wrote:
‘He was a grand soldier; he could get the utmost out of his men and did so, but they all worshipped him.’
Lieutenant Blackwell married Nina Mary O’Malley of County Mayo in 1910. He left a widow and one son.
Source: The Stock Exchange War Memorial 1914-18
Bushey First World War Commemoration Project
Thank you to Bushey Museum and Art Gallery for this wonderful project and for allowing us to share it on Our Oxhey.
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