Lance Corporal 7/15515 Oliver Beddow
Died Salonika on Friday, 20th September 1918, age 30.
Buried in Grave 302 at Mikra British Cemetery, Kalamaria, Greece.
7th Bn., South Wales Borderers. 67th Brigade of 22nd Division.
Born: Tipton, Enlisted: Newport, Mon., Resident: Unknown.
First landed France & Flanders, 5th September 1915.
Medal entitlement: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal.
Soldier's Papers at National Archives did not survive.
Not commemorated on any Tipton memorial, but commemorated on the Lysaght's (Orb) Steelworks Memorial, Newport.
Commemorated here because identified as Tipton on 'Soldiers Died in the Great War'.
Link to Commonwealth War Graves Site: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/340416/
Genealogical Data
Birth of Oliver Beddow registered September quarter 1888 in Dudley.
1891 Census
69a Bloomfield Road, Tipton, Staffs.
James Beddow (43, Pit Banksman, born Tipton), his wife Susanna (44, born Stourbridge), and their 5 children: Samuel (19, Coal Haulier, born Tipton), Mary (13, born Tipton), Hannah (11, born Tipton), Florrie (5, born Tipton), and Oliver (2, born Tipton).
1901 Census
1 Court 2 House, Bloomfield Road, Tipton, Staffs.
Thomas Beddow (52, Pit Banksman, born Tipton), his wife Susan (54, born Stourbridge), and their only child at home: Oliver (12, born Tipton).
1911 Census
285 Corporation Road, Newport, Monmouthshire.
Richard Heath (34, Furnaceman, born Wolverhampton), his wife Mary (34, born Princes End), and their 4 children. Also Oliver Beddow (23, Boarder, Breaker-down at Iron Works, born Bloomfield). Mary was Oliver Beddow's elder sister.
Marriage of Oliver Beddow and Hannah E. Cox registered September quarter 1913 at Newport, Monmouthshire. Birth of their son, Richard O. Beddow was registered in March quarter 1914 at Newport, Monmouthshire.
Personal Data
Oliver Beddow was born in Tipton, but by 1911 was living in Newport and working at Lysaght's Iron Works. Oliver enlisted with the 7th South Wales Borderers, and landed in France on 5th September 1915, but the Borderers were transferred to Salonika in October 1915 remaining there for the duration of the war.
After Oliver's death, his outstanding army pay and allowances amounted to £23/10/5d (23 pounds, 10 shillings and 5 pence); this was paid in January and February 1919 in the proportion 1/3rd to his widow, Hannah, and 2/3rds to his son, RIchard. His War Gratuity was £18/10/0d (18 pounds and 10 shillings), this was paid in a similar manner to Hannah and Richard in January 1920. The value of the War Gratuity suggests that Oliver had enlisted in approximately September 1914.
Action resulting in his death
In September 1918, the British joined the Greeks in a major offensive intended to conclude the war in the Balkans, indeed an armistice was signed with the Bulgarians on 30th September. For the Welsh Brigade, including Oliver's 7th South Wales Borderers, the significant event was the attack on Grand Couronne on 18th and 19th September during the Battle of Doiran.
The first two waves from the Welsh Brigade had lost heavily, and the 7th South Wales Borderers were thrown into the fight. Advancing through a haze, they were exposed to enemy fire as the haze dispersed. Almost 100 men of the Borderers were killed.
However an item in the Newport newspaper now shows that Oliver would not have been present at the Battle of Doiran, as he died on 20th September in the 49th General Hospital, from black water and malaria fever, malaria was one of the major causes of death in Salonika. Oliver is buried in Mikra British Cemetery, Kalamaria, Salonika. He is also commemorated on the Lysaght's (Orb) Steelworks Memorial, in Newport.
Newspaper Cuttings
South Wales Argus
DEATHS.
Beddow. On September 20, at Salonika, Lance-Corporal Oliver, of black water and malaria fever, beloved husband of Hannah Beddow, 2 Nash Road.
South Wales Argus
Beddow. In loving memory of my dear husband, Lance-Corporal O. Beddow, who died at Salonika, September 20, 1918. "Gone, but not forgotten." Sadly missed by wife and child.