Private 16193 John Thomas Stott
Killed in Action Mesopotamia on Tuesday, 11th April 1916, age 25.
Commemorated on Panel 22 and 63 of Basra Memorial, Basra, Iraq.
2nd Bn., Dorsetshire Regiment. 16th Indian Brigade of Poona Division.
Formerly 21788 Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.
Husband of Mrs Ada Stott, of 4 House 2 Court Eagle Passage, New Road, Tipton, Staffs.
Born: Tipton, Enlisted: Tipton, Resident: Tipton.
First landed France & Flanders, post 31st December 1915.
Medal entitlement: British War Medal, Victory Medal.
Soldier's Papers at National Archives did not survive.
Commemorated on the Tipton Library Memorial.
Commemorated here because he appears on a Tipton memorial.
Link to Commonwealth War Graves Site: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1659718/
Genealogical Data
Birth of John Thomas Stott registered December quarter 1890 in West Bromwich.
Believed to be....
1901 Census
45 Sheepwash Lane, Greets Green, West Bromwich, Staffs.
Henry Stott (42, Widower, Brick Unloader, born Greets Green), and his 5 children: Rose (17, born Greets Green), George (15, Brick Unloader, born West Bromwich), Jesse (13, born West Bromwich), John (11, born West Bromwich), and Eli (9, born Tipton).
1911 Census
Borstal Institution, Rochester, Kent.
John T. Stott (20, Brickyard Labourer, born West Bromwich).
Marriage of John T. Stott and Ada Rushton registered December quarter 1911 in Dudley.They had 4 children with all the births registered in Dudley. Their surnames were Stott and mother's maiden name Rushton: Eli - March quarter 1912 (also died March quarter 1912), Beatrice E. - March quarter 1913 (died June quarter 1915), John Thomas born 28th July 1914, and Ada Jane born 6th May 1916.
John's widow, Ada, married John Poole in March quarter 1921.
Personal Data
After John's death, his outstanding army pay and allowances amounted to £2/0/0d (2 pounds exactly); this was paid to his widow, Ada, in December 1916. His War Gratuity was £3/0/0d (3 pounds exactly), this was also paid to Ada in September 1919. The value of the War Gratuity tells us that John had enlisted within the 12 months prior to his death.
John Stott's widow, Ada, was awarded a pension of £0/18/6d (18 shillings and 6 pence) per week for herself and her 2 children, effective from 30th October 1916. Her 2 children were: John Thomas born 28 July 1914, and Ada Jane born 6 May 1916 - 8 weeks after her father's death. Ada Stott's address at this time was 4 House 2 Court Eagle Passage, New Road, Tipton. The Widow's Pension would have ceased on her re-marriage in 1921 and be compensated by a lump sum, generally about the value of a year's pension payments. The Pension element in relation to John's 2 children would continue until their 16th birthdays..
Action resulting in his death
John Stott was killed in action on 11th April 1916 whilst nominally serving with the 2nd Dorsetshire Regiment (2/Dorsets). At that time the 2/Dorsets were trapped in Kut surrounded by Turks during the ill-fated siege of Kut, and had been since December 1915. As John did not serve abroad before January 1916, he could not have been with the 2/Dorsets when they became besieged in Kut.
In the early months of 1916, any returning sick or wounded men and any replacement drafts could not join the 2/Dorsets as they were besieged in Kut. These men, and similar drafts for the 2nd Norfolk Regiment who were also besieged in Kut, were formed into a temporary unit named the “Composite English Battalion”, but more commonly known as the “Norsets”. John would certainly have been serving with this composite unit when he was killed in action on 11th April 1916.
After being formed in February 1916, the Norsets joined the unsuccessful attempt to relieve their besieged comrades at Kut. On 5th April 1916, an attack was made on both banks of the River Tigris, near the Fallahiya Bend, towards Sannaiyat – this was about 12 miles north-west of Kut. Some initial success was achieved, but attempts to exploit this on the next day ran into heavy enemy fire which resulted in heavy casualties and the attack stalled.
The Norsets were in support during this attack, and moved into the trenches captured during the early success and faced towards the enemy trenches at Sannaiyat. After a short period out of the line, they moved back towards the front-line overnight on 9th/10th April. On the 10th April, they took over the front-line trenches facing the Turks at Sannaiyat.
John Stott is recorded as being killed in action on 11th April 1916. The Norset’s War Diary for that day recorded: “In the trenches at Sannaiyat, worked on improving trenches. Enemy’s snipers active”.
The number of casualties recorded in the War Diary does not always correspond on a day-to-day basis with those recorded with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). For example, the War Diary records that 2/Lt Dixon was killed on the 9th April, but the CWGC shows his date of death as 12th April.
It is possible that 11th April was not the precise day that John Stott was killed, but we can be sure that he was killed in the trenches facing Sannaiyat, either by enemy sniping or their heavy artillery fire. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Basra Memorial.
Newspaper Cuttings
Newspaper source not recorded, probably May 1916
Private J.T. Scott.
Private J.T. Scott, Royal Berkshire Regiment (Editor: Error, Dorsetshire Regiment), enlisted in 1915. He fell in action April 11th 1916, at the Persian Gulf. He has two brothers in France, one of whom (George) has been slightly wounded. His widow and two children live at New Road, Great Bridge.