Private 18316 Herbert Robert Taylor

Died on Saturday, 21st October 1916, age unknown.
Buried in Grave III. A. 254. at Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension (Nord), Nord, France.

Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), 20th Battalion. 7th Division.
Formerly 12289 Devonshire Regiment.

Husband of Mrs Jane Taylor, of 1 House 16 Court, Dudley Port, Tipton, Staffs.
Born: Birmingham, Enlisted: Birmingham, Resident: Handsworth.

First landed France & Flanders, 27th July 1915.
Medal entitlement: 1914-15 Star, 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/201825/

Genealogical Data

1901 Census
Cannot trace with any certainty.

Marriage of Herbert Robert Taylor and Jane James registered December quarter 1908 in Dudley.

1911 Census
52 Payton Road, Handsworth, Birmingham.
Herbert Taylor (22, Corporation Labourer for Handsworth District Council, born Birmingham), his wife Jane (22, born Tipton), and their 2 children: Mary Anne (3, born Tipton), and Nellie (1, born Handsworth).
A third daughter, Muriel, was born on 16th October 1912, her birth was registered in West Bromwich.

Personal Data

The Tipton Library Memorial commemorates H.R. Taylor. The book of Staffordshire War Memorial listings shows him as Pte H.R. Taylor, Machine Gun Corps. Private 18316 Herbert Robert Taylor was the only man to match these criteria, but as a Birmingham man there was no obvious link to Tipton. Herbert Taylor's grandson, Adrian, made contact via this web-site and resolved the situation.

Adrian said that Herbert had married Jane James in 1908, and that his grandmother Mary Anne was their child. This leads to the above census record in 1911, and shows that Jane James was born in Tipton. In 1901 Jane, then aged 11, was living with her parents at 2 House 10 Court, Horseley Heath. 10 Court was also known as Police Yard Court.

The Pension Card for Herbert shows that at the time Jane's Widow's Pension began, her address was 1 House 16 Court, Dudley Port. This suggests that Jane returned to Tipton to live with, or close by, her parents. When names were being requested for the Tipton Memorial, Jane would have quite reasonably put forward her late husband's name even though there is no evidence that Herbert ever lived in Tipton. He is welcome here.

After Herbert's death, his outstanding army pay and allowances amounted to £2/15/4d (2 pounds, 15 shillings and 4 pence); this was paid to his widow, Jane, in March 1917. His War Gratuity was £9/0/0d (9 pounds exactly), this was also paid to his widow in October 1919. The value of the War Gratuity suggests that Herbert had enlisted in approximately September 1914.

Herbert's widow, Jane, was awarded a Widow's Pension of £1/6/3d (1 pound, 6 shillings and 3 pence) per week for herself and her 3 daughters, effective from 30th April 1917. Jane's Widow's Pension would have ceased on her re-marriage (date and husband unknown), and she would have been compensated by a lump sum, the element in respect of her daughters would have continued until their 16th birthdays.

Action resulting in his death

Herbert initially enlisted with the Devonshire Regiment, this is likely to have been the 8th or 9th battalions. He landed in France in July 1915, and in August the 8th and 9th Devons joined the 20th Battalion of the 7th Division - the "Immortal Seventh". It is likely he was in a Lewis gun section, and was transferred to the Machine Gun Corps when it was formed in February 1916, and remained with the 20th Brigade.

As he belonged to the 7th Division, he may well have seen action at the Battle of Loos (September 1915), and at Mametz, Bazentin, High Wood, Delville Wood and Guillemont (July and August 1916) during the Battle of the Somme.

'Soldiers died in the Great War' records Herbert Taylor as 'Died'. This generally means death from an illness or some form of accidental death not associated with injury during battle. The 'Soldier's Effects' papers released in 2015 shows his death being due to 'Acute Mania'. This was confirmed by the release of Pension Cards which recorded death as due to "mania (acute) and exhaustion". It is not possible to know exactly what that means but is likely to have resulted from severe psychological trauma. This may have been of a physical origin such as a head wound, or due to severe effects of neurasthenia (shell shock).

Letters home after a death often glossed over the detail to spare the relatives feelings, often we read "death was instantaneous, he can have suffered no pain". In this case we do know that his family were told of Herbert's distress; years later his daughter Mary Anne told other relatives of the circumstances of Herbert's death. Herbert is buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension.

Herbert is remembered with pride by his family.

Newspaper Cuttings

None.