London Road, High Wycombe (picture from SWOP website)
Harry William Southcott, courtesy of the Royal Grammar School
Harry William Southcott 1896 - 1917
Hello, I am Private Harry William Southcott, service number 203525, of the 2nd/4th Battalion of the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry (which is part of the 184th Brigade, 61st Division). I originally enlisted in Buckingham with the Royal Bucks Hussars in November 1915 and was formerly Private 2875 but I was transferred to the Ox and Bucks and proceeded to France on 16th December 1916. I was killed in action on 3rd June 1917 aged 21. But let me tell you a bit more about myself first.
I was the son of Lucy Southcott and the late William Southcott of 463 London Road, High Wycombe. I was born in Radcliffe, Lancashire in February 1896 and was baptised there, at St Mary's, on the 22ns April. However, by 1901 I was living in High Wycombe - my father was a paper maker. My parents were both born in Devon, my three older sisters were born in Surrey and my younger sister was born in High Wycombe.
By 1911 we were living in Marsh Mill House, and my father was a papermakers’ manager. I was educated at the Royal Grammar School from 1909 to 1912 and when war broke out many of my chums enlisted. Sadly my father died in 1914 so knew nothing of my war service or my sacrifice for King and country.
I was a keen sportsman, was a member of the church choir for 11 years and was a Server at St Anne's Church in Wycombe Marsh. After I left school I went to work for Mr J Salmon at Messrs A E Reed and Company, Horton Kirby Paper Mills in Kent. I became an apprentice engineer and was a member of the Amalgamated Society of Papermakers (Trade Union) at Wycombe Marsh Mill when I was 20 years old.
I joined the 2nd/4th Battalion of the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry in France in December 1916. The Battalion was in action during the Arras Offensive and endured continuous fighting. The War Diary entry for June 2nd 1917 reads: “ At Monchy. In reserve trenches.”
On the day I died the entry reads: Sunday 3rd June: “ Carrying and working parties found for front line. Casualties: 3 OR killed, 5 OR wounded.” (OR = other ranks).
In the early morning of 3rd June 1917 I was killed by a shell. I was initially unconscious but died twenty minutes later not knowing what had hit me. My platoon were carrying wire up to the line at the time. I was buried two nights later, near a mine crater on a main road. Both the chaplain and my captain wrote to my mother expressing their sympathy. My captain forwarded on my cigarette case to my mother saying that I was a keen Lewis gunner who he would find hard to replace. Their letters were published in the local paper soon after they were received at home and my dear girlfriend Miss EK Sutton is also mentioned in the article, along with my mother.
I am remembered on the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, Paris, which commemorates 34,700 missing men who died in the Battles of Arras between 1916-1918. Many graves were not recorded, bodies were not recovered, or records destroyed due to the heavy fighting and difficult conditions. I am also remembered on the Royal Grammar School memorial, the Wycombe Hospital Memorial plaque, the Wycombe Marsh War Memorial and here in Wycombe Cemetery where the memorial inscription on the family grave reads:
In ever loving memory of
Harry William [SOUTHCOTT]
the dearly loved and
only son of
William and Lucy Southcott
who fell in action in
France June 3: 1917
aged 21 years
Researched by Margaret Anderton and Ruth Bowler, Flackwell Local Area History Group and Sally Scagell, Lost the Plot.
