Iron memorial fund

in honour of those that gave their lives

THE IRON TWELVE

Monsieur Vincent Chalandre

Vincent was a retired silk-weaver who lived in Iron. We have no record of his birth date. The fact that he was retired means that he was probably old. Like many old people in France at this time, he still worked; in his case he was a casual farm labourer. It was he who found the first group on nine soldiers on October 15 1914, and he who arranged for the Logez family to look after them. He lived in a large house in the centre of the village, opposite the silk factory (Link to map on ‘Iron Today’ page) where he later sheltered some of the soldiers.

He was married and had five children: Germaine, Marthe, Marcel, Leon and Clovis. The tragedy at Iron, directly or indirectly, killed all members of the Chalandre family with the single exception of Germaine.

Contact with Relatives

We are in contact with the descendants of Fred Innocent and John Nash. We are keen to find other descendants, and to learn more about Vincent Chalandre.

Details of the Eleven British Soldiers Executed at Guise on 25 February 1915

What we know about the eleven British soldiers is shown below. We have collected this information from Commonwealth War Grave Records, Soldiers Died in the Great War, local papers, regimental magazines, genealogy websites and their service records. We are always looking for more information. Please contact Hedley Malloch hmalloch@hotmail.com or David Arrowsmith darrows1@live.co.uk if you think you can help.

Fred Innocent

No.	Rank	Name	Unit	Personal Information
6240	Private	Denis Buckley	2^nd Royal Munster Fusiliers	Born and lived in Cork. Aged 18 when he enlisted in Cork in 1908. Worked as a labourer with previous service in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps
9852	Private	Daniel Horgan	2^nd Royal Munster Fusiliers	Born in 1896, enlisted and lived in Cork. Previous occupation: farm labourer.
9381	Private	George Howard	2^nd Connaught Rangers	Born St. Phillips, Sheffield in which town he enlisted. Lived in View Road, Heeley, Sheffield. Aged 28. Joined Army pre-1914, two of his brothers were killed in the War.
7845	Private	Fred Innocent	2^nd Royal Munster Fusiliers	Born in Nottingham, enlisted and lived in Nottingham (Lenton). Aged 27.
7925	Lance Corporal	James Moffatt	2^nd Royal Munster Fusiliers	Born and enlisted in Birkenhead. Lived in Hunslet, Yorks.
8713	Private	Terence Murphy	2^nd Connaught Rangers	Born and enlisted in Ballisodare, Co. Sligo, Ireland. Aged 29; married eight days before embarkation for France .
10084	Private	John Nash	2^nd Royal Munster Fusiliers	Born in Sneem and enlisted in Tralee, both Co. Kerry, Ireland. Aged 23, one of nine children. Considered the ‘black sheep’ of the family.
6943	Lance Corporal	John William Stent	15^th (The King’s) Hussars	A native of Bromley, Kent. Enlisted in London. Born 1890
9472	Private	William Thompson	2^nd Connaught Rangers	Born either in America or Attercliffe, Sheffield where he enlisted. Son of Emma Thompson of 45, Dutton Road, Owlerton. Aged 24. Joined up in 1907. The crack shot of the regiment and a fine athlete.
6594	Private	John Walsh	2^nd Connaught Rangers	Born, lived and enlisted in Tullamore, Offaly, Ireland. Aged 33.
7010	Private	Matthew Wilson	2^nd Connaught Rangers	Born and lived in Ahascreagh, Co. Galway, enlisted Galway, Ireland. Aged 36, the oldest of the eleven.