Having researched a family, we normally include military records on the page about the family, linked from the Families index and (where applicable) from the War Memorial page. But we haven’t completed the long and complicated history of the Leivars family in Sawley yet. So, for Armistice Day, some of the wartime records for the family have been extracted and set out below. John Leivars (1844-1926) known as Jack, was a regular solder in the 1860s and 1870s, serving with the 45th Regiment of Foot (which became the Sherwood Foresters). He took part in the 1868 Abyssinian Campaign. In 1879, Jack qualified for an Army (Chelsea) pension and returned to Sawley, where he married Ann Catliff. In 1924, General Smith-Dorien chatted with him at the Sherwood Foresters Old Comrades Annual Dinner. By 1914 Jack and Ann had 12 children and were living in Chantry Place. Their eldest son John William Leivars (1882-1916) served with 9th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters during the war. In late September 1916 they took part in the Battle of Thiepval Ridge, one of the later stages of the Somme campaign. In mid-November they were at the Battle of the Ancre Heights. A week later, on 26 November […]
Daily archives: November 10, 2024
1 post