AMBROSE, JOHN JAMES WILLIAM

Photograph with kind permission of the Uttoxeter Advertiser

John Ambrose appears to have grown up in Wolverhampton. His father was a Brewer’s labourer and the 1891 Census and other sources furnish the following details about him and his parents:

They were living at 95 Beacon Street, Wolverhampton in 1889 and: in 1901 they were still living in Wolverhampton.

Before the war, John married Henrietta Shigsley. He was a lamplighter at Uttoxeter and a labourer and they lived at 16 Cheadle Road, Uttoxeter, with their two children:

John William Ambrose, born in Uttoxeter on 17th March 1900

Frederick George Ambrose, born in Uttoxeter on 21st October 1912

John joined-up on the 24th of February 1915 at Lichfield. He was 30 years and two months old and expressed a willingness to be enlisted for general service. He enlisted for the duration of the war, but agreed to be retained for a maximum of six months after hostilities ceased until his services could be spared.

His army medical examination took place on 20th February 1915 at Lichfield. The record from this medical shows that he was 133lbs in weight and 5 feet 7½ inches tall and his chest measurement was 35inches when fully expanded (range of expansion 2 inches). He had perfect vision in both eyes.

At the time of his enlistment his two children were aged 14 years 11 months (John) and 2 years 4 months (Frederick).

John’s service record appears in his Pension Records in the National Archives, but parts of it are faint and difficult to decipher. The following is our best attempt at interpreting it:

According to the Uttoxeter Advertiser he took part in the fighting at the Dardanelles (Gallipoli) before going to Mesopotamia. This is confirmed by the record on his Medal Record Card, which says that he first served in the Balkans, arriving prior to 1st July 1916.

In February 1916 the Uttoxeter Advertiser reported that they had received a letter from him. He was in the 7th North Staffordshire Regiment and said in his letter that he was pleased to hear that so many from Uttoxeter were “doing their bit for King and Country”. He also reflected that there were still a lot of young able-bodied men who should answer the call.

While serving at Gallipoli he had had some narrow escapes. On one occasion a shot had gone through his helmet and just skimmed his head.

He was also wounded in late May or early June 1915, but we do not know details.

He was killed in action at Sanni-I-Yat, Mesopotamia on 20th April 1916. Initially he was reported wounded, then missing and finally presumed killed.

He was first posted as ‘Missing’ on the 20th April 1916. In April 1917, after several months of his being classed as missing, the Uttoxeter Advertiser published the following on 18th April 1917:

On the 19th April 1917 Harriet wife wrote to the North Staffordshire Regiment, sending a newspaper cutting and asking for more information about what had happened to him. It seems likely that the cutting was the above short article. John’s Pension Records contains a copy of the reply that they sent:

On 29th November 1917 a letter was sent from the No. 2 Infantry Records department to the Regimental Paymaster at Lichfield, asking for details of any person drawing a separation allowance related to John. This letter carries a handwritten annotation, “Killed in Action. Previously Missing”. This was the first step in changing over from a separation allowance to a widow’s pension.

The response indicated that Henrietta Ambrose had been receiving a Separation Allowance Pension of 24/2 weekly. Puzzlingly it stated that the last date to which allowances had been paid was 8.7.17 (of 24/6 weekly). It is not clear what had been happening since that date.

Then, in December 1917 she received another official notification and this time it said that he had been killed in action in Mesopotamia on April 20th, 1916.

Early in 1919 Henrietta was contacted and asked to supply the names and addresses of John’s living relatives. This was required to enable the War Office to identify John’s next-of-kin and to issue his medals, memorial plaque and memorial scroll to the right person. Her response listed the following:

It was normal practice for the War Office to request a receipt when issuing the medals, memorial plaque and memorial scroll. Henrietta’s response to this request was stored in his Pension folder. It was written in her hand on 4th December 1919 and received by the Infantry Records Office at Lichfield on 6th December:

John has no known grave and is commemorated on Panel 34 of the Basra Memorial in what was Mesopotamia (now Iraq).

John was awarded the 1915 Start, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.