First World War

Twenty-one Warmington men saw active service in the First World War. Seven of them were killed in action. The following seven men are commemorated on the War Memorial in Warmington Churchyard.

Charles Edward Coggins (service no. 265082) was born 9th December 1889, son of Emma Coggins of Warmington. He was brought up by his grandparents Edward and Edith Coggins at their home in Middle Street. He married Lucy MG Healey at Coventry late in 1914. He enlisted at Coventry and was a private in the 7th Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He was killed in action 26th October 1917 age 27 and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial near Ypres among the names of 35,000 whose graves are not known.

Donald Alfred Coggins (service no. 23089) was born 7th October 1891, son of Emma Coggins of Warmington. He was also brought up by his grandparents Edward and Edith Coggins at their home in Middle Street. He enlisted at Oxford and was a private in the 4th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment. He was killed in action at Gallipoli 6th August 1915 age 23 and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, a 30m high obelisk in Turkey on the tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula.

John Hall (service no. 16978) was born 9th March 1886, son of John and Ann Hall of The Green, Warmington. His father was a shepherd. He enlisted at Leamington and was a private in the 14th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He died 5th September 1916 age 30. He is commemorated in the St Sever Cemetery, Rouen.

William Hawkes (service no. s/33620 (formerly T/4/160955, A.S.C. {H.T.}) was born 18th November 1897, son of Henry Hawkes and Mary Alice Hawkes (nee Hayward) of The Orchard, Warmington. His father was a carpenter. He enlisted at Banbury and was a rifleman in the 12th Battalion Rifle Brigade (the Prince Consort’s Own). He died 1st December 1917 age 20. A page in the family Bible gives ‘William Hawkes, killed in France by a German sniper’. The family gravestone states he fell near Villers Plouich. He is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial Louverval Nord.

William Henry ‘Harry’ Haynes (service details have not been traced). Born 2nd August 1890, son of Richard Henry and Fanny Haynes, his father was a carter. He was born in a cottage immediately north of The Plough, and was brought up in the cottage now known as Sunnyside. In 1911, according to the parish magazine, he accompanied Charlie Wady back to his Canadian farm. He served in the 78th Winnipeg Grenadiers and married Ada May Rouse in Banbury in the summer of 1916. He was killed in action 21st November 1916.

William Alfred Henry Moon (service no. 540146) was born c1895 in Tunbridge Wells, son of William and Harriet Moon. He was an apprentice cabinet maker in Tunbridge Wells before his marriage in Warmington to Evelyn Clara Watts Allen on 7th August 1915. He enlisted at Southborough, Kent and was a sergeant in the 9th Field Company, Royal Engineers. He was killed in action on the 2nd September 1918 and he is commemorated in the Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery, Hautcourt, Pas de Calais age 23. He had a son William Edward George Moon (Eddie) born 8th July 1916.

Frank Pafford Sharples (service no. PS/6040). Born at Heaton, Newcastle-on-Tyne 29th June 1896, son of James Thomas Sharples (headmaster of Warmington School) and Mary Helena Sharples. He enlisted in London and served as lance corporal in the 8th Battalion Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment). Killed in action 7th July 1916 age 20. Buried in the Ovillers Military Cemetery, Somme.

Details of the remaining 14 men who survived the war are given here:

Tom Bachelor (service no. 17184) born Evenley near Brackley in 1898. Son of John Bachelor (labourer) and his wife Annis. He was a private in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. After the war he farmed for a time on a Warwickshire County Council smallholding and lived in Sunny Cottage.

Charlie Bloxham born in Warmington on 6th March 1895. Son of Owen Bloxham (labourer) and his wife Lydia. Twin brother of Harry Bloxham. His childhood was spent in a cottage below The Plough and he attended Warmington School from 1899 until 1908.

Charles Frederick Castle (service no. 541752) born in Warmington 1890. Son of Josiah Castle jnr (farm labourer) and his wife Esther (nee Washbrook). Click here to see his war diary. He attended Warmington School 1895 until 1901 and lived as a child in Lilac Tree Cottage with his widowed mother. He served as a sapper in the Royal Engineers. He lived in the village for the rest of his life.

Percy Castle brother of Charles (above). Born in Warmington 29th November 1896, son of Josiah and Esther Castle. He attended Warmington School 1901 until 1907.

Ronald Angus Coles born Shenington, Oxfordshire on 4th March 1904 eldest son of Hugh Angus Coles (grocer and postmaster) and his wife Nancy. He started at Warmington School on 24th June 1907 and later transferred to Banbury Grammar School. After his service in the First World War he worked in Canada, then later as a rubber planter in Malaya. Whilst there he was captured by the Japanese and was held as a prisoner during the Second World War. He later returned to live in Holly  Cottage, Warmington with his second wife and died in 1981. His ashes are interred in Warmington Churchyard.

Henry (Harry) Franklin born 1st August 1888. He lived in the first of two cottages in Middle Street (now number 2, Chapel Street). He married Annie Timms.

Charles Arthur Gibbs born c1881 son of Joseph Gibbs. He married (Constance) Olive Bawcutt in Warmington on 27th April 1909. Before and after the war he was a farmer and Olive taught music and singing. They lived at Gourdon, The Green, Warmington and farmed Glebe Farm. Died 21st February 1961.

John Thomas Hawtin (?service no. 263094) was born 12th February 1885 son of Richard Hawtin (carrier and bootmaker) and his wife Esther. He spent his childhood at Holly Cottage where his father conducted his carrier’s business and attended Warmington School 1889 until 1898. He was apprenticed to Harry Hawkes (carpenter) and rebuilt derelict cottages in School Lane now known as Hollybush House. He married Annie Roberts of Chipping Warden in 1914. It is believed he served as a private in the South Lancs Regiment Royal Engineers. He spent his life in Warmington as village undertaker, carpenter/builder, parish councillor, school manager, methodist chapel steward and ‘Have a Go’ contestant on the radio. He died May 1968.

Howard John Jarvis born 8th August 1896 in Warmington. Son of John Jarvis (baker and farmer) and his first wife Elizabeth. He was born at Ivy Dene on the corner of School Lane and Middle Street where his father had his first bakery. After his mother’s death and his father’s remarriage, Howard lived for a time at Greenways on The Green where a second bakehouse was built. He attended Warmington School between 1901 and 1910. He later moved to Rugby where he married and spent the rest of his life.

John Plummer 

William ‘Willy’ Richards born 29th June 1894 in Warmington, son of Thomas Richards (plumber) and his wife Harriett. He attended Warmington School between 1899 and 1908. He lived in a cottage, one of three attached to Underedge.

Wilfrid Osmond Robbins born in Hornton 2nd February 1893, son of Richard Robbins (farmer). He attended Hornton School then Warmington School from 1904 until 1907. His parents were tennant farmers at Harbages Farm and when the farm was sold his parents returned to Hornton. In 1915 he joined the Yeomanry; he was wounded and taken a prisoner of war.

Arthur Timms born 10th October 1896 in Warmington. Son of Frederick Timms (wheelwright and carpenter) and his wife Kate Timms (nee Key). Attended Warmington School from 1900 to 1909. He was wounded on military service. For some time after the war he tenanted part of Carpenters Farm and lived in Carpenters Cottage.

Robert Peel Willock born 17th December 1893 in Salford, Lancashire. Only son of Robert Peel Willock (Rector of Warmington) and his wife Emma Louise Willock (nee Tennent). In the First World War he was a commissioned officer in the Ninth (Reserve) Battalion, Ox and Bucks Light Infantry in 1914 before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps where he achieved the rank of Squadron Commander. Between the wars he continued his professional career in the Royal Airforce. In the Second World War his appointments included Air Officer commanding No. 21 Training Group then Air Officer commanding Allied HQ Iraq and Persia in 1943 and head of RAF delegation in Washington DC 1944. He retired with the rank of Air Vice-Marshall in 1945 and from there went into civil aviation in Australia, dying in 1973.