Capt Arthur de Bells Adam (MC)
1885 - 1916

CPL David Wallace Crawford
1887 - 1916

Lce-Corpl John Joseph Nickle
1894 - 1916

Pte 17911 Morton Neill
1897 - 1916

Lieut Edward Stanley Ashcroft
1883 - 1918

L/Sgt 15959 Neville Brookes Fogg

Age: 32
From: Paraguay
Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
K.I.A Monday 1st May 1916
Commemorated at: Cerisy-gailly Mil Cem
Panel Ref: II.H.3

Born in Paraguay in 1884, Neville and his sister, Nora, aged 16 years, came to England whilst children and in 1891 are living with their grandparents, William Brookes, a 64 years old spirit merchant, and his wife Mary, at 19 Westcliffe Road, Birkdale, Southport. Also living with them are their daughters, Ada Brookes aged 24 years and Mary J. Fogg, widow, 29 years old - presumably the mother of Neville and Nora. We know that Neville’s father was Nathaniel Birtles Fogg who married Mary Jane Brookes in 1881. Their children, Neville and Nora, were born in Paraguay in 1883/4 respectively but by 1891 they are back in England.

His father, Nathaniel, died in Southport in 1889.

The 1891 Census shows the family at Westcliffe Road as above.

By 1901, Mary Jane Fogg, now a widow, who was born in Ardwick, Manchester, and “living on her own means” is living with her two children at 26 Cavendish Road, Birkdale.

In 1911, Neville, a 27 year old bank clerk, is shown as the Head of the Household, with his sister Nora and his aunt, Ada Elizabeth Brookes, living with him. His mother, ,Mary Jane is down in the south of England with relatives.

On the 02^nd September 1914, Neville enlisted in Liverpool, giving his age as 30 years 234 days (he seems to have been born on 23^rd November 1883), his occupation as a bank clerk and his next of kin as his sister who is named as Mrs Oswald Fogg, of ‘Dunraven’, Hooton Road, Willaston. On enlistment, Neville states that he has previously served 10 years in the Army. His past service was obviously recognised for on 23^rd November 1914 he was appointed paid Lance Corporal; on the 03^rd April 1915 he was promoted to Corporal; and on the 01^st September 1915 was appointed paid Lance Sergeant.

On the 07^th November 1915 he landed in France and qualified as a machine gunner. On 4^th April 1916 he was admitted to 55^th Field Ambulance as “sick” and rejoined his Unit on the 09^th April.

Three weeks later, on the 01^st May 1916, he was killed in action and his grave, II H 3, is in Cerisy-Gailly Cemetery.

After the war, when graves were concentrated, the burials from this cemetery and other small cemeteries were reinterred in Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery.

Gailly was the site of the 39th and 13th Casualty Clearing Stations during the early part of 1917, and of the 41st Stationary Hospital from May 1917 to March 1918. The villages were then captured by the Germans, but were retaken by the Australian Corps in August 1918. Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery (originally called the New French Military Cemetery) was begun in February 1917 and used by medical units until March 1918. After the recapture of the village it was used by Australian units. The cemetery was increased after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields of the Somme. The cemetery now contains 745 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 114 of the burials are unidentified and special memorials commemorate five casualties buried at Maricourt and Ste. Helene whose graves could not be found. The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

The Southport Visitor of 11th May 1916 brought news of his death;

"We regret to state that Sergeant Neville Brooks Fogg, King's (Liverpool Regiment) has been killed in action in France. Sergt Fogg, who was in his 33rd year was a son of the late Mr and Mrs Nathaniel B Fogg, who resided for many years in Birkdale".

His effects and later his 3 medals were sent to Mrs Nora B. Fogg, ‘Dunraven’, Hooton Road, Willaston and in May 1919, the declaration as to relatives was sworn by Oswald Fogg, his cousin, of ‘Honister’, Raby Drive, Bromborough. In this document, Oswald declares that Neville’s parents are both dead and Neville has a surviving brother, Joseph, aged 54 years, living in South America, and a sister, Nora Beatrice Fogg, ‘Honister’ etc.- and records show that Nora Beatrice married Oswald S. Fogg in Jan/March 1913 in Southport .

Oswald also declares that Neville has 2 surviving half-sisters - Mary Birtles Fogg, 56 years, and Charlotte Frances Gardner, (nee Fogg), aged 55 years, who both live at 9 Rutland Gardens, Hove, Sussex, where Charlotte, a widow, is shown living in the 1911 Census. Nathaniel, a railway contractor, had in fact been married in 1860, when he was 22 years old, to Mary (nee Jones), the marriage having taken place in Liverpool, although they were living in Southport at 48 Talbot Street in 1871. They had at least 4 children before Mary died, including Mary Birtles Fogg, Charlotte , Joseph and Anne, born 1862. Neville and Nora were the children of Nathaniel’s second wife.

We currently have no further information on Neville Brookes Fogg. If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.

Killed On This Day.

(110 Years this day)
Monday 1st May 1916.
L/Sgt 15959 Neville Brookes Fogg
32 years old

(109 Years this day)
Tuesday 1st May 1917.
Pte 33195 George Allen
30 years old

(109 Years this day)
Tuesday 1st May 1917.
L/Cpl 17823 Harry Cuthbert Fletcher
27 years old

(108 Years this day)
Wednesday 1st May 1918.
Pte 300188 Albert Charles Bausor
31 years old

(108 Years this day)
Wednesday 1st May 1918.
Pte 64776 Gerald Blank
20 years old

(108 Years this day)
Wednesday 1st May 1918.
Sgt 57831 Leonard Conolly
25 years old

(108 Years this day)
Wednesday 1st May 1918.
L/Cpl 94253 Ernest Firth
22 years old

(108 Years this day)
Wednesday 1st May 1918.
Pte 49533 Henry Rigby
32 years old

(108 Years this day)
Wednesday 1st May 1918.
Pte 17721 Charles Henry Squirrell
26 years old

(107 Years this day)
Thursday 1st May 1919.
Pte 91536 John Alfred Croft Kelly
26 years old