Joe Bacon

Joe was the eldest son of Albert William and Sarah Ann Bacon (née Mellors). His birth was registered as 'Joe Bacon.' His father Albert was born in South Collingham, Nottinghamshire, in 1868, the son of Joseph and Adeline Bacon. The family later moved to Alfreton, Derbyshire (1871), Stanton Hill, Skegby (1881) and Bolsover, Derbyshire (1891) by which time Albert was working as a coal miner. His mother Sarah was born in Cuckney/Langwith, Nottinghamshire, in 1869, the daughter of Charles and Ann Mellors. Albert and Sarah were married at Norton Cuckney St Mary in April 1893 and had nine children, seven of whom died young: Annie Elizabeth birth registered 1894 (J/F/M) d. 1894, Joe b. 1895, Emma b. 1896, Adeline b. 1899, Charles William birth registered 1901 (J/F/M), Robert Harry b. 1903, Ernest birth registered 1904 (J/F/M) d. 1908, Edith b. 1906 and Ann b. 1908 (d. 1921). The census records gave the children's place of birth as Langwith (1901) and Cuckney (1911). In 1901 Albert, a coal miner hewer, his wife and their children Joe, Emma, Adeline and Charles, were living at Cotton Mill, Nether Langwith, with Sarah's elderly widowed father, Charles Mellors, a retired labourer, and his unmarried sons, Charles and Joe, who were coal miners. Also in the household was a general domestic servant. Albert and Sarah were still living at the same address with her father and brother Charles in 1911. Six of the couple's seven children were in the home on the night of the census: Joe, a farm labourer, Adeline, Charles, Robert, Edith and Ann who died in 1921 aged 13. The eldest daughter, Emma, was living on High Street, Mansfield Woodhouse, where she was employed as a domestic servant in the household of George Blythe, a carter, and his wife Sarah. Joe's father died in 1930 and his mother in 1938.

1911 - farm labourer. Before enlisting in the army he was employed as a haulage hand at Langwith Colliery.

Enlisted Mansfield.

1/6th Bn Northumberland Fusiliers. Previous service numbers 5/43415, 6/8014. The 1/6th Battalion was a Territorial Force battalion formed in August 1914 and mobilised for the BEF France in April 1915. Joe died on 7 July 1917. Although one military record used the term 'died' (rather than killed in action, died of wounds or died from disease), the record on the Register of Soldiers' Effects gave his date of death as 'on or since 7 July 1917 presumed dead', suggesting that Joe had been reported missing in action initially and his death on that date later accepted for official purposes. Joe was buried in Monchy Quarry Cemetery but his grave was brought into Vis-en-Artois Cemetery, Harcourt, France, after the Armistice. (grave ref ll.C.2). CWGC - History of Vis-en-Artois Cemetery (extract): 'Vis-En-Artois and Haucourt were taken by the Canadian Corps on 27 August 1918. The cemetery was begun immediately afterwards and was used by fighting units and field ambulances until the middle of October. It consisted originally of 430 graves (in Plots I and II) of which 297 were Canadian and 55 belonged to the 2nd Duke of Wellington's Regiment. It was increased after the Armistice by the concentration of graves from the battlefields of April-June 1917, August and September 1918, and from the smaller cemeteries in the neighbourhood [listed].' These smaller cemeteries included Monchy Quarry Cemetery which was in a quarry 800 metres from Monchy-le-Preux; the cemetery contained 22 graves of UK soldiers who had fallen in July 1917. (www.cwgc.org)

Nether Langwith village is in the parish of Norton Cuckney St Mary and Joe is commemorated on both Norton Cuckney St Mary and Nether Langwith memorials. Inscription on the War Memorial information board: 'Joe BACON (Private) Northumberland Fusiliers, 1st / 6th Battalion. Joe Bacon was the son of Albert and Sarah Bacon of Cotton Mill Cottages. They resided with his Grand-Father, Charles Mellors. He worked at Langwith Colliery as a haulage hand prior to his enlistment. He died of natural causes on the 6th July 1917, aged 21 years, after the Battle of Arras. His remains are buried in Vis-en-Artois Cemetery, France.' Registers of Soldiers' Effects: Joe's father Albert William was his sole legatee. WW1 Pension Ledgers: named his mother, Sarah Ann, residence Langwith.