Pte 51953 John William Ducksbury

• Age: 20
• From: Kendal
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 12th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

John William Ducksbury was born in the September quarter of 1895 in Kendal, the son of John Ducksbury and his wife Sarah Ann (nee Robinson) Ducksbury who were married in 1891 in Kendal. 

The 1901 Census shows the family are living at Woolpack Yard, 4, Stricklandgate, Kendal. His father, John, is aged 35, born in Kendal in 1866 and whose occupation is given as a Girth Web Weaver, his mother, Sarah also aged 35, born in Kendal in 1866 and son John aged 5, born 1896. 

His father, John, died aged 38, in 1904 in Kendal. 

The 1911 Census shows John and his mother living at 76 Antonio Street, Bootle, Liverpool with her brother William Robinson and his family. John’s mother, Sarah is aged 45, born 1866 in Kendal and has no occupation. John is aged 15, born 1896 and is a grocers errand boy. Her brother, William, is a widower aged 41, born 1870 and occupation Bacon Curer, born in Kendal, Westmorland. He has three children, all born in Bootle,

John enlisted in June, 1915 in Liverpool and was formerly with the Liverpool Scottish before transferring to the 17th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 51953 when he was killed in action on the 12th October 1916 aged 20 during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive.

17^th Bn War Diary:  Battle of Transloy Ridge –                                               

11-10-16 - Gird Trench/Gird Support – Battalion in front line and support trenches. British bombardment of enemy front line system commenced about midday.  Hostile shelling was intermittent throughout the day.

12-10-16  - Our bombardment continued. Enemy reply weak.  2.5 p.m. Zero hour. Attack on German front line system commenced.  Enemy wire was found to be uncut and attack was unsuccessful.  Hostile machine gun fire was very heavy and caused many casualties. Battalion H.Q. and Support Trench were heavily shelled throughout afternoon and evening. […] During this action all communication had to be carried out by runners and carrier pigeons as all wires were being continually cut by enemy shelling.

Casualties: 5 officers killed,  5 officers wounded, 38 OR killed, about 225 OR wounded/missing etc.

Graham Maddocks, in “Liverpool Pals” p.140, adds: “As the whistle blew, the 17^th Battalion left its trenches to move forward.  […]  As soon as the attacking waves left their trenches the enemy artillery began to register on them, and at the same time, the defending infantry commenced a murderous rain of fire.  […]  Although their numbers had been depleted by the British bombardment, they were trained and experienced soldiers, well dug in on high ground, and for the most part, looking out on uncut wire.  As such, it was virtually impossible for them to miss the City Battalion men struggling to advance in the mud towards them.   The 17^th Battalion, on the left, was particularly badly hit, as its portion of No Man’s Land contained a slight rise in the ground, and as the troops emerged onto it they were silhouetted against the sky and became easy targets.  Those on the left of the attack, who managed to avoid the hail of bullets and make it to the German wire, then found that it was totally uncut, and thus trapped, they too became easy targets, to be picked off almost at the enemy’s will.  It was hardly surprising that, seeing the first waves being wiped out, some of the following waves turned back and made for their start lines. These lines were now packed with other waves of troops, however, and the fleeing men added to the congestion already there, and became easy prey for the German gunners.  There is some evidence also, to suggest that at this stage, the British trenches were also being hit by their own heavy artillery shells which were falling short.”

He was reported killed in the Liverpool Daily Post on 20th November 1916: 

John's body was not recovered or was sunsequently lost as he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France.

The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.

On 01st August 1932 the Prince of Wales and the President of France inaugurated the Thiepval Memorial in Picardy. The inscription reads: “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.”

John is also commemorated on the following Memorials:

Bootle Civic Memorial

Kendal War Memorial

His mother, died aged 73, in Crosby in 1938. 

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