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
Pte 49083 Joseph Ellinson
- Age: 23
- From: Woolton, Liverpool
- Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 20th Btn
- D.O.W Saturday 30th June 1917
- Commemorated at: Railway Dugout B.g. Zillebeke
Panel Ref: Sp.Mem.F11
Joseph Ellinson was born on the 08th September 1893 in Woolton, the son of William Edwin Ellinson and his wife Mary Ellen (née Kenna) who were married on the 15th September 1892 at St. Peter’s Church, Woolton. William was a 21 year old gardener of Woolton, his father, John, was a joiner, whilst Mary was aged 21 also of Woolton, her father, Thomas, was a groom. They had six children, one of whom died young. Joseph was the eldest; his siblings were William, Elizabeth, John, Herbert, and Ernest, who died at age one.
Joseph was baptised in St. Peter’s Church, Woolton on the 01st October 1893.
In 1901 they are living at 13 Quarry Street, Woolton with two children. His father, Joseph, is aged 29, a stone quarry labourer, his mother, Mary, is aged 29, Joseph is aged 7 and William Edwin is aged 2.
In 1911 the family are at 12 Quarry Street, Woolton. His father, is aged 39, and a domestic gardener, his mother, Mary is aged 39. They advised that they had been married for18 years, and have had 6 children, of whom five have survived. They have four children at home; Joseph is aged 17, a grocer’s assistant, William is aged 12 and at school, Elizabeth is aged 9 and is also at school, and Herbert is aged 1.
Joseph's service papers have not survived but we know that he enlisted in Liverpool and he was serving with the 20th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 49083 when he died of wounds in 96 Field Ambulance on 30th June 1917, aged 23.
He now rests at Railway Dugouts Burial Grounds in Belgium.
The commune of Zillebeke contains many Commonwealth cemeteries as the front line trenches ran through it during the greater part of the First World War.
Railway Dugouts Cemetery is 2 Kms west of Zillebeke village, where the railway runs on an embankment overlooking a small farmstead, which was known to the troops as Transport Farm. The site of the cemetery was screened by slightly rising ground to the east, and burials began there in April 1915. They continued until the Armistice, especially in 1916 and 1917, when Advanced Dressing Stations were placed in the dugouts and the farm. They were made in small groups, without any definite arrangement and in the summer of 1917 a considerable number were obliterated by shell fire before they could be marked. The names "Railway Dugouts" and "Transport Farm" were both used for the cemetery.
At the time of the Armistice, more than 1,700 graves in the cemetery were known and marked. Other graves were then brought in from the battlefields and small cemeteries in the vicinity, and a number of the known graves destroyed by artillery fire were specially commemorated. The latter were mainly in the present Plots IV and VII.
The cemetery now contains 2,459 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 430 of the burials are unidentified and 261 casualties are represented by special memorials. Other special memorials record the names of 72 casualties buried in Valley Cottages and Transport Farm Annexe Cemeteries whose graves were destroyed in later fighting.
VALLEY COTTAGES CEMETERY, ZILLEBEKE, was among a group of cottages on "Observatory Road", which runs Eastward from Zillebeke village. It contained the graves of 111 soldiers from the United Kingdom and Canada. It was in an exposed position during the greater part of the war.
TRANSPORT FARM ANNEXE was about 100 metres South-East of the Railway Dugouts Cemetery, on the road to Verbrandenmolen. The graves in it were removed to Perth Cemetery (China Wall), Zillebeke, but one officer, whose grave could not found, is specially commemorated here.
The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.
Joseph's grave was one of those destroyed and as such as the inscription on his headstone reads:
“THEIR GLORY SHALL NOT BE BLOTTED OUT”
This phrase was decided upon by Rudyard Kipling and is used when the burial place of a soldier is not known. It is a biblical reference from Ecclesiasticus 44:13 which reads in full as: "Their seed shall remain forever, and their glory shall not be blotted out".
His death was reported in the Liverpool Echo on the 09th July 1917:
“June 30, officially reported killed in action, aged 23 years, Private Joseph Ellinson, 24 Stevenson Street Wavertree, late of Woolton, and brother to John Ellinson, 106 Allerton Road, Woolton.
His cheerful smile and happy face
Are pleasant to recall.
He had a kindly word for each,
And died beloved by all.
Sadly missed by Father and Mother and Family and May.”
In the Liverpool Echo on the 09th September 1918:
“September 8, in sad but loving birthday remembrance of Private Joseph Ellinson, died of wounds received in action June 30, 1917. – Sadly missed by Father, Mother, Sister, and Brothers at 24 Stevenson Street, Wavertree.”
His death was also reported in the Liverpool Daily Post on Saturday 28th July 1917;
DIED OF WOUNDS
Liverpool Regt – Ellinson, 49083, J. ;
He earned his two medals.
His Soldiers Effects, Army Pay of £1 10s 7d, War Gratuity of £3 and pension of 10/- pw went to his mother Mary Ellen, 24, Stevenson-street.
On the 1921 Census at Stevenson Street his father is aged 49, and a gardener, his mother, Mary, is aged 49, William is 2aged 22, and a police officer, Elizabeth is aged 19 and Herbert is aged 11.
His mother died, aged 58, in 1930.
Her death was reported in the Liverpool Daily Post on Wednesday 09th July 1930
ELLINSON - July 6, at 24, Stevenson-street, Wavertree, MARY E., the dearly beloved wife of William E. Ellinson. Interment at Woolton Parish Church, to-morrow (Thursday), at 3 p.m.
His father remarried to Jane E. Lewis in 1935 and on the 1939 register they are living at 24 Liberty Street, Wavertree. He died around 1949 when he is no longer on the Electoral roll, no death record has been found.
Joseph is commemorated in St. Peter’s C of E Church, Woolton.
We currently have no further information on Joseph Ellinson. 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.
(108 Years this day)Sunday 16th June 1918.
Pte 57615 Fred William Preddy
23 years old
(105 Years this day)
Thursday 16th June 1921.
Captain Leonard George Duncan
43 years old