Pte 51905 Joseph Goodwin

• Age: 36
• From: Shrewsbury, Salop
• 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.

Joseph was born in 1880 in Shrewsbury the son of Joseph Thomas Goodwin and his wife Elizabeth (nee Warburton) who were married in Birmingham in 1877. 

The 1881 Census shows the family are living at Darlington Cottages, Grove Lane, Smethwick. Joseph's father Joseph Thomas is a 24 year old engine fitter, born in Warwick, his wife also 24 was born in Stafford. They live together with their two children Elizabeth aged 3  and Joseph aged 1.

By 1891 the family have moved to 30 Arthur Street, Litherland where Joseph Thomas is now employed as a millswright. He lives with his wife and 4 children, the additions being Alice and Benjamin. Also present is his father Joseph a 59 year old turner.

In the 1901 Census the family are living at 34 Caradoc Road, Seaforth. His father, Joseph, is aged 44, as a marine engine fitter, mother Elizabeth is aged 44 a dressmaker. Joseph is now 21 and a match factory labourer, Alice is 18 at home, Benjamin 17 is a bicycle repairs labourer, and Jack is 13 and at school.There is a further addition to the family, another son John now 3 years of age. 

By 1911 the family have moved to 12 Church Street, Bootle. His father, Joseph, is aged 55, and employed as an engine fitter in shipbuilding, his mother ,Elizabeth, is aged 54. They advise that they have been married for 24 years and have had 6 children, 5 of whom have survived. Joseph, now 31, is employed as an engine fitter in shipbuilding, Alice is 24, and Jack is 13 and at school. Also in the household now are his eldest sister Elizabeth, together with her husband Wyndham Large and their 3 children; Wyndham Jr, Annie and Leslie.

Joseph enlisted in Seaforth and was serving with the 17th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 51905 when he was killed in action on 12th October 1916 during the fighting at Transloy Ridges. He was 36 years of age.

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 missing in the Liverpool Daily Post on 16th November 1916. 

Joseph's body was not recovered from the battlefield or was subsequently lost as his name is now recorded on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing.

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.”

Soldiers Effects to father Joseph T., Pension to mother Elizabeth, 14 Church Rd, Seaforth. 

His father died, aged 65, in the March quarter of 1922.

His mother died, in the December quarter of 1927.

We currently have no further information on Joseph Goodwin, if you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.