The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment

Private J Mannering


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Photograph by "Steve N"


Private James MANNERING, G/11205, 7th  Battalion, Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment, died of wounds,  56 Field Ambulance, Flanders, France, 30th September 1916.

Born East Farleigh Kent, son of George & Harriet Mannering.

14th November 1886, Loose, Kent, baptism of James Mannering, son of George & Harriet Mannering.


1911 Census - Randalls Row, Loose, Maidstone, Kent - George Mannerings, head, age 51, married, bricklayers labourer, builder, worker, born Marden, Kent; *Harritte Mannerings, wife, age 59, married 26 years, 6 children, 4 still alive, born Nettlestead, Kent; #Florence Mannerings, daughter, age 26, single, born Loose, Kent; James Mannerings, son, age 24, single, bricklayers labourer, builder, worker, born Farleigh, Kent; William Mannerings, son, age 22, single, farm labourer, worker, born Farleigh, Kent; Edward Mannerings, son, age 20, single, farm labourer, worker, born Farleigh, Kent; George Mannerings, grandson, age 6, school, born Farleigh, Kent; Alice Mannerings, grandaughter, age 4, born Farleigh, Kent.

*1912 September, Maidstone Registration District,  Harriet Mannering, died age 60.

#1912, December, Maidstone Registration District, Florence Mannering, died age 28.

1911 Census - Furmingers Farm, Furmingers Cottage, East Farleigh - Ada Matilda Mannering, servant, age 31, single, house keeper, worker, born Maidstone, Kent.


Enlisted Maidstone Kent, age 29, height 5ft 4¾ inches, weight 133lbs.  Resided Wheelers Lane, East Farleigh, Kent / Island Cottage, Wilson Lane, East Farleigh, Kent. Formerly farmer.

Home, 15th November 1915 to 2nd July 1916; BEF, 3rd July 1916 to 30th September 1916.

15th November 1915, enlisted & posted Depot, Royal West Kent Regiment; 15th November 1915, posted 10th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment; 13th March 1916, posted 12th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment; 3rd July 1916, posted BEF; 3rd July 1916, Infantry Base Depot; 5th July 1916, posted 6th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment; 13th July 1916, posted 7th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment.

21st August 1919, Statement of Relatives - Widow, none; Children, none; Father, George Mannering, Island Cottage, Wilson Lane, East Farleigh; Mother, none; Brothers - George Mannering, age 44, address not known; William Mannering, age 32, Tovil, near Maidstone; Sisters - Ada Mannering, age 39, Furmingers Farm, Gallants Lane, East Farleigh; Grandparents, none; Nephews/Nieces - Alice Louisa Mannering, age 12, Island Cottage, Wilson Lane, East Farleigh; Uncles/Aunts - 4 Uncles, address not known; 1 Aunt, address not known.

Buried at  Blighty Valley Cemetery, (unknown grave), Authuile Wood, Special Memorial 21. Somme France and commemorated on East Farleigh War Memorial and at Parish Church of St. Mary, East Farleigh, Kent.

Note - Blighty Valley Cemetery is situated in a valley halfway between the villages of Authuile and Aveluy which are on the River Ancre approximately 4 kilometres north-east of the town of Albert. Blighty Valley Cemetery is almost at the mouth of the valley, a little way up its northern bank.

Blighty Valley was the name given by the Army to the lower part of the deep valley running down south-westward through Authuile Wood to join the river between Authuile and Aveluy; a railway was carried along it soon after the opening of the Battle of the Somme in July, 1916, and it was for some time an important (though inevitably a dangerous) route. ("Blighty" was soldier slang for home back in England; a "blighty wound" was bad enough to be sent home to recuperate, but not bad enough to be permanently disabling.) Blighty Valley Cemetery was begun early in July 1916, at the beginning of the Battle of the Somme, and used until the following November. At the Armistice it contained 212 graves but was then greatly enlarged when 784 graves were brought in from the battlefields and small cemeteries to the east. Most of these concentrated graves were of men who died on 1 July 1916. The cemetery now contains 1,027 burials and commemorations of the First World War: 536 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 24 casualties known or believed to be buried among them, and to five others buried by the Germans in Becourt German Cemetery in the spring of 1918 whose graves could not be found on concentration.


This page was last updated on 12-Dec-2020.

Copyright © 2008 Janet & Richard Mason