Serjeant 426516 Hubert Sydney Turtill

BMD details:
Marriage: 08/07/1908 Hubert Sydney Turtill to Mabel Edith Hancock at St Marys Church, Addington, Christchurch, NZ.

Family details:
Husband of Mabel Edith Turtill, of Bridge St., St. Helens, Lancs. Native of Christchurch, New Zealand.

Census details:
1881 - 1 year old Samuel Herbert is lodging at Queen Street, Wenhaston with the Powditch family. 1911 - 31 years old 'Tobacconist (Dealer)' Hubert S is living at 51 Duke Street, St Helens with wife Mabel Edith (26) and son [ww2cas=426]Alan Cecil Turtill[/ww2cas] (1)

Notes:
Initials are shown as S.H. on the Cenotaph [url=lmem.php?lmem=18]Remembered On The St Helens RLFC War Memorial.[/url] Hubert Is Remembered on the [url=http://www.saints.org.uk/saints.org.uk/home/viewpage.php?page_id=10&num=16455]Saints Heritage Website.[/url] Hubert was the landlord of The Nelson. License transfer: [i]The Nelson (Bridge St): from Herbert Sydney Turtill (a native of Christchurch, New Zealand) to Mabel Edith Turtill. (Herbert was subsequently killed as a Sergeant in the Royal Engineers, on the 9th April 1918, aged 38, when his unit - 422nd Field Company, then part of 55th (West Lancs) Division, along with the 1/5 South Lancs - faced the German Spring Offensive. He is buried at Brown's Road Military Cemetery, Festubert}[/i] From [url=http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=31764]1914-1918 Great War Forum[/url] Father of WW2 casualty [ww2cas=426]Alan Cecil Turtill[/ww2cas] Hubert Turtill, a native of New Zealand, played for St Helens RLFC 1909 to 1914 after settling in England with his wife and family. His wife Mable returned to NewZealand after the war with their son, Alan, who was killed in action in Libya on 29 Nov 1941 whilst serving as a Captain in the NZ army [url=https://www.star.kiwi/2018/04/rugby-club-remembersplayer-killed-in-ww1/]Rugby club remembers player killed in WW1[/url] (25 April 2018 - Star-Kiwi)

[center][pic2]imgs/sppics/426516_H_S_Turtill.png[/pic2][/center][caption]Hubert Sydney Turtill[/caption] Some additional information:- Hubert Turtill was born on 1 February 1880 in Mile End, London. Later husband of Mabel Edith Turtill of St Helens, Lancashire. Played as a Fullback for: Christchurch, Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand Trade: Hardware merchant's employee/licensee Moved to New Zealand with his parents in 1884. His International was his sole match for the All Blacks. He joined the Rugby League in 1907; and toured England with the NZ team the All Golds. He Played for St Helens RLFC 1909-1914 after settling in England with his wife and family. His wife and son returned to New Zealand after the War. 426516, Sergeant, 422nd Field Company, Royal Engineers. He was killed in action on 9 April 1918, in France, when struck by shrapnel, and is buried in Brown's Road Military Cemetery, Festubert, Pas de Calais, France [Grave IV. D. 6.]. Rugby Career. He signed for the Saints from the Canterbury club in New Zealand because of the friends he had made in the town during the tour. 'Jum' was regarded as one of the best full backs in the world. He made his debut for the Club on the 2nd. of September 1909 against Hull KR. Outside rugby Jum was a popular pub landlord. He played his last match for the Club against Warrington on the 21st. of February 1914. Further Information: During World War I he saw action at Hellencourt and Bretencourt, before the first battle of the Somme. Names like Guillemont, Ginchy, Ribemont, Flers-Courcelette and Morval and the Ypres salient became home for 'Jum' while he struggled to exist in the muddy trenches surrounded by enemy on three sides and under constant artillery fire. After somehow surviving the battles of Pilkem Ridge and Menin Road Ridge he was killed at Givenchy by shrapnel from a shell burst - probably instantly. He was 38 years old. The Defence of Givenchy was to become one of the single most famous actions of the war. It was afterwards publicly stated by an officer of the German General Staff that the stand made there by the British on April 9th and the days which followed marked the final ruination of the supreme German effort of 1918. [center][pic2]imgs/S1PWHYAOTV/H_S_TurtillEcho19180501_zpsd33f4b3e.png[/pic2][/center][caption]Liverpool Echo 01/05/1918.[/caption] [pic]imgs/WW1_misc/426516HubertSydneyTurtill.jpg[/pic][caption]The St Helens Reporter - Courtesy Ste M[/caption] [pic]imgs/WW1_misc/TurtillHS_SNA.jpg[/pic][caption]The St Helens Newspaper & Advertiser - Courtesy Ste M[/caption] [pic]imgs/WW1_headstones/HS_Turtill_RE.jpg[/pic][caption]The headstone of Serjeant Hybert Sydney Turtill at Brown`s Road Military Cemetery, Festubert (Photo courtesy of Margaret Dufay)[/caption]