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2nd Lieutenant John Frederick Cullingford READ
11th (Service) Battalion Essex Regiment Date of birth: 6th April 1885 Date of death: 26th September 1915 Killed in action aged 30 Commemorated on the Loos Memorial Panels 85 to 87
John Frederick Cullingford Read was born at "Brightside", Ornan Road, Hampstead on the 6th of April 1885 the son of John Walter Read, a beer merchant, and Alice Ann (nee Cullingford) Read of “Parkfield”, Upper Caterham in Surrey. He was educated at Lancing College where he was in Heads House from September 1898 to April 1904. He was a House Captain in 1903 and was a member of the Officer Training Corps. On leaving school he lived on his own means. He was married firstly at St Pancras Registry Office on the 25th of March 1911 to Jane Elizabeth (nee Sissons) but the marriage ended when his wife filed for divorce on the 18th of February 1914 on the grounds of his adultery. The decree nisi was granted on the 4th of May 1914 with the final decree being dated the 16th of November 1914. He was married again at the District of St Martin's Registry Office on the 2nd of January 1915 to the widow, Frances Mary (nee Gate formerly Jamrach) of "Greenview", Frimley Green, Surrey and of 60 Elm Park Mansions, Chelsea in London. Following the outbreak of war he enlisted at Armoury House, Finsbury as Private 1906 in the 2nd Battalion Honourable Artillery Company (Infantry) on the 5th of September 1914. At a medical examination, which was held on the same day, it was recorded that he was five feet nine inches tall. He applied for a commission in the 11th Battalion Essex Regiment on the 5th of December 1914 in an application which was supported by Bernard Tower, Headmaster of Lancing College from 1901 to 1909 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the battalion on the 12th of December 1914. He joined them at Brighton where the officers were billeted at the Royal Hotel and in late February 1915 they moved to camp at Shoreham for further training. On the 30th of August the battalion embarked at Folkestone and landed at Boulogne later the same day. On the night of the 24th/25th of September the battalion marched into Bethune and the following day they moved forward again through the stream of British wounded coming back from the fighting at Loos. On the 26th of September 1915 the 11th Battalion Essex Regiment and 9th Battalion Suffolk Regiment were to support an attack by 72nd Brigade on the German second line trenches at Hulluch between the positions, Puits and Stutzpunkt IV. At 11am the leading troops began their attack and the Essex were ordered forward at 11.25. As the Essex men moved forward, crossing the Lens-La Bassée Road, they came under fire from the area of Hulluch. Part of the battalion (on the left of the attack) veered to the left towards Hulluch in an attempt to take the village. They suffered heavy casualties and were forced to take shelter in the outskirts of the village. The remainder of the battalion went on towards Stutzpunkt IV but was held up by the uncut German wire. There was little shelter and casualties began to mount until the order was heard to retire. Small parties fell back the way they had come but suffered further casualties as the Germans continued to pour fire into them from Hulluch. A German officer of the German 26th Regiment who were opposing the Essex that day wrote:- "The Battalion Staff was on the left flank, south of Stutzpunkt IV, whence we had a wonderful view. The English attacked in whole hosts and with great dash. Our men fired standing up as fast as they could pull their triggers. No Englishmen got through the wire entanglement, and the ground in front was covered with bodies". The battalion had suffered casualties of 18 officers (including their Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Charles Edward Radclyffe DSO) and 353 men during the attack. They were relieved in the early morning of the 27th of September and made their way back to Le Rutoire. John Read was missing after the attack but his body was found by members of the 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards near Vermelles on the 28th of September. His wife received the following telegram dated the 6th of October 1915: - "Regret to inform you 2Lt J.F.C. Read 11th Essex Regt. was wounded and missing between 25/27 Sept." On the 14th of October 1915 she received a further telegram: - "Deeply regret to inform you that 2nd Lieut. J.F.C. Read 11th Essex Regt. was reported wounded and missing 25/27th Sept, now reported killed in action. Body found by 3rd Coldstreams near Vermelles 28th Sept. Would have notified before but casualty has to be verified. Lord Kitchener expresses his sympathy." After his death an anonymous letter, dated the 2nd of December 1916, was received at the Headquarters, 11th Battalion Essex Regiment: - "Sir, A person who is claiming a pension for the loss of her husband, Lieut. F. Cullingford Read of the 11th Essex who was killed on Sep 25 has a husband. Living this present day. Enquiries should be made." An interview was undertaken with Frances Read who stated that her former husband, Francis Horace Jamrach, was a "wastrel" and that they had been separated by judicial order for six years and that she believed him to be dead. The process of settling John Read's estate was suspended pending further investigation. Frances Read was finally granted probate on the 10th of October 1919.

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