NAYLOR Benjamin

Benjamin Naylor was not, and probably never had been, a resident of Blockley but his wife came from the village and returned there to live with her parents during, and probably after, the Great War.  He was of a military family and was brought up in military surroundings until he himself enlisted at the age of 15.  Like his father he was a military bandsman, a clarinet-player.

Benjamin was born on 3rd June 1886 in Kilkenny, Ireland, his mother’s birthplace. Presumably his father was posted there as part of his military duties, for in 1891 the family were in barracks in Devon, his father a bandmaster with the Sherwood Foresters. Ten years later his father seems to have retired to Suffolk, working as a foreman though also still showing himself as a bandmaster.

In 1901 on his fifteenth birthday Benjamin enlisted at Colchester, Essex, for a term of 12 years with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and was later appointed as a bandsman.  In 1907 he transferred to the 1st Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment, still as a bandsman.

On 28th February 1911 Benjamin married Sarah Ann Payne in Blockley Church.  She was a native of the village but it is likely that he had met her elsewhere.  She had been born and brought up in the village but she was absent in 1901, the rest of her family were still resident in Blockley.  Her whereabouts have not yet been identified that year; but this was the year that Benjamin enlisted in Colchester.  In 1911 Benjamin was in barracks with his unit at Farnborough in Hampshire, his appearance at Blockley no doubt in accordance with the practice to wed at the bride’s church.  After the wedding they returned to live in Farnborough.  The couple had two children, Arthur George born in Surrey in 1912 and Patricia Sheila born in Ireland the following year.

In 1912 Benjamin signed to continue his engagement with the Norfolk Regiment. Before this he had undergone two classes of instruction in stretcher bearing, which was normal for regimental bandsmen.  In the event he was transferred to the 7th Battalion of the regiment when it was formed in August 1914 and went with it France in May of the following year, though there is no information whether this was as a combat soldier or, equally dangerous, a stretcher bearer.  He had reached the rank of sergeant.

From military documentation it is clear that Sarah went to live with her parents at Blockley during the war and was presumably still there when the war memorial was erected, thus explaining Benjamin’s name on the memorial.

Attestation:
3 June 1901 at Colchester
Request Royal Warwickshire Regiment, term 12 years
Height 4ft 8 and three quarter inches, weight 77lb, chest 27-28 and a half inches, fresh complexion, brown hair, hazel eyes, Roman Catholic
Born Kilkenny, Ireland, age 15, no trade
Additionally (date unclear): next of kin father James, East Bergholt, Suffolk

Summary of military career, (composite from several documents of varying readability):

3/6/01 attested, 2nd Bn Royal Warks Regt
../..02 posted [to unclear]
… third class certificate of education obtained
8/3/02 second class certificate of education obtained
6/2/03 appointed bandsman 2[nd Bn]
3/6/03 granted 1 G[ood] C[onduct] badge, bandsman
3/6/04 attained age 18 years, bandsman
20/1/05 to hospital at Portland to treat wound to wrist, suffered when cleaning a window
1907 transferred to 1st Bn Norfolk Regt
… promoted [unclear]
12/3/08 unclear minor injury suffered at Warley; with 1/Norfolk Regt
10/10/12 Reengaged with the Norfolk Regt
… 19 Feb, Aldershot, class of instruction in stretcher-bearing
30/04/12 19 Feb, Aldershot, class of instruction in stretcher-bearing
7/8/14 posted 7th [Bn]
1/1/15 promoted sergeant 7th [Bn]
13/10/15 killed in action 7th [Bn]
Home 3/6/10 to 29/5/15 13 years 361 days
Ex F France 30/5/15 to 13/10/15 139 days
Total 14 years 133 days

Re-engagement (11 days before discharge due):
7474 Bandsman Benjamin Naylor, 1st Battalion Norfolk Regiment, enlisted 3/10/01 for 12 years, applied to re-engage with the Norfolk Regiment. Dated 10/10/1912.

Form:
Details of wedding noted and countersigned by adjutant 1st Battalion Norfolk Regiment, Aldershot

Request dated 3/6/13 at Holywood Station:
L/Cpl Benjamin Naylor elected to continue insurance under the NI Act of 1911 and that the weekly sum of one and a half pence continue to be stopped from pay.

Memo 20/1/1916 from the War Office:
Property belonging to 7474 Sgt Benjamin Naylor, 7th (S) Battalion Norfolk Regiment, to be send to Mrs S.A. Naylor, c/o Mrs Payne, Park Road, Blockley, Worcestershire.

Receipts:
3/12/1920 by Sarah A Naylor for 1915 Star (no address shown)
5/12/€¦ by Sarah A Naylor for War and Victory medals (no address shown)

Form B2066 dated 10/10/12:
Benjamin Naylor, L/Cpl, Norfolk Regt
Honest, sober, industrious and clean.  Intelligent and trustworthy.  A good performer on the E-flat and B-flat clarinets.  A very promising NCO, careful and thoughtful and a good sportsman all round.

Medals Card and regimental medal rolls:
Benjamin Naylor
7th Battalion/Norfolk Regiment, Sergeant, 7474
Victory and British medals
1915 Star, France, 30/5/15
Killed in action 13/10/15

From Soldiers Effects:
Benjamin Naylor, 7th Norfolk Regt, Sergeant, 7474
Died 13/10/15 in action
GBP21 10s 8d plus GBP9 10s 0d War Gratuity to widow and sole legatee Sarah Ann

Benjamin Naylor has no known grave, the photograph available shows his name on Loos Memorial.