Location: St George’s Parish Church, Beckington, Somerset, BA11 6TG
Survey and photographs courtesy of Alasdair Mackie. Date of survey: 23/09/2016
OLIVER J VINER
Details on cross:
GRU
9089 SGT O. J. VINER. K. R. R. C. 14/7/16
Text type (e.g. hand-written, GRU tags, carved): GRU tags
Cross dimensions (millimetres)
Shaft Height: 968
Cross beam width: 397
Width of wood: 70
Thickness or depth: 20
Other information
Mounting to wall: Fixed to wall by wires from nails in the wall to eyes in the back of the cross.
Detailing: Simple wooden cross with rounding at the corners of the cross piece.
Evidence of use in field (earth marking, cracking, staining, shrinkage): Clear evidence of previous insertion in the earth on the shaft.
Surface insertion depth (into ground if apparent): 150mm
Finish (varnish, paint, oiled, unfinished etc): Unfinished
Condition (cracked, paint peeling, woodwork, damage etc): Very good.
Notes and observations:
It looked like earth still attached to the cross – but no clue whether this was from the battlefield or from an earlier insertion in Somerset. Very poignant if the original soil.
Biographical information:
From the CWGC: Oliver James VINER was 37 when he was killed on the Somme in 1916. He was serving in C Coy. 20th Batallion of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps and is buried in Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz. Son of James and Emma Viner; husband of Emma 0. Viner, of 74, Addiscombe Court Rd., East Croydon, Surrey. Born at Beckington, Somerset.
From www.longlongtrail.co.uk: 20th (Service) Batallion (British Empire League Pioneers)…. 19 May 1916: came under orders of 3rd Division as Pioneer Battalion.
From 1911 census: Oliver was living at 36 Bramley Hill, South Croydon with his wife Emma and daughter Elaine. He was a gardener (domestic), and the census shows him having been born in Wetbury in Wiltshire (rather than Beckington as in the CWGC). His wife Emma was born in Beckington, however.
Joseph Howard Gee
Details on cross:
On upper part of main shaft:
RIP
On circular quadrants centred on cross:
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
On cross-piece:
139743 SPR GEE. J.H. 86 FLD COMPANY
ROYAL ENGINEERS
On circular quadrants centred on cross:
KILLED IN ACTION
On lower part of main shaft:
7/8/17
Text type (e.g. hand-written, GRU tags, carved): Painted
Cross dimensions (millimetres please)
Shaft Height: Not available
Cross beam width: Not available
Width of wood: Not available
Thickness or depth: Not available
Circle plate (if celtic type)
Outer diameter: Not available
Width of circle: Not available
Thickness: Not available
Other information
Mounting to wall: Cross-piece supported directly by nails inserted in the wall.
Detailing: The shaft and cross-piece are slightly tapered – thinning to a narrower point where the two pieces meet.
Evidence of use in field (earth marking, cracking, staining, shrinkage): Paint is slightly more worn at the base of the main shaft suggesting some use in field.
Surface insertion depth (into ground if apparent): Unable to measure.
Finish (varnish, paint, oiled, unfinished etc): White paint with black painted text.
Condition (cracked, paint peeling, woodwork, damage etc): Serious damage (piece of wood missing) to main shaft just below where the cross-piece joins it.
Notes and observations:
Initially I thought the name on the cross was CEE – but research on the CWGC site shows it’s a GEE.
Biographical information:
From the CWGC: Joseph Howard Gee was in the 86th Field Coy. Of the Royal Engineers when he was killed on 7/8/17 aged 23. He was the son of Joseph George and Sarah Annie Gee of Beckington, Bath. He is buried in Bard Cottage Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
From the 1911 Census: Joseph was living at home in Beckington with his parents (Joseph and Sarah) and his brothers and sisters. He was a saddler, following his older brother George. George fought but survived the war, and their younger brother, Reginald, was too young to fight.
Sapper Gee- the year of death is clearly 1917 not 1918 as shown above
Hi, thanks for pointing this out, we’ve corrected it. With thousands of records collected by hundreds of different volunteers I’m afraid it’s sadly inevitable the odd transcription error slips through. Apologies.
The IWM WMR has a third cross at this location -Pvt V H Nicholas