Jack Goldsmith

Rank 
Private
Regiment 
London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers)
Date of death 
1 July 1916
Age of death 
24
Address 
7 Laburnum Villas
West Grove
Woodford Green
Woodford
Essex
IG8 7NP
Address source 
1911 Census
Cemetery / Memorial 
France
Biography 

Born in 1892 at Woodford, eldest son of James (Domestic Coachman) and Emma Goldsmith. 1901: With family at 9 Salway Hill, Woodford Green. 1911: A Fishmongers Assistant, with family at 7 Laburnum Villas, West Grove, Woodford Green. His father was now a Caretaker at E.C.C. Schools. The parents later lived at 97 Globe Road, Snakes Lane, Woodford Green. He was a pupil of Churchfields School.

Having tried twice to join up and being rejected, at the third attempt he succeeded enlisting at Harrow Road, and was initially sent to Balkans operational area on 9th December 1915. By 30th June 1916 he was attached to a Trench Mortar Battery, in France, on the eve of the Battle of the Somme.

1st July 1916 saw the first day of the Battle of the Somme, and Jack was among the British forces mounting a diversionary attack on the Gommecourt Salient to the north of the main assault. Unfortunately like the main attack this diversion also cost many lives, not least among those men funneling through gaps in the German barbed wire who fell easy victim to machine guns. Jack Goldsmith was among many that day whose death was “presumed” because no trace of them was subsequently found.

Research by Adrian Lee, Local Historian

Sources:

Ancestry.com

Woodford Times