Joseph Tandy

Memorial: Thornbury - St Mary's Church

Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment

Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Private 6349

Parents: Lewis and Harriet Tandy

Home address: Grovesend, Thornbury, Bristol

Pre-war occupation: Farm Labourer/Army Reserve

Date of birth: 1882

Place of birth: Moreton Valence, Gloucestershire

Date of death: 28/10/1915

Buried/Commemorated at: Étaples Military Cemetery (Ref. III. E. 18A.)

Age: 33

Further information:

Bronze tablet and Wooden Memorial Board

Joseph Tandy was born in Moreton Valence, with his birth being registered in the June quarter of 1882. He was baptised there on 23rd July. He was one of the eight children of agricultural labourer, Lewis Tandy and his first wife Harriett. By 1898 the family were living at Grovesend. At the time of the 1901 census, Joseph was working as a labourer in a stone quarry, probably at Tytherington. His mother died later that year. Joseph joined the Army, serving with the Gloucestershire Regiment for eight years, the greater part of which time was spent in India. In June 1906 his father married Nellie Redding and soon the couple had three children together. In 1911 Joseph was lodging with his sister, Mary Ann Messenger, and her family at Grovesend, working as a farm labourer

As he was in the Army Reserve, Joseph would have been called soon after war was declared. He served with 1st Battalion, Glosters, 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, and, according to his medal card, joined them in France on 2nd February 1915

On 9th May, 1st Glosters suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Aubers Ridge. The Battle of Loos began on 25th September. On 8th October 1st Glosters bore the brunt of one enemy counter attack, which was repulsed. The Battalion lost about 130 men , but its Commander Lieutenant-Colonel Pagan commented, ‘They had a good fight; all ranks were overjoyed when the time came to meet the attackers with the bullet, thus to get their own back, not only for the shelling that they had endured earlier in the day, but also for the never-forgotten 9th of May’

At 2 p.m. on 13th October, following a heavy British bombardment and the release of gas and smoke, 1st Division, including 1st Glosters, joined other divisions in an attack against 1400 yards of enemy positions along the La Bassée to Lens Road near Hulluch. As the men approached the German wire they were hit by intense artillery fire. Only a few passages through the wire had been cleared by the shelling and despite efforts to cut through, the assault was halted. The survivors were forced to withdraw after dark. The Divisions suffered 1,200 casualties. According to the local newspaper Joseph was injured on the 14th October ‘shot through the lungs and spine.’ He was taken to Étaples where there were many reinforcement camps and hospitals. Joseph died of wounds on 28th October and was buried at Étaples Military Cemetery

Joseph’s brother, Hubert, died in February 1915 and is also commemorated on the Thornbury Memorial. His brother Harry served as a Lance Corporal in a Welsh Regiment. Joseph’s nephew Edward Messenger was in the Royal Garrison Artillery. In September 1918 the Gazette reported that another nephew ‘Private Fred Messenger, of Grovesend, gave a pint and a half of blood to a badly wounded comrade in France. He has been granted three weeks leave for doing so’

By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):

Thornbury Roots Website. Thornbury and District Museum Research Group. Forces War Records and the CWGC