Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of Albert Booth (Smith) a general labourer, born in the in the 2nd quarter of 1860 in Seagrave, Leicestershire (son of Henry Clayton Booth and Emily (Emma) Smith) and his wife Eliza Booth (nee Giddings/Giddins/Gibbins, married on the 25th December 1880 in All Saint’s Church, Oakham), born in the 1st quarter of 1860 in Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire (daughter of William Gibbins and Elizabeth Scotney). John was born on the 11th December 1898 in Oakham, Rutland and was baptised on the 6th February 1898 in All Saint’s Church, Oakham, his siblings were, Elizabeth Emily Giddings, born on the 6th November 1879 in Kings Cliffe, Henry Albert, born in the 4th quarter of 1888 and baptised on the 15th September 1889 in All Saint’s Church, Oakham, Nathaniel, born in the 2nd quarter of 1891 and baptised on the 11th September 1892 in All Saint’s Church, Oakham, Sybil, born on the 29th November 1893, Mary, born on the 5th July 1899 and baptised on the 11th September 1904 in All Saint’s Church, Oakham and Emily, born on the 14th July 1900 and baptised on the 23rd July 1905 in All Saint’s Church, Oakham, the latter five siblings were all born in Oakham, in March 1901 the family home was at John’s Court, John Street, Oakham. In April 1911 John was a schoolboy and was residing in the family home at John’s Court, Oakham, together with his father, a general farm labourer, his mother and siblings, Albert, a general farm labourer, Nathaniel, a general farm labourer, Sybil and Arthur, born on the 22nd June 1905 in Oakham and baptised on the 23rd July 1905 in All Saint’s Church, Oakham, also residing with the family was John’s nephew Arthur Turner, born 1908 in Oakham. John also had the following siblings, Kezia, born on the 12th October 1881, in Oakham, Harriet, born in the 2nd quarter of 1884 in Oakham and baptised on the 11th January 1885 in All Saint’s Church, Oakham, who married Arthur Seal Turner on the 2nd June 1902 in All Saint’s Church, Oakham. Harriet died in April 1908 in Ab Kettleby, Leicestershire, aged 24 and was interred in Ab Kettleby Cemetery on the 9th April 1908, Beatrice born on the 26th June 1886 in Oakham and John, born in the 2nd quarter of 1896 in Oakham and baptised on the 26th May 1896 in All Saint’s Church, Oakham and who died in the 2nd quarter of 1896 in Oakham. John’s older brother, Henry died on the 14th September 1912 in Oakham, aged 23.
NOTE: There were two families of Booths residing in Oakham at the time of the Great War, and the heads of both families, Albert Booth and Nathaniel Booth were brothers, and the sons of Henry Clayton Booth and his wife Emily (Emma) Smith. The War Memorial in All Saint’s Churchyard bears the names of the five sons of these two families, Nathaniel and John Booth were the sons of Albert and Emily Booth and Nathaniel, Napthali and Henry were the sons of Nathaniel and Adeliza Booth, Napthali enlisted into the Army and served with the alias of Nathaniel.
John enlisted/attested into Regular Army on the 29th December 1915 in Oakham, and was allotted the service number 23914. He gave his place of birth as Oakham and age as 18 years 6 days (11th December 1897). His marital status was given as unmarried and his trade or calling as greengrocer.
His medical examination took place in Oakham on the 17th December 1915 and recorded his apparent age as 18 years 6 days, that he was 5 feet 3½ inches in height, weighed 100 lbs, had a chest measurement of between 30 and 32 inches, his complexion was described as dark, he had dark brown eyes and his hair colour was dark. He gave his religion as Church of England.
He gave his next of kin as his father, Albert Booth, Grange Cottage, Oakham.
During his period of military service the following events of note occurred:-
Joined. At Oakham. 11/12/15.
Posted. 3rd Bn. Leicestershire Regt. Pte. 29/12/15.
Posted. 3rd Bn. Leicestershire Regt. Pte. 25/1/16.
Embarked. At Folkestone to join the British Expeditionary Force, France. Pte. 18/1/17.
Posted. 9th Bn. Leicestershire Regt. Pte. 19/1/17.
Joined. 12th Infantry Brigade Depot, Calais. 19/1/17
Posted. 8th Bn. Leicestershire Regt. Pte. 8/2/17.
Joined. 8th Bn. Leicestershire Regt. In the Field. 10/2/17.
Died of wounds. 22/3/18.
Summary of Service.
Home Service. 29/12/15 – 18/1/17. 1 year 21 days.
British Expeditionary Force, France. 19/1/17 – 22/3/18. 1 year 63 days.
Total Service. 2 years 84 days.
He was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
John’s surviving service record amounts to a total of nine pages, of which only five pages relate directly to his military service, and these are in extremely poor condition, the hand written information in some cases is barely legible, damaged or missing entirely, however the content does offer at least a little descriptive insight into some of the events that took place during his period of service. John’s older brother Nathaniel died on the 20th December 1915 from the effects of gas poisoning. On the 13th November 1918, John’s mother and father were awarded a weekly Army Pension of five shillings for life.
The War Diary records: 17-21-Mar-18 - FRONT LINE, EPEHY. The Battalion moved into the front line on the night of March 17th, relieving the 6th LEICESTERSHIRE REGIMENT. The enemy’s attitude still remained abnormal, and prisoners obtained by means of raids gave the date for the attack as the 21st or 22nd. Hostile patrols were seen or encountered in no man’s land and the extraordinary inactivity of the hostile artillery was still maintained. The weather was extremely fine, and had been so for the previous week, under the warm and continued sunshine, the ground became very dry and firm, heavy ground mists were prevalent during the early mornings. At 1.00 am on the morning of the 21st March, a patrol of 1 officer and 20 other ranks was sent out by “C” Company to obtain an identification. This patrol met with no opposition whatever and on his return the officer in charge was able to report that not a single German had been seen. At 4.30 am the hostile shelling ended its long period of inactivity and commenced a heavy bombardment of the Divisional front and to the north and south, high explosive and large quantities of gas shell were used on the front line system, the village of EPEHY and the Batteries. Very heavy shelling of villages in our back areas also took place, and it quickly became evident that the artillery preparation for an attack on a large scale was in progress. The gas bombardment was particularly severe, mustard gas being used, all ranks were compelled to wear their box respirators for at least 3 hours. When daylight came just after 6.00 am it was quite impossible to see the wire in front of the trenches on account of the thickness of the mist, a great disadvantage was thus experienced, the necessity for good observation being absolutely vital to the defenders. Towards 9.00 am the hostile artillery lifted the greater part of the fire from our front line system, and placed a -?- barrage west of EPEHY on the Battery positions and all approaches. Telephone communications with two of the front line Companies “C” and “D” were still working and no enemy impending attack had been reported, the thick mist still continued and observation was impossible. During the preparatory bombardment very few casualties were sustained by the Battalion and all ranks were fully prepared for the appearance of the hostile infantry. At 9.30 am the enemy infantry advanced to the attack, in accordance with the order to man battle stations the front line garrison had been withdrawn to the immediate support line, and the attack on the Battalion sector was everywhere repelled with heavy loss to the enemy. The enemy was content to hold for the line, our original front line, where he was subjected to a heavy and accurate rifle grenade and Lewis gun fire. Visibility still continued to be impossible and Forward Observation Officers were unable to inform their Batteries of the position of the hostile infantry or even give any clear idea of the situation. During the course of the morning the mist lifted slightly and at intervals strong forces of the enemy could be seen advancing towards ROHNSOY and LEMPIRE on our right. The 16th Division on our right were compelled to withdraw some distance to conform with the line on their right. Strong bombing attacks were made against our right flank held by “A” Company, on two occasions the enemy forced their way into “A” Company’s trenches, but were immediately ejected by vigorous counter bombing. Towards 1.00 pm a lull occurred in the fighting on the Battalion front and meanwhile the mist had cleared. Large forces of the enemy could be seen moving west through ROHNSOY and LEMPIRE, and large concentrations of his infantry were seen massing in the valleys east of our front line and in the neighbourhood of VAUCELETTE FARM and VILLERS GUISLAIN. During the afternoon reports received showed that the enemy has broken through our defensive system on the right and were advancing rapidly, the enemy was everywhere held on the 110th Brigade front. Towards 5.00 pm the enemy commenced to trench mortar the support line, the fire being heavy and accurate, and at 6.00pm a withdrawal was made to the RED LINE just east of EPEHY to conform with the 7th LEICESTERSHIRE REGIMENT on our left who had been driven out of their support line and to link up with the left Battalion of the 16th Division on our right. The night of March 21st/22nd March passed without any further attack on the front of the hostile infantry, but the enemy artillery displayed great activity during the night chiefly on the approaches to EPEHY and the back areas.
The War Diary records: 22 Mar-18 - FRONT LINE, EPEHY. The early morning of the 22nd March brought with it the same heavy mist, the hostile artillery displayed little activity and up till 9.00 am the enemy made no further attack, observation of any kind was quite impossible and the movements of the enemy on our right could not be seen. During the night of the 21st/22nd March from information received it was evident that small parties of the enemy had reached the EPEHY – ST EMILIE ROAD, it was also reported that a small party about 20 strong had been seen near the advanced dressing station in the South West edge of EPEHY. About 9.00 am favoured and hidden by the heavy mist the enemy infantry commenced to push into the village from the EPEHY – ST EMILIE ROAD. Three posts on the South East edge of the village were rushed from the rear and taken and the enemy continued to advance in a North Eastern direction through the village. By this time the right flank of the Battalion was completely in the air and the hostile infantry were threatening the RED LINE from the East, South and West. The Commanding Officer decided to evacuate the RED LINE at 10.00 am, at the same time moving Battalion Headquarters from FISHERS KEEP. Accordingly the decision was communicated to the 4 Companies holding the RED LINE and to the 2 Companies of the 6th LEICESTERSHIRE REGIMENT defending the village. The evacuation of the RED LINE was carried out under very difficult circumstances as the enemy were rapidly closing in from three sides. A defensive flank was then formed along the SAULCOURT – EPEHY ROAD to link up with the 7th LEICESTERSHIRE REGIMENT holding PEIZIERE and the YELLOW LINE, held by 2 Companies of the 6th LEICESTERSHIRE REGIMENT and 2 Companies of the Reserve Brigade. About 10.30 am the mist lifted considerably, very large forces of hostile infantry were seen advancing west along the high ground behind VILLERS FAUCON and EPEHY. It was very evident that the enemy would make a serious attempt to drive in the right flank of the YELLOW LINE. Towards 11.00 am small parties of the enemy infantry began to break clear of the West side of EPEHY and to collect together in the dead ground West of the village, these parties were made to pay dearly for their enterprise, but shortly after 11.00 am, the mist descended again and the enemy was able to complete his concentration in comparative safety. At 11.30 am the Brigade received orders to withdraw through SAULCOURT to LONGAVESNES (ST QUENTIN A1) and to reorganise there. At the same time the enemy about a Battalion strong pushed forward from EPEHY towards the SAULCOURT – EPEHY ROAD. The Brigade slowly withdrew through the defences of SAULCOURT (BROWN LINE) held by the Reserve Brigade and details of 110th Brigade HQ to LONGAVESNES. From there the Brigade marched to AIZECOURT-LE-HAUT arriving there about 7.00 pm. In the meantime the enemy’s advance was arrested by the SAULCOURT DEFENCES and the BROWN LINE west of SAULCOURT. At 4.30 pm after a short but very intense shelling preparation the enemy made an attack in force on the BROWN LINE, and succeeded in capturing SAULCOURT, after this rapid progress was made by the enemy resulting in the loss of GUYENCOURT, LONGAVESNES and LIBRAMONT. During the evening the Corps received orders to withdraw to the GREEN LINE East of TEMPLEUX LA FOSSE to conform with the movements of the next Corps to the South.