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Hussar

Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 7:31 pm
by troyon14
Hello, I am currently researching an 11th Hussar who is named on the war memorial and his name
was Frank Tokely.Using the 1901 census i find he was born at Bures about 1886,and his parents were James and Eliza. In 1911 he is already a serving soldier
and in barracks. If anyone has any information or indeed a photograph i would be most grateful.

Re: Hussar

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 8:35 am
by admin
I have searched Kelly`s and Whites Directors through that time period and came up with nothing. This would eliminate the family being in business in the village.
You will need to determine in which part of Bures they lived. Bures is divided into two distinct halves.
Bures Hamlet on the Essex side of the River Stour, the records being held at Chelmsford RO (Suffolk CC)
Bures St Mary on the Suffolk side of the River, the records being held at Bury St Edmunds RO.(Essex CC)

In all my documents I can find no reference to this surname.

UPDATE:- Sudbury Rd is in Bures St Mary - the Suffolk side

Re: Hussar

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 8:40 pm
by troyon14
Thankyou for your reply, it would appear by the 1901 census that Frank Tokely was born in the Suffolk Bures, that is the Hamlet then i take it. They lived in Sudbury road and at 15 years old Frank was a Farmers Labourer, he lived there with two brothers, William and Albert, and a sister Grace, along with his parents.

Re: Hussar

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 3:25 pm
by admin
I am in the process of working through all the names on our War Memorial as this year is the Centenary of the conflict.

I am wondering with all this time passed whether you managed to gain any more info on this soldier ?

I have taken records from different sources, unfortunately not all coming up with the same answer

http://bures.me.uk/Memorial/Killed%20in%20Action.htm
Lists him the household Cavalry

http://bures.me.uk/Memorial/lost%20records.htm
Lists him in the Hussars

Look forward to hearing from you

alan
Webmaster

Re: Hussar

Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 5:30 pm
by alan
Further details on Frank Tokely, b1885 d1914

Frank Tokely
The first person on our War Memorial to die in WW1 was Trooper Frank Tokely who died on 1st November 1914. He was born in Bures and served with the 11th (Prince Albert’s Own) Hussars. He was killed during what became known as the first Battle of Ypres (which took place during October and November 1914). He was serving with his Regiment on Messines Ridge just south of Ypres in Belgium and was killed along with 15 of his colleagues who are listed as being killed on that day. The Messines Ridge offered a good vantage point over the surrounding flat countryside and it was a barrier to the Germans wishing to pass south of Ypres. The 11th Hussars were no longer mounted. They fought in the trenches just like the infantry. At the end of October the Germans brought in six new divisions to make an all-out assault on the British line between Messines and Gheluvelt. The British were heavily outnumbered. On the 30th October a heavy German bombardment of Messines started at 8 am and the battle lasted until 1st November when the Germans succeeded in taking Messines.
Neither Frank Tokely’s body, nor any of those of his fifteen colleagues were found and their names are on the Menin Gate in Ypres which is one of four Memorials to the missing in Belgian Flanders which cover the area known as the Ypres Salient. The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial now bears the names of more than 54,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. The Last Post is sounded at the Menin Gate every night by members of the Belgian Fire Brigade. Five of those named on the Bures War Memorial are listed on the Menin Gate.

Courtesy of Ian Gibbs, Chairman of the Bures BL