9th Essex and their men from Rayne
Rayne War Memorial Courtesy of Jeff Tomlinson
On the outbreak of World War One the appeal for me to join one of Kitchener's Battalions was met by the men of Essex and none more so than at Rayne.
Many of the local men joined the 9th Essex as a group and were included in the battalion casualty figures of the deaths of 62 officers and 1082 other ranks.
While the grouping of friends was an advantage in training and war by virtue of existing friendships and ties it did mean that losses could be very heavy for the small village.
An example of this was on 12 October 1915 when three men from Rayne and two from nearby Felsted were all sheltering from a bombardment when a shell landed in their trench killing all five men.
Those Rayne men killed were Private Thomas Hammond age 22 , Private Alfred Nash age 22 and Burton Alexander ( Alec) Richardson age 19.
Rayne and the 9th Essex were also to lose James Baker, Edward Elmer Hance, George John Hance, Charles Newman, Albert Overall, Charlie Saunders and Frank Ernest Richardson
When the Rayne War Memorial was dedicated in October 1920 there was special mention of part that the 9th Essex played in the World War and the part that the men of Rayne played in the battalion.
