Frederick Littlewood

Frederick studied in Oxford for only a term before joining up. He was promoted to Lieutenant and died in day-to-day trench warfare.

Studied at Exeter College

Frederick William Littlewood was born in 1895 in Lancashire. His father was Superintendent of Agents for a Friendly Collecting Society. In 1914 Frederick began studying at Exeter College Oxford. However, after little more than a term he interrupted his studies, and enlisted in February 1915.

Boulogne in August 1915

Frederick was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 8th Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment, while it was still in England. It landed in Boulogne in August 1915, and moved to the front line in September. The men were put under the direction of battle-hardened troops for training in the realities of war.

Trench warfare

The battalion continued for many months without being involved in major action, and at some point Frederick was promoted to Lieutenant. As an officer he would have been particularly exposed to danger, and he seems to have been a casualty of day-to-day trench warfare when he died on 5 March 1916, aged 20. His body was recovered and he is buried at Rue-David Military Cemetery, Fleurbaix, which is about 20 miles south of Ypres.