Thomas's Story.
EARLY LIFEThomas Goodwin was born in 1893, in Macclesfield. He was the son of Emma and James Goodwin, a cabdriver of 6 Charles Street, Macclesfield. By 1911 the family had moved to 37 Duke Street and Thomas, then 17 years of age, was employed as a carter for a corn merchant.
WW1 SERVICE
Thomas' elder brother James was already serving in the Army Service Corps and it is likely that Thomas also enlisted when he reached the required age of 18, joining the Cheshire Regiment on 23 August 1911. The 1st Battalion was stationed in Ireland before the War and landed in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force on 16th August. It was soon deployed in action against the Germans to cover the withdrawal of British troops from Mons. The 1st Battalion War Diary records that on 7th October it moved by train to Abbeville and then marched on to Bethune, part of a larger British force tasked to prevent the German armies reaching the Channel ports. On 13th October the war diary records a dawn attack by 'A' Coy on Rue d'Ouvert, without success. The result was a number of officers and 55 men missing or dead – including Corporal Thomas Goodwin.
Thomas Goodwin's Medal Index Card states his rank to be 'Acting Sergeant' - hence his listing as Sgt. Goodwin in many records, including the Macclesfield war memorials.
COMMEMORATION
Sergeant Thomas Goodwin has no known grave, and his name is listed on Panel 13 of the Le Touret Memorial in Pas de Calais, France. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds casualty details for Sergeant Thomas Goodwin, and he is listed on the Imperial War Museum's Lives of the First World War website.
In Macclesfield, Sergeant Thomas Goodwin is commemorated on the on the Park Green and Town Hall war memorials.
Research by Rosie Rowley, Congleton.