Randolph's Story.
7th Brigade, 25th Division, 3rd Army, XV11 Corps. Buried at Ecoivres Military Cemetery, Mont-St-Eloi, Pas de Calais, France.
Grave number 11.c.21
Mont-St. Eloi is a village in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais, 8 kilometres north-west of Arras. Ecoivres is a hamlet lying at the foot of the hill, to the south-west and about 1.5 kilometres from Mont-St. Eloi.
This cemetery is really the extension of the communal cemetery, where the French army had buried over 1,000 men. The 46th (North Midland) Division took over the extension with this part of the line in March, 1916, and their graves are in Rows A to F of Plot I. Successive divisions used the French military tramway to bring their dead in from the front line trenches and, from the first row to the last, burials were made almost exactly in the order of date of death. The attack of the 25th Division on Vimy Ridge in May 1916 is recalled in Plots I and II.
Son of Albert and Mary Needham. of 36 The Village. Randolph was a butchers assistant. Albert was a Hauling Engineer at Poynton collieries, and Mary was a housekeeper. They had 4 sons James, Percy, Randolph, and Harold and 2 daughters, Mary and Ella. Randolph enlisted in Macclesfield on the 2nd September, 1914, soon after the outbreak of war. On the 15th of September, He was posted to the 10th Battalion.
The 10th (Service) Battalion, Cheshire Regiment was raised in Chester on the 10th of September 1914 as part of Kitchener's Third New Army and joined 75th Brigade, 25th Division. They trained at Codford St Mary and spent the winter in billets in Bournemouth. They moved to Aldershot for final training in May, 1915 and proceeded to France on the 26th of September, the division concentrating in the area of Nieppe.
James and Percy also served in the army and survived the war. (James was originally a Private in the 3rd Monmouthshire’s Regiment but transferred to the 5th South Wales Borderers (Pioneers). He was subsequently discharged in 1918 with gunshot wounds) (Percy was a motor maxim gunner attached to the Royal Artillery)
Killed by a sniper
Reported in the Stockport Advertiser on June, 2nd, 1916.
Intimation has been received that another Poynton man Private Randolph Needham 10th Battalion Cheshire Regiment has paid the ultimate sacrifice whilst on outpost duty. Private Brown a Macclesfield soldier who was with the deceased has written to say that Needham was in an advanced post when he was hit by a bullet and instantly killed. The deceased was 24 years of age. His companion Brown adds that he would be greatly missed by his comrades, he was a good soldier and more like a brother to him.
German attacks North of Arras
After a short period away from the front line, the Cheshire’s returned to the trenches near Mont-St-Eloi on May 17th, 1916. This is a small village 8 kilometres northwest of the French town of Arras, named after the nearby hill. The Cheshire’s trenches were at the foot of the hill, near the hamlet of Ecoivres. It was a comparatively quiet sector, although casualties could be expected on an almost daily basis. The Germans had increased their activity in this sector for several days prior to the 21st at a high cost to the Cheshire’s, with some 24 men losing their lives. During the morning of the 21st, the communication trenches leading to the front line were shelled, causing some damage. At 3.45pm an intense bombardment was opened up on all communication and support trenches, particularly to the left of the sector held by the Cheshire’s. The war diary records “The bombardment continued with unabated violence for 4 hours at the end of which time most of the trenches were levelled and a very large proportion of the men killed or wounded. At 7.45 the enemy attacked and took the outpost and front line trench on the left, as a result of the bombardment practically nobody was left to oppose them. A counter-attack was delivered at 2am which was successful in retaking the front trench.” The war diary notes that 33 men had been killed 101 wounded and 41 were missing. In the event, a total of 48 men were eventually recorded as fatalities 1 of these men was Randolph Needham.
The inscription on Randolph’s headstone says,
“ Sweet is the memory of him we dearly loved”
Cheshire County Memorial Project would like to thank Phil Underwood for compiling this page on Randolph