John Leggo of St Just was killed on 23 August 1914, the British army's first day of fighting on the Western Front. The St Just Book of Remembrance remembers him as “the son of Mr John Leggo and Kate (nee Casley) his wife, and grandson of the late John Leggo, enlisted in the DCLI at the beginning of the war and was killed at the battle of Mons and buried at Thurlem (?). He was unmarried and the first recruit from St Just to give his life for his king and country.”

The records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission provide a bit more detail, “Leggo, J, Private, 7929, 1st Battalion DCLI, died 23/08/1914, interred Cement House Cemetery XV111.B.13. Husband of Mrs K Leggo of Boswedden Rd, St Just.” John was not the husband of Mrs K Leggo, he was her son and unmarried. His father, landlord of the Star Inn St Just, had died of TB in 1913.

The grave registration documents indicate that he was initially buried as an unknown British soldier in Thulin Cemetery. In 1920 he was exhumed and reburied, still in Thulin but his identity was established at exhumation. The exhumation record also says that he was wearing his general service uniform but had no boots. In 1954 he was exhumed again and re-interred in Cement House Cemetery.

John Leggo was killed on the first day of the battle of Mons (in effect the first day of actual fighting), one of about 1500 men killed, wounded or missing. He was the first St Just man to be killed in on the Western Front in WW1 and one of the first Cornishmen to die in World War One.

John's military papers have been lost, destroyed by fire during World War II. However an account of his brief military service can be pieced together from the details that have survived, and from information from his family. The DCLI 1st Battalion was regular army and in August 1914 was based at the Curragh (Dublin). John had signed on with the DCLI as a boy soldier in 1904, for a term of seven years with five more eligible for call-up in the event of war. His initial training was at Bodmin, and later Crownhill Barracks, Plymouth, which is still inexistence and used as an events venue.

He may have served for some time In Gibralter before taking his discharge after seven years as planned and returning home. The 1911 census describes him a surface labourer at a mine but whether he was still doing this in 1914 is not known. He His blond hair was still talked about his sister Kate, remembering him in the 1960s.

Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 (see On This day 4 August) and the battalion war diary records that mobilisation was ordered immediately. The diary goes on to say that by 7 August mobilisation was completed and for “some reason there was a large excess of personnel”. On 13 August the 1st D.C.L.I. boarded a train at the Curragh siding and travelled to Dublin from where they set off for France on the SS Lanfranc arriving Le Havre 15/8/1914.

The diary describes in some detail the battalion's arrival in Le Havre and their first night in a “completely swamped” field before going on to describe their movements through northern France, mostly by train. By 6.30pm on 17 August they had arrived at Le Cateau from where they marched to Landrecies where they were billeted in a school until the 21st. On the 22nd they crossed the Belgian border and took up position around the village of Le Petit Crepin on the Mons-Conde Canal at about 4pm. The disposition of the battalion is shown on the map which comes from the battalion war diary.

The battalion dug itself in around Le Petit Crepin with forward outposts up the road towards the enemy, who had still not been seen. The Cornwalls were the left end of the line with the East Surreys to their right and the diary assesses the major weakness of their position as being their inability to bring fire to bear on the road north towards Ville Pommeroeul and the German lines.

These early days on the Western Front are described in considerable detail. The first action, which took place on 23 August, is described as follows:

“At 6.0 am the first actual contact with the enemy took place on the south side of the bye-road at point B. Second Lieutenant Saville was occupying a trench with a section of No 6 Platoon. A sentry post of three private soldiers was established at a bend in the road about a couple of hundred yards to his front. A strong officer's patrol of German dragoons, apparently unconscious of any danger, taking no military precautions but riding along in close order, laughing and talking, rode up to the group. Our men were in a ditch at the road-side and withheld their fire. The German officer suddenly saw them and began to fumble for his revolver, whereupon Private Sambrook, one of the group, shot him through the body at point blank. The patrol wheeled about and the remaining two men fired into them with little effect. The German officer fell forward on to the neck of his horse but was successfully led away by his men. The sentry post fell back upon the trench in rear.”

Not a glorious encounter, unplanned and unexpected on both sides and unusual in that a private soldier, Private Sambrook, was mentioned by name in the battalion diary. Private Sambrook survived until 14 September 1914, his name is inscribed on La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial to the men of the B.E.F. who fell at Mons, La Cateau, the Marne and the Aisne in August to October 1914 and have no known grave. Private Sambrook was 20 years old when he was killed.

Lieutenant Saville and his men subsequently took a couple of prisoners, both in “a state of terror” and one who was so badly provisioned that he had been sharing oats with his horse. As the day progressed the Cornwalls further reinforced their position until at 4.45pm the enemy began to advance down the road towards them, a "solid mass and occupying the entire roadway.” The road had already been identified as the weak point but the Cornwalls were able to clear the advancing enemy off the road with concerted fire at 750 yards. The danger was now all too apparent however, the German numbers were vastly superior and the Cornwalls were ordered to fall back over the canal. It seems the 1st DCLI were able to retreat from the canal in good order back to Thulin whereupon they were ordered back into the firing line by Brigadier General de Lisle, 'who appeared to be in command'. This must have been early evening and they remained in the line until long after darkness after fallen. They found themselves under artillery and machine gun fire for some time and both sides made attempts to enfilade the other with little effect. This period is summarised as follows, 'Our men acquired a poor opinion of German musketry and a still poorer one of their artillery fire. As the results of several hours fire we had lost one man killed and five wounded. We withdrew without any difficulty at 11pm.'

The dead man must have been John Leggo who must have died sometime between 4.45pm and 11pm, more likely in the later part of the evening. His family was told he had been hot by a ‘stray shell’ during the retreat from Mons, while defending a bridge across the Mons Canal. There is a family tradition that on the day he left St Just for active service, he found he had forgotten his ‘crib’ box and – when he went back for it – his mother told him not to go, as if he did he would never come home again.

Grave registration form following exhumation and reburial in 1920. Note that John Leggo was initally entered as Unknown British Soldier. Also of interest is that the cemetery contains the remains of Austrian and German soldiers as well as British. (Courtesy of Commonwealth War Graves Commission) 

he great-nephew of John Leggo, Alan Phipps, adds:
“The Leggo family originated from Madron.

My grandfather Richard Thomas Benjamin Watts [husband of John Leggo’s sister, Kate] is probably the last one on the WW1 memorial. Known as Tommy Watts, he was one of several volunteers from the tin mines ( probably Major Oats’ boys ) and served in the the 134th (Cornwall) Heavy Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery, formed in July 1915 by Nos 1 (Padstow) and No2 ( Penzance) of the Cornwall RGA .”

Tommy – whose father was Cornish - moved from Devon to St Just to work on an estate. He married Kate, Alan’s grandmother and John Leggo’s sister, in 1912. They had a son (Edward) in 1912, a daughter (Kathleen) and another son (John), both in 1913, another daughter Phyllis who died in infancy, and then three more sons, Frank, Vincent (both of whom served in WW2) and Bernard. A final daughter, Hazel, was born in 1925. They would have been nieces and nephews to John Leggo.

On return from the front Tommy kept a butcher’s shop in St Just but went bankrupt because of problems with customer credit. He went on to manage a Co-op butchers shop in Truro.

Alan continues:
“My mother Hazel Jean (born 13/06/1925) was the last of eight children, and just over a year after she was born, Tommy passed away after seven years suffering with malaria, which he probably caught while serving in East Africa. The authorities were going to put the children in care but Gran’s cousin came to the rescue when he heard about the situation. He was Captain Edward Caseley Codyre of the DCLI and he was instrumental in Gran getting a war widow’s pension - with the added bonus of a house to rent in Gulval

Many thanks to Alan Phipps of Plymouth for taking the trouble to write in and add to the story. We are always happy to hear from readers with updates and corrections – please use the ‘contact us’ link above.