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Neville NORTHOVER

Neville Evelyn Northover, was born in Poole, Dorset about 1892, the son of Edward and Henrietta Northover, of Southsea, Hants.  In 1911 he was a 'farm pupil' with Thomas & Mary Lord at Eastern House, Hough.  He played cricket for Hough and joined in the social life of the village.

In 1914 he was living in Honington and serving as a trooper with the Grantham troop of the Lincolnshire Yeomanry.  In 1915 he was sent to Egypt (see the story of the SS Mercian under Ernest Fox) and would later have served in Palestine.  

He seems to have been commissioned in the Wiltshire Regiment in Mar 1918 (his father was born in Tisbury, Wilts).  It was normal practice for a man commissioned from the ranks to be moved to another regiment.  

2nd Lt Northover was killed 4th Sep 1918 whilst attached to 15th (Hampshire Yeomanry) Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, in the Ypres sector.

On that day the Hampshire Yeomanry was detailed to attack German trenches near Kemmel.  Orders only came through the night before, giving the company commanders very little time to organise, but by 4am the assault force was assembled for the attack behind “Chinese Trench” with their first objective being the light railway to the west of Bois Quarante.

The artillery barrage fell mainly behind the enemy positions.  As a result the men were met by a hail of machine gun and sniper fire, causing heavy casualties.  Although a few reached the railway they were unable to reach their second objective on the road beyond.  They were too few to hold the ground and a counterattack by German infantry at 7am forced them to withdraw behind the light railway.

The battalion lost 8 officers and 90 men killed or missing in this attack, with a further 6 officers and 220 wounded, some of whom had been gassed.

Neville Northover was buried at Voormezeele, near Ypres.  His name is on both the Honington and the Hough on the Hill war memorials.