HAYWOOD Francis (of Nottingham)
The Ploegseert Memorial
Sherwood Foresters
By Peter Haywood
Francis Haywood the son of John Haywood was born in Nottingham about 1895, although he is later believed to have moved to Mansfield. Francis was often changed to 'Frank' and he may well have been known by this name. Nothing is known of his early life and the only record of a Francis Haywood of Mansfield appears in the 1911 Census Return when a person with these details was shown as an inmate of the Norton Reformatory in Birmingham. Francis would have been about 15 years old at that time and the Home took boys aged between 9 and 17 years sentenced by a Court normally for 5 years, so could this have been him? Whether this was Francis is not known but Francis the son of John Haywood appears to have enlisted into the 2nd Bn The Notts & Derby Regt (Sherwood Foresters) shortly before the start of the First World War. He arrived in France on the 10th September 1914 and on the 18th October 1914 he arrived with the 2nd Battalion at Ennetiere. At daybreak on the 20th October the Battalion came under very heavy attack by the advancing German Army and at the end of that day, the Battalion War Diary states that some 710 men had been killed, wounded, missing in action or taken prisoner. Amongst those killed in action on that day was Francis Haywood who was then 19 years of age. On the 5th February 1915 a report in the 'Nottingham Evening Post' shows him missing between the 6th and 10th December 1914, although this may have been placed in the paper by his anxious family who were seeking details of him. He was awarded the 1914 War Medal and Victory Medal and he should have received the 1914 Star but this is not recorded on his Medal Index Card, although a note exists on this stating that a sister Miss E Haywood of 6 Gordon Terrace, Kingslake Street, Nottingham had applied for this.
Sadly this is all the information that exists on this young Nottingham soldier whose body was never recovered and whose name is recorded on the Ploegsteert Memorial.