Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Memorial: | Warlincourt Halte British Cemetery Saulty | ||
| 2. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.133 | |
| 3. Memorial: | The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour | 1C GQS | |
Awards & Titles: | |||
Family :
Date & place of birth: 13 January 1896 at Heeley, Sheffield, Yorkshire.Son of John James and Elizabeth Revill, of 70, Walkley Rd., Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. J.P. (Alberta) Canada.
John Albert Deakin Revill (known to his family as Albert or Bertie) was born at Midland Road, Heeley in Sheffield on 13 January 1896, the second son of John James Revill (1870–1946) and his wife Elizabeth née Drabble (1865–1926). John James Revill was the son of Albert and Sarah Revill; following Sarah’s death in 1881, Albert married Fanny Drabble, who had a 16-year old daughter Elizabeth. Thus John Albert Revill’s parents were step-brother and sister.
At the time of John Albert’s birth, John James Revill was an insurance agent, but later became a regular soldier (reaching the rank of sergeant) in the 6th Battalion, Manchester Regiment. He married Elizabeth Drabble at St Barnabas parish church in Sheffield on 20 October 1893. Their first son, Reginald was born in October 1894 with another four children (two more boys and two girls) being born at roughly two-year intervals.
While John James was away serving with his regiment in Egypt and in the Boer War, Elizabeth and her children lived with her parents-in-law in the Heeley area of Sheffield
Education & Career :
At the time of the 1911 census, 15-year old Albert was employed as a clerk in a steel works and living with his grandparents above the family greengrocer’s shop at 223 Abbeydale Road, Heeley.
On 10 June 1913, aged only 17, Albert departed from Liverpool bound for a new life in Canada. He sailed aboard the White Star Line’s RMS Megantic. The Megantic had been built in 1909 and could accommodate 230 first class, 430 second class and 1,000 third class passengers.
On 18 June, Albert arrived at Quebec from where he travelled to Edmonton, Alberta to take up employment as a clerk.
Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: Canadian Infantry |
| Action : The Battles of Ypres 1917 (Third Ypres, or Passchendaele) |
31 July - 10 November 1917. By the summer of 1917 the British Army was able for the first time to fight on its chosen ground on its terms. Having secured the southern ridges of Ypres at Messines in June, the main attack started on 31st July 1917 accompanied by what seemed like incessant heavy rain, which coupled with the artillery barrages conspired to turn much of the battlefield into a bog. Initial failure prompted changes in the high command and a strategy evolved to take the ring of ridges running across the Ypres salient in a series of 'bite and hold' operations, finally culminating in the capture of the most easterly ridge on which sat the infamous village of Passchendaele. The Official History carries the footnote ?The clerk power to investigate the exact losses was not available? but estimates of British casualties range from the official figure of 244,000 to almost 400,000. Within five months the Germans pushed the British back to the starting line, which was where they had been since May 1915.
The 63rd Battalion was not formally authorised until 20 April 1915 and spent the next year building up its strength and training until it embarked from Saint John, New Brunswick on 22 April 1916 on board the SS Metagama. The Metagama was built for the Canadian Pacific Line and was immediately pressed into service as a troop carrier following its launch in April 1915.
The 63rd Battalion remained in England and provided reinforcements for the Canadian Corps in the field until 7 July 1916, when its personnel were absorbed by the 9th Reserve Battalion, CEF.
It is unlikely that Albert Revill served as an infantryman on the Western Front. On 21 June 1917, he was seconded as a Captain to the Royal Flying Corps and did his initial training at Reading before being sent to the front on 7 August 1917 to join No 11 Squadron. Two days after his arrival, he was involved in a minor accident while training in a Bristol fighter, suffering a wound in his foot.
He recovered from this injury, and on 6 September, he was promoted to flying officer (observer), with his seniority backdated to 7 August.
Detail :
On 11 November 1917 Albert Revill was flying from La Bellevue aerodrome (about 6 km north-east of Doullens) in a Bristol F2B fighter no A7252, as the observer with pilot 2nd Lieutenant Mortimer Sackville West (aged 26). West had achieved five “victories” before his death, the last two months earlier on 11 September.
The accident report states that the Bristol fighter “pulled out too quickly from a steep dive and right wing crumpled, during target practice”. The plane crashed near Le Hameau (now Izel-lès-Hameau), 18 km west of Arras.
Both airmen were killed in the crash and were buried alongside each other at Warlincourt Halte British Cemetery, between Arras (22 kilometres) and Doullens (13 kilometres). His grave bears the inscription “For ever with the Lord”.
Apart from the Masonic Roll of Honour, Albert Revill is commemorated on the war memorial tablet set above the secretaries’ desk within the temple in the St Leonards Masonic Hall, and on his grandparents’ grave at Norton Cemetery in Sheffield.
His name also appears on the Roll of Honour which was originally located at Anns Road Primitive Methodist Church in Heeley, but was moved to Christ Church, Heeley following the closure of the Methodist church.
At the meeting of Derwent Lodge on 10 December 1917, the secretary reported J.A. Revill’s death and read a letter from his parents. The lodge minutes record that the Worshipful Master “spoke in feeling terms of the deceased brother and asked that the deep sympathy and condolence be sent to the relations. The members were upstanding”.
He is remembered in On Active Service: Ideals of Canada’s Fighting Men edited by Capt. Alex Ketterson in 1918, with these lines from Charles Kingsley’s Daily Thoughts:
The only way to regenerate the world is to do the duty which lies nearest us, and not to hunt after grand, far-fetched ones for ourselves.
On 11 November 1918, a year after his death, The Sheffield Daily Independent published several In Memoriam messages to Captain John Albert Revill. As well as messages from his parents and grandparents, there was this message:
In loving memory of my dear boy, Capt. J.A. Revill (Bert), 63rd Canadians, attached R.F.C., killed in action, Nov. 11th, 1917. “Ever in my thoughts.” – From Connie.
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Derwent No. 40 E.C. | Sussex |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
12th February 1917 | 10th April 1917 | 14th May 1917 |
John was 22 years of age and recorded as an accountant from Canada in the Lodge's contribution record. He is noted to have been "Killed in Action 11.11.17."
Albert’s father, John had been a Freemason briefly, having been initiated into St Ann’s Lodge No 593 in Alderney in March 1907 while serving with the Manchester Regiment. He was excluded in September 1910.
On 8 January 1917, John Albert Revill, described as an “accountant” aged 22 years, was proposed as a candidate for initiation into Derwent Lodge No 40 meeting at St Leonards near Hastings in Sussex. He was proposed by the lodge secretary, Wor. Bro. L.J. Jukes and seconded by the treasurer, Wor. Bro. H.C. Edwards. (Lewe John Jukes (1859–1950) was a headmaster who had been Worshipful Master of Derwent Lodge in 1896.)
Albert was initiated on 12 February 1917, at the same meeting as fellow Canadian soldier Frank Choveaux, passed to the Second Degree on 10 April and was one of four candidates raised to the degree of Master Mason on 14 May.
Apart from the Masonic Roll of Honour, Albert Revill is commemorated on the war memorial tablet set above the secretaries’ desk within the temple in the St Leonards Masonic Hall, and on his grandparents’ grave at Norton Cemetery in Sheffield.
His name also appears on the Roll of Honour which was originally located at Anns Road Primitive Methodist Church in Heeley, but was moved to Christ Church, Heeley following the closure of the Methodist church.
At the meeting of Derwent Lodge on 10 December 1917, the secretary reported J.A. Revill’s death and read a letter from his parents. The lodge minutes record that the Worshipful Master “spoke in feeling terms of the deceased brother and asked that the deep sympathy and condolence be sent to the relations. The members were upstanding”.
He is remembered in On Active Service: Ideals of Canada’s Fighting Men edited by Capt. Alex Ketterson in 1918, with these lines from Charles Kingsley’s Daily Thoughts:
The only way to regenerate the world is to do the duty which lies nearest us, and not to hunt after grand, far-fetched ones for ourselves.
On 11 November 1918, a year after his death, The Sheffield Daily Independent published several In Memoriam messages to Captain John Albert Revill. As well as messages from his parents and grandparents, there was this message:
In loving memory of my dear boy, Capt. J.A. Revill (Bert), 63rd Canadians, attached R.F.C., killed in action, Nov. 11th, 1917. “Ever in my thoughts.” – From Connie.
Source :
The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- The (UK) National Archives
- Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
- ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry
Additional Source:
- Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
- Researcher : Bruce Littley