Frank Woodier was born on May 30th 1893 in Sutton Weaver and was baptised two days later at Aston-by-Sutton. He was the son of John Woodier (born Sutton) and his wife Annie (nee Lawton) who was born in Aston.
In 1901 the family were living on Chester Road in Sutton Weaver. The father was a carter for a coal dealer. The children were Thomas (11), William (9), Frank (7) and their sister Margaret (2).
By the time of the census of 1911, Frank had left home and was working as a servant at Greenside Farm in Hatton. This farm belonged to William Blackshaw. Thomas was still living at home as was William. Their mother Annie declared that she had borne five children, one of whom had already died.
Frank enlisted in the Great War and joined the Royal Army Service Corps. He was given the regimental number T/2nd/1576. He subsequently joined the 23rd Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers as a Private and was given another regimental number: G/79400. This regiment was known as the City of London Regiment and his battalion was known as the 1st Sportsman’s Battalion.
Frank fought in France, where sadly he was killed in action on 24th August 1918. He was buried in Railway Cutting Cemetery at Courcelles-le-Comte in the Pas de Calais region, south of Arras. The village had been captured by the British a few days before Frank died. He is on the Roll of Honour for the 1st Sportsman’s Battalion and on the war memorial at Aston-by-Sutton.
Frank’s brothers also served in the Great War. Thomas had married in 1914 and moved to Liverpool to work as a policeman. He served in the Coldstream Guards and suffered shellshock. William was a platelayer. He joined the 269th Railway Company of the Royal Engineers. Both brothers survived the war. Their sister married a soldier from Preston Brook, James Faulkner.
Frank’s mother had died in early 1918. His father passed away in 1928.