MARK MASKELL

Private, 25357, 6th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment
Killed in Action near Thiepval, Somme, France on 10 November 1916, aged 29
Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial: Pier and Face 11 A and 11 D
 

Mark Maskell

Private Mark Maskell, 25357, 6th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, was born at Great Trodgers, Mayfield, Sussex, in 1888. He lived at Butcherfield Cottages, Hartfield, and enlisted in Dover.

Mark was the son of Henry (b. 1856) and Naomi (née Braban) (b. 1865) Maskell. His pre-war occupation was as a farm labourer like his father. His father died in 1915 in East Grinstead, while his mother Naomi lived to the age of 97 and died in 1958 in Tonbridge. His brother George died on 25 September 1915 in the Battle of Loos. Mark's sister Annie was listed as a cook in the 1911 census, aged 25, and also lived at Butcherfield Cottages, Hartfield. His brother Joseph, aged 21 in 1911, was a carpenter and joiner. Another brother, aged 15 in 1911, was a farm labourer. Their younger siblings Albert and Daisy were listed as scholars in 1911.

The Thiepval Memorial
(Click to enlarge)

Mark Maskell was killed in action on 10 November 1916 near Thiepval, Somme, France, aged 29. The Kent and Sussex Courier of 1 December 1916 reported:

Private Mark Maskell, who joined the Army in May of this year, is reported killed in action on November 10th. He was very popular in Hartfield, and was one of five brothers serving in France, of whom one (George Maskell) is reported missing.

The 6th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment was in the front line in the north of Courcelette from 25 October to 10 November 1916 and fought in the Battle of Thiepval Ridge.

Mark has no known grave and is listed on the Thiepval Memorial: Pier and Face 11 A and 11 D and on the war memorial in Hartfield. He left two pounds, four shillings and ten pence to his mother, Naomi in his will.

Carol O'Driscoll

7 August 2016
Last updated 24 February 2020

 

Note
Five sons of Henry and Naomi Maskell served in the First World War, of whom two were killed in action — Mark and George — while three survived. Click here to see a family tree which also includes their second cousin Harry George Maskell.
Source
Photograph of Mark Maskell: Hartfield History Group