Chailey Parish Magazine first notes John Page in March 1916 when he appears in a special list of attested men. Next to his name the words “medically unfit” are written.
Nevertheless he appears to have been
accepted into the army and in October 1916, Chailey Parish Magazine reports Page,
Pt J, 36th RF, France. John Page
appears to have served throughout the war, his name and regimental details with
the 36th RF appearing every month up to and including July 1919.
Chris Baker's The Long, Long Trail website has this to say about the 36th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers:
33rd, 34th, 35th, 36th and 37th (Labour) Battalions Formed at Seaford (33rd) and Falmer (34th to 37th) in May and June 1916. 35th landed in France on 8 June and moved to Rouen, where it was engaged in unloading from ships docked there. In April 1917 these battalions became the 99th to 108th Labour Companies, Labour Corps.
From the information provided in Chailey’s
parish magazine I have been unable to match John Page with certainty to any
named individuals in census returns or to provide a link between him and
Chailey. The closest possibility is a 19
year old John Frederick Page who appears on the 1901 census return for Chailey
where he is noted as a bricklayer. This
may or may not be the same man. The
National Archives though, does note a 33783 Private John F Page, Royal
Fusiliers, later 63428 Private John F Page, Labour Corps and I am assuming that
this is the Chailey John Page, certainly the Labour Corps connection yies in nicely with the 36th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.
John may be related to George Page and Thomas Pagewho also appear in Chailey’s roll call of local
serving men.
Medal index card courtesy of Ancestry.
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