The impact of war on Sefton communities The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War One was over 37 million. There were over 17 million deaths and 20 million wounded, ranking it amongst the deadliest conflicts in human history.
BROTHERS John and Frederick Palethorpe
The total number of deaths includes approx 10 million military personnel and 7 million civilians. To try and illustrate how the death toll would have affected the residents of Sefton, local historians Marie McQuade and Jo McCann looked at Antonio Street, a small street of terraced houses near Bedford Road Primary in Bootle. Eighteen men were killed in action, from this small street of 72 houses.
COUSINS Joseph Sloey and Joseph Kane
Frederick Goodwin
No. 4
No. 19
No. 84
At number 4 - George and Elizabeth Palethorpe lost two sons in World War One.
Two family members were also lost at number 19, when cousins Joseph Sloey and Joseph Kane were both killed.
Frederick Goodwin lived at 84 Antonio Street and was one of the oldest in the street to be killed in action. He was 33 when he was killed at Ypres.
John George was 30 years of age, married with two small children, when he was killed at the first battle of Ypres. His younger brother Frederick was in the navy. He died age 22, when his ship HMS Laurentic struck a mine off Ireland in January 1917.
Joseph Sloey died at the age of 22 when he was shot in the stomach at Arrowhead Copse, Guillemont, part of the Somme offensive. Joseph Kane, 24, was a member of the Machine Gun Corps when he was killed in action on 4th March 1917. Prior to the war both cousins had been merchant seamen, sailing out of Liverpool.
He left behind a widow and three children; the youngest, Lilian was born on 24th June, 22 days after her father’s death. Previously Frederick had served with the South Lancashire Regiment during the Boer War, from 1900 to 1902.
House No. 4
John George Palethorpe Died 24th April 1915
31
Ernest Green Died 22nd March 1918
4
Frederick Palethorpe Died 25th January 1917
43
Malcolm Shaw Died 26th July 1918
9
Henry Bernard Brown Died 3rd September 1916
44
Thomas Stephen Corkhill Died 5th April 1918
17
James Seddon Died 8th August 1916
46
William Sutton Died 31st August 1918
19
Joseph William Sloey Died 4th August 1916
58
George Lake Died 22nd November 1916
19
Joseph Kane Died 4th March 1917
62
John Gregory Died 17th January 1919
21
Sidney Buck Died 8th August 1916
72
Edward Jones Died 20th February 1918
27
Edward Francis Smith Died 21st December 1917
84
Frederick Goodwin Died 2nd June 1915
31
John Hamilton Beggs Died 8th November 1917
18 men from Antonio Street alone were killed in action during World War One.
Airship damage, September 1915.