Soldier Record

Ever remembered by his brother Will

Born in 1884 in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, Frederick Mitchell was the youngest son of Thomas and Eliza Mitchell. The couple already had three other children: William Thomas, 11, Mary Ann, eight and Sarah Ann, four. Frederick became a potter, working for Wood & Sons, at the Trent and New Wharf Potteries, Burslem. In September 1914, at the age of 30, he enlisted in the 8th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment in Oakhampton, Devon, entering the Theatre of War in the summer of 1915 after months of training. Private Frederick Mitchell 17196 died at the age of 31 on November 20th, 1915 in Flanders, believed to have been killed by gunfire or by a sniper’s bullet while patrolling. He was buried in Ferme-Olivier Cemetery in Belgium, near the village of Elverdinge. His headstone bears the loving words “Ever remembered by his brother Will.” Frederick is one of 406 casualties in Ferme Olivier Cemetery. Poignantly, buried near him is Private WA Edge, who was killed in action on the same day with the North Staffords and who lived just streets away from Frederick in Burslem. Frederick Mitchell is remembered with pride and honour by his family in Staffordshire, the rest of the UK, in Australia and around the world.