20642 Private Wallace Tozer
9th(Service)Battalion
Devonshire Regiment
1st July 1916
Born in Rattery Devon in 1893.
His parents were John Tozer(1850-1918) and
Louisa Jane Mogridge(1862-1908).
They were married in 1882.
Wallace had 4 brothers; John (born in 1885),
Thomas(born in 1886),Alfred(1889-1933) and
William Henry(04/11/1890-07/08/1936).
He also had a sister Emily(1883-1933).
In the 1901 census the family were recorded as living in Rattery Devon. John was employed as a agricultural labourer.
In the 1911 census,the family were still living in Rattery, John was still a farm labourer and wallace was a domestic groom.
IN 1914 Wallace married Dorothy Mabel Oxenham(born in 1898) and they had a son,
Wallace John(31/12/1914-1984).
Also in 1914 Wallace appeared in court as reported in the local newspaper.
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Tuesday 30 June 1914. "At Totnes, Wallace Tozer a young labourer was charged with a serious offence at Rattery,but Magistrates dismissed the case".
He enlisted in Newton Abbot and was killed in action on 01/07/1916. He was awarded the 1914-1918 British War and Allied Victory medals.
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette – Friday 28 July 1916 “News has been received that Private Wallace Tozer has been killed in action in France. The bells of the parish church were slow chimed on Sunday and the dead march was played as a tribute to his
memory.”
The Western Times – Thursday 01 April 1920 “The “Loyal Alexandra” Lodge of Oddfellows at South Brent have contributed to a fund and erected a memorial to the memory of five brethren who fell in the war. The work has been beautifully executed – a large brass plate mounted on a polished oak base and affixed to the wall of the Lodge room. The engraving, a work of art, was carried out by Bro.F.W.Doddridge and the oak work by Bro. J. Cole. Following is the inscription: “Alexandra Lodge of Oddfellows. - To the glory of God and in loving remembrance of the following brethren of the Loyal Alexandra Lodge. M.U.I.O.O.F. who fell in the great war, 1914-1918- James White, Henry Knot, Wallace Tozer, Jervis Lang, George Smallridge. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord”. The memorial was unveiled at a special gathering by Bro. R.H. Gill P.M. Lodge Treasurer”.
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