Charles William Blackmore was born in Brompton Regis (or Kingsbrompton), Somerset, on 19th August 1896. He was the twelfth of thirteen children to journeyman carpenter Joshua Blackmore and his wife, Margaret. Charles attended the nearby Upton Primary School until Christmas 1909 at which point he started working with his father.

When war erupted across Europe, however, he stepped up to play his part. He enlisted as a Private in the Somerset Light Infantry on 14th January 1916. Little remains of his service documents, but his medical report confirms that he was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, with light brown hair and grey eyes. Interestingly, the document also gives his date of birth as 14th February 1897, six months later than his school intake record.

The documents that remain for Private Blackmore’s time in the army, do not specify exactly where he served, but his battalion – the 1st – were heavily involved in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, and at Arras the following year.

It was during that summer that Charles fell ill, contracting tuberculosis. He was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and admitted to the Toxteth Park Auxiliary Military Hospital in Liverpool. The former workhouse was to be where Charles breathed his last: he died on 27th October 1917, at the age of 21 years old.

The body of Charles William Blackmore was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful and picturesque graveyard of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in his home village, Brompton Regis.

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