Details of Cecil Whitehead’s early life as lost to time. Born in 1882, he was the son of Henry and Annie Whitehead, from Openshaw in Manchester. There are no census returns for the family, so it is not possible to discover any more of their background.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission confirm that Cecil wed a woman called Annie Ellis. His pension ledger notes four children: John, Cecil, Annie and Catherine, who died in 1917.

When war broke out, Cecil stepped up to serve his King and Country. He enlisted in the Manchester Regiment, and was assigned to the 3rd/8th Battalion. This was a reserve unit, based on home soil, and there is no evidence that Cecil spent any time overseas.

Cecil rose to the rank of Serjeant, by the winter of 1915, Cecil was billeted near Codford in Wiltshire. It was while he was here that he fell ill, contracting pneumonia. The condition was to prove too much for his body to bear, and he passed away on 13th February 1916, at the age of 33 years old.

Annie appear to have been unable to fund bringing her husband back to Manchester for burial. Instead Cecil Whitehead was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Codford.

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