John Francis Turner was born on 24th March 1899 in the St Ouen region of the Channel Island of Jersey. He was the only surviving child of Francis and Eugenie Turner, his older brother, Francis Jr, having passed away before John was born.
Francis was a farm labourer, but when John finished his schooling, he found work as a carpenter. When war broke out across Europe, he was conscripted to play his part and, on 31st March 1917, he enlisted in the army.
Private Turner was noted as being 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall and weighing 115lbs (52kg). His medical records show that his vision was defective, but not so bad as to exclude him from service, but he was also found to have flat feet.
John was assigned to the Royal Army Medical Corps, and was sent to Blackpool, Lancashire, where he was attached to the local depot. He spent the next two years in the army, although his time was not without incident.
In December 1917, he was confined to barracks for five days for overstaying his pass by more than eight hours. This seems to have been Private Turner’s only misdemeanour, however, and there is nothing to suggest anything other than good service.
John’s time in the army does not seem to have been limited to home soil, and, in the spring of 1919, he was attached to one of the Russian convoys ferrying aid and supplies overseas. On his return, however, he fell ill, and on 2nd February, he was admitted to hospital in Edinburgh, suffering from pleurisy.
Private Turner was to remain in hospital for the next few months. He slowly recovered, but then contracted meningitis, and, with his body already weakened by illness, this was to prove his undoing. He passed away on 23rd June 1919, aged just 20 years of age.
John Francis Turner’s body was taken back to Jersey for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful churchyard of St Ouen’s.
Francis George Godfray was born in Jersey, Channel Islands, on 10th April 1895. One of fifteen children, his parents were Philippe and Alice Godfray. Philippe was a quarryman-turned-agricultural labourer and, by the time of the 1911 census, Francis had also gone into farm work.
War was closing on on Europe’s shores, and Francis stepped up to play his part. Full details of his service have been lost to time, but it is clear that he had enlisted in the Royal Jersey Militia by 1918. Attached to B Company of the regiment’s Garrison Battalion, by the end of the conflict he had been promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
Sergeant Godfray survived the conflict and had returned home by the spring of 1919. On 24th April, he collapsed and died suddenly, his death later confirmed as heart failure. Francis was just 24 years of age.
Francis George Godfray was laid to rest in the peaceful St Ouen’s Churchyard in Jersey.
Sydney William Ecobichon was the youngest of five children to French-born farmers Mathurin and Ann Ecobichon. The couple had moved to Jersey in the Channel Islands in the late 1860s, setting up home in St Peter’s by the time their children were born.
Mathurin passed away in 1895, aged 53 years old, leaving Ann and the children to managed the farm. By the time of the 1901 census, Sydney’s older brother Ernest was the farm manager, with Ann remaining head of the household.
When Sydney finished his schooling, he also started work on the farm. The 1911 census recorded Ernest and his family living in on part of the farm, with Ann, and Sydney living in their own accommodation with Sydney’s sister Anna, her husband and two children.
On 28th February 1917, Sydney married Lilla Amy, a farmer’s daughter from St Ouen. Sydney’s trade was listed as farmer, and it seems likely that the young couple married ahead of his conscription into the army.
Details of Sydney’s military service are lost to time. It is clear from his headstone that he enlisted in the Royal Jersey Militia, and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records suggest that he was attached to the regiment’s Garrison Battalion.
The only other details for Private Ecobichon’s life are that of his passing. Sydney died on 19th October 1918, and was laid to rest in St Ouen’s Churchyard. The cause of his death is unclear, but he was 30 years old when he died.
Philip Mauger was born in 1893 in the St Peter’s area of Jersey, Channel Islands. He was the oldest of six children to Albert and Jane Mauger. Albert was a labourer, alternating between road-building and farm work, depending on the time of year. When he finished his schooling, however, Philip fund work as a wheelwright’s assistant.
On 10th February 1917, Philip married Florence Dimmick, a shoemaker’s daughter from St Ouen. Their marriage certificate confirms Philip was a farmer by this point, and it seems likely that the young couple tied the knot ahead of his conscription the army.
Full details of his military service are lost to time, but it is clear that Philip enlisted in the Machine Gun Corps. Private Mauger survived the conflict, but here his trail fades. All that can be confirmed is that he passed away on 2nd March 1919, at the age of 26 years old. He was laid to rest in St Ouen’s Churchyard.
After her husband’s passing, Florence did not remarry. The couple had not had children, and it appears that she reverted to her maiden name. Husband and wife were reunited, however, when Florence passed away in 1937, and she was buried alongside Philip.
Sidney James White was born on 9th April 1899 in Bath, Somerset. The second of six children – and the oldest son – his parents were Sidney and Ann White. Sidney Sr was a butcher by trade and, by the time of the 1911 census, the family were living in Walcot Buildings in the city.
Sidney Jr was only 15 years of age when war came to Europe. However, he was still keen to do hit bit and, on 13th October 1915, he gave up his job as a fitter’s mate and enlisted in the Royal Navy. As he was underage, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, his service records showing that he was 5ft 7.5ins (1.61m) tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.
Boy 2nd Class White was dispatched to the ship HMS Impregnable for his initial service. Moored in Devon, she was a training vessel, used to school young recruits in the art of seamanship. In May 1916, Sidney was promoted to the rank of Boy 1st Class, but his time in the Royal Navy was to be cut tragically short.
Holed up in cramped billets, disease often ran rife in military barracks, and Sidney was not to be immune. He contracted meningitis, and was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Plymouth. While initially appearing to recover, the condition was to prove too severe, and his young body succumbed on 18th June 1916: he was just 17 years of age.
Sidney James White’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in a shady spot in Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery.
Details of Fred Maynard’s early life are a challenge to piece together. His First World War service records give his age as 44 years old when he enlisted in September 1914, and confirm his place of birth as Melksham, Wiltshire.
A newspaper report of his funeral gives the name of three brothers – Charles, Frank and Arthur – while only one census return, from 1881, provides a potential match for the family. This suggests Fred’s parents were iron fitter Alfred Maynard and his wife, Deborah, and gives the family’s address as Waterworks Road in Trowbridge.
Fred joined the army in the autumn of 1888. Initially assigned to the Gloucestershire Regiment, he had transferred to the Wiltshire Regiment by the following spring. Private Maynard showed a commitment to duty: in December 1890 he was promoted to Lance Corporal, rising to Corporal in the summer of 1893.
Fred was stood down to reserve status after his seven years’ active duty, but was recalled to the army in December 1899, when war broke out in South Africa. Promoted to Serjeant, he was sent to fight in the Boer War, and was mentioned in dispatches on 2nd April 1901 for special and meritorious service in South Africa. He was stood back down to reserve status in October 1901.
On 21st November 1895, Fred had married Louisa Card. The couple set up home in Trowbridge, but soon moved to London. They went on to have six children: Ernest, Nora and Leslie, who were all born in the London; and Arthur, Martha and Stuart, who were born in Cardiff, the family having moved to Wales by 1910.
The army was not finished with Fred, however, and, within weeks of war breaking out in the summer of 1914, he was called back into service. Given the rank of Serjeant again, he was attached to the South Wales Borderers. Fred was 44 years of age by this point, his service records confirming that he stood 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, weighed 164lbs (74.4kg) and had brown hair and hazel eyes.
Attached to one of the regiment’s depots, it seems unlikely that Fred saw service overseas this time around. He was discharged from the army on 1st September 1916 and this seems to have been on medical grounds. Later documents suggest that Serjeant Maynard had been diagnosed with carcinoma of the pylorus, or stomach cancer.
Fred returned to Cardiff, but his time back home was to be short. He was admitted to the Lansdown Road Military Hospital, and passed away on 23rd November 1916. He was 46 years of age.
It seems that Fred’s brother’s had some sway in his funeral. Instead of being laid to rest in Cardiff, where Louisa and the children were living, he was, instead, buried in the Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, Somerset. His sibling Charles, who was a sergeant in Bath City Police, lived in the city, as did another brother, Frank.
Fred’s headstone also commemorates his and Louisa’s son, Leslie. He had joined the army in the 1920s and, in the summer of 1943, was in Yorkshire, undergoing officer training.
The death of an officer cadet through the accidental discharge of a rifle whose bolt had jammed was described at an inquest…
Captain WH Price said he was in charge of an exercise on the moors which involved the used of small arms and the firing of live ammunition. A squad of cadets lay on the ground in front of a trench firing over a range. All finished firing except Cadet Frank Holroyd, who said his bolt had hammed while firing a second round. [Price] told him to release the bolt by knocking the cocking piece up and back.
This attempt failed, and he told Holroyd to get back into the trench, turn the rifle magazine upwards, place the butt on the side of the trench, and kick the bolt down with his foot. While Holroyd was doing this he noticed Maynard standing in the trench about 4ft away from Holroyd and on his right-hand side.
Captain Price said he saw the rifle was pointing down the range when Holroyd kicked the butt. The cartridge suddenly exploded and Maynard dropped into the trench, shot in the head, and was dead when they reached him.
[Bradford Observer: Saturday 19th June 1943]
Officer Cadet Leslie Maynard was 36 years of age when he was killed. His body was taken back to Somerset for burial: he was laid to rest in the same grave as Fred, father and son reunited after 27 years.
Louisa remained somewhat elusive as time wore on. Fred’s military records confirm that she had moved from Cardiff to the Isle of Wight by 1922. By the time of her son’s death, she was living in Sidcup, Kent.
Daniel Rees Davies was born on 10th August 1887, one of eight children to Daniel and Katherine Rees. Daniel Sr was a coal miner, born in Brecon, South Wales, and it was in Aberdare that the family were born and raised.
By the time of the 1901 census, five of the Davies family were working as coal miners. However, something changed dramatically over the following decade. The next census return, taken in 1911, found Daniel Sr working as a butcher, with Daniel Jr employed as his assistant. The two Daniels and Katherine were living in a six-roomed house with Daniel’s younger brother, Moses, his older sister, Margaret, and her husband, another Daniel.
In the autumn of 1913, Daniel Jr married Daisy Loud. She was a milliner from Bath, and it was in the Somerset city that the couple exchanged their vows. The couple set up home in Bath, and went on to have two children, Maurice and Norman. He continued working as a butcher and, by the time war was declared, he was employed by Larkhall.
When war came to Europe, Daniel stepped up to play his part. Sadly, full details of his service have been lost to time, but it is clear that he enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery in the spring of 1917 and he was attached to the 88th (Howitzer) Brigade.
Gunner Davies served in Northern France and was badly injured on 3rd June 1918. He was initially hospitalised in Rouen, but then medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Admitted to Netley Hospital in Hampshire, the wounds he had received to his arm and shoulder were to prove too severe. A telegram was sent to Daisy for her to come to the hospital, but her train was delayed, and she arrived too late to see her husband before he passed away. He died on 17th June 1918, at the age of 30 years old.
The body of Daniel Rees Davies was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Bath’s majestic Locksbrook Cemetery.
Thomas Henry Morris was born in Bridgwater, Somerset, on 7th September 1898. The oldest of five children, his parents were Christopher and Jemima Morris. Initially a viceman for a carriage works, by the time of the 1911 census, Christopher had moved the family to the Weston area of Bath, where he was employed as an engineer’s fitter for a printing firm.
When Thomas – who was better knows as Harry – finished his schooling, he found work at a printer’s – Messrs. Goodalls in Westgate Buildings, Bath. In the summer of 1915, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as an Signaller.
He was then appointed to HMS Valiant, and was serving in this ship at the Battle of Jutland. As a result he was the victim of shell-shock, and totally unfitted for further active service. By this time he had passed his exams and had qualified as a telegraphist. After recovering he was put on the staff of the Admiral commanding the Orkney Island base, but nominally attached to HMS Cyclops…
[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 1st March 1919]
It was while Ordinary Telegraphist Morris was serving on board Cyclops, he fell ill, contracting a combination of influenza and pneumonia. He was transferred to the Hospital Ship Agadir, but succumbed to the conditions on 21st February 1919. He was just 20 years of age.
Thomas Henry – Harry – Morris, was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the sweeping grounds of Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery.
Ordinary Telegraphist Harry Morris (from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Robert Ivor Perham was born in the Dorset village of Purse Caundle in the autumn of 1892. The oldest of eight children – and thirteen years older than his youngest sibling – his parents were farmers Thomas and Annie Perham.
Thomas took the family where the work was: the 1901 census found them living at Manor Farm in West Chelborough, Dorset. Ten years later, they had moved north in the county, to Ryme Intrinseca. Robert was helping his father on the farm by now, his seven siblings all still being at school.
Robert saw an opportunity for farming to give him an adventure and, on 27th March 1913, he set off for Australia to work as a ranch hand. His time in the Antipodes was to be cut short, however, when, in the summer of 1914, war broke out in Europe. He made the lengthy journey back to Britain to serve his King, and was assigned to the 2nd King Edward’s Horse regiment.
Private Perham’s time in the army seemed not to have been a lengthy one. Full details of his service are lost to time, but it is likely that he arrived back in Blighty in the early weeks of 1915. He quickly fell ill – from ‘spotted fever’, or meningitis – and was admitted to the 2nd Eastern General Hospital in Brighton, Sussex. Sadly, it was a condition to which he would succumb: Robert passed away on 17th April 1915, at the age of 22 years old.
The body of Robert Ivor Perham was taken back to Dorset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Hippolyte’s Church in Ryme Intrinseca.
William Percy Walker Woodward was born on 18th November 1879, and was the third of six children to James and Mary Woodward. James was a manufacturer of sanitaryware and had been born in Derbyshire, but it was in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire that he and Mary raised their family.
James passed away in the spring of 1886, leaving Mary to raise the family on her own. His obituary in the local media underlined the business that he had built up: “Mr Woodward succeeded his father and eldest brother to the fire brick business, established by the late Mr John Hunt of Swadlincote, of 1790.In 1856 Mr Woodward added to the above trade that of glazed sewerage pipe and terra cotta earthenware, and in 1873 that of general sanitary appliances, and by industry, perseverance, and foresight developed the same into one of the largest manufactories of the kind in the Midland counties, and became well known throughout the greater part of the kingdom as a leading manufacturer of these goods. He was a large employer of labour, kind and considerate, always manifesting great interest in the welfare of his employees.” [Hinckley News – Saturday 15 May 1886]
Mary was left to raise six children, but, thanks to the business, did not do so without support. The 1891 census found the family living at High Fields in Ashby, with a cook, housemaid, children’s maid and a coachman and his family living next door. William and his siblings were all taught at home by their governess.
By the time of the next census, William seemed to have taken on the running of his late father’s business, along with two of his brothers, James and Harold. Things were to change for the Woodward family, however, as they began to go their separate ways.
The 1911 censes shows a divide: James was living on his own means in Snarestone, Leicestershire, with his young family and household retinue. Harold, meanwhile, had emigrated to Canada with another sibling, younger brother Ernest, where they had both set up as farmers.
Mary had also moved, setting up home in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. She lived on Clarence Road South with William and her daughter, Lilian. The house – Glencathara – was twelve-roomed property, and they had a live0in cook, Emily Young, supporting them. Notably, William’s employment was listed as ‘none, on account of health’, so the move to the coast may have been brought about for medical reasons.
When war came to Europe in summer of 1914, William stepped up to play his part. His service records have been lost, but he had enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery no earlier than the autumn of 1915. He was attached to the 18th Reserve Battery, and came to be based in Topsham Barracks in Exeter.
Little is known of Gunner Woodward’s time in the army, but it was to be brief. He passed away, through causes unknown, on 13th April 1916, at the age of 36.
It is unclear where Mary was living at this point. The body of William Percy Walker Woodward was taken to Dorset for burial, and he was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Hippolyte’s Church, in Ryme Intrinseca. Interestingly, the parish records note that William was ‘a personal friend of [the] rector’.
Death and Service 