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Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Lance Corporal, Leicestershire, photography, Private, Royal Engineers, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war, Wiltshire

Lance Corporal Frederick Channing

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Lance Corporal Frederick Channing

Frederick Reginald Channing was born in the autumn of 1869, in Bath, Somerset. He was one of five children to carpenter Allen Channing and his dressmaker wife, Sarah. When Frederick was just a toddler, Allen moved the family south to Chard, and this is where his younger siblings were born.

When Frederick left school, he found work as a lace machine operator and, in fact, all of Allen’s children found work with their hands: Frederick worked alongside one of his brothers, while his two other brothers built on their father’s woodworking skills, one as a coachbuilder, another as a cabinet maker.

By the autumn of 1905, Frederick had moved back to Bath. This is where he met Elizabeth Scammell, a farm labourer’s daughter from Wiltshire. The 1901 census appears to record her as being a servant to a surgeon’s family in Wincanton, and this may have prompted a further move to the larger city where the couple met.

The couple married in Bath towards the end of 1905, and had a son, Frederick Jr, who was born in November the following year. Frederick Sr was doing general labouring work by this point, and the family had moved to Wedmore by the time a second boy, William, was born in 1910. Frederick and Elizabeth had a daughter, Eva, in 1911, and another, Gwendoline, in 1913, tragically, the same year that Eva died.

When war came to Europe, Frederick stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in September 1914, joining the Somerset Light Infantry as a Private. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 6ins (1.67m) tall, and weighed 154lbs (69.9kg). The document also gives his age as 35, although he was actually ten years older than that by this point.

Private Channing spent a year on home soil, during which time Elizabeth gave birth to their fifth child, Percival, who was born in May 1915. Based at a camp in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, he was hospitalised twice in this time, suffering from a contusion of his left shoulder.

By September 1915, Frederick was in France, and he remained on the Western Front, apart from when on leave, for the next three-and-a-half years. At some point during this time, he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal, and transferred across to the Royal Engineers.

Back at home, Elizabeth was doing her best to raise the family. She didn’t always do the right thing, though, and this resulted in her being taken to court.

Elizabeth Mary Rose Channing, 30… was indicted for having been delivered of a certain female child, did unlawfully by a secret disposition of the deceased child, endeavour to conceal the birth thereof at Wedmore the same day in the month of September 1916.

Mr Wethered prosecuted, and said that the prisoner was a married woman. Her husband was a soldier now on active service. He was last home on leave in April or May, 1917. Previously to that he had not been home for 18 months or two years, so the child could not have been his. Some boys found a parcel in the well, and they discovered the body of the child. The boys communicated with the police, who searched the well and found some pieces of carpet which agreed with a similar carpet in the possession of the prisoner. When arrested she confessed to the crime.

Frederick Channing, husband of the prisoner, said he was home on leave five months ago – May 27th. He went back on June 4th. Previously he had not been home for twenty months. He pleaded for the prisoner in the interests of their four children. He was very sorry for her to think she had thrown herself away like that.

His Lordship, addressing the prisoner, said that while her husband was away doing his duty for her any everybody, she was not faithful to him, and the result was the birth of the child which had been concealed and not revealed till a year afterwards. His Lordship understood that prisoner was already legitimately in a certain condition, and he did not wish her child to be born in prison. She would be sent to prison therefore for three months.

Wells Journal: Friday 26th October 1917

Elizabeth was released in February 1918, and the couple’s last child, Kathleen, was born the following month.

Frederick, meanwhile, returned to the Western Front. He remained in France through to the end of the conflict and beyond, only returning to Britain in February 1919, having fallen ill. Admitted to the North Evington War Hospital in Leicester with influenza, he remained there for two months.

In April 1919, Lance Corporal Channing was transferred to the Bath War Hospital, back in Somerset. This was presumably so that he could be closer to his family, although there is no evidence of whether he was fully reconciled with Elizabeth. His condition did not improve, however, and by this point he was also suffering from myalgia.

Frederick remained in hospital for eighteen months. As time passed, carcinoma of the liver was identified, and this, eventually, was the condition that would take his life. Lance Corporal Canning passed away on 5th September 1920. He was 49 years of age.

Sarah and the children were still living in Wedmore, by this point. Frederick Reginald Channing’s last journey was not to be that far, however. He was moved only a short distance from the hospital, and was laid to rest in the sweeping grounds of the Locksbrook Cemetery in Bath.

Commonwealth War Graves, County Cork, Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, photography, Private, Royal Engineers, Sapper, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Sapper Abraham Scott

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Sapper Abraham Scott

Abraham James Scott was born in Bathford, Somerset, in the spring of 1893. He was one of fourteen children to Abraham and Lucy Scott, and became known as James, to avoid any confusion with his father. Abraham was a shepherd, who travelled where work took him: both he and Lucy were from Wiltshire, but had moved to Somerset by the end of the 1880s. When James was just a babe-in-arms, the family had relocated to Gloucestershire, but by the time of the 1901 census, they were back in Wiltshire once more.

Abraham Sr died in 1910, at the age of just 41 years old. The following year’s census found the now widowed Lucy living in North Wraxhall, Wiltshire, with eight of her children. Abraham Jr is absent, and, indeed, does not appear on any of the 1911 censuses.

Lucy needed options and, on Christmas Day 1912, she married carter William Amblin in the village church. Abraham was, by this time, living in Bath and working as a carter.

When war came to Europe, Abraham felt the need to step up and play his part and, on 15th December 1915, he enlisted in the army. His service records show that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall and weighed 132lbs (59.9kg). He had a vaccination mark on his left arm which, according to the document’s section on ‘distinctive marks’, has a tendency to rupture.

Private Scott was mobilised in March 1916, and was assigned to the 1st/5th Gloucestershire Regiment. He soon found himself on the Western Front, and, having transferred to the 1st/4th Battalion, served at the Somme.

Abraham was in for a chequered time in Northern France. On 26th August 1916, he was injured when he received a gunshot wound to his scalp. He was admitted to the 1st Canadian General Hospital in Etaples, the moved to Rouen to recuperate. Private Scott rejoined his unit on 21st October 1916.

Just weeks later, however, Abraham was back in a hospital in Rouen, having fractured his ankle. After a couple of weeks in the 1st Australian General Hospital, the injury was deemed severe enough for him to be evacuated back to Britain for recuperation, and he was posted to Ballyvonare Camp in County Cork. Abraham returned to his unit in France in September 1917, nine months after his ankle injury.

On 1st March 1918, Abraham transferred to the Royal Engineers where, as a Sapper, he was attached to the Depot in Rouen. He remained there for more than a year, during which time he was admitted to hospital once more, this time with trench fever. Little additional information is available about this spell in hospital, other than that Lucy had written to the regiment thanking them for informing her of her son’s illness, and confirming a new address for her.

Sapper Scott’s health continued to suffer, however. In May 1919, he was admitted to a camp hospital, suffering from appendicitis. He was operated on, and medically evacuated to Britain for further treatment and recuperation. Abraham was admitted to the Bath War Hospital on 25th July 1919, and remained there for four months.

Abraham’s health seemed to improve, albeit slowly, and he was moved to the Pension’s Hospital in Bath on 27th November. The head wound, broken ankle and bout of trench fever appear to have taken their toll on his body which, by this point, seems to have been too weak to recover. On 28th February 1920, two months after being transferred to the Pension’s Hospital, he passed away there from a combination of appendicitis and pelvic cellulitis. He was just 26 years of age.

Abraham James Scott’s body did not have to travel far after this point. He was laid to rest in the sprawling Locksbrook Cemetery in his adopted home city of Bath.

Blacksmith's Mate, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, Jersey, photography, Royal Engineers, Royal Navy, Sapper, Somerset, story, unknown, war

Sapper John Renouf

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Sapper John Renouf

John Renouf was born in Bedminster, Bristol, on 26th June 1875. Hiss parents, Charles and Emily Renouf, had been born in St Helier, Jersey, and had moved to the mainland with their older children in around 1874. Charles was a blacksmith, initially working on naval vessels in Jersey, he continued his smithing when the family had settled in Bedminster.

John was one of seven children and became apprenticed to his father when he finished his schooling. Charles’ trade offered him an opportunity for a career, however, and, on 23rd September 1893, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Blacksmith’s Mate. His service records show that he was 5ft 7.5ins (1.71m) tall, with black hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

John signed up for a 12-year contract, and was primarily based out of HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport. His records confirm that he was not shore-bound, however, and he spent time on eleven ships up to 1905. At this point, his contract came to an end, and he chose not to re-enlist.

At this point, John’s trail becomes a little hazy. He returned to Bristol, and seems to have continued working as a blacksmith. The 1911 census recorded him as being one of a number of residents at the city’s Salvation Army Hostel on Tower Hill. According to the same census, Charles, now 71 and a widower of three years, was living with his youngest son, Ernest, and family.

When war came to European shores, John’s skills as a blacksmith were to be called upon once again. His service records are no longer available, but it is clear that he chose not to re-join the navy, instead enlisting in the Royal Engineers as a Sapper.

Sapper Renouf’s trail goes cold again: he was assigned to one of the Waterways and Railway Troops, but it is unclear whether he spent his time on home soil or overseas. Either way, he survived the conflict, and was back in Britain soon after the Armistice.

The next record for John Renouf is that of his passing. He died in Bath, Somerset, on 30th December 1919, at the age of 44 years old. John was laid to rest in the sweeping grounds of the city’s Locksbrook Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Driver, Egypt, Glamorganshire, Great War, Greece, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, South Wales Borderers, story, Wales, war

Driver Charles Shipp

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Driver Charles Shipp

The early life of Charles Shipp is a challenge to unpick. Born Charles Morgan in Bath, Somerset, in 1872, his father was also called Charles. He found work as a labourer when he finished school.

Charles sought a life of adventure, however, and on 7th January 1890, he enlisted in the army, joining the South Wales Borderers. Private Morgan’s service records show that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall and weighed 116lbs (52.6kg). He had brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion, with tattoos of crossed flags, a crown and VR on his left forearm.

Private Morgan spent three years on home soil, and is recorded as being based in North Camp Barracks in Farnborough, Hampshire, in the 1891 census. His battalion was sent to Egypt in December 1892 and spent the next three years overseas, moving to Gibraltar in the spring of 1895. The only details available for his time abroad relate to a couple of hospital admissions – for a fever in Cairo in August 1894, and for gonorrhoea in Gibraltar in the autumn of 1895. He returned to Britain at the end of November that year.

Charles appears to have been based in South Wales when he returned home and, on 20th December 1896, he married Lottie Walters in Llandough Parish Church. Interestingly, while the new bride’s father’s details are recorded – naval pensioner James Walters – Charles’ have been intentionally left blank. This is also the first document on which his surname is recorded as Shipp, so there seems to have been a deliberate distancing from his family at this point.

Charles was still committed to his military career. He served on home soil until January 1897, when he was placed on reserve, having completed seven years’ service. This respite was not to be for long, however, as he was recalled on three years later, and sent to South Africa, to fight in the Second Boer War.

Private Shipp, as he was now known, served in South Africa for more than two years, and was awarded the Johannesburg, Cape Colony, 1901 and 1902 clasps. In August 1902, he returned to Britain, and was formally stood down from army service.

Charles and Lottie moved to Bath, and set up home in a small cottage in Locksbrook Road. They went on to have seven children, all of them girls and, by the time of the 1911 census, Charles was working as a carter for the local gas works. His heart seems always to have been with his military career, however, and, when war broke out in 1915, he saw this as an opportunity to play his part once more.

On 25th October 1915, Charles enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps as a Driver. His was not to be a war fought on home turf, and within a month, he was in the Mediterranean, potentially back in Egypt again. In April 1916, his battalion moved to Salonika, and he spent the next three years in Northern Greece.

Charles contracted malaria in the autumn of 1917, and this resulted in a hospital admission for just over two months. He returned to his unit, but spent another couple of months in a Macedonian hospital the following year when the condition recurred.

Driver Shipp survived the war, and returned to Britain in April 1919. His health was again suffering, and he was formally discharged from the army on medical grounds on 29th April.

At this point, Charles’ trail goes cold. He returned home to Lottie and their daughters, but there is nothing to account for the the last eight months of his life. He passed away on 12th December 1919, at the age of 47 years of age.

Charles Shipp was laid to rest in Bath’s majestic Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from where his family lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, injury, North Staffordshire Regiment, photography, Private, Royal Engineers, Somerset, Staffordshire, story

Private Albert Sharp

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Private Albert Sharp

Albert Sharp was born in Rugeley, Staffordshire, in the summer of 1894. One of six children, his parents were George, who was a house painter, and Janet Sharp. When he left school, Albert found work as a bricklayer’s labourer, but, when war was declared, he sought a new adventure.

Albert enlisted in the army on 21st February 1916. Assigned to the North Staffordshire Regiment, he was initially attached to the 5th Battalion. His medical records show that Private Sharp was 5ft 6ins (1.6m) tall, and weighed 122lbs (553kg).

By November 1916, Albert found himself in France. Unusually, his life over the next couple of years is pretty well documented. His battalion saw action at the Hindenburg Line, the Third Battles of Ypres, Cambrai and the Third Battles of the Somme, but Private Sharp’s service records shed more light onto his life than simply where he fought.

Albert seems to have been a bit of a character, and this got him into trouble on more than one occasion. On 9th November 1916, he was confined to barracks for two days, for having untidy bedding and no towel on his bed. The following day, he was punished with another two days’ confinement for not attending his battalion’s role call.

On 18th December 1916, Private Sharp found himself in trouble again. This time, he was confined to barracks for five days for appearing dirty on parade, and committing a nuisance. Four days later, Albert was admitted to the camp hospital for reasons that are unclear. He returned to his unit just under a week later.

At the end of February 1917, Private Sharp transferred to the 31st Light Railway Operating Company of the Royal Engineers. He remained with the battalion for just under a year, although again his time there was not without incident. On 31st August 1917, Albert was confined to barracks for seven days for being absent from parade. The same punishment was meted out for the same offence on 8th January 1918.

Later that month, Private Sharp re-joined the North Staffordshire Regiment, and was this time attached to the 9th Battalion. He remained on the Western Front and was caught up in some of the fiercest fighting of the closing months of the conflict.

On 12th May 1918, Albert was caught up in a gas attack. Seriously injured, he was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment and admitted to the Bath War Hospital on 29th May. The next six months saw a slow and steady decline in his health. He passed away at 5:45am on 12th November 1918, the day after the Armistice was signed, from a combination of pneumonia and emphysema that was directly attributable to his injuries in France. Albert was 24 years of age.

It seems likely that Albert’s family were unable to pay for his body to be taken back to Staffordshire for burial. His service records give only his mother, Janet, as a next of kin, so it would seem that George had passed away by the time Albert enlisted. For some reason, however, while the British Register of Army Effects note that Private Sharp has effects to the value of £39 10s (£2250 in today’s money), this amount does not appear to have been paid. Janet passed away in the early 1920s, and Albert’s brother continued to try and obtain this gratuity on her behalf, but seems to have been unsuccessful.

Albert’s family did get his belongings when he died, however, which came to a postal order for 2s (around £3 today), 50 French centimes, a leather purse, two combs, two jack knives, a razor, a shaving brush, a toothbrush, two briar pipes and a pouch of tobacco, a nickel cigarette case, a text book, a wallet containing his pay book, his cap badge and six letters.

Unable to afford to bring Albert Sharp’s body back to his home town, he was, instead, laid to rest in the sweeping vista of Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from the hospital in which he had breathed his last.

Bombardier, Canada, Canadian Field Artillery, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, story, war

Bombardier William Johnson

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Bombardier William Johnson

William Wilbur Johnson was born in Wingham, Ontario, Canada, on 25th August 1889, and was the son of John and Barbara Johnson. Little information is available about his early life, but he found work as a saddler when he finished his schooling.

In his free time, William volunteered in the 20th Border Horse Regiment. When war broke out in Europe, he was called upon to play his part, and joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force. His service records confirm he was 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a dark complexion. He was also noted as having two scars both on his inner left forearm.

Private Johnson arrived in England in May 1916, and was initially billeted in Shorncliffe, Kent. He did not remain in Britain for long, however, and, assigned to the 2nd Brigade of the Canadian Field Artillery, he arrived in France on 1st June 1916. William would have been in the thick of things, caught up in the bloody stalemate of the Somme for most of the rest of the year.

In November 1916, William was promoted to Acting Bombardier. After a miserable winter on the Front Line, he became ill, and was admitted to a field hospital for a week with bronchitis and influenza. He recovered and remained on the Western Front during 1917, fighting at both Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele.

By the end of November 1917, Acting Bombardier Johnson’s health was suffering once more. He became jaundiced and, after some time spent in a field hospital, he was medically evacuated to Britain for further treatment. He was admitted to the Bath War Hospital in Somerset, with what turned out to be cirrhosis of the liver. This was something his body was unable to overcome: William passed away on 29th January 1918, at the age of 28 years old.

With all of his family overseas, it was not practical for the body of William Wilbur Johnson to be returned to Canada. Instead, he was laid to rest in the sweeping grounds of the Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from the hospital in which he had breathed his last.

Bombardier William Johnson
(from findagrave.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Royal Berkshire Regiment, Somerset, story, Surrey, war, Worcestershire Regiment

Private Henry Wiggs

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Private Henry Wiggs

Henry Wiggs was born in Camberwell, Surrey, in the autumn of 1880. One of eleven children, his parents were dock labourer Thomas Wiggs and his wife, Sarah.

When he finished his schooling, Henry also took up labouring work and, by the time of the 1911 census, was working as a partition block maker in the building trade. The census shows him a living with his brother William and his family.

On 3rd August 1913, Henry married Blanche Hill. She was eight years older than Henry, and the daughter of a Sergeant in the Royal Horse Artillery. Blanche had been widowed ten years earlier, and had four children, who Henry took on as his own.

At this point, Henry’s trail goes cold. When war broke out, he stepped up to play his part, initially joining the Worcestershire Regiment. At some point he was transferred to the Royal Berkshire Regiment, subsequently becoming attached to the Labour Corps.

Details of Private Wiggs’ military service are lost to time, and it is unclear whether he served on the Home Front or overseas. He survived the war, and was discharged from the army on 13th March 1919. He was suffering from heart disease, directly attributable to his military service.

Again, Henry falls off the radar at this point. He and Blanche made the move to Somerset, setting up home in Weston-super-Mare. His heart problem seems to have dogged him, however, and likely caused his admission to a hospital in Bath towards the end of 1920. It was in the city that he passed away, on 28th December 1920, at the age of 40 years old.

Henry Wiggs’ body was not brought back to Weston-super-Mare for burial – the cost of doing so may have been too much for the now twice-widowed Blanche to afford. Instead, he was laid to rest in the sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery in Bath.

Canada, Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Lancashire, photography, Private, Somerset, story, Surrey, war

Private William MacPherson

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Private William MacPherson

William George MacPherson was born in the township of Greenway, Huron County, Ontario, on 24th September 1893. The eighth of nine children, his parents were farmer Edmund Macpherson and his wife, Sarah, who was better known by her middle name, Keren (short for Kerenhappuch).

Edmund was the fourth generation of the family to be born in Canada, his maternal great grandfather having emigrated from Scotland to Nova Scotia in the late 1770s. Sarah was the first generation of her family to be born in North America, her parents having moved there in the 1850s.

After he finished his schooling, William followed his father into farming. When war broke out in Europe, the Empire was called upon to serve their King. On 7th January 1916, William enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. His service records show that he was 5ft 6.5ins (1.69m) tall and weighed 150lbs (68kg). He was noted a having dark hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion.

Private MacPherson set sail from Halifax on 22nd August 1916, and arrived in Liverpool eight days later. His troop was based in Witley, Surrey, and it was here, while attached to the 125 Battalion of the Canadian Infantry, that William spent the winter.

On 23rd May 1917, Private MacPherson was transferred to the 4th Battalion, and set sail for France. He was to spend the summer at Ypres, where he encountered some of the bloodiest fighting of the conflict. William was not to be unscathed, and was wounded in his shoulder and neck on 6th November 1917.

William was initially treated at the No. 2 State Hospital at Abbeville. Dangerously ill, though, he was medically evacuated to Britain, on board the Hospital Ship Essequibo, from Le Havre to Shornescliffe. Private MacPherson was quickly moved to Somerset, and was admitted to the Bath War Hospital. Tetanus set in, and he died of his wounds on 21st December 1917. He was 24 years of age.

With his family thousands of miles away, William George MacPherson was laid to rest in the Locksbrook Cemetery in Bath, not far from the hospital in which he had breathed his last.

Canada, Canadian Infantry, Cheshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private James Pyatt

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Private James Pyatt

James Douglas John Pyatt was born in the spring of 1881 in Tranmere, Cheshire. The older of two children, his parents were Somerset-born John and Clara Pyatt. John was a coal merchant, and, by the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved back south, settling in the Clifton area of Bristol.

According to that census record, the family were living at 33 Pembroke Road, which Clara ran as a boarding house. James, by this point, was employed as a butcher, while his younger brother, Hubert, was a grocer. At the time the census was taken, the family had two boarders: Emmeline Blake, who was a music teacher, and Archibald Archer, a dentist.

Happiness is Bristol was destined to be short-lived. John died in 1902, aged just 49 years old. The same year, Hubert emigrated to Canada, settling in Brandon, Manitoba. Clara and James both followed the following year, setting up home in the same town.

Clara died in December 1908, but not before seeing both of her sons marry, James to Edith Gillam in June 1907, and Hubert to Lilian Pearce twelve months later.

James was working as a shipping clerk for a brewery by this point, and he and Edith were living on Park Street, to the east of the city. This was an ideal spot for their young family – John, born in 1908, Sidney, born in 1912, and Dennis, born in 1914 – as it overlooked a park and had space around it. Hubert lived down the road with his own family, so the brothers still had each other close by.

When war came to Europe, James felt compelled to play his part for King and Empire. He enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 7th July 1915. Private Pyatt’s service records confirm that he was 33 years of age, and stood 5ft 10ins tall. He was noted as having brown hair, brown eyes and an average complexion.

James arrived back in England on 25th March 1916. Once there, he was attached to the 44th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry and by August that year, he was stationed on the Western Front. That autumn, however, he was dogged by illness and was admitted to field hospitals four times, suffering from diarrhoea, myalgia twice, and laryngitis.

By the start of 1917, however, Private Pyatt was back to full fitness. Details of his service over the next couple of years are unclear, although he remained on the Front Line. In December 1918, James was back in England on leave, and had returned to Somerset, possibly to see friends or relatives.

While here, James contracted influenza, and was admitted to the Bath War Hospital. The condition was to get the better of him, however, and he died on 7th December 1918, days after going in. He was 37 years of age.

With his surviving immediate family all in Canada, James Douglas John Pyatt was laid to rest in Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, not far from the hospital in which he had passed away.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, King's (Liverpool Regiment), Labour Corps, photography, Private, Rifleman, Somerset, story, unknown, war

Private Joseph Curtis

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Private Joseph Curtis

In the war grave section of Locksbrook Cemetery in Bath, Somerset, is a headstone dedicated to a Private J Curtis, of the King’s Liverpool Regiment, who passed away on 3rd January 1921. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission confirms that Joseph Curtis had transferred to the 430th Company of the Labour Corps at some point.

Little additional information is available for Joseph Curtis. Only one service document remains, his Medal Roll Index Card. This gives the dates of his service – 22nd February 1915 to 17th October 1918 – but no other identifying details.

Without a year or place of birth, it is not possible to track down any census records. As Bath was the location of both a War Hospital and one for army pensioners, his burial in a cemetery nearby is no guarantee that the city was ever his home. There is also no report of Private Curtis’ passing or funeral in any available contemporary newspapers.

The life of James Curtis is destined to remain a mystery, therefore, taken with him when he was laid to rest.