Category Archives: Additional

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Ireland, Kent, Lancashire, Lieutenant, Midshipman, Pembrokeshire, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, story, Sub Lieutenant, Sussex, war

Lieutenant Allan Furlong

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Lieutenant Allan Furlong

Allan Hyde Furlong was born the autumn of 1874, and was the oldest of seven children to Joseph and Adelaide Furlong. The place of his birth varies depending on which document you’re looking at, with census records suggesting he was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, or Aldershot, Hampshire. His birth was registered in Eastry, Kent, however, so it is possible that this is where the family were based at the time.

Joseph was an officer in the North Lancashire Regiment, and his work meant the family moved time and time again. Allan’s younger siblings were born in Hampshire, Pembrokeshire and Athlone, Ireland. By the early 1880s, they had settled in Lancashire, the 1891 census recording them as living in the Fulwood Barracks in Preston.

Given his father’s military background, it is not surprising that Allan was drawn to follow suit. He took a different route, however, and enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve. Midshipman Furlong took a commission on 27th August 1892, and would make a career out of the navy.

By the time war broke out, Allan was serving on board the SS Burma. In May 1915 he was promoted to Sub Lieutenant, and a further rise in rank – to full Lieutenant – followed in January 1918. He survived the war, and remained at sea through to the start of the new decade.

In March 1920, Lieutenant Furlong was admitted to the Royal Marine Infirmary in Deal, Kent, suffering from a combination of influenza and pneumonia. The conditions would get the better of Allan, and he passed away from them on 14th March 1920: he was 45 years of age.

Joseph and Adelaide were living in Worthing, West Sussex, by this point. Keen to bring their son home, the body of Allan Hyde Furlong was laid to rest in the town’s Broadwater Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Household Battalion, illness, injury, photography, story, Sussex, Trooper, Uncategorized, war

Trooper Ernest Mitchell

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Trooper Ernest Mitchell

Ernest Henry Mitchell was born in the autumn of 1889 in Worthing, West Sussex. The second of five children, he was the eldest son of Frederick and Rhoda Mitchell. Frederick was a baker and confectioner, and the family lived in and around the town centre. The 1891 census found them at 29 West Buildings; ten years later they were living at 7 Clifton Road; the 1911 census recorded the family at 62 Chapel Road.

By this point, FW Mitchell’s was a well known bakery, and would remain so through to the 1960s. The Chapel Road shop was bombed during the Second World War, and the family moved the business to North Road.

The 1911 census showed what the bakery has become. Frederick and Rhoda were running the business, while their three sons – Ernest, Reginald and Frederick Jr – were also involved. Their eldest daughter, Rhoda Jr, was an elementary school teacher, while their youngest child, Edgar, was still at school. The Chapel Road property was a bustling affair: the Mitchells employed four live-in servants: Emily Lyon, Annie Dannage, and Mabel Swan as shop assistants, and Edith Blunden as a domestic.

FW Mitchell’s bakery, Worthing

Away from work, Ernest showed other talents. “He was possessed of musical inclinations, and was at one time a member of the Choir of the Congregational Church, as well as of the Choral Society.” [Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 31st October 1917]

In January 1913, Ernest married Constance Banwell. She was the eldest daughter of nurseryman Henry Banwell and his wife, Ellen, and lived on Christchurch Road, not far from the Mitchells’ shop.

When war broke out, Ernest stepped up to serve his country. His service records show that, while he enlisted on 9th December 1915, he was not formally mobilised until March 1917. As a Trooper, he was assigned to the Household Battalion, and, after a brief period of training, he soon found himself in the thick of things.

The Household Battalion fought at Arras in the spring of 1917, but it was at Passchendaele that Ernest’s war was to come to an end. Wounded in the leg on 6th October – just three months after arriving in France – he was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Admitted to No. 2 War Hospital in Birmingham, he initially recuperated, but pneumonia took over and Trooper Mitchell succumbed. He passed away on 26th October 1917, at the age of 28 years old.

The body was removed from Birmingham, arriving in Worthing at midnight on Monday; and the internment took place at the Cemetery yesterday afternoon [20th October]. Among those who attended the ceremony were two soldier brothers of the deceased – RA Mitchell, who is in the Royal Flying Corps; and FE Mitchell, of the Middlesex Regiment. Still another brother is serving his Country in a Military capacity. This is Fred Mitchell, formally Organist of the Congregational Church, who is in the Army Service Corps, and was unable to be present yesterday, for he is now in Hospital in Wiltshire.

[Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 31th October 1917]

Ultimately, Ernest Henry Mitchell would be the only one of his siblings to pay the ultimate price while serving his country. He was laid to rest in the family plot in Broadwater Cemetery, on the then outskirts of the home town.

Ernest’s headstone also pays tribute to Alan Frederick Gill, who died in April 1925. This was his sister Rhoda’s child, who died at just four-and-a-half years old.

Bedfordshire, Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, India, Isle of Wight, Lieutenant, photography, Royal Marines, story, suicide, Sussex, war

Captain Guye Lushington

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Captain Guye Lushington

Guye Wellesley Lushington was born in India on 6th November 1880. The oldest of four children, his parents were James and Bessie Lushington. James was a worked in the Bombay Uncovenanted Civil Service and, while it’s not possible to track his location through census records, by the time of the 1891 census, Bessie had returned to Britain with the children. The document found them living at 31 Clarendon Street in Bedford, Bedfordshire.

Guye’s background stood him in good stead when it came to building a career. His chosen profession was the army and, by January 1898 he had landed a commission in the Royal Marine Artillery. Lieutenant Lushington continued to do well and, on 13th March 1908, he received a promotion to Captain.

Full details of Guye’s military service have been lost to time, but by the time war broke out, he was attached to the dreadnought battleship HMS Bellerophon. The stress of the Great War was to take its toll, however, and he was diagnosed with neurasthenia. In 1916, he was admitted to the King Edward Convalescent Home at Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight. Captain Lushington’s condition, however, was to worsen.

The Isle of Wight Coroner yesterday held an inquest respecting the death of Captain George [sic] Wellesley Lushington, 35, of the Royal Marine Artillery, sone of Mr James Law Lushington, of Briar Bank, Grove-road, Worthing [West Sussex], who was found dead… on Tuesday, having apparently thrown himself over an iron staircase fire escape into the courtyard.

Colonel Douglas Wardrop, house governor and medical superintendent, said the deceased arrived at Osborne House from Haslar on the 5th inst… He was rather depressed and worried about his loss of will power. He had been four years on the “Bellerophon” and on active service with the Grand Fleet. There was nothing in the deceased’s manner to suggest suicide. He slept on the top floor of the south wing. At two o’clock on Tuesday morning, the night nurse reported that the deceased had not slept in his room. Search was made, and the deceased was found lying in the courtyard between the kitchen and the south wing. He must have jumped from the fire escape – which was an iron staircase with platforms outside each landing – onto the flag stones below, a distance of 45 feet. His skull was smashed to pieces. There was a railing 3 feet 6 inches high round the staircase, and deceased could not have accidentally fallen over.

Two letters were found in deceased’s room, one addressed to his father and the other to his sister. His father identified the writing. The letter to the deceased’s father was as follows:

“Osborne House, Sunday.

“My dear pater, Since I broke down a month ago, I feel I shall never pick up again. I am afraid this will rather surprise you, but I cannot stand the tension any longer. I am always wondering what is going to happen to me. Give my love to Daisy. If one has to die, it is better quickly than slowly. With lots of love – GUYE”

Nursing sister Arkins, who had charge of the deceased, said he was quiet, bur showed no suicidal tendency.

Lieutenant George Stewart Manisty, of the Indian Army Reserve, attached to the 7th Bengal Lancers, said he played bridge with the deceased up till 10:30 on Monday night, and for three nights running. Deceased seemed quite friendly and in good spirits.

A verdict of “Suicide while of unsound mind” was returned.

The Coroner said that was the third suicide within a week on the Isle of Wight, either directly or indirectly due to the war.

[Sussex Daily News: Thursday 11th May 1916]

Captain Lushington’s full state of mind on the night he took his life will never be know. The family had suffered three early deaths in a matter of years: Guye’s oldest sister, Violet, had died in 1899, at the age of 18; his brother Hubert had died in 1905 at the age of 19; his mother Bessie passed away in 1911 at the age of 58. Guye had taken his life on 8th May 1916, aged 35 years old.

The body of Guy Wellesley Lushington was taken to Worthing, West Sussex, for burial. He was laid to rest in the town’s Broadwater Cemetery.

accident, Army Pay Corps, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Lieutenant, photography, Royal Air Force, story, Sussex, war, Warwickshire

Lieutenant Frederick Bravery

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Lieutenant Frederick Bravery

DISASTROUS FLYING ACCIDENT

Seven Airmen Killed

Lieutenant FJ Bravery’s “Great Skill and Fearlessness”

A sad bereavement has just been sustained by Mr & Mrs T Bravery, of 83, Chapel-road, in the death of one of their soldier sons, Lieutenant FJ Bravery, of the Royal Air Force, as the result of a flying accident near Birmingham in the early part of last week.

Together with a young Canadian Officer, Lieutenant Macbeth, of Toronto, and five air mechanics, Lieutenant Bravery was testing a large aeroplane, when, according to a farmer who was an eye-witness of the accident, the machine was seen to come nose down out of a cloud at great height.

The machine then righted itself and went about a mile, when it turned over while flying at a comparatively low altitude, and fell straight to earth, all seven occupants being instantaneously killed.

An inquest was held at a small town in the vicinity of the accident on Thursday afternoon, when evidence was given that both Lieutenant Macbeth (who was in charge of the machine) and Lieutenant Bravery were experienced pilots and accustomed to the type of machine they were flying, and that tests made with the machine before the flight was started were all satisfactory.

The Jury, in returning their verdict of “Accidental death” were unable to state the specific cause of the accident.

Lieutenant Bravery, who was only twenty-two years of age, joined the Army Pay Corps at the end of 1914, bur subsequently transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, where he had been engaged in flying for a little more than a year. A capable and experienced pilot, he had latterly been attached to the Central Dispatch Pool, where his duties mainly consisted of ferrying machines over to France; and his Commanding Officer, in a letter of sympathy to the bereaved parents, wrote that “he had done excellent work by his great skill and fearlessness. He was always popular and loved in his mess; and was absolutely unselfish, and a very brave gentleman.”

The funeral of the other victims of the tragedy took place on Friday near the scene of the accident: but the body of Lieutenant Bravery was brought home to Worthing, and was buried yesterday afternoon, at Broadwater Cemetery, with full Military honours.

[Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 28th August 1918]

Frederick James Bravery was born on 4th January 1896 in Brighton, Sussex. One of seven children, his parents were Thomas and Eugenie Bravery. Thomas was a pork butcher, and the 1901 census found the family lived at 3 Grenville Street in the centre of the town. Frederick and two of his sisters, meanwhile, were staying with their paternal grandparents on New Church Road in Aldrington.

By the time of the 1911 census, the Bravery family had taken a massive step up. They were now living in a 10-roomed Victorian villa at 15 Clermont Terrace in the Preston area of Brighton. Thomas was noted as having no occupation, and while three of Frederick’s older sibling were working – one as a milliner’s assistant, one as a chemist’s cashier and one as a clerk for a piano shop – their salaries would not have been enough to support such a change in status.

There is little that can be added to the newspaper’s account of Frederick’s military service. He seemed keen to enlist, and what remains of his army and air force documentation suggests that he added two years to his age. He was, therefore, just 22 years of age when he died, on 19th August 1918.

The body of Frederick James Bravery was laid to rest in Broadwater Cemetery, Worthing, Sussex, just a short walk from where his parents were now living in Chapel Road (Thomas now listed as being a sauce maker and pork butcher).

The newspaper report only highlighted the deaths of the two Lieutenants killed in the fatal accident. Alongside Lieutenant Bravery, the full list of crew lost were Air Mechanic 3rd Class George Greenland (buried at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, London); Air Mechanic 1st Class James May (buried in Basford Cemetery, Nottinghamshire); Air Mechanic 3rd Class Charles Offord (buried in Acton Cemetery, Middlesex); and Aircraftman 2nd Class Horrace Simmonds. Simmonds and Lieutenant Robert Macbeth were both laid to rest in St Michael’s Churchyard, Maxstoke, not far from the site of the crash.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private William Mead

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Private William Mead

William Henry Mead was born in Frome, Somerset, in the spring of 1886. The second of six children, his parents were mason Henry Mead and his wife, Eliza. Henry’s work took him across the area: the 1891 census found the family living at 5 Tower Hill in Dilton Marsh, Wiltshire, while by 1901 they had moved to Upton Scudamore, closer to Warminster.

By this point, William was working as a farm labourer, but he then disappears from the records. His entry on the Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects when he died shows that he left a significantly higher amount of money than would normally be expected for someone who had simply enlisted for the duration of the war. It is possible, therefore, that his absence from the 1911 census is due to him being out of the country whilst with the army.

The document confirms that William served with the 2nd Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment. The unit saw action as Ypres, the Somme, Passchendaele and Messines, but, without his service records, it is impossible to know how or where Private Mead fought. He survived the war, however, and by the start of 1919, he was billeted in Tidworth, on the edge of Salisbury Plain.

Private Mead’s health was suffering by this point, and he was admitted to the camp’s hospital. He died, through causes unknown, on 27th April 1919: he was 33 years of age.

The body of William Henry Mead was taken back to Warminster, where his grieving family were now living. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of the town’s Christ Church.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, history, photography, Private, Royal Horse Artillery, story, unknown, war, Wiltshire, Wiltshire Regiment

Gunner Ernest Prince

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Gunner Ernest Prince

Ernest Harold Prince was born in the spring of 1891 in Warminster, Wiltshire. The eighth of eleven children, he was one of five boys to William and Mary Prince. William was a quarry worker, and the family lived at 33 Brook Street to the south of the town.

Ernest followed his father into quarry labouring. William was working in Abercarn, Monmouthshire, at the time of the 1901 census, and had returned to Wiltshire by 1911. Ernest, on the other hand, had sought work in Wales himself by this point, and is recorded as boarding with the Courtney family at 39 Rhyswg Road. The document notes that he was employed as a labourer below ground in a local colliery.

When war broke out, Ernest stepped up to play his part. Full details of his service have been lost to time, and it is unclear whether he was still working in the colliery, and therefore exempt from joining up initially because of his reserved occupation. What is certain, however, is that he had enlisted by the spring of 1918, and, as a Gunner, had joined the Royal Horse Artillery A Battery.

The next record for Gunner Prince relates to his passing. He is recorded as having died of disease on 29th October 1918. His death was recorded in Warminster, so it is safe to assume that he had been at home, or at least in his home town, when he passed. He was 27 years of age.

The body of Ernest Harold Prince was laid to rest in the graveyard of Christ Church in Warminster.

Ernest’s younger brother, Walter, also fought in the First World War. A Private in the 2nd Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment, he had served on the Western Front during 1915.

Private Prince fought at Loos and was killed on 26th September 1915. He is commemorated on Panel 102 of the Loos Memorial.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Royal Navy, Scotland, Stoker, story, war, Wiltshire

Stoker 1st Class Stanley Curtis

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Stoker 1st Class Stanley Curtis

Stanley Curtis was born on 31st October 1899, and was one of 21 children to Rowland and Sarah Curtis. Rowland was a gardener and labourer from Warminster, Wiltshire, and it was here, at 9 Marsh Street, that the family were raised.

There is little information available about Stanley’s early life: he was only two years old at the time of the 1901 census, and still at school for the next return in 1911. Later document, however, confirms that he worked as a farm labourer when he completed his schooling and that he was an active member of the Warminster Cadets.

Stanley was keen to play his part when war broke out. He enlisted in the Royal Navy as soon as he was able to, joining as a Stoker 2nd Class on 7th December 1917. His service records show that he was 5ft 4ins (1.62m) tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.

Stoker 2nd Class Curtis was sent to HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, for his training. After four months there he was given his first assignment, on board the protected cruiser HMS Amphitrite. Working as a minelayer, she served in the North Sea, and was positioned off Scotland when Stanley fell ill.

Stoker Curtis was disembarked in Edinburgh, and was admitted to the city’s Royal Naval Hospital with peritonitis. Sadly the condition was to prove fatal, and he passed away on 13th September 1918, a few weeks short of his 19th birthday.

The body of Stanley Curtis was brought back to Wiltshire for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Christ Church, Warminster, just a few minutes’ walk from where his grieving family lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, story, war, Wiltshire

Private William Garrett

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Private William Garrett

William Garrett was born in Warminster, Wiltshire, on 18th October 1880. The fourth of seven children, he was the fourth son to Henry and Mary Garrett. Henry was a groom, and the family lived at 80 Portway, a Victorian villa to the north of the town centre.

The 1901 census records the family having moved from No. 80. The document notes their address as 14 Portway and with this move, there appears to have been a change of circumstances. At some point in the previous ten years, Henry had given up working with horses, and had gone into baking instead. This too had taken a back seat, however, as the census confirms his employment as former baker. William, now 21 years of age, was still living with his parents, and was working as a printer for a local newspaper.

On 5th August 1905, William married Kate Macey. A labourer’s daughter from Bishopstrow, Wiltshire, the couple exchanged vows in her parish church. They settled in a house on Deverill Road, Warminster, and went on to have five children,

When war broke out, William would eventually be called upon to play his part. “He was previously employed at the ‘Warminster Journal’ office as monotype caster and operator, and served his apprenticeship at the office. It was very largely through his services that the ‘Journal’ was forced to suspend publication and though he might have obtained further exemption from military service, he preferred to leave civil employment and enter into the service of his country” [Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser: Saturday 25th May 1918]

William enlisted in the Army Service Corps on 1st May 1918. As a Private, was attached to the Mechanical Transport Depot in Sydenham, Kent. His service records show that he was 5ft 3ins (1.59m) tall and weighed 126lbs (57.2kg). His medical records note that he was of good physical development.

The newspaper report continued:

[Private Garrett] left Warminster only a week or two ago and was billeted at Sydenham, being apparently in the best of health and spirits. On Tuesday his wife… received the following telegram from an officer: “I regret to have to inform you your husband died suddenly in his billet around 1:30pm today. All ranks convey deepest sympathy.”

The distressing news was confirmed by a letter from a comrade, Pte. Manley, who is a native of Taunton. He wrote “It is with extreme sorrow I write this letter to you. Your husband and I arrived here the same day and he slept in my room with two others – very nice fellows. We all send you our heartfelt sympathy in your sorrow. He spoke to me today about 1.10pm and then fell forward. I and others did everything possible for him but he was beyond human aid from the start. He only lived about two minutes and suffered no pain. We all liked him very much in our bedroom and indeed in the billet. I am sure he would have proved a credit to the ASC.”

[William] was a member of the Oddfellows Society and filled all the local lodge offices, and was also a member of the committee of the Co-operative Society. He belonged to the Warminster Volunteer Training Corps, and jus as he left to join the regular army he was about to be promoted.

[Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser: Saturday 25th May 1918]

The inquest into Private Garrett’s death found he had died of natural causes. He was 37 years of age when he passed away on 21st May 1918. He had been in the army for just 20 days.

The body of William Garrett was taken back to Wiltshire for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Christ Church, Warminster.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, photography, Private, Somerset, story, unknown, war, Wiltshire

Private John Adlam

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Private John Adlam

John Adlam was born in the spring of 1883 in Warminster, Wiltshire. The youngest of seven children, his parents were William and Emily Adlam. William was a maltster’s labourer, and the family lived in a small cottage at 66 Pound Street, to the south west of the town centre.

When John finished school, he found work as a garden labourer. By this point the Adlam family had moved, and home was 29 Chapel Street. William himself wasn’t recorded there, however. Work had taken him away and he was living at Holcombe Malthouse, on the outskirts of Kilmersden, Somerset.

On Christmas Day 1906, John married Ethel Brown, a plasterer’s daughter from Westbury, Wiltshire. The couple would go on to have three children, and 1911 census shows them living at 24 Chapel Street, Warminster with John’s recently widowed mother.

When war broke out, John stepped up, or was called upon, to play his part. His service records no longer exist, although it is clear that he served as a Private in the Dorsetshire Regiment as a Private. He was based at on of the regimental depots, and served through to the end of the war.

The only other record for John are those relating to his passing. He died on 29th November 1918 and, as his death was registered in Warminster, it seems likely that he died at or close to home. He was 35 years of age.

The body of John Adlam was laid to rest in the graveyard of Christ Church in his home town of Warminster.

Interestingly, while an initial grant was paid to Ethel, John’s entry on the Pension Ledger stated that they had been “instructed to cease [temporary] payment as widow not eligible for pension in respect of her late husband.” There is no indication as to whether this was later overturned.

Able Seaman, accident, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, Kent, killed in action, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, story, Surrey, war

Able Seaman Andrew Jacobs

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Able Seaman Andrew Jacobs

Andrew William Jacobs was born on 7th May 1895 in Battersea, Surrey. One of nine children, his parents were Andrew and Ellen Jacobs. Andrew Sr was a bricklayer by trade, and, at the time of the 1901 census, the family lived at 37 Gwynne Road, sharing the house with Arthur and Florence Pitman.

Not long afterwards, the Jacobs family has moved to 31 Farlton Road, and Andrew Jr and his brother Henry were sent to Garratt Lane School. Both were registered on 23rd September 1903, and remained there until 18th November 1904, when they were moved to another school. By this point, Andrew Jr had reached Grade II in the key subjects of reading, writing, arithmetic and spelling.

When he completed his education, Andrew Jr found work as a machine and minder for Price’s Candle Company. According to the 1911 census he was boarding with his older sister, Ellen, and her family, living in a three-room lodging in Durham Buildings, York Road, Battersea.

Later that year, with adventure in mind, Andrew joined the Royal Navy. By this point he gave his employment as a candle wick maker, and, being under the age to fully enlist, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class. Sent to the training base in Devonport, Devon, he quickly learnt the tools of his trade and, in January 1912, he was promoted to Boy 1st Class.

On 7th May 1913, Andrew came of age, and formally signed up to the Royal Navy. His papers show that he was 5ft 9.5ins (1.77m) tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. The now Ordinary Seaman Jacobs had already served on board the armoured cruiser HMS Leviathan, and was into his second year aboard the training ship HMS St Vincent. Even though he had spent less than two years with the navy, his reviews were promising, noting a very good character and superior ability.

In April 1914, Ordinary Seaman Jacobs was moved to another vessel, the battleship HMS Bulwark. With war on the horizon, she formed part of the Channel Fleet, and was tasked with patrolling and defending Britain’s southern coast. Here Andrew’s dedication continued, and he was promoted to Able Seaman on 9th September 1914.

Two months later, on 26th November 1914, Bulwark was moored in the River Medway, close to Sheerness, and was being stocked with shells and ammunition. That morning, some poorly stowed cordite charges overheated, detonating the shells stored nearby. The resulting explosion ripped through the battleship, sinking her and and killing more than 740 crew, Able Seaman Jacobs included. He was just 19 years of age.

Many of the bodies from HMS Bulwark were not recovered, while those that were, but were unable to be identified, were laid to rest in a communal grave in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent. The remains of Andrew William Jacobs were both recovered and identified: he was buried in a marked grave in the same cemetery.