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accident, Air Mechanic, Canada, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, photography, Royal Air Force, Second Lieutenant, story, war

Second Lieutenant Arthur Belyea

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Second Lieutenant Arthur Belyea

Arthur Fred Belyea was born in Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada, on 21st October 1894. The second of five children, he was one of three sons to John and Sarah. John was a farmer, and local to the area, but Sarah, who was sixteen years her husband’s junior, had been born in Pennsylvania, and lived in Kansas for twenty years before moving to Canada.

By the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to Calgary, where John had taken up work as a horse dealer. Interestingly, the census also recorded the Belyeas’ racial background, which was German, although John and Sarah were at least second generation North American.

Arthur had finished school by this point, and had found employment as a bookkeeper for the Royal Bank of Canada. He was settled in for a career, and, by 1916 had achieved the role of assistant accountant. War was on the horizon, however, and life was to change.

Full details of Arthur’s military service have been lost to time, but it is clear that he enlisted in the Canadian Royal Flying Corps on 3rd December 1917. His service papers show that Air Mechanic 3rd Class Belyea was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall, with dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a medium complexion.

Arthur was sent to Britain and stationed at East Boldre, Hampshire. When the Royal Air Force was formed on 1st April 1918, he transferred across. He was obviously proficient at what he did, because at the end of May he earned a commission, and rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant.

Mr A C Hallett, Deputy County Coroner, held inquests on Tuesday, of Lieut. Austin Wyard Blackie, RAF, of California, and Second-Lieut. Arthur Fred Belyea, RAF, of Calgary, Canada, who met thwir deaths while flying. The evidence showed that their machines collided at a great height, and that death in each case must have been instantaneous. Verdicts of “Accidental death” were returned.

[Hampshire Advertiser: Saturday 21st September 1918]

The RAF report card on the incident noted that: “The cause of the accident was in our opinion an error of judgement on one pilot (unknown) in flying his machine into the other machine from the rear, causing the left hand frame of Camel C8322 and the right hand frames of Camel C96 to collapse, thus causing each machine to spin to the ground. The one pilot was probably attempting to obtain good photographs of the other machine.”

Arthur Fred Belyea was 23 years of age when he died on 17th September 1918. He was laid to rest alongside Lieutenant Blackie in the graveyard of St Paul’s Church, East Boldre, not far from the airfield at which he served.

You can read about the life of Lieutenant Blackie here.

Second Lieutenant Arthur Belyea
(from findagrave.com)
accident, Canada, Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, Lieutenant, photography, Royal Air Force, Sergeant, story, war

Lieutenant Austin Blackie

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Lieutenant Austin Blackie

Austin Wyard Blackie was born in Spring Bay on Ontario’s Manitoulin Island on 17th November 1895. The seventh of eight children, his parents were farmers John and Mary Blackie. John took the family to where the work was: by the time of the 1901 census they had relocated to Algoma, 190km (120 miles) to the north west.

Little further information is available about Austin’s early life. When war broke out, he stepped up to play his part. His military records take a bit of unpicking, but he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 10th April 1916, and was assigned to the 227th Battalion as a Sergeant. He was dismissed from service on 15th December 1916, as he was deemed medically unfit.

Undeterred, Austin’s service papers confirm that he re-enlisted on 7th March 1917, and that he was a student at the University of Toronto Officers’ Training Corps at the time. This document also gives his year of birth incorrectly as 1894.

Austin’s medical in 1917 confirmed that, at 22 years of age (based on the incorrect year of birth), he was 5ft 7.5ins (1.71m) tall and weighed 143lbs (64.9kg). He had fair hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion, good hearing and 20/20 vision. He was also recorded as having a number of scars: two either side of his stomach from an operation, and a third on the right side of his left ankle.

Sergeant Blackie’s time in the army was not destined to be a lengthy one, and there is a sense of his determination to better himself. On 5th May 1917, he was discharged from service again, but this time because he mad the transfer to Canadian Royal Flying Corps.

At this point, Austin’s trail goes frustratingly cold. He was shipped out to Britain, and was based at the 29th Training Depot Station in East Boldre, Hampshire. When the Royal Air Force was formed, he transferred across, and, at some point during this time, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.

Mr A C Hallett, Deputy County Coroner, held inquests on Tuesday, of Lieut. Austin Wyard Blackie, RAF, of California, and Second-Lieut. Arthur Fred Belyea, RAF, of Calgary, Canada, who met thwir deaths while flying. The evidence showed that their machines collided at a great height, and that death in each case must have been instantaneous. Verdicts of “Accidental death” were returned.

[Hampshire Advertiser: Saturday 21st September 1918]

The report’s suggestion that Austin was from California is incorrect, although his parents had, by this point, moved there from Canada.

The RAF’s own report gave a little more detail on what happened:

The court considered the evidence, found that the cause of the accident was entirely due to misadventure in that the [Lieutenant Blackie’s] foot became entangled behind the rudder bar, the machine thus being our of control.

It appears that Austin had been offered a different aircraft to the Sopwith Camel in which he he had been killed. “He apparently took his machine up without asking his Flight Commander’s permission or his Instructor’s, contrary to standing orders.”

Second Lieutenant Belyea’s report card adds a stark twist to the crash: “The cause of the accident was in our opinion an error of judgement on one pilot (unknown) in flying his machine into the other machine from the rear, causing the left hand frame of Camel C8322 and the right hand frames of Camel C96 to collapse, thus causing each machine to spin to the ground. The one pilot was probably attempting to obtain good photographs of the other machine.”

Austin Wyard Blackie was just 22 years of age when he died on 17th September 1918. He was laid to rest alongside Second Lieutenant Belyea in the graveyard of St Paul’s Church, East Boldre, not far from the base in which he had served.

You can read about Second Lieutenant Belyea’s life here.

Lieutenant Austin Blackie
(from findagrave.com)
Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Clarence Jennings

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Private Clarence Jennings

Clarence Albert Carrison was born on 6th June 1896 in Port MacDonnell, South Australia. His early life is a challenge to uncover: his father is noted as being Robert Carrison, while his mother was Mary Jennings. His parents had eleven other children, whose surnames vary between Carrison and Jennings.

Papers confirm that Clarence went to Mount Schank School from 29th July 1902 to 10th November 1904, although his attendance seems to have been a little haphazard. Intriguingly, his parents are not recorded, but Mr H Ulrich, a carpenter, is noted as being his guardian.

When he finished his schooling, Clarence found work as a labourer. War broke out on the other side of the world in the summer of 1914, and he was called upon to play his part. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 30th June 1917, and, Robert having passed away nine years earlier, he seems to have reverted to his mother’s name, Jennings.

Private Jennings’ service papers outline the young man he had become. He was a little over 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, and weighed 168lbs (76.2kg). He was recorded as having brown hair, blue eyes and a medium complexion.

Clarence spent the next three months training. On 30th October 1917, his unit left Australia for Europe, a journey that would take some eight weeks. The voyage was not uneventful for Private Jennings: he spent a night in the ship’s hospital with seasickness, then three weeks back there with mumps. His gratitude to be back on dry land when the HMAT Aeneas docker in Devonport on 27th December is likely to have been palpable.

Private Jennings was marched into camp in Sutton Veny, Wiltshire. Attached to the 33rd Battalion of the Australian Infantry, he moved to the nearby ANZAC base in Codford on 2nd January 1918, and would remain there for the next few months. This was not without its hiccups either, and he went AWOL from midnight on 7th February until 9:30am on 12th February. For this offence, he forfeited thirteen days’ pay.

By the end of that month, Clarence had fallen ill again. He was admitted to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in Codford, suffering from measles and bronchitis. This combination of ailments would prove Private Jennings’ undoing: he passed away on 22nd March 1918, at the age of just 21 years old.

Thousands of miles from home, the body of Clarence Albert Jennings was laid to rest in the newly extended graveyard of St Mary’s Church, Codford.

Interestingly, Clarence’s burial report presents a clean slate to his family. He was noted as being “a keen soldier [whose] conduct was exemplary. He was very popular and his loss is very keenly felt.”

Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, County Durham, Devon, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire, Yorkshire

Private Thomas Chilton

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Private Thomas Chilton

The early life of Thomas William Chilton is a challenge to unpick. Born in January 1888, his mother is recorded as Sarah Chilton. Documents refer to his place of birth as Darlington, County Durham, or Ripon, Yorkshire, although there are no records to corroborate either location.

When he finished his schooling Thomas found work as a farm labourer, but he had a sense of adventure. By 1911, he had emigrated to Australia to make a new life for himself as a farmer in New South Wales.

War broke out in the summer of 1914, and Thomas would step up to play his part. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 9th October 1916, his service records showing that he had previously volunteered for the 1st Battalion of the Australian Imperial Forces, but had been discharged on account of wounds. Private Chilton’s papers note that he was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall and weighed 159lbs (72.1kg). He had brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.

Thomas spent the next couple of months training, before his unit was dispatched overseas. He boarded the troop ship A24 Benalla on 9th November 1916, making the journey from Sydney to Devonport in two months. On 10th January, he was marched in to camp in Perham Down, Wiltshire, in preparation for the move to France.

Attached to the 53rd Battalion of the Australian Infantry, Private Chilton arrived in France on 26th April 1917. He was sent to the front, but just three weeks later was wounded by shrapnel in his feet, right side and face. He was sent to a casualty clearing station before being medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Initially admitted to hospital in Wandsworth, Surrey, over the next few weeks he was moved to wards in Chelsea and Holborn in Middlesex.

Thomas recovered from his injuries and, by August 1917, he had been discharged from hospital. He had two weeks’ leave, before reporting back to his unit in Perham Down. Within days of arriving, he was charged with going AWOL, being absent from 3:30pm on 24th August to 4:30pm on 25th August. The result of his misdemeanour is unclear, but his records suggest he did not cross the line again.

In November 1917, Private Chilton was in hospital again, this time suffering from a bour of gastritis. He was admitted to the military hospital in Sutton Veny, Wiltshire, and, after being discharged on 3rd December, his time would be split between the ANZAC camps here and in nearby Codford.

Thomas undertook more training in January 1918, completing a course in signalling. That spring, however, his health took another downturn, and he contracted pneumonia. He was admitted to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in Codford, but the condition would prove his undoing. Private Chilton passed away on 30th March 1918, at the age of 30 years old.

Although his mother was living in Yorkshire, the body of Thomas William Chilton was not returned home for burial. Instead he was laid to rest in the ANZAC graveyard extension of St Mary’s Church in Codford.

Thomas’ papers confirm that his brother was in attendance, and, although his name is not mentioned, it is likely to have been Ewden Auton, Sarah’s son, with whom Thomas’ will was kept for safe keeping.

Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, London, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Frank Cattermole

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Private Frank Cattermole

Frank James Cattermole was born in 1899 in the Australian town of Jeparit, Victoria. The third of eight children, his parent were William and Amelia Cattermole.

When Frank completed his schooling, he found work as a baker’s assistant but, when war broke out in Europe, he was keen to step up and play his part. He enlisted on 1st February 1917, joining the Australian Imperial Force.

After a year’s training on home soil, Private Cattermole’s unit – the 48th Battalion of the Australian Infantry – set off from Sydney on 22nd March 1918. The troop ship he was assigned to – A54 HMAT Runic – would take two months to reach its destination, London. Frank spent three weeks of the journey admitted to the ship’s hospital, although the condition is unclear.

Once disembarked, Private Cattermole was marched to the ANZAC camp in Codford, Wiltshire. He arrived there on 24th May 1918, to begin preparations for a move to the Western Front. This was not to happen, however, as he was admitted to the camp hospital on 1st June, suffering from bronchitis.

Over the next two weeks , Frank’s condition worsened, and eventually his body was too weak to take any more. He passed away on 14th June 1918, aged just 18 years old.

Thousands of miles from home, Frank James Cattermole was laid to rest alongside others from his battalion, in the ANZAC extension to St Mary’s Churchyard, Codford.

Private Frank Cattermole
(from findagrave.com)
Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Sydney Clarke

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Private Sydney Clarke

The early life of Sydney Clarke is a challenge to piece together. Born in St George, Queensland, Australia, his birth parents are not recorded, and his military records give his friend and foster mother Mrs Ellen Noud.

What can be determined is that he was working as a stockman when he enlisted in the army in April 1917, and was living in the town of Warwick.

Sydney’s service records give a little more information about the man he was. Aged 27 years and two months old, he was 5ft 3ins (1.6m) tall, and weighed 109lbs (49.4kg). He had black hair, hazel eyes and a dark complexion.

Part of the Australian Imperial Force, Private Clarke left Australia on 31st October 1917. His journey on board the troop ship HMAT Euripides was not without incident, and Sydney was placed in the brig for seven days and docked two days’ pay for “neglecting to obey an order given by a superior officer”. The ship reached Britain in December 1917, and he marched in to the ANZAC base in Codford, Wiltshire, on Boxing Day.

The next six months would prove trying for Sydney’s health. On 9th January 1918, he was admitted to the camp hospital with bronchitis. This developed into pneumonia, and he would remain admitted until 18th May, when he was sent to his unit, the 49th Battalion of the Australian Infantry.

Less than a month later, however, Private Clarke was back in hospital, this time with influenza. This time his health would fail him, though: he passed away from the condition on 23rd June 1918, and the age of 28 years old.

Thousands of miles from home, Sydney Clarke was laid to rest in the newly extended graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Codford, not far from the base in which he had been billeted.

Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Devon, Egypt, Great War, history, illness, New Zealand, photography, Private, Sergeant, story, war, Wiltshire

Corporal Charles Ziesler

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Corporal Charles Ziesler

Charles Frederick Wilhelm Ziesler was born on 12th February 1877 in Timaru on New Zealand’s South Island. The oldest of nine children, his parents were Norwegian-born Johan Ziesler, and his New Zealand wife, Lucy.

Little information is available about Charles’ early life, but it is clear that he found work as a clerk when he finished his schooling. By the time of the 1899 electoral role, he had set up home at 258 Hereford Street in the Canterbury area of Christchurch.

Things were to change, however, and Charles emigrated to Australia. Taking up a job as a fire adjuster for an insurance company, he settled in the Subiaco suburb of Perth. In 1909 he married Martha Grimwood: the couple went on to have three children, and lived in a house at 97 Park Street.

When war broke out, despite his age, Charles stepped up to serve the Empire. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 12th November 1915, and was initially attached to the 35th Depot. His service papers show that he was 5ft 11ins (1.8m) tall and weighed 182lbs (82.6kg). He was recorded as having brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

After several weeks’ training, Private Ziesler’s unit left Australia for the battlefields of Europe. Arriving in Suez, Egypt, on 11th March 1916, he would receive further instruction there over the next couple of months. While many of the ANZAC battalions then set sail for the Dardanelles, the 35th Training Battalion, of which Charles was now a part, headed for Britain.

Private Ziesler arrived in Plymouth, Devon, on 16th June, and was marched into Rollestone Camp in Wiltshire. His preparation continued, and, in August, he was promoted to the rank of Corporal. Charles’ service records suggest that he did not serve on the Western Front, instead remaining attached to the Training Battalions based around Salisbury Plain, in Tidworth and Codford.

By the summer of 1918, Corporal Ziesler had been in Britain for two years and had been promoted to the rank of Acting Sergeant in the 51st Battalion of the Australian Infantry. In June he fell ill, and was admitted to the No 3 New Zealand General Hospital in Codford, suffering from bronchopneumonia. The condition was to prove his undoing: he passed away on 26th June 1918, at the age of 41 years old.

Thousands of miles from home, the body of Charles Frederick Wilhelm Ziesler was laid to rest in the ANZAC extension to the graveyard of St Mary’s Church, Codford, Wiltshire.

Charles’ belongings were returned to his widow: these included his clothing (a leather vest, fur vest, boots, puttees, cap, breeches, underpants and singlets) and more personal items (pipes, coins, photo albums, letters).

Martha may have taken comfort from a detailed letter she received about her late husband’s funeral. “The late Sergeant Ziesler was held in a very high esteem by all ranks in the Unit, and always proved himself a keen soldier, a true and sympathetic comrade and a friend in need and deed. His loss to the Unit is very keenly felt.”

(The CWGC records record the last full rank Charles held: as he held the role of Acting Sergeant, he is noted at the level below, Corporal.)

Corporal Charles Ziesler
(from findagrave.com)
Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, France, Great War, history, illness, Jersey, Lieutenant, Major, Middlesex, photography, story, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, war

Major Alexander Leslie

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Major Alexander Leslie

Alexander Augustus Maurice Leslie was born in France in 1852. One of five children, his parents were Government Secretary of State Francis Leslie and his French wife, Josephine.

Alexander’s mother died when he was 8 years old, by which point the family had moved back to Britain. Francis had set up home in Ealing, Middlesex, and they were living at 15 Castlebar Road, a Victorian villa.

When he completed his schooling, Alexander sought out a military life. The 1881 census recorded him as a Lieutenant in the Suffolk Regiment, living in St Helier, Jersey. He had married the year before, to Louisa Cumming, a surgeon’s daughter from Devon. They had a son, Maurice, by this point, and a daughter, Ida, was born the following year.

Lieutenant Leslie’s service records are sparse, but a later newspaper report fills in some of the gaps: “Leslie’s military experience, which extended… over a period of about 25 years, included participation in the Egyptian campaign in 1884, and service on the West Coast of Africa, in Jamaica, and in India.” [Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 30th April 1919]

During her husband’s time overseas, Louisa raised the children back home in Devon. She passed away in 1901, but which point, Alexander had retired with the rank of Captain. That year’s census found him living with Maurice and Ida at 14 Spencer Hill in Wimbledon, Surrey, a large detached villa. Maurice, now 20 years of age, was working as an accountant’s clerk, and the family had a live-in servant called Rose.

The next census record, from 1911, recorded Alexander living in rooms at 46 Leinster Gardens, Paddington. A substantial Georgian property, his landlady was Eveline Giradet, whose other residents included a barrister and a banker. Alexander’s occupation was now noted as Retired Major in the British Army.

From this point, Alexander’s trail grows cold. It is likely that he was called upon to play a part in the global conflict that broke out in 1914, though exactly when and how he did so is unclear. Records suggest he was admitted to Queen Alexandra’s Military Hospital on Millbank, Middlesex on 28th September 1916, suffering from syphilis. He only remained there for a couple of days, and his increasing age and health may have led to his retirement from duty.

For the past four years Major Alexander Maurice Leslie, who was for a period of a quarter of a century connected with the Royal Sussex Regiment, had been a resident of Worthing, and a brief intimation was given in the last issue… that he had died suddenly.

The circumstances were duly investigated by… the Deputy Coroner for West Sussex, on Wednesday afternoon, the inquiry taking place at the Central Fire Station, in High-street.

Evidence of identification was given by Colonel Francis Seymour Leslie… late of the Royal Engineers, who stated that the deceased, who was his brother, had lived at Worthing for the past four years, more or less all the time, though he had no permanent address…

Mrs Ethel William, a widow, at whose house… Major Leslie had lodged, stated that he had complained of indigestion and ate light food. On Monday evening he had his supper at half-past seven o’clock, going upstairs about half an hour later. About nine o’clock witness went to his room and found him lying in bed in great agony, and he exclaimed: “Oh, my poor heart!” Witness gave him some hot water to drink and sent for a doctor.

Dr Bernard Lees stated that he was sent for, but he found Major Leslie was dead when he got to the house. He had since made a post-mortem examination, which showed that the stomach and intestines were much distended, and there were signs of chronic gastric catarrh. The heart was fatty, but the valves were healthy. Death was due to syncope, the result of acute indigestion and the fatty condition of the heart.

A verdict of “Death from natural causes” was recorded.

[Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 30th April 1919]

[It should be noted that Alexander had been attached to the Suffolk Regiment throughout his military career. The error in the newspaper report is likely because of the Sussex town he had moved to in the mid-1910s.]

Alexander Augustus Maurice Leslie was 67 years of age when he passed away on 21st April 1919. His body was laid to rest in Broadwater Cemetery, to the north of the town he had called his home for more than four years.

Canada, Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Kent, photography, Private, story, Surrey, Sussex, war, Wiltshire

Private Archibald Leal

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Private Archibald Leal

Archibald Edmund Leal was born in Tinwood, West Sussex on 13th September 1894. The youngest of six children, his parents were George and Clara Leal. George was a dairyman, and, by the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to a terraced cottage at 66 Newland Road in Worthing.

Clara died in 1906, and Archibald – who was better known as Archie – and two of his siblings took the opportunity to seek a better life across the Atlantic. In 1910, the three of them – Archie, brother Phillip and sister Winifred – emigrated to Canada, settling in Breakeyville, to the south of Quebec.

Archie found work as a chauffeur, but when war was declared, he was quick to step up and serve his King and Empire. He enlisted on 10th September 1914, joining the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a Private. His service records show that he was 5ft 6in (1.67m) tall, with fair hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion. He was also noted as having “very many [acne] scars over [his] chest and back.”

Assigned to the 15th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry, Private Leal sailed to Britain, arriving at Tidworth Camp in Wiltshire on 12th February 1915. By April he was in France, and, on 28th July he was in a front line trench near the town of Ypres. A shell exploded nearby and, in seeking shelter, he badly twisted his ankle and back. Medically evacuated to Britain, Archie spent a month recuperating at the Royal Herbert Hospital in Woolwich, Kent, before returning to his unit in Wiltshire.

By December 1915, Private Leal was back on the Western Front and remained there for the next five months. In April his unit was on the front line, and he was injured in his right leg when a rifle grenade exploded. Archie was initially treated by a field ambulance, but his injury was such that evacuation to Britain was again necessary. He was admitted to the County of London War Hospital in Epsom, Surrey, but had contracted tetanus by this point. This was to prove fatal, and his body succumbed on 10th May 1916: he was 21 years of age.

The body of Archibald Edmund Leal was taken back to Worthing for burial. He was laid to rest with full military honours in the town’s Broadwater Cemetery. A local newspaper reported that “Private Leal, although not a Canadian, was possessed of true Colonial grit, and had had his full share of active service.” [Sussex Daily News: Wednesday 17th May 1916]

Private Archibald Leal
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, East Lancashire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Lancashire, Lance Corporal, Manchester Regiment, Oxfordshire, photography, Private, Sergeant, story, Sussex, Training Reserve Battalion, war, Wiltshire

Sergeant Charles Chown

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Sergeant Charles Chown

Charles Allen Chown was born in the Sussex village of Lyminster, at the start of 1882. The tenth of eleven children, his parents were Samuel and Mary Chown. Samuel was a general labourer, and when he passed away in 1898, Charles and his siblings rallied to support his now widowed mother.

The 1901 census found Mary, Charles and his brother Jesse living at 32 Lennox Road, Worthing, West Sussex. Jesse was employed as a brickmaker, while Charles had found work as a solicitor’s clerk. The family had two boarders, Helen and Rosie Bulbeck, and Charles’ niece, Minnie, was also staying with them.

Away from work, Charles was a music lover, and joined the local operatic society. In 1904 he appeared in a local version of Iolanthe, his “piece of portraiture being described as one of the successes of the occasion, for his facial play was good, and the drolleries of the character were displayed in an each and natural manner.” [Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 12th September 1917] In the following year’s Mikado, he took the role of the Lord High Executioner, and he was noted as being a “born comedian, with the most mobile countenance and a singularly dry form of humour…” [Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 12th September 1917]

By the time of the 1911 census, Charles had moved on with work, and moved out of home. Taking a room at 7 Tarring Road, Worthing, his landlords were Harold and Rose Ward. Still employed as a clerk, he was now employed by one of the estate agents in the town, although it is clear that his passion was elsewhere. When he joined up in the autumn of 1914, he gave his trade as musician.

Charles enlisted on 7th October 1914 in Ashton-under-Lyme, Lancashire. What took him north is unclear, although a theatre tour is a possibility. His service records note that he was 5ft 8.5ins (1.74m) tall and weighed 138lbs (62.6kg). He had dark brown hair, brown eyes and a sallow complexion.

Initially assigned to the Manchester Regiment, Private Chown was soon transferred to the 8th (Service) Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment. He was obviously dedicated to his job: by the end of October 1914 he had been promoted to Lance Corporal, and within six weeks he rose to Sergeant.

In July 1915, Charles’ unit was dispatched to France. That autumn, they remained based near Tilques, in Northern France, but Sergeant Chown’s health was beginning to suffer. After just three months overseas, he was medically evacuated to Britain to receive treatment for pleurisy, and was hospitalised in Chatham, Kent.

When he recovered, Sergeant Chown was reassigned to the 10th Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment, before being transferred to the 47th Training Reserve Battalion in September 1916. That winter, however, his health received a setback, and he contracted tuberculosis. He would spend the first half of the following year in hospitals in Aldershot in Hampshire, Sutton Veny in Wiltshire and, from May 1917, the 3rd Southern General Hospital in Oxford.

Sergeant Chown’s health would continue to deteriorate, and he was formally discharged from the army on 6th July 1917. He returned to Worthing, and his mother’s home, 2 Montague Place. Charles would eventually succumb to his medical condition, and he passed away on 31st August 1917, at the age of 35 years old.

The body of Charles Allen Chown was laid to rest in the family plot in Broadwater Cemetery, Worthing.