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Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, injury, North Somerset Yeomanry, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Bert Mayled

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Private Bert Mayled

Bert Mayled was born in the autumn of 1889, the fourth of four children – all boys – to Benjamin and Anna Mayled. Benjamin was a butcher from Somerset, who raised his young family in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare.

The whole family followed in Benjamin’s trade, with all four siblings supporting in one way or another, either through farm work or, in Bert’s case, becoming a butcher as well.

On 6th July 1914, Bert married Catherine Swearse, a builder’s daughter from nearby Axbridge. They married in Catherine’s local church, but settled – albeit briefly – back on the coast.

Bert may even have enlisted by the time of the wedding. While he is noted as a butcher on the marriage banns, within weeks war had broken out across Europe, and he found himself in the North Somerset Yeomanry.

Private Mayled’s regiment was one of the first into the fray – he was soon on the Front Line at Ypres. He was wounded early on, and medically evacuated to England for treatment. Admitted to the 2nd Western General Hospital in Manchester, he succumbed to tetanus, contracted from his wounds. He died on 25th November 1914, at just 25 years of age.

Bert Mayled was brought back to Weston-super-Mare for burial. He lies at rest in the Milton Road Cemetery there.

Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, Hong Kong, Ireland, Lieutenant, London, Major, Norfolk, Northern Ireland, photography, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, story, unknown, Wales, war

Major Stafford Douglas

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Major Stafford Douglas

Stafford Edmund Douglas was born on 4th January 1863, the second of four children to Stephen and Mary Douglas. Stafford came from a military family, his father having been a Captain in the Royal Navy. This led to a lot of travelling and, having been born in Donaghadee, County Down, he then moved to South Wales.

By the 1880s, when Stephen and Mary had set up home in Portsmouth, Stafford had started to carve out a career for himself, and was a Lieutenant in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, based at Edinburgh Castle.

Over the coming years, Lieutenant Douglas, who stood 5ft 8.5ins (1.74m) tall and also spoke French, travelled the world, serving in South Africa, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Hong Kong. By 1894 he had made Captain, and he finally retired in 1903, after nineteen years’ service.

On 29th April that year, at the age of 40, Stafford married Mary Louisa Harris. She was the daughter of an army colonel, and the couple wed in St George’s Church, Hanover Square, London. The couple set up home in Exeter, Devon, and went on to have two children – Violet and Stafford Jr.

At this point, Stafford’s trail goes cold. When war broke out in 1914, he was called back into duty, working as a Railway Transport Officer in Norwich. He continued in this role until 1919, before being stood down and returning home.

Stafford Edmund Douglas passed away on 15th February 1920, at the age of 57 years old, although no cause of death is immediately apparent. He was laid to rest in the Milton Road Cemetery in Weston-super-Mare, presumably where his family were, by this time, residing.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, photography, Private, Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, Shropshire, Somerset, story, unknown, Wales, war

Private John Payne

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Private John Payne

John Spencer Payne’s life is a bit of a challenge to piece together, as there is little documentation available. He was born in 1894 in the village of Overton-on-Dee, near Wrexham and was one of two children to Charles and Elizabeth Payne. John was christened in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, at which point, his father’s trade was ‘gentleman’.

The next available document for John is the 1911 census. This records him as living in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, where he was working as a bank clerk. He was living in Severn Road, to the south of the town centre, with his now-widowed mother, his older sister and his maternal aunt.

War came to Europe in 1914, and, while there is limited information about John’s service, it is clear that he had enlisted by September 1915. He joined the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars as a Private and was assigned to the 2nd/1st Battalion.

The battalion was a second-line unit, that remained in England until late in the war, when it transferred to Ireland. By the spring of 1916, it had become a cyclist unit although, with no other documentation for Private Payne, it is impossible to determine how or when he served.

Sadly, too, the only other document about Private Payne’s life is the confirmation of his death. He passed away at home on 10th February 1916, although the cause of his death is not recorded. He was just 22 years old.

John Spencer Payne was laid to rest in the Milton Road Cemetery in Weston-super-Mare.

Private John Payne
(from findagrave.com)
Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Air Force, Somerset, story, war, Yorkshire

Boy Leslie Perkins

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Boy Leslie Perkins

Leslie Harry Perkins was born on 15th June 1901, the only child to Harry and Rosalie. Harry was a solicitor’s clerk from Taunton in Somerset, and Leslie was born and raised in nearby Weston-super-Mare.

Given Leslie’s young age, there is very little documentation about his early life. When he left school, he found work as a motor fitter but, with war raging across Europe by this point, he was keen to put his skills to use.

On 9th October 1917, he enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). His service records show that he stood 5ft 10ins (1.77m) tall and noted that he had three scars on his left hand. Because of his age, he was given the rather diminutive rank of Boy.

He worked in the Engine Repair Section just outside Sheffield, Yorkshire, and, transferred across to the RFC’s successor – the Royal Air Force – when it was formed on 1st April 1918.

It was here, in the autumn of 1918, that Boy Perkins contracted influenza. Sadly, like so many others of his generation, he was to succumb to the disease, and passed away in the camp’s hospital on 1st December 1918. He was just 17 years old.

Leslie Harry Perkins’ body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the family grave in Milton Cemetery, in his home town of Weston-super-Mare.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, illness, injury, Kings Royal Rifle Corps, Norfolk, Northamptonshire Regiment, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Corporal Norman Allard

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Corporal Norman Allard

Norman Stanley Allard was born on 3rd December 1892 in the village of Corsley, Wiltshire, halfway between Frome and Warminster. The younger of two children, his parents were Benjamin and Mercy Allard. Benjamin was a farmer who passed away when his son was only 14 years old. Mercy, who was born in Frome, moved the family back to her home town and Norman found work as a clerk at a printing firm in the area.

War came to Europe and, in December 1915, Norman was called up. There is little specific information about his military service, although his records show that he was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall and had varicocele – enlarged veins in his scrotum – listed as Distinctive Marks.

Initially assigned to the King’s Royal Rifles, Private Allard spent the first year of his service on home soil. He was eventually dispatched to France in March 1917, serving there for a year. On 22nd March 1918, he was wounded in a gas attack, and medically evacuated back to England.

He was called back into service, and assigned to the 9th Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment. He remained on home soil, working as part of the Labour Corps in Cley-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. Sadly, however, it seems that his injuries were to prove too much, and the now Corporal Allard was discharged from military service after just three months.

At this point, Norman’s trail goes cold. He returned home, and passed away there on 13th March 1919. He was just 26 years of age.

Norman Stanley Allard was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church. This became a family grave, and his mother and sister were also buried there when they passed in 1924 and 1940.

Commonwealth War Graves, Gibraltar, Great War, history, illness, India, injury, photography, Private, Royal Fusiliers, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, South Africa, story, Wales, war

Private Albert Sparrow

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Private Albert Sparrow

Albert Edward Sparrow was born in Frome, Somerset, in March 1880. One of four children, his parents were Albert and Louisa Sparrow. Albert Sr was a labourer at an iron foundry, and the family were raised close to the centre of the town.

When he left school, Albert Jr found work as a labourer. However, after his father passed away in 1895, he sought longer term prospects. On 11th November 1898 he enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers as a Private for a period of twelve years. His service records show that he stood 5ft 6in (1.67m) tall, weighed 115lbs (52.2kg), had brown eyes, curly brown hair and a sallow complexion.

During his time in the army, Private Sparrow served in Gibraltar, South Africa and Burma. He returned home in March 1903, was placed on reserve in November 1906, and then ended his contract four years later.

At this point, Albert’s trail goes cold. However, when war was declared, he was keen to play his part. He re-enlisted on 27th August 1914, and was assigned to the Somerset Light Infantry. Assigned to the 6th (Service) Battalion, he was sent to France in December that year.

In July 1916, while fighting at the Somme, he was hurt when he received a gunshot wound to his right buttock. The injury proved enough for him to be medically evacuated back to England, and he spent the next five months recovering, and then working, on home soil.

In December 1916, Private Sparrow was sent back out to France. Six months later, he contracted bronchitis and was again evacuated back to England. He was admitted to the Royal Infirmary in Liverpool and, after a month there, he was moved to the Plas Tudno Nursing Home in Llandudno to recover.

Albert’s condition meant that he could not continue in military service, and he was discharged from the army on 18th December 1917. He returned home to Somerset, but his lung condition proved too much; he passed away on 19th January 1918, at the age of 37 years old.

Albert Edward Sparrow was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church in his home town of Frome.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Field Artillery, Royal Fusiliers, Somerset, story, war

Private Joseph Henry

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Private Joseph Henry

A lot of Joseph Charles Henry’s life is lost to time, and the majority of the information available about him comes from the newspaper report of his funeral.

The funeral with military honours of Private Joseph Charles Henry, Military Medallist, took place at Holy Trinity Church on Saturday afternoon. The case was a very sad one.

Deceased was a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery, and it was there that he won the Military Medal, in June of last year, but had been transferred to the Royal Fusiliers, and posted to the 30th London Regiment.

He was formerly employed as a miner in Lancashire, and married Lucy, daughter of Edward Reddick, of Coleford [Somerset]. In the clear out of the miners for the urgent needs at home he received his discharge on the 20th October, having ten days previously been handed the medal awarded him at the close of last year for bringing in wounded under heavy fire in June. He was very ill when he returned home on Sunday… and became rapidly worse, passing away on Wednesday. He was about 23 years of age.

His wife and two children were also lying seriously ill, and but for the kindness of friends and of the Salvation Army captain, it might have been even more distressing…

There is sad sequel to the death, Mrs Cullen, sister of Mrs Henry, having been bereaved in like manner by the death of her husband within the week.

Somerset Standard: Friday 1st November 1918

There are no documents to specifically connect Joseph to Lancashire, nor to give insight into his family. He died at home, from a combination of acute pneumonia, delirium and heart failure.

Joseph Charles Henry was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church in Frome, Somerset.

Private Joseph Henry (from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

For Joseph’s widow, Lucy, this was further heartbreak to suffer. The two children mentioned in the article were, in fact, Joseph’s stepchildren; Lucy’s first husband, Charles Futcher, had died at Ypres in January 1916.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private William Talbot

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Private William Talbot

William Talbot’s early life is destined to remain a mystery. He was born in Street, Somerset, in around 1869, although there is no concrete information about his family. When he left school, he found work in the local shoe factory – as did the majority of Street residents – and he appears to have married at some point in the late 1890s.

By the time of the 1911 census – the first that can be directly connected to him – William had moved to Frome. He was widowed by this point, and was living in a small cottage with his two sons – Edward, who was sixteen, was labouring in the local flour mill; Albert, who was a year younger, was working as a hairdresser.

William seems to have married again, this time to a widow called Alice; she had four children, and the two of them went on to have another child together.

When war broke out, William joined the National Reserves. He subsequently transferred to the Somerset Light Infantry, and was assigned to the 4th (Reserve) Battalion as a Private. He served on guard duty on the Kent coast, although specific details are not available.

Reporting on Private Talbot’s passing, the Somerset Standard stated that he “did not enjoy good health, and had been several times in hospital” [Friday 29th September 1916]. He had been admitted to the military hospital in Herne Bay, but passed away from ‘disease‘ on 21st September 1916. He was 47 years of age.

William Talbot’s body was brought back to Frome for burial. He lies at rest in the graveyard of the town’s Holy Trinity Church.

Bedfordshire Regiment, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, India, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Herbert Ford

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Private Herbert Ford

Herbert Edgar Ford is one of those people whose early life is destined to remain lost to time. His first names appear interchangeably on documents, with Herbert also being shortened to Bertie, but this means there is no definite trail to his early years.

He was born in Frome, Somerset, around the beginning of 1890, though nothing remains to suggest who his parents would have been. He married at the start of 1914, to local woman Ethel Mary Butler, and they went on to have a daughter, Doreen, at the end of the year.

By that point, war had been declared, and Herbert wanted to play his part. Full details of his military service are not available, but it is evident that he had enlisted in the Bedfordshire regiment by 1918. His troop – the 1st Garrison Battalion – were dispatched to India and were based in Delhi for the majority of the war, but it is unclear when or if Private Ford joined them.

Sadly, the next record for Private Ford is the notice of his death in the local newspaper. This confirms that he died on 16th April 1919 at Birmingham Hospital, “after a long and painful illness” [Somerset Standard: Friday 25th April 1919]. He was just 29 years of age.

Herbert Edgar Ford’s body was brought back to Somerset: he was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church in his home town of Frome.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, injury, Lance Corporal, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, photography, Private, Somerset, story, unknown, war

Corporal George Budgett

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Corporal George Budgett

George Edgar Budgett was born in Frome, Somerset in the autumn of 1894, and was one of ten children to Joseph and Annie Budgett. Joseph was a labourer on the roads, but Annie and their eight daughters all went into the town’s silk weaving industry. When they left school, George and his older brother Frederick both found labouring work – Frederick at a bell foundry, George in the silkworks.

Conflict was coming to Europe and, within weeks of the war being declared, George enlisted. He was assigned to the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry as a Private and his service records show that he stood 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall, weighed 114lbs (51.7kg), had dark brown hair and brown eyes.

Private Budgett initially served on home soil, but by May 1915 he was sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force, receiving a promotion to Corporal in the process. He had been on the front line for a little over a month when he was wounded at Ypres. He received a shrapnel wound to his left hand and had to have his little finger amputated in the camp hospital. He was then medically evacuated back to England for further treatment and recovery.

George was admitted to the City of London War Hospital in Epsom, and needed a further operation, this time the amputation of the third finger. His health recovered, but the injury to his hand resulted in him being medically discharged from the army on 25th August 1916.

Sadly, at this point Corporal Budgett’s trail goes cold. He passed away at home, through causes unrecorded, on 1st May 1919. He was just 24 years of age.

George Edgar Budgett was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church in his home town of Frome, Somerset.

George’s brother Frederick – Joseph and Annie’s only other son – also fought in the First World War. He was assigned to the 14th Battalion of the Gloucester Regiment, and was missing in action, presumed dead on 4th April 1918 – possibly during the Battle of the Avre. He was commemorated at the Pozières Memorial in northern France.