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Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, injury, Kent, Monmouthshire, Monmouthshire Regiment, photography, Private, story, Surrey, Wales, war

Corporal John Cudby

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Corporal John Cudby

Frederick John Cudby – who was known by his middle name – was born in the summer of 1884 in Farnham, Surrey. The fourth of six children, his parents were William and Caroline Cudby. William was a bricklayer from Essex, while his wife was from Ramsgate in Kent. The family went where his work was, and by the mid-1890s, they had moved to Blaenavon in Monmouthshire.

When he left school, John found employment as a mechanic, working as an engine oiler at a local works. William passed away in 1901, and by the time of the next census, in 1911, John was working as a mason’s labourer. The family were all still living in Blaenavon, helping Caroline by keeping money coming in .

When war came to Europe, John was quick to serve King and Country. He enlisted in the Monmouthshire Regiment and, as a Private, was assigned to the 2nd Battalion. His troop was soon sent to France and, by November 1914, he was entrenched at Ypres, near Ploegsteert Wood.

Promoted to Corporal, little of John’s service information survives. It is clear that he was wounded during a skirmish and that he was medically evacuated back to Britain. It seems likely that he was admitted to the Preston Hall Military Hospital in Aylesford, Kent, and that this is where he subsequently succumbed to his injuries.

Corporal Frederick John Cudby died on 6th June 1915, at the age of just 30 years old. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter and St Paul’s Church in Aylesford, Kent.

While buried in the churchyard, the location of John’s grave is not known. Instead, he is commemorated on a joint headstone in the First World War section of the graveyard.

Army Veterinary Corps, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, story, war

Private Frederick Baker

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Private Frederick Baker

Fredrick James Baker was born in the spring of 1894, in the Kent village of Malling. One of eleven children, his parents were James and Elizabeth Baker. James was a labourer in the local chalk and clay pits and, by the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to Burnham, near Aylesford.

Frederick followed his father into labouring work, and they made a living at the local lime works. War was closing in on Europe, however, and he felt he needed to play his part for King and Country. He joined the Royal Army Veterinary Corps and, while his service records no longer exist, it is evident that he had enlisted by November 1916.

It is unclear whether Private Baker served at home or overseas, but he appeared to be dogged by ill health. He was medically discharged from the army on 26th May 1917, and returned to civilian life.

Sadly, it is at this point that Frederick’s trail goes cold. The only other evidence for him is that of his passing. He died from illness at home on 25th February 1919, at the age of just 24 years old.

Frederick James Baker was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter & St Paul’s Church in Aylesford, not far from where his grieving family still lived.

While buried in the churchyard, the location of Frederick’s grave is not known. Instead, he is commemorated on a joint headstone in the First World War section of the graveyard.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, injury, Kent, Kings Royal Rifle Corps, photography, Rifleman, story, war

Rifleman Frederick Avards

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Rifleman Frederick Avards

Frederick John Avards was born in Lamberhurst, Kent, in the summer of 1891. The oldest of three children, his parents were Frederick and Lucy Avards. Frederick Sr was a licenced publican and went on to run the Beckingford Arms in Tovil, near Maidstone.

Frederick Jr helped his father with the business, but when war came to Europe, he stepped up to play his part. He enlisted on 1st January 1915, joining the 7th (Service) Battalion of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps.

Rifleman Avards was sent to France on 19th May 1915 and very quickly found himself in the thick of things. Based on the Western Front, his regiment was involved in a number of skirmishes during the Battle of the Somme.

Last week [Rifleman Avards’] parents received a telegram stating that he was lying at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, dangerously wounded. They at once proceeded to Netley but only to find that he had passed away.. Meanwhile his lieutenant, knowing he had been hit and thinking he had been killed on the battlefield, had written a feeling letter to the parents, saying his gallantly he had done his duty and that he had died a true rifleman’s death in the hour of victory, and worthily upheld the name of his regiment.

Kent Messenger & Gravesend Telegraph: Saturday 9th September 1916

Rifleman John Avards had passed away from his injuries on 3rd August 1916: he was just 24 years of age. His body was brought back to Kent for burial and he was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter & St Paul’s Church in Aylesford, Kent, not far from the Lower Bell public house, which his parents were then running.

Rifleman Frederick Avards
(from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

While buried in the churchyard, the location of Frederick’s grave is not known. Instead, he is commemorated on a joint headstone in the First World War section of the graveyard.

Commonwealth War Graves, Glamorganshire, Gloucestershire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Kent, London, photography, Private, story, Wales, war

Private Frederick Johnson

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Private Frederick Johnson

Frederick Leonard Johnson was born in the spring of 1898, in Wandsworth, South London. His parents are recorded as Frederick and Catherine Johnson, although no other information about his early life remains.

On 16th February 1918, Frederick married Winifred Peters. She was a dock labourer’s daughter from Aberavon in Glamorganshire, and the couple wed at the parish church in the town. The marriage certificate confirms that Frederick was living in Port Talbot and working as a carpenter. It also notes that his father had died by this point.

It seems likely that the young couple married because Winifred was pregnant. The couple had a son, who they called Frederick, on 1st August 1918.

Frederick had enlisted in the army by this point. While his service records no longer exist, he joined up at some point towards the end of the war – no earlier than May 1918 – and was assigned to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. This was a territorial force, and Private Johnson would have been based in Kent as part of the Thames and Medway Garrison.

Little else is known about Frederick’s service. The only other thing that can be confirmed is that he was admitted to the Preston Hall Military Hospital in Aylesford, Kent, in the autumn of 1918, suffering from a combination of influenza and pneumonia. Sadly, the lung conditions were to get the better of him and he passed away on 27th November 1918, at the age of just 20 years old.

Frederick Leonard Johnson was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Aylesford, not far from the hospital in which he had passed. It is unclear whether he ever met his son.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Lance Serjeant, Middlesex, photography, Private, Sergeant, story, war, Wiltshire Regiment

Lance Serjeant John Whiddett

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Lance Serjeant John Whiddett

John Whiddett was born in Hammersmith, Middlesex, in 1892, and was one of thirteen children to Alfred and Mary Ann Whiddett. Alfred was a house painter while Mary Ann worked as a charwoman to bring in some additional money for the growing family.

John worked as a porter when he left school, but when war came to Europe, he stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Wiltshire Regiment in the summer of 1915, and was assigned to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion.

While Private Whiddett served in France, he returned to Britain, and promoted to Corporal and then Lance Serjeant. His battalion eventually formed part of the Thames & Medway Garrison. Frederick found himself in Kent by the autumn of 1917 and served out the remainder of the war there.

At some point during the autumn of 1918, Lance Serjeant Whiddett fell ill. He was admitted to the Preston Hall Military Hospital in Aylesford, suffering from a combination of influenza and pneumonia. Sadly he was not to survive these lung conditions, and he succumbed to them on 22nd November 1918. He was just 26 years of age.

Finances may have restricted John’s family’s ability to bring his body back to Middlesex. Instead, he was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter and St Paul’s Church in Aylesford, Kent.

Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, Kent, photography, Private, story, unknown, war

Private Frederick Neale

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Private Frederick Neale

In a quiet corner of St Peter & St Paul’s Churchyard in Aylesford, Kent, is a headstone dedicated to 35013 Private F Neale of the Gloucestershire Regiment. The memorial confirms that he died on 24th November 1918, but little more information remains on his life.

The Army Record of Soldiers’ Effects confirms his first name as Frederick, but that he was not eligible for the War Gratuity payment, which suggests that he had less than six months’ service when he passed.

The document also confirms that he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion of the Gloucesters, and that he had passed away at the Preston Hall Military Hospital in Aylesford. There is no next of kin of beneficiary for his personal effects, and so the trail goes cold.

With no age or date of birth it is impossible to trace any further details for Frederick. No other military records survive, nor is there any note of his passing or funeral in contemporary newspapers. Frederick Neale’s life is destined to remain lost to time.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Royal Defence Corps, story, unknown, war

Private Michael Barton

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Private Michael Barton

Michael Barton was born in the spring of 1863 in the Kent village of Hadlow. The youngest of three children, his parents were farm labourer William Barton and his wife Annie. Michael became a farm labourer when he left school and, when William died in 1890, he remained at home to support his mother.

Annie passed away in 1905, and this proved a turning point for Michael. By the time of the next census in 1911, he was recorded in the Tonbridge Union Workhouse, one of its 600 inmates.

Michael’s trail is harder to pick up at this point. Despite his age, it seems that he sought a way out of his situation when war broke out and had certainly enlisted in the army by the last year of the conflict. Initially joining the Royal Defence Corps, Private Barton was soon transferred to the Labour Corps, and was assigned to 572nd Agricultural Coy.

The next document relating to Michael is that of his passing. He died on 17th December 1918 at the Preston Hall Military Hospital in Aylesford, Kent, although the cause of his death is not readily available. He was 55 years of age.

Michael Barton was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter & St Paul’s Church in Aylesford, not far from the hospital in which he had passed.

The Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects records that Michael’s belongings passed to a Miss Kate Burley when he died. Not one of his immediate relatives, it is likely that she was a friend or other relation.

Bombardier, Commonwealth War Graves, Driver, Great War, history, Kent, photography, Royal Field Artillery, story, unknown, war

Acting Bombardier Charles Barden

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Acting Bombardier Charles Barden

In the First World War section of St Peter and St Paul’s Churchyard, Aylesford, is the grave of Charles Henry Barden. Born in the summer of 1888 he was the sixth of seven children to Isaac and Harriett Barden. Isaac was a stoker at the local cement works, and this was an industry Charles’ brothers went into.

As for Charles, however, his life is more of a mystery, and it is possible to build a picture of him only from the snippets that are left behind. Even his full name is lost to time – his headstone is dedicated to CHV Barden, but what the V stands for is now unclear.

Absent from the 1911 census, what is known is that Charles’ father died in 1914 and that in August that year, Charles enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery. Driver Barden was sent to France within weeks of the declaration of war and, during the conflict he rose to the rank of Acting Bombardier.

In the spring of 1917, Charles married Angelina Pudney, who had been born in Rochford, Essex. The couple had twin daughters – Sarah and Emily – the following year, although tragically Sarah passed away before her first birthday.

It is unclear when or if Charles was demobbed when the Armistice was declared. He passed away at home on 29th March 1920, at the age of just 31 years old.

Charles Henry V Barden was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter and St Paul’s in his home village.

Angelina found happiness again after her husband’s death. She married again, to Alfred Hughes, in the spring of 1923.

Charles’ older brother George also fought in the First World War. He enlisted in the 1st Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment, and was killed in the fighting at Ypres. He was 36 years old when he died, and is commemorated on the Menin Gate.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, story, war

Private Arthur May

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Private Arthur May

The life of Arthur May is a difficult one to uncover. Born in Aylesford, Kent, in the summer of 1879, he was baptised on 10th August, and only his mother’s name – Eliza May – recorded.

There is a record of an Arthur May from Aylesford in the 1881 census, but that gives his mother’s name as Ann (and the father’s as labourer William May). Twenty years later, the same Arthur may is listed as boarding with his sister and brother-in-law’s family in Halling, Kent, where he was working as a labourer in the local cement works. Again, however, it is impossible to confirm that this Arthur May is the one being sought.

Further records identify Arthur’s wife as a woman called Annie, although no marriage records remain to confirm a union.

Details of Private May’s war service is pretty limited, but he seems to have enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment in February 1917. He subsequently transferred to the 167th Coy Labour Corps and was sent to France, but returned to Britain a month later, having fallen ill. His condition turned out to be tuberculosis and he was medically discharged from the army in August 1917.

Private May’s medical report adds some tantalising detail to his military service. He is recorded as being 39 years and one month old, 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, with a pale complexion, blue eye and light brown hair. He had a tattoo on his left forearm and was working as a labourer, while living in Ditton, near Maidstone, in Kent.

The report also suggests that Arthur had initially enlisted in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in November 1915. It notes that he was frequently disabled with shortness of breath and a cough during his fourteen months with the navy.

Arthur returned home after his discharge. While his trail goes cold, it is likely that his lung condition continued to dog his civilian life. On 6th July 1919, he passed away and, although no cause is freely recorded, as there is a lack of comment in contemporary local newspapers, illness would be a possible cause. He was 40 years of age.

Arthur May was laid to rest in the graveyard of his local church, St Peter’s & St Paul’s in Aylesford, Kent.

Channel Islands, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Jersey, Kent, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire Regiment

Private John Poignand

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Private John Poignand

John Francis Poignand was born in St Brelade, Jersey in 1885. The oldest of four children, his parents were farmers Jean and Louisa Poignand. John followed his parents into farming and moved to nearby St Lawrence.

It was here that he met and married farmer’s daughter Lydia Helleur. The couple set up home in St Lawrence, and went on to have two children, John and Clarence.

War was closing in on Jersey’s shores and, when the call came, it seems that John was keen to play his part. Sadly, full details of his military service have been lost to time, but what remains confirms that he had enlisted in the Wiltshire Regiment by the spring of 1918.

Private Poignand was assigned to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, a territorial force that remained on the British mainland. He was to be based in Kent, his troop forming part of the Thames and Medway Garrison.

The only other records of John’s service are that of his passing: he had been admitted to the Preston Hall Military Hospital, suffering from a combination of influenza and pneumonia, and these are what were to take his life. Private Poignand died on 26th November 1918, at the age of 33 years old.

John Francis Poignand was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter and St Paul’s Church in Aylesford, not far from where he had died.

Lydia went on to marry a man called Robinson. Her trail goes cold, but her and John’s younger son, Clarence, does appear in later records.

Flight Sergeant Poignand served with the Royal Air Force in the Second World War, and was based at Seletar in Singapore. He was taken as a Prisoner of War by the Japanese on 11th March 1942, but there is no other record for him. His PoW record confirms that he was married and living in Romford, Essex, at the time of his capture.