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Second Lieutenant Ernest Hargrave

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Lieutenant Ernest Hargrave

Ernest Lawton Hargrave was born in the spring of 1899 in Clapham, Surrey. One of three children, his parents were Ernest and Ada Hargrave. Ernest Sr was a letterpress machine mender from Leeds, Yorkshire, but when he died in 1910, Ada was left to raise her children alone.

The 1911 census found Ada working as a boarding house keeper. The property she ran – a seven-roomed property at 65 Elspeth Road, Battersea, Surrey – was home to her and her two surviving children. Alongside them lived five boarders – Walter Bland (of no employment), William Gray (a clerk at the Scottish Office), Norman Pierce (an engineer’s draughtsman), William Henderson (a temporarily unemployed government clerk) and Maria Baugh (living on her own means). Edgar Gray – possibly William Gray’s father – was also visiting at the time the census was taken.

When war broke out, Ernest was 15 years of age. Too young to enlist straight away, his Medal Roll Index Card notes that he took a commission as a Second Lieutenant. Initially added to the General List, he was soon assigned to the Royal Flying Corps and sent to 79 Squadron in Hampshire.

Training to be a pilot, Second Lieutenant Hargrave practiced in an Avro 504J biplane. By 22nd September 1917, he had completed six solo flights, totalling 16 hours. That day he was under instruction, when the accident that was to take his life occurred. A later report reached the verdict that an error of judgement on Ernest’s part caused the aircraft to crash:

[He was] climbing too steeply with an insufficient bank, thus stalling the wash. As the wash was only 175ft from the ground he failed to recover and struck the ground practically nose-on. Passenger met his death through being jammed between the engine and petrol tank.

Ernest Lawton Hargrave was just 18 years of age when he was killed. His body was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Paul’s Church, East Boldre, not far from the airfield he had so briefly called home.

While the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records give Ernest’s rank as Lieutenant, other documents suggest he held the rank of Second Lieutenant when he died.

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

Second Lieutenant Joseph Wood

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Second Lieutenant Joseph Wood

Joseph Clark Wood was born in Horning Mills, Ontario, Canada, on 26th October 1897. The second of six children, his parents were farmers Richard and Bella Wood.

Details of Joseph’s early life are sketchy, and the information that is available contradictory.

By the end of 1917, however, Joseph had stepped up to serve his King and Empire, and had joined the Royal Flying Corps. His service papers no longer exist, so it is not clear how and when he joined, or came over to Britain. As the new year took over the old, Second Lieutenant Wood was attached to the No. 1 Training Squadron, and based in East Boldre, Hampshire.

A newspaper report outlined what became of him:

The Hampshire County Coroner… held an inquest on Monday into the circumstances attending the death of Second-Lieutenant Joseph Clark Wood… which occurred as the result of a flying accident on the previous day.

Lieut. Alexander Gibson Gilroy, RFC, who gave evidence of identification, said that the deceased was a pilot under advanced instruction, quite capable of flying alone.

AM Cecil Bryant spoke to testing the machine just before deceased flew and finding everything in order, Rigger Mechanic Henry Williams, giving similar evidence.

Second-Lieutenant Oswald George Brittorous RFC, told how he was just getting out of another machine when he heard a crash in the air, and looking up saw a machine without wings, the latter having evidently folded back. It hung for a few seconds and then went into a spinning nose-dive. The machine seemed between 1,500 and 2,000 feet up , and it crashed to hearth half a mile away from where witness was. Witness went to the scene after deceased had been removed, and found the machine practically matchwood. The crash he heard in the air was caused by the wings folding back and breaking. There was no collision.

Capt. William Ramsay Nasmyth, RAMC, spoke to the removal of the body. Death was instantaneous and was caused by severe injuries to the head.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

[Hampshire Advertiser: Saturday 19th January 1918]

Second Lieutenant Joseph Clark Wood was just 20 years of age when he died on 13th January 1918. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Paul’s Church in East Boldre, Hampshire, not far from the airfield at which he had been based.

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

Second Lieutenant Richard Wood

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Second Lieutenant Richard Wood

Richard Shaw Wood was born in London, Ontario, Canada, in 1891. The middle of three children his parents were Bermudan Benjamin Wood and his Canadian wife, Mary. Benjamin was a farmer, but his son would seek out bigger and better things for himself.

On 12th November 1913, he married Alice Duggan. There is little specific information about her early life, but she had been born and raised in Toronto. They wend to to have a son, Richard Jr, the following year.

With war raging across Europe, Richard felt compelled to play his part. He gave up his job as a car salesman and, on 30th July 1917, he enlisted in the Canadian Royal Flying Corps. As an Air Mechanic 3rd Class, he was soon sent to Britain, but took a commission in the Royal Flying Corps in December of that year.

The now Second Lieutenant Wood was attached to No. 1 Training Squadron and was based in East Boldre, Hampshire. On 17th March 1918, after just a few months in the unit, he was flying a Sopwith Camel from the Hampshire airfield, when disaster struck. His aircraft nosedived and crashed to the ground. A subsequent inquest concluded that: ‘the smash was caused by the Pilot losing control of the machine… 2nd Lt R Shaw Wood was a steady [skilful] and reliable pilot. He had performed the manoeuvre… on previous occasions. The Court are of opinion that the Pilot [must have] fainted thus losing control.’

Richard Shaw Wood was 27 years of age when he died on 17th March 1918. He was laid to rest in the tranquil graveyard of St Paul’s Church, East Boldre, not far from the airfield that hat become his home.

Second Lieutenant Richard Wood
(from findagrave.com)
accident, Air Mechanic, Canada, Commonwealth War Graves, Essex, Flintshire, Great War, Hampshire, history, photography, Royal Air Force, Second Lieutenant, story, United States of America, Wales, war, Yorkshire

Second Lieutenant Arthur Taylor

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Second Lieutenant Arthur Taylor

Arthur Rowland Taylor was born on 21st March 1896 in Ilford, Essex. He was the third of five children – all of them boys – to land agent Robert Taylor and his wife, Edith. Robert’s work took the family around the country: the 1901 census found them living in Connah Quay, Flintshire, and this is where Arthur’s two younger brothers were born.

By 1911, the family had moved again, to the 15-roomed Bagle Gate House in Bridlington, Yorkshire. Robert and Edith were living with their three youngest children – including Arthur – and two servants: cook Sarah Leatham and housemaid Lucy Patchett.

At some point after leaving school, Arthur was also drawn to a new adventure. By the time war broke out, he had moved to America and settled in Denver, Colorado.

In June 1917, with war raging across Europe, Arthur had stepped up to play his part. He crossed the border to Toronto, Canada, and enlisted in as an Air Mechanic 3rd Class in the Canadian Royal Flying Corps. Sent to Britain, just three months later, he accepted a commission, taking the rank of Second Lieutenant in the British Royal Flying Corps.

Arthur was based in East Boldre, Hampshire, and was attached to the 79th Training Squadron. On 19th January 1918, he had taken off in his Sopwith 5F1 Dolphin, when the engine stalled. He did not have enough height to try and restart the engine, and the aircraft crashed to the ground, bursting into flames on impact. Second Lieutenant Taylor was killed: he was 21 years of age.

The body of Arthur Rowland Taylor was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Paul’s Church in East Boldre, not far from the base at which he had served.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Driver, Great War, Hampshire, history, injury, photography, Royal Field Artillery, story, Surrey, war, Wiltshire

Driver Frederick Collier

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Driver Frederick Collier

Frederick William Collier was born in the autumn of 1891. The oldest of four children, his parents were weavers Frederick and Annie Collier. Annie died in 1899, and her widow re-married. The 1911 census found the extended family – Frederick Sr, new wife Rose, Frederick Jr, two of his siblings and his three half-siblings – living at 30 New Prospect Buildings, Westbury, Wiltshire, their home town.

When Frederick Jr completed his schooling, he found work as a grocer’s labourer. War broke out in 1914, however, and he felt drawn to play his part. Full details of his military service have been lost to time, but it is clear that he had enlisted early in the conflict, and certainly by the start of 1915.

Driver Collier was assigned to the Royal Field Artillery, and was attached to the 59th Brigade Ammunition Column. He was sent to Surrey for training, unbeknownst to his unit, in preparation for the Gallipoli campaign. Frederick, however, was not to get his chance to be involved.

Frederick William Collier… died on Wednesday last week from injuries received while attempting to stop horses which were stampeding in his camp, the Ammunition Column, 59th Brigade, at Milford (Surrey)… Collier… was well known in Westbury, and was popular amongst his comrades, and the greatest sympathy is extended to his parents in their bereavement. The young fellow died the same day the accident happened in the hospital at Aldershot.

[Wiltshire News: Friday 2nd July 1915]

Driver Frederick William Collier succumbed to his injuries on 23rd June 1915. He was 23 years of age. His body was taken back to Wiltshire for burial, and he was laid to rest in Westbury Cemetery, not far from where his grieving parents still lived.

Able Seaman, accident, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, story, war, Yorkshire

Able Seaman Albert Dobson

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Able Seaman Albert Dobson

Albert Dobson was born in Bridlington, Yorkshire, on 7th April 1896. One of seven children, his parents were John and Annie Dobson. John was a bricklayer, and, when he completed his schooling, Albert was apprenticed to him. The 1911 census found the family living in a small terraced house at 55 St John’s Walk, on the outskirts of the town.

Bricklaying was not what Albert wanted from a career and, on 19th July 1913, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. Below the age to formally enlist, he was taken on with the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and sent to HMS Vivid – the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport, Devon, for his training.

Over the next nine months, Albert learnt the tools of his trade. Promoted to Boy 1st Class in October 1913, he spent time on board the battleship HMS Irresistible, before moving to HMS Pembroke, Chatham Dockyard in Kent. While he was there, he came of age, and was fully inducted into the Royal Navy as an Ordinary Seaman. Albert’s service papers show the man he had become: he was 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.

In April 1914, Ordinary Seaman Dobson was assigned to the new cruiser HMS Lowestoft. She would become his home for the next two years, and, while his annual reviews were average (character varying from good to very good and ability from moderate to satisfactory), he did gain a promotion to Able Seaman on 26th April 1915.

A singular fatality to a naval seaman names Albert Dobson, age 30 [sic], a native of Bridlington, was investigated at the Royal Naval Hospital, Chatham, on Monday. On October 20th, Dobson was one of a working party engaged on a battleship in the Dockyard, when, owing to the breaking of a plank, he and three men fell a distance of about eight feet. The knee of one of the men caught him in the stomach, with the result that he sustained a rupture of the spleen. In hospital he developed pneumonia, and died. A verdict of “Accidental Death” was returned.

[Kent Messenger & Gravesend Telegraph: Saturday 2nd December 1916]

Able Seaman Dobson’s service papers confirm that the incident occurred as the men were transferring a torpedo from HMS Illustrious. He was just 20 years of age when he died on 23rd November 1916.

The body of Albert Dobson was taken to Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, close to the dockyard he had come to know as home. He was laid to rest in the graveyard’s naval section.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, Lincolnshire, London, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, story, Suffolk, Trimmer, war

Trimmer John Major

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Trimmer John Major

John Edward Major was born on 1st April 1881 in Gorleston, Suffolk. One of seven children, his parents were William and Elizabeth Major. William was a fisherman and the family lived on the town’s High Street.

Things changed for the Major family, however, and the 1891 census found them living in Barking, Essex. William was now employed as a general labourer, and the family had set up home at 16 Rosa Terrace.

John was drawn to his coastal past and, according to the next census, he was a ship’s mate on the fishing boat Cygnet. Based out of London, the return was taken in Lowestoft, so it is safe to assume that she plied the Essex and Suffolk coasts.

Love was blossoming for John at this point and, on 9th September 1906, he married Ann Davy. She was a coal porter’s daughter from Barking, and the couple married in the town’s St Margaret’s Church. They would go on to set up home in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, and have five children: Blanche, Amelia, Annie, Elizabeth and John Jr.

Over the next few years John’s trail goes cold. When war broke out, he was called upon to play his part, and joined the Royal Naval Reserve as a Trimmer. By the summer of 1917 he was attached to the SS Gransha, based out of the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent.

The next record for Trimmer Major relates to his passing. His pension ledger notes that, on 11th September 1917, he fell overboard from Gransha and was drowned. Sadly, there is no other information available about the incident, but John was 37 years of age.

The body of John Edward Major was laid to rest in the naval section of Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent, not far form the naval base that he had come to call home.

Tragically, John’s entry on the Pension Ledger confirms that his and Ann’s youngest child – John Jr – died on Christmas Eve 1917, three months after his father.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Dorset, Great War, history, photography, Royal Air Force, Royal Fusiliers, Second Lieutenant, story, war, Wiltshire

Second Lieutenant Jocelyn Cowell

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Second Lieutenant Jocelyn Cowell

Jocelyn Gore Cowell was born on 18th March 1899 in Exmouth, Devon. The older of two children, he was the only son to Edward and Eliza Cowell. Edward was a Captain in the Royal Fusiliers, and had served in India, where Eliza – who went by her middle name, Nita – had been born.

By the time of the 1911 census, Edward and Nita had moved to Milton on Stour, Dorset, where they were living in a ten-roomed house with a butler, a housemaid and a cook. Jocelyn, meanwhile, was one of fifty students boarding at a private school in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent.

When war broke out, Jocelyn was still a student. However, on 12th September 1917, he took a commission in his father’s former regiment. While he was studying, a new technology had caught his eye, and learnt to fly, gaining his wings on 18th October 1916. When he enlisted, he immediately followed his heart, and transferred to the Royal Flying Corps.

Attached to No. 3 Training Depot Station, Second Lieutenant Cowell was based at Lopcombe Corner Airfield, to the west of Salisbury, Wiltshire. On 28th January 1918, he was flying a de Havilland DH5 biplane form the airfield, when it crashed. The cause of the accident was unknown, an inquest unable to draw any specific opinions from the wreckage or crash site. Jocelyn was killed instantly: he was just eighteen years of age.

The body of Jocelyn Gore Cowell was taken back to Dorset for burial. He was laid to rest in what would become the family plot in the peaceful graveyard of Ss. Simon and Jude Church in Milton on Stour.

Second Lieutenant Jocelyn Cowell
Second Lieutenant Jocelyn Cowell
(from findagrave.com)
accident, Canada, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, photography, Royal Air Force, Second Lieutenant, story, United States of America, war

Second Lieutenant John Thomas

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Second Lieutenant John Thomas

John Dobson Thomas was born in Leechburg, Pennsylvania, on 26th August 1889. He was the youngest of nine children to John and Isabella Thomas. John Sr was a steel inspector from Glamorganshire, while Isabella had been born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne: they emigrated to the United States in 1881, and John Jr was the second of their children to be born there.

When John Jr left school, he found work as a clerk, eventually getting into bonds and stocks. His father died in 1910, by which time the family had moved to Chicago, Illinois.

When war broke out, John stepped up to play his part. He enlisted on 6th January 1917, his service records showing that he was of medium height and build, with brown hair and brown eyes.

The American Army may not have met John’s needs as, just six months later, he enlisted again, this time joining the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Toronto. Along with his banking role, he was recorded as being an aviator cadet, his papers shoring that, at 23 years and 10 months old, he was 5ft 6ins (1.77m) tall.

Air Mechanic 3rd Class Thomas was shipped to Britain, and stationed near East Boldre, Hampshire. In October 1917, he took a commission in the Royal Flying Corps, with the rank of Second Lieutenant.

On 20th March 1918, John was flying his Sopwith Dolphin biplane, when he hit trouble. Practicing a dive, he appeared to have been unable to pull the aircraft up again and crashed into the ground. He was killed instantly.

The RAF Casualty Card cited a potential error of judgement on the part of Second Lieutenant Thomas: “[he] had proved himself a skilful pilot and well capable of handling his machine. He had previously practised many dives, but had, in his stunting, reduced his margin of safety to a minimum.”

John Dobson Thomas was 28 years of age when he died. Being thousands of miles from his family, he was laid to rest in the quiet setting of St Mary’s Churchyard, East Boldre, not far from the airfield at which he had been based.

accident, Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, King's (Liverpool Regiment), Lieutenant, Major, photography, Royal Air Force, Second Lieutenant, story, war, Yorkshire

Major John Kinnear

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Major John Kinnear

John Lawson Kinnear was born on 9th February 1890 in the Yorkshire village of Copgrove. The youngest of six children, his parents were Henry and Frances Kinnear. Henry was the vicar of St Bartholomew’s Church, and, at the time of the 1891 census, the family lived in the rectory with four servants: a governess, a cook, a housemaid and a nurse.

When he completed his schooling, John was drawn to a career in the military. His full service papers have been lost, but it is clear that he joined the King’s (Liverpool Regiment) with a commission. He held the rank of Second Lieutenant when he joined the battalion in October 1910, rose to Lieutenant in March 1913, and transferred to the Royal Flying Corps not long after the First World War broke out. By June 1915, he had been made a Captain.

By the time of the Royal Air Force’s foundation in April 1918, John had risen to the rank of Major. He had also been awarded both the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order. Attached to the 1st Training Squadron, he was based at East Boldre, Hampshire.

On 28th April 1918, Major Kinnear was piloting his Sopwith Camel, when it stalled at a height of 200ft and fell to the ground. John was killed instantly. The RAF Casualty Card noted: “The court having carefully considered the evidence, viewed the scene of the accident and examined the wreckage are of the opinion that the smash was caused by an error of judgement on the part of the pilot.”

John Lawson Kinnear was 28 years of age when he died. His body was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Paul’s Church, East Boldre, not far from the airfield which he had called home.

Major John Kinnear
(from findagrave.com)