Category Archives: accident

accident, Canada, Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, India, killed in action, Lieutenant, Norfolk, photography, Private, Royal Air Force, Somerset, story, war, West Yorkshire Regoment

Lieutenant Herbert Marshall

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Lieutenant Herbert Marshall

Herbert William Hare Marshall was born in Ambala, India, on 19th August 1890. His father – Herbert Seymour Marshall – was a Colonel in the army, and was serving in India with his wife, Charlotte, when their children – Charlotte (known as Jessie) and Herbert Jr – were born.

The family were back in England by 1898, and had set up home in the Somerset seaside town of Weston-super-Mare. When Herbert Sr passed away that year, Charlotte was set up on a widow’s pension, and this allowed her to send her son to St Peter’s, a private boarding school in the town.

When her son’s schooling was complete, Charlotte took the family off to Canada. They settled in British Colombia, in Revelstoke, a mountain town halfway between Calgary and Vancouver. Here, Herbert found work as a bank clerk, but war came to Europe, and he felt a need to do his bit for King and Country.

Herbert enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in November 1914; his service papers record him as being 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, 148lbs (67kg) in weight. He had black eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion – something that he may well have inherited through his mother’s genes.

Shipped to England, by August 1915, Private Marshall had been discharged from the CEF as part of a transfer to the New Army – also known as Kitchener’s Army, the volunteer British Army raised as a direct result of the outbreak of war.

Detailed information about Herbert’s military service is lacking, although it seems that he joined the 17th Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment, one of the regiments heavily involved during the Battle of the Somme.

By October 1916, however, the now Lieutenant Marshall had made another move, this time joining the Royal Flying Corps. On the afternoon of 26th August 1917, he was an observer on a flight at Marham, in Norfolk. The pilot, a Lieutenant Challington, was banking the aircraft, when it dived and crashed, killing both men. Lieutenant Marshall had turned 27 years old the week before.

Herbert William Hare Marshall’s body was brought back to his adopted home of Weston-super-Mare. He lies at rest alongside his father in the town’s Milton Road Cemetery.

accident, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, injury, photography, Royal Navy, Somerset, story, war

Boy Clifford Day

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Boy Clifford Day

Clifford Day was born on 27th November 1897 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. He was one of eleven children to John and Sophia Day. John initially worked as a general labourer for a stonemason, but by the time of the 1911 census, he had begun working for a gas company. The family, at this point, were living in a five-room house a short distance from the town centre.

Living in a large household, a dream of escape may have fermented in young Clifford’s mind. To see some of the world, he joined the Royal Navy on 3rd September 1913. Given he was only fifteen, he was too young to formally enlist, but he was given the rank of Boy, and set to work.

Clifford’s service papers confirmed that he stood at 4ft 11ins (1.48m) tall, had brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. It was also noted that he had a scar on his forehead.

Boy Day’s service began on HMS Impregnable, where he spent nine months learning the ropes. He moved on to HMS Gibraltar in May 1914, before transferring to HMS Vivid – the shore-based establishment in Devonport – at the outbreak of the First World War.

On 3rd October 1914, Clifford was assigned to the battlecruiser HMS Tiger. He was on board for only three weeks, when he was taken back to HMS Vivid, and sent to the Naval Hospital there. He was admitted with a fractured skull, sadly passing the next day – the 26th October 1914 – at the age of just 16 years old. I’ve been unable to locate any further information about his injury, other than that an inquest found that it was accidental death.

Clifford Day was brought back to Weston-super-Mare for burial. He was laid to rest in the Milton Road Cemetery in the town.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, Kent, Lancashire, Leading Stoker, photography, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, war

Leading Stoker Joseph Craven

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Leading Stoker Joseph Craven

Joseph Craven was born in Liverpool on 6th January 1870. There is little information available about his early life, but by the time of the 1891 census, he was boarding with a blacksmith and his family in Bootle, Lancashire. By this point he was working as a fireman – probably a stoker-type role, rather than for the fire service.

The following year, Joseph found an opportunity to broaden his horizons and, on 21st October 1892, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class. His papers show that, at the time of joining up, he was 5ft 4ins (1.62m) in height, had dark brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. No distinguishing marks were noted.

Joseph’s previous employment seemed to have stood him in good stead. After initial assessments at HMS Pembroke – the shore-based establishment at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent – he was quickly moved on to HMS Wildfire, based in Sheerness. His first sea posting was aboard the battlecruiser HMS Howe, and, within a couple of months, he had been promoted to Stoker 1st Class.

By the time Joseph’s initial twelve-year contract came to an end, he had served on board nine ships and travelled the world. When the time came, he voluntarily renewed his contract and continued his life at sea.

When back in port, he developed a private life. He met a young widow called Sarah Baker in Portsmouth, and the couple married in 1908. The census three years later found Joseph as the head of the household, living in a seven-room house with Sarah, her 13-year-old daughter, 80-year-old widowed mother and two boarders.

Stoker Craven’s naval service was, by this point, continuing apace. By the time hostilities were declared in August 1914, he had served on twelve further ships, and been promoted again, this time to the role of Leading Stoker. In between his voyages, he was based primarily at HMS Victory, Portsmouth Dockyard’s shore-base.

By the end of the following year, Joseph was almost entirely shore-based, moving from HMS Victory in Portsmouth to HMS Pembroke in Chatham and HMS Attentive in Dover. On 26th November 1916, he was serving in Chatham. A local newspaper picks up on what happened to him next:

Joseph Craven… belonging to Portsmouth, met his death under shocking circumstances at Chatham Dockyard on Sunday. When walking by the side of his ship, which was in dry dock, he tripped over some hose and fell headlong into the dock, turning two or three somersaults in his descent, and falling upon his head at the bottom, 80ft [24.3m] below. He was killed instantly.

Kent Messenger and Gravesend Telegraph: 2nd December 1916

An inquest on the 46-year-old’s death was held, and a result of accidental death was returned.

Joseph Craven was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, walking distance from the dockyard in which he lost his life.

accident, Bombardier, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Ireland, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, war

Bombardier Daniel Mcauley

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Bombardier Daniel McAuley

Daniel Mcauley was born in Belfast in around 1883, one of six children to John and Margaret Mcauley. John was a farmer, and when Daniel – who was named after his uncle – left school, he found labouring work to help the family bring in an income.

In January 1909, Daniel married Annie Fittis, the daughter of a linen tenter (stretching cloth on a loom while it was drying and maintaining the machines). The couple had had a son, John, eighteen months before, and would have another child, Sarah, later that year.

The 1911 census for Northern Ireland found the young family living with Annie’s mother and two sisters in Dayton Street, near the middle of Belfast. Annie and her sisters were working as flax spinners, while Daniel was a labourer. Tellingly, the document lists inhabitants’ religion – Daniel is the sole Roman Catholic amongst a family of Presbyterians.

War was coming to Europe, and Daniel was called on to do his bit. Sadly, full details of his military service are not available, but what is clear is that he enlisted as a Bombardier in the Royal Field Artillery towards the end of 1914. He was shipped to England, and barracked in Somerset, near Frome.

Sadly, the next evidence of Daniel’s life comes in a wealth of newspaper articles that report on the accident that led to his death.

One soldier was killed and another seriously injured as the result of a horse attached to a Royal Field Artillery wagon bolting at Frome Saturday morning. The wagon was on its way to the stables when the horse got out of control and ran along Christ Church Street West.

One man, who was riding in the wagon, in jumping clear was seriously cut about the head and body, and was taken to the hospital. The other, Bombardier Daniel MacAulay, belonging to Glasgow [sic], remained in the wagon trying to pull up the horses, but the vehicle swerved across the road and he was thrown out, his head coming into contact with a street lamp.

He was taken to the hospital on the police ambulance, but died before admission. He was a married man, about 34 years of age, and was to have gone on leave Saturday in order to visit his sick child. In the morning he received a letter from his wife saying that the child had been seriously ill and had gone blind.

Mr Douglas Mackay, deputy coroner, held an inquest at Frome on Tuesday on the body of the deceased. The verdict was “Accidental death.”

Shepton Mallet Journal: Friday 19th March 1915

Other newspapers reported similarly, a couple stating that Daniel was father to three children. There is no evidence that this was the case and, given that all of the reports state that he came from Scotland, when he was Irish, it is likely that this too was an error. Each newspaper give variations of the spelling of his surname too, evidence that spelling was often at the mercy of the person documenting it, even in the media.

Daniel was buried in Somerset and Annie travelled to England to attend the funeral. Again, newspaper reports suggest that Daniel’s brothers also attended, although he had only one male sibling.

Bombardier Daniel Mcauley died on 13th March 1915, aged around 33 years old. He was laid to rest in the Vallis Road Burial Ground in Frome, also known as the Dissenters’ Cemetery (for those who did not follow the English Protestant faiths.

McAuley (McCauley), Daniel, Bombardier, Royal Field Artillery, 7 Wall Street Belfast, Died, March 1915
accident, Cambridgeshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Kings Royal Rifle Corps, Lieutenant, London, Machine Gun Corps, photography, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, story, Surrey, Wales, war

Lieutenant Basil Scott-Holmes

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Lieutenant Basil Scott-Holmes

Basil Scott-Holmes was born on 2nd February 1884 in the Somerset village of Wookey. The oldest of two children, his father was Liverpool-born Thomas Scott-Holmes and his wife, Katherine. When Basil was born, Thomas was the vicar of St Matthew’s Church, Wookey, but by 1901, he had risen to the role of clergyman – and subsequently Chancellor – at Wells Cathedral.

Basil’s pedigree stood him in good stead. Initially educated in Llandaff, South Wales, he subsequently attended Sherborne School in Dorset. Sent up to Cambridge, he studied history at Sidney Sussex College.

After leaving university, Basil spent time in Europe learning German and French. He was then assigned the role of Assistant Commissioner in North Nigeria but, after a year there he was invalided home taking up a teaching role at the Bristol Grammar School in 1912.

In July 1913, Basil married Barbara Willey, a surgeon’s daughter from Reigate, Surrey. The marriage record shows that Basil was registrar for an architectural association by this point; the couple went on to have two children, daughters Annette and Prudence.

When the war broke out, he was obviously keen to do his bit. In September 1914 he enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps, before gaining a commission in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps a couple of months later. In the spring of 1916, Lieutenant Scott-Holmes had been seconded to the Machine Gun Corps, although it is unclear whether he served abroad during any of his time in the army.

On the evening of 24th October 1916, Lieutenant Scott-Holmes was riding in a motorcycle sidecar through central London, on the way back to camp. A local newspaper picked up the story:

…they stopped when going through Wandsworth to re-light the near light, and in the dark a motor omnibus ran into them, and Lieutenant [Scott-Holmes], who was strapped in the side-car, was, with the car, flung across the road. He died as he was being taken to Wandsworth Hospital. At the subsequent inquest, a verdict of “accidental death” was returned.

Central Somerset Gazette: Friday 3rd November 1916

Basil Scott-Holmes was just 32 years old. His body was brought back to Somerset; he was laid to rest in the cemetery at Wells Cathedral.

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Basil Scott-Holmes
(from ancestry.co.uk)
accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Ireland, Kent, London, Officer's Steward, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Officer’s Steward Gerald Connolly

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Officer’s Steward Gerald Connolly

Gerald Sidney Connolly was born in the spring of 1899, one of eleven children to Thomas and Mary Connolly. Thomas was a retired soldier who had been born in Malta, while Mary had come from Portsmouth. The couple had lived in India for a while, but, by the time Gerald was born, had settled in Kildare, Ireland.

Retirement from the armed forces left Thomas needing to financially support his family, and so they made the move to London in 1910. According to the following year’s census, the family had settled in Manor Park, to the east of the city, where Thomas was working as a storekeeper for a local hostelry.

Military service was obviously in young Gerald’s blood and, in April 1916, he gave up work as an errand boy for a life in the Royal Navy. Initially taken on as a servant boy at HMS Pembroke and HMS President – the shore-based establishments in Chatham, Kent – he subsequently served on HMS Shannon, a cruiser that patrolled the North Sea for German warships.

It was while he was aboard the Shannon that Gerald came of age, and was given the rank of Officer’s Steward (3rd Class). During the next few years, he served short periods on five further vessels, before returning to HMS Pembroke in December 1918.

Officer’s Steward Connolly was still serving in Chatham two months later, and he kept himself active. It was while he was making use of the barracks’ swimming baths that an accident befell him. His service record confirmed that he was found drowned in the baths on 26th February 1919 and a subsequent inquest identified that no foul play was to blame. Gerald had ‘accidentally drowned whilst bathing’. He was just 19 years of age.

Gerald Sidney Connolly’s body was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, not far from the Naval Dockyard where he was based.

accident, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Commonwealth War Graves, East Kent Regiment, Great War, history, Kent, Lieutenant, photography, Royal Air Force, story, war, Yorkshire

Lieutenant John Scrace

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Lieutenant John Scrace

John Scrace was born on 31st July 1892 in Chatham, Kent, the oldest of five children to John and Adelaide Scrace. John Sr was a relieving officer for the Medway Board of Guardians, a role which involved “taking charge of poor or insane persons not otherwise cared for” [census1891.com]. Adelaide worked in a similar role, as an infant protection visitor.

It is fair to say, therefore, that John Jr had a very supportive childhood. He attended King’s School in Rochester, where he obtained a scholarship to Peterhouse College, Cambridge.

When war broke out, John was keen to do his part. Initially joining The Buffs (the East Kent Regiment), he transferred across to the newly-formed Royal Air Force in June 1918. By this point he had risen to the rank of Lieutenant, and, as part of his new RAF role, was based at Driffield in Yorkshire.

On 24th August 1918, the aircraft John was flying at the base, spun into the ground, and John was killed instantly. A subsequent inquest identified that “the cause of the accident was due to the fact that, for reasons unknown, part of the top of the left-hand plane of the machine crumpled up in the air and thereby [caused] the pilot to lose control of his machine.” [rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk] Lieutenant Scrace was just 26 years of age.

John Scrace was buried in Christ Church Churchyard in Luton, Kent; he is commemorated in Woodlands Cemetery in nearby Gillingham.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Hampshire, history, injury, Kent, photography, Royal Navy, Ship's Steward, story, Victualling Assistant, war

Leading Victualling Assistant George Crossley

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Leading Victualling Assistant George Crossley

George Crossley was born on 30th December 1861 in the Stonehouse area of Plymouth, Devon. The oldest of five children, his parents were John and Charlotte. John died when George was only ten years old, leaving his widow to raise the family alone.

Left as the technical head of the family, George sought a reliable career and, in August 1877, aged just 15 years old he joined the merchant navy. After two years at the rank of Boy, he formally joined the crew, working as a Ship’s Steward’s Assistant.

Over the initial ten years of his service, George served on four ships, primarily the Royal Adelaide. In 1889, having seen the world, he signed up for a further decade. This new period of service saw him move up to Ship’s Steward, before working back in the assistant role.

In December 1899, George’s twenty years’ service came to an end. Charlotte, by this time, was in her mid-60s, and perhaps he felt it better to spend time ashore with her, rather than leaving her alone.

His experience did not count for nothing, however, and he found employment as a labourer in the Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent. And so another fourteen years passed, before war rose its ugly head.

George was called back into service at the start of the conflict, and resumed his role as a Ship’s Steward’s Assistant. Over the next few years, he served on a couple of ships, but the majority of his time was spent at the shore establishments in Portsmouth, Dover and Chatham. In 1917, George gained the rank of Leading Victualling Assistant, giving him some of the responsibility for the food stores at Chatham Dockyard.

Towards the end of 1918, George seems to have been in the east of the county, when he fractured and dislocated his left ankle. Little specific information is available, but it seems that he was admitted to the Royal Infirmary in Deal, but died of his wounds on 20th December. He was ten days short of his 57th birthday. An inquest later that month reached a verdict of accidental death.

Brought back to Gillingham, George Crossley was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in the town.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Lancashire, London, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, story, Surrey, Sussex, war

Private Arthur Westby

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Private Arthur Westby

Arthur William George Westby was born in the spring of 1895, the only child to Arthur Henry Westby and his wife, Emma. Arthur Sr was a Corporal in the Scots Guards, but, beyond the fact that his son was born in Clapham, South London, there is little further information about Arthur Jr’s early life.

His father’s military career must have taken him across the country – the 1901 census lists Emma and Arthur Jr living in Bolton, Lancashire, even though there seem to be no connections with the county for them.

The records for Arthur Jr go quiet until 1920. At this point, documents hint at his military service during the Great War.

The death notices in the Sussex newspapers confirm his passing:

On November 19th 1920, at The Cedars, 13 Browning Road, Worthing, Arthur WG Westby (late MT, RASC), beloved husband of Ethel Westby, and only son of Ex-RQM Sergeant and Mrs Westby, 34 Wenban Road, Worthing. Patiently suffered to the end, result of Active Service.

Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 24th November 1920

There is no further information available about Ethel, and no marriage records to confirm a date for their wedding.

From a military perspective, Arthur enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps, and was attached to the Motor Transport division. Again, there is nothing to evidence when he enlisted or for how long he served. It seems that Private Westby was injured in the line of duty, and was medically discharged in April 1918. The injury appears to have been life-changing, and it affected him until the end of his life.

Arthur William George Westby passed away in Worthing on 19th November 1920, aged just 25 years old. The specific cause of his death is unknown. He was laid to rest in the Broadwater Cemetery in the town, close to his parents and widow.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Dorsetshire Regiment, Essex, Great War, history, Lieutenant, photography, Royal Air Force, Somerset, story, war

Lieutenant William Cole

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Shaftesbury

William Thomas Cole was born in the spring of 1897, the youngest of three children to John and Caroline Cole. John was a bank cashier from Gillingham in Dorset, while Caroline was born in Battersea, London. By the time of William’s birth, however, the young family had settled in the Dorset town of Blandford.

John was a man with ambitions for himself and his family. The 1911 census records him and Caroline living in Axbridge in Somerset, where he was now a bank manager. William, meanwhile, was a student in Wareham, Dorset, and was lodging at a boarding house in the town.

There is little documented about William’s military service. His gravestone confirms that he had originally enlisted in the Dorsetshire Regiment, but had subsequently joined the Royal Air Force, when it was formed in April 1918. By the time of his death, he had reached the rank of Lieutenant, so it would seem that his John’s ambitious nature had rubbed off on his only son.

William’s death was reported in a number of contemporary newspapers:

Lieutenant WT Cole and First Air Mechanic H Keates were killed while flying in South Essex last night. They were both in the same machine, which nose-dived and crashed into the ground. Cole’s home is at Shaftesbury, Dorset, and Keates’ at West Wood Grove, Leek, Staffordshire.

Dundee Evening Telegraph: Thursday 24th October 1918

Lieutenant Cole was flying in Hornchurch, Essex, and was in an Avro 504K bi-plane. He was just 21 years old when he died on 23rd October 1918. There is little further information about the accident, but highlighting the real danger in aviation at the time, this was one of eight fatal plane crashes across the UK that day alone.

The body of William Thomas Cole was brought back to Shaftesbury, where his parents were by then living. He was laid to rest in the Holy Trinity Churchyard in the town.