Category Archives: illness

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

Private Arthur Couchman

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Private Arthur Couchman

Arthur John Couchman was born in the spring of 1887, the oldest of seven children to John and Emma. John was a farm labourer from the parish of Wilmington, Kent, and this is where he and Emma raised their family.

When he completed his schooling, Arthur found work as a house boy, but soon turned his hand to gardening. When the opportunity was presented to him, however, and in the autumn of 1908, he emigrated to Australia, presumably to find work as a farmer.

Little about Arthur’s time overseas is detailed. He settled in Freemantle, to the south of Perth, and, early in 1916, he married Sarah McAlinden. She had left London for the Antipodes to work as a domestic four years previously. Their marriage seems to have been spurred on by Arthur’s imminent departure for the home country, as, on 19th June 1916, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force.

Working as a general labourer by this point, Arthur’s service records show that he was 5ft 3.5ins (1.61m) tall, and weighed 146lbs (66.2kg). He was found to have fair hair, grey eyes and a ruddy complexion. He also had tattoos on both of his forearms.

Private Couchman’s unit departed Freemantle on 9th November 1916, on a journey to Devonport, Devon, that would take two months. On his arrival, he was assigned to the 51st Battalion of the Australian Infantry, and dispatched to a camp near Codford in Wiltshire.

Tragically, Arthur’s army career was to follow a not uncommon path for those arriving in Britain from overseas. Within a matter of weeks he had been sent to the New Zealand Hospital in Codford, as he was suffering from bronchial pneumonia. On 15th February 1917, just four days after his admission he passed away from the condition. He was 29 years of age.

Thousands of miles from his Australian life, Arthur John Couchman was laid to rest in the new extension to St Mary’s Churchyard in Codford, not far from the camp in which he had been briefly based.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Harold Spackman

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Private Harold Spackman

Harold John Spackman was born on 24th May 1897 and was the youngest of two children to Frederick and Eliza Spackman. Frederick was a cowman from Wiltshire, and the family were raised on a farm in Manningford Bohune, near the village of Pewsey.

Harold was educated at Woodborough School, and found work as a nurseryman when he completed his schooling. When war broke out, he was quick to enlist, and joined the 10th (Service) Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment on 17th September 1914.

Private Spackman’s unit was sent to Somerset for training, and it was here, in cramped, busy barracks, that he contracted meningitis. He was admitted to the Red Cross Hospital in Bath, but succumbed to the condition on 12th March 1915. He was just 17 years of age.

Harold John Spackman was laid to rest in Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery. His was a joint funeral with another Private from his unit, Albert Matthews, who had died on the same day in the same hospital.

Private Harold Spackman
(from findagrave.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Albert Matthews

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Private Albert Matthews

In Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery, lies the body of Private Albert Edwin Matthews, of the Devonshire Regiment. There is little information available to fully piece together his life, but a range of records give tantalising glimpsed into the world that he inhabited.

The newspaper report of Private Matthew’s passing confirms that he died of pneumonia in the Red Cross Hospital, Lansdown Place, on 12th March 1915. His was a joint funeral with Private Harold Spackman, also of the Devonshire Regiment. He had enlisted at the start of the conflict, and had come from Plymouth, Devon. Frustratingly, the report does not give either of the soldiers’ ages.

Albert’s entry on the British Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects backs up a period of service of at least six months, and gives his unit as the 10th (Service) Battalion. It also provides his father’s name: Edwin Matthews.

Father and son do not seem to appear on any census records, and without a year of birth it is a challenge to track down any additional documentation.

There is a baptism record for an Albert Edwin Matthews, son of Edwin, from 28th September 1881, but this was in Sandown, on the Isle of Wight. While a connection is possible, there is no definitive link between the two men and Devon. (There is a 1911 census return for this Albert, but he is married with three children by this point and, as the military record gives Edwin Matthews as the sole beneficiary, it is unlikely that the two Alberts are one and the same.)

Albert’s life is destined to remain lost to time, therefore, one of the many mysteries in Locksbrook Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Royal Engineers, Sapper, Somerset, story, war

Sapper Walter Woodward

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Sapper Walter Woodward

Walter Sargeant Abbott Woodward was born in Bath, Somerset, in the summer of 1896. The oldest of four children, his parents were Henry and Louisa. Henry Woodward was a painter and decorator, but when Walter completed his schooling, he found work as a telegraph messenger for the Genera Post Office.

The 1911 census recorded the family – Walter, his parents and his three siblings – living in a 3-roomed apartment at 5 Beauford Square, close to the city centre. Within a year, Walter had been promoted within the GPO, and was given the role of Assistant Postman.

War came to Europe and Walter was called upon to play his part. On 10th December 1915 he enlisted in the army, and was assigned to the Royal Engineers as a Sapper. His records show that he was still employed by the GPO at this point, and was working as a Lineman, so it seems that his skills were appropriate for the regiment to which he was assigned.

Sapper Woodward’s service documents confirm that he was 5ft 10ins (1.78m) in height, and that he was not formally mobilised until April 1916. After a couple of months’ training, he was sent to France and he remained on the Western Front for just over a year.

On 3rd July 1917, Sapper Woodward was posted back to England. It seems that he was en route for the Signal Depot in Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire, when he became ill. Admitted to the Queen’s Canadian Hospital in Shornecliffe, Kent, he was suffering from gastritis. This would ultimately take his young life: he passed away on 12th August, aged just 21 years old.

The body of Walter Sargeant Abbott Woodward was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the city’s Locksbrook Cemetery.

Berkshire, Burma, Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Dorsetshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, India, photography, Private, Rifle Brigade, Royal Defence Corps, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Nicholas Paice

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Private Nicholas Paice

Nicholas John Paice was born in the spring of 1867, the second of five children to John and Olive Paice. John was a railway policeman from Aldermaston in Berkshire, but his oldest son, Nicholas, was born in Poole, Dorset where Olive came from.

The Paice family seemed to move to wherever John’s work took him. The 1871 census found them living back in the Berkshire village of Shrivenham, while a decade later they were to be found in Longfleet, to the north of Poole. By this point, John was employed as a groom, and Olive a laundress.

When he completed his schooling, Nicholas found work as a butcher. He had also enlisted in the local militia, joining the 3rd Dorset Regiment. The army life seemed to suit him and, on 12th July 1886, he enlisted in the Rifle Brigade. His service records show that he was 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall and weighed 148lbs (67.1kg). At 19 years and three months old, he was noted as having a fresh complexion, grey eyes and brown hair. The papers show that he had a scar on his left eyebrow, and tattoos on his forearms and the middle finger of his left hand.

Joining up for a period of twelve years, Private Paice would spend nearly seven of those in India and Burma. His time in the army was not without incident, however. Just three weeks after enlisting he deserted, and remained at loose for nearly a month. When he was captured, he was imprisoned for desertion for four weeks, his term of service extended to reflect the time he was AWOL.

In August 1896, having been back on home soil for just over two years, Nicholas was arrested again. Convicted of ‘begging’, he was confined for a week, before being released back to duty.

On 16th September 1898, Nicholas completed his contract, and was formally discharged from the army.

The next few years are a mystery for Nicholas. He had married Maria Andrews in 1896, and the couple would go on to have eight children, of which five would survive childhood. By the time of the 1911 census – the next document where we can pick him up – Nicholas and the family were living in two rooms at 2 New Corn Street, Bath, Somerset. Nicholas was working as a cattle drover, along with Maria, the household included her daughter Annie, and granddaughter Lily, and John and Maria’s son, Earnest.

When war came to Europe, Nicholas stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry on 26th October 1915 but, with his age against him, he was transferred to the 263rd Coy. of the Royal Defence Corps the following April.

It seems that Private Paice’s health was also being impacted and he spend a month in the Red Cross Hospital in Portishead, having contracted influenza. Released to duty on 16th May 1916, just a month later he was re-admitted for three weeks, this time suffering from bronchial catarrh. On 10th September he was admitted to the hospital for a third time. This time it was identified that he had come down with pulmonary tuberculosis, and on 12th October 1916, he was formally discharged on medical grounds.

It is unclear what happened to Nicholas next. His service records suggest that he wasn’t immediately discharged from the Portishead hospital, and it seems likely that he would have returned home to Bath at some point. The next record for him is that of his passing, from tuberculosis, on 20th December 1919. He was 52 years of age.

Nicholas John Paice was laid to rest in the sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery in his adopted home town of Bath, Somerset.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Inniskilling Dragoons, North Somerset Yeomanry, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Albert Neathey

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Private Albert Neathey

Albert Ernest Neathey was born in Bath, Somerset, early in 1875. The third of six children, his parents were John and Rose Neathey. John was a baker and the family lived at 11 Trinity Square. When John died in 1890, Rose and the four youngest children remained there, and by the time of the following year’s census, three of the Neathey siblings were bringing in a wage.

The 1891 document recorded Rose as living on her own means, while Albert, then 16 years of age, was employed as a telegraph messenger. His older sister, Alice, was a dressmaker’s apprentice, while his younger brother, Sidney, was apprenticed to a hairdresser.

The family are missing from the 1901 census, but the following year Albert got married. His new bride, Mary Louisa Slip, was a mason’s daughter, and the couple exchanged vows in Christ Church, Bath, on 18th September. They would go on to have one child, Doris, born in the summer of 1903, but she would only live for a few months, before passing away on 1st November.

Albert was, by this time, working as a postman, and the 1911 census found him and Doris living at 18 Lansdown Road, to the north of the city. Mary was noted as assisting in the business, although her trade was recorded as being general grocery. The couple were sharing their home with Albert’s ten year old nephew, Norman.

When war broke out, it was inevitable that Albert would be called upon to play his part. Full service details are not available, but a later newspaper report sheds light onto not only his army career, but his personal life:

DEATH OF A WELL-KNOWN BATH POSTMAN

The death occurred at the Bath War Hospital… of Mr Albert Ernest Neathey, of 18 Lansdown Road. Mr Neathey, who was only 44 years old, was the second son of the late Mr John Neathey, of Walcot.

When quite young he entered the service of the Bath Post Office as telegraph boy, and rose to be a postman. Altogether he was a postal servant for nearly 30 years. While thus engages he was a member of the Post Office Band, in which he played cornet.

His military career began with the old 1st Volunteer Battalion of the [Somerset Light Infantry], which whom he served six years. After leaving the infantry he joined the North Somerset Yeomanry. At the outbreak of war he was mobilised with the Yeomanry, and from August 1914, to the November of the same year he was stationed with the regiment in different parts of this country. When the regiment was sent to France, he was sent, much against his will, to the Regimental Depot at the Drill Hall, Lower Bristol Road, and remained there as a member of the staff until his death. While there he was promoted to Corporal. His constant wish was to be with his regiment in France, but his state of health would not have allowed him to stand the rigours of a campaign.

On Tuesday last he was not feeling well, but would not give up his work, and it was not until Saturday that he did so. Then he was sent to the War Hospital, where he was detained, and he passed away at 8:30 on Monday morning. The cause of his death was congestion of the lungs following influenza. For twenty years he was a member of the Foresters (Queen of the West Lodge). He was greatly respected by all who knew him. He leaves a widow, but no children.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 22nd March 1919

As part of his retention on home soil, Albert was transferred across to the 6th Dragoons (Inniskilling) Reserve Regiment. Nothing on the available documents, however, suggest a promotion during his time in Bath. Albert Ernest Neathey died on 17th March 1919: he was laid to rest in the city’s sweeping Lockbrook Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Machine Gun Corps, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war, West Midlands

Private Sidney Powell

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Private Sydney Powell

Sidney Powell was born in the Walcot area of Bath, Somerset, in the spring of 1892. One of five children, his parents were corporation gardener Albert Powell, and his wife, Mary. The family lived at 2 Hedgemead Terrace for at least fifteen years, presumably as it was close to the park where Albert worked.

By the time of the 1911 census, Sidney had completed his schooling, and was employed as a draper’s porter. His was one of four wages being brought into the household: his father was gardening, his younger brother Frank was a law clerk, while his older step-brother, Mary’s son William, also worked as a draper’s porter.

When war came to Europe, Sidney stepped up to play his part. Sadly, details of his service have been lost to the mists of time, but it would appear that he enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry no later than April 1916. Private Powell soon moved to the Machine Gun Corps, although documents do not confirm whether he spent any time overseas.

In the autumn of 1916, Private Powell was admitted to Birmingham War Hospital, having contracted pneumonia. The condition was to prove his undoing: he died while still admitted on 30th October. He was 24 years of age.

The body of Sidney Powell was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the majestic grounds of the Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Garrison Artillery, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Alfred King

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Private Alfred King

Alfred William King was born in the autumn of 1872, the oldest of eight children to Alfred and Caroline King. Alfred Sr was a labourer from Bath, Somerset, and this is where the family were raised.

Times were tough for the King family. The 1891 census recorded most of them living at 89 Avon Street in the city. Alfred Jr, meanwhile, seems to have been an inmate at the Bath Union Workhouse in Lyncombe.

On 24th May 1896, Alfred Jr married Mary Pemberton. She was the daughter of a coachman, in the next street to her in-laws. Both Alfred and his father were, by this point employed as carters, and the new groom was back living in Avon Street. The young couple went on to have two children, Alfred and Dorothy, and made their home in a small terraced house in Avondale Road, Bath.

The 1911 census recorded Alfred as being an army pensioner and night porter. While previous service records no longer exist, his enlistment papers for the First World War suggest he had spent time in both the Somerset Light Infantry and the Royal Garrison Artillery. Certainly, Alfred’s eagerness to serve his country – he joined up on 18th September 1914, at the age of 42 – suggests he had had military service in the past.

Private King’s medical report confirms that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall and weighed 145lbs (65.8kg). He was noted as having grey hair, light brown hair and webbed toes on both feet.

Alfred’s time in the army was to be brief. A later medical report noted that the had a “dilated stomach of old standing. [He was] absolutely unable to retain food unless stomach is washed out twice a week.” He was medically dismissed from the army on 3rd November 1914, after just 45 days.

Alfred’s incapacity for military service may have been what prompted his son, Alfred, to enlist. After time in the Somerset Light Infantry, and a rise to the rank of Lance Corporal, he was to die of wounds in February 1916. His father would live on for just five more years. He passed away on 1st April 1921 at the age of 48 years.

Alfred William King was buried alongside his son in Bath’s majestic Locksbrook Cemetery.

Read about Lance Corporal Alfred Frederick King here.

Coldstream Guards, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Lance Corporal, photography, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Lance Corporal William Bence

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Lance Corporal William Bence

Arthur William Bence was born in the village of Box, Wiltshire, in the spring of 1887. The oldest of eight children, his parents were James and Sarah. James was an engineer from Bathampton, Somerset, and by the time of the 1901 census, the young family had moved to 14 Hampton Row in nearby Bathwick.

Ten years later, and the Bence family had relocated again, this time to the northern outskirts of Bath, in a terraced cottage at 6 Brooklyn Road. By this point, Arthur had finished his schooling, and had found employment, working as a baker and bread maker. This was not to be a permanent career, however, and he sought out more of a career.

Arthur had long been a volunteer in the local militia, and on 14th November 1905 he enlisted in the army. Now known by his middle name, William Bence joined the Coldstream Guards as a Private. His service records show that he was 5ft 11ins (1.82m) tall, and weighed 148lbs (67.1kg). He was noted as having brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. Hs also had several tattoos on his left forearm, including a heart, cross, anchor, man’s face, crown and crossed flags.

Private Bence spent the first two years of his military career on home soil in Windsor, Berkshire, and London. In January 1908, his unit – the 3rd Battalion – transferred to Africa, and William would remain in Egypt and Sudan for more than three years. In March 1911 he returned to home soil, and that year’s census record noted his address as the Tower of London.

By the end of 1913 Private Bence had been formally stood down to reserve status. During his eight years on active service, he had been hospitalised a couple of times: for a sprained wrist in 1906, and for a bout of pneumonia in July 1910.

War was a matter of months away, however, and in the summer of 1914, William was to be mobilised again. By 12th August he was sent to France, and his battalion would be caught up at Marne and Aisne before the end of the year.

On 27th September 1914, William rose to the rank of Lance Corporal. This was not to last, however, and within six weeks the promotion was retracted for misconduct. He remained on the Western Front for nearly two and a half years, and had a mixed time of it. In April 1915, he Private Bence was confined to barracks for 14 days for being drunk on duty. In November that year, he was promoted to Lance Corporal for a second time.

This advancement coincided with William’s marriage. He had wed Amelia Oakley at St Saviour’s Church in Bath on 3rd November. There is little information available about her, other than that she had been born in Bath in 1888.

Back in France, and Lance Corporal Bence’s battalion fought at Loos and was heavily involved at the Somme. William would remain on the Western Front until December 1916, at which point his health forced him back to Britain. He had contracted tuberculosis, and this would lead to his ultimate discharge from military duty on 9th January 1917. William returned home, but his condition was to get worse. He passed away on 1st April 1917: he was 30 years of age.

The body of Arthur William Bence was laid to rest in the sweeping grounds of Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery, in the city that was his home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, Kent, Lance Bombardier, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, war

Lance Bombardier George Higgins

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Lance Bombardier George Higgins

George Henry Higgins was born in Bath, Somerset, in the spring of 1888. The fifth of fifteen children, his parents were Charles and Sarah Higgins. Charles was a carter-turned-labourer for the city’s corporation, and this is work into which George also went.

The 1911 census recorded the Higgins family living in a six-roomed house at 15 London Place, Bath. By this point, Charles and Sarah were sharing their home with ten of their children – including George – plus four of their grandchildren by their married third-oldest daughter, Sarah. Five of the household were bringing in a wage: George and his father were employed by the Corporation, daughter Rose was a factory hand, while two of George’s younger brothers were errand boys.

Charles died in the autumn of 1914, and George was suddenly the head of the household, with war raging across Europe. The following summer he enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery: this may have been out of duty to his King, but it is likely that, as the oldest man in the house, the army offered the prospect of a regular, decent wage.

Full service details for Gunner Higgins have been lost in the annals of time, but his unit – the 92nd (Howitzer) Brigade – served in some of the fiercest battles of the conflict. Arriving in France for training on 21st July 1915, it is likely that George saw fighting at the Somme in 1916 and 1918, and at Ypres in 1917. By the end of the war, he had been promoted to the rank of Lance Bombardier for his service.

George’s older brother, Charles, died in the fighting in Northern France, but by the start of 1919, George himself had returned to home soil, and was attached to the regiment’s Clearing Office in Woolwich, Kent.

His health was being impacted by this point, and he was admitted to the Royal Herbert Hospital in nearby Shooter’s Hill. His records simply record that he was suffering from ‘disease‘, and it was this that was to kill him. He died on 17th February 1919, at the age of 30 years old.

The body of George Henry Higgins was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the sweeping grounds of Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from where Sarah still lived.