Category Archives: illness

Commonwealth War Graves, Denbighshire, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, South Lancashire Regiment, story, Wales, war

Rifleman Harold Dean

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Rifleman Harold Dean

Harold Dean was born in the spring of 1888 in Llangollen, Denbighshire. One of four children to John and Sarah Dean, his father was a waiter at the Hand Hotel in the town until his death in 1905. When Harold left school, he was taken on by the hotel, and, by the time of the 1911 census, was recorded as working as a billiard marker.

War was coming to Europe by this point and, on 24th October 1916, Harold enlisted. He joined the South Lancashire Regiment (also known as The Prince of Wales’s Volunteers) and was assigned to the 2nd/5th Battalion.

After an initial few months’ training, Private Dean was sent to France, and was soon ensconced on the Western Front. Caught up in the fighting, he received a gun shot wound to his left wrist on 7th June 1917 and, after some initial treatment in a camp hospital, he was evacuated to Britain for full recuperation.

Harold remained on home soil for the remainder of the year, He contracted tuberculosis that winter and was medically discharged from the army because of it on 5th December 1917.

At this point, Harold’s trail goes cold. He returned to Llangollen, and remained there after his mother passed away in 1919. It appears that his lung condition continued to dog him, however, and this was probably the cause of his untimely passing. He died on 16th March 1921, at the age of 33 years old.

Harold Dean was laid to rest in Fron Cemetery, in his home town of Llangollen.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, King's (Liverpool Regiment), Merseyside, photography, Private, Second Lieutenant, Somerset, South Lancashire Regiment, story, war

Private Joseph Roe

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Private Joseph Roe

Joseph Leonard Roe was born on 16th February 1892 in Totnes, Devon. The older of two children, his parents were Francis and Mary Roe. Mary died in 1898, when Joseph was only six years old, leaving Francis, who was a traveller for a wholesale grocer, to raise his sons. Tragically, he also passed away in 1902, and it seems that Joseph and his brother were left in the care of their paternal grandmother.

Hope was to come out of adversity – the 1911 census recorded Joseph as boarding in a school in Tiverton, while his brother, who was called Francis, found work as a clerk at a chartered accountant. He was living with his grandmother Mary and aunt Marian in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Joseph followed in his father’s footsteps, finding work as a chemist’s merchant, and this took him travelling across the country. When war broke out, he was living in Wallasey, Merseyside, and it was from here that, on 28th August 1914, he was to enlist.

Joseph’s service records show that he was 5ft 11ins (1.80m) tall, was of good physical development and had good vision. He was accepted for enlistment into The King’s (Liverpool Regiment), and was assigned to the 10th (Scottish) Battalion.

After a coupe of months’ training, Private Roe set sail for France, arriving in Le Havre on 1st November 1914. His time overseas, however, was to be cut short, however, when he contracted a combination of myalgia, bronchitis and diarrhoea. He was medically evacuated back to Britain on 30th November, and given time to recover.

Private Roe remained on home soil for the remainder of his time in the army. However, he continued to suffer with his health. In the spring of 1916, he contracted tuberculosis and was at his grandmother’s home when he passed away on 4th April. He was just 24 years of age.

Joseph Leonard Roe was laid to rest in Totnes Cemetery, buried in the family grave, and reunited with his parents at last.

Francis, meanwhile, had also played an active part on the First World War. He joined the 2nd Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment and fought on the Western Front.

While at Etaples, he was wounded, and succumbed to his injuries on 7th January 1916, aged just 21 years old. Second Lieutenant Francis Roe was buried at Etaples Military Cemetery in Northern France.

His sacrifice is also commemorated on the family monument in Totnes Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Cornwall, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, injury, Lieutenant, photography, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, story, war, Yorkshire

Lieutenant Arthur Wellacott

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Lieutenant Arthur Wellacott

Arthur Cecil Baber Wellacott was born the summer of 1897, in the village of Bradworthy, North Devon. Ond of seven children, his parents were William and Ada Wellacott. William was the parish vicar and with his status came additional support for the family.

The 1901 census saw the vicarage employ three members of staff, and William was hosting two students as well as his and Ada’s own children. Ten years later, with Arthur and his younger brother William, boarding at a school in Bude, Cornwall, the Wellacott retinue remained in place.

On leaving boarding school, Arthur studied at Kelly College in Tavistock and, at around the same time his father took up a new post in Totnes. When Arthur left the college, he joined the 7th (Cyclist) Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. He was subsequently given a commission in th 3rd Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, and was based in Londonderry.

At Easter 1916, Lieutenant Wellacott took part in quelling the rebellion in Dublin, and was subsequently sent to France. In the battle for Contalmaison his platoon was gassed and buried, and Arthur was badly injured. Suffering from shell shock, the experience had a lasting impact on him “and from that time his health had given cause for anxiety…” [Western Morning News: Tuesday 18th February 1919]

Lieutenant Wellacott returned to England and he was billeted near Leeds. During the winter of 1918/1919, he contracted pneumonia, and was admitted to the Drax Hospital. Sadly, the condition was to prove too much for his already damaged lungs and he died on 16th February 1919. He was just 21 years of age.

Arthur Cecil Baber Wellacott was brought back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in the cemetery in Totnes, Devon.

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Leading Signalman, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Leading Signalman Albert Pomeroy

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Leading Signalman Albert Pomeroy

Albert Pomeroy was born on 22nd May 1882 in Totnes, Devon. The tenth of thirteen children, his parents were William and Susanna Pomeroy. William was a labourer at a cider store, and his son found work as a page when he left school. However, it is clear that he lusted after a life of adventure.

On 2nd September 1897, Albert enlisted in the Royal Navy. Aged just 15 years old, he was initially given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and sent to HMS Impregnable, a training ship based in Devonport. He remained on board for just over a year, rising to Boy 1st Class in the process.

Boy Pomeroy moved to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Plymouth, in December 1898, and remained there until he was given his first formal sea-faring post nine months later. The cruiser HMS Terrible was to be his home from September 1899 until the spring of 1902.

On 22nd May 1900, during his time on board Terrible, Albert came of age, and he was formally enrolled into the Royal Navy. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 3in (1.60m) tall, had dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

Albert was given the rank of Ordinary Seaman, but seems to have been well thought of as, just over a year later he was promoted to Able Seaman. Over the next eleven years, he served on a further ten ships, returning to HMS Vivid between voyages. On 21st May 1912, having completed the twelve years of his naval contract, Able Seaman Pomeroy was formally stood down to reserve status.

Albert’s trail goes cold for a few years. His father had passed away in 1910, so it seems likely that Albert returned home to Totnes to support his mother.

His time on reserve was not to be long, however, and, in August 1914, he was called back into duty. He received a promotion – to Leading Signalman – and assigned to the troop ship HMS Tamar. He moved to another troop ship – HMS Hardinge – in March 1915, but returned to Devonport a couple of months later.

In September, Leading Seaman Pomeroy was back in Totnes, possibly on leave, but had fallen ill. He contracted meningitis, and this was to prove fatal. Albert passed away at his mother’s home on 2nd September 1915, at the age of 33 years old.

Albert… was one of six brothers serving King and country, while another brother, who died some years ago, was in the 20th Hussars, and his late father was a naval pensioner. Albert Pomeroy saw service with Sit Percy Scott in South Africa, went to Pekin [sic] with the Naval Brigade, was engaged in operations in Somaliland, and until a few weeks ago was on active service with the British fleet.

Western Times: Tuesday 7th September 1915

Albert Pomeroy was laid to rest in the cemetery of his home town, Totnes, Devon.

Susanna went on to live into her eighties. Remaining in Totnes, when she passed away, on 27th December 1933, at the age of 88, she was reunited with her son in Totnes Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Dorset, Great War, history, illness, Lieutenant, London, Middlesex, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, Royal Navy, story, Tank Corps, war

Lieutenant Hugh Punchard

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Lieutenant Hugh Punchard

Hugh Punchard was born in February 1895, the oldest of three children to William and Jane Punchard. William was a civil engineer from London, and Hugh was born in Surbiton.

The 1901 census recorded the family living in the 14-room house, Pope’s Garden, in Twickenham. Along with the family, there were four members of staff – a governess, housemaid, cook and a nurse. By the time of the next census, sixteen-year-old Hugh was away at school, boarding with more than 400 others at Haileybury College in Hertfordshire.

War was coming to Europe by this point, and Hugh was keen to play his part. He enlisted in the Royal Navy on 20th October 1914 and, while he was only there for a short period, his records shed some light onto the man he had become. He enlisted as a mechanic, and was noted as being 6ft 4ins (1.93m) tall, with dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion.

Hugh remained in the Royal Navy for only a month, and, while full details of his service are no longer available, it would seem that it was at this point that he transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery. He appears to have performed his duties well, and achieved the rank of Lieutenant. He also made another transfer, when he was attached to the Tank Corps.

Lieutenant Punchard was based in Dorset by the last year of the war, and it was while he was serving there that he became unwell. He contracted pneumonia, and was admitted to Wareham Military Hospital. Sadly, the condition was to take his life, and he passed away on 31st October 1918, at the age of just 23 years old.

Hugh Punchard’s paternal grandparents lived in Devon, and, as William had passed away two years earlier, the decision was to lay him to rest in Totnes Cemetery.

Hugh’s will left his estate to his mother, Jane. When he passed, she became the beneficiary of his effects, totally some £3,600 7s 6d (around £250,000 in today’s money).

Jane stayed living in Twickenham: when she passed away on 29th July 1937, she was brought to Devon for burial, and was laid to rest with her son.

A number of documents relating to Hugh give his name as R Hugh Punchard. Sadly, I have not been able to unearth details of what his official first name might have been.

Bedfordshire Regiment, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Glamorganshire, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Labour Corps, Middlesex Regiment, Monmouthshire Regiment, photography, Private, Royal West Kent Regiment, story, war

Private William King

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Private William King

William Samuel King was born in the summer of 1880, and was one of four children to Richard and Elizabeth King. Richard was a railway worker from Totnes, Devon, and this is where the family were born and raised.

When he left school, William found work as a house painter, and this is a job he continued to do through to the outbreak of the Great War. On 8th June 1908 he married Minnie Edmunds: the couple went on to have a son, Leslie, who was born in 1912. William and Minnie had, by this point, moved to Swansea, West Glamorgan, presumably as work was more plentiful here than in their Devon home. His work as a decorator seems to have been recognised, and he was admitted to the National Association Partnership, Swansea South.

On 1st December 1915, William enlisted and his service records show that he was 5ft 2ins (1.57m) tall. While it is clear that he spent his time on home soil, his service seems a bit disjointed.

Private King wasn’t formally mobilised until September 1916, when he was assigned to the 2nd/2nd Battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment. In December he was transferred to the Royal West Kent Regiment before returned to his original battalion in February 1917. A month later, he moved to the Bedfordshire Regiment, before moving to the Middlesex Regiment a few weeks later. This also seems to have been a temporary move as, three weeks later, he was assigned to the 337th Works Company of the Labour Corps (although this was still part of the Middlesex Regiment).

The potential reason behind Private King’s haphazard service seemed to become a little clearer when, in September 1917, he was referred to Fort Pitt Hospital in Rochester, Kent. He was noted as being “very talkative, noisy [and] in a state of mental disease… he has… exalted and grandiose ideas and is difficult to restrain.” His mental health was obviously suffering, and he was discharged from military service in December 1917.

William returned home, although it was not to be for long. He passed away on 13th April 1918, at the age of 37 years old. While no cause of death is evident, it seems likely to have been connected to his ‘mania’, which had been exacerbated by his army service.

William Samuel King was laid to rest in Totnes Cemetery, not far from his parental home.

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Ireland, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Able Seaman David Coleman

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Able Seaman David Coleman

David Coleman was born in the spring of 1880, one of nine children to Jeremiah and Mary Coleman. Jeremiah was a farmer from County Cork, Ireland, and it was in his home village of Killbrittain that the family were raised.

When David left school, he found work as a labourer and mechanic and, in the spring of 1896, he left Ireland for England in search of a bigger and better life for himself.

Things may not have gone quite to plan, however, and, on 17th March 1897, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. He was too young to enrol for full service at this point, however, and so he took on the rank of Boy 2nd Class. He was initially assigned to the training ship HMS Northampton and quickly made Boy 1st Class.

Over the next year, David served on two vessels – HMS Calliope and HMS Doris. When he turned eighteen, he was officially enrolled in the Royal Navy, and given the rank of Ordinary Seaman.

David remained on HMS Doris for nearly four years, and seemed to impress his superiors. By the end of his time on board, he had been promoted again, reaching the rank of Able Seaman.

Over the next nine years, Able Seaman Coleman served on ten different ships, each time returning to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport. In March 1910, with his contract complete, he was stood down to reserve status.

The same year, he married Florence Tompkins, who had been born in Newton Abbot, Devon. The couple set up home in Totnes and went on to have three children. David found work as an electrician for the local electric light works.

War was coming to Europe by this point and, in August 1914, Able Seaman Coleman was called back to duty. He served for two years on board the battleship HMS Caesar and, having previously been assigned to HMS Defiance, returned there again. In May 1916, he was assigned to HMS Vernon, one of the shore-based establishments in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

It was while he was in Portsmouth that he fell ill, and was admitted to the town’s Haslar Hospital. Details of his condition are unclear, but he was to succumb to it, passing away on 2nd July 1917, at the age of 37 years old.

David Coleman was brought back to Devon for burial: he was laid to rest in the town’s cemetery, not far from the family home.

Tragedy was to strike the Coleman family again when, early in 1918, both of David and Florence’s younger children – David, aged 5, and Mary, age 2 – passed away. Causes of death are again unclear, but it seems likely to have been one of the lung conditions that would ravage Europe as the war entered its final stage.

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, story, war

Gunner Henry Brewer

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Gunner Henry Brewer

Henry William Brewer was born the spring of 1869 in Bitton, Gloucestershire. His is a common name for the area, and so it is not easy to unpick details of his early life.

On 5th May 1895, Henry married Ann Williams, a carter’s daughter from Keynsham, Somerset. The couple wed in St Thomas’ Church in Widcome, near Bath, and their marriage certificate gives Henry’s trade as a labourer, and his father as Louis Brewer.

The young couple up home in Kingswood, near Bristol, and went on to have three children, Henry, Lucy and Ethel. The 1901 census recorded Henry’s trade as a coal miner and hewer, but noted that he was also a Gunner in the Royal Artillery.

Sadly, Henry’s military records are lost to time, but if he was employed in the army, this would account for the lack of documents relating to his early life. It may be that he had completed his initial term of service by the time he and Ann married, or that he was a volunteer with the Royal Artillery at the time of the census.

Whatever his connection with the army, when war broke out he was called into service. He joined the 30th Company of the Royal Garrison Artillery, and was based in Weymouth, Dorset, as part of Britain’s South Coast defences.

Without military documents, it’s challenging to identify Gunner Brewer’s trail during the war. Sadly, the next documents relate to his passing. He was admitted to a military hospital in Weymouth, suffering from the kidney condition nephritis. This was ultimately to kill him, and he passed away on 28th February 1917, at the age of 48 years old.

Henty William Brewer’s body was brought back to Gloucestershire for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Bitton.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, war

Stoker 1st Class Thomas Woodman

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Stoker 1st Class Thomas Woodman

Thomas Daniel Woodman was born on 17th March 1892 in the village of Oldland, Gloucestershire. One of sixteen children, his parents were Daniel and Ruth Woodman. Daniel was a fireman, stoking furnaces at a local paper mill, but Thomas wanted bigger and better things.

On 20th April 1910, not long after he turned 18, Thomas enlisted in the Royal Navy. His service records show that, when he joined up, he was 5ft 6ins (1.67m) tall, had brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. It was also noted that he had a long scar on his left wrist, and a tattoo of a cross on the same spot.

Stoker 2nd Class Woodman was to be based at HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport. From here he undertook his training, and it was from the Devon port that he began and ended his seafaring. In June 1911, while on board HMS Caesar, he was promoted to Stoker 1st Class.

When war broke out, Thomas continued his naval service. During the course of the conflict, he served on three vessels – HMS Blake, HMS Diligence and HMS Woolwich – returning to Devonport in February 1919.

On 8th March 1919, while on leave, Thomas married Eva Paget at St Barnabas’ Church in Warmley. She was the same age as Thomas and daughter of a sexton. Tragedy was to strike the couple, however as, within a matter of weeks, the young groom contracted meningitis. He passed away at the Royal Naval Hospital in Plymouth on 21st April 1919. He was just 27 years of age.

Brought back to Gloucestershire for burial, Thomas Daniel Woodman was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Barnabas Church, where, just 44 days earlier, he had married his beloved Eva.

Eva herself went on to lead a remarkable life. After the loss of Thomas, she never remarried, and, by the 1930s, was living with her sister, and doing unpaid domestic duties.

On 2nd May 1998, at the age of 105, she became the oldest person in the world to go supersonic, by flying on Concorde on a 90-minute flight around the Bay of Biscay. This was the first time she had ever left Britain, and only the second time she had ever left Bristol.

Eva Woodman passed away in her Bristol nursing home on 17th October 1999. She was 107 years old.

She was buried with her late husband, finally reunited after 80 years apart.

Able Seaman, Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, story, war

Able Seaman Frederick Carter

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Able Seaman Frederick Carter

Frederick Carter was born in the autumn of 1896 in the village of Wick, Gloucestershire, midway between Bristol and Bath. He was one of nine children to farm labourer John and his wife, Charlotte.

Sadly, there is little concrete documentation on Frederick’s life. When he left school, he found work in the local shoe trade, as his older siblings had done before him.

At some point he enlisted in the Royal Naval Voluntary Reserve, although, again, exact details on this are scarce. This particular branch of the Royal Navy was there for people with no specific sailing or sea-faring experience behind him, although Frederick must have been dedicated to his duty as he had risen to the rank of Able Seaman.

What is clear is that he survived the war, but was invalided out of service, having contracted pulmonary tuberculosis. He returned to Warmley, Gloucestershire, where his parents were now living. Sadly, this was to be his last home, as well, as he passed away from the condition on 28th August 1919, at the age of just 22 years old.

Frederick Carter was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Barnabas Church, in Warmley, Gloucestershire.