Category Archives: illness

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Lance Corporal, London, photography, Royal Engineers, Sergeant, South Africa, story, war

Serjeant Albert Romain

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Serjeant Albert Romain

Albert William Romain was born in Gillingham, Kent, at the start of 1888, the middle of three children to Henry and Florence. Henry was a Sergeant in the Royal Engineers and is seemed inevitable that his son would follow suit.

Henry died in 1896, and was buried in the Grange Road Cemetery, Gillingham (now a public park). The 1901 census recorded Albert as a pupil at the Duke of York’s Royal Military Asylum in Chelsea. This was, in fact, a school for the children of soldiers, and it is likely that Albert was sent there to be educated when his father died.

The Royal Engineers obviously proved too great a lure for the young Albert. While full details of his service are not available, he had definitely enlisted early on, and was listed as a Lance Corporal in the Tempe barracks in Bloemfontein, South Africa in the 1911 census.

When war broke out, he was called back to Europe, as was on the Western Front by November 1914. Little further information on Albert is available – during the conflict he was assigned to D Company of the Royal Engineers, but the end of the war, he had become a Sergeant in the 1st Reserve Battalion.

In November 1918, back on UK soil, he was admitted to the Fort Pitt Military Hospital in Chatham, Kent. His condition is unclear, but sadly it was to be one to which he would succumb. Sergeant Romain died on 8th November 1918; he was just 30 years old.

Albert William Romain was laid to rest with his father in the Grange Road Cemetery. He is commemorated in the Woodlands Cemetery in his home town of Gillingham, Kent.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Labour Corps, Middlesex Regiment, photography, Private, story, Sussex, war

Private William Osborne

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Private William Osborne

William Osborne is sadly one of those names that seems destined to be lost to time.

The starting point for any research is always going to be the gravestone; this is situated in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent and confirms his service number, rank and regiment and the date of his death.

The service number helps confirm his first name, and that his widow was called Eliza, but without his age and confirmation of when he was married, there are too many potential Williams and Elizas/Elizabeths to confirm a definite identity.

The only thing that can be confirmed, therefore, is that William enlisted in the Middlesex Regiment at some point before April 1918, and subsequently transferred across to the Labour Corps. He passed away on 8th November 1918 at the Second Eastern General Hospital in Brighton, Sussex, having contracted pneumonia.

William Osborne lies at rest in that Gillingham Cemetery, not far from where his widow was living.

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

Serjeant Thomas Myers

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Serjeant Thomas Myers

Thomas Francis Myers is destined to be one of those people whose story is destined to be lost to the annals of time. The only definite documents available for him are his pension records, which give his wife’s name as Ellen.

Sadly, with no date of birth for Thomas, no location other than his place of burial, and the potential for any number of alternative spellings for his surname, it’s impossible to track down any further details on his life.

His records show that he was a Serjeant in the Royal Engineers, and that he was discharged on medical grounds on 12th October 1918. Sadly, he succumbed to the conditions just a few days later, passing away from phthysis (tuberculosis) and exhaustion on 23rd October.

Thomas lies at rest in in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, India, Kent, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, story, Trumpeter, war

Gunner William Morgan

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Gunner William Morgan

William Francis Morgan was born on 22nd January 1884 in Bengal, India. The youngest of three children, he was the son of James Morgan and his wife Mary. Both came from Ireland, marrying in 1876. They moved to London, before James was posted to India as part of his role in the Royal Horse Artillery.

Sadly James died when William was just a toddler; this prompted Mary to move the family back to England. She married again in 1887, to Edward Curling, who was a carpenter in the Royal Artillery, and the family settled on the Isle of Grain in Kent, living in the fort where Edward worked.

Surrounded by those in military service and with an army heritage himself, is it no surprise that William felt drawn to the life. In September 1898 he enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery. Though not yet fifteen years old, he stood 5ft 11ins (1.69m) tall and weighed in at 101lbs (46kg). He had a fresh complexion, grey eyes and light brown hair and four distinctive marks were noted – three scars on his head and one on his right knee.

Trumpeter Morgan certainly got to see a lot of the world during his time in the army. After a period on home soil, he was sent to Egypt on Christmas Eve 1901, staying there for just over a year. He moved on to India, returning to England five years later, by which time he had achieved the rank of Gunner.

War was imminent, and in September 1914 he was sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force. Barring a short period at home, Gunner Morgan remained on the Western Front for the remainder of the war, finally returning to the UK in January 1919.

William’s time in the army was one of two halves. He had several bouts of illness during his service, coming down with phimosis in 1901, scarlet fever and gonorrhoea in 1902, a fractured clavicle in 1903, pneumonia in 1904, rheumatism in 1906, ague in 1908, pleurisy in 1909, and had to return from France to England for an operation to remove a carbuncle between his shoulder blades in the summer of 1915.

Gunner Morgan was also pulled up for his conduct a few times too. He was punished for neglect of duty in August 1908, disobeyed orders in May 1909, was pulled up for being improperly dressed while in Portsmouth’s Highbury Arms Pub in November 1909 and went AWOL for ten hours on 31st July 1913.

There were positives to William’s service too, however. He was awarded the British and Victory Medals as well as the 1914 Star during the First World War. He was mentioned in dispatches and received the Military Medal in 1917 an the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal two years later.

Sadly, though, after Gunner Morgan’s positive and lengthy military service, his time out of the army was to be brief. Returning to England on 13th January 1919, he contracted influenza and pneumonia and succumbed to the lung conditions within weeks. He passed away on 27th February 1919, at the age of just 35 years of age.

William Francis Morgan was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent, just minutes’ walk from where his mother now lived.

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Lancashire, Leading Seaman, Ordinary Seaman, Petty Officer, photography, Royal Navy, Staffordshire, story, Uncategorized, war

Petty Officer Tom Jones

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Petty Office Tom Jones

Thomas Jones (known as Tom) was born in Wednesbury on 7th September 1882 and was the middle of seven children. His father, also called Thomas, was a grocer and, with his mother Mary, they raised their family first in the Staffordshire town and then in Blackpool, Lancashire.

When he left school Tom helped his dad in the shop, primarily dealing with meat. His mind was on greater adventures, however, and in November 1898, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. Due to his age, he was initially given the rank of Boy, but was officially signed up as an Ordinary Seaman on the day after his 18th birthday.

Over the time of his initial twelve years’ service, Tom rose through the ranks, from Able Seaman to Leading Seaman and Petty Officer. In May 1912, however, he was ‘disrated’ back to Able Seaman, but there is no evidence to confirm why this was done. By this time, he had served on nine ships, as well as having time in shore-based establishments, and had completed his twelve years as a mariner.

Meanwhile, in the autumn of 1904, Tom had married Hannah Kennedy, a dockyard labourer’s daughter from Gillingham, Kent. The couple went on to have four children and set up home in the centre of the town, not far from the Naval Dockyard where Tom was sometimes based.

With war in Europe on the horizon, Tom immediately volunteered to continue his duty when he term of service came to an end. Working hard, he soon regained the rank of Leading Seaman and, by April 1915, was back up to Petty Officer once more.

During the remainder of his time in the Royal Navy, Petty Officer Jones served on a further seven vessels. In October 1920, after more than two decades’ service, he was invalided out, having contracted tuberculosis, rendering him unfit to continue.

At this point Tom’s trail goes cold. It seems likely that his lung condition got the better of him; he passed away on 20th June 1921, at the age of 38 years old.

Petty Officer Tom Jones was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.

Tom Jones II
Petty Officer Tom Jones
(courtesy of ancestry.co.uk)
Bugler, Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Kent, Lance Corporal, London, photography, Royal Engineers, Sapper, Sergeant, Sergeant Major, story, unknown, war

Company Sergeant Major Hugh Caston

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Company Sergeant Major Hugh Caston

Hugh Charles Caston was born in Chelsea in the summer of 1881, the oldest of three children to Emily and Hugh Caston. Hugh Sr died in the late 1880, leaving Emily to raise the family on her own. She moved the family to Gillingham, Kent, to be near her family. She found work as a seamstress and took in boarders.

As the effective head of the family, Hugh obviously felt he had to earn a wage. On 1st August 1896, he enlisted in the Royal Engineers as a Bugler.

Hugh’s medical report shows he stood at 5ft 4.5ins (1.63m) tall and weighed 97lbs (44kg). He had a medium complexion, with brown eyes and brown hair. The report also gave his distinctive marks as being a scar on his forehead, a brown patch on his left buttock and that his eyebrows meet.

Initially too young for full active service, Hugh formally joined up on 1st June 1897. He spent more than five years on home soil, rising through the ranks from Sapper to Lance Corporal to 2nd Corporal. In May 1902, he was posted to Malta, returning home nearly two years later. Hugh’s promotions continued over the next decade, and, by the time war broke out, he had reached the rank of Company Sergeant Major.

By this point, Hugh had married, wedding Rochester woman Mary May Coast in September 1907. The couple went on to have two children, Hubert, who sadly died young, and Joan.

War came to Europe, and things took a turn for Company Sergeant Major Caston. He was admitted to Netley Hospital near Portsmouth, with mania:

Patient’s very restless, often gets ‘excited’ is thwarted in any way. Has a delusion that he is to be promoted to Major and that he possesses great wealth. He continually asks that his motor may be sent round to take him out, also that his tailor be sent for to rig him out. Stated this morning that he wished all the other patients be supplied with Egyptian cigarettes.

Medical Report on Hugh Caston, 20th January 1915

The medical officer went on to state that he did not consider that military service had in any contributed to the mania; he was dismissed from the army on medical grounds on 2nd February 1915, after nearly 20 years’ service.

Sadly, at this point Hugh’s trail goes cold. There is no documentation relating to his time after being discharged from the army and, tragically, after his death Mary was not granted a war pension, as he had served for less that six months during the First World War.

Hugh Charles Caston died on 18th June 1917, at the age of 36 years old. While the cause of his passing is lost to time, he was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.

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

Private William Bartin

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Private William Bartin

William Bartin was born in the Somerset village of Montacute in the summer of 1893 and was the oldest of four children to Georgina Bartin. Georgina married George Gaylard in 1895 and, while the 1901 and 1911 censuses record William Gaylard as George’s son, later documentation suggests that George may not have been his father. George was a carter and labourer on a farm, and when he left school, William followed suit.

By the time of the 1911 census, most of the family were working – William was listed as a groom and gardener, while his mother and the oldest of his three sisters were employed as seamstresses.

Little specific information remains of William’s military career. He enlisted as a Private in the Somerset Light Infantry under his mother’s maiden name (and his birth name), Bartin. A local newspaper after he passed provides some information:

[He] enlisted in 1914, was badly wounded and for seven months was treated in the Bethnal Green Hospital, and then sent to the Southern General Hospital, Plymouth, where for 17 months he was treated for lung trouble. He was discharged in 1917 and has been practically ever since under treatment by the Ministry of Pensions. Much sympathy is felt with the bereaved widow and child.

Western Chronicle: Friday 19th November 1920

There are no details of William’s wife or child, albeit that his pension record refuses payment to them as he married after being discharged from the army.

There are similarly no details about the cause of his death, although, based on the newspaper report, it seems likely to have resulted from the lung condition that dogged the last few years of his life.

Private William Bartin died on 17th November 1920, at the age of 27 years old. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Catherine’s Church in his home village of Montacute.

George Gaylard had passed away in July 1919, at the age of 47. The Western Chronicle noted that:

There mourners were as follows: Mrs G Gaylard (widow), Mr WC Bartin (step-son), Misses Lucy, Florence and Edith Gaylard (daughters)…

Western Chronicle: Friday 25th July 1919

It was tragic for Georgina to lose both her husband and son within 18 months; it is also sad to note that George’s father – also called George – was still alive, and outlived both his son and step-son.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Lance Corporal, London, photography, Private, Quartermaster, Royal Army Service Corps, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Sergeant, Sergeant Major, Staff Sergeant, story, Sussex, war

Serjeant Major Percy Hawkins

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Staff Serjeant Major Percy Hawkins

Percy Harry Hawkins was born in Waltham Green, London, in 1886. One of five children, all boys, his parents were Frederick and Elizabeth Hawkins. Frederick initially worked as a brewer’s collector – collecting rent from tenant pub managers on behalf of the brewery – before working as a tobacconist.

In July 1908, Percy married Gladys Parnell. Sadly, tragedy was to strike and, over the next couple of years both Elizabeth and Frederick passed away in 1909 and 1910 respectively.

By the time of the following year’s census, Percy and Gladys were boarding with a dispensing doctor (or GP), and his wife. Percy listed his occupation as a ‘traveller’, was probably employed as some kind of salesman.

Tragedy was to strike Percy again. Months after the couple had their first child in July 1911, Gladys also passed away, leaving him as a widower and single parent at just 26 years old.

From his later military documentation, it seems that Percy married again in August 1915, this time to a woman called Mildred, and, by September 1919, he had gone on to have three children in total; one boy and two girls.

When war broke out, Percy was quick to enlist. He joined up in Birmingham on 10th August 1914, and gave his profession as a commercial traveller. His records show that he was 28 years and 120 days old, stood 5ft 6ins (1.69m) tall and weighed 131lbs (59.5kg).

After initially joining the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Private Hawkins was transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps, and was assigned to one of the supply companies.

Over the four years of the war, Percy served on home soil, and was promoted a number of times, rising from Private to Lance Corporal, Staff Sergeant to Quartermaster Staff Sergeant. In September 1917, he was again promoted, this time to Staff Sergeant Major, a position he held for the remainder of the conflict, and on into 1919, when he volunteered for an extra year’s service, rather than being demobbed.

In February 1920, Staff Serjeant Major Hawkins fell ill; he was admitted to the military hospital that had been set up in Brighton Pavilion, Sussex. The diagnosis was heart failure, and, sadly, it was to this that he was to succumb. He passed away on 20th February 1920, aged just 34 years old.

Percy’s family was, by this time, living down the coast in Worthing; his body was brought there for burial and he lies at rest in the Broadwater Cemetery in the town.

Canada, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Royal Engineers, Sapper, Sergeant, Singapore, story, Sussex, war

Serjeant George Carpenter

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Serjeant George Carpenter

George Palmer Carpenter was born in Worthing, West Sussex, in 1881, one of fourteen children to James and Elizabeth Carpenter. James ran the Steyne Hotel on the seafront, and sent his boys off to the Lucton Boarding School in Henfield for their education.

A regimented life seems to have suited George. When he left school, he enlisted in army, joining the Royal Engineers as a Sapper. The 1901 census found him billeted at the Elphinstone Barracks in Portsmouth.

Sadly, there is little further documentation on the life of Sapper Carpenter. He served through to and during the Great War, attaining the rank of Serjeant. He was sent to France in May 1915, though there is little to confirm his role there, or how long he stayed.

Serjeant Carpenter was subsequently attached to G Depot Company of the Royal Engineers, which received men returned from Expeditionary Force and also men enlisted for Tunnelling Companies, Special Companies and other specialist units. By this time – presumably later on in the conflict – he was based back in England, at the regiment’s barracks in Chatham, Kent.

When the war came to a close, George continued with his army career. With conflict in Europe coming end, he was shipped to Singapore in 1917, where he served through to 1920. A Sussex newspaper picked up his story from there:

Much sympathy will be extended to Mrs Carpenter and her family, of the Steyne Hotel, consequent upon the death of Sergeant George Carpenter, of the Royal Engineers, another of our Worthing boys whose life has been laid down in his country’s service. He arrived home in a bad state of health on the 25th of February last from Singapore, where he had been on duty for three years. Suffering from gastric influenza, it was found necessary that he should undergo an operation, which was carried out at midnight on Saturday. But he sank from weakness, and died at half-past eight on Sunday morning. This is the second son of whom Mrs Carpenter has been bereaved within a year, and there is pathos in the words addressed to us by her: “I have again the sorrowful task of sending the news of the death of one of my sons this morning.

Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 24th March 1920

George Palmer Carpenter was 39 years old. He was laid to rest in the Broadwater Cemetery of his home town, Worthing, in West Sussex.

The other brother referred to in the report was George’s younger brother Norman.

He had emigrated to Canada in 1906, but returned to Europe as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force when war broke out. Wounded in battle in May 1917, he returned to the UK for treatment and recuperation, and remained on home soil for the rest of the war.

In the spring of 1919, he was admitted to hospital with pleurisy and anaemia, and seems that he never fully recovered, succumbing to the conditions in August of that year. He was just 32 years old.

Chief Yeoman of the Signals, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Royal Navy, story, Sussex, war

Chief Yeoman of Signals Thomas Funnell

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Chief Yeoman of Signals Thomas Funnell

Thomas Richard Funnell was born on 7th May 1883 and was the second of five children. His father John was a cab driver, his mother Jane a laundress, and the family lived in Worthing, West Sussex. The small terraced house was close to both the central station and the one serving West Worthing, which would have given John plenty of opportunity for customers.

Thomas had a definite sense of adventure and helping his dad after he finished school was never going to be enough. He enlisted in the Royal Navy and, after an initial six months at the rank of Boy, he came of age, and began his training as a signalman.

Over the twelve years of his service, Thomas served on thirteen vessels, including the shore-based training ships. He rose through the signal ranks, eventually becoming Yeoman of Signals.

He ended his engagement in May 1913 although, with war on the horizon, this was extended to the completion of hostilities. His naval service continued through the war, and he rose to the rank of Chief Yeoman of Signals in August 1915, while aboard HMS Dido.

Away from his life at sea, Thomas met and married Frances McGregor, the daughter of a coastguard from Hampshire. They went on to have two children: Gurtrude was born in 1915, Nora in 1921. While her husband was at sea, Frances set up home in Portsmouth, where she raised the family.

When the war came to a close, Thomas was moved to shore-based vessels where, presumably, he used his years of experience to help train and develop others. In September 1920, he was assigned to HMS Greenwich. Sadly, his time there was short, on 20th January 1921, Thomas collapsed. Admitted to the Haslar Hospital in Portsmouth with a cerebral abscess he passed away. He was 37 years of age.

Rather than being buried close to his widow and family, Thomas’ body was brought back to his home town of Worthing for burial. He lies at ret in the Broadwater Cemetery to the north of the town centre.