Category Archives: illness

Commonwealth War Graves, Essex, Great War, history, illness, injury, Lancashire, Malta, New Zealand, New Zealand Canterbury Regiment, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Job Jefferies

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Private Job Jefferies

Job Jefferies was born on 12th October 1889 in the city of Timaru, on New Zealand’s South Island. The sixth of ten children, his parents were William and Ada Jefferies.

There is little information available about Job’s early life, but by the time war broke out, he had moved to Kongahu, at the northern tip of South Island. He was working as a labourer, and was employed by the Public Works Department.

Job was quick to step up and serve his country. He enlisted in the New Zealand Infantry on 12th February 1915, and was assigned to the Canterbury Regiment. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 10.75ins (1.79m) tall, and weighed 170lbs (77.1kg).

Private Jefferies left New Zealand in the summer of 1915, and his service record makes for grim reading.

On 9th August 1915, Job’s unit arrived in the Dardanelles, and he was firmly entrenched in the fighting at Gallipoli. Wounded on 5th September, he was initially treated at a casualty clearing station, before being medically evacuated first to Malta, then to Britain. He was admitted to the No. 2 Western General Hospital in Manchester, Lancashire, and would spend the next seven months there.

On 12th May 1916, Private Jefferies was on the move, leaving his base in Hornchurch, Essex, for the Western Front. He re-joined his unit on 7th July, but just nine days later was wounded at the Somme. Medically evacuated to Britain again, he spent the next couple of months being moved between hospitals. Discharged back to base in Hornchurch, Essex at the end of September, he would spend the next four months recuperating once more.

By February 1917, it would seem that Private Jefferies had been moved to Sling Camp near Bulford, Wiltshire. While there, he fell ill, and was admitted to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in nearby Codford. He was suffering from pneumonia, and this time his body could take no more. Job passed away on 7th February 1917: he was 27 years of age.

Job Jefferies was laid to rest alongside his fellow soldiers in the ANZAC extension to St Mary’s Churchyard, Codford.

Private Job Jefferies
(from findagrave.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, New Zealand, New Zealand Wellington Regiment, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private John Kelland

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Private John Kelland

John Bodley Kelland was born on 4th June 1895 in Otakeho, on New Zealand’s North Island. The fifth of eight children, his parents were George and Mary Kelland. George died in 1902, and John’s mother married again: she and new husband Albert Bowers would have two further children.

There is little additional information available about John’s early life. He found work as a carrier when he left school, and by the time war broke out he was living in the town of Taumarunui. In his spare time, he seems to have volunteered for a local army brigade.

John formally enlisted on 24th July 1916. He joined up in Trentham, and was assigned to the New Zealand Wellington Regiment. His service records show that he was 5ft 9ins (1.75cm) tall and weighed 152lbs (68.9kg). A Roman Catholic, he had brown hair, grey eyes and a dark complexion.

Attached to B Company of the 19th Reinforcements, Private Kelland left his home country on 15th November 1916. He spent the next ten weeks on board the troop ship Tahiti, finally disembarking in Devonport, Devon, on 29th January 1917. From there his unit marched to Sling Camp near Bulford, Wiltshire, where many of the ANZAC troops were billeted.

Private Kelland’s time there was to be limited. His health had been impacted during the sea voyage, and he was admitted to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in Codford, Wiltshire, on 8th February. Suffering from pneumonia, his condition worsened: he passed away on 8th February 1917, at the age of just 21 years old.

John Bodley Kelland was thousands of miles from home. He was laid to rest alongside his comrades in the newly-extended graveyard to St Mary’s Church in Codford.

Private John Kelland
(from findagrave.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, New Zealand, New Zealand Canterbury Regiment, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Edward Boland

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Private Edward Boland

Edward James Boland was born on 14th August 1885 in the town of Darfield, on New Zealand’s South Island. Details of his early life are sketchy, but he was the fourth of nine children to Francis and Annie Boland.

When he finished his schooling, Edward found work as a farm labourer. In 1906, he married Ellen – or Nellie – Shea: their first child, son Raymond, was born the same year, and they would go on to have three more children by the time war was declared.

On 18th June 1916, Edward answered the call to serve the Empire. Enlisting in Trentham, he joined the New Zealand Canterbury Regiment as a Private. His service record notes that he was 5ft 8.5ins (1.74m) tall and weighed 144lbs (65.3kg). A Catholic, he had light brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. A scar on his right thigh was also recorded as a distinguishing mark.

On 16th October 1916, Private Boland left from Wellington on board the steam ship Willochra. His unit – the 18th Reinforcements – arrived in Devonport, Devon, ten weeks later. They were then marched to their base at Sling Camp near Bulford, Wiltshire.

The journey from New Zealand, impacted Edward’s health. At the end of January 1917, he was admitted to the 3rd NZ General Hospital in Codford, Wiltshire, suffering from broncho-pneumonia. His condition deteriorated and would take his life. Private Boland died on 4th February 1917: he was 31 years of age.

As he was thousands of miles from his home, Edward James Boland was instead laid to rest in the newly extended graveyard attached to St Mary’s Church in Codford.

Private Edward Boland
(from findagrave.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, New Zealand, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, photography, Rifleman, story, war, Wiltshire

Rifleman Bertram Winterburn

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Rifleman Bertram Winterburn

Bertram Winterburn was born in the city of Hutt, on New Zealand’s North Island, on 23rd April 1877. The oldest of eleven children, his parents were Arthur and Ada Winterburn. Arthur was a postmaster from South Island, and it would be here that he and Ada would raise their family.

There is little concrete information about Bertram’s life. The 1913 Post Office Directory records him as working as a labourer, and living in Otaki, a town back on North Island. He seems to have moved wherever the work took him, however, and, by the time war broke out, he was living in Hunterville, 110km (68 miles) further north.

Bertram stepped up to serve the empire when the call came. He enlisted in Trentham on 27th June 1916, and was assigned to the New Zealand Rifle Brigade.

Rifleman Winterburn left from Wellington on board the steam ship Willochra on 16th October 1916. His unit – H Company, 18th Reinforcements – would not arrive in Devonport, Devon, until 29th December. They were then marched to their base at Sling Camp near Bulford, Wiltshire.

The journey from New Zealand, would take its toll on the new recruits, with many falling ill before, or shortly after, they arrived. Bertram would not be immune from this and, at the end of January 1917, he was admitted to the 3rd NZ General Hospital in Codford, suffering from influenza. His condition worsened, developing into bronchitis, and this would take his life. Rifleman Winterburn died on 4th February 1917: he was 39 years of age.

Thousands of miles from his home, Bertram Winterburn was laid to rest in the newly extended graveyard attached to St Mary’s Church in Codford.

Commonwealth War Graves, County Cork, Dorset, Dublin, Fleet Surgeon, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Ireland, Kent, photography, story, war

Fleet Surgeon Edward Ward

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Fleet Surgeon Edward Ward

Edward Copley Ward was born in Charleville, County Cork, Ireland, on 2nd November 1862. The middle of three children, his parents were Thomas and Elizabeth Ward. Thomas died in 1868, and there is scant information about Edward’s life until he reached his early 20s.

It is clear that he had a focus on education, and a leaning towards the medical side of things. By December 1883, he had qualified as a Master Surgeon at the Royal University of Ireland, and was licenced in midwifery through the King & Queen’s College of Physicians.

Edward was not one to rest on his laurels, however, and he soon tasked himself to a naval career. On 21st August 1900 he was recorded on the Navy Lists as being a Fleet Surgeon, although there is little specific information about this service at this time.

MARRIAGES: WARD-CROWE

October 28, by special licence, at Kill Church… Staff-Surgeon Edward C Ward, RN, to Eleanor, daughter of the late Michael F Crowe, JP, of Melfield, Blackrock, County Dublin.

[Northern Whig: Saturday 1st November 1902]

Edward and Eleanor’s trail goes cold again at this point, and it is not until the 1911 census that we are able to pick them up again. By this point, Eleanor, now 45 years old, is living with four of her sisters, Kate, Charlotte, Isabella and Susanna in a house in Monkstown, Dublin. The family are supported by a domestic servant, Mary Collins.

Edward, meanwhile, was serving on board the battleship HMS Jupiter, which was moored in Weymouth Bay, Dorset. There were 548 crew members on board, and the now Fleet Surgeon Ward was one of seventeen commissioned officers, serving under Rear Admiral Arthur Limpus.

Over the next three years, Edward would serve on six further ships, but, by the time war was declared in the summer of 1914, he found himself shore-based. From December of that year, he served at HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent. His role: to oversee the treatment of incoming wounded troops, and their preparation for onward transport to whichever hospital they would end up.

Fleet Surgeon War would spend the next three years fulfilling this task, but, by the summer of 1917, it would be Edward himself who needed support. Admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, he was suffering from tubercular disease of the kidney, and it would be this condition to which he would succumb. He passed away on 7th August 1917, at the age of 54 years old.

The body of Edward Copley Ward was laid to rest with a simple headstone in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent, not far from the dockyard he had come to know as home.

Interestingly, when Edward’s estate went to probate, he left his estate – worth £1257 7s 11d (approximately £111,500 in today’s money) to Geoffrey Holt Stillwell, with no mention of Eleanor. Geoffrey was a member of a banking family from the south of England, who served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the 4th Hampshire Regiment.

Fleet Surgeon Edward Ward
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Chief Stoker, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Leading Stoker, photography, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, war

Chief Stoker Walter Pankhurst

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Chief Stoker Walter Pankhurst

Walter William Pankhurst was born on 21st March 1867, and was the third of four children – and the only son – to Thomas and Harriet Pankhurst. Thomas was a farm labourer from Staplehurst, Kent, but he and Harriet raised their family in Murston, to the east of Sittingbourne.

Walter initially followed his father into farm work, but he sought a bigger and better life and, on 3rd December 1888, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. His service records show that, at 21 years of age, he was 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, with dark hair, hazel eyes and a ruddy complexion.

Given the rank of Stoker 2nd Class, Walter was sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his training. In the summer of 1889 he was given his first posting, on board the gunboat HMS Pigmy, and she would remain his home for the next three-and-a-half years.

When he joined up, Walter had committed to twelve years’ service, and this time was not wasted. By the time his contracted came up for renewal, he had served on three further ships, returning to Chatham in between voyages. He had also progressed through the tanks, to Stoker 1st Class in January 1890, Leading Stoker 2nd Class in March 1897 and, with the renewal of his service, to Leading Stoker 1st Class in February 1901.

On 15th June 1904, Walter married Ellen Goddard. A gardener’s daughter from Eastling, Kent, by the time of their wedding, she was working as a domestic servant for a chemist in Hampstead, Middlesex. The couple exchanged their vows in St Stephen the Martyr’s Church, Hampstead, Ellen’s sister Susan acting as one of the witnesses.

Back in the Navy, Walter’s career continued its progression. Regularly noted as being of very good character, within three months of his wedding he was promoted to Acting Chief Stoker. By October 1905 the role was formalised, and he would end his naval career in December 1910 as Chief Stoker.

Stood down to reserve status, Walter made the move to civilian life. The 1911 census found him and Ellen living at 95 Glencoe Road, Chatham, a small terraced house with just four rooms. The couple had had three children by this point, and Susan was also living with them. A naval pensioner, Walter was still employed by the navy, and was working as a bootmaker’s labourer in the dockyard.

When war was declared in the summer of 1914, Chief Stoker Pankhurst was called into service once more. For the next couple of years he would be based at HMS Pembroke, either working in the dockyard’s boiler rooms or training new recruits.

In the spring of 1917, Walter was taken ill. He was suffering from haematemesis, and the condition was to prove his undoing. He passed away on 22nd May 1917, at the age of 50 years old.

The body of Walter William Pankhurst was laid to rest in the naval section of Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, a few miles from where Ellen was now living on Luton Road, Chatham.

By the time Walter passed, he and Ellen had had four children. His widow never remarried, but when she died, on 7th April 1961, she was buried alongside her husband. She was 90 years of age.

The couple’s eldest daughter, Nancy, remained a spinster throughout her life, initially supporting her mother after Walter died. Nancy was buried with her parents, when she died in 1995: she was also 90 years old.

Commonwealth War Graves, Deck Hand, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, Scotland, story, war

Deck Hand John McDonald

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Deck Hand John McDonald

Born in Laxay (Lacasaigh) on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, John Murdo McDonald was the son of Donald and Maggie McDonald. He can be readily identified on the 1901 census, which suggests that he was born in January of that year. The family do not appear on the 1911 census, and John’s trail quickly goes cold.

When war broke out, it would seem that John stepped up to play his part. He joined the Royal Naval Reserve – suggesting that he had some seafaring experience, but his service papers have been lost to time. There are at least four John Murdo McDonalds born around 1901, who all served in the Royal Naval Reserve. None of their service numbers match that of John’s, however.

By the summer of 1917, Deck Hand McDonald was serving on board the motor drifter Ocean’s Gift. The boat, little more than a trawler requisitioned by the Royal Navy, was used as a patrol ship around the Thames Estuary.

That July, John was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, Kent. He was suffering from tuberculosis, and this would ultimately take his life. He died on 2nd July 1917, aged just 17 years old.

The Isle of Lewis was an unimaginable distance from Kent, and so the body of John Murdo McDonald was not returned to his family. Instead, he was laid to rest in the naval section of Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, not far from the dockyard in Chatham, that had briefly been his home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, London, Merchant Navy, photography, Stoker, story, war

Stoker John Webb

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Stoker John Webb

John Robert Webb was born at the start of 1894, and was the youngest of eight children to William and Catherine Webb . William’s work as a wharf labourer found the family in Wapping, East London, and this is where John was born.

According to the 1901 census, the Webbs were living in rooms at 1 Meeting House Alley, close to the docks. William, Catherine and John were still living there in the next census, taken in 1911. By this point, John was 17 years of age, and employed as an office youth.

Over the next few years, John’s trail goes cold. By the time war broke out, he had changed careers, and was working as a Stoker for the Mercantile Marine Service. The boat he was assigned to – a tug named Labour – was based out of Chatham in Kent.

Sadly, there is only one more document connected to Stoker Webb, and that relates to his passing. His pension record confirms that he died on 18th December 1917 from an illness. While the location of his passing is unclear, it is likely to have been either at the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, or the town’s dockyard. He was 23 years of age.

The body of John Robert Webb was laid to rest in the military section of Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Kent, photography, Royal Navy, Ship's Steward, story, Suffolk, war

Ship’s Steward Archibald Wright

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Ship’s Steward Archibald Wright

Archibald Thomas Victor Wright was born on 3rd August 1883 in Portsmouth, Hampshire. The second of six children – all boys – his parents were George and Alice Wright. George was a gunner and lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and the seafaring life was an obvious choice for his son to follow as well.

Archibald joined the Royal Navy as a Ship’s Steward Boy on 14th September 1898. Just fifteen years old, he was too young for formally enlist but was sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his training.

Over the next three years, Archibald learnt the tools of his trade. He moved between establishments, from HMS Boscawen in Portland, Dorset, to HMS Excellent back in in Portsmouth. It was while on board the battleship HMS Glory, however, that he came of age, and was formally enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Ship’s Steward Assistant. His service records note that, on turning eighteen, he was 5ft 2in (1.58m) tall, with brown hair, dark brown eyes and a fresh complexion.

Ship’s Steward Assistant Wright’s contract was for twelve years, and during this time he would travel the world. By the summer of 1908 he had served on nine ships, returning to naval bases in Kent and Hampshire between voyages. On 15th June 1908 he was promoted to Acting Ship’s Steward, and just a few weeks later, he got married.

Ellen Osborne was born in Southampton just a month or so after her new husband. The daughter of a house furnisher’s clerk, by the time of the 1901 census she was employed as a boarding school teacher. After the couple married, she moved to Kent to be close to the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham (also known as HMS Pembroke), where Archibald would more frequently be based. The 1911 census return found her lodging with Lillie Calcutt at 112 Shakespeare Road in Gillingham, Kent.

Archibald’s career, meanwhile, was continuing apace. On 24th September 1909 he was promoted to Ship’s Steward proper, and in August 1913, when his original term of service came to an end, he quickly renewed it. By now, his service records show that he had had a few tattoos added to his arms: a girl on his right arm, a dragon on his upper left, and two cockerels on his lower left arm. Now 30 years of age, he stood 6ft tall (1.83m) tall, and, intriguingly, his eyes were now recorded as being blue.

Ship’s Steward Wright’s career trajectory does not seem to have been without its hiccups, however. Where his annual review up until 1909 have consistently given his character as very good, from hereon in, it dipped to just good. His ability also began to vary, from very good in 1909, to superior for the following couple of years, to just satisfactory in 1913 and 1915.

Archibald spent the last few years of the war split between HMS Pembroke and HMS Ganges – the training base just outside Ipswich, Suffolk. In January 1918, he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, following an epileptic fit. This was to prove fatal, and he passed away on 15th January. He was 34 years of age.

Interestingly, Ship’s Steward Wright’s pension ledger gives a damning insight into his health and mental well-being at the time of his passing. It noted the cause of his death as epilepsy aggravated by alcoholism, adding that the disease was neither contracted on nor aggravated by [active service], but due to his own serious negligence or misconduct.

Archibald Thomas Victor Wright was laid to rest in the military section of Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, not far from the dockyard he had called home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Naval Instructor, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Navy, story, Surrey, war

Naval Instructor George Carter

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Naval Instructor George Carter

George Leslie Lewis Carter was born at the start of 1891 in New Cross, Kent. The oldest of three children, his parents were laundry managers William and Isabel Carter.

The Carters’ work seemed to take them across South London and the 1891 census found them living in Hammersmith. George’s two siblings had been born by this point, one in Gravesend, Kent, the other in Richmond, Surrey.

By 1911, William and Isabel had moved the family to Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. That year’s census recorded them as living at 142 London Road, which was noted as being a 12-roomed property. The couple were managing a laundry – possibly living in at the laundry itself. George was recorded as being a university student, while his younger brother Lionel was at school. The family also had a housekeeper, Frances Stoke, living with them.

When George finished his studies, he found employment as an Assistant Paymaster with the Royal Naval Reserve. On 15th February 1916, he married Ada Ritchie. She was a merchant’s daughter from Long Ditton, Surrey, and the couple exchanged vows in her local parish church.

At this point, George’s trail goes cold. He became attached to the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon – also known as HMS Pomone – and took on the role of Naval Instructor. It is unclear what type of instructing he was doing, but it seems likely to have been connected with the administration or financial part of the Royal Navy.

The funeral of Naval Instructor George Leslie Lewis Carter, Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, who died on Monday from pneumonia following an attack of influenza, took place on Wednesday morning…

The mourners were Mrs Carter (widow), Mrs Carter, Surbiton (mother), Mr Carter (brother), and Mr Jamieson Ritchie, London (brother-in-law)…

[Dartmouth & South Hams Chronicle: Friday 2nd August 1918]

Naval Instructor Carter was 27 years of age when he died on 29th July 1918. The newspaper article’s distinction between Ada and Isabel would suggest that Ada may have been living in Dartmouth at the time as well.

George Leslie Lewis Carter was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Clement’s Church in Dartmouth, Devon.