Category Archives: injury

Canada, Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Kent, photography, Private, story, Surrey, Sussex, war, Wiltshire

Private Archibald Leal

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Private Archibald Leal

Archibald Edmund Leal was born in Tinwood, West Sussex on 13th September 1894. The youngest of six children, his parents were George and Clara Leal. George was a dairyman, and, by the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to a terraced cottage at 66 Newland Road in Worthing.

Clara died in 1906, and Archibald – who was better known as Archie – and two of his siblings took the opportunity to seek a better life across the Atlantic. In 1910, the three of them – Archie, brother Phillip and sister Winifred – emigrated to Canada, settling in Breakeyville, to the south of Quebec.

Archie found work as a chauffeur, but when war was declared, he was quick to step up and serve his King and Empire. He enlisted on 10th September 1914, joining the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a Private. His service records show that he was 5ft 6in (1.67m) tall, with fair hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion. He was also noted as having “very many [acne] scars over [his] chest and back.”

Assigned to the 15th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry, Private Leal sailed to Britain, arriving at Tidworth Camp in Wiltshire on 12th February 1915. By April he was in France, and, on 28th July he was in a front line trench near the town of Ypres. A shell exploded nearby and, in seeking shelter, he badly twisted his ankle and back. Medically evacuated to Britain, Archie spent a month recuperating at the Royal Herbert Hospital in Woolwich, Kent, before returning to his unit in Wiltshire.

By December 1915, Private Leal was back on the Western Front and remained there for the next five months. In April his unit was on the front line, and he was injured in his right leg when a rifle grenade exploded. Archie was initially treated by a field ambulance, but his injury was such that evacuation to Britain was again necessary. He was admitted to the County of London War Hospital in Epsom, Surrey, but had contracted tetanus by this point. This was to prove fatal, and his body succumbed on 10th May 1916: he was 21 years of age.

The body of Archibald Edmund Leal was taken back to Worthing for burial. He was laid to rest with full military honours in the town’s Broadwater Cemetery. A local newspaper reported that “Private Leal, although not a Canadian, was possessed of true Colonial grit, and had had his full share of active service.” [Sussex Daily News: Wednesday 17th May 1916]

Private Archibald Leal
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Household Battalion, illness, injury, photography, story, Sussex, Trooper, Uncategorized, war

Trooper Ernest Mitchell

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Trooper Ernest Mitchell

Ernest Henry Mitchell was born in the autumn of 1889 in Worthing, West Sussex. The second of five children, he was the eldest son of Frederick and Rhoda Mitchell. Frederick was a baker and confectioner, and the family lived in and around the town centre. The 1891 census found them at 29 West Buildings; ten years later they were living at 7 Clifton Road; the 1911 census recorded the family at 62 Chapel Road.

By this point, FW Mitchell’s was a well known bakery, and would remain so through to the 1960s. The Chapel Road shop was bombed during the Second World War, and the family moved the business to North Road.

The 1911 census showed what the bakery has become. Frederick and Rhoda were running the business, while their three sons – Ernest, Reginald and Frederick Jr – were also involved. Their eldest daughter, Rhoda Jr, was an elementary school teacher, while their youngest child, Edgar, was still at school. The Chapel Road property was a bustling affair: the Mitchells employed four live-in servants: Emily Lyon, Annie Dannage, and Mabel Swan as shop assistants, and Edith Blunden as a domestic.

FW Mitchell’s bakery, Worthing

Away from work, Ernest showed other talents. “He was possessed of musical inclinations, and was at one time a member of the Choir of the Congregational Church, as well as of the Choral Society.” [Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 31st October 1917]

In January 1913, Ernest married Constance Banwell. She was the eldest daughter of nurseryman Henry Banwell and his wife, Ellen, and lived on Christchurch Road, not far from the Mitchells’ shop.

When war broke out, Ernest stepped up to serve his country. His service records show that, while he enlisted on 9th December 1915, he was not formally mobilised until March 1917. As a Trooper, he was assigned to the Household Battalion, and, after a brief period of training, he soon found himself in the thick of things.

The Household Battalion fought at Arras in the spring of 1917, but it was at Passchendaele that Ernest’s war was to come to an end. Wounded in the leg on 6th October – just three months after arriving in France – he was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Admitted to No. 2 War Hospital in Birmingham, he initially recuperated, but pneumonia took over and Trooper Mitchell succumbed. He passed away on 26th October 1917, at the age of 28 years old.

The body was removed from Birmingham, arriving in Worthing at midnight on Monday; and the internment took place at the Cemetery yesterday afternoon [20th October]. Among those who attended the ceremony were two soldier brothers of the deceased – RA Mitchell, who is in the Royal Flying Corps; and FE Mitchell, of the Middlesex Regiment. Still another brother is serving his Country in a Military capacity. This is Fred Mitchell, formally Organist of the Congregational Church, who is in the Army Service Corps, and was unable to be present yesterday, for he is now in Hospital in Wiltshire.

[Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 31th October 1917]

Ultimately, Ernest Henry Mitchell would be the only one of his siblings to pay the ultimate price while serving his country. He was laid to rest in the family plot in Broadwater Cemetery, on the then outskirts of the home town.

Ernest’s headstone also pays tribute to Alan Frederick Gill, who died in April 1925. This was his sister Rhoda’s child, who died at just four-and-a-half years old.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Machine Gun Corps, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Victor Creed

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Private Victor Creed

Herbert Victor Creed was born in Warminster, Wiltshire, towards the end of 1898. One of eight children, his parents were David and Mary Creed. Davis was a railway porter, and, at the time of the 1911 census, the family were living at 41 Vicarage Street, to the west of the town centre.

When he finished his schooling, Herbert – who had begun to be known by his middle name – found employment working alongside his father. When war broke out, however, he stepped up to play his part. His service papers have been lost to time, but it is clear that he enlisted by the spring of 1918, and he was attached to the Machine Gun Corps.

Private Creed was sent to the Western Front. Where and when he served is not known, but he would definitely have been in the thick of it.

Victor Hubert Creed [sic] (21), third son of Mr and Mrs DJ Creed… who was attached to the Machine Gun Corps, was seriously wounded in action on October 21st. He was taken t a hospital in Manchester, where he passed away on Friday.

[Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser: Saturday 9th November 1918]

Herbert Victor Creed – plain Victor to his friends – was 21 years of age when he died on 1st November 1918. His body was taken back to Wiltshire for burial and he was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Denys’ Church.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire, Wiltshire Regiment

Private Harry Carr

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Private Harry Carr

Harry James Carr was born on 17th October 1893 in Warminster, Wiltshire. The youngest of four children, his parents were Joseph and Annie Carr. Joseph was a plasterer and tiles, and also a sexton for the local church: the 1901 and 1911 census returns found the family living at 22 Church Street, towards the west of the town centre.

When Harry completed his schooling, he found work as a plasterer alongside his father. War was coming, and he stepped up to play his part. Full service records have been lost to time, but he would have enlisted no later than the summer of 1916, joining the 1st Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment. Private Carr’s unit became entrenched on the Western Front, fighting at the Somme during that year.

Harry was wounded during the Battle of Ancre Heights. The details of his injuries are unclear, but they were bad enough for him to be medically evacuated for treatment. Admitted to the Graylingwell Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex, he would remain there for the next four months. Ultimately, his wounds were too severe: Private Carr passed away on 17th February 1917, aged just 23 years old.

The funeral took place at the Minster on Thursday of Pte. Harry James… The deceased was the youngest son of Mr and Mrs J Carr, the respected sexton and sextoness for many years at the Minster Church.

[Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser: Saturday 24th February 1917]

Harry James Carr was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Denys’ Church, in his home town of Warminster.

Berkshire, Canada, Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Company Sergeant Major, Great War, history, injury, Kent, Middlesex, Middlesex Regiment, photography, Sergeant, story, war

Company Sergeant Major George Mote

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Company Sergeant Major George Mote

George Arthur Mote was born on the 25th August 1888 in Islington, Middlesex. The oldest of three children, his parents were Arthur and Norah Mote. The 1891 census recorded Arthur as a shoemaker’s finishing ink maker and the family had taken rooms at 45 Wyatt Road in Islington.

The next census return, taken in 1901, found that Arthur had been promoted, and was now a foreman or a leather dyer. The family had moved around the corner from the old address, and were living in rooms at 193 Blackstock Road.

At this point, George’s trail goes cold. By the autumn of 1914, he had emigrated to Canada, and was working as a corset cutter in Quebec. With war having broken out in Europe, it was here that he enlisted to serve his empire.

Goegre’s service records confirm the young man he had become. Standing 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall, he had black hair, blue eyes and a dark complexion. A number of scars were also noted on his left forearm, the middle finger of his right hand, and on the left side of his neck.

While back in Britain, George had volunteered for the Middlesex Regiment, and this experience stood him in good stead, as he enlisted with the rank of Sergeant.

Attached to the 3rd Battalion of the Canadian Infantry, Sergeant Mote arrived in St Nazaire, France, on 11th February 1915. His unit was thrown into the deep end from the start, and George’s actions at the Second Battle of Ypres that spring won him the DCM. By the autumn, he had been promoted to Company Sergeant Major.

George continued to serve on the Western Front, but his luck was to change. On 5th June 1916, he was badly injured, receiving gunshot wounds to his right shoulder and back. Medically evacuated to Britain, he was admitted to Fort Pitt Hospital in Chatham, Kent. His medical records noted than he was paralysed, and, in October 1916, he was transferred to the Duchess of Connaught Hospital in Taplow, Berkshire.

Company Sergeant Major Mote spent the next four months admitted to the hospital, but his wounds would prove too severe to overcome. He passed away on 6th February 1917 at the age of 28 years old.

George Arthur Mote’s body was taken back to Middlesex for burial. He was laid to rest in the majestic Highgate Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, County of London Yeomanry, Egypt, Great War, history, injury, Northumberland Fusiliers, photography, Private, Second Lieutenant, story, Surrey, war

Second Lieutenant Dudley Weedon

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Second Lieutenant Dudley Weedon

Dudley Harry Weedon was born in Islington, Middlesex in the spring of 1891. The second of two children, his parents were solicitor’s clerk Thomas Weedon and his wife, Frances.

When Dudley finished his schooling, he also found work as a clerk. The 1911 census recorded the Weedon family living at a prestigious address – an eight roomed Victorian villa at 59 Canonbury Park North, Islington. Thomas was still employed as a solicitor’s clerk, Dudley as a clerk for a corn merchant, and his older brother, Horace, as a clerk for a mining company.

War came to Europe in the summer of 1914, and Dudley was keen to step up and play his part. He enlisted early on, joining the 1st/2nd County of London Yeomanry, also known as the Westminster Dragoons. The regiment spent most of the war in the Middle East, and by November 1914, Private Weedon found himself in Egypt.

Dudley would spend the next year or so overseas, and was sent to, and evacuated from, Gallipoli. In February 1916, he received a promotion – to the rank of Second Lieutenant – this increase in rank coming with a transfer to the Northumberland Fusiliers. His new unit – the 8th (Service) Battalion – had also served in the Dardanelles, but by that summer they had moved to France.

Second Lieutenant Weedon spent the next eighteen months on the Western Front, fighting at Messines and at Ypres. It was here, possibly at the Battle of Polygon Wood, that Dudley was injured. Details are unclear, but his wounds were sever enough for him to be medically evacuated to Britain for treatment.

Dudley was admitted to a hospital in Roehampton, Surrey, but his injuries were to prove too severe. He passed away on 20th November 1917, at the age of 26 years old.

Dudley Harry Weedon was laid to rest in Highgate Cemetery, not far from his grieving family’s home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Kent, Middlesex, photography, Private, Royal Army Medical Corps, story, Sussex, war

Private Frank Belthle

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Private Frank Belthle

Frank Hermann Belthle was born in Dartford, Kent, on 25th June 1893. The oldest of four children, his parents were German-born Frederick Emil Hermann Belthle and his wife Elizabeth, who came from Surrey.

Frederick – who was better known as Hermann – was a manufacturer compressed tablets and pills. By the time of the 1901 census, he had moved his family to Aldrington, Sussex, were the set up home at 58 Westbourne Street. They had the house to themselves, unlike their neighbours, with two or three families sharing each property.

Hermann took the family to where work required him, and between 1903 – when Frank’s youngest sibling was born – and 1911, they relocated to London. Now seventeen years old, Frank was assisting his father in the business, and that business was obviously paying dividend: the Belthles’ new home was the 8-roomed house at 106 Barnsbury Road, Islington. Again, they occupied the whole building, while others in the street renting just a couple of rooms.

The outbreak of war must have had an impact on German national Hermann and his family. Frank looks to have stepped up to play his part, however, joining the Royal Army Medical Corps, possibly because of the medical training he had picked up through the family business.

There is little documentation about Private Belthle service, although he was awarded the Military Medal. By the summer of 1917, his unit – the 14th Field Ambulance – was supporting troops at Arras. While here, on 9th May, he was badly wounded, and medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. His injuries were to prove too severe, however, and, on 25th June 1917, he passed away: it was his 24th birthday.

Frank Belthle was laid to rest in the majestic Highgate Cemetery.

After the war, Hermann continued with his business. Things were more difficult for the family, however and, while they had moved to the prestigious Lonsdale Square, Islington, they were one of six families taking rooms in the large Georgian terrace.

Hermann passed away in the autumn of 1932, at the age of 70: he was laid to rest alongside his son in Highgate Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Kent, Lance Corporal, Middlesex, photography, Private, Royal Marines, story, war

Lance Corporal William King

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Lance Corporal William King

William James King was born on 7th March 1883 in Kensington, Middlesex. He was the fourth of eight children to bricklayer and builder’s labourer John King and his wife, Hannah.

There is little specific information available about William’s early life. The 1891 census found the family living at 16 Burlington Mews in Paddington, but he does not appear on any census returns after this date.

On 4th August 1906, William married Marion Oliver. Born in Chelsea, she was the daughter of a house painter, and the couple exchanged vows in St Luke’s Church, Paddington. The marriage certificate noted William’s trade as a bricklayer, and the couple went on to have two children: daughter Gwendoline, born in 1911, and son Henry, born two years later.

When war came to Europe, William was quick to step up and play his part. He enlisted on 5th October 1914, joining the Royal Marines. His service records show that he was 5ft 4ins (1,62m) tall, with brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

Sent to Deal, Kent for training, Private King was initially assigned to the 2nd Field Company of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. Appointed to the rank of Lance Corporal he soon found himself ensconced at Gallipoli. On 15th May he was medically evacuated to Britain with an injury to his spinal cord. Admitted to Charing Cross Hospital, London, he was discharged from the army on 27th March 1916.

William’s treatment was ongoing, and by the autumn of 1916, he had been admitted to Gillingham Hospital in Kent. It was here that he would died, passing away on 20th November: he was 33 years of age.

William John King was laid to rest in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent.

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, injury, Kent, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, Scotland, story, Suffolk, war

Able Seaman Frederick Dennington

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Able Seaman Frederick Dennington

Frederick Dennington was born in Wrentham, Suffolk, on 18th February 1877. The youngest of eleven children, his parents were William and Eliza Dennington. William was a house painter, and the family lived in a cottage on Southwold Road on the outskirts of the village.

Frederick was not to follow his father’s trade, and when he completed his schooling he found employment as a groom. Working with horses was one thing, but he wanted to make a bigger splash in the world, and so, on 28th April 1892, he joined the Royal Navy.

Too young to formally enlist, Frederick was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and was sent to HMS Impregnable, the training ship moored at Queensferry on the Firth of Forth, for his induction. Over the next three years, Boy Dennington would learn the tools of his trade, and spent time on another training vessel – HMS Lion – and at HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent.

In June 1893, Frederick was promoted to Boy 1st Class, and the following January he was assigned to HMS Satellite. She was a composite screw corvette, and would remain his home for the next three years. During this time, he proved he came of age, and was formally inducted into the Royal Navy.

Give the rank of Ordinary Seaman, Frederick’s service papers give an insight into the man he was becoming. Short of stature – he was noted as being 5ft 1.5ins (1.56m) tall – he had dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion. He was also noted as having tattoos on both of his forearms, and rings tattooed on the fingers of his his right hand.

Ordinary Seaman Dennington seemed to impress his superiors and on 5th December 1895 – just ten months after coming of age – he was promoted to the rank of Able Seaman. His contract had tied him to the navy for twelve years, and during that time, Frederick would serve on five further ships. In between each of his assignments, he returned to Chatham, and this would become his longer-term base.

Frederick’s term of service came up for renewal in February 1907, and he immediately re-enlisted. His papers show that he was now 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall, and his eyes were more grey-blue than grey. While he remained at the rank of Able Seaman, his character was always noted as being very good, and his ability as superior.

Able Seaman Dennington went on to serve on five ships over the next nine years, including three years of HMS Blenheim, and the same length of time on board HMS Duncan. By the autumn of 1916, with war raging across Europe, Frederick had clocked up 24 years in naval service.

By this point, Frederick was unwell. He was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, Kent, with a stricture of the urethra. This was to be a condition that that he would succumb to, and he passed away on 9th December 1916, at the age of 39 years old.

The body of Frederick Dennington was laid to rest in Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, not far from the naval base that has become his second home.

Frederick never married. His probate record confirms that his effects – totalling £147 2s (worth £16,350 in today’s money) – was left to his father, William.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, injury, photography, Royal Fusiliers, Sergeant, South Africa, story, war

Serjeant George Bailey

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Serjeant George Bailey

George Grove Bailey was born towards the end of 1873, in the Hampshire town of Lymington. He was the second of two children to John and Emma Bailey. John was a butler, but when Emma died when their youngest boy was just two years old, he seems to have changed career. The 1881 census found the family living at 45 High Street, Lymington, not far from the school and the Church of St Thomas the Apostle.

While he had the support of domestic servant Mary Ann, John was still young and, in 1884, he married again. His new bride was Sarah Woodman, and the couple would go on to have a daughter, Edith, two years later.

George falls off the radar at this point, and it is only from a newspaper report of his funeral in June 1918 that we are able to fill in some of the details:

The funeral took place on Monday afternoon of Sergt. George Bailey, youngest son of Mr John Bailey, of Highfield, Lymington, who passed away in the military hospital at Brighton, following a short illness. The deceased, who was 45 years of age, and was recently married, served in the South African War, and joined up at the commencement of the present war, being for some twelve months in the Fusiliers at the front. He was wounded, and since his return to this country has been acting as sergt.-instructor.

[Hampshire Advertiser: Saturday 15th June 1918]

George’s new wife was Winifred Mary Bailey, but there is little additional information about her. His regiment – the 5th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers – was based on home soil, and would not have been the unit with which he had served on the Western Front. It’s not possible, therefore, to determine where he fought, or how he was wounded.

George Grove Bailey was buried in the family plot in the graveyard of St Thomas’ Church, Lymington, not far from where his father’s shop had been. John, who had been working as a poor rate collector, died a year after his son, and was laid to rest alongside his wife and youngest child.