Category Archives: injury

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, Corporal, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, injury, Lance Corporal, photography, Private, Scotland, story, Suffolk, war, West Midlands

Corporal Stanley Vinton

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Corporal Stanley Vinton

Stanley William Vinton was born on 30th April 1898 in Dartmouth, Devon. The second of eight children, his parents were William and Kate. William was an outfitter’s assistant, and by the time of the 1911 census, the family of ten were living in a four-roomed cottage on South Ford Road.

When he finished his schooling, Stanley was apprenticed to a shipwright. Away from work, he volunteered with the Dartmouth Cadet Company, and was drawn towards an army career. On 25th May 1914, he enlisted, joining the 7th (Cyclist) Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. His service records show that he gave his age as 17 years and four months old. He was 5ft 6.5ins (1.69m) tall, and weighed 154lbs (69.9kg). Private Vinton was of good physical development and had good eyesight.

Stanley was formally mobilised on 5th August 1914. He remained on home soil for the next three years, primarily because soldiers were unable to fight on the Western Front until they turned 19 years of age. During this time, he appears to have impressed his superiors: in July 1916 he was promoted to Lance Corporal, and just four months later he rose to full Corporal.

In July 1917, Stanley’s chance to see some action arrived, when he was posted to the 2nd Battalion, and sent overseas. This move came with a caveat, however, and he reverted to the rank of Private. It was a challenging time for the regiment, and Stanley quickly found himself in the thick of it at Passchendaele.

On 30th November 1917, after four months on the Western Front, Private Vinton’s luck came to end. Caught up in the fighting, he was wounded in his left thigh by shrapnel and the fingers of his left hand by a gun shot wound. He was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and admitted to the Edinburgh War Hospital in Bangour.

Thankfully, the injury to Stanley’s hand was minimal, but his leg took longer to heal, and he remained in hospital for more than two months. When he was discharged, Private Vinton was transferred to the regiment’s command depot in Sutton Coldfield. In March 1918, he was promoted to Corporal, but his injured leg was still causing him discomfort. In the end, he was reassigned to a munitions works in Lowestoft, Suffolk, and this is where he would spend the remainder of the year.

Stanley’s constitution was weakened by this point, and that winter, he contracted influenza. The condition was to prove fatal, and he passed away on 2nd December 1918. He was just 20 years of age.

The body of Stanley William Vinton was taken back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Clement’s Church, Dartmouth, high above the town’s centre, but within walking distance of his grieving family’s home.

Able Seaman, Berkshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Hampshire, history, injury, Leading Seaman, London, photography, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, story, Surrey, war

Leading Seaman Frederick Tillier

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Leading Seaman Frederick Tillier

Frederick Francis Charles Vizzard was born on 12th December 1894 in Ottershaw, Surrey. The younger of two children, his parents were nurseryman Frederick Vizzard and his wife, Frances.

Details of Frederick Jr’s life are a challenge to unpick. Frederick Sr had died in 1909, and is seems that from this point on, he used his mother’s maiden name, Tillier, as his own. He found work as a labourer, and this is what he was doing when war broke out.

By this point Frederick had moved to Reading, Berkshire, and he was living in a small terraced house at 12 Highgrove Street. He enlisted in the Royal Naval Division on 18th October 1915, and was mobilised six months later.

Frederick’s records show that he was 5ft 7.5ins (1.71m) tall, with brown hair and grey eyes. He joined as an Able Seaman, which would suggest some previous experience, although there are no records to confirm this.

Able Seaman Tillier’s time in the navy seems to have been spent on shore. He was initially sent to Portsmouth, Hampshire, where he served on HMS Victory and HMS Excellent. On 19th December 1916, Frederick was reassigned to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a Leading Seaman, and sent to HMS President, the unit’s shore base near Tower Bridge in London.

Frederick would remain attached to HMS President for the next couple of years. The next entry on his service papers states that he was admitted to the Cottage Hospital in Dartmouth, Devon, as he was very seriously injured. What those injuries were, and how he received them is unclear, but Leading Seaman Tillier would succumb to them on 26th May 1918. He was 23 years of age.

Frederick Frances Charles Tillier was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Clement’s Church in Dartmouth.

Leading Seaman Tillier
(from ancestery.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, injury, Machine Gun Corps, photography, Private, story, war

Private John Lethaby

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Private John Lethaby

The news of the death of ex-Gunner JC Lethaby, who passed away early on Monday morning last. was received… with deep regret. On the outbreak of war he was only 16 years old, but when the call came for volunteers, he put his age to 19 and enlisted. He proved his worth on the battlefields of Flanders and after being wounded, was gassed, his work as a first class machine gunner calling him into much danger. He recovered from his injuries to some extent, but after demobilisation, his health broke down and he gradually sank. His pain and suffering during the past months were borne with much patience. Last week he earnestly begged to be removed to his home… and he was brought by motor car.. on Sunday afternoon, but he passed away the next morning. He leaves a wife and child to mourn their loss, and sympathy is expressed with them as also with his mother, father, brothers and sisters… Always of a cheerful disposition deceased had a host of friends, especially among the young men of the parish. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and was entitled to the 1915-1915 Bronze Star.

[Tiverton Gazette (Mid-Devon Gazette): Tuesday 15th June 1920]

Despite the John Charles Lethaby’s obituary, there is little additional information about his early life. He does not appear on the 1901 or 1911 census returns, and there is no obvious sign of a birth or marriage certificate.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission gives his wife’s name as Clara, and a later military record suggests that she moved to Hitchin, Hertfordshire, after her husband’s death. The 1921 census noted that she was living with her parents, Arthur and Eliza King, and had her daughter, Ada, with her.

The newspaper report suggests that John was born in 1898, which would have made him 22 when he died on 7th June 1920. His headstone gives his age as 25, which would fit in with the obituary commenting that he had added three years to his age in order to enlist. He appears to have joined the 3rd Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment, before transferring across to the Machine Gun Corps.

John Charles Lethaby was discharged from army on medical grounds on 19th April 1919. He died of pulmonary tuberculosis just over a year later, and was laid to rest in All Saints’ Churchyard, North Molton, Devon.

Australia, Commonwealth War Graves, Essex, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, injury, New Zealand, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, photography, Rifleman, story, war, Wiltshire

Rifleman Thomas Telford

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Rifleman Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford was born in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, Australia, on 31st July 1873. The fifth of eleven children, his parents were James and Mary Telford.

There is little additional information about Thomas’ early life. By the time war broke out, he had moved to New Zealand, and was working as a bushman, based out of Whanganui on the south coast of North Island.

Thomas enlisted on 18th January 1916, and would be assigned to the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. His service records show that, at 42 years of age, he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall, and weighed 149lbs (67.6kg). A Roman Catholic, he had iron grey hair, blue eyes and fair hair.

Rifleman Telford’s unit left New Zealand in the spring of 1916. After five weeks in Egypt, he arrived on British soil on 7th August, marching from Southampton, Hampshire, to the Sling Camp in Wiltshire.

By 20th August, Thomas was in France, fighting on the front line. He was injured less than three weeks later and, after initial treatment in France, he was medically evacuated to Britain at the end of September.

Rifleman Telford spent time convalescing in a military home in Hornchurch, Essex, before being transferred to the ANZAC base in Codford, Wiltshire. That winter he contracted pneumonia, and he was admitted to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital on the outskirts of the village.

Sadly, the lung condition was to prove the better of Thomas. He passed away on 2nd February 1917, at the age of 43 years old.

Thousands of miles from home, Thomas Telford was laid to rest in the graveyard extension to St Mary’s Church in Codford, not far from where he had breathed his last.

Commonwealth War Graves, Egypt, Essex, Great War, Greece, history, illness, injury, Lance Corporal, Middlesex, New Zealand, New Zealand Otago Regiment, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private James McLeod

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Private James McLeod

James McLeod was born on 15th April 1893 in Dunedin, New Zealand. There is little further information about his early life, although the Commonwealth War Graves Commission give his father’s name as Samuel, and his service records note his next-of-kin as his brother, George McLeod.

James was employed by A&T Watt as a French polisher. However, he gave that up on 25th January 1915, when he enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. His service records show that he was 5ft 8.5ins (1.74m) tall, and weighed 166lbs (75.3kg). He was recorded a having fair hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Private McLeod was assigned to the New Zealand Otago Regiment, and undertook his initial training on home soil. He evidently showed some promise as, on 1st May, he was promoted to Lance Corporal. Six weeks later his unit was heading for Europe, and by the summer James was in Egypt.

On 20th August 1915, Private McLeod was admitted to the New Zealand and Australian Convalescent Hospital in Mena with a gun shot wound to his finger. He remained there for three weeks, returning to his unit in time for them to leave for the Dardanelles on 7th November 1915.

What happened to James over the next couple of months is uncertain. Certainly he was on the Greek island of Moudros by 18th November and in the Dardanelles on 7th December 1915. Just 20 days later he was back in Alexandria, and he would remain there for the next few months. There is, however, nothing in his medical record to suggest that his return to Egypt was on health reasons.

On 6th April 1916, Private McLeod was on the move again, this time to France. He was wounded again on 14th July 1916, and medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Details of this injury are not clear, but he was admitted to the 2nd London General Hospital in Chelsea, Middlesex. After a month recuperating, James was released from hospital and sent to camp in Hornchurch, Essex. At this point he was also demoted to Private, although, again, the reason is unclear: it may have been a personal choice, or the reversion may have been connected to his injuries.

In September 1916, Private McLeod was transferred to the ANZAC Camp on the outskirts of Codford, Wiltshire. That winter he contracted pleurisy, and he was admitted to the No. 3 New Zealand Hospital, which was connected to the camp, on Christmas Day. His condition worsened, and James passed away from pneumonia on 28th December 1916. He was just 23 years of age.

Thousands of miles from home, James McLeod was laid to rest alongside his fellow soldiers in the extension to the graveyard of St Mary’s Church, Codford.

Berkshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, injury, Lieutenant, photography, Rifle Brigade, Second Lieutenant, story, war

Lieutenant Charles Vanstone

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Lieutenant Charles Vanstone

Charles Douglas Howard Vanstone was born in Paignton, Devon, on 27th October 1888. The fourth of seven children, he was the second son to Frederick and Charlotte Vanstone. Frederick was an architect’s surveyor and civil engineer, and the family lived comfortably in the seaside town.

The 1891 census found them living at Sorrento, a villa on Esplanade Road, overlooking the sea. By the time of the next census, they had moved to Torbay Park, and lived in a 12-room property. The family’s three sons all followed in their father’s trade, and, according to the 1911 return, four of the Vanstones were recorded as being civil engineer architects and surveyors.

When war came to Europe, Charles stepped up to play his part. He received a commission in August 1915 and, as a Second Lieutenant, was assigned to the Rifle Brigade. Attached to the 15th (Reserve) Battalion, the records suggest that he was in France by 23rd March 1916.

Lieutenant Vanstone seems to have been part of a Trench Mortar unit at the Somme. Wounded during the battle, he was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Admitted to the Reading War Hospital in Berkshire, his injuries were to prove too severe. Charles passed away on 7th February 1917: he was 28 years of age.

Charles Douglas Howard Vanstone’s body was brought back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in his home town’s sweeping cemetery.

Charles’ death was the third loss for the Vanstone family in as many years. His older sister, Constance, had died in 1914, while his younger brother, Stanley, a Lieutenant in the 20th Royal Fusiliers, died of wounds he received on the Western Front in October 1915. Just 25 years of age, he is buried in Merville Communal Cemetery, France.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, injury, Labour Corps, London Regiment, photography, Private, story, war

Private George Whiteway

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Private George Whiteway

George William John Whiteway was born in Paignton, Devon, on 4th February 1893. The youngest of three children, and the only son, his parents were William and Sarah Whiteway.

William was a journeyman painter, and from at least when his son was born, the family lived in a small terraced house, 9 Tower Road, on the outskirts of the town centre.

By the time of the 1911 census, George had completed his schooling, and was working as an apprentice painter. It is unclear whether this was under his father’s tutelage, as he gave his employment as verger and caretaker of the local parish church.

When war broke out, George stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in Torquay on 1st December 1915, and his service records note that he was of good physical development, stood 5ft 6.25ins (1.68m), and weighed 126lbs (57.2kg). He was also recorded as having light brown hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion.

Initially assigned to the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, Private Whiteway was transferred to the London Regiment and attached to the 3rd/21st Battalion. By the summer of 1916 George had transferred to the 1st/21st (County of London) Battalion, also known as the First Surrey Rifles. On 15th June his unit was sent to France, and he soon found himself in fighting on the Somme.

Private Whiteway’s time in France was to be a brief one. Caught up in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, he was wounded in the back and neck, and, after initial treatment on site, he was medically evacuated to Britain.

It is unclear where George was first admitted, but by February 1917, he was being tended to in the Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital in his home town, Paignton. He remained there for a couple of month, before being released back to duty.

Private Whiteway’s time fighting was over. He was transferred to the 619th Home Service Employment Company of the Labour Corps, and would spend the next year in and around Winchester, Hampshire. It is evident, however, that George’s health had been impacted. By March 1918 he was in hospital again, this time close to his army base. Suffering from a combination of peritonitis and tuberculosis, the contagious nature of the latter condition would lead to his dismissal from military service, and he was formally stood down on 29th April 1918.

At this point, George’s trail goes cold. It seems likely that he returned home, as his death was recorded in Totnes, Devon. He breathed his last on 25th August 1918: he was 25 years of age.

George William John Whiteway was laid to rest in Paignton Cemetery, a short walk from his family home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Grenadier Guards, Guardsman, history, injury, photography, story, Sussex, war

Guardsman Frederick Madge

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Guardsman Frederick Madge

Frederick Walter Smith Madge was born on 29th April 1886 and was the youngest of three children to Walter and Elizabeth. Walter was a painter from Paignton, and it was in the Devon town that the family was raised.

When Frederick finished his schooling, he found employment as a errand boy. By the 1901 census, the family were living on Princes Street, and his older sisters were both working as domestic servants. The next census found Frederick as the only one of the Madge siblings still living at home: he was also now working a a painter, presumably assisting his father.

Early in 1913, Frederick married Sarah Bishop. Sadly, there is little information about her, but her father’s name was Nicholas, and she was living in Newton Abbot, Devon, at the time of the wedding, which took place in nearby Wolborough.

When war broke out, Frederick stepped up to play his part. His service records are long gone, but it is clear that he had enlisted before March 1917, and had joined the prestigious Grenadier Guards. Guardsman Madge definitely saw service overseas, and his unit was heavily involved in some of the key battles on the Western Front.

It was during this fighting, possibly at the Battle of Polygon Wood, that Frederick was injured. He was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and admitted to the Kitchener Military Hospital in Brighton, Sussex.

The funeral took place, at Paignton, on Wednesday, Rev. AR Fuller officiating, of [Guardsman] FWS Madge, 31, Grenadier Guards, who died on October 6th in hospital at Brighton, following an amputation of the leg. Deceased, who was well known in Paignton, was a member of the town Fire Brigade, and highly respected.

[Western Times: Tuesday 16th October 1917]

Frederick Walter Smith Madge was laid to rest in Paignton’s sweeping cemetery.

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, injury, Kent, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Able Seaman Arthur Crisp

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Able Seaman Arthur Crisp

Arthur Edward Crisp was born in 16th March 1899 in the Norfolk village of South Creake. The youngest of six children, his parents were blacksmith Henry Crisp and his wife, Sarah.

When war broke out across Europe, young Arthur had already had some experience of seamanship, and was keen to play his part. He joined the Royal Navy on 7th April 1915 and, given his age, he was assigned the rank of Boy 2nd Class. Initially sent to HMS Powerful, he was trained there for three months, rising to the rank of Boy 1st Class.

On 26th July 1915, Arthur was assigned to the battlecruiser HMS New Zealand, and would remain on board for the next two years. During this time, he came of age, and was formally inducted into the Royal Navy as an Ordinary Seaman. His service records show that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall, with brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

His stint on New Zealand also exposed him to naval warfare, as she was heavily involved in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. Ordinary Seaman Crisp came through, however, and remained part of the battlecruiser’s crew for a further year.

After a short time on shore, where he was based at HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, Arthur’s next posting was on board HMS Wallington. A former trawler, she had been converted to a boom defence vessel, she protected the dockyard in Grimsby. In November 1917, while based in the Lincolnshire town, Arthur was promoted again, rising to Able Seaman.

The following March, Arthur moved again, and was assigned to HMS Attentive, the shore base for the Dover Patrol. He would not remain there for long, however, and was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, Kent. He passed away on 17th March 1918, from an intriguing combination of gunshot wounds to his chest and pneumonia. He had turned 19 years old the day before.

The body of Arthur Edward Crisp was taken to nearby Gillingham for burial. He was laid to rest in the military section of the town’s Woodlands Cemetery.

Able Seaman Arthur Crisp
(from findagrave.com)