Category Archives: injury

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, Hampshire, history, injury, photography, Powys, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, Wales, war

Gunner Daniel Davies

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Gunner Daniel Davies

Daniel Rees Davies was born on 10th August 1887, one of eight children to Daniel and Katherine Rees. Daniel Sr was a coal miner, born in Brecon, South Wales, and it was in Aberdare that the family were born and raised.

By the time of the 1901 census, five of the Davies family were working as coal miners. However, something changed dramatically over the following decade. The next census return, taken in 1911, found Daniel Sr working as a butcher, with Daniel Jr employed as his assistant. The two Daniels and Katherine were living in a six-roomed house with Daniel’s younger brother, Moses, his older sister, Margaret, and her husband, another Daniel.

In the autumn of 1913, Daniel Jr married Daisy Loud. She was a milliner from Bath, and it was in the Somerset city that the couple exchanged their vows. The couple set up home in Bath, and went on to have two children, Maurice and Norman. He continued working as a butcher and, by the time war was declared, he was employed by Larkhall.

When war came to Europe, Daniel stepped up to play his part. Sadly, full details of his service have been lost to time, but it is clear that he enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery in the spring of 1917 and he was attached to the 88th (Howitzer) Brigade.

Gunner Davies served in Northern France and was badly injured on 3rd June 1918. He was initially hospitalised in Rouen, but then medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Admitted to Netley Hospital in Hampshire, the wounds he had received to his arm and shoulder were to prove too severe. A telegram was sent to Daisy for her to come to the hospital, but her train was delayed, and she arrived too late to see her husband before he passed away. He died on 17th June 1918, at the age of 30 years old.

The body of Daniel Rees Davies was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Bath’s majestic Locksbrook Cemetery.

Gunner Daniel Davies
(from ancestry.co.uk)

Channel Islands, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Jersey, Lieutenant, London, photography, Royal Scots Fusiliers, South America, story, war

Lieutenant Stanley Syvret

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Lieutenant Stanley Syvret

In the graveyard of St Lawrence Church in Jersey, stands an imposing monument. The dedication reads “Here reposeth Stanley de Beaudenis Syvret, Lieut. 3rd Royal Scots Fusiliers. Only son of Albert de Beaudenis Syvret. Died 14th May 1918 at Queen Alexandra’s Military Hospital as a result of his campaign during Somme Advance July 1916. Aged 27”.

Stanley de Beaudenis Syvret was born in South America in 1891. He was the only child of Anthony and Amy, both of whom were born in Jersey. Records for South America are not available, but by the time of the 1911 census, the family were living in Stamford Hill, London. Anthony was employed as an attendance officer for London County Council schools, while Stanley had found work as a clerk for a wool broker.

At this point, Stanley’s trail goes a bit hazy. The 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers was based in Scotland for the whole of the conflict, so it is likely that he was transferred to that battalion after being injured.

There is little additional information for Lieutenant Syvret. He was brought back to Jersey after his death, and lies at rest in the churchyard close to his family home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, injury, London Regiment, Middlesex, photography, Rifleman, story, Sussex, war

Rifleman Conrad Bedford

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Rifleman Conrad Bedford

Conrad Thomas Bedford was born on 8th August 1891 in Bowes Park, Middlesex. The younger of two children, his parents were Thomas and Clara Bedford. Thomas was a bank clerk, who had a strong focus on education and, after his untimely death in 1899, aged just 40, Clara was keen to ensure that her only son received the best.

Conrad was educated at Seaford College in Sussex, and was boarding there at the time of the 1901 census. Whilst there, he served in the College Cadet Corps, which was attached to the Royal Sussex Engineers, and by the time he left, in 1909, he had taken the rank of Corporal.

When he completed his schooling, Conrad found work as a clerk in the London Joint Stock Bank, and soon volunteered for the London Rifle Brigade. When war broke out, he willingly stepped up to serve his country, and became attached to the regiment’s 5th Battalion.

The 1/5th (City of London) Battalion (London Rifle Brigade), to give the London Regiment’s unit it’s full title, fought on the Western Front, and Rifleman Bedford arrived in the Wallonia region of Belgium on 4th November 1914.

Early in 1915, Conrad was based near Ploegsteert, when, at around 2am on 27th February, he was shot in the right shoulder. He was medically evacuated to Britain, and admitted to the American Women’s War Hospital, in Paignton, Devon. While his injury was treated, sepsis set in, and Rifleman Bedford succumbed to it: he passed away on 15th March 1915, at the age of 23 years old.

Surprisingly, Clara did not bring her son back to London, where she was living. Instead, Conrad Thomas Bedford was laid to rest in Paignton Cemetery, not far from where he had breathed his last.

Riflemen Conrad Bedford
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Cambridgeshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, injury, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, photography, Private, Royal Fusiliers, story, war

Private Edward Vale

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Private Edward Vale

Edward Charles Vale was born in the spring of 1890, one of ten children to William and Ellen. Born in Cambridgeshire, William was employed by the local railways, becoming a signalman by the time of the 1901 census. The family were raised in Great Shelford, before moving to the Ely area in the early 1900s.

By the time of the 1911 census, Edward was the oldest of three of his siblings to still be living at home. The Vales were living at 12 Granta Terrace, Stapleford, and Edward was employed as a domestic gardener.

When war broke out, Edward volunteered to serve his country. Full service details are lost to time, but he had enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers by the spring of 1915. By June of that year, Private Vale was fighting in the Balkans.

At some point during the conflict, Edward transferred to the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. He remained in the Easter Mediterranean, but was badly wounded in the summer of 1917.

Medically evacuated to Britain, Private Vale was admitted to the Voluntary Aid Detachment hospital that had been set up at Knightshayes Court, Devon. While details are unclear, Edward’s injuries were to prove too severe. He passed away on 9th October 1917, at the age of 27 years old.

Edward Charles Vale was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Thomas’ Church in Chevithorne, not far from the hospital in which he had passed.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, Surrey, Sussex, war

Private Frederick China

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Private Frederick China

Frederick George China was born in Bath, Somerset, in the summer of 1885. He was the second of children to tailor George China and his wife, Gloucestershire-born Frances.

Frederick was working as a grocer’s assistant when his father died in 1906, at the age of 52. Determined to earn money for Frances and his three sisters, he left Somerset for work. The 1911 census recorded him as living in Worthing, West Sussex, boarding with the Vitler family. Percy was a baker’s assistant, and lived at 4, Tarring Road with his wife and two daughters. The census noted two visitors to the property, railway contractor Robert Puttock and his wife, Annie.

On 26th December 1912, Frederick married Lucy Hellier. Born in Midhurst, West Sussex, she was working as a confectioner’s shop assistant in Worthing’s Montague Street, boarding with the manager, Catherine Castle, her mother and her niece. The couple wed in Stanmer Parish Church, to the north of Brighton, which is where Lucy’s family were then living.

The newlyweds moved back to Bath, and Frederick took up a job as manager of the Widcombe branch of the Twerton Co-operative Society. Their only child, son Douglas, was born in February 1915.

By this point, war was raging across Europe, and Frederick stepped up to play his part. His full service details are no longer available, but he joined the Somerset Light Infantry in June 1916, and was assigned to the 7th Battalion.

He was in a battalion of the Somersets, who were heavily engaged at Langemarck, but he and his chum came safely through the severe fighting at that place. While returning, some time after, to the front trenches, he was knocked out by a shell, and received severe injuries. The spine was so badly hurt that, if he had survived, he would never have walked again.

[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Saturday 29 September 1917]

Private China was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and he was admitted to King George’s Military Hospital in South London. Lucy and Frances travelled to Surrey to see him, and were with him when he passed, his wounds being too severe for him to survive. He passed away on 21st September 1917, at the age of 32 years of age.

The body of Frederick George China was aid to rest in Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from where his father, George, was buried.

Private Frederick China
(from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, injury, photography, Royal Engineers, Sapper, Somerset, story, war, Yorkshire

Sapper George Bush

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Sapper George Bush

George James Bush was born in the autumn of 1889 in Bath, Somerset. One of eight children, his parents were Edward and Sarah Bush. Edward was a general labourer turned fishmonger and the family lived in a ramshackle cottage in Griffin’s Court, off Milk Street towards the centre of the city.

When he finished his schooling, George found employment as a general labourer. By the time of the 1911 census, he and three siblings were still living at home with their parents, and all of them were working to bring together an income for the household. Times were obviously hard for the Bush family, and the list of trades reads like something from one of Dickens’ novels: fishmonger, charwoman, box maker, carter and daily domestic.

Edward died in 1912, and this put a further strain on the household. When war came to Europe two years later, a career in the army seemed a price worth paying for the additional financial support it would bring George and his family. He had enlisted in the Royal Engineers as a Sapper by the spring of 1917.

Attached to the 503rd Field Company, George’s full service details are lost to time. He definitely saw action overseas, however, fighting in some of the fiercest battles of the war, at the Third Battles of Ypres in 1917. It was here, at Passchendaele, that Sapper Bush was wounded, his injuries severe enough for him to be medically evacuated to Britain.

George was admitted to Sheffield War Hospital, but complications set in.

Sapper G Bush, RE, formally employed by the Corporation as a motor lorry driver, died in the Warecliffe Hospital, Sheffield, on Saturday. He was wounded a short time ago, but the cause of death was pneumonia, which supervened. Sappe Bush, who was… unmarried, was a son of Mrs R Bush, of 19, Denmark Road, Twerton. He had been in the army close on two years. He was one of three brothers, all of whom joined the army. A younger brother, who enlisted soon after the outbreak of war, is now in Egypt with the Somersets.

[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 1st December 1917]

George James Bush died on 24th November 1917: he was 28 years of age. His body was brought back to Somerset for burial, and he was laid in the family plot in Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, reunited with his father far too soon.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, London Regiment, Oxfordshire, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war, Warwickshire

Private Wilfred Butler

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Private Wilfred Butler

Wilfrid Hinton Butler was born on 11th June 1895 in Cowley, Oxfordshire, one of four children to Alexander and Mary Butler. Alexander was a foreign stamp importer who, by 1899, had moved the family to the outskirts of Clevedon, Somerset.

The 1911 census found Alexander and Mary living in Clevedon, with Wilfrid’s two younger siblings. Wilfrid himself is missing from the document and, intriguingly, his parents are noted as having only two children: this is likely an misunderstanding over the number of children, and the number residing at home.

At this point, Wilfrid drops off the radar completely, and it is only through later documentation that we can identify what became of him. When war broke out, he joined up, enlisting in the London Regiment. Initially assigned to the 15th (County of London) Battalion (Prince of Wales’s Own Civil Service Rifles), he moved across to the 13th (County of London) Battalion (Kensington) at some point during the conflict.

Private Butler was firmly ensconced in northern France by 1916 and his unit fought in some of the bloodiest battled of the Somme. He was not to come out unscathed, however, and it is likely that he was wounded during the Battle of Morval.

The injuries Private Butler had received were severe enough for him to be medically evacuated back to Britain for treatment. He was admitted to hospital in Kings Norton, Birmingham, but his wounds were to prove fatal. He passed away on 2nd October 1916: he was 21 years of age.

Wilfrid Hinton Butler was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church, Walton Clevedon.

Commonwealth War Graves, Cornwall, Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, story, war, Yorkshire

Private Christopher Runnalls

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Private Christopher Runnalls

Christopher Runnalls was born in the village of Cardinham, Cornwall, in 1892. The fourth of five children, his parents were game keeper John Runnalls and his wife, Mary. Christopher – who was better known by the nickname Kitt – didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps, instead finding work as a stone mason when he finished his schooling.

Kitt moved to St Minver, near Wadebridge, for work and, in 1907, he married Susan Buse. The couple set up home in a small cottage in the village, sharing their home with Susan’s niece, Vivian.

When war was declared, Kitt stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, and, as a Private, was assigned to the 10th (Service) Battalion, also known as the Cornwall Pioneers. He soon found himself on the Western Front and, in the summer of 1916, was caught up in the Somme.

Pte. Kitt Runnals [sic], of the DCLI, who was wounded in France on August 10th, and was brought to Leeds Great Northern Hospital, died at that institution on September 10th. The body was brought to St Minver and buried at [St Enodoc’s Church] on Thursday, the 14th.

[He] was one of the most respected men in the parish. He was a mason by trade. When war broke out he thought it his duty to join up. He was a member of the United Methodist Church. He leaves a widow but no family.

Newquay Express and Cornwall County Chronicle: Friday 22nd September 1916

Christopher ‘Kitt’ Runnalls was 34 years old when he passed. He lies at rest in the peaceful landscape of St Enodoc’s Church, Cornwall.

Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Cornwall, Egypt, Great War, Hampshire, history, injury, Lance Corporal, photography, Private, story, war

Private William Profitt

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Private William Profitt

William James Profitt was born on 20th August 1894 in Collingwood, Victoria, Australia. The oldest of ten children, his parents were Cornish-born Francis Profit and his Australian wife Mary.

Little information is available about William’s early life. When he finished his schooling, he found work as a salesman, and this is the work he was doing when war was declared in Europe.

William felt duty bound to serve his King and Empire, and, on 5th July 1915, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. His service records confirm that he was just 5ft 2.5ins (1.59m) tall, weighing 8st 4lbs (52.6kg). He was noted as having cark brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion: he had a scar on his left cheek.

After initial training, Private Profitt arrived in Alexandria, Egypt. He was assigned to the 23rd Battalion of the Australian Infantry and, by 30th March 1916, he was in France. William’s unit was one of the many to become entrenched at the Somme, having been evacuated from Gallipoli just weeks before he had arrived in Europe.

On 2nd August Private Profitt was admitted to a camp hospital in Boulogne with a sprained ankle. The medical report noted the injury as trivial, having occurred when, on ‘being relieved from trenches [he] slipped and fell into an old German dugout.’ By 21st August he was back with his unit, now based in Etaples.

Just a week later, William was sent to a casualty clearing station in Rouen, having been shot in his right elbow. Less trivial an injury this time round, he was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and was admitted to the Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot, Hampshire.

Private Profitt’s injury should not have been a life-threatening one, but septicaemia set in. His condition worsened, and he passed away on 25th October 1916. He was just 22 years of age.

With William James Profitt’s family more than 10,000 miles (17,000km) away, it was not possible to him to be buried at home. Instead, his body was taken to the peaceful and picturesque graveyard of St Michael’s Church in Rock, Cornwall, close to where his father’s family still lived.

Private William Profitt
(from findagrave.com)

William’s grave shares a dedication with Charles Profitt, who died just a fortnight after him.

John Walter Charles Profitt – better known as Charles – was born in the summer of 1894 Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The oldest of three sons to William and Harriet Profitt, it is likely that his father was William’s uncle, and that the two siblings had both travelled to Australia to earn their fortunes.

Working as a teacher at the time, Charles enlisted just days after his cousin, joining the 6th Field Ambulance unit. His service records show that he had dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion, no dissimilar to William. Standing 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall and weighing 10st 6lbs (66.2kg), it is clear that his side of the family had markedly different genes.

Private Profitt arrived in France on 27th March 1916, and his dedication to the role showed when he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal in August.

On 9th November he was badly wounded while carrying out his duties, receiving a severe gun shot wound to his abdomen. He was admitted to the 1st Anzac Medical Station, but died of his injuries just two days later. He was just 22 years of age.

Lance Corporal Charles Profitt was laid to rest in Heilly Station Cemetery to the south of Méricourt-l’Abbé. He is commemorated with his cousin, William, in St Michael’s Church, Rock.

Lance Corporal Charles Profitt
(from findagrave.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, injury, Lieutenant, photography, Sherwood Foresters, Somerset, story, Surrey, war

Lieutenant Hubert Cavell

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Lieutenant Hubert Cavell

Hubert John Cavell was born on 12th August 1882 in Bristol, Gloucestershire. The middle of three children, his parents were John and Annie Cavell. The 1901 census recorded John as a cycle manufacturer, and both he and Annie were keen to educate their children.

Hubert studied to be an architect, and was employed as such when, on 17th February 1910, he married Florence Shellard. Also born in Bristol, she was the daughter of an insurance agent. Hubert’s father, however, had changed career by the time of his son’s nuptials, and was working as a manufacturer of steel rope.

After their wedding, Hubert and Florence moved out to Easton-in-Gordano, Somerset, and went on to have two daughters: Phyllis, who was born in November 1910; and Dorothy, born in April 1912.

War was brewing across Europe by this point, and, when hostilities were announced, Hubert stepped up to play his part. Full service records for him are lost to time, although is it clear that he joined the Sherwood Foresters (the Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment). He was assigned to the 11th (Service) Battalion, and, by the spring of 1917, was firmly entrenched on the Western Front.

News has just been received of the death from wounds, received in action, of Lieut. Hubert John Cavell, of Easton-in-Gordano. The deceased officer was educated at the Cathedral School, and had been associated with the firm of Messrs. Paul and James, architects, for the past 16 years. He was for some years a member of the Church Ringers’ Society, being engaged in that capacity at St James’s Church, Bristol. He joined the Sherwood Foresters in January, 1916, received his commission, and had for the past three months held the position of acting-adjutant. He was 34 years of age, and leaves a widow and two little daughters.

Western Daily Press: Tuesday 24th April 1917

Lieutenant Cavell had been caught up in the fighting near Ypres, and was medically evacuated to a military hospital in Dorking, Surrey. It was here that he succumbed to his injuries on 22nd April 1917.

Hubert John Cavell’s body was brought back to Easton-in-Gordano for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in St George’s Churchyard. He was reunited with Florence, when he died in 1971, and Dorothy, when she passed away in 1997.