Category Archives: killed in action

Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, killed in action, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, war

Gunner Stanley Parry

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Gunner Stanley Parry

Stanley William Parry was born in the spring of 1890 in St George’s on the outskirts of Bristol, Gloucestershire. One of four children to Herbert and Susannah Parry, Stanley was a twin to brother Roland. Herbert was a commercial clerk for a chemical manufacturer, and this afforded the Parry boys a level of education, with both Roland and Stanley attended the Colston Endowed School in Bristol.

Tragically, Susannah had died when Stanley and Roland were just 3 years old: their younger brother, Wilfred, had died the year before, when just a babe-in-arms. By the time of the 1911 census, Herbert had moved the family to Portishead. He was still working as a clerk, while both of the twins were employed as insurance clerks. Their older brother, Edwin, was also a clerk, in the docks at Bristol, and Herbert had employed a live-in housekeeper, Mary Govier, to look after him and his sons.

When war came to Europe, both Stanley and Roland enlisted. The two of them joined the Royal Field Artillery as Gunners. While full service records are not available, Stanley was assigned to the 40th Trench Mortar Battery, while Roland became attached to A Battery of the 240th Brigade.

Stanley was serving in France in the summer of 1916, when he became ill.

The funeral took place on Saturday afternoon, at Portishead Cemetery, of Gunner Stanley Wm Parry, who… died at Mile End Hospital, London, on September 19th. The deceased, who was 27 years of age, was always somewhat delicate in health, but was anxious to serve his King and country, and joined the [Royal Field Artillery]. He was brought to London from France on the previous Saturday suffering from enteritis, and although he lived until his father reached him, he died shortly after. He was the third son of Mr HC Parry… whose two other sons are also serving, one in France and the other in Egypt.

Bristol Times and Mirror: Monday 25th September 1916

Gunner Stanley William Parry was laid to rest in Portishead Cemetery, just a short distance from the family home.

Gunner Stanley Parry
(from findagrave.com)

Roland continued to serve his country in France, but tragedy was to strike the family once more.

Mr HC Parry… has received the sad intelligence that his son, Rowland G Parry [sic], of the [Royal Field Artillery], was killed in action on the 17th September. A letter from deceased’s officer stated that Gunner Parry was returning to the battery when a shell burst on the track, killing deceased instantaneously, death being absolutely painless. The letter further states that Gunner Parry had been a very valuable member of the battery, and will be missed by them all. Gunner Parry was the second of Mr Parry’s three sons to lay down his life in the great fight, a twin brother having died in a military hospital in London last year. The other son, the eldest, is serving in Palestine.

Bristol Times and Mirror: Saturday 29th September 1917

Roland George Parry was 28 years of age when he died. He was laid to rest in the Vlamertinghe New Military Semetery, in Ypres.

Gunner Roland Parry
(from findgrave.com)

Herbert Parry passed away in the summer of 1920, at the age of 62. He had outlived three of his sons, as well as being a widower for 27 years. He was laid to rest in Portishead Cemetery with his son Stanley.

Edwin Parry, Stanley and Roland’s older brother, had returned from the First World War by the summer of 1919. He resumed his work as a clerk at the docks in Bristol, and married schoolteacher Annie Homewood in August 1919. They went on to have three children, Barbara, Gwladys and Roland. Edwin died in September 1959, at the age of 71 years old.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, killed in action, Middlesex, photography, Royal Navy, Somerset, Stoker, story, war

Stoker 1st Class Phillip Clemett

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Stoker 1st Class Phillip Clemett

Phillip George Clemett was born on 5th December 1891, one of eight children to Albert and Mary Jane Clemett. Albert was a carpenter from Devon, Mary Jane came from Somerset, but by the time Phillip was born, the family had moved to Fulham in Middlesex.

The 1911 census records the family as having moved back to Somerset. Mary Jane had been born in the village of Huntspill, and it was here that the Clemetts returned. Albert was now working as a farmer, so it is possible that they had moved to work on the family farm.

Labouring was not a job to satisfy Phillip, though, and he sought a career on the high seas. On 3rd February 1913, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class. His service records show that he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.

Stoker Clemett’s was initially sent to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Plymouth, Devon. Here he received a few months’ training, before being given his first posting, on board the battleship HMS Indefatigable. He remained on board for the next fifteen months, gaining a promotion to Stoker 1st Class in the process.

Over the next couple of years, Phillip served on a couple more vessels, but on 11th February 1917 he was assigned to the submarine HMS C16. Stoker Clemetts was on board for a couple of months, as she was patrolling off the Essex coast. On 16th April 1917, the C16 was accidentally rammed by the destroyer HMS Melampus. She sank to the bottom and a couple of attempts were made for the crew to escape, but they became trapped and all perished, including Stoker 1st Class Clemetts. He was 25 years of age.

Contemporary newspaper reports give little detail about the accident – stating simply that Phillip ‘perished at sea’ [Western Daily Press – Tuesday 01 May 1917] His service documents are equally cagy about the incident, confirming jus that he ‘lost his life on duty.’ The records, however, show that on each of his five annual reviews, his character was noted as ‘very good’, while his ability was ‘superior’.

When the submarine was salvaged, Phillip George Clemett’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Peter’s Church in Huntspill.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, killed in action, London, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Somerset, Spain, story, war

Ordinary Seaman Herbert Fry

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Ordinary Seaman Herbert Fry

Herbert Austin Fry was born on 30th January 1889 in the Somerset village of Moorlinch. He was the fifth of ten children and his parents were Joseph and Ellen Fry. Joseph was a farmer, and by the time Herbert was just two years old, the family had moved to Sutton Farm, in nearby Sutton Mallet.

The whole family chipped in to play their part on the farm, and, even before he finished his schooling, this was something that Herbert was also destined to do.

When war came to Europe, Herbert was keen to play his part. He enlisted in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on 7th September 1916 as an Ordinary Seaman. His service records give a hint as to the young man he had become: he was 5ft 11ins (1.8m) tall, with sandy hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Ordinary Seaman Fry was initially sent to HMS Victory – the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire – for training. Over the next year, he was given two sea-going postings, before returning to HMS President in London in September 1917.

On 31st October, Herbert boarded SS Dunrobin, a merchant ship. Having sailed to Almeria in Spain, she was returning to Britain, with a cargo of iron ore and grapes. On 24th November 1917, while 49 miles (79km) south-west of The Lizard in Cornwall, the Dunrobin was torpedoed by a German submarine. She sunk, and 31 lives – including that of Ordinary Seaman Fry – were lost. Herbert was 28 years of age.

Herbert Austin Fry’s body was recovered and brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful Sutton Mallet Churchyard.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, killed in action, London, Malaysia, photography, Royal Air Force, Second Lieutenant, Somerset, story, Surrey, war

Lieutenant Gilbert Rippon

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Lieutenant Gilbert Rippon

Gilbert Harold Earle Rippon was born in Paddington, London, in the spring of 1887. The third of seven children, his parents were coal merchant Frederick Rippon and his wife, Eugenie.

When Gilbert left school, he found work as a clerk for a building firm. He was an ambitious young man, however, and, after his mother died in 1903 and his father a few years later, he took on work at a rubber plantation in Jementah, Malaysia.

When war broke out, “he came home on six months’ leave in order to enlist, having an exciting voyage owing to the activities of submarines. He was refused at first owing to a slight physical defect, but after an operation learnt to fly and was given a commission in the Royal Flying Corps.” [Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer: Friday 9th June 1916]

Second Lieutenant Rippon gained his wings at Brooklands in Surrey on 16th January 1916. By the summer he was attached to a flying school in Gosport, Hampshire, and this is where he was based by the early summer of 1916.

On 7th June, Gilbert was flying a de Havilland DH2 aircraft, when an accident occurred. According to a newspaper report: “Evidence showed that the machine, when 300 feet [91m] up, made a double turn, as though the aviator was trying to return. It then slipped and made a nose-dive to the ground, killing the pilot instantaneously. He had only been in the air three minutes. The previous evening the same monoplane had ascended 14,000 ft [4267m].” [Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer: Friday 9th June 1916]

Second Lieutenant Rippon was 29 years of age. The same report confirmed that he was the older brother of two Bath and Somerset cricketers – twins Dudley and Sydney Rippon – and that his oldest brother, New York-based Secretary of the Board of Correction Frank Rippon, “had the unhappy experience of being in the aerodrome when the accident occurred, and saw his brother fall to the ground.”

Gilbert Harold Earle Rippon was laid to rest in the family plot St James Cemetery, Bath, Somerset. There seems to have been a family connection with the city: this is where both Frederick and Eugenie were buried, and where, after their parents’ deaths, the twins and the youngest Rippon son, Percy, were taken to live.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, killed in action, photography, Royal Navy, Somerset, Stoker, story, war

Stoker 2nd Class Tom Mounter

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Stoker 2nd Class Tom Mounter

Tom Mounter was born on 24th March 1890 in the quiet Somerset village of Kingsbury Episcopi. He was one of ten children to Robert and Ellen Mounter. Robert was a farm labourer, while Ellen earned a little more money for the family by stripping withy – or willow – branches for use in a variety of ways, such as basket weaving.

When Tom left school, he followed his father into agricultural work, employed to grow and manage the withy fields. In April 1911, he married Ellen Talbot, a farm labourer’s daughter from the village. The couple went on to have three children, Frederick, Martha and Horatio.

When war came to Europe, Tom stepped up to play his part. On 14th December 1916, he joined the Royal Navy, along with four others from the village.

Tom’s service records show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. Stoker 2nd Class Mounter was initially sent to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport, for training, before being assigned to the cruiser HMS Ariadne on 31st March 1917.

The Ariadne had been converted into a minelayer that year, and worked in the English Channel. On 26th July 1917, she was torpedoed by the German submarine UC-65, and sunk, with the loss of all 38 hands, including Stoker Mounter. He was just 27 years of age.

Tom Mounter’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful Kingsbury Episcopi Cemetery, next to George Bonning, who had enlisted on the same day as him, and who had died six months before.

The local newspaper, when reporting on Stoker Mounter’s funeral, noted that he was “the seventeenth Kingsbury Episcopi man who has died for his King and country. It is stated that he had a strong presentiment that he would be killed.” [Langport & Somerton Herald: Saturday 4th August 1917]

Stoker 2nd Class Tom Mounter
(from findagrave.com)
accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, killed in action, Oxfordshire, photography, Royal Air Force, Shropshire, Somerset, story, war

Flight Cadet John Fox

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Flight Cadet John Fox

John Francis Fox was born early in 1898 in the village of Alkerton, Oxfordshire. One of eight children, he was the only son to miller-turned-butcher George Fox, and his wife, Ann. The family remained in Oxfordshire until at least the outbreak of war, when George and Ann appeared to have moved to Somerset.

When John left school, he took up an apprenticeship at Stothert & Pitt’s engineering works in Bath and in May 1918, with the First World War entering its last few bloody months, he was finally old enough to enlist. He joined the Royal Air Force as a Flight Cadet and was based at the 13th Training Depot Station near Market Drayton, Shropshire.

On 21st December 1918, Flight Cadet Fox was undertaking his first solo flight, on board an Avro 504K. His aircraft collided with another, which was piloted by a Captain Edgar Beamer. Both were killed in the accident: John was just 20 years of age.

An inquest into the crash, which also involved a third man, Captain Harrison, who was a passenger in Beamer’s plane, returned verdicts of accidental death.

John Francis Fox’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Mary the Virgin’s Church, Bath.

Canada, Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, killed in action, photography, Private, Sergeant, Somerset, story, war

Serjeant Frederick Francis

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Serjeant Frederick Francis

Frederick John Francis was born on 15th February 1893, to Henry and Mary Francis. One of nine children, the family lived in the Somerset village of Curry Rivel.

Henry was a labourer, but Frederick had his sights set on a new life and, at some point in his teens, he emigrated to Canada to work as a farmer. Details of his life in North America are scarce, but it is clear that he was in Manitoba when war broke out back in Europe.

Frederick stepped up to serve his King and Country, enlisting at Camp Sewell on 5th April 1915. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall, and weighed 145lbs (65.8kg). He was assigned to the 53rd Battalion of the Canadian Infantry. His service papers also note that he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant on 30th April 1915, although whether the date is correct, or whether Frederick had previous military experience is unclear.

Sergeant Francis boarded the SS Empress of Britain to make the journey back to Europe, little knowing that he was not going to see his home again. On 9th April 1916, just one day from docking in Hampshire, he passed away from quinsy, or throat abscess. He was just 23 years of age.

The body of Frederick John Francis was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Andrew’s Church in the village of his birth, Curry Rivel.

Frederick’s younger brother, Charles, had also made a life in Canada. He enlisted at Camp Sewell just two months after his brother, joining the same battalion.

Charles, who had the rank of Private, arrived in Europe before Frederick and, and was sent to the front line in February 1916. In June, he was involved in the fighting at Mount Sorrel, on the Ypres Salient, and it was here, on 6th June 1916, that he lost his life. He was just 21 years of age.

Charles Arthur Francis is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres. His parents had to mourn the loss of two sons within two months.

Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Cornwall, Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry, Gloucestershire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, killed in action, Labour Corps, photography, Private, story, Wales, war

Private Arthur Cock

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Private Arthur Cock

Arthur Cock was born in around 1885 in Wadebridge, Cornwall. One of eleven children, he was the son of mortar mason William Cock, and his wife, Louisa.

When he left school Arthur helper his father out in the business, but when war came to Europe’s shores, he stepped up to play his part. Sadly, his service records are lost to time, and it is a challenge to piece together his time during the conflict from a confusion of other documents.

It is clear that Arthur enlisted in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, as this is what is engraved on his headstone. However, his Medal Roll suggests that he also served in the Gloucestershire Regiment and the Labour Corps. He seems not to have fought overseas, and was awarded the Victory and British Medals for doing his duty.

Private Cock’s entry in the Army Register of Soldier’s Effects confirms that he must have enlisted before February 1919, and that he passed away at Whitchurch Hospital.

An entry in the local newspaper, reporting on his death, reads as follows:

In loving memory of Pte. Arthur Cock, son of William, and the late Louisa Cock, of Wadebridge, who died August 5th, at Whitchurch War Hospital, Cardiff.

Cornish Guardian: Friday 8th August 1919

Interestingly, the facility Arthur had been admitted to was a psychiatric hospital, but with no other confirmation as to his passing, it is only possible to assume the cause of his death. He was 34 years old when he passed away.

Arthur Cock’s body was brought back to Cornwall for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful, wooded graveyard of St Breoke’s Church, next to the family grave in which Louisa had been buried three years previously.

The family grave, by this time, was tragically quite full. William was able to mourn his son, wife and six of Arthur’s siblings – Mary, William, John, Fred, Charles and Ernest – who had all passed in childhood and were laid to rest there.

Arthur’s younger brother – another William – also fought in the First World War. His service records reveal a lot about his life.

Private Cock enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 7th September 1914. At the time he was working as a railway porter in Morphettville, now a suburb of Adelaide, Australia. His records confirm that he was 5ft 8.5ins (1.74m) tall, and weighed 158lbs (72kg). He had brown hair, brown eyes an a fresh complexion.

William left Australia for the battlefield on 20th October 1914, and soon found himself in the Eastern Mediterranean. Sadly, this was to be the end of the line for him: he was killed on the battlefields of Gallipoli on 23rd March 1915, aged just 28 year of age.

William Cock was laid to rest in the Shrapnel Valley Cemetery in Gallipoli. He is commemorated on the headstone of the family grave back in St Breock.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, killed in action, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, Scotland, Seaman, story, war

Seaman James McNichol

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Seaman James McNichol

James McNichol was born on 21st December 1884, in Greenock, Renfrewshire. His parents were James and Elizabeth McNichol, but there is little additional information about his early life.

On 22nd May 1908, James enlisted as a Seaman in the Royal Naval Reserve. Again, little information is available, although he appears to have spent most of his career based out of his home town or on the ship Spindrift, based out of Glasgow.

James’ service records do shed some light on him. His height was recorded as 5ft 4ins (1.63m), he had a fair complexion and blue eyes. He also had a tattoo of a tombstone on his right arm and the words True Love on his right.

James had married a woman called Elizabeth at some point, and, while the marriage documents are lost to time, she is noted as his next of kin on his naval death records.

By the summer of 1912, Seaman McNichol was assigned to the battleship HMS Bulwark. The ship patrolled the English Channel at the outbreak of war, but by that autumn of 1914, she had moved to North Kent, guarding the waters around the Isle of Sheppey against potential German invasion.

James was on board Bulwark on the morning of 26th November 1914, when an explosion ripped through the ship and sinking it. More than 740 lives were lost, Seaman McNichol among them. He was just 29 years of age.

James McNichol was laid to rest in a marked grave in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, not far from a mass grave where scores of his colleagues had been buried.

Seaman James McNichol
(from findagrave.com)
Cheshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, Kent, killed in action, photography, Private, Royal Marines, story, war

Private Thomas Clarke

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Private Thomas Clarke

Thomas Clarke was born on 18th July 1893 in the Cheshire town of Altrincham. The second of nine children, his parents were Irish-born couple Thomas and Mary Clarke. Thomas Sr worked in the building trade as a bricklayer, but, by the time of the 1911 census, his older children had found other trades. His oldest child, Nora, was a shop assistant, Thomas Jr was a shorthand typist, while the next two Clarke children worked in the printing industry.

Thomas Jr, however, wanted to see the world and, on 3rd October 1911, he took his first step towards that aim, enlisting in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. His service records note that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, had blue eyes, fair hair and a fresh complexion. They also record a scar on his left hand and a tattoo on his right arm.

Private Clarke was first sent for training in Deal, Kent, and his swimming ability tested there on 6th December, presumably in the freezing English Channel. In August 1912 he moved to barracks in Portsmouth, Hampshire. Over the next couple of years, he served on two ships – HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Dido – returning to the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth after each assignment.

In July 1914, Thomas was assigned to the battleship HMS Bulwark. The ship patrolled the English Channel when he first came on board. By that autumn, however, she had moved to North Kent, guarding the waters around the Isle of Sheppey against potential German invasion.

Thomas was on board Bulwark on the morning of 26th November 1914, when an explosion ripped through the ship and sinking it. More than 740 lives were lost, Private Clarke among them. He was just 21 years of age.

Thomas Clarke was laid to rest in a marked grave in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, not far from a mass grave where scores of his colleagues had been buried.

Note: While Thomas’ surname is spelt Clark on his headstone, all documents relating to him – and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website – give the correct spelling as Clarke.