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Colonel, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Egypt, Great War, history, photography, Sergeant Major, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, South Africa, story, unknown, war

Colonel Henry Walsh

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Colonel Henry Walsh

Henry Alfred Walsh was born near Taunton, Somerset, in September 1853, the eldest of five children to Theobald and Isabel Walsh. Theobald was a magistrate with some military connections, and it was military service that Henry went into.

While full details aren’t readily available, the 1881 census finds him living in Devon, with his employment simply as “military”. Presumably, he had enrolled in the Somerset Light Infantry, the regiment he had a lifelong commitment to.

By the early 1880s, Henry had married Ann Sparrow. The couple went on to have three children – Theobald, Gwladys and Archibald.

The 1891 finds Henry and his family in the Somerset Light Infantry Barracks at Farnborough. Henry was a Sergeant Major by this time, and was assigned to the 1st Battalion. Also living in the same accommodation – and presumably helping Ann with the running of the household – were a governess and cook.

The census also highlights the transient nature of army life. Henry, as mentioned before, was born in Taunton, while Ann came from Plymouth in Devon. Theobald was born in Taunton, while Gwladys and her younger brother were both born in Devon. Military service brought a sense of stability, but not necessarily geographically.

Henry eventually took a step back from the army; by the time of the 1911 census, he was living back in Bishop’s Hull, the village of his birth in Somerset, and listed as a retired colonel. When war broke out, however, he volunteered his services again, and was appointed the officer commanding the No. 8 District in Exeter.

While Henry came out of retirement to serve his country again, his two sons had also forged their own military careers. Theobald also joined the Somerset Light Infantry, also achieving the rank of Colonel. Archibald joined the Royal Horse Artillery; his story can be found by clicking here.

When Henry passed away in 1918, local newspapers were unanimous in their praise of the long-serving officer, outlining both his military service and his charitable work.

Colonel Walsh had had a distinguished military career, dating from 1870, when he joined the old Somerset Militia at Taunton. [He] was created a CB in 1905, and held the medal and clasp for Zululand, and the medal and two clasps and the Khedive’s Bronze Star for his services in Egypt.

He was a JP for Somerset and a member of the Army and Navy Club. [He] threw himself wholeheartedly into the work of the Boy Scout organisation.

The greatest work in which Colonel Walsh had been identified during the war, however, was undoubtedly that of feeding the Somerset prisoners of war in Germany, and his name will ever be linked in grateful memory with that of his honoured wife for having raised and maintained a fund capable of bearing the strain of over £3,000 expenditure per month to save the Somerset men in Germany from starvation.

Well Journal: Friday 29th November 1918

Ironically, for all this exultation, there is no immediate record of the cause of Henry’s death; given his age – he was 65 when he passed – it seems likely that he died following an illness.

Colonel Henry Alfred Walsh lies at rest in St Mary’s Cemetery in Taunton, Somerset. He is buried next to his son, Archibald.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, unknown, war

Private Frank Stone

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Private Frank Stone

Francis Jesse Stone – known as Frank – was born in 1899, one of five children to William and Sarah Stone. William was a general handyman – his census records record him variously as a labourer, carpenter and carman (or carter) – and the family lived in the village of Bishop’s Hull, on the outskirts of Taunton, Somerset.

Given when he was born, documentation for Frank’s early life is limited to the 1901 and 1911 censuses. We are restricted, therefore, to the information provided by the medal rolls.

Frank was under age when he joined up. He enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry on 27th December 1914, when he could only have been 15 years old. He was assigned to the Depot Battalion, and was shipped to France the following year.

Sadly, there is little other information about Private Stone. He survived the war and returned to England, but passed away on 8th February 1919. No cause of death is evident, but it seems likely to have been one of the lung conditions running rampant across the country at the time, probably influenza, tuberculosis or pneumonia. When he died, Frank was just 20 years old.

Frank Jesse Stone lies at rest in St Mary’s Cemetery in his home town of Taunton, Somerset.

Commonwealth War Graves, Driver, Great War, history, India, injury, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, unknown, war

Driver Frederick Virgin

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Driver Frederick Virgin

Frederick Henry Virgin was born in 1888, the second eldest of ten children. His parents were carter Thomas Virgin and his wife, Ellen, and the family lived in Taunton, Somerset.

Frederick craved adventure and this came in the form of military service. In August 1906, he enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery, and was assigned as a driver. Initially serving at home, he was shipped to India for four years, returning to England in December 1912.

Driver Virgin met and married Alice Shattock in April 1914, but had been shipped off to France within months, when war broke out. He served overseas for eighteen months, before transferring back to England again. By this point he was suffering with sciatica, and this is what saw him assigned lighter duties in the Reserve Brigade on the home front.

Alice fell pregnant, and the couple had a little boy in February 1917; sadly, his life was brief, and he passed away at the age of just two days. One can only imagine the impact this had on his parents.

Frederick’s health issues continued to be a problem, and he was medically discharged from the army later that year. While the sciatica was not solely attributed to his military service, his discharge report confirmed that his time in the army contributed to the issue. Driver Virgin’s time with the Royal Field Artillery came to an end in December 1917.

Sadly, it is at this point that Frederick’s trail goes cold. His records confirm that he passed away nearly a year later, on 26th November 1918, but there is no record as to the cause of his death. He was 30 years of age.

Frederick Henry Virgin lies at rest in St Mary’s Cemetery in his home town of Taunton, Somerset.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Lincolnshire, Machine Gun Corps, photography, Private, Somerset, story, unknown, war

Private Arthur Taylor

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Private Arthur Taylor

Arthur Ernest Taylor was born at the end of 1892, the middle of three children to James and Sarah. James was a baker, and the family lived in Bruton, a small town in the west of Somerset.

Only one of James’ three sons followed him into the baking business; this was his youngest, Reginald. The oldest of the three brothers, Oatley, found employment in Wales as a miner. Arthur, on the other hand, stayed in Bruton, but found work as a cycle repairer when he left school.

In December 1913, Arthur married Gertrude James, the daughter of a local carpenter; the young couple went on to have a son, Gerald, the following year.

Sadly, little information about of Arthur’s military career survives. He enlisted in the Machine Gun Corps, although there is nothing to confirm exactly when he enrolled.

The next time Private Taylor appears in the records is a notice in the Western Gazette on 28th March 1919. The newspaper reports that he passed away in the Military Hospital in Grantham, Lincolnshire. Further documentation shows that he passed away on 13th March 1919, at the age of 27 years old. Sadly, there is no confirmation of the cause of his passing.

Arthur Ernest Taylor was brought back to Somerset, and his body lies at rest in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in his home town of Bruton.

Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, India, Kent, London, photography, Quartermaster, Royal Engineers, story, unknown, war, Worcestershire

Major Thomas Clark

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Major Thomas Clark

Thomas James Clark was born in Worcester at the beginning of 1853, the oldest of two children to James Clark and his wife Sarah. James was an engine smith and gas fitter, and moved the family with his work, initially to London, then on to the Kent coast.

Documentation relating to Thomas’ early life is difficult to track down; the 1871 census has him listed as a gas fitter like his father, but it is likely that he enlisted in the army fairly shortly after this date.

In 1875, he married a woman called Emily Ann. There life was to take on a grand new adventure as their first child, a boy named after his father, was born in Bombay, India, later that year.

It seems likely that it was Thomas’ military service that took the young family overseas. This was to be the case for at least a decade, as Emily gave birth to four further children in India. James, their fifth child, was born in Bombay in 1884. Their sixth, and last child, Ellen, was born in Gillingham, Kent, ten years later.

Given that the standard time for military service was twelve years, it is possible that Thomas served all of that time overseas, returning to England in around 1887.

Back home in Kent, Thomas is given the commission of Quartermaster in November 1897. By this point, he has been in the Royal Engineers for just under 21 years. He and his family are living in central Gillingham, within easy walking distance of the Royal Engineers Barracks and School of Engineering.

The 1901 census also lists Thomas as Quartermaster for the regiment, while three of his sons are by this time working in the Naval Dockyard as shipwrights and engine fitters.

Ten years later and the family are still living in the same house. By now, and aged 57, Thomas is recorded as a Retired Captain and Quartermaster for the Royal Engineers. He and Emily have been married 36 years, and their three youngest children (now aged 29, 26 and 17) are still living with them.

War was looming by now, although, age 61 when it broke out, it is unlikely that Retired Quartermaster Clark would have been involved in any front line activity. While no military records survive for Thomas, it seems possible that he may have been recalled for a training or administrative role at the barracks nearby.

Any re-commission would not have lasted for long, however, as Quartermaster Clark passed away at home on 10th September 1916. He was 63 years old.

Thomas James Clark lies at peace in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.

Thomas’ widow, Emily, passed away just two years after her husband. She was also laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery.

Thomas left his estate in the hands of his youngest son, James, who was still living at his parents’ home when they passed away.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, photography, Private, Royal West Surrey Regiment, story, Surrey, Uncategorized, unknown, war

Private Richard Taylor

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Private Richard Taylor

Richard Edmundson Taylor was born in 1895, one of nine children to Frederick and Emma Taylor. Frederick was from Portsmouth, Emma from Blackburn, but the couple had settled their family in Kent, where Frederick worked as an engineer and pattern maker at the Naval Dockyard in Chatham.

When he left school, Richard took work as an apprentice photographer – his older sister Mildred worked as a re-toucher in the same studio. The 1911 census reveals that his eldest sister, Alice, was working as a governess; the family of eleven were living in a small terraced house in Seaview Road, Gillingham – a road that, ironically, had no view of the nearby River Medway or Thames Estuary.

At this point, Richard’s trail goes cold. He enlisted in the Royal West Surrey Regiment – also known as the Queen’s – but there is no documentation to confirm when this was.

Private Taylor’s battalion, the 2/4th, would go on to fight at Gallipoli, but he would not have been involved, and, more than likely, did not see any overseas service. The prefix to his service number (T/2711) may well have indicated he was in training when he passed away, although, again, there is no physical evidence to confirm this.

Nor is there any indication of the cause of Private Taylor’s death. His name does not appear on any contemporary newspaper reports, so it is unlikely that it was due to any misadventure; more probably, he passed away from one of the many communicable diseases that became common in the training camps of the 1910s.

Whatever the cause, Private Taylor died at home on 4th February 1915. He was just 19 years old.

Richard Edmundson Taylor lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in his home town of Gillingham, Kent.

Berkshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, photography, Royal Engineers, Sapper, Sergeant, South Africa, story, unknown, war

Serjeant Frederick Wickens

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Serjeant Frederick Wickens

Frederick Albert John Wickens was born in Newbury, Berkshire, in the summer of 1889. The oldest of four children to Alfred and Emily Wickens, his father was a brewer’s labourer.

The military life proved more of a draw to Frederick, however. While his full records no longer exist, by the time of the 1911 census, he was recorded as being a Sapper with the 2nd Field Troop of the Royal Engineers. He was based at Potchefstroom, around 75 miles (120km) south east of Johannesburg in South Africa, and his trade was listed as a tailor.

Sadly, it is at this point that Frederick’s trail goes tepid, if not cold.

From a personal perspective, he married a woman called Rose, who was a year younger then him. Her details are scarce, and there is nothing to confirm when or where they married (other than the 1911 census, when Frederick was listed as ‘single’).

The couple must have had some connection to Gillingham, as this is where they lived; given the proximity of the Royal Engineers Barracks in neighbouring Chatham.

Sapper Wickens’ military service continued into the Great War. He was awarded the medaille militaire by Belgium, and achieved the rank of Serjeant during his career. Unfortunately, there are no details of the actions around either the award or his promotion.

Serjeant Wickens passed away on 27th February 1921; he died in Chatham, although the cause was not recorded. He was 31 years old.

Frederick Albert John Wickens lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.

Frederick’s younger brother Thomas, also served in the Great War. He enlisted in the Princess Charlotte of Wales’s (Royal Berkshire) Regiment, and was involved in the battles on the Western Front. Sadly he was killed in the fighting on 24th May 1916, at the age of 19 years old.

Artificer, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, Royal Navy, Scotland, story, unknown, war

Chief Artificer James Davidson

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Chief Artificer James Davidson

There are some lives that just don’t want to be discovered, that just hide tantalisingly out of reach. James Davidson’s was one of those lives.

The main two research websites I use – cwgc.org and findagrave.com – only have his initial and surname, which is understandable, as this is what is inscribed on his headstone. Unfortunately, that doesn’t act as a good base on which to carry out further research.

HMS Gunner was the wartime moniker for Granton Harbour, near Edinburgh. A naval history website managed to identify Chief Artificer Davidson’s first name – James – but again, with no other information to go on, this is still too common a name – particularly in Scotland – to narrow down any real results.

Sadly, then, the story behind James Davidson is destined to remain a mystery. All that can be confirmed for certain is that he passed away on 23rd January 1919, though the cause of his passing is lost to time, as is his age.

James Davidson lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.

Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Isle of Man, Kent, photography, Royal Engineers, story, unknown, war

Captain Francis Cowley

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Captain Francis Cowley

Francis Llewellyn Cowley – also known as ‘Frank’ was born in July 1877 on the Isle of Man. He was one of ten children to Thomas and Ann Cowley, farmers who owned 133 acres on the northern tip of the island.

Frank’s trail goes cold for a few years; he was still living on his father’s farm in 1891, but by 1913, had moved to to the mainland, settling in Kent.

It was here, in Gillingham, that Frank married Lily Matilda Carrington in the summer of 1913. Sadly there is little information about Lily, but the couple do not appear to have had any children.

Frank enlisted shortly after war broke out; he joined the Royal Engineers on 27th October 1914, and within a couple of years has reached the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.

Sadly again at this point Frank’s trail goes cold. He next appears in a newspaper article from 1st March 1919, when he is listed as having attended the funeral in Rainham, Kent, of Air Mechanic Herbert Holdstock. He is now listed as Captain F Cowley RE.

That was resolved to be a tantalising glimpse into Captain Cowley’s final few weeks. From this point, all the documents tell us is that he worked at the School of Military Engineering in Chatham.

Frank passed away on 18th March 1919, although no cause of death is recorded. He was 41 years old.

Francis Llewellyn Cowley lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery close to his home in Gillingham, Kent.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, Lance Corporal, London, photography, Royal Marines, Sergeant, story, unknown, war

Sergeant Christopher Faulkner

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Sergeant Christopher Faulkner

Christopher William Thomas Faulkner was born in 1881, one of five children to William and Harriet Faulkner. There is little information about Christopher’s early life, but the 1891 census shows him living with his mother and siblings in the St George’s Barracks in St Martin in the Fields in central London. William is not listed, so it can only be assumed that he was away on duty when the census was completed.

Christopher attended the military school; his record confirms that he was born on 17th June 1881, and spent four months at the school when he was ten years old. William is listed as a Sergeant and the family were living at the St George’s Barracks, which were located in the site now occupied by the National Portrait Gallery.

The military life was indelibly in Christopher’s life by this point. Whilst the records are sparse, he had certainly enlisted by the time he was 25. On Boxing Day 1904 he married a woman called Essie Brant, the daughter of a tailor from Croydon.

On the marriage certificate, Christopher was listed as a Lance Corporal in the Royal Marine Light Infantry and was based at the barracks in Chatham, Kent.

The young couple went on to have four children together and, by 1911, Essie was living in Gillingham, not far from the naval base in Chatham. The majority of Christopher’s career was served here, although when war broke out, he also saw conflict overseas.

By 1916, he was promoted to Sergeant and was assigned to HMS Dominion, which patrolled the North Sea. Ill health must have taken hold, however, and by the end of 1917, Sergeant Faulkner was reassigned to Chatham, before being medically discharged at the beginning of the following year.

Sadly, there is no record of the cause of his release from duty, but it appears to have been something to which he would eventually succumb. The next record is of Sergeant Faulkner’s death, on 5th January 1920, at the age of 39 years old.

Christopher William Thomas Faulkner lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.

Christopher’s grave also acts as a memorial to his son.

Leslie Albert Gerald Faulkner was born on 9th June 1910. On leaving school, he sought military service like his father, and enlisted in the Royal Navy for a period of twelve years’ service.

Unusually, details of his service appear to end after just three years, in January 1929. However, later records confirm that he continued to serve at HMS Pembroke, the on-shore vessel in Chatham, through to the Second World War, achieving the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

Chief Perry Officer Faulkner’s military records did thrown up some further information, though. Surprisingly, his death records give specific details of the cause of his passing, stating that it was a “rupture of the liver due to secondary neoplasm of the liver, due to primary seminoma of testis”. In effect, Leslie had suffered testicular cancer, which then spread to his liver.

Leslie Albert Gerald Faulkner died on 28th November 1945, at the age of just 35 years old. He was buried in the same grave as his father, in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham.