Category Archives: Hampshire

Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Cornwall, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, Somerset, story, war

Boy Sidney Buttle

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Boy Sidney Buttle

Sidney Alfred Buttle was born on 7th November 1900, one of eight children to Walter and Alice Buttle. Walter was a brickyard labourer from the Somerset hamlet of Churchstanton, but it was in nearby Wellington that he and weaver Alice raised their young family.

Sidney was just 13 years old when war broke out, but he was a young man who appeared keen to play his part. On 31st July 1917, he enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve, a regiment that suggests that, even at his young age, he had some experience of working with boats.

His service records show that Sidney was just 5ft 2.5ins (1.59m) tall, had a fresh complexion with hazel eyes. Given the rank of Boy, he was initially posted to Falmouth, Cornwall, where he spent nine months training. After this, he spent a further six months on short postings as a deck hand, before being sent to HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Boy Buttle was, by this point, suffering from neurasthenia, a nerve disorder, and it was this condition that led to his eventual discharge from naval service in December 1918.

Sidney returned home, but seems to have been weakened by the condition. He passed away at home on 3rd August 1919, at the tender age of just eighteen years of age. He was laid to rest in Wellington Cemetery, not far from where his family still lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, injury, photography, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Samuel Troake

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Private Samuel Troake

Samuel Troake was born in Wellington, Somerset, on 24th August 1890. His parents were Samuel and Mary Troake and he was one of seven children to the couple. Mary had been married before, and had a daughter of her own. Samuel Sr was a shepherd turned labourer: when Mary died in around 1894, he married again, to widow Sarah Carter. She also had children of her own, something that is noted in the 1901 census, which records husband and wife sharing the house (from his perspective) with six of his children and five step-children.

By the time of the next census, ten years later, the Troake family home was a lot less crowded. Road contractor Samuel Sr and Sarah were recorded living with Samuel Jr and his younger brother, Charlie – both of whom were wool spinners , and the couple’s grandson, Percy.

Working at the wool factory came with benefits for Samuel Jr. It was there that he met Alice Slade, and the couple married on 10th December 1914, at the local parish church. The couple set up home not far from his parents, but war was soon to take him away from his new bride.

Full details of Samuel’s military service are not available: he enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry, and was assigned to the 8th (Service) Battalion. He served on the Western Front, and remained there until almost the end of of the conflict.

Private Troake was recorded as being caught up in the conflict, and was medically evacuated to England for treatment to a bullet wound. Sadly, the injuries to his abdomen and bladder were to prove too severe – he passed away in a Portsmouth hospital on 30th October 1918. He was 28 years of age.

Samuel Troake was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Wellington Cemetery, not far from where his widow and father still lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, Hampshire Regiment, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Herbert Towell

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Private Herbert Towell

Herbert William Towell was born in the autumn of 1899, the oldest of six children to James and Prudence. James was a wool sorter in a factory, who had been born in Rockwell Green, on the outskirts of Wellington, Somerset, and this is where he and Prudence raised their children.

The Towell family were locals to Rockwell Green. James’ brother Charles lived just a few doors away from him and the 1911 census recorded James and Prudence living at 105 Rockwell Green Road, while Herbert, aged eleven, was living with his paternal grandparents, William and Charlotte, at 131 Rockwell Green Road.

When he left school, Herbert found work as an engine cleaner. War, however, was imminent and he was keen to play his part, but was initially too young do so. His time came, though, and on 30th June 1917 he was enlisted into the 34th Training Reserve Battalion.

At seventeen years and nine months, Private Towell’s service record gives his height as 5ft 11ins (1.80m), his weight as 144lbs (65.3kg) and confirms that he had a mole on his right cheek. He was initially assigned to the 53rd (Young Soldier) Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment, and posted to the army base at Durrington, close to Stonehenge.

In November 1917, Private Towell was admitted to the camp hospital with diarrhoea. Sadly, he had also contracted tuberculosis and it was recommended that he spend some time in a sanatorium. On 6th February 1918, he was discharged from service on medical grounds, and ordered to present himself for review the following year.

Herbert was not to get the chance to do so: within a month of his discharge he succumbed to the lung condition, breathing his last on 5th March 1918. He was just 18 years of age.

Herbert William Towell was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Wellington Cemetery, within sight of his parents’ home.

Tragedy was to strike James and Prudence again less than a year later, when Herbert’s younger sister, Florence, passed away, aged just ten years old. No further information about her passing is available, so she may also have succumbed to one of the lung conditions running rampant across Europe in the aftermath of the war.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Albert Blackwell

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Private Albert Blackwell

Albert Edward Blackwell was born in Corfe, Somerset, in the autumn of 1872. He was the third of eight children to Francis and Harriet Blackwell. Francis was a farm labourer, while Harriet supplemented their income by taking in washing. Albert didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps, however, but found work as a ropemaker when he left school.

On 21st September 1905, Albert married Mabel Hellen Fry, a factory hand and porter’s daughter from Wellington, Somerset. The couple began their married life living with Mabel’s parents, and went on to have five children. By the time of the 1911 census, Albert was working as a carter for a local coal merchant, but war was on the way.

There is little information available about Albert’s military service. He enlisted at the start of the conflict, joining the 9th Service Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment by September 1914. Private Blackwell was based at Aldershot, Hampshire, but his service was not to be a long one.

Albert was admitted to the Connaught Military Hospital near Marlborough, suffering from tuberculosis. This became bronchitis, and the lung conditions proved too much for Private Blackwell’s constitution to take. He passed away at the hospital on 6th March 1915, at the age of 42 years old.

Albert Edward Blackwell was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Wellington Cemetery, not far from where Mabel was still living.

Now widowed, Mabel still had children to raise. In the spring of 1916, she married Alfred Barnfield, a greengrocer from Bath. He had served in the Coldstream Guards for two years, before he was discharged for misconduct in May 1911. Sadly, no further information is available for him and Mabel’s trail also goes cold at this point.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire, Worcestershire Regiment

Private Frederick Best

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Private Frederick Best

Frederick William Best was born in Wellington, Somerset, early in 1898 and was the middle of three children to factory worker Frederick Best and his wife, Bessie. When he left school, he found work as a delivery boy for a local baker, unlike his father, who was a long-time working in the local woollen factory.

War was closing in on Europe, however, and Frederick Jr was soon keen to play his part. Full details of his military service are not available, but it appears that he enlisted in the Worcestershire Regiment as soon as he was able, Private Best was assigned to the 15th (Transport Workers) Battalion, and served on home soil, initially in Swindon, and then in Southampton.

It was while he was billeted in Hampshire that Frederick contracted meningitis. He was admitted to a hospital in the city, but the condition was to get the better of him, and he passed away on 2nd January 1918, aged just 19 years old.

Frederick William Best’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the cemetery in his home town, Wellington, where his parents were both buried in the 1930s.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, story, war

Private Bert Adley

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Private Bert Adley

Bert Bennett Adley was born in the spring of 1895, the youngest of eleven children to George and Alma Adley. George was a brickmaker’s labourer from Canterbury, Kent, but it was in nearby Faversham that he and Alma raised their family.

Bert – who was affectionately known as Bertie – found work with a local baker when he left school, and this stood him in good stead when war broke out. He was called up in June 1915, and joined the Army Service Corps as a Private. His service records give little personal information, but they do give his height as 5ft 5ins (1.65m) and his weight as 9st 2lbs (58kg).

Private Adley’s military life was to be tragically short. Based in Aldershot, Hampshire, it is likely that the sudden mixing of recruits from across the country was key in his contracting pneumonia. He was admitted to hospital on 26th June, and died two weeks later, on 11th July 1915. He was just 20 years of age, and had been in the Army Service Corps for just 28 days.

Bert Bennett Adley’s body was brought back to Kent for burial. He was laid to rest in his home town, in the Faversham Borough Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, Hampshire, history, illness, Kent, photography, Royal Field Artillery, story, war, Yorkshire

Gunner William Wyborn

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Gunner William Wyborn

William Aubrey Wyborn was born on 15th November 1897, the middle of three children to farmer-cum-greengrocer-cum-butcher Henry Wyborn and his wife, Esther. The family lived in the Kent village of Tilmanstone, not far from Deal, but soon moved to Faversham in the north of the county.

William proved to be an astute student. After being a pupil at Faversham District Schools, he gained a scholarship to the towns Grammar School. He spent six years there, and proved to be a studious pupil, gaining a prize for maths. He was then granted a scholarship to the Sheffield School of Engineering, and, while studying for his degree there, war broke out.

William joined the West Lancashire Royal Field Artillery in June 1916 and was sent to Aldershot for training. sadly, Gunner Wyborn’s career was to be cut short – while training, he contracted diphtheria and pneumonia, passing away from a combination of the illnesses on 3rd November 1916. He was just short of his 19th birthday.

William Aubrey Wyborn was brought back to Kent for burial. He lies at rest in the family plot in the Faversham Borough Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, injury, Kent, photography, Rifle Brigade, Rifleman, Sergeant, story, war

Serjeant Frank Ely

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Serjeant Frank Ely

Frank Harold Ely was born in November 1889, and was the oldest of four children. His parents were coal porter Frank Ely and his wife, Florence. They were both born in Kent, and raised their family in their home town of Faversham.

When Frank Jr left school, he found work as a bottler, but he had his eyes set on bigger adventures. In January 1908, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the 1st Battalion of the Rifle Brigade. His service records show that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall and weighed 109lbs (49.5kg). Rifleman Ely had brown hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion. He was also noted as having a scat on his right knee.

Rifleman Ely’s early service was wholly territorial, but not without incident: in 1909 he was treated for tonsillitis, two years later, he received treatment for syphilis.

He was also not one to toe the line. In August 1911, he was reprimanded for not appearing at the 6:30am parade. On 9th March 1912, he was severely reprimanded for ‘improper conduct in town, at about 11:35pm’. On 25th September 1913, he was reprimanded once again, this time for irregular conduct – using the officers’ latrines.

When war came to Europe, the Rifle Brigade were soon in the thick of it. On 26th August 1914, Frank was wounded in the hand during fighting at Ligny, France, and was then captured and held as a prisoner of war in Hamelin until the spring of 1918.

Moved to the Netherlands, Rifleman Ely was finally released after the Armistice was signed, and returned to England on 19th November 1918. He was demobbed the following March, but re-enlisted within weeks, was given the rank of Serjeant and was due to be shipped to India to continue his service.

However, while at an army camp in Aldershot, Frank contracted pneumonia. The struggles the previous few years had had on his health proved too much for him, and, on 26th August 1919 – five years to the day that he had been shot and captured – Serjeant Ely passed away. He was 40 years of age.

Frank Harold Ely was brought back to his home town for burial. He was laid to rest in Faversham Borough Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Royal Navy, Scotland, Stoker, story, Sussex, war

Stoker 1st Class William Banfield

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Stoker 1st Class William Banfield

William Banfield was born on 7th November 1890, in Henfield, near Horsham, West Sussex. He was the second youngest of seven children to George and Ellen Benfield. George was a carpenter, and this was a trade his two sons – William and his older brother, George – were initially both to follow as well.

William had a longing for the sea, however, and, on 11th June 1909, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class. His service records show that he was 5ft 7.5ins (1.71m) tall, had brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Stoker Banfield was based out of HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, but, over the eventual decade of his service, he spent no more than seven months ashore. Instead, he served on a total of nine ships. This included the battleship HMS Exmouth where, during the eighteen months he spent on board, he was promoted to Stoker 1st Class, and also spent 14 days in the brig, for reasons undisclosed.

On 27th September 1915, William was assigned to HMS Princess Royal. He served aboard for nearly three and a half years, patrolling the North Sea, coming under fire during the Battle of Jutland, and providing support during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight.

Towards the end of January, Stoker 1st Class Benfield fell ill, and was admitted to the Edinburgh City Hospital. Suffering from encephalitis, sadly the condition proved too much for his system to bear and he passed away at the hospital on 31st January 1919. He was 28 years of age.

William Banfield was brought back to Sussex for burial. He was laid to rest in the cemetery of his home town, Henfield.

William’s older brother, George, was also to fall victim to the First World War. He had enlisted in the Royal Navy three years before his younger sibling, and also served as a Stoker 2nd Class (subsequently being promoted to Stoker 1st Class in 1907).

George was also based out of HMS Victory, and, in April 1911, was stood down to the Royal Naval Reserve, having completed an initial five years’ service.

When war broke out, George was called back into service, and was assigned to HMS Good Hope, travelling from English shores to Nova Scotia, before heading to South America and into the Pacific.

Caught up in the Battle of Coronel on 1st November 1914, the Good Hope was sunk by the German cruiser SMS Scharnhost. All souls on board – all 926 of them – were lost; this included Stoker 1st Class George Banfield. He was only 27 years of age.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, Hampshire, history, illness, Kent, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, story, Sussex, war

Gunner James Wing

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Gunner James Wing

James Joseph Wing was born in Tonbridge, Kent, in the summer of 1876 and was the oldest of six children to Henry and Frances Wing. Henry was a labourer, but when he finished school, James found work as an errand boy for the post office.

This was not a long-term career, however, and by the time of the 1901 census, when James was 25, he was labouring for the railway. His mother had died in 1897, and Henry remarried, to a woman called Frances Stapley.

In the spring of 1902, James also married, to Sussex-born Mary Ann Goacher. The couple wed in Steyning, near Worthing, but settled in Henfield. James seemed to be picking up work where he could – the census of 1911 recorded him as a coal porter, but by the time he enlisted, in June 1916, he gave his trade as a gardener.

James joined the Royal Garrison Artillery as a Gunner, and was initially assigned to the No. 1 Depot in Newhaven. Full details of his service are unclear, but he transferred to No. 2 Depot in Gosport, Hampshire, in the summer of 1918.

Gunner Wing had only been in Gosport for a couple of months, when he was admitted to the 5th Southern General Hospital in nearby Fratton. At 12:15pm on 4th December 1918, he passed away, a post mortem revealing he had succumbed to a cerebral tumour. He was 42 years of age.

James Joseph Wing was brought back to Sussex for burial. He was buried in the cemetery in his adopted home town of Henfield.