Category Archives: Norfolk

Commonwealth War Graves, Driver, Great War, history, illness, Norfolk, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, war

Driver Alfred Fear

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Driver Alfred Fear

Alfred Fear was born towards the end of 1898, the youngest of nine children to Charles and Eliza Fear. Charles was a mason from Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, who raised his family in the town of his birth.

Sadly, given his youth, there is little documented about Alfred’s early life. He was still at school at the time of the 1911 census and, while he would have found some sort of employment after leaving, there is no record of what that would have been.

Alfred’s military service records are also sparse. He enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery and was assigned the role of Driver in the 321st Brigade. While dates cannot be confirmed, he would have enlisted before the spring of 1918.

The next two documents relating to Driver Fear are his Pension Ledger record and the Army Register of Personal Effects. These confirms that he passed away on 22nd October 1918 at the Norfolk War Hospital. The cause of death given was infirmation of the brain, (or possibly inflammation of the brain). He was just 20 years old.

Alfred Fear’s body was brought back to Weston-super-Mare for burial. He lies at rest in the town’s Milton Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Norfolk, photography, Royal Engineers, Sapper, story, war

Sapper Harry Paterson

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Sapper Harry Paterson

Harry Bruce Paterson was born towards the end of 1893, one of two children to John and Jane Paterson. John worked at Chatham Dockyard fitting ships’ engines, and the family lived in a small terraced house close to the centre of Gillingham in Kent.

When Harry left school, he became a plumber’s apprentice, soon qualifying as a full plumber.

He married Ellen Keeler in 1906, and the couple lived a short walk away from his parents’. They went on to have four children, Lilly, Harry Jr, Mabel and Kathleen.

War was on the horizon, but Harry’s military service records are a bit sketchy.

He enlisted as a Sapper in the Royal Engineers on 14th July 1915, and served in France. He attained the Victory and British Medals as well as the 1915 Star.

Sadly, Sapper Paterson’s health seems to have been impacted by his service. In January 1918 he was invalided back to England and admitted to the military hospital at the army camp in Thetford, Norfolk. Diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, he quickly succumbed to the disease, and passed away on 4th February 1918. He was 34 years old.

Harry Bruce Paterson lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, just a few minutes’ walk from both his parents and his widow and children.

Sapper Harry Paterson
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, killed in action, Norfolk, photography, Private, Royal Irish Rifles, story, war

Private Arthur Bloomfield

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Private Arthur Bloomfield

Arthur Henry Bloomfield was born on 19th December 1888, the youngest of six children. His parents, agricultural labourer and carter William and his wife Mary, raised the family in the small Norfolk village of East Harling, which was about halfway between the larger towns of Thetford and Diss.

Arthur married Rose Howlett in November 1911; the couple had two children – Margaret and Frederick – who became siblings for Rose’s daughter, Violet.

While Arthur’s military records are scarce, it is evident that he enlisted in the 9th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles. Private Bloomfield’s troop fought at a number of the key skirmishes on the Western Front, including the devastating (for the battalion) Battle of Albert in 1916.

A year later, the 8th and 9th Battalions were caught up in the Battle of Messines and it was here that Private Bloomfield met his fate. His pension records show that he was killed in action on 7th June 1917. He was 28 years old.

Arthur Henry Bloomfield lies at rest in the Lone Tree Military Cemetery in Mesen, West Flanders, Belgium.

Interestingly, Arthur’s pension records only cite his beneficiaries as Rose, Margaret and Frederick. This may go further in confirming that Violet was not his daughter.

Arthur Henry Bloomfield was my great great uncle.

Photo courtesy of Commonwealth War Graves Commission.