Category Archives: Somerset

Air Mechanic, Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Air Force, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Air Mechanic 2nd Class Alfred Hale

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Air Mechanic 2nd Class Alfred Hale

Alfred George Hale was born in Lechlade, Gloucestershire, in the spring of 1891. The youngest of four children his parents were George and Martha. George died when Alfred was just a babe-in-arms, and by the time of that year’s census, Martha was looking after her children alone.

The next census, taken in the spring of 1901, found Martha and the family living in a house on Oak Street in Lechlade. She was taking in laundry to earn a little money, while Alfred’s older brothers, George Jr and James, were employed as house boys. This meant there were three wages coming into the Hale household, but it would still have been a daily struggle for the family.

Tragedy stuck again in 1904 when James also died. Details are unclear, but it seems that he passed away in Headington, Oxfordshire, and was laid to rest in his home town. He was just 16 years of age.

By the time of the 1911 census, Alfred was the only one of Martha’s children to still be living at home. Home was the same four-roomed house on Oak Street, Lechlade. Martha was not noted as having any employment, but her son was working as a journeyman tailor.

On 10th November 1916, Alfred married Elizabeth Smith in Highworth, Wiltshire. There is tantalisingly little information about her, although it seems likely that they met during his travels with work. The couple would go on to have a child, daughter Sylvia, the following October.

1917 proved a year of upheaval for the Hale family. Six months before Sylvia’s birth, Alfred’s sister, Martha Jr, passed away. She had been a patient in the Berrywood Asylum in Northamptonshire, for a while: although the exact dates are unclear, she is recorded as a visitor to the Green family in Reading, Berkshire, in 1911, so her admission would have been after this.

Alfred had enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps by this point. It is likely that his tailoring skills were employed by the service – whose aircraft used canvas in their make-up – , and he was given the rank of Air Mechanic 2nd Class. His service records show that, when he joined up on 28th February 1917, he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall.

Air Mechanic Hale transferred to the Royal Air Force on its foundation in April 1918, and within a matter of weeks, he found himself overseas. He remained in France until the end of the year, and was admitted to hospital on 22nd December as a result of an unconfirmed illness. His condition warranted transfer to Britain on 2nd January 1919, and was severe enough for him to be officially discharged from duty on 12th April 1919.

The funeral took place at Locksbrook Cemetery on Wednesday of ex-Private George Hale, formally 2nd Air Mechanic, RAF, who resided at 7 Kensington Gardens, Walcot [Somerset]. Deceased, after serving three years with the Colours, was demobilised in April, 1919, but still suffered from illness, due to active service. His condition grew worse, and he was received at the Pensions Hospital, Combe Park, two days before his death… He was a native of Lechlade, Gloucestershire, but had lived in Bath for about three months.

[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 24th January 1920]

Alfred George Hale was 29 years of age when he died on 16th January 1920. He was laid to rest in the military section of Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery. His widow, Elizabeth, and his mother, Martha – who had now outlived her husband and three of her four children – attended the funeral.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Middlesex, Northumberland Fusiliers, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Herbert Smart

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Private Herbert Smart

Herbert – or Bertie – Smart was born on 9th February 1885, and was the middle of five children to John and Lucy. John worked as a gardener and the family were raised in the Kent town of Sidcup.

By the early 1900s, Bertie had moved to London, and had settled in Islington, Middlesex. He was working as a fruiterer and, on 19th May 1907, he married Lucy Purton, a policeman’s daughter from the east of the capital.

The couple set up home in Kensington, and went on to have four children: Frank, Herbert, Kathleen and Frederick. The 1911 census found the family renting three rooms in a tenement at 36 Netherwood Road. They were sharing their home with Lucy’s younger brother, Frederick.

When war broke out across Europe, Bertie was called upon to play his part. Full service details have been lost to time, but it is clear that he enlisted in the second half of 1916, and was assigned to the Northumberland Fusiliers. Attached to the 2nd/4th Battalion, it seems that he may have been sent to the South West for training.

Private Smart’s time in the army was not to be a lengthy one. He came down with cerebrospinal meningitis, and was admitted to the War Hospital in Bath, Somerset. The condition was to get the better of him: he passed away was still admitted, on 11th January 1917. He was 31 years of age.

Herbert Smart was laid to rest in the sweeping grounds of Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery.

These were tragic times for the Smart family. Lucy’s brother died just four months after her husband, and Lucy herself passed away in February 1918. In just over a year, the four children – Frank, Herbert, Kathleen and Frederick – had become orphans.

Berkshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Middlesex, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, story, Surrey, war

Private John Boura

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Private John Boura

John Adams Boura was born in the spring of 1868 in Kensington, Middlesex. The middle of three children, his parents were Julien and Esther Boura. Julien was the son of a French immigrant, who had built up two businesses as a dyer and cleaner (the first business having failed).

John followed in his father’s line of employment, and, by the time of the 1891 census, he was living with business partner Isabel Knight, at 3 St Mark’s Place in Wimbledon, Surrey. Work and pleasure were obviously mixing, though, and, on 3rd October that year, the couple married in the nearby Queen’s Road Chapel.

The newlyweds would go on to have a son, also called John, in March 1895. By the start of the new century, the family has moved out of the capital, relocating to Aldershot, Hampshire, where they set up a new business at 111 Victoria Road, in the town centre.

Within the next decade, however, the Bouras had moved back to the London suburbs, setting up home and business in Merton, Surrey. A new alliance was forged at 106 Kingston Road, with the three sharing their home with Henry and Adelaide Shelley. All four adults were involved in the business, while the now 16-year-old John Jr was employed as a dentistry improver.

Julien – who was also known by his middle name, Aimé – and Esther had moved to Maidenhead in Berkshire by this point, and in September 1910, it seems that their son visited them. An argument seems to have erupted, and John was arrested. Taken before the Maidenhead Petty Sessions, he was tried for unlawfully and maliciously damaging the glass of certain windows, exceeding he amount of £5 to wit £8 6s., the property of Aimé Boura. John was find a total of £10 for the damage.

When war broke out, John stepped up to serve his country. While his service documents are long since lost, other records suggest that he had enlisted by the summer of 1916, and likely volunteered, give he was in mid-40s by this point. Private Boura was assigned to the Royal Army Service Corps, and was to be based at the Supply Depot in Bath, Somerset.

It is probable that John’s dying and cleaning background meant that he was involved in uniforms in some way, although nothing concrete remains to document his time in the army. During the early part of 1917, he fell ill, coming down with bronchitis. He was admitted to Bath War Hospital, but the condition was to get the better of him. Private Boura passed away on 9th February 1917, at the age of 48.

The body of John Adams Boura was laid to rest in Bath’s majestic Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from the hospital in which he had passed.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, photography, Private, Royal Irish Regiment, Somerset, story, war

Private Ernest Patterson

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Private Ernest Patterson

Ernest Patterson was born in Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, in 1900. He was the oldest of six children to Robert and Matilda Patterson. Robert was a boot machinist when his son was born but, by the time of the 1911 census, he had turned his hand to farming.

When war came, Ernest stepped up to serve his King and Country and, in his eagerness to do so, he lied about his age. He enlisted in the Royal Irish Regiment on 1st September 1915, and stated that he was 19 years old. Given that his service records show that he was 5ft 8.5ins (1.64m) tall and that he weighed 130lbs (59kg), it is not surprising that the military were willing to take him on his word.

Private Patterson was initially posted to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion in Dublin. While there, he contracted German measles, and was hospitalised for two weeks. When he recovered, Ernest was moved to the 2nd Battalion, and shipped off to France with his new unit.

His time overseas was cut short, however, and he was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment on 9th March. He was noted as suffering from ‘debility’, and admitted to the Royal Surrey County Hospital for a week.

Out of hospital again, Ernest was re-assigned to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion. As summer came and went and winter moved in, his health wavered again. On 19th December 1916, he was admitted to the Bath War Hospital in Somerset, suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. He remained in hospital for the next three months, the condition finally leading to his medical discharge from the army on 29th March 1917.

Private Patterson’s discharge from the army did not mean a discharge from hospital, however, and he remained there for the next week or so. His health was deteriorating by this point, and his body finally succumbed to tuberculosis on 8th April 1917. He was just 17 years of age.

It was not practical to return Ernest Patterson’s body to his family in Ireland. Instead, he was laid to rest in Locksbrook Cemetery in Bath, not far from the hospital in which he had died.

Commonwealth War Graves, Driver, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, story, war

Private Hubert Naylor

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Private Hubert Naylor

The early life of Hubert Naylor is a challenge to piece together. Later documents suggest he was born in Elsley (possibly Ilsley), Berkshire in around 1874.

The first census Hubert appears on dates from 1911. By this time he was living in Bath, Somerset and was employed as a general labourer. The document confirms that he was married to Mary, and had been for some eight years. The couple had four children – Isabella, Hubert Jr, Henry and Catherine – and the family were living at 1 Dover Court, in the Walcot area of the city.

When war broke out, despite his age, Hubert stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps on 27th June 1915. Mary may not have been happy with this turn of events, as she had had two further children – Bertha and Doris – by this point.

Hubert was given the rank of Driver, and was initially posted to the 12th Labour Battalion. Within a year, his unit was in France. He spent the next year overseas, transferring to the Reserve Supply Personnel Depot as a Private in the process.

By the summer of 1917, Hubert’s health was failing. He was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and was admitted to the Bath War Hospital. He passed away from nephritis on 23rd July 1917: he was 42 years of age.

Hubert Naylor was laid to rest in the sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery in Bath, not far from the family home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Dorsetshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, India, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Willie Martin

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Private Willie Martin

Willie Cyril Martin was born in December 1891 in the Dorset village of Almer. The son of Elizabeth Martin, his mother would go on to marry Edward Holloway nine years later, although it is unclear whether he was Willie’s father.

When he finished his schooling, Willie found work as a kitchen porter, and this led him to the Dorset coast. The 1911 census found him boarding with 35 others at Pryory Mansions in Bournemouth.

When war broke out, Willie stepped up to play his part. He enlisted on 9th October 1914, joining the Dorsetshire Regiment. Assigned to the 4th Battalion, his unit was soon sent to India, moving to the Middle East over the following years.

By the autumn of 1916, Private Martin was back in Dorset. On 7th November he married Edith Williams at St Clement’s Church in Bournemouth. She was the 26-year old daughter of a gas fitter, and the couple’s marriage certificate sheds some light on Willie’s background as well. It gave his father’s name as Richard Martin (deceased), who was a butler, although there is no other information to substantiate this, and Elizabeth had passed away some years before, so could not back up or refute the suggestion.

Private Martin returned to duty after his wedding. At some point he transferred to the Labour Corps, and was attached to 644 Company. His re-assignment may have been down to medical issues – he had contracted malaria while serving overseas – and by the autumn of 1917, he was sent to hospital because of his deteriorating health.

Willie was admitted to Bath War Hospital in Somerset, suffering from a bout of malaria. The condition was to get the better of him, and he passed away on 8th October 1917, from a haemorrhage on his lungs. He was 25 years of age.

Willie Cyril Martin was laid to rest in the military section of Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from the hospital in which he passed away.

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

Private William White

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Private William White

William White was born in the autumn of 1892 in Gravesend, Kent. He was the second of eleven children to Joseph and Eleanor – or Ellen – White. Joseph was a general labourer who, by the time of the 1911 census, was employed in the local docks.

The same census recorded the family of eleven people living in four rooms at 2 Robert Street, Gravesend. In addition to Joseph, both William and his older brother, Joseph Jr, were employed as assistants for a local butcher, while the next youngest of the siblings, Edward, was working as a bootmaker’s errand boy.

When war was declared, William stepped up to play his part. Full service details have been lost to time, but it seems that he had enlisted by the spring of 1918 at the latest. He joined the London Regiment, and was assigned to the 20th (City of London) Battalion. Private White’s unit spent the duration of the conflict on the Western Front, fighting at Loos, the Somme and Messines amongst other areas.

By the end of the war, William had been awarded the Military Medal for his bravery, although it is unclear when and for what he receive it.

The next confirmed record for Private White was his admission to hospital in Somerset, as he was suffering from pneumonia. He was sent to the Bath War Hospital, but it is unclear whether he had been on home soil when he fell ill, or if he had been medically transferred there from across the English Channel.

William White’s condition was to prove fatal. He passed away in hospital on 23rd November 1918, at the age of 26 years old. His body was laid to rest in the military section of Locksbrook Cemetery in Bath, not far from the hospital where he had breathed his last.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, India, Lancashire, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, South Africa, South Lancashire Regiment, story, war

Private Walter Saunders

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Private Walter Saunders

There is little concrete information about the life of Walter Saunders, and what details are available come from his limited military documents. These confirm that he was born in December 1862 in Widcombe, near Bath, Somerset.

Walter was unemployed labourer when enlisted in the army in January 1882. He joined the Somerset Light Infantry, and was attached to the 4th Battalion. His service records show that he was just under 5ft 5ins (1.64m) tall, with brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also notes as having a scar on his abdomen.

Private Saunders seems to have served in southern Asia, receiving the India medal and Burma 1885-1887 clasp. He then moved to South Africa, and was caught up in the Second Boer War. There is no further information about his initial time in the army.

When his contract came to an end, it would seem that Walter returned to the UK, finding work as a dock labourer in South Wales. When war came to Europe, though, he stepped up once more so serve his country, this time joining the South Lancashire Regiment. He was assigned to the 15th (Transport Workers’) Battalion, which served in the Mersey dockyards.

The next record for Private Saunders comes from June 1917, when he was sent to a medical board. He had been unwell for a while, it seems, and was suffering from arteriosclerosis, or hardened arteries. The medical report confirmed this was a permanent condition, and that he was no longer fit for military service.

At this point, Walter’s trail goes cold. It seems likely that he returned to Somerset, possibly still having family connections there. He passed away on 5th March 1920. He was 57 years of age.

Walter Saunders was was laid to rest in the military section of Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery.

Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, injury, King's Shropshire Light Infantry, Middlesex, photography, Royal Horse Artillery, Somerset, South Africa, story, war

Captain Francis Leach

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Captain Francis Leach

Francis James Leach was born on 27th June 1878 in the Somerset village of Martock. He was the middle of four children to John and Louisa Leach. John was a solicitor who was 17 years older than Louisa, who was his second wife, and by whom he had had two children. The 1881 census found the family living in a house called The Lawn on Church Street, supported by five servants: a nurse, an under-nurse, a cook, a housemaid and a footman.

The next census return, taken in 1891, recorded the family having moved to Seaton in Devon. Louisa was living at 7 West Cliff Terrace with five of the children and a domestic servant. John, however, is not noted on the document, although Louisa is still recorded as married, which would suggest that he had not passed away.

A later newspaper report helps build a picture of Francis’ life growing up:

…Leach was educated at Allhallows School, Honiton, was a thorough sportsman in every sense of the word, a good shot, a keen rider to hounds, a polo player, and cricketer.

[Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: Friday 7th May 1915]

When he finished his schooling, Francis felt drawn to an army career, and the newspaper confirmed his progress:

He served through the Boer War with the R Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, and was present at the relief of Kimberley and at the actions at Paardeberg, Poplar Grove, Zand River, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Diamond Hill and Wittebergen, and was awarded the Queen’s medal with six clasps and the King’s Medal with two. He was given his commission in the Shropshire Light Infantry in 1901, attained the rank of Captain last August and was appointed Adjutant of his Battalion February 2nd, 1914.

[Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: Friday 7th May 1915]

The 1911 census found Francis back with his mother. She was now living in the village of Hawkchurch, near Axminster, living in a 9-roomed house called The Vineyard. Louisa also had her daughter and two servants – a cook and a housemaid – supporting her. The census return also confirmed that Louisa was a widow, John having died some rears previously. Francis’ visit may have been a fleeting one, as his fiancée, Doris Maunsell-Smyth, was also visiting in preparation for a wedding.

Francis and Doris exchanged vows on 29th July 1911, the wedding taking place in Christ Church, Paddington, Middlesex. Their marriage certificate confirmed that the groom was an army officer, while the bride’s father, George Maunsell-Smyth, was noted simply as a gentleman.

When war broke out in the summer of 1914, Captain Leach and his unit was called up to play their part. Full details of his service have been lost to time, but he was sent to the the Western Front by December that year. Over the coming months, the battalion was involved in the Battle of Eloi and the Second Battle of Ypres.

The funeral of Captain Francis Leach of the 2nd Battalion Shropshire Light Infantry, as taken place in the village churchyard amid every token of respect and sympathy. The officer died at Boulogne of wounds received in action in Flanders.

[Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: Friday 7th May 1915]

Captain Leach died of his injuries on 26th April 1915. He was 36 years of age.

Interestingly, despite a decree that the conflict’s fallen would be buried overseas if that was where they died, it seems that Captain Leach’s family were able to circumvent that ruling. Whether that was because he died in a hospital ship in Boulogne’s harbour is unclear, but had he died in the town itself, he should have been laid to rest in France.

Either way, the body of Francis James Leach was brought back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John the Baptist Church, Hawkchurch, not far from where his mother still lived.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Ireland, killed in action, Northern Ireland, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Frederick Bundy

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Private Frederick Bundy

Private Frederick Arthur Bundy, of the 1st Somerset Light Infantry is to be buried in Locksbrook Cemetery tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon with full military honours. He met with a fatal accident in Belfast on Sunday last. In the afternoon when in quarters he was passing from one room to another when a rifle which was bring cleaned by a comrade in the room which he was entering went off. The bullet passed through Private Bundy’s wrist and entered the stomach. He was at once removed to the military hospital, but passed away at midnight, from internal haemorrhage. Deceased, was the son of Mr FA Bundy, of 93 High Street, Upper Weston, and enlisted at the Drill Hall, Bath, in August 1919, when only 15 years of age, being accepted as he was a youth of exceptionally fine stature. At the time of his death he was 16 years and 10 months of age. After a short period of training at Taunton he went with a draft of Somersets to Ireland and was stationed for some time at Carrickfergus Castle, being moved into Belfast when the riots occurred there.

[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 4th December 1920]

Frederick Arthur Bundy was born early in 1904, and was the middle of three children to Frederick and Mary Ann Bundy. Frederick Sr was a labourer from Bath, Somerset, and it was in the Weston area of the city that the family were born and raised.

The 1911 census – the only one Frederick Jr would be recorded on – noted the family as living at 45 High Street, Weston. The household consisted of Frederick Sr, Mary Ann, Frederick Jr, his older sister Sarah, younger brother William and Mary Ann’s daughter from a previous marriage, Annie.

Sadly, due to his young age, there is little additional documentation to build a picture of Frederick Jr’s life. He passed away on 28th November 1920, and was laid to rest in Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from the family home.

Frederick Arthur Bundy’s funeral was shown in a photo-spread in the Bath Chronicle of 11th December 1920.

Editor’s Note: While Frederick enlisted nine months after the end of the First World War, his acceptance for a Commonwealth War Grave is because his passing being between the qualifying dates and the cause being as a result of his military service.