Category Archives: Somerset

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

Private Sidney Biddiscombe

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Private Sidney Biddiscombe

Sidney William Biddiscombe was born in South Cadbury, Somerset, in the spring of 1895. The eighth of sixteen children, his parents were Thomas and Constance Biddiscombe. Thomas was an agricultural labourer, and this is work that Sidney went into when he finished school.

When war came to Europe, Sidney was quick to enlist. Whether this was out of a sense of duty, a keenness to get involved, a need to follow his older brothers, or as an escape from farm labouring is unclear, though. He joined the Somerset Light Infantry in August 1914, and was assigned to the 7th (Service) Battalion.

There is little information available about Private Biddiscombe’s time in the army. He received his training in Hampshire, and was based at Aldershot. The sudden influx of young men from across the country into small, cramped billets meant that illness ran rife, and Sidney, it seems, was not immune. He contracted measles, and was admitted to the camp’s Isolation Hospital.

Sadly, the infection was to get the better of Private Biddiscombe, and he passed away at the hospital on 5th March 1915. He was just 20 years of age.

Sidney William Biddiscombe was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Thomas a Becket’s Church in his home village of South Cadbury.

Sidney’s epitaph notes he is “never forgotten by mother, brothers and sisters”. His father, Thomas, died in 1918, at the age of 62, and so was not commemorated on his son’s headstone, which was erected at a later date.

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

Private Archibald Wilds

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Private Archibald Wilds

Archibald Percy Wilds was born in 1896 in Kilmington, Somerset. The youngest of three children, his parents were dairy farmers Charles and Emma Wilds. Charles passed away when Archibald was just a toddler, and with the help of her family, Emma raised their children while maintaining the business.

When he left school, Archibald also helped out on the farm, but war was coming, and he wanted to play his part for King and Country. Details about his service are sketchy, but it is clear that he joined the Somerset Light Infantry as a Private, before transferring to the Hampshire Regiment. He was assigned to the 15th (Service) Battalion, also known as the 2nd Portsmouth.

While Private Wilds’ battalion saw action in France, it is unclear whether he went with them. His records show that he was awarded the Victory and British Medals for his time in the army, but they do not give a date for him embarking for the continent.

The only other records relating to Private Wilds are those confirming his passing. The Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects confirms that he passed away on 26th February 1918 in a military hospital, while another database suggests that he died of wounds, although it is not possible to confirm how he was injured, or where specifically he passed. What can be confirmed is that he was just 21 years of age when he died.

Archibald Percy Wilds was brought to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in the graveyard of St Michael’s Church in Blackford, not far from where his mother still lived.

Emma Wilds went on to live until she was 70 years old. She passed away in 1932 and was also laid to rest in the family plot, reunited again with her husband and son.

Bedfordshire Regiment, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, photography, Sergeant, Somerset, story, unknown, war

Serjeant Frederick Wilton

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Serjeant Frederick Wilton

Frederick Uriah Wilton was born in Yarlington, Somerset, in the spring of 1892. One of thirteen children, his parents were farm labourer Thomas Wilton and his wife Mary.

Frederick and his brothers followed their father into agricultural labouring, and, according to the 1911 census, the family were living and working at Shatwell Farm, on the outskirts of Yarlington itself.

When war broke out, Frederick was keen to play his part. Details of his military service are difficult to piece together, but what is clear is that he enlisted in the Bedfordshire Regiment.

During his time in the army, Frederick rose to the rank of Serjeant. He survived the war and, in 1919, he was placed on furlough while waiting to be demobbed. Sadly, it is likely that he fell ill during this time, and he passed away on 1st December 1919, at the age of 27.

Frederick Uriah Wilton was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Yarlington.

Serjeant Wilton’s headstone notes that he served in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment. The two regiments were amalgamated in 1919, and Frederick was recorded as having served in the newly formed regiment.

Commonwealth War Graves, Essex, Great War, history, injury, London Regiment, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private George Woodforde

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Private George Woodforde

George Augustus Woodforde was born on 21st April 1892 in Leyton, Essex. He was one of six children to George and Harriet Woodforde, although, tragically, George had died shortly before his son was born.

George Sr had been born in Ansford, Castle Cary, Somerset and this is where he was laid to rest. He was a theological student in his twenties and, according to the 1891 census, he was living on his own means. This is something that Harriet was fortunate enough to be able to do once she was widowed.

George Jr studied into his late teens and, by the time war was declared in 1914, he was employed as a schoolmaster. He enlisted in April 1916, but was not mobilised until 17th November 1917. He served as part of the 28th Battalion (Artists’ Rifles) of the London Regiment and his records show that he was 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall and was of a slight build, weighing in at only 110lbs (50kg).

Private Woodforde soon found himself in France, and fought on the front line for a while. He was caught up in the Battle of the Canal du Nord in late September 1918, and was badly wounded. He was medically evacuated to England, and admitted to the East Leeds War Hospital. He had received gunshot wounds to both thighs and feet, and had fractured the tarsal and metatarsals of his right foot.

Private Woodforde’s left leg became infected, and he then developed double pneumonia. It was this lung condition that he was to succumb to: he passed away at the hospital on 11th November 1918 – Armistice Day. He was just 26 years of age.

George Augustus Woodforde was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Andrew’s Church in Ansford, Somerset, close to where his father had been buried all those years before.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, King's (Liverpool Regiment), Merseyside, photography, Private, Second Lieutenant, Somerset, South Lancashire Regiment, story, war

Private Joseph Roe

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Private Joseph Roe

Joseph Leonard Roe was born on 16th February 1892 in Totnes, Devon. The older of two children, his parents were Francis and Mary Roe. Mary died in 1898, when Joseph was only six years old, leaving Francis, who was a traveller for a wholesale grocer, to raise his sons. Tragically, he also passed away in 1902, and it seems that Joseph and his brother were left in the care of their paternal grandmother.

Hope was to come out of adversity – the 1911 census recorded Joseph as boarding in a school in Tiverton, while his brother, who was called Francis, found work as a clerk at a chartered accountant. He was living with his grandmother Mary and aunt Marian in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Joseph followed in his father’s footsteps, finding work as a chemist’s merchant, and this took him travelling across the country. When war broke out, he was living in Wallasey, Merseyside, and it was from here that, on 28th August 1914, he was to enlist.

Joseph’s service records show that he was 5ft 11ins (1.80m) tall, was of good physical development and had good vision. He was accepted for enlistment into The King’s (Liverpool Regiment), and was assigned to the 10th (Scottish) Battalion.

After a coupe of months’ training, Private Roe set sail for France, arriving in Le Havre on 1st November 1914. His time overseas, however, was to be cut short, however, when he contracted a combination of myalgia, bronchitis and diarrhoea. He was medically evacuated back to Britain on 30th November, and given time to recover.

Private Roe remained on home soil for the remainder of his time in the army. However, he continued to suffer with his health. In the spring of 1916, he contracted tuberculosis and was at his grandmother’s home when he passed away on 4th April. He was just 24 years of age.

Joseph Leonard Roe was laid to rest in Totnes Cemetery, buried in the family grave, and reunited with his parents at last.

Francis, meanwhile, had also played an active part on the First World War. He joined the 2nd Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment and fought on the Western Front.

While at Etaples, he was wounded, and succumbed to his injuries on 7th January 1916, aged just 21 years old. Second Lieutenant Francis Roe was buried at Etaples Military Cemetery in Northern France.

His sacrifice is also commemorated on the family monument in Totnes Cemetery.

Bombardier, Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, war

Corporal Ernest Jenkins

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Corporal Ernest Jenkins

Ernest Gilbert Jenkins was born on 4th April 1888, the tenth of eleven children to Eli and Julia Jenkins. Eli was a dairyman from Dorset, but the family were born an raised in Marksbury, a village in Somerset. When Eli passed away in 1910, he was laid to rest in the nearby town of Keynsham, and this is where Julia and the family moved.

Ernest tried to make his mark by finding a career in the army and enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery on 22nd June 1908. He gave his trade as a electrician for the National Telephone Company and his records noted that he stood 5ft 7ins (1.70m) tall, with good vision and good physical development.

The 1911 census records the widowed Julia and five of her children living on Charlton Road, Keynsham, in a 12-roomed house, with a domestic servant and three visitors. While not noted as such, it would seem that Julia was running a boarding house, but without any further details, this is impossible to confirm.

Ernest may have completed his initial term of service by this point and he was recorded as living with his mother and working as a salesman of cattle feed. Bombardier Jenkins’ military records show uninterrupted service from 1908 to 1917, so it is likely that, at the time of the 1911 census, he was, in fact, on reserve.

When war broke out in 1914, Ernest was called back into duty. By March 1915, he found himself in France, having been promoted to Acting Corporal. He served on the Western Front until June 1916, when he was sent back home.

Corporal Jenkins seems to have been suffering with his health and, in July 1916 was admitted to hospital with pyrexia (fever). Medically evacuated to England for treatment, a heart murmur was also identified, and after treatment, he was relieved of active duty and placed on reserve in January 1917. The heart condition continued, however, and by the end of the year, he was medically discharged from the army.

At this point, Ernest’s trail goes cold. He returned to Bristol and is noted in the 1919 edition of Kelly’s Directory, as living back in Charlton Road with Julia.

The next record for Ernest confirms his passing. He died on 25th July 1919 in a nursing home in Bristol. He was just 31 years of age.

Ernest Gilbert Jenkins was laid to rest in the family plot in Keynsham Cemetery. When Julia passed away in 1929, at the age of 78, she was buried there as well, finally reunited with her husband and son.

accident, Canada, Commonwealth War Graves, Flight Lieutenant, Great War, history, Pembrokeshire, photography, Royal Air Force, Somerset, story, Wales, war

Flight Lieutenant Richard Bush

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Flight Lieutenant Richard Bush

Richard Eldon Bush was born on 16th June 1891 in Keynsham, Somerset. The second of four children (all of whom were boys), his parents were Philip and Maria Bush. Philip was a solicitor, and with that status came opportunity for his children.

The 1911 census recorded the Bush family living in Keynsham with two servants – cook Clara Jones and parlour maid Laura Day. The two older boys – Richard and his older brother, Whittington, were both listed as Cambridge undergraduates, while his two young brothers were boarding at a private school in Repton, Yorkshire.

Richard had aspirations for a good life. In March 1914, he set sail for a life in Canada, looking to take up architecture in the colony. His time overseas wasn’t to be long, though, and, when war broke out in Europe, he returned home.

Full details of Richard’s military service are not available, but he joined the Royal Naval Air Service and, on 20th August 1915, he gained his wings. Richard rose to the rank of Flight Lieutenant, but tragedy was ahead.

On 24th April 1917, he was piloting a scout seaplane around the harbour in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire.

[He] failed to clear some overhead wires, and the seaplane swerved against the cliff with considerable violence, smashing the machine, which the petrol set alight, and crashed to the earth. When liberated from the blazing machine Lieutenant Bush rolled and extinguished his burning clothes.

Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer: Friday 27th April 1917

Sadly, Flight Lieutenant Bush’s injuries proved too severe. He passed away a couple of days later, on 24th April 1917, at the age of 25 years old.

Brought back to Somerset for burial, Richard Eldon Bush was laid to rest in the cemetery of his home town, Keynsham.

Flight Lieutenant Richard Bush
(from astreetnearyou.org)

The same newspaper report noted that Richard’s brother Graham was an officer in the Royal Flying Corps. He had also been badly injured in a flying accident, but was, according to the report, “flying again now.“

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire, Wiltshire Regiment

Private Robert Cantle

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Private Robert Cantle

Robert Cantle’s life is one of hope and of tragedy. There is very little documentation on him, but what there is gives a hint to his life.

The 1911 census recorded him a living on Temple Street in Keynsham, Somerset. The head of the household was 86 year old John Cantle, a retired platelayer for Great Western Railway. His wife, Mary, was 22 years his junior, and they shared the house with their son, stationary cutter Ernest, his wife, Elsie, and their daughter, Madge. Robert was noted as being John and Mary’s adopted son. His age was given as 13, but his place of birth is ‘unknown’.

When war broke out, Robert joined the Wiltshire Regiment. Private Cantle set off for camp in Wiltshire in August 1917, and had been there for just two days when tragedy struck.

There were heavy thunderstorms in the Warminster district on Thursday, and while men of a unit of the Wiltshire Regiment were on the parade ground, three of them were struck by lightning. Pte. Robert Cantle, aged 19 years, whose home is at Keynsham, was killed on the spot, and the other two, Pte. Rowe and Pts Murgatroyd, were severely injured…

Sergeant Major HJ Bennett, of the Wilts Regiment, stated [at the inquest] the deceased lad had only just joined them. About 3pm on Thursday a squad was on the parade ground, when the signal was given to dismiss, as a storm was approaching. Immediately after there was a flash and a crash and it seemed to stagger everybody on the parade ground. Witness was brought to his knees, and when he recovered himself he saw three men, who of whom were struggling, on the ground. Private Cantle was found to be dead, and the other men recovered after being attended by a doctor. The squad consisted of recruits, and none of them were carrying arms.

Major Stocker, medical officer, said the crown of deceased’s cap was ripped off, and the body was burned from head to foot.

The jury returned a verdict of “Death from the effects of lightning.”

Somerset Standard: Friday 17th August 1917

Robert Cantle’s body was brought back to Keynsham for burial: he was laid to rest in the town’s cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Engineers, Sapper, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Sapper Albert Headington

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Sapper Albert Headington

Albert Edward Headington was born on 5th December 1876 in Keynsham, near Bristol, in Somerset. The ninth of eleven children, his parents were Joseph and Jemima Headington. Joseph was a stonemason and, while he seems not to have had his father’s talents, Albert worked with the same material, becoming a bricklayer’s labourer when he left school.

On 29th May 1899, Albert married Ellen Gray. She was a mason’s daughter from Semley in Wiltshire, and it seems that he was either working there or had some connection with the family through his father’s work. The couple settled down in Keynsham, and went on to have two children, Harold, who was born in 1900, and Edith, who was born in 1912.

By the time of the 1911 census, the family had settled in a small house in the middle of Keynsham. Albert had, by this point, found other employment, and was working for Great Western Railways as a packer.

When war broke out, Albert stepped up to play his part. He enlisted on 22nd June 1915, joining the Royal Engineers as a Sapper. Sent for initial training in Chatham, Kent, he returned home on leave at the end of August. Tragically, he had fallen ill by this point, and died at home on 4th September 1915, having contracted cerebrospinal meningitis. He was 38 years of age.

Albert Edward Headington was laid to rest in the quiet cemetery of his home town of Keynsham.

Ellen went on to live a full life. She and Edith emigrated to Canada in 1921, following Harold, who had made the same move a year earlier. They all settled in the town of Welland, Ontario, not far from Niagara Falls.

Both of Albert and Ellen’s children married and had children of their own. Ellen never remarried, and passed away on 4th November 1956, at the age of 80 years old. She was laid to rest in the Holy Trinity Anglican Cemetery in Welland.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Leicestershire, photography, Royal Engineers, Sapper, Somerset, story, Surrey, Training Reserve Battalion, Wales, war

Sapper Walter Wigginton

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Sapper Walter Wigginton

Walter Wigginton was born in the Leicestershire village of Illston-on-the-Hill in the summer of 1880. The second of seven children, his father John was a grazier, managing cows over a six-acre pasture. His mother, Rebecca, who was also born in Leicestershire, raised the family and managed the home.

Walter turned his hand to carpentry, and, by the time of the 1901 census, he was boarding with a widow in Frimley, Surrey, employed for his woodworking skills. By 1905, his journeyman life had taken him to the Somerset village of Trull. It was here that he met and married Annie Oaten, and here that the couple settled down to raise their family. They had two children, Dorothy, born in 1906, and Winifred, who was born two years later.

War was closing in on Europe and, by the summer of 1916, Walter had joined up to play his part. Initially assigned to the 65th Training Reserve Battalion, he had not long transferred across to the Royal Engineers as a Sapper when he fell ill.

Sapper Wigginton was admitted to the Kinmel Park Military Hospital near Abergele on the North Wales coast, suffering from bronchial pneumonia. Sadly, this lung condition was to get the better of him, and he passed away at the hospital on 29th December 1916, at the age of 36 years old.

Walter Wigginton’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of All Saints’ Church in Trull, where his widow and children still lived.