Category Archives: Sussex

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Lance Corporal, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Surrey, Sussex, war

Lance Corporal Harry Cheeseman

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Lance Corporal Harry Cheeseman

Harry George Cheeseman was born in the summer of 1893, one of eleven children to Charles and Sarah Cheeseman. Charles was an innkeeper, and ran the now-closed Red Lion Inn in Angmering, West Sussex for more than twenty years.

Harry did not follow in his father’s footsteps when he left school. Instead, he moved in with his older sister and her family in Horsham, where he worked as a roundsman on his brother-in-law’s dairy farm.

When war broke out, Harry was eager to enlist. He joined the Royal Sussex Regiment on 16th September 1914, and was assigned as a Private to the 9th (Service) Battalion.

Initially formed in Chichester, Private Cheeseman found himself moved to Portslade, then Shoreham, then Woking in Surrey, before eventually being sent to France at the beginning of September 1915. By this point, he had proved his worth and had been promoted to Lance Corporal.

Harry’s bravery shone through; in November 1915, while battle was raging, he brought an injured colleague into a field hospital and was about to rescue another when he himself was injured. His wound – a gun shot wound to the spine – was initially treated on site, but he was soon evacuated back to England.

Lance Corporal Cheeseman’s injuries proved to be life-changing. A later newspaper report stated that he had been “physically helpless” [Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 5th March 1917], so paralysis seems likely. Awarded the British and Victory Medals and the 1914 Star, he was medically discharged from the army in May 1916.

Harry returned home, but never really recovered from his injuries. He died on 26th February 1917, at the tender age of 23 years old. His funeral “which was of a most impressive character, was witnessed by five hundred people” [Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 5th March 1917], and he was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Margaret’s Church in his home town.

Army Veterinary Corps, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, London, photography, Private, story, Sussex, war

Private Frederick Finch

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Private Frederick Finch

Frederick Henry Harvey Finch was born in 1876 in the Sussex village of Ripe. He was one of eleven children, born to James and Eliza Finch. James was an agricultural labourer, a trade into which most of his children, Frederick included, followed.

In the spring of 1900, Frederick married Ellen Maloney. She had been born in Fareham, Hampshire, and, by the time of the 1891 census, ages just nine years old, was recorded in the Union Workhouse in Portsea. The couple wed in Hailsham, and went on to have three children, Frederick Jr, Hilda and Herbert.

By now, Frederick had moved on from farm labouring, and was working as a groom and a gardener. Within ten years, however, he had moved the family to the coast and the village of Angmering; he had found new employment, working as a carter for a coal merchant.

Frederick continued in this line of work as war broke out, but was one of the first to join the village’s contingent of the Voluntary Training Corps. He seemed to be content with this and at the start of 1917, he enlisted in the armed forces, joining the Army Veterinary Corps.

Private Finch was sent to Woolwich for training, but within a matter of weeks fell ill. Admitted to the Royal Herbert Hospital, he passed away on 24th January 1917, at the age of 40. No specific cause of death is recorded, but a local newspaper report of his funeral suggests, rather disingenuously, that “his health, which was never very robust, proved unequal to the strain of Army life”. [Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 7th February 1917]

Frederick Henry Harvey Finch was brought back to Angmering for burial He lies at rest in the graveyard of St Margaret’s Church in the village.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Labour Corps, London, photography, Private, Royal Garrison Artillery, story, Sussex, war

Gunner Percy Gast

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Rustington

Percy Cyril Edward Gast was born in the West Sussex village of Nutbourne in 1889. His parents were William and Eliza Gast and he was one of sixteen children, seven of whom survived.

William was an agricultural labourer, and farming was the line of work the whole family went into; by the time of the 1911 census, they had moved to Rustington, near Worthing, where Percy was working as a cowman.

When war broke out, Percy enlisted, joining the Royal Garrison Artillery. His skillset soon identified, he was transferred over to the 696th Agricultural Company of the Labour Corps.

While full details of his time in the army are not readily available, Private Gast served his time on home soil. Towards the end of the war he contracted influenza and pneumonia and was admitted to the Mile End Military Hospital in Newham, East London.

Sadly, the lung conditions were to prove his undoing; Private Gast passed away on 20th November 1918, at the age of just 29 years old.

Percy Cyril Edward Gast’s body was brought back to Rustington for burial. He lies at rest in the graveyard of St Peter and St Paul’s Church in the Sussex village.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, Kent, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Surrey, Sussex, unknown, war

Private Charles Hide

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Private Charles Hide

Charles Arthur Hide was born on 14th July 1897 and was the son of Ellen Edith Hide. The 1901 census found Charles living with his mother and her parents in the West Sussex village of Clapham. When Ellen’s father James died in 1909, local hurdle maker Alfred Daniels took her, Charles and her mother in as lodgers. Ellen subsequently married Alfred in 1916.

Charles, by this time, had left school and found employment with the railways. He started work on 22nd April 1913, earning 14s per week (around £55 a week in today’s money) as a porter at the station in Hove.

When war broke out, however, Charles felt the need to do his duty. He resigned from his job on 13th November 1914, and enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment as a Private. Charles was not alone in this: the employment records for Hove Station show that a number of other porters also handed in their notice around the same time.

Assigned to the 11th (Service) Battalion (also known as the 1st South Downs), Private Hide was initially based near Bexhill. His troop was then moved on, first to Maidstone in Kent, then to Aldershot, Hampshire. Whilst the battalion as a whole were shipped to France in 1916, there is no evidence that Charles went with them, and it seems that he may have served his time on home soil. Wherever he was based, he was awarded the Victory and British Medals for his time in the army.

At this point, details of Private Hide’s life become sketchy. He is only mentioned in one further document – the Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects – which confirms that he passed away at a military hospital in Epsom, Surrey, on 26th March 1917, although no cause is given. He was just 19 years of age.

Charles Arthur Hide’s body was brought back to Sussex for burial. He lies at rest in the quiet graveyard of St Mary the Virgin Church in his home village of Clapham.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Labour Corps, Middlesex Regiment, photography, Private, story, Sussex, war

Private William Osborne

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Private William Osborne

William Osborne is sadly one of those names that seems destined to be lost to time.

The starting point for any research is always going to be the gravestone; this is situated in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent and confirms his service number, rank and regiment and the date of his death.

The service number helps confirm his first name, and that his widow was called Eliza, but without his age and confirmation of when he was married, there are too many potential Williams and Elizas/Elizabeths to confirm a definite identity.

The only thing that can be confirmed, therefore, is that William enlisted in the Middlesex Regiment at some point before April 1918, and subsequently transferred across to the Labour Corps. He passed away on 8th November 1918 at the Second Eastern General Hospital in Brighton, Sussex, having contracted pneumonia.

William Osborne lies at rest in that Gillingham Cemetery, not far from where his widow was living.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, unknown, war

Private Albert Cobby

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Private Albert Cobby

There are some mysteries that are just destined not to be solved, no matter how much digging you do. One gravestone in Worthing’s Broadwater Cemetery, dated 10th December 1916, proved to be one of those.

Research across the standard platforms revealed very little. There was no AEA Coby on Ancestry, the service number 9076 did not reveal anything on the Fold3 website. The name Coby did not feature in any contemporary newspaper article in December 1916 or January 1917.

One lead suggested that Private Coby’s first names are Albert Ernest, but again, this drew a blank. Another gave the surname with the spelling Cobby, and this seemed to fit better.

The birth of an Albert Ernest Cobby was registered in Sussex at the start of 1888, but the parents’ names are missing. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website gives these as Alfred and Ellen Coby, but there is no concrete documentation to back this up.

The combination of Cobby and the service number did identify a military record on Fold3, but even here the information was limited. The document confirmed that Albert was nearly 29 when he enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment on 3rd December 1915, and that he was a motor cleaner in Worthing by trade. It gave his mother as Mrs A Cobby, but this does not fit with the Ellen suggested elsewhere.

Crucially, it confirmed that Private Cobby served on the home front for a matter of weeks – from 29th February 1916 to 4th May 1916. No reason is given for the end of his service.

Sadly, much of Private AEA Cobby’s life is destined to remain a mystery, with no definite links between the various pieces of evidence.

Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, London, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, story, Sussex, unknown, war

Private Charles Leach

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Private Charles Leach

Charles George Leach was born in 25th July 1872 and was the second of eight children. His parent were Gloucestershire-born painter William Leach and his laundress wife Ellen who raised the family in Greenwich, South London. William had married previously, but his first wife, Emma, had died in 1868, leaving him a widow at 40, with five children to raise. He had married Ellen shortly after, and the family grew in size.

There is little information on Charles’ young life. It seems like the family had moved down to Sussex at some point; this is where Charles met his future wife, fisherman’s daughter Ellen. By the time William died in 1909, the family had again relocated, this time moving back to Gloucestershire.

The 1911 census gives Charles and Ellen visiting Charles’ sister Alice and her husband. The couple had two children by this point, as did Alice. Charles’ mother Ellen was also living there; a family of nine living in a house in the town of Cinderford.

Details of Charles’ military life as somewhat sketchy. He did enlist, joining the Royal Army Service Corps on 6th December 1915, and certainly served in France, gaining the Victory and British Medals and the 1915 Star. However the records suggest that Private Leach was discharged from the army on medical grounds in the spring of 1916, and the refusal of a war gratuity – paid once soldiers had attained six months’ service – seems to back this up.

There is little more information available on Charles Leach. He and Ellen went on to have four children in all, and moved back to Sussex, close to her family. He passed away on 4th March 1919, at the age of 46, but no cause of death is available.

Charles George Leach lies at rest in the Broadwater Cemetery, in Worthing, West Sussex.

Commonwealth War Graves, East Kent Regiment, Great War, Hampshire, history, Kent, London, photography, Private, story, Sussex, unknown, war

Private Holdsworth Elphick

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Private Holdsworth Elphick

Holdsworth Elphick was born on 7th June 1891, one of five children to Herbert and Mary Elphick. Herbert was a billiard marker and professional player, who had been born in Brighton. Mary was from Ireland, but the couple raised their family in London, presumably as this is where the best opportunities for work were.

When he left school, Holdsworth found work at the George Hotel in Balham, South London, where he was employed as a barman. The 1911 census shows another barman there called Geoffrey Elphick, who, while not one of Holdsworth’s brothers, may well have been a cousin.

When war broke out, Holdsworth was quick to sign up. He enlisted as a Private in the Buffs (the East Kent Regiment) on 9th September 1914 and, after a year on the Home Front, he was sent out to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force in August 1915.

There is little further information available about Private Elphick’s time in the army. He returned to England on 25th February 1916; this appears to have been a medical evacuation as, two months later, he was discharged from the army as he was no longer physically fit to continue.

Life continued for Holdsworth. In September 1917, he married Lydia Ann Armstrong, a dock labourer’s daughter from Southampton, although this is where his trail seems to end.

The next available evidence for Private Elphick is his gravestone. This confirms that he passed away on 11th November 1918 – Armistice Day – but no further information is available. He was just 27 years of age.

Holdsworth Elphick lies at rest in the Broadwater Cemetery in Worthing, West Sussex (presumably this is where he and Lydia moved after their marriage, although there is nothing to confirm this).

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Lance Corporal, London, photography, Private, Quartermaster, Royal Army Service Corps, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Sergeant, Sergeant Major, Staff Sergeant, story, Sussex, war

Serjeant Major Percy Hawkins

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Staff Serjeant Major Percy Hawkins

Percy Harry Hawkins was born in Waltham Green, London, in 1886. One of five children, all boys, his parents were Frederick and Elizabeth Hawkins. Frederick initially worked as a brewer’s collector – collecting rent from tenant pub managers on behalf of the brewery – before working as a tobacconist.

In July 1908, Percy married Gladys Parnell. Sadly, tragedy was to strike and, over the next couple of years both Elizabeth and Frederick passed away in 1909 and 1910 respectively.

By the time of the following year’s census, Percy and Gladys were boarding with a dispensing doctor (or GP), and his wife. Percy listed his occupation as a ‘traveller’, was probably employed as some kind of salesman.

Tragedy was to strike Percy again. Months after the couple had their first child in July 1911, Gladys also passed away, leaving him as a widower and single parent at just 26 years old.

From his later military documentation, it seems that Percy married again in August 1915, this time to a woman called Mildred, and, by September 1919, he had gone on to have three children in total; one boy and two girls.

When war broke out, Percy was quick to enlist. He joined up in Birmingham on 10th August 1914, and gave his profession as a commercial traveller. His records show that he was 28 years and 120 days old, stood 5ft 6ins (1.69m) tall and weighed 131lbs (59.5kg).

After initially joining the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Private Hawkins was transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps, and was assigned to one of the supply companies.

Over the four years of the war, Percy served on home soil, and was promoted a number of times, rising from Private to Lance Corporal, Staff Sergeant to Quartermaster Staff Sergeant. In September 1917, he was again promoted, this time to Staff Sergeant Major, a position he held for the remainder of the conflict, and on into 1919, when he volunteered for an extra year’s service, rather than being demobbed.

In February 1920, Staff Serjeant Major Hawkins fell ill; he was admitted to the military hospital that had been set up in Brighton Pavilion, Sussex. The diagnosis was heart failure, and, sadly, it was to this that he was to succumb. He passed away on 20th February 1920, aged just 34 years old.

Percy’s family was, by this time, living down the coast in Worthing; his body was brought there for burial and he lies at rest in the Broadwater Cemetery in the town.

Canada, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Royal Engineers, Sapper, Sergeant, Singapore, story, Sussex, war

Serjeant George Carpenter

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Serjeant George Carpenter

George Palmer Carpenter was born in Worthing, West Sussex, in 1881, one of fourteen children to James and Elizabeth Carpenter. James ran the Steyne Hotel on the seafront, and sent his boys off to the Lucton Boarding School in Henfield for their education.

A regimented life seems to have suited George. When he left school, he enlisted in army, joining the Royal Engineers as a Sapper. The 1901 census found him billeted at the Elphinstone Barracks in Portsmouth.

Sadly, there is little further documentation on the life of Sapper Carpenter. He served through to and during the Great War, attaining the rank of Serjeant. He was sent to France in May 1915, though there is little to confirm his role there, or how long he stayed.

Serjeant Carpenter was subsequently attached to G Depot Company of the Royal Engineers, which received men returned from Expeditionary Force and also men enlisted for Tunnelling Companies, Special Companies and other specialist units. By this time – presumably later on in the conflict – he was based back in England, at the regiment’s barracks in Chatham, Kent.

When the war came to a close, George continued with his army career. With conflict in Europe coming end, he was shipped to Singapore in 1917, where he served through to 1920. A Sussex newspaper picked up his story from there:

Much sympathy will be extended to Mrs Carpenter and her family, of the Steyne Hotel, consequent upon the death of Sergeant George Carpenter, of the Royal Engineers, another of our Worthing boys whose life has been laid down in his country’s service. He arrived home in a bad state of health on the 25th of February last from Singapore, where he had been on duty for three years. Suffering from gastric influenza, it was found necessary that he should undergo an operation, which was carried out at midnight on Saturday. But he sank from weakness, and died at half-past eight on Sunday morning. This is the second son of whom Mrs Carpenter has been bereaved within a year, and there is pathos in the words addressed to us by her: “I have again the sorrowful task of sending the news of the death of one of my sons this morning.

Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 24th March 1920

George Palmer Carpenter was 39 years old. He was laid to rest in the Broadwater Cemetery of his home town, Worthing, in West Sussex.

The other brother referred to in the report was George’s younger brother Norman.

He had emigrated to Canada in 1906, but returned to Europe as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force when war broke out. Wounded in battle in May 1917, he returned to the UK for treatment and recuperation, and remained on home soil for the rest of the war.

In the spring of 1919, he was admitted to hospital with pleurisy and anaemia, and seems that he never fully recovered, succumbing to the conditions in August of that year. He was just 32 years old.