Category Archives: Sussex

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, London, Mauritius, photography, Private, Royal Fusiliers, story, Sussex, unknown, war

Corporal Richard Cadenaci

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Corporal Richard Cadenaci

Richard Edward Cadenaci was born in Sutton, Surrey, in around 1886. His father, who was also called Richard Edward Cadenaci, was a house painter and, with his wife Maria, had thirteen or fourteen children, of whom Richard Jr was the middle one.

Documentation on the Cadenaci family is scarce. On 5th April 1896, when Richard Jr was 10, he and three siblings were baptised together.

By the turn of the century, the family were living on Merton High Street, in Wimbledon. Richard Sr and Maria were there with their youngest five children.

Richard Jr seemed keen on a life of adventure – the 1911 census lists him as a Private in the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, and that he was based in Mauritius. His full military service records are not available, but it is likely that his term of service with the army was extended as war loomed.

Private Cadenaci was sent to France in January 1915 and, during his time in the Great War, he received the Victory and British Medals and the 1915 Star. At some point during the conflict he was transferred across to the Labour Corps, though the move came with a promotion to Corporal. Again, there is little further information about his service, but records suggest that he was discharged from the army – possibly through health reasons – on 20th September 1918.

Here, Richard’s trail goes cold. He died on 23rd March 1920, just eighteen months after the end of this military service, at the age of 32. There is no record of the cause of his passing and nothing to connect him to the town in which he was buried, Worthing, West Sussex.

It is possible that Corporal Cadenaci left the army for medical reasons, and his move out of London was for cleaner air, but this is only presumption on my part, and there is nothing to confirm this either way.

Richard Edward Cadenaci lies at rest in the Broadwater Cemetery in Worthing.

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

Private William Holden

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Private William Holden

Sometimes research into the names of the fallen runs into obstacles. There are graves I have researched that have brought up very little information, either because the soldier concerned is too young to have a lot of documentation about them, or because information on them has subsequently been lost.

On other occasions, it is the sheer wealth of documentation that proves to be the stumbling block. Such is the case with William Frederick Holden, buried in the Broadwater Cemetery in Worthing, West Sussex.

The grave itself gives some information: he was a Private in the Royal Sussex Regiment, with a service number of 8298970, and died on 16th February 1921, at the age of 26. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission archives give some further information: his father was Frederick Charles Holden, and his stepmother was Elena.

The Find A Grave website adds a little further information – he was born in Sidlesham, near Chichester in West Sussex. The site suggests, however, that he was born in 1897, which would suggest he was 23 or 24 when he died.

Researching on Ancestry throws up a wealth of other information, which begins to make it more of a challenge to identify the correct details. Both William and Frederick were common names in the late Victorian era, and Holden was a familiar Sussex name, and had many spelling variations.

Searching for William’s service number on sites like Fold3 does not provide any results, so that does not provide an opportunity to narrow down the information. Nor is there any record of his passing or burial in contemporary newspapers.

To add to the confusion, when I dug a little deeper, it seems that William’s birth name was, in fact, Frederick William Holden, and he was known by his middle name to avoid confusion with his father. His mother was Fanny Warrington (née Walker), and he seems to have had one sister, Annie. Fanny seems to have passed away in 1903, and Frederick Sr went on to marry Louisa.

So, like a patchwork, vague details of William’s life are pieced together. But huge gaps still remain. Private Holden was assigned to the 4th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment, which fought at Gallipoli and served in Egypt and France before the war was done. However, there is no evidence that William fought abroad.

Sadly, William’s passing is lost to time as well. We know when he died, but there is nothing to confirm a cause of death. Given when it was, it seems likely to have been as a result of one of the invasive lung conditions that ravaged Europe after the First World War. But he could just as easily have succumbed to the ongoing effects of wounds received during fighting. Given the lack of supporting documentation, we are unlikely ever to know.

William Frederick Holden lies at rest in Worthing’s Broadwater Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Reserve Cavalry Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Private John Saunders

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Private John Saunders

John Henry Saunders was born at the end of 1899, in the West Sussex village of East Preston. One of five children, his parents were agricultural labourer John and his wife Louisa. John Sr sadly passed away in 1904, when his son was just 4 years old.

Louisa went on to marry again in 1909, to a man named Charman. While no marriage records remain, it seems that he might have been a widower. The 1911 census finds Louisa living in Worthing with her four surviving children (her eldest, Lilian, having passed away earlier in the year), a stepson of 16 and new babe-in-arms.

With the outbreak of war in 1914, John looked to do his part. Sadly, his military records are not available, but what is clear is that he joined the Cavalry Regiment at some point after September 1917. He was assigned to the 3rd Reserve Regiment, which trained men for the Dragoon Guards, and Northamptonshire, Surrey and Sussex Yeomanry units.

Sadly, Private Saunders’ time in the armed forces was limited. He was admitted to the Military Isolation Hospital in Aldershot and, while it is not clear what the admission was for, it seems likely that he was moved from the main hospital because of a contagious condition like tuberculosis or pneumonia.

John Henry Saunders’ time in hospital was brief. He passed away on 16th March 1918, aged just 18 years of age. His body was brought back to Worthing, and he was buried in the Broadwater Cemetery to the north of the town.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, story, Suffolk Regiment, Sussex, war

Private Albert Farrell

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Private Albert Farrell

Albert Sydney Farrell was born in Mayfield, East Sussex, in the summer of 1899. One of four children his parents were gardener and coachman Arthur Farrell and his wife, Sarah Ann. Arthur had been born in Findon, a village to the north of Worthing, and is was to this town that he returned with his family. By the time of the 1911 census, when Albert was listed as a schoolboy, they were living in a small cottage within spitting distance of the sea.

Because of his youth, there is little further documentation on Albert’s early life. The war was coming, however, and he wanted to do his part. Dates cannot be confirmed, but he enlisted later in the conflict, at east before June 1918.

Private Farrell joined the Suffolk Regiment, and was assigned to the 1st (Reserve) Garrison Battalion. He would have carried out guard, escort and other similar duties from where he was based on the Isle of Grain in Kent.

Towards the end of the conflict, Albert fell ill; he was admitted to the Military Hospital in Sheerness, but sadly passed away on 3rd December 1918. He was just 19 years of age.

Albert Sydney Farrell was brought back to Worthing; he lies buried in the Broadwater Cemetery to the north of the town.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, illness, Kings Royal Rifle Corps, London, photography, Private, Royal Engineers, Royal Sussex Regiment, Sergeant, story, Sussex, war

Serjeant Henry Rowe

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Serjeant Henry Rowe

Henry Samuel Rowe was born in Shoreditch, London, on 18th August 1873. He was one of three children to Henry and Amelia Rowe. Henry Sr was a stonemason, who died in 1876, when Henry was only three years old.

Amelia moved her and her children to the Sussex Downs, and married again in 1883. Her new husband was John Herrington, and the couple went on to have three further children, Henry’s half-siblings. John was a farm labourer, and his stepson followed in his footsteps when he left school.

Henry soon sought other accomplishments, however, and, in October 1895, he joined the King’s Royal Rifles. During his twelve years’ service, he travelled the world, from Mauritius, to India, South Africa to Sri Lanka. He returned home in December 1903 serving on home soil until the end of his contract in 1907.

On 23rd April 1905, he married a widow, Amelia Routledge, in Brighton. There is no confirmation of the couple going on to have children.

Once demobbed, Henry found employment with the railways, and, by the time of the 1911 census, was working as a signalman. The document records him as boarding in a house in the village of Rudgwick, near Horsham; Amelia, meanwhile, was lodging with a family in South East London.

War was on the horizon, and, in August 1914, Henry volunteered. His time with the King’s Royal Rifles, stood him in good stead; after initially enlisting as a Private in the Royal Sussex Regiment, he was quickly promoted to Corporal and, by November 1914, had transferred to the Royal Engineers and attained the role of Sergeant.

Henry had spent just over a year in France, when he was shot in the right arm on 18th July 1916. Medically evacuated to England, he spent three months recuperating, before heading back into the fray in October the same year.

Henry served another eighteen months on the Front Line, before being admitted to hospital. His medical admission records show that he was suffering from “tremulous speech, confused… conversation, transitory admissions [sic?] of a grandiose type, outbursts of excitement, says he is a man of importance, childish, facile, simpleminded…” His condition was recorded as General Paralysis of the Insane (GPI), more commonly known these days as shellshock, and he was medically discharged from the Army on 4th September 1918.

Sadly, at this point Sergeant Rowe’s trail goes cold. He seems to have been hospitalised following his discharge, but the documents give conflicting suggestions about where he was admitted. Amelia was still living in South London, one record suggests Henry was in the Welsh Metropolitan Hospital in Whitchurch, near Cardiff. But, as he was buried in Worthing, West Sussex, it seems unlikely that he remained in Wales.

The cause of Henry’s passing is not evident either. There is no confirmation that GPI was to blame, but nothing to suggest it was not either. Whatever the cause, Sergeant Rowe died on 14th November 1918, three days after the conflict to which he had given so much had been brought to a close. He was 49 years old.

Henry Samuel Rowe lies at rest in the Broadwater Cemetery in Worthing, West Sussex.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Corporal William Giles

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Corporal William Giles

William Percy Giles was born in the autumn of 1879, in the West Sussex town of Storrington. His father was also called William, and his mother was Esther. William Sr was a carpenter, and this was to be a trade that his son followed him into.

In 1905, William married a woman called Ellen; the young couple moved to the seaside town of Worthing, and went on to have a son, Frederick, two years later. William, by this time, was working full time as a carpenter.

War was on the horizon and, while full service details are not available, it is clear that William joined the Royal Sussex Regiment at some point before March 1918. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion, though no further details of his time in the army remain, other than the fact that he reached the rank of Corporal during the conflict.

In the autumn of 1918, Corporal Giles was admitted to the 2nd East General Hospital in Brighton, suffering from nephritis. Sadly, he was to succumb to the condition, and he passed away on 28th October 1918. He was 40 years old.

William Percy Giles’ body was brought back to Worthing for burial. He lies at rest in the Broadwater Cemetery, not far from where his widow and son were living.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Leading Seaman, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, story, Sussex, war

Leading Seaman Albert Heasman

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Leading Seaman Albert Heasman

Albert Andrew Heasman was born in 1890 or 1891, and, like his date of birth, much of his life remains a mystery. He was one of five children to William and Kate Heasman, who brought their family up in the West Sussex town of Worthing.

Documentation on Albert is scarce. He does not appear on census records until 1911, by which time he is working as a mate on a fishing boat, based out of Ramsgate, Kent.

Naval records are also patchy; he certainly enlisted during the war, and, by 1918 had joined the Royal Naval Reserve. He was assigned to HMS President III, a training ship based at the Royal India Dock in London.

The only other concrete information available on Leading Seaman Heasman is that he passed away from pneumonia on 21st October 1918. He was just 28 years old. His pension record confirms that his sister, Ethel, was listed as a dependent.

Albert Andrew Heasman’s body was brought back to Worthing, where he lies buried in the Broadwater Cemetery, to the north of the town.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, photography, Private, Royal Defence Corps, story, Sussex, war

Private Bertie Bridger

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Private Bertie Bridger

Bertie Charles Bridger was born in the summer of 1876, one of nine children to William and Anne. William was a carman for the railway, and the family lived close to the central station in Worthing.

When Bertie left school, he followed in his father’s trade and, by the time of the 1901 census, was working as a groom and carman alongside his father and older brother, Arthur.

Bertie came to the notice of the local court when, in February 1900 he was called up to the Petty Sessions. He was fined for ‘cruelly ill-treating a horse by working it into an unfit state’ [Sussex Agricultural Express: Friday 9th February 1900], and ordered to pay a total of 18 shillings.

In the spring of 1904, Bertie married Ethel Gray, a carpenter’s daughter from Essex, who had found employment as a parlour maid for a Worthing solicitor. The couple would go on to have two children, Bertie Jr, who as born in 1905, and Leonard, born seven years later.

By the time of the 1911 census, the young Bridger family were living near the main railway station in a two-up, two-down property, where Bertie Sr was still plying his trade as a carman at the station.

War was coming, however, and in the summer of 1915, Bertie enlisted in the Royal Defence Corps. He was assigned as a Private to the 452nd Protection Company and, while his exact duties remain unclear, it is likely that he would have been involved with horses at some level, given his experience.

Private Bridger’s service appears to have mainly been spent on home soil, although, towards the end of the conflict he was sent to Ireland. It was while he was there, that he came down with influenza, which then turned into pneumonia. He was admitted to the Military Hospital in Curragh, but he died of the conditions on 14th November 1918, three days after the Armistice was signed. He was 42 years old.

The body of Bertie Charles Bridger was brought back to Sussex, and he was laid to rest in the Broadwater Cemetery to the north of Worthing. The local newspaper commented that:

Previous to his enlistment the deceased soldier was an outside porter at the Railway Station for nearly thirty years, and the sympathy of a wide circle of friends will be extended to his widow and two children.

Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 27th November 1918
Private Bertie Bridger (from Ancestry.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Driver, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, Royal West Kent Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Private Henry Greenfield

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Private Henry Greenfield

Henry Gordon Greenfield was born in Worthing, West Sussex, in 1890. The fourth of nine children, his parents were Edmund and Caroline. Edmund was a carter from the town, who raised his family in a small terraced house near the station.

By the early 1900s, Edmund had changed profession, becoming a plasterer, and this was employment that his son followed him into. This seems to have been more lucrative for the family, and they moved to a larger property to the north of the town.

In August 1911, Henry married Edith Tombs. Edith was a gardener’s daughter from London, who had moved to Worthing for work. When the couple married, she was employed as a domestic servant for a solicitor and his wife. The young couple would go on to have three sons.

When war broke out, Henry was quick to enlist. He initially joined the Royal Sussex Regiment, serving his time as part of the 10th Battalion. This was a reserve company, that was based on home soil. When hostilities came to an end, Henry was transferred to the Labour Corps, and was billeted in Belfast.

Little further information about Henry’s service can be confirmed; he was admitted to the Military Hospital in Belfast with pneumonia, but sadly died of the condition on 27th February 1919. He was just 28 years old.

Brought back to Worthing, Henry Gordon Greenfield lies at rest in the Broadwater Cemetery there, not far from his parents and widow.

Henry’s younger brother Frederick also served during the Great War. Joining the Royal West Kent Regiment as a horse driver, he fought on the Western Front. He was killed on 17th August 1917, and is buried at the Duisans Cemetery in northern France. He was just 21 years of age.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Lance Corporal, Sherwood Foresters, story, Sussex, war

Lance Corporal Henry Greenfield

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Lance Corporal Henry Greenfield

Henry James Greenfield was born in Brighton, Sussex, in July 1878, one of at least seven children to William and Anne Greenfield. Henry’s parents were from Worthing, who seem to have worked their way along the coast to Brighton by the mid-1870s, when his older brother George was born.

William was a bootmaker and, by the early 1880s, had brought his family back to Worthing, where they remained settled.

At this point, it is harder to pinpoint Henry’s life, as documentation becomes scarce and, with Greenfield being a common name in Sussex at the time, it is challenging to confirm that anything written relates to this specific Henry James Greenfield.

There is a 1901 census with a Henry James Greenfield from Brighton on it: this lists him as an Able Seaman aboard HMS Ramillies moored in Valetta, Malta. However, given that the Henry buried in Worthing served with the army, rather than the navy, it seems unlikely to be the same person (although not impossible).

The next document that can by specifically linked to the grave is Lance Corporal Greenfield’s entry on the Army Register of Soldier’s Effects. In addition to giving his rank, this expands on his service during the Great War.

He joined the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment) at some point before July 1918, and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion. While there is no confirmation of where he fought, his battalion served on the Western Front for the duration of the conflict.

Henry survived the war, but was admitted to a hospital in Leith, near Edinburgh, where he passed away from ‘sickness’ on 31st December 1918. He was 36 years old.

The document stated that his effects were distributed to his six siblings; this suggests that William and Anne had both passed away by this point, and also indicates that Henry himself had not married.

Henry James Greenfield’s body was brought back to Worthing; he is buried at the Broadwater Cemetery to the north of the town.