Herbert Rowland Sims was born in Warminster, Wiltshire, on 27th May 1895. One of nine children, he was the youngest son to Edward and Mary Sims. Edward was a railway signalman, and the family lived on Imber Road, to the north east of the town centre.
When Herbert finished his schooling, he found employment as a tailor’s apprentice. When war broke out, however, he was keen to play his part. His service records no longer exist, but a later newspaper report fills in some of the details.
The death took place on Wednesday in last week at the Tewkesbury Red Cross hospital of Lance-Cpl. Herbert Rowland Sims… [He] went to India on the outbreak of war with the Wilts Regiment, and subsequently volunteered for service in Mesopotamia, being transferred to the Dorsets. He contracted typhoid, and after being in hospital in Egypt he was invalided home. He was about to receive his discharge, but was again laid low by an attack of pneumonia which, after the illness contracted in Mesopotamia, proved fatal.
A memorial service was held in Tewkesbury Abbey on Saturday, the body being escorted by wounded comrades from the hospital. From the Abbey the coffin was taken to the railway station to be sent to Warminster, and on Monday the internment took place in the Minster churchyard with military honours.
[Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser: Saturday 26th October 1918]
Herbert Rowland Sims was just 23 years of age when he died on 16th October 1918. He was laid to rest in St Denys’ Churchyard in his home town of Warminster.
Nicholas John Paice was born in the spring of 1867, the second of five children to John and Olive Paice. John was a railway policeman from Aldermaston in Berkshire, but his oldest son, Nicholas, was born in Poole, Dorset where Olive came from.
The Paice family seemed to move to wherever John’s work took him. The 1871 census found them living back in the Berkshire village of Shrivenham, while a decade later they were to be found in Longfleet, to the north of Poole. By this point, John was employed as a groom, and Olive a laundress.
When he completed his schooling, Nicholas found work as a butcher. He had also enlisted in the local militia, joining the 3rd Dorset Regiment. The army life seemed to suit him and, on 12th July 1886, he enlisted in the Rifle Brigade. His service records show that he was 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall and weighed 148lbs (67.1kg). At 19 years and three months old, he was noted as having a fresh complexion, grey eyes and brown hair. The papers show that he had a scar on his left eyebrow, and tattoos on his forearms and the middle finger of his left hand.
Joining up for a period of twelve years, Private Paice would spend nearly seven of those in India and Burma. His time in the army was not without incident, however. Just three weeks after enlisting he deserted, and remained at loose for nearly a month. When he was captured, he was imprisoned for desertion for four weeks, his term of service extended to reflect the time he was AWOL.
In August 1896, having been back on home soil for just over two years, Nicholas was arrested again. Convicted of ‘begging’, he was confined for a week, before being released back to duty.
On 16th September 1898, Nicholas completed his contract, and was formally discharged from the army.
The next few years are a mystery for Nicholas. He had married Maria Andrews in 1896, and the couple would go on to have eight children, of which five would survive childhood. By the time of the 1911 census – the next document where we can pick him up – Nicholas and the family were living in two rooms at 2 New Corn Street, Bath, Somerset. Nicholas was working as a cattle drover, along with Maria, the household included her daughter Annie, and granddaughter Lily, and John and Maria’s son, Earnest.
When war came to Europe, Nicholas stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry on 26th October 1915 but, with his age against him, he was transferred to the 263rd Coy. of the Royal Defence Corps the following April.
It seems that Private Paice’s health was also being impacted and he spend a month in the Red Cross Hospital in Portishead, having contracted influenza. Released to duty on 16th May 1916, just a month later he was re-admitted for three weeks, this time suffering from bronchial catarrh. On 10th September he was admitted to the hospital for a third time. This time it was identified that he had come down with pulmonary tuberculosis, and on 12th October 1916, he was formally discharged on medical grounds.
It is unclear what happened to Nicholas next. His service records suggest that he wasn’t immediately discharged from the Portishead hospital, and it seems likely that he would have returned home to Bath at some point. The next record for him is that of his passing, from tuberculosis, on 20th December 1919. He was 52 years of age.
Nicholas John Paice was laid to rest in the sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery in his adopted home town of Bath, Somerset.
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.
Joseph Symes was born in the spring of 1871, and was the oldest of four children to William and Sarah. William was a farm labourer from Stoke Abbot in Dorset, and it was here that the family were born and raised. They set up home with Sarah’s parents, and were recorded as living with them in the 1871 census, and with Sarah’s widowed mother in the 1881 record.
William had died by the time the 1891 census return was taken, and Sarah took up work as a mill hand. The document found her living in the village of Netherbury, a few miles to the south east of Stoke Abbott, with her three younger children, William, Alice and Mary Ann. Joseph was noticeable by his absence, but later documents confirm that he had enlisted in the Dorsetshire Regiment by this point, and was likely serving overseas.
Joseph had returned to England by the turn of the century, setting up home back in Netherbury. On 24th September 1910, he married Sarah Jane Dunsbury in Beaminster parish church. The daughter of a blacksmith, she was 13 years Joseph’s senior – 52 years old to his 39. The couple lived in Netherbury, where he was working as a mason’s labourer.
When war broke out, Joseph stepped up to play his part once more. He re-enlisted in the Dorsetshire Regiment on 1st September 1914, and was attached to the 6th Battalion. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall and weighed 182lbs (82.6kg).
Private Symes remained on home soil during his time in the army. He switched to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion in March 1915, which was based in and around Weymouth. In the autumn of 1915, he was admitted to the Sidney Hall Military Hospital in the town, suffering from bronchial pneumonia. The lung condition was to prove his undoing, and he passed away on 22nd November 1915, while still admitted. He was 44 years of age.
Joseph Symes was taken back to Netherbury for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in the village.
Sidney Edgar Crabb was born in the autumn of 1898 in the Dorset village of Chedington. One of ten children, his parents were shepherd-turned-farm labourer John Crabb and his wife, Mary.
Little information is available about young Sidney’s life. He was still at school when the 1911 census was taken, and was too young to enlist when war was declared in the summer of 1914. He enlisted in the Dorsetshire Regiment no earlier than October 1916, and was sent to Warminster for training.
The only other record for Private Crabb confirms his passing. He died from bronchial pneumonia while in hospital near his army camp in Warminster, Wiltshire, on 3rd April 1917. He was just 18 years of age.
Sidney Edgar Crabb’s body was taken back to Dorset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church, in his home village of Halstock. While only five of his siblings survived childhood, Sidney was the only one to pass away as a result of the conflict.
George Edward Martin Hansford was born on 25th March 1892, the second of five children – and the eldest son – to Edward and Amelia Hansford. Edward was a farmer from Netherbury in Dorset, and this is where the family were born and raised.
By the time of the 1911 census, Lower Ford Farm had become a family affair, with George and his older sister, Susannah both supporting their father in running things. War was on the horizon, however, and things were to change.
George was called upon to serve his country on 15th February 1916. He joined the Dorsetshire Regiment, and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion. He wasn’t formally mobilised until 19th January 1917, but his medical identified an underlying health condition.
Private Hansford had suffered a bout tuberculosis in 1914, and this left to his medical report confirming that his health was impacted to the point that he was medically unfit to serve in the army. Unfortunately, while awaiting the results of the report, George, who was back at home had a recurrence of the condition, and succumbed to it. He passed away on 11th April 1917, at the age of just 25 years old.
George Edward Martin Hansford was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church in Salwayash, a few miles from the family home in Netherbury.
James Ellery was born in the autumn of 1889, and was the middle of seven children. His parents – Frederick and Mary – were born in Dorset, and the family were raised in the hamlet of Lillington. Frederick was a farm labourer, but James found his way into building work when he finished his schooling.
When war came to Europe, James stepped up to play his part. Full details of his military service have been lost to time, but it is clear that he had enlisted in the Dorsetshire Regiment and was attached to the 1st/4th Battalion.
Private Ellery’s unit served in India and Mesopotamia during the conflict, but it is unclear whether James saw any action overseas. Certainly by early 1919 he was back in Britain, as he was hospitalised in Sherborne following a bout of influenza. This developed into pneumonia, and he was admitted to the town’s Yeatman Hospital.
James’ immune system had become weakened during the conflict, and the pneumonia turned septic. It proved to be fatal, and James passed away on 1st March 1919. He was 29 years of age.
James Ellery’s body was taken back to Lillington for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Martin’s Church.
James was not the first of the Ellery siblings to die during the Great War. His eldest brother, Frederick, had enlisted in the 2nd Battalion of the Machine Gun Corps Cavalry. He was killed in action on 21st August 1918, leaving behind a widow and three children. He was 36 years of age and is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois British Memorial in Haucourt. France.
Reginald William Lane was born in the autumn of 1886, the eighth of ten children to Joseph and Sarah. Joseph was an agricultural labourer and he and his wife raised their family in their home village of Thornford in Dorset.
When he finished his schooling, he found work as a gardener’s boy. He went on to make a career out of this and was employed as a gardener when he married Evelyn Sharp on 15th April 1914. The couple exchanged vows in St Swithun’s Church, Hinton Parva, Dorset, the marriage certificate noting that the groom’s father was now employed as a woodsman.
War came to Europe later that year, and Reginald enlisted to serve the King and Empire. Little information is available about his military career: he joined the Dorsetshire Regiment, but there is no confirmation that he spent any time overseas. Private Lane transferred over to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment, his new unit serving on home soil. Based in Kent, Reginald was part of the Thames & Medway Garrison.
Joseph died at the end of August 1915, and was laid to rest in the St Mary Magdalene Churchyard. Just weeks later, Reginald’s younger brother, Gilbert, a Private in the 3rd Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, was killed during the Battle of Loos. He was commemorated on the Loos Memorial in Dud Corner Cemetery in France.
Private Reginald William Lane survived the war, but only by eleven days. While based in Kent, he contracted influenza and pneumonia. He died on 22nd November 1918, aged 32 years. His body was brought back to Dorset, and was laid to rest alongside his father.
There is no further information available for Evelyn.
Reginald’s mother, Sarah, however, only lived for another couple of months. She passed away on 25th February 1919, at the age of 69 years old. She was reunited with her husband and son in St Mary Magdalene Churchyard, the family headstone commemorating Private Gilbert Lane as well.
The early life of Ernest Brister is a challenge to piece together. His baptism record – at St Mary Magdalene Church in Thornford, Dorset – suggests that he was born in the summer of 1891, but gives only the name of his mother, Rosina Brister.
The 1901 census identifies the 9-year-old Ernest as a visitor to the house of Eliza Brister, a 65-year-old widow working as a laundress. There are several other Bristers in the village – including Eliza’s own to children – but Rosina is nowhere to be seen.
The next census, taken in 1911, sheds a little more light on the situation. Ernest is still living with Eliza, but he is now recorded as being her grandson. Aged 75, she was still taking in laundry, but Ernest was employed as a mason.
In the autumn of 1913, Ernest married Beatrice Chalker. She was a shepherd’s daughter from Dewlish in Dorset. The couple wed in Dorchester and went on to have two children, Doris and Edwin.
When war broke out, Ernest stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Dorsetshire Regiment, and found himself in France by the summer of 1915.
There is little information about Ernest’s time in the army, but later in the war, he seems to have transferred over to the Wiltshire Regiment. Attached to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, his new unit served on home soil and, based in Kent, was part of the Thames & Medway Garrison.
Private Brister was based in Maidstone in the autumn of 1918, when he contracted influenza and pneumonia. He was admitted to the military hospital in Aylesford, but the conditions were to prove to severe. He passed away on 24th November 1918, aged 27 years old.
Ernest Brister’s body was taken back to Dorset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Mary Magdalene Church. His grandmother, Eliza, passed away just a month later, at the age of 82. She was laid to rest close to her beloved grandson.
The 1910s were harsh for Ernest’s widow, Beatrice. Her youngest son was born in March 1915, her mother dying a couple of months later. She lost her brother, Edwin, to the war – he was serving with the 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment, when he was killed on 28th August 1916. He was just 19 years of age. Two years later, she was widowed when Ernest passed away.
Mark Lane was born in the summer of 1900 in Thornford, Dorset. One of ten children, his parents were estate drainer Albert Lane and his wife, Sarah. Sadly. there is little concrete information about Mark’s life.
When war broke out, his eldest brother, Gilbert, served in the 5th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment, rising to the rank of Serjeant. Having fought at, and survived, Gallipoli. his unit moved to France in July 1916. Involved in the Battle of the Somme, Gilbert was killed and was laid to rest at Bulls Road Cemetery in France.
His oldest brother dead, Mark seems to have wanted to serve his country and do Gilbert’s memory proud. He did not turn 18 until the summer of 1918, and he seems to have used this as an opportunity to enlist. He also enlisted in the Dorsetshire Regiment and, as part of the 4th (Reserve) Battalion was sent off to do his training.
Unfortunately, details of what happened to Private Lane are lost in the mists of time. He was admitted to a military hospital in the autumn of 1918, and died there on 22nd Octover. He was just 18 years of age.
The body of Mark Lane was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Mary Magdalene Church in his home village of Thornford.
Death and Service 