Category Archives: Royal Field Artillery

Berkshire, Bombardier, Clwyd, Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, India, Kent, photography, Private, Royal Field Artillery, Royal Garrison Artillery, story, Wales, war

Bombardier Frank Sloman

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Bombardier Frank Sloman

Frank Sloman was born in the autumn of 1887, and was the youngest of five children to Frank and Emma. Frank Sr was a mason from Jersey, in the Channel Islands, but it was in Tiverton, Devon, that he and Emma made their home and raised their family. The 1891 census found the family living on Castle Street, but by 1901 they had moved down the road to St Peter’s Street.

Frank Jr found work as a painter when he finished his schooling, but he sought adventure and a career. He was already a volunteer for the Devonshire Regiment, and, on 7th May 1904, he officially enlisted as a paid member of the troop. Private Sloman’s records show that he was 5th 10.5ins (1.79m) tall, and weighed 129lbs (58.5kg). He was noted as having brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

Private Sloman spent two years on home soil. He quickly extended his contract, and this led to more opportunities. By December 1906 his unit was in India, and he would go on to spend five and a half years there.

In December 1907, Frank transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery. He initially held the rank of Gunner, before being promoted to Bombardier in January 1912, and Corporal just three months later. In October, Frank returned to Britain, and was stood down to reserve status. He returned to Tiverton, and found work as a porter at the local station.

War was on the horizon, however, and when conflict broke out, Frank was called upon to play his part once more. Initially taking up the rank of Corporal in the Royal Field Artillery, he reverted to the role of Gunner at his own request. By this point, his unit was in France, and he would remain there for the next eight months.

On 6th May 1915, Frank returned to Britain, and was attached to 2B Reserve Brigade. He was based at the training facility in Bettisfield Park in Clwyd, and would spend the next eighteen months there. In June 1916, he was once again promoted to the rank of Bombardier.

Love was on the cards, and, on 17th June 1916, Frank married Frances Hadlow. There is little information available for her, but the couple exchanged vows at the Register Office in Windsor, Berkshire.

By the autumn of 1916, Frank’s health was becoming an issue. He contracted phthisis, or tuberculosis, and was sent to the the south coast for recuperation. His condition would ultimately render him unfit for continued military service, and Bombardier Sloman was discharged from the army on 17th December 1916.

His papers show that he had grown to 6ft 2.5ins (1.89m) in height, and, while physically unfit, he was a steady, sober and reliable man. He and Frances had taken rooms at 7 Hawley Street, Margate, Kent, but it seems that the couple soon moved back to Devon. Their new home was a small cottage at 3 Westbrook Place in Tiverton.

At this point, Frank’s trail goes cold. It is unclear whether he took up work again – or was able to do so – but his lung condition was ultimately to get the better of him. He passed away on 3rd June 1918, at the age of 30 years old.

Frank Sloman was laid to rest in Tiverton Cemetery, on the outskirts of the town in which he had grown up.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Driver, Great War, Hampshire, history, photography, Royal Field Artillery, story, unknown, war

Driver Thomas Dicker

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Driver Thomas Dicker

Thomas Lockyer Dicker was born at the start of 1890 in Tiverton, Devon. One of six children, his parents were Thomas and Mary Dicker. Thomas Sr was a cab driver, and the family lived at 4 Back Lane in the town.

Thomas Jr’s later life is a challenge to pin down. He doesn’t appear on the 1911 census, and his service records have been lost to time. It is clear that he had enlisted before October 1919 – and, in all likelihood, while the war was being fought. Assigned to the Royal Field Artillery, he worked as a driver, and again it is possible that he served overseas at some point.

Thomas Lockyer Dicker died at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham, Hampshire, on 12th April 1920, although the cause of his passing is unclear. He was 30 years of age. His body was taken back to Devon for burial, and he was laid to rest in Tiverton Cemetery, not far from the family home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Cumbria, Driver, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Field Artillery, story, war, Wiltshire

Driver George Messenger

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Driver George Messenger

The death of Driver G Messenger, aged 20, of the 18th Divisional Ammunition Column, stationed at Heytesbury, took place at the Red Cross Military Hospital on Friday, the 11th inst. Messenger was a native of Lower Braithwaite, Carlisle, and was admitted to the hospital in the middle of May suffering from consumption. Deceased joined upon the commencement of the war.

[Salisbury and Winchester Journal: Saturday 19th June 1915]

George Messenger was born in 1895 and was the third of seven children. His parents, George and Sarah, were farmers, and the family grew up in Mealsgate, on the edge of the Lake District. Sarah died in 1901, and by the time of the 1911 census, George Jr and his siblings were helping their father on the farm.

When war broke out, George Jr was quick to enlist. Details of his military service are sparse, but what does remain confirms that he had enlisted no later than December 1914, which backs up the details in his obituary.

Driver Messenger joined the Royal Field Artillery, but it seems unlikely that he spent any time overseas. He seems to have been sent to a camp on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, for training and this is where he became ill. Contracting tuberculosis, probably from the cramped environment of the army barracks, George was admitted to the Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital in the town of Mere. He passed away from the lung condition on 11th June 1915: he was just 20 years of age.

Rather than being taken back to Cumbria, George Messenger was instead laid to rest in Mere Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, photography, Royal Field Artillery, story, war, Yorkshire

Gunner Alfred Potter

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Gunner Alfred Potter

The early life of Alfred John Potter is a challenge to piece together. The second of four children – and the only son – to John and Alice, he only appears on the 1911 census. This shows him living with his grandparents, William and Sarah Endacott, at 3 Lawrence Terrace in Paignton, the town in which he was born. Alfred was 16 at this point, and was employed as a mason’s apprentice.

The same census return found Alfred’s parents and siblings were also living in Paignton, but in a 5-roomed cottage on Polsham Road. There is nothing to confirm why he had moved out, although with three sisters, his grandparents may have offered the space and privacy he wanted.

Details of Alfred’s time in the army are similarly lacking. That he had enlisted by March 1918 is clear. He joined the Royal Field Artillery and was assigned to the Command Depot in Ripon, North Yorkshire.

By the late summer of 1918, Gunner Potter had contracted pneumonia. He died on 6th September at the age of 23 years old. Records state that he passed away in Torquay and, given the proximity to his home town, it is likely that he had been admitted to a hospital or convalescent home in the area.

Alfred John Potter was laid to rest in Paignton Cemetery, overlooking his home town.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, injury, photography, Private, Royal Army Medical Corps, Royal Field Artillery, story, war

Private Albert Chapple

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Private Albert Chapple

Albert Chapple was born early in 1895, and was the son of Elizabeth Chapple. She was just 16 years of age when he was born, and her parents, John and Sarah, unofficially adopted him as their own. John was a church sexton from the village of Knowstone, Devon, and this is where the Chapple family were raised.

Elizabeth married William Dart, a fishmonger from Dawlish, in 1909, and by the time of the census two years later, they had set up home in Beach Street, close to the town’s railway station.

Albert, meanwhile, was still living with his grandparents back in Knowstone. John, now 66 years of age, was employed as an agricultural labourer, while his grandson was working as a cattle boy on the same farm.

When war broke out, Albert was called upon to play his part. Sadly, full details of his military service have been lost, but it is clear that he had enlisted by June 1916. He enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps as a Private, with his entry in the British Army of Soldiers’ Effects suggesting that his unit was attached to the 2nd/1st Wessex Field Artillery.

Private Chapple’s pension record confirms that he had been admitted to the 2nd Western General Hospital in Exeter, Devon. He passed away on 10th December 1916, following an operation, although the document gives no clue as to why he had needed surgery. He was just 21 years of age.

Albert Chapple’s body was taken back to Knowstone for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter’s Hospital in the village.

The next census return, taken in 1921, found Elizabeth and William still plying their trade in fish in Dawlish. By this point, they had had a son, Edmund, who was five years old. Elizabeth’s sister, Rosie, was living with them, and assisting in the business.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Gunner, history, photography, Royal Field Artillery, story, unknown, war

Gunner Arthur Putt

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Gunner Arthur Putt

Arthur Sidney Putt was born on 22nd October 1895 in Paignton, Devon. The youngest of five children, his parents were James and Elizabeth. James died when his son was jest five years old, leaving Elizabeth to raise the family in her own. By the time of the 1901 census, they Putts were living at 22 Roundham Cottages (four doors down from the fellow future soldier Charles Baker and his family), where Elizabeth was working as a charwoman to bring in the rent money.

When he finished his schooling, Arthur found employment as a wood chipper. At 15 years of age, he and his older brother, Frederick, were both bringing a wage into the household, and were the only two of Elizabeth’s children to still be living at home.

War broke out in the summer of 1914, and Arthur was one of the first to step up and play his part. He enlisted on 16th August, giving up his new job as a hairdresser, with the view of better prospects in the army. He joined the Royal Field Artillery, and was assigned to the 2nd Devon Depot Battery.

Gunner Putt’s initial medical report showed that he was 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, with good vision and normal physical development. He was sent for training, but a later, fuller, medical found that he was, in fact, not physically fit for army service. The report of the medical board of 27th April 1915 found that he had both rheumatism and valvular heart disease. He was dismissed from military service on 10th May 1915, after 267 days’ duty.

At this point, Arthur’s trail goes cold. It seems likely that he returned to Paignton, and to the life he had before the war, and the next record for him is that of his passing. He died on 14th May 1919, at the age of 23 years old.

Arthur Sydney Putt was buried in Paignton Cemetery, overlooking the town in which he had been born and raised.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, Kent, Lance Bombardier, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, war

Lance Bombardier George Higgins

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Lance Bombardier George Higgins

George Henry Higgins was born in Bath, Somerset, in the spring of 1888. The fifth of fifteen children, his parents were Charles and Sarah Higgins. Charles was a carter-turned-labourer for the city’s corporation, and this is work into which George also went.

The 1911 census recorded the Higgins family living in a six-roomed house at 15 London Place, Bath. By this point, Charles and Sarah were sharing their home with ten of their children – including George – plus four of their grandchildren by their married third-oldest daughter, Sarah. Five of the household were bringing in a wage: George and his father were employed by the Corporation, daughter Rose was a factory hand, while two of George’s younger brothers were errand boys.

Charles died in the autumn of 1914, and George was suddenly the head of the household, with war raging across Europe. The following summer he enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery: this may have been out of duty to his King, but it is likely that, as the oldest man in the house, the army offered the prospect of a regular, decent wage.

Full service details for Gunner Higgins have been lost in the annals of time, but his unit – the 92nd (Howitzer) Brigade – served in some of the fiercest battles of the conflict. Arriving in France for training on 21st July 1915, it is likely that George saw fighting at the Somme in 1916 and 1918, and at Ypres in 1917. By the end of the war, he had been promoted to the rank of Lance Bombardier for his service.

George’s older brother, Charles, died in the fighting in Northern France, but by the start of 1919, George himself had returned to home soil, and was attached to the regiment’s Clearing Office in Woolwich, Kent.

His health was being impacted by this point, and he was admitted to the Royal Herbert Hospital in nearby Shooter’s Hill. His records simply record that he was suffering from ‘disease‘, and it was this that was to kill him. He died on 17th February 1919, at the age of 30 years old.

The body of George Henry Higgins was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the sweeping grounds of Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from where Sarah still lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Dorset, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, photography, Royal Field Artillery, story, war, Wiltshire

Gunner Eli Trenchard

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Gunner Eli Trenchard

Eli Trenchard and his twin Reuben were born on 29th December 1889 in Axminster, Devon. Two of nine children, their parents were George and Mary Trenchard. George was a gamekeeper turned farmer, and the family were brought up at Uphay Farm on the outskirts of the town.

The whole family helped out on the farm and, by the time of the 1911 census, when the twins were 20, seven of the Trenchards – George, Mary, Eli, Reuben and three of their siblings – were all living in the farmhouse and employed in the business.

On 25th March 1913, Eli married Lily Gillingham. Born in Dorset, she was the daughter of the landlord of the Lamb Inn in Axminster, and working as a dressmaker in her own right. The couple moved to the village of Chardstock in Devon, and went on to have a daughter, Lilian, who was born later that year.

In 1915, Eli found himself brought to the Petty Sessions in Axminster, charged with “moving pigs from Dorset to Devon without the necessary license” [Western Times: Wednesday 27th October 1915]. Eli stated that he had purchased the pigs from his brother, Reuben, at Uphay Farm. Despite Reuben confirming this, it was subsequently determined that they had, in fact, been bought from a Mr Wells of Penn in Dorset. Eli have been convicted of a similar offence before, and was fined £10.

War was raging across Europe by this point, and Eli was called upon to play his part. He enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery in January 1917. Assigned to the 23rd Reserve Battery, Gunner Trenchard was sent to a camp near Sutton Veny in Wiltshire.

Eli’s time in the army was not to be a long one, however, and he was soon admitted to the camp hospital, suffering from pneumonia. The lung condition was to get the better of him, and Eli passed away on 23rd February 1917. He was 27 years of age.

The body of Eli Trenchard was taken back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in Axminster Cemetery, not far from where his widow and family still lived.

The Trenchard family were soon back in the court, however, with Lily bringing a lawsuit against her father-in-law, George, in December 1917. The widow said that Eli and his father had agreed her late husband’s immediate tenancy of two fields the month before Eli had been called up for to serve.

However, the month after his death, when she had gone to the fields to sow them for the coming season, the gates had been locked and her entrance barred. George responded by saying that he had agreed to pass the fields to his son, but only on the event of his own death. He subsequently sold the land to another farmer.

The judge in the case found that Lily had “failed to prove that an agreement had been made between [George] and his son” [Western Times: Thursday 6th December 1917] and found in the defendant’s favour.

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

Gunner William Dallimore

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Gunner William Dallimore

The funeral took place on Monday at Locksbrook Cemetery, with military honours, of Gunner Wm. Dallimore, B Battery, RFA, 88th Brigade, who died on Friday at the Kingswood School VA Hospital. Deceased, who was a single man, 32 years of age, living at 2 Spa Gardens, Larkhall, joined the Army only eight or ten months ago, and was brought to hospital less than a month ago, suffering from an incurable complaint…

The family mourners were Mr Frank Dallimore (brother), Private George Dallimore, 4th Somersets (brother), Mrs Frederick Dallimore (sister-in-law)…

[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Saturday 21 August 1915]

There is little concrete information about the early life of William Dallimore. The Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects name his siblings as his beneficiaries, and so it seems that his parents had passed away before war broke out. There are no census records matching his name with the brothers confirmed in the newspaper article, and so it is impossible to get definite information about his birth or parentage.

Only the first page of Gunner Dallimore’s service records remain, but this still provides some details about him. He enlisted on 14th August 1914, a matter of weeks into the conflict, giving up his job as a painter to do so.

While his brigade would go on to serve at the Somme and Ypres, there is no evidence that William saw any action overseas. In fact, the hospital to which he was admitted was in Bath itself, so it may be that he was based near the city.

William Dallimore passed away on 13th August 1915. He was laid to rest in Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, London, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, war

Gunner Henry Morris

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Gunner Henry Morris

The early life of Henry Morris is difficult to pin down although later records suggest that his parents were William and Elizabeth from Bath, Somerset. A baptism record from December 1882 shows Henry Morris, with a mother called Elizabeth, but no father is noted, so there is no way to confirm any connection.

The first concrete information for Henry is the 1911 census: this records Henry Morris living with his wife, Eliza, their son, Henry Jr, and Eliza’s mother, Emma Derrick. He was working as a poulterer, employed by a fishmonger’s, with Eliza also working as a fish hawker. Henry and Eliza – who had married in 1905 – would go on to have a second child, Emma, who was born in November 1911.

When war broke out, Henry stepped up to serve his King and Country. Full service records are lost to time, but it is clear that he had enlisted by the spring of 1916, joining the Royal Field Artillery as a Gunner. Documents suggest two different units in which he served: the 26th Division Ammunition Column and the 5th (Reserve) Brigade.

By the autumn of 1916, Henry was suffering from nephritis. He was admitted to the military hospital on Endell Street, London, but his condition was to prove fatal. He passed away on 24th November 1916: he was 32 years of age. With a few discrepancies, a newspaper article gave a little more information about his life:

Henry Morris, RFA, 67 Avon Street, died this morning… He was invalided home from Salonika, and arrived in London nine weeks ago, He was married, and leaves a widow and two children… For eleven years Driver Brooks worked for Mr Broadhurst, fishmonger, York Buildings, Bath, and joined the army sixteen months ago.

[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 25th November 1916]

Henry Morris was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery.

Gunner Henry Morris
(from findagrave.com)