Category Archives: Role

Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Scotland, story, war, Wiltshire

Private John Morton

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Private John Morton

The life of Private John Morton is a challenge to unpick. His entry on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website confirms that Morton was the name he served under, but that his birth name was John Lessells.

John’s army paperwork gives his age, 20 years old, his place of birth as Dunfermline, Scotland, and provides a next-of-kin, William Morton. John had enlisted on 9th September 1916 in Brisbane, Australia, although no emigration records remain. His service document noted that he was working as farmer, so, like thousands of others, it is likely that John sought a bigger and better life in a land of opportunity.

The medical section of John’s service records confirm something of the man he had become. He was 5ft 3ins (1.6m) tall, and weighed 125lbs (56.7kg). He had brown hair, blue eyes and a medium complexion. Interestingly, it also noted that John had been turned down for military service before because of an “under standard chest”.

Private Morton’s unit set sail for Europe on 17th November 1916. The transport ship – the Kyarra – departed from Brisbane, and arrived in Plymouth, Devon, nearly three months later. During the voyage, he was admonished for disobeying a reasonable order given by a superior order, although what the order was is unclear.

On landing in Britain, John was assigned to the 15th Battalion of the Australian Infantry. His unit was moved to a camp on the outskirts of Codford, Wiltshire, which would become their base of operations. Sadly, the journey from Australia seemed to have taken it out of John. On 14th February 1917, he was admitted to the camp hospital, suffering from a bout of influenza. His condition worsened, and two days later he was moved to a military hospital in nearby Sutton Veny.

Private Morton’s condition was to get the better of him. He passed away from pneumonia on 19th February 1917. He was 20 years of age.

John Morton, or John Lessells, was laid to rest in the graveyard extension to St Mary’s Church in Codford. He was surrounded by colleagues from the ANZAC regiments.

Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private John Flanagan

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Private John Flanagan

John Richard Flanagan was born in Healsville, Australia, in 1875. The second of four children – and the only son – his parents were Luke and Ann Flanagan.

Little information is available about John’s early life. Ann died in 1898, with Luke passing just seven years later, leaving John effectively an orphan in his early 30s. By this point he was working as a post and telegraph official, and this provided his employment when the world went to war in 1914.

John stepped up to serve his King in January 1916. His medical report confirms that he was 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, and weighed 166lbs (75.3kg). He had light brown hair, blue eyes and a florid complexion.

Assigned to the 16th Battalion of the Australian Infantry, Private Flanagan first had to travel from Healsville to Fremantle. From there his unit departed for Europe on board the Argyllshire. He left Australia on 9th November 1916, and arrived in Devonport, England, two months later. The 16th Battalion’s journey was not over yet, however: they made their way from Devon to Wiltshire, heading for a military camp on the outskirts of Codford.

Within a couple of weeks, Private Flanagan found himself confined to barracks. On 24th January he was sent to his billet for 24 hours by Major Turynarn (possibly Turynam), his offence was neglecting to obey an order.

Illness seemed to run rampant at Codford early in 1917, and John was not to escape health issues. On 18th February he was admitted to the camp hospital, having contracted pneumonia. Tragically his move the the medical facility was to prove too little, too late. Private Flanagan passed away the following day: he was 42 years of age.

Thousands of miles from home, John Richard Flanagan was laid to rest in in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church, not far from where he had breathed his last.

Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Gabriel McIlroy

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Private Gabriel McIlroy

Gabriel McIlroy was born in the Australian town of Charters Towers in 1878. The oldest of four children, his parents were Patrick McIlroy – of whom there is little information – and his Danish-born wife, Ann.

There is little information available about Gabriel’s early life. He never married and, by time he enlisted in January 1916, he was employed as a labourer, and gave his mother as his next of kin.

Gabriel joined the Australian Imperial Force, and his service records give an insight into the man he had become. He was noted as being 5ft 3.5ins (1.61m) tall, and weighed 126lbs (57.2kg). Private McIlroy had a fair complexion, with brown hair and bluish eyes. He had a scar on his right arm, and was recorded as being Roman Catholic.

Gabriel’s unit – the 15th Battalion of the Australian Infantry – set sail from Brisbane on 21st October 1916. They sailed to Britain on the Boonah, a ship that had been built in Germany for trade with Australia. On the outbreak of way, she was docked in Sydney, and was seized by the Commonwealth authorities. Hastily converted to a troop ship, she was soon used to transport soldiers to Europe.

Private McIlroy arrives in Plymouth, Devon, on 10th January 1917. His battalion marched to Codford, in Wiltshire, where they were based before transferring to the Western Front. Sadly, he would not accompany his colleagues.

On 17th February, Gabriel was admitted to a military hospital in Sutton Veny, just a few miles from the camp. He was suffering from bronchitis, and the condition would prove fatal. Private McIlroy passed away on 19th February 1917: he was 39 years of age.

The body of Gabriel McIlroy was taken back to Codford for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard extension to the village’s St Mary’s Church.

The ship that had brought Gabriel to Britain would add its own footnote to the First World War. In October 1918, not long before the end of the conflict, she was one of the last vessels to leave Australia carrying troops. During the voyage, more than 300 of those on board had contracted influenza, in what became known as the Boonah Crisis.

Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private James Williams

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Private James Williams

James Thomas Williams was born in Toodyay, Western Australia, in May 1888. The third of eight children, his parents were John and Mary Williams.

When he finished his schooling, James found work farming. Details of his early life are lost to time, but it seems likely that he had followed in his father’s footsteps.

When war engulfed the Empire, James stepped up to serve his King and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 24th August 1916. His service records show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall and that he weighed 134lbs (60.8kg). He was noted as having auburn hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.

Private Williams’ unit departed Australia from Freemantle on 9th November 1916. He would spend the next two months on board the Argyllshire, and eventually reached British shores on 10th January 1917. Assigned to the 16th Battalion of the Australian Infantry, his unit disembarked at Devonport, Devon, and made straight for base near Codford, Wiltshire.

The ANZAC troops had spent weeks cramped in the bowels of their ships, and space was once again at a premium in their army barracks. This congestion would prove fatal for numerous soldiers, as disease ran rife across the encampments.

Sadly, James would not be immune to poor health. Having contracted influenza, he was initially admitted to the camp infirmary, before being moved to the military hospital in nearby Sutton Veny. The condition was to get the better of him, and Private Williams passed away from a combination of flu and heart failure on 18th February 1917. He was 29 years of age.

The body of James Thomas Williams was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Codford, surrounded by others from his regiment.

Private James Williams
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Arthur Couchman

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Private Arthur Couchman

Arthur John Couchman was born in the spring of 1887, the oldest of seven children to John and Emma. John was a farm labourer from the parish of Wilmington, Kent, and this is where he and Emma raised their family.

When he completed his schooling, Arthur found work as a house boy, but soon turned his hand to gardening. When the opportunity was presented to him, however, and in the autumn of 1908, he emigrated to Australia, presumably to find work as a farmer.

Little about Arthur’s time overseas is detailed. He settled in Freemantle, to the south of Perth, and, early in 1916, he married Sarah McAlinden. She had left London for the Antipodes to work as a domestic four years previously. Their marriage seems to have been spurred on by Arthur’s imminent departure for the home country, as, on 19th June 1916, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force.

Working as a general labourer by this point, Arthur’s service records show that he was 5ft 3.5ins (1.61m) tall, and weighed 146lbs (66.2kg). He was found to have fair hair, grey eyes and a ruddy complexion. He also had tattoos on both of his forearms.

Private Couchman’s unit departed Freemantle on 9th November 1916, on a journey to Devonport, Devon, that would take two months. On his arrival, he was assigned to the 51st Battalion of the Australian Infantry, and dispatched to a camp near Codford in Wiltshire.

Tragically, Arthur’s army career was to follow a not uncommon path for those arriving in Britain from overseas. Within a matter of weeks he had been sent to the New Zealand Hospital in Codford, as he was suffering from bronchial pneumonia. On 15th February 1917, just four days after his admission he passed away from the condition. He was 29 years of age.

Thousands of miles from his Australian life, Arthur John Couchman was laid to rest in the new extension to St Mary’s Churchyard in Codford, not far from the camp in which he had been briefly based.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Harold Spackman

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Private Harold Spackman

Harold John Spackman was born on 24th May 1897 and was the youngest of two children to Frederick and Eliza Spackman. Frederick was a cowman from Wiltshire, and the family were raised on a farm in Manningford Bohune, near the village of Pewsey.

Harold was educated at Woodborough School, and found work as a nurseryman when he completed his schooling. When war broke out, he was quick to enlist, and joined the 10th (Service) Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment on 17th September 1914.

Private Spackman’s unit was sent to Somerset for training, and it was here, in cramped, busy barracks, that he contracted meningitis. He was admitted to the Red Cross Hospital in Bath, but succumbed to the condition on 12th March 1915. He was just 17 years of age.

Harold John Spackman was laid to rest in Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery. His was a joint funeral with another Private from his unit, Albert Matthews, who had died on the same day in the same hospital.

Private Harold Spackman
(from findagrave.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Albert Matthews

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Private Albert Matthews

In Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery, lies the body of Private Albert Edwin Matthews, of the Devonshire Regiment. There is little information available to fully piece together his life, but a range of records give tantalising glimpsed into the world that he inhabited.

The newspaper report of Private Matthew’s passing confirms that he died of pneumonia in the Red Cross Hospital, Lansdown Place, on 12th March 1915. His was a joint funeral with Private Harold Spackman, also of the Devonshire Regiment. He had enlisted at the start of the conflict, and had come from Plymouth, Devon. Frustratingly, the report does not give either of the soldiers’ ages.

Albert’s entry on the British Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects backs up a period of service of at least six months, and gives his unit as the 10th (Service) Battalion. It also provides his father’s name: Edwin Matthews.

Father and son do not seem to appear on any census records, and without a year of birth it is a challenge to track down any additional documentation.

There is a baptism record for an Albert Edwin Matthews, son of Edwin, from 28th September 1881, but this was in Sandown, on the Isle of Wight. While a connection is possible, there is no definitive link between the two men and Devon. (There is a 1911 census return for this Albert, but he is married with three children by this point and, as the military record gives Edwin Matthews as the sole beneficiary, it is unlikely that the two Alberts are one and the same.)

Albert’s life is destined to remain lost to time, therefore, one of the many mysteries in Locksbrook Cemetery.

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

Sapper Walter Woodward

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Sapper Walter Woodward

Walter Sargeant Abbott Woodward was born in Bath, Somerset, in the summer of 1896. The oldest of four children, his parents were Henry and Louisa. Henry Woodward was a painter and decorator, but when Walter completed his schooling, he found work as a telegraph messenger for the Genera Post Office.

The 1911 census recorded the family – Walter, his parents and his three siblings – living in a 3-roomed apartment at 5 Beauford Square, close to the city centre. Within a year, Walter had been promoted within the GPO, and was given the role of Assistant Postman.

War came to Europe and Walter was called upon to play his part. On 10th December 1915 he enlisted in the army, and was assigned to the Royal Engineers as a Sapper. His records show that he was still employed by the GPO at this point, and was working as a Lineman, so it seems that his skills were appropriate for the regiment to which he was assigned.

Sapper Woodward’s service documents confirm that he was 5ft 10ins (1.78m) in height, and that he was not formally mobilised until April 1916. After a couple of months’ training, he was sent to France and he remained on the Western Front for just over a year.

On 3rd July 1917, Sapper Woodward was posted back to England. It seems that he was en route for the Signal Depot in Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire, when he became ill. Admitted to the Queen’s Canadian Hospital in Shornecliffe, Kent, he was suffering from gastritis. This would ultimately take his young life: he passed away on 12th August, aged just 21 years old.

The body of Walter Sargeant Abbott Woodward was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the city’s Locksbrook Cemetery.

Berkshire, Burma, Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Dorsetshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, India, photography, Private, Rifle Brigade, Royal Defence Corps, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Nicholas Paice

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Private Nicholas Paice

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.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Inniskilling Dragoons, North Somerset Yeomanry, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Albert Neathey

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Private Albert Neathey

Albert Ernest Neathey was born in Bath, Somerset, early in 1875. The third of six children, his parents were John and Rose Neathey. John was a baker and the family lived at 11 Trinity Square. When John died in 1890, Rose and the four youngest children remained there, and by the time of the following year’s census, three of the Neathey siblings were bringing in a wage.

The 1891 document recorded Rose as living on her own means, while Albert, then 16 years of age, was employed as a telegraph messenger. His older sister, Alice, was a dressmaker’s apprentice, while his younger brother, Sidney, was apprenticed to a hairdresser.

The family are missing from the 1901 census, but the following year Albert got married. His new bride, Mary Louisa Slip, was a mason’s daughter, and the couple exchanged vows in Christ Church, Bath, on 18th September. They would go on to have one child, Doris, born in the summer of 1903, but she would only live for a few months, before passing away on 1st November.

Albert was, by this time, working as a postman, and the 1911 census found him and Doris living at 18 Lansdown Road, to the north of the city. Mary was noted as assisting in the business, although her trade was recorded as being general grocery. The couple were sharing their home with Albert’s ten year old nephew, Norman.

When war broke out, it was inevitable that Albert would be called upon to play his part. Full service details are not available, but a later newspaper report sheds light onto not only his army career, but his personal life:

DEATH OF A WELL-KNOWN BATH POSTMAN

The death occurred at the Bath War Hospital… of Mr Albert Ernest Neathey, of 18 Lansdown Road. Mr Neathey, who was only 44 years old, was the second son of the late Mr John Neathey, of Walcot.

When quite young he entered the service of the Bath Post Office as telegraph boy, and rose to be a postman. Altogether he was a postal servant for nearly 30 years. While thus engages he was a member of the Post Office Band, in which he played cornet.

His military career began with the old 1st Volunteer Battalion of the [Somerset Light Infantry], which whom he served six years. After leaving the infantry he joined the North Somerset Yeomanry. At the outbreak of war he was mobilised with the Yeomanry, and from August 1914, to the November of the same year he was stationed with the regiment in different parts of this country. When the regiment was sent to France, he was sent, much against his will, to the Regimental Depot at the Drill Hall, Lower Bristol Road, and remained there as a member of the staff until his death. While there he was promoted to Corporal. His constant wish was to be with his regiment in France, but his state of health would not have allowed him to stand the rigours of a campaign.

On Tuesday last he was not feeling well, but would not give up his work, and it was not until Saturday that he did so. Then he was sent to the War Hospital, where he was detained, and he passed away at 8:30 on Monday morning. The cause of his death was congestion of the lungs following influenza. For twenty years he was a member of the Foresters (Queen of the West Lodge). He was greatly respected by all who knew him. He leaves a widow, but no children.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 22nd March 1919

As part of his retention on home soil, Albert was transferred across to the 6th Dragoons (Inniskilling) Reserve Regiment. Nothing on the available documents, however, suggest a promotion during his time in Bath. Albert Ernest Neathey died on 17th March 1919: he was laid to rest in the city’s sweeping Lockbrook Cemetery.