Category Archives: Role

Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Leading Signalman, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, Scotland, Signalman, Somerset, story, war, Yeoman of Signals

Yeoman of Signals Alfred Collins

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Yeoman of Signals Alfred Collins

Alfred Henry Collins was born on 22nd August 1886, in the Gloucestershire village of Wotton-under-Edge. One of five children, his parents were cowman and farm labourer Samuel George Collins and his wife, Jane. Samuel’s work took the family south, and by the time of the 1901 census, the Collinses had settled in Whitchurch, near Bristol.

When Alfred finished his schooling, he also found employment labouring on a farm, but he was drawn to a more reliable career and a life at sea. On 9th March 1903, Alfred enlisted in the Royal Navy. His service records show the young man he was becoming. He was 5ft 4ins tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.

Alfred was still underage in the navy’s eyes, and so he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class. He was assigned to HMS Northampton, a training ship, and must have shown some promise, as within three months he had been promoted.

In June 1903, Boy 1st Class Collins was assigned to HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and his trajectory was still upwards. When he turned seventeen on 22nd August, Alfred was formally enrolled in the Royal Navy, and was given the rank of Ordinary Seaman. However, his training in Portsmouth continued, and by November he had become a Signalman.

In December 1903 he was posted to the cruiser HMS Isis and, over the next decade he served on ten different ships, returning to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport, in between voyages. During this time he was promoted to Leading Signalman, and his annual reviews showed him as having a very good character and a superior ability.

With war now brewing across Europe, the role of the navy intensified. When conflict was declared, Leading Signalman Collins was serving on board the cruiser HMS Pomone and, after nine months back at HMS Vivid, possibly in a training role, Alfred was assigned to the newly-refitted battleship HMS Bellerophon, on board which he would serve for more than two years.

Bellerophon served at the Battle of Jutland, and remained patrolling the southern part of the North Sea for the rest of the war. In July 1917, Alfred was promoted again, to Yeoman of the Signals, and transferred to HMS King George. He remained in the North Sea, but his new ship was there to protect the convoys transporting good between the UK and Norway, so he was based in Scotland.

Yeoman of the Signals Collins survived the war, but in February 1919 he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Granton, near Edinburgh, suffering from pneumonia. Sadly, the condition was to get the better of him and he died on 14th February 1919, at the age of 32 years old. He had served for just short of sixteen years.

The body of Alfred Henry Collins was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Nicholas’ Church in Whitchurch.

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

Sapper Arthur Coward

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Sapper Arthur Coward

Arthur Coward was born in the village of Faulkland, near Radstock, Somerset, on 6th November 1888. One of twelve siblings, of which only five survived childhood, his parents were Henry and Mercy Coward.

Henry was an agricultural labourer, who was 62 years of age when Arthur was born. By the time Arthur had finished his schooling, the family had moved west, to Writhlington, and he took up work in the local colliery.

Arthur was a keen motorcyclist, and when war came to Europe, he enlisted in the Royal Engineers. Working as a dispatch rider, Sapper Coward was assigned to the 34th Division Signal Company, and soon found himself in France.

Arthur returned home for a fortnight’s leave on 22nd October 1918. “He should have returned to France again on the 4th [November] but had a few days previously contracted influenza and this was followed by double pneumonia. Everything possible was done for him, but despite a robust constitution he gradually sank and died peaceful a few hours before the public learnt that the war in which he had taken part was ended.” [Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer: Friday 15th November 1918]

Sapper Coward had died on 11th November 1918, having celebrated his thirtieth birthday just five days previously. His father, Henry, had lost another child, at the age of 91.

Arthur Coward was laid to rest in the tranquil Writhlington Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, London, London Regiment, photography, Private, Rifleman, Somerset, story, Training Reserve Battalion, war

Private Harry Izzard

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Private Harry Izzard

Harry Izzard was born early in 1900, in Chiswick, London and was one of six children to Albert and Florence Izzard. Albert was a groom, but when he died in 1905, Florence, left with a young family to raise, remarried. Things seem not to have gone well between Harry and his stepfather, Richard Warren, and he soon found himself resident of the Church Army Home in London.

In 1914, his schooling complete, he was sent to the village of Clandown in Somerset, where he was employed at the local colliery. He seemed to have flourished in his new life, and he “made friends with all he came in contact with, being of a bright and cheerful disposition and associated with the football club, Wesleyan Young Men’s Bible Class and an ardent temperance worker.” [Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer: Friday 26th April 1918]

Harry was one of the village’s batch of miners passed for the Army ballot, but seemed eager not to wait to be officially called up. On the day of the ballot, he instead joined up voluntarily, enlisting in the 86th Training Reserve Battalion.

On enlistment he was sent to Clipstone Camp, Notts, where he quickly made friends. He, however, was placed on the sick list… and underwent [an] operation for appendicitis from which operation he never recovered.

Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer: Friday 26th April 1918

Private Izzard died on 20th April 1918, aged just 19 years old, a life of new promise cut tragically short. His connection with Clandown, and his disconnection from his family in London, was such that his body was brought back to Somerset for burial.

Harry Izzard was laid to rest in the quiet Holy Trinity Churchyard, his sister Mabel being the only family member represented at the service.

Harry’s older brother Herbert Izzard also served in the army. He had found work as a laundry labourer when he left school, and went on to marry Maud Woodage on 14th February 1915. The couple had a daughter, Winifred, later that year.

Herbert enlisted in the London Regiment as a Rifleman, and was assigned to the 17th Battalion, also known as the Poplar and Stepney Rifles. He soon found himself in France and was killed at the Somme on 19th April 1916. He is buried at the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery in Souchez.

Tragically, Herbert’s widow died in Oxfordshire in December 1918, leaving young Winifred an orphan at just three years old. She went on to live a long life, dying in 1997, at the age of 81.

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

Private Reginald Day

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Private Reginald Day

Reginald Charlie Day was born in the spring of 1891, the sixth of thirteen children. His parents – George and Charlotte Day – were born and raised in Gloucestershire, but had moved to Wellow in Somerset by the time Reginald was born.

George was originally a shepherd, but Wellow had two key industries – mining and the railways – and it was into the former that he went, presumably to bring in a regular wage for the expanding Day family.

When he left school, Reginald initially followed his father to the pit, but in April 1913, he opted for a more prestigious career, and enlisted in the army. He joined the Somerset Light Infantry as a Private but, because of his profession, he was not formally mobilised until 1916. His service records give away little about his stature, only that he was 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, with good vision and good physical development.

In January 1916, Private Day was moved to the North Somerset Yeomanry and, within a matter of weeks was bound for France. By that October, however, he was moved again, and became attached to the 5th (Service) Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment. He was assigned to one of the regiment’s depots, and remained close to the Western Front until the end of July 1917.

At this point, Reginald’s health was beginning to suffer, and he was moved back to the UK for treatment. He was admitted to hospital suffering from a pelvic abscess, and this was later diagnosed as carcinoma of the rectum. No longer fit for military service, he was dismissed from the army on 17th February 1918, his medical records noting that he had been fitted with a colostomy belt.

At this point, Reginald’s trail goes cold. It is likely that he returned home, but whether he was able to take up his previous employment – or work at all – is unclear. His headstone records that he died in Bath War Hospital, although again it is uncertain whether he was admitted from the point of leaving the army, or only in later months as his condition deteriorated. He passed away on 18th October 1919, at the age of 28 years old.

Reginald Charlie Day was laid to rest in the family plot in the peaceful Wellow Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, unknown, war

Private Alfred Creese

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Private Alfred Creese

Alfred Isaac Matthew Creese was born in Wellow, Somerset, in the summer of 1889, and was the youngest child to Jacob and Elizabeth Creese. Jacob was a wagon builder for the Somerset & Dorset Railway, working in the village’s station. When Alfred left school, however, he found employment as a farm labourer.

When war came to Europe, Alfred stepped up to play his part. Sadly, few of his military records remain, and those that do give little information away. He enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry as a Private and, as a result of his war service, he was awarded the Victory, British and Territorial Force War Medal.

Private Creese survived the conflict, but, according to his headstone, he passed away at the Rock House Hospital in Bath. While this does not appear to be a dedicated hospital, there are a number of locations called Rock House in the Bath area, and it is likely to have been a house used for convalescent purposes. Whatever the location, this is where Private Creese passed away on 18th April 1919, at the age of 29 years old.

Alfred Isaac Matthew Creese was brought back to Wellow for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in the village’s peaceful cemetery, to be joined there by his mother in 1930, and his father in 1932, a family reunited once more.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kings Royal Rifle Corps, Lieutenant, photography, Rifleman, Somerset, story, war

Lieutenant Edward Bending

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Lieutenant Edward Bending

Edward Owen Bending was born early in 1891, one of seven children to Edward Bending, who was from Bath, Somerset, and Emma, who came from Castle Cary.

Edward Sr worked on the railways, and the family moved across the county with his work: the 1891 census recorded them living in Edington, while he worked as a signalman in nearby Ashcott; ten years later, the family had moved to Bridgwater with his job. The 1911 census return recorded the Bendings as living in Station House, Wellow, with Edward now employed as the station master.

Edward Jr, who was sometimes known by his middle name to avoid confusion with his father, was also employed at the station, where he was working as a clerk. War was coming to Europe, however, and he stepped up to play his part for King and Country.

Edward enlisted in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps as a Rifleman, and was attached to the 60th Rifles. Full details of his military service are lost to time, but a contemporary newspaper report notes that he served both in the Balkans and in France. During his time in the army, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, but contracted an illness, and was invalided out of service.

Whatever his illness, it was to get the better of him: Lieutenant Bending passed away at home on 24th January 1919. He was just 28 years of age.

Edward Owen Bending was laid to rest in the peaceful Wellow Cemetery, overlooking the village where his family still lived.

Edward’s was a family plot. When his younger sister Winifred died just three years later, she was buried with him. When his mother, Emma, passed away in 1924, she was laid to rest in a neighbouring plot.

Edward Bending Sr lived on until 1938. The newspaper report of his funeral, gives an insight into the family man he was:

A native of Combe Down, where his father carried on business as a tailor, Mr Bending spent all his working days in the employ of the Somerset and Dorset Railway. For a time he worked as a reliefman, and later was appointed stationmaster at Cole, being transferred in 1907 to Wellow, where he took part in all the village activities.

In 1920 he was transferred to Stallbridge, Dorset, but after about four years there had to relinquish work just before reaching retiring age, owing to an attach of rheumatoid arthritis. Since then he had been unable to get about and he stayed with his eldest daughter at Reading for a time.

For the past seven years he had stayed at the residence of his younger daughter at Burnham-on-Sea. Unfortunately the malady affected his sight, and for eight years he had been blind, yet throughout his last years his cheerful disposition never failed him, and he was his old self to the last, being keenly interested in his wireless, which brought him such happiness.

His wife died in 1924, and his younger son, Lieut. Edward Owen Bending, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, lost his life in the war; his name is to be found on the War Memorial at St Julian’s Church.

Mr Bending’s elder son, Hubert Alan Bending, is head master of St Julian’s school, Shoscombe. He is also survived by two of his four daughters.

Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer: Friday 24th June 1938

While Wellow Station was a bustling place, it is highly likely that Edward Jr would have known Leonard Luke, one of the porters at the time Edward Sr was station master. Leonard also went off to war, and his story can be found here.

Air Mechanic, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Royal Air Force, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Air Mechanic 2nd Class Leonard Luke

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Air Mechanic 2nd Class Leonard Luke

Leonard Arthur Luke was born in the autumn of 1899 in Shepton Mallet, Somerset. He was the fifth of ten children to railway guard George Luke and his wife, Georgina.

By the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved north west, to the village of Wellow, where George continued his employment with the railway. The track and station have now since disappeared, but at the time, it was a busy stopping point for the mining village.

When Leonard left school, he found work as a porter with the Somerset & Dorset Railway, but by now war was raging across Europe, and he was keen to play his part. He initially enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry on 3rd January 1918, but moved to the Royal Flying Corps after a matter of weeks.

On 1st April 1918, Leonard transferred across to the Royal Air Force. Formally holding the rank of Air Mechanic 2nd Class, he was training to become a wireless operator in Winchester, Hampshire. He was admitted to the Red Cross Hospital in the city, having contracted rheumatic fever. Sadly, this was to take his life, and he passed away on 13th November 1918, two days after the Armistice. He was just 19 years of age.

Leonard Arthur Luke’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the quiet Wellow Cemetery.

Air Mechanic 2nd Class Leonard Luke
(from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

While Wellow Station was a bustling place, it is highly likely that Leonard would have known Edward Bending, one of the clerks at the time he was there. Edward also went off to war, and his story can be found here.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Machine Gun Corps, photography, Private, Somerset, Staffordshire, story, unknown, war

Private Arthur Selway

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Private Arthur Selway

Arthur Ernest Selway was born on 30th October 1898 in Wellow, Somerset. The oldest of six children, his parents were Frederick and Mary Selway. Frederick was a coal miner, and this is likely to have been the line of work for Arthur to follow, had war not intervened.

Arthur enlisted in the Machine Gun Corps on 19th April 1918 and was assigned to the 44th (Reserve) Battalion. Sent to the Rugeley Camp in Staffordshire for training, Private Selway’s time in the army was not to last long, however. While his service records are lost to time, he is recorded as having passed away while at the camp on 3rd October 1918.

Private Selway was just 19 years of age and, having been in the army for just five months and two weeks, this meant that his family were not eligible to receive a war gratuity from the army, as he had not completed six months’ service.

Arthur Ernest Selway’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful Wellow Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, unknown, war

Private William Humphrys

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Private William Humphrys

William James Humphrys was born early in 1880, the fourth of seven children to Mark and Alice Humphrys. Mark was a gardener from Wellow in Somerset, but it was in nearby Norton St Philip that the family were born and raised.

Alice died in 1904, by which time William was working as a mason’s labourer. By the time of the 1911 census, he was living in the family home on Church Street, with his father and two older sisters, Annie and Mary.

On 17th April 1911, William married Annie Holcombe, a farmer’s daughter from the village. It is likely that they set up home with Mark, but those details are lost to time.

War came to Europe in the summer of 1914, and William was quick to step up and play his part. He enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry early in 1915, and was assigned to the regiment’s 6th Battalion as a Private.

William arrived in France in June 1915, and over the next eighteen months was caught up in some of the fiercest battles of the war. The 6th Battalion first saw fighting at the Action of Hooge, where it had the misfortune to be the first to be attacked by flamethrower. During 1916, Private Humphrys was firmly ensconced at the Somme, although full details of his service are lost to time.

In fact, the only other concrete information about Private Humphrys is that of his passing, which happed on 14th January 1917 at King George’s Hospital in London. The cause of his death is unknown, but he was 36 years old at the time.

William James Humphrys was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of Saints Philip & James’ Church, Norton St Philip, within sight of his family home.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, photography, Royal Navy, Somerset, Stoker, story, war

Stoker 1st Class Francis Doel

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Stoker 1st Class Francis Doel

Francis Benjamin John Doel was born in Glastonbury, Somerset, on 26th August 1897. The oldest of five children, his parents were Frederick and Alice Doel. Frederick was a mason’s labourer and, by the time of the 1911 census, the family had set up home in the village of Berkley, on the outskirts of Frome. Intriguingly, the census clearly gives Francis’ middle name as Crossman, although no other record confirms this.

When war broke out, Francis had left school, and was employed as a labourer in a brass foundry. By the start of 1916, however, he stepped up to serve his King and Country, and enlisted in the Royal Navy. His service records give his height as 5ft 3.5ins (1.61m) and note that he had brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

Francis was assigned the role of Stoker 2nd Class, and was sent to HMS Vivid – the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport – for training. Within a matter of weeks, he was given his first posting, on board the cruiser HMS Dublin, although he only remained there for a month.

After having returned to HMS Vivid for a few weeks, Francis was assigned to another cruiser, HMS Essex. He appears to have been good at his job, and in November 1916 was promoted to Stoker 1st Class.

Stoker Doel returned to HMS Vivid in May 1917, preparing for his Leading Stoker exams. They were not to be, however, as on 24th June, he died, having ‘accidentally drowned’. No further information is available on his death, and the newspaper report of his funeral only notes that he “…met his death on Sunday week. His body was landed from his vessel, and was brought home for burial…” [Somerset Standard: Friday 6th July 1917]. He was just 19 years of age.

Francis Benjamin John Doel was brought back to Berkley for burial. He was laid to rest in the village’s church cemetery.