Ivan George Day was born in the summer of 1898, the oldest of three children to George and Emma Day. George was a brick and tile maker from Weare in Somerset and it was here that he and Emma raised their young family.
When Ivan finished his schooling, he found work as a postman, but, with war raging across Europe, he seemed keen to play his part. In February 1917, he enlisted in the army and was assigned to the 93rd Training Reserve Battalion. His service records show that he was just 5ft 3ins (1.6m) tall and weighed 121lbs (54.9kg).
Private Day was sent to Chiseldon Camp, to the south of Swindon in Wiltshire and, tragically, this move to cramped army barracks was to prove his undoing. Within four weeks of arriving, Ivan was admitted to the camp’s hospital, having contracted measles and pneumonia. Less than a week later, the conditions had gotten the better of him. He passed away on 3rd April 1917, at just eighteen years of age.
Ivan George Day’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Gregory’s Church in his home village of Weare.
Tragedy was to strike the Day family again when, George died eighteen months later, aged 51 years old. Emma lived until 89 years old, passing away in Weston-super-Mare in the summer of 1955.
Ivan was not the only Somerset soldier to succumb to pneumonia at Chiseldon Camp that spring. Private Charles Oborne, died from the same condition a few days before Ivan was admitted to the hospital. Private Everett Ferriday, of the 94th Training Battalion, passed away in the same hospital on the same day as Ivan, also from pneumonia.
You can read their stories by following the links above.
Charlie Tucker was born early in 1877 in the village of Mark, Somerset. The fifth of six children, his parents were Thomas and Caroline. Charlie’s mother died when he was only a toddler, probably during, or shortly after, the birth of his younger sister, Elizabeth. This left farm labourer Thomas to raise his family alone.
The 1881 census found the Tuckers living in Wedmore, five miles to the east of Mark, where Thomas was supported by his parents, George and Elizabeth. Both died in 1890, but by this point, Thomas had married again, to a widow, Ann Harding. She had a daughter, Mary Ann, who was welcomed into the family, but then Thomas and Ann had their own child, a son called Walter.
The next census, returned in 1891, recorded the family – Thomas, Ann, Charles, Mary Ann and Walter – living in Wedmore. Charles had finished his schooling by this point, and was employed as a general labourer and the family also had a boarder, Ralph Godney, who was just 9 years of age.
The family setup continued, and the 1901 census document found Thomas and Ann living with Charlie and Walter, all of whom were doing farm work. They still seemed to be open to supporting others, however, and had another boarder, a schoolgirl called Elizabeth Grant.
In the spring of 1904, Charlie married Lily Brown. Born in Wedmore, she was the daughter, and only child, of a labourer who was employed as a servant to an Axbridge famer at the time the couple wed. Charlie and Lily set up home in Blackford, near Wedmore, and went on to have four children: Thomas, Walter, William and Kathleen.
When war broke out in 1914, Charlie stepped up to play his part. Full details of his military career are lost to time, but it is clear from what remains that he had enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment by the autumn of 1916. Private Tucker joined the 13th (Works) Battalion, and remained stationed on home soil for the duration of his service.
Little further information about Charlie’s life is evident. Over the next couple of years his health began to fail, and in the spring of 1917 he had been admitted to Bath War Hospital with carcinoma of the stomach. This was to take his life: he passed away on 11th March 1917. He was 40 years of age.
Charlie Tucker’s body was brought back to Blackford for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church.
Lily, now widowed, was left with four young children to raise on her own. Whether for a new life and new opportunities, or to escape the painful memories that Somerset brought, she made the decision to emigrate. In April 1924, she and the children arrived in Canada, and settled in Ontario.
Further information for Lily is not readily available, but her two oldest children, Thomas and Walter, made lives for themselves, and died in 1975 and 1979, respectively.
William John Solomon was born on 26th June 1891 in the Somerset village of Huntspill. One of nine children, his parents were mason and bricklayer Roland Solomon and his wife, Annie.
When he finished his schooling, William found work as a farm labourer, but, sadly, there is little else documented about his life. When war broke out, he enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry. Details are unclear, but he served with the 8th Battalion on the Western Front and the 1st/5th Battalion in Egypt.
By 1918, William was back on home soil, but had fallen ill. His condition is not confirmed, but he passed away from it on 16th October 1918, at the age of 27 years old.
William John Solomon was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Peter’s in his home village.
John Burge Parker was born in the spring of 1887, the second of eight children to George and Ann Parker. The family were raised in Huntspill, Somerset, where George was employed as a labourer in the local railway works.
When he finished his schooling, John found work on a farm and this is how he was employed when, on 30th April 1907, he married Alice Jane Grove in the parish church in Pawlett. The sleepiness of the area is underlined by the fact that this was both the only wedding to take part in the church that year, and for more than a year. John and Alice went on to have three children, Audrey, who was born in 1907, Elsie, who came along two years later, and Clifford, born in 1915.
With a growing family to support, John sought out more of a career. Indeed, by the time of the 1911 census, he was employed as a police constable, and the Parkers had moved to Bristol. When war came to Europe, however, John stepped up to play his part.
John enlisted on 17th November 1915, joining the Railway Troops Depot of the Royal Engineers. His service records show the kind of figure he must have cut in the police, and he was noted as being 6ft 1in (1.85m) tall, weighing 176lbs (79.8kg). Initially give the rank of Private, he was promoted to Lance Corporal in May 1916, just four months after being officially mobilised.
In October 1916, Lance Corporal Parker’s troop set sail from Southampton, their final destination being Alexandria in Egypt. He spent more than two years in North Africa, wand was promoted to full Corporal during this time.
John returned to Britain early in 1919. In February, John was visiting his brother in Highbridge, Somerset, and, on the evening of the 6th, he left to visit his father in Huntspill. He set off to Highbridge Station first, with the intention of checking the train times to return to Bristol, but that was the last time he was seen alive.
A painful sensation was created in Highbridge and neighbourhood… when it became known than on the previous evening.. the mutilated body of a soldier was found on the Great Western Railway metals, about a quarter of a mile below the Highbridge Station… The body was subsequently identified as that of John Parker… a corporal in the Royal Engineers, whose home it at Bristol and who leaves a wife and three children.
Central Somerset Gazette: Friday 14th February 1919
Nothing untoward was confirmed in the accident that killed John on the night of the 6th February 1919, and at the inquest the jury reached the conclusion that he had died through a tragic accident. He was 32 years of age.
The newspaper report gave more insight into the character of Corporal Parker: “He was a splendid specimen of manhood, standing over 6ft, and of proportionately fine physique… [He] was of a most genial temperament [and] was held in the highest respect both in the Highbridge district and at Bristol.”
The body of John Burge Parker was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Peter’s Church in his home village of Huntspill.
Frederick William Reid was born in January 1876 in Liverpool, Lancashire. Little information is available for his early life, and his trail only really becomes traceable when he joined the Royal Irish Regiment at the age of 16 years old.
Frederick’s service records confirm that his mother was called Elizabeth, who lived in Bedminster, near Bristol. He was already volunteering for the regiment when he enlisted, and was working as a musician when he joined up. His papers confirm that he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, and weighed 112lbs (60.8kg). He had brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion.
Frederick was given the rank of Drummer when he joined up and was attached to the Royal Irish Regiment’s 3rd Depot. He spent more than seven years on home soil, rising to the rank of Corporal in May 1898. The following January he reverted to the rank of Private at his own request, but his superiors obviously saw something in him, and he was supported in a new role – Lance Corporal – just a month later.
In October 1899, however, Frederick’s life was to take a new turn, when he was sent to India with his troop.
Corporal Reid was based in Lahore, and had found the life that he was seeking. Over the next forty months, he successfully took on a variety of clerical roles. He was promoted to Lance Sergeant in October 1901 and given oversight of the Officers’ Room.
In March 1903, Frederick returned to Britain. With the move came a further promotion, to the rank of full Sergeant, again, overseeing the Officer’s Room. He seems to have been based in Gloucestershire by this point, as, on 18th November 1903, he married Isabella Jane Parke at a Registry Office in Bristol. There is no further record for the young couple, however, so the new Mrs Reid is destined to remain a mystery.
Frederick was destined to return to India, and in January 1905, that is exactly what he did. His regiment returned to Lahore, and he was given the role of Clerk Steward at one of the Lawrence Memorial Asylum. The name is misleading, as the asylums were a series of four military-style boarding schools across India. Sergeant Reid’s records do not confirm which of the four he was attached to, but it would have been Sanawar, Mount Abu, Lovedale or Ghora Gali.
Given his military background, it seems that the role of clerk was something Frederick settled into quite happily. He was recalled back to army service in November 1909, and, within seven months, he requested a discharge from the army. This was granted, as he had, by this point, completed more than eighteen years’ service.
Frederick remained in India, however, and on 28th September 1913, he married Elizabeth Marshall in Lahore. They had two children, Florence, who was born in Quetta on 2nd September 1914, and Lily, who was born on 1st January 1916 in Lahore.
War had come to the world by this point, and in spite of his age – he was 39 by now – Frederick felt it only right to step up and play his part again. On 28th October 1914, he enlisted again, and was assigned to the 1st Battalion of the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment). His new medical noted that he was 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, and weighed in at 9st (57.2kg). His complexion was recorded as pale, while he had a number of tattoos on his left forearm: the crossed swords, harp and crown of the Royal Irish Regiment, along with the initials VR.
While part of the West Riding Regiment, Sergeant Reid was attached to the 3rd Mule Corps of the Indian Supply & Transport Corps. He was involved in arranging provisions for the various battalions who needed them.
By March 1916, his battalion had been sent to Salonika, and it was here that Frederick contracted tuberculosis. Medically evacuated to Britain, he was admitted to the Southwark Military Hospital. He was confirmed as no longer being medically fit for army service and was discharged on 16th August 1916. His medical report noted that he “is anxious to have sanatorium treatment, but is not an insured man, owing to having been stationed in India.”
On his discharge, Frederick moved to Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, which is where his mother was by now living. His wife and children also came to live in England and, the family settled in Pawlett, near Bridgwater.
After leaving the army, Frederick’s trail goes cold. The next confirmation of his life is that of his passing. He died on 12th October 1919, presumably from his lung condition. He was 43 years of age.
Frederick William Reid, who had been born in Liverpool, who had had two separate careers in the army, and who had lived and married in India, was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St John the Baptist’s Church in Pawlett, Somerset.
Bertie Baden Clark was born on 5th August 1900 in the hamlet of Dunball, near Puriton in Somerset. The third of seven children, his parents were quarry and cement works labourer George Clark and his wife, Bessie.
When war came to Europe, George stepped up to play his part. Despite being 44 years old, he enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps on 4th November 1915 and, within a year, was in France. He remained posted at the No. 4 Remount Depot until October 1918.
“On the morning of the 1st October 1918, I left the 26th Squadron 4 Base Remount Depot riding a horse and leading one to exercise about a mile & half from the Squadron while proceeding by the side of the railway line my horse was frightened by the whistle of a railway engine & ran away with me throwing me to the road and stepping on my right ankle.”
Private Clark was initially treated at the No. 2 Canadian General Hospital, but was soon invalided back to Britain and placed on furlough until being formally demobbed from the army early in 1919.
Bertie, meanwhile, could see the excitement of the war passing him by. Determine to play is part before it was too late, he gave up his job as a labourer on 13th July 1918 and enlisted in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
Given the rank of Ordinary Seaman, his service records confirm that he was 5ft 6in (1.68m) tall (1in, or 2.5cm, taller than his father), with dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion. He was noted as having a scar on his right knee.
Bertie was sent to HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, for training. Tragically, this was to be his only posting. He was admitted to the dockyard hospital early in October, suffering from double pneumonia and influenza. The condition was to take his life, and he passed away on 10th October 1918, at the age of just 18 years old.
Bertie Baden Clark’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Michael’s Church in Puriton, the funeral attended by his family, including his recently returned father, George.
Frederick Chilcott was born in Bridgwater, Somerset, early in 1867. He was the fifth of thirteen children to labourer and kiln worker Henry Chilcott and his wife, Ellen.
When he finished his schooling, Frederick also found labouring work. He wanted bigger and better things, however, and the opportunity for a career in the army offered him just that. On 14th January 1888 he enlisted in the Royal Artillery. His service records confirm he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, and weighed 119lbs (54kg). He was noted as having dark brown hair, dark hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. He also had a scar on his forehead and a tattooed dot on his right forearm.
Frederick was initially given the rank of Driver and was assigned to the regiment’s 3rd Brigade Depot. He was sent to India in February 1889, and remained there until November the following year, when his troop returned to Britain.
Back on home soil Frederick’s role changed and he was given the rank of Gunner. On 1st January 1892, he was promoted to Acting Bombardier, but, on his own request, he reverted to his previous rank just three months later. On 15th January 1895, Gunner Chilcott was stood down to reserve status, having completed seven years’ service.
On 16th April 1895, Frederick married Eliza Stockham. She was a labourer’s daughter from the village of Puriton, to the north of Bridgwater, and it was here that the couple settled. Living in a small cottage, they went on to have six children between 1898 and 1911.
Frederick’s time in the army, however, wasn’t quite done. With the Second Boer War breaking out, he was recalled to the now Royal Field Artillery in January 1900. Sent to South Africa, Gunner Chilcott remained overseas for a year and was recognised for his commitment in the campaign.
Frederick returned to Britain on 3rd January 1901, and was finally stood down from the army in March that year, having fulfilled his twelve years’ contract. He returned home to Puriton, his service records noting that his character was ‘very good’.
The 1911 census found Frederick employed as a labourer in the local cement works. He and Eliza living in a small cottage in Puriton with four of the children (their oldest son was with Eliza’s parents, while she was pregnant with their youngest).
Conflict was knocking on England’s shore by this point, and when conflict broke out, Frederick appears to have stepped up to play his part once more. He was 47 years old when war was declared and, as such, would not have been required to enlist. Full details of his service are no longer available, but he had certainly joined the Army Veterinary Corps by the summer of 1917.
Private Chilcott is likely to have remained on home soil, but towards the end of his service was based in Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. It was while here, on 23rd December 1917, that he suffered an aneurysm, passing away in the town’s military hospital as a result. He was 50 years of age.
Frederick Chilcott’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Michael’s Church in his home village, Puriton.
Stanley George Oliver Biffen was born in the autumn of 1894 in the Somerset village of East Huntspill. He was the second child to Oliver and Fanny Biffen, although his older sibling, sister Florence, had passed away at just three months of age.
Oliver was a carter and farm labourer, and the family went where the work was. The 1901 census found them living in Eastover, Bridgwater, Fanny’s widowed father, George, also living there. Ten years later, the four of them had moved to the village of Stawell. Stanley had finished his schooling, and had also taken up farm work.
When war came, Stanley stepped up to play his part. Full details of his service are lost to time, but he had enlisted in the Army by the spring of 1915. He initially joined the 1st Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry, and by May that year, was in France.
It is not possible to track Private Biffen’s movements during the conflict, but he did transfer across to the Gloucestershire Regiment at some point. Assigned to the 7th (Service) Battalion, his was a troop that served at Gallipoli and in North Africa, although there is no evidence that Stanley fought in there.
The only other concrete evidence available for Private Biffen relates to his passing. By the autumn of 1916, he had been admitted to the 1st Western General Hospital in Fazakerley, Liverpool. He was suffering from phthitis, or tuberculosis, and this was the condition that was to get the better of him. He passed away on 2nd December 1916, at the age of just 22 years old.
The body of Stanley George Oliver Biffen was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of Stawell Church.
Stanley’s parents had now lost both of their children, and this is likely to have taken a toll on them. Fanny passed away in December 1924, at the age of 64 years old. Oliver died just a year later aged 54 years old.
Eric William Grant was born at the start of 1901, the middle of three children to Ernest and Annie Grant. Ernest was a carpenter from Bath, Somerset, and it was here they he and Annie raised their young family.
Little information is available about Eric’s young life. When war came to Europe, his father joined up, enlisting in the Royal Engineers as a Sapper. Keen not to miss out, Eric also signed up, lying about his age to ensure he was accepted.
When he joined in February 1916, Private Grant was assigned to the 52nd (Graduated) Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment. Full details of his service are lost to time, but towards the end of the war, Eric was based in East Anglia.
It was here, in early 1919, that Private Grant fell ill. He was admitted to the Norfolk War Hospital, but whatever his condition, it proved fatal. He passed away on 2nd March, aged just 18 years old.
Eric William Grant’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Michael’s Church, Monkton Combe, where the family now living.
Despite her understandable concern at seeing her husband and son go off to war, and for Eric to die because of it, Annie was to be reunited with Ernest. Again, full details of his service are lost, but the 1939 Register found him and Annie living with their daughter and Ernest’s brother in Bathavon, Somerset.
Annie passed away in 1947, at the age of 73. Ernest lived on until 1952, having lived to 76 years old. Both were buried in St Michael’s Churchyard, reunited with their son at last.
John Henry Harris was born at the turn of 1879, the oldest of eight children to John and Florence Harris. John Sr was a mason’s labourer from Somerset, and his and Florence’s three oldest children were born in Bishop’s Hull, near Taunton. By 1890, however, the family had moved to Monkton Combe, on the outskirts of Bath, presumably to follow John Sr’s work, and this is where they settled.
When John Jr completed his schooling, he followed in his father’s trade and when the 1901 census return was completed, he was employed as a mason’s labourer, while his father had moved into carpentry.
Florence died in April 1901, and six years later, John Sr remarried. His new wife was Ann Gibbs, and the couple went on to have three children, new half-siblings to John Jr.
In the autumn of 1905, John Jr married in Eliza Mundy, a cowman’s daughter from Monkton Combe. The couple settled in a small cottage on Mill Lane, and had a son, Frank, who was born in 1907. By this point, John had found new employment as a gardener to the local vicar, Reverend Pitcairn.
When war came to European shores, John quickly stepped up to enlist. He joined the 7th Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry and arrived in France in July 1915 after his training.
Private Harris was wounded during the opening weeks of the Battle of the Somme, but recovered and returned to the Front Line. He was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal, but in March 1917 he was wounded again. “A piece of his steel helmet was driven into his head at the temple, and little hope of his recovery was entertained from the first.” [Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 24th March 1917]
Medically evacuated to Britain, Private Harris was admitted to a hospital in Stockport, Cheshire. His “wife (who has been dangerously ill in hospital), Mr John Harris (his father) and a sister proceeded to Stockport, but, unfortunately, did not arrive until shortly after death had occurred.” [Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 24th March 1917]
Private Harris passed away on 13th March 1917, at the age of 38 years of age.
John Henry Harris’ body was brought back to Monkton Combe for burial and he was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Michael’s Church, his funeral being officiated over by his former employer, Reverend Pitcairn.
Eliza went on to marry again, wedding Walter Giggs in 1921. The couple went on to have a daughter, Margery, who was born two years later. Eliza lived on until 1949, when she died at the age of 69 years old. She was also laid to rest in St Michael’s Churchyard.
Death and Service 