In a mass grave in Faversham Borough Cemetery, Kent, is a commemoration to Private John Harding, who died during the Faversham Explosion on 2nd April 1916.
Sadly, there is little concrete information about John, other than the details recorded in the Register of Soldiers Effects. This document confirms that he served in the 3rd Supply Company of the 3rd/4th Battalion of The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). He had enlisted before October 1915 and no next of kin is recorded.
Another document suggests that Private Harding was a resident of Milton Regis, a small village to the north of Sittingbourne. Again, however, there is not enough additional information to corroborate this or to expand on his personal life.
Unfortunately, therefore, Private John Harding is destined to remain a mystery, one of more than a hundred men and women to have died on that fateful day.
Memorial to the Faversham Explosion, Borough Cemetery
William Adams was born in Skelmersdale, near Liverpool, in around 1868. He was the son of George and Harriet Adams, although as his name was quite common in the area at the time, it is not possible to narrow down details of his early life any further.
At some point after leaving school, William joined the army, using the surname of Catlow. The 1891 census records him as a soldier in the Private Infantry, based at the Habergham Eaves Barracks near Burnley, Lancashire.
On leaving the army, William found work as a labourer and, by the 1890s, he had moved to Kent. He met and married a woman called Kate in 1895, and they went on to have a son, Archibald, the same year. The 1911 census records the family living in Cheriton, near Folkestone, William doing labouring work, and Kate employed as a laundress.
With the outcome of the First World War, William stepped forward to play his part again. By this point, he was 46 years old and, while he was assigned to the 4th Battalion of The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), was given more of a territorial role.
Private Catlow was serving at the site shared by the Cotton Powder Company and Explosives Loading Company to the north of Faversham in the spring of 1916. On the afternoon of 2nd April 1916, a fire caused a series of massive explosions at the factories, and William was one of around 110 people to be killed. He was 48 years of age.
William Adams, known militarily as Private William Catlow, was laid to rest, along with the other victims of the Faversham Explosion, in the town’s Borough Cemetery.
Memorial to the Faversham Explosion, Borough Cemetery
Ambrose Frank Hopkins was born in the autumn of 1886, in the Kent village of Ospringe. He was one of four children to shopkeeper-turned-farmer William Hopkins and his wife Julia.
When he finished school, Ambrose found employment in a brickyard in nearby Faversham. In August 1901, however, things took a turn for the worse for the Hopkins family.
Mr WJ Harris, Coroner, had a painful task on Monday evening, when he held an inquest on the body of William Hopkins, a farmer, who was found hanging in the cellar of his house that morning, having ended his life in consequence, it would appear, of business troubles.
Julie Hopkins, wife of the deceased, stated that her husband was 59 years of age… He went to bed on Sunday evening apparently in his usual health and at four o’clock that morning to light the fire which he usually did. Deceased had lately been troubled by business worries.
Blanche Sophia Hopkins, deceased’s daughter, stated that on going down the cellar about seven o’clock that morning (Monday) she saw her father hanging from a beam in the ceiling. She was too much frightened either to touch him or to notice if he was dead, but run up and sent to PC Ward and a doctor. The constable saw deceased just as she found him.
Faversham News: Saturday 31st August 1901.
The tragedy rocked the family and, within eighteen months, Julia too had died. By the summer of 1903, Blanche had auctioned off her once family home for the sum of £270, in order to support her and Ambrose, who was nine years her junior.
In 1906, Ambrose married Florence Harris, a widow thirteen years his senior, who had three children. The couple settled down in Faversham, and went on to have three children themselves – Elsie, Harold and William.
By now Ambrose was working as a labourer in Harty Ferry, just the other side of the Swale River on the Isle of Sheppey. But again, things were going to change as, in May 1916, he was called up for military service.
Private Hopkins was assigned to the 3rd Battalion of the The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). He was sent to Dover for training, before returning to home on leave in advance of further action.
An inquest was held at the Guildhall, Faversham, on Tuesday by the County Coroner… touching the death of Ambrose Frank Hopkins, aged 29… a Private in the 3rd Buffs, stationed at Dover, who hung himself on Sunday last.
Florence Amy Hopkins, the widow, stated that deceased has been… called to the colours three weeks that day. He had leave on Friday last until Sunday night. When he returned he seemed in very good health, but he told her he could not get on in the Army as he could not do his drill, etc.
He was a very quiet man of sober habits. They got on well together except for occasional tiffs. On the Sunday he said what a good breakfast and dinner she had got. All Sunday morning he was cleaning his buttons. He sat talking till after 3pm and then went out the back.
She went out for about twenty minutes, and when she returned she could not find him. Thinking he had gone to bed she went upstairs, but he was not there. Just about five she looked down the cellar stairs, thinking he might be at work there, and saw him hanging by a rope.
On the Saturday night she found the following note on the living room table in her husband’s handwriting. “Good night, my dear Flo, the last night here. My dear little wife, think of me and be good to the children.” She went upstairs, woke him up, and asked him what he had done it for, and he said it was only a joke. There had not been any words between them.
His one trouble was about going back. She told him to make the best of it, and that it would all be the better for him. He replied “Flo, I cannot and I never shall.” They owed a little, but nothing to worry about.
He complained of the food very much, and said that all he had on Thursday night was a piece of bread as hard as a brick. He had fallen away very much since he had been in the Army.
Alfred Willett, a munition worker.. stated that he was called by [Julia] about 5:30pm on Sunday and found deceased in the cellar hanging by a rope fastened to the rafters. The knees were about six inches from the ground, and the feet were touching the ground. Witness cut him down, but he was quite dead. His tunic and cap were off.
Lieutenant Hillier Hughes, of The Buffs, said that deceased had a clean conduct sheet, and he was quite up to average at drill. The food at dinner consisted of meat, two vegetables and pudding. An officer always went round to enquire if there were any complaints. The bread was fresh every day.
The Coroner, in summing up, said that apparently the deceased was not well balanced, and no doubt felt that he was not doing as well as he ought to.
The jury returned a verdict of “Suicide whilst temporarily insane.”
Faversham Time and Mercury and North East Kent Journal: Saturday 24th June 1916.
In very similar circumstances to his father, Private Ambrose Frank Hopkins had died on 18th June 1916. He was just 29 years of age. He was laid to rest in Faversham Borough Cemetery, finally finding some peace.
Herbert Woodley Lyon was born in Lincoln early in 1897, one of five children to Walter and Emma Lyon. Walter was a cashier for an engineering company, and the family grew up in some comfort, employing a housekeeper, sick nurse and servant by the time of the 1911 census.
When he finished school, Herbert found work as a draper’s assistant, but with war closing in things were to change. Initially joining the Lincolnshire Regiment, by February 1918, he had transferred across to the Royal Flying Corps, moving to the Royal Air Force when it was founded that April.
Corporal Lyon was based with 112 Squadron at RAF Throwley, just to the south of Faversham, Kent. Details of his service are scarce, but it seems that he trained and qualified as a fitter, helping with the maintenance of the aircraft. His service records show that he stood 5ft (1.52m) tall.
Herbert’s time in the Royal Air Force was limited. His records show that he died of natural causes on 1st November 1918. He was just 21 years of age.
Corporal Herbert Woodley Lyon’s family had relocated to Wells in Somerset by this point. He was laid to rest in Faversham Borough Cemetery, not far from the airfield at which he had been based.
Bert Bennett Adley was born in the spring of 1895, the youngest of eleven children to George and Alma Adley. George was a brickmaker’s labourer from Canterbury, Kent, but it was in nearby Faversham that he and Alma raised their family.
Bert – who was affectionately known as Bertie – found work with a local baker when he left school, and this stood him in good stead when war broke out. He was called up in June 1915, and joined the Army Service Corps as a Private. His service records give little personal information, but they do give his height as 5ft 5ins (1.65m) and his weight as 9st 2lbs (58kg).
Private Adley’s military life was to be tragically short. Based in Aldershot, Hampshire, it is likely that the sudden mixing of recruits from across the country was key in his contracting pneumonia. He was admitted to hospital on 26th June, and died two weeks later, on 11th July 1915. He was just 20 years of age, and had been in the Army Service Corps for just 28 days.
Bert Bennett Adley’s body was brought back to Kent for burial. He was laid to rest in his home town, in the Faversham Borough Cemetery.
Frederick William Twist was born in around 1884, the older of two children to William and Clara Twist. William had been born in Faversham, Kent, and was a labourer in the cement works there.
Frederick did not follow his father’s trade, however, and, on leaving school, he found work in the printing office of the Faversham News, before moving on to Filmer Bros., a local nursery and bulb grower. He was a keen member of the Salvation Army, and played in the local Corps’ band. After more than a decade at Filmer Bros., Frederick took up new employment with Salvation Army Insurance, and worked out of the Whitstable office.
In the spring of 1909, Frederick married Helen Bedster, a bargeman’s daughter from Faversham. At the time of their wedding, she was working as a servant for a brewer manager in the town. The couple settled down in a terraced house in the centre of the town, and went on to have two children.
When war broke out, Frederick was called upon to play his part, but his time in military service was to be a troubled one. A contemporary newspaper expanded on this:
The toll of war continues through nearly a year has elapsed since the war practically ceased… [following] the death of Lance Corporal Frederick William Twist, 16th Lancers, a Faversham man, who passed away at the Military Hospital Woolwich, after a great deal of suffering.
Lance Corporal Twist enlisted under the Derby Scheme and being called up in May 1916, he joined the 16th Lancers and was sent to Ireland. At the end of that year he was drafted to France but in the following May he was invalided home with trench fever.
On his discharge from hospital in Devonshire he returned to Ireland. Then in March of last year there came the great offensive on the Western Front and for the second time deceased was drafted to France. He was not, however, at all fit, and the result was that he was obliged to fall out.
After a further spell in hospital and convalescent camp at the base he was employed on light duty – stores keeping and clerical work – to which he stuck with dogged spirit until in June last he again broke down and was once more in hospital.
Later he was transferred to the Royal Herbert Hospital, Woolwich, where he died on October 7th – a fine example of a British soldier who had struggled, even against weakness and suffering, to do his duty to the very last.
Faversham News: Saturday 18th October 1919
Lance Corporal Frederick William Twist was 35 years of age when he passed. He was laid to rest in the Borough Cemetery of his home town, Faversham.
Ernest Albert Hills was born in December 1877, and was the fifth of ten children to Benjamin and Elizabeth Hills. Benjamin was a labourer for a brick maker from the Kent village of Upnor, but it was along the coast in Faversham that he and Elizabeth were to raise their young family.
When he left school, Ernest followed in his father’s footsteps, working in the local brick kiln. By the time of the 1911 census, however, he had moved to South East London and was boarding with his younger brother, William, working with him as a stoker for a Greenwich gas company.
War came to Europe, and Ernest wanted to play his part. On 20th April 1915, he enlisted, joining the Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) as a Private. His service records give his height as 5ft 9.75ins (1.77m) and note that he had a scar on the right side of his abdomen.
Private Hills’ service was carried out on home soil: he was assigned to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, which was based in Maidstone and Chatham. Ernest was obviously well thought of: within six months of enlisting, he was promoted to Lance Corporal.
His good fortune was not to last for long, however, in the spring of 1916, he fell ill and, while at his family home in March, he passed away, having been suffering from Addison’s disease, a rare disorder of the disorder of the adrenal glands. He was 39 years of age.
Lance Corporal Ernest Albert Hills was laid to rest in the Faversham Borough Cemetery, not far from his family home, and where his father – who had passed away in 1903 – had also been laid to rest.
Herbert Macklin was born in Lambeth, Surrey, on 14th August 1897, the youngest of six children to Enos and Sarah Macklin. Enos was a general labourer and, after his mother died in 1909, Herbert worked around his school as a baker’s errand boy, to bring in a little more money for his family.
After Enos passed away in 1912, and with his older sisters all having families of their own, Herbert and his older brother William did what they could to survive, getting some support from the local poor school.
The outbreak of war gave the brothers a sense of purpose, and both enlisted. William joined the Royal Field Artillery, and was sent to France in September 1915.
Herbert, being six years younger than his brother, enlisted later than his sibling. He joined the Middlesex Regiment, on 10th May 1916, and his service records show that he was 5ft 4.5ins (1.64m) tall, 126lbs (57.2kg) in weight and had a fair physical development. While Herbert had a fair physical development, he was also recorded as having flat feet, which somewhat limited his army service.
Private Macklin transferred across to the Devonshire Regiment a few months after enlisting. He was then assigned to the regiment’s Labour Corps in the summer of 1917, and remained with them for the rest of his service.
While William was serving abroad, Herbert remained on home soil for the duration. By the spring of 1918, he was working in Kent, but was admitted to hospital in Faversham, suffering from acute tonsillitis. Sadly, this was to prove too much for Private Macklin’s body to take: he suffered cardiac failure, and died on 12th April 1918. He was 21 years of age.
Herbert Macklin was laid to rest in the Borough Cemetery of the town in which he passed, Faversham.
Tragedy was to strike again for the Macklin brothers: as the war moved into its closing months, Driver William Macklin was based in Salonika, Greece. He was not to see England’s shores again, sadly: he passed away on 23rd November 1918, aged just 27 years old.
Frank Jacobs was born on 17th March 1892, and was one of fifteen children to George and Amelia Jacobs. George was a machine worker from Ashford in Kent, but the family moved around the county, presumably for work, as the years went on. Frank was born in Riverhead, near Sevenoaks, but within a few years, the family had settle in Faversham.
George and Amelia appear to have separated when Frank was in his early teens. There are no death records for George until the 1920s, but Amelia had a son with her maiden name in 1905 and, by the time of the 1911 census, she was married to a George Appleton, and had been for just under a year.
The same census recorded the Appletons living in Faversham with five of Amelia’s children, including Frank, who was employed in a local tannery.
On 25th October 1913, Frank married Ivy Clark, the Faversham-born daughter of a cement works labourer. The couple went on to have two children, Ronald and Eileen, in 1915 and 1916 respectively.
When was broke out, Frank was keen to play his part. He initially enlisted as a Private in the 10th (Service) Battalion of The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), but at some point was transferred across to the Labour Corps. He served throughout the conflict, and was based on home soil for the duration.
Private Jacobs remained on active service through to the summer of 1919. By this point he had returned home to Kent, but the war had taken its toll, and he fell ill. He was admitted to the Military Hospital in Chatham, but died from his illness – possibly one of the lung conditions prevalent at the time – on 30th August 1919. He was 27 years of age.
Frank Jacobs was laid to rest in the Borough Cemetery near his family home in Faversham.
Private Frank Jacobs (from findagrave.com)
Tragedy was to strike again for the Jacobs family. When the Second World War broke out, Frank and Ivy’s son Ronald enlisted. He joined The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) and, towards the end of the conflict, he was among those fighting in Italy.
Private Ronald Jacobs was killed on 19th April 1945, aged just 30 years old. He was buried in Argenta, Emelia-Romagna.
While Ronald had not left a widow or any children, his mother, Ivy, had now lost her husband and only son to European conflict.
Thomas Charles Wilson was born in the summer of 1897 in South London, His parents were John and Ellen Wilson, and they appear to have passed away when their son was still young. He had a sister – also called Ellen – but there is little more concrete information about Thomas’ early life.
In fact, the bulk of the information available about Thomas comes from the newspaper article reporting on his funeral:
The death occurred at The Mount Hospital [Faversham] of Private Thomas Charles Wilson of the [3rd Battalion of The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment)]. The deceased was a medical case admitted from Fort Pitt Hospital, Chatham, on July 1st. He had not been to the Front; as a matter of fact he only enlisted in April, and was only 19 [sic] years of age.
The deceased, who belonged to Bermondsey, seems to have had very few friends. His nearest relative, a sister, is at present in a hospital.
Faversham News: Saturday 31st July 1915
There is little further detail to add to this life cut short. Private Wilson seems to have been a loner, with no family other than his sister, and the army may have been an opportune escape from his life. He passed away on 18th July 1915, and was just 18 years of age.
Thomas Charles Wilson was buried in the Borough Cemetery of the town in which he passed away, Faversham, Kent. The newspaper report does not mention many mourners, but he would have been proud to have been afforded full military honours as he was laid to rest.
Death and Service 