Tag Archives: 1915

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Army Service Corps, Sergeant, Somerset, story, war

Serjeant Henry Cummings

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Sergeant Henry Cummings

Henry Cummings was born in the village of Wembdon, near Bridgwater in Somerset in 1876. The son of agricultural labourer John and his wife Jane, Henry was one of six children.

When he left school, Henry followed his father into agricultural labouring, as his older siblings had done before him. Jane had died when Henry had just reached his teens, so he continued to live with his widowed father, and was recorded there as late as the 1911 census.

On 4th August 1912, he married Sarah Palmer in Wembdon Parish Church; Henry was 36 by this point, and his new wife was 30. They couple may not have thought they could have children, as they went on to adopt a girl, Edith, who was six years old when they had married.

From a military perspective, it appears that Henry had initially tried to enlist in 1908. Based on his service records, it seems that he was not accepted at that point, but when war broke out, things were a different matter. He joined the Army Service Corps on 6th January 1915, attaining the rank of Sergeant.

Henry’s service was to be cruelly short, at just 85 days. Hospitalised in Rugby, Sergeant Cummings passed away from cerebrospinal meningitis on 6th April 1915. He was 38 years old.

Henry Cummings was brought back to Bridgwater for burial, and lies at rest in the Wembdon Road Cemetery there.

In September 1915, Sarah gave birth to a baby girl, Irene. Henry was never to see his little girl, and, tragically, may not even have known he was to be a father.

Photo courtesy of ancestry.co.uk
accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Lieutenant, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, story, war

Lieutenant Rudolph Symons

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Lieutenant Rudolph Symons

Rudolph Clifford Symons was born in the autumn of 1887, one of ten children to Clifford and Clara Symons. Clifford ran a brick and tile manufacturer’s and later became a town councillor in the family’s home of Bridgwater in Somerset.

By the time of the 1911 census, Rudolph had become the works manager for his father, but war soon beckoned.

Sadly, Rudolph’s full military record has been lost to time, but he enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps early on in the conflict and was promoted to Lieutenant at the end of September 1914. He was involved in recruiting new soldiers, and it was following one of these meetings that he was involved in an accident.

The local media picked up the story:

On Friday night, while riding through St Jon Street on his motorcycle, to which a side-car was attached, he collided with a horse and light waggon… Lieutenant Symons appears to have been struck by one of the shafts in the region of the heart, and was rendered unconscious. He was at once conveyed to his home, where he was medically attended and was subsequently removed to the nursing home on Friarn Street. On the following day a specialist was called in, and an operation performed, but the injuries were of so severe a character that death ensured on Monday.

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 22nd September 1915

The coroner reported that Rudolph had died from an internal haemorrhage and the inquest recorded a verdict of accidental death, and exonerated the waggon driver – a dealer caller Wyatt – from all blame.

Lieutenant Symons was a popular man, a vocalist in the Bridgwater Amateur Operatic Society, and was also heavily involved in the local annual Guy Fawkes celebrations.

He died on 13th September 1915, aged 27 years old, and lies at rest in the Wembdon Road Cemetery in his home town.

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

Private Ernest Lewis

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Private Ernest Lewis

Ernest George Lewis was born in Bridgwater, Somerset, in the spring of 1895, one of fourteen children to labourer Frederick and his wife Harriett Rose. Two of his older brothers went to work for the local brickworks, but Ernest hauled coal to earn a living once he left school.

When war broke out, he was eager to do his part; he enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry early on, serving as a Private in the 1st Battalion. His troop was to see some of the fiercest fighting in the conflict, including the Battles of Le Cateau, the Marne, the Aisne, Messines within the first six months.

Private Lewis’ troop was also involved in the Second Battle of Ypres in the spring of 1915, but it was later that year that his fate became sealed. At some point he was caught up in a German gas attack; he was evacuated home, but there is no confirmation whether he was hospitalised as a result (although it seems likely).

The gas was to damage his lungs to the extent that he would not recover. There are conflicting reports as to the cause of Private Lewis’ passing, with one source identifying the gas in France, while another put it down to pneumonia and typhoid. (It seems probable that the attack ultimately resulted in Ernest catching pneumonia, although this is not clear.)

Either way, Private Lewis passed away at home on 27th October 1915. He was just 20 years old.

Ernest had eleven brothers, four of whom would have been old enough to be enlisted to fight. Ernest was the only one of the family to perish.

Ernest George Lewis lies at peace in the Wembdon Road Cemetery in his home town of Bridgwater.

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

Sapper Francis Hawkins

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Bridgwater (Wembdon)

Francis Ralph Hawkins was born in Somerset in March 1895 and was one of twelve children to Charles and Jane Hawkins. Charles was a police sergeant and the family lived in Bishop’s Lydeard, a village to the west of Taunton.

By the time of the 1911 census, Charles had retired from police work, and was operating as a licenced victualler in nearby Bridgwater. While Jane was supporting her husband running the business, Francis was apprenticed to a local clothier.

When war broke out, Francis was quick to enlist – he joined the Royal Engineers, and was appointed a Sapper. He wasn’t with the company for that long, however, as by February he had been admitted to the Red Cross Hospital in Christchurch, Dorset, with a fever.

Sadly, he was not to recover; Sapper Hawkins passed away from spinal meningitis on 17th February 1915. He was just 19 years of age.

Francis Ralph Hawkins lies at rest in the Wembdon Road Cemetery, Bridgwater.

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

Gunner Clifford Tucker

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Gunner Clifford Tucker

Clifford Charles Tucker was born in 1896, one of five children to John and Ellen Tucker. John was a shoemaker in the Somerset village of Othery, while Clifford became a farm labourer when he left school.

There is little documented of Clifford’s life, and what I have been able to identify about his military career has come from a newspaper article.

Much regret is felt in Othery at the new of the death of Clifford Tucker, one of the young fellows who volunteered for the service of their King and Country. Deceased, who was only 18 years of age… enlisted in the Royal Artillery about six weeks ago and was stationed at Brighton.

He was taken ill with pneumonia and died, his father arriving in time to see him before he breathed his last.

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 17th March 1915.

Gunner Tucker passed away on 28th February 1915, aged just 18 years old.

He lies at rest in the cemetery of his home village of Othery.

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

Sapper Leonard Francis

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Sapper Leonard Francis

Leonard George Francis (who was known by is middle name) was born in October 1895. He was one of fourteen children to Jonas and Eleanor (or Ellenora) Francis, and his father worked on the railways as a plate layer or ganger.

George followed his father into manual labour, and, by the time of the 1911 census, aged 15, he was already listed as a mason.

He seems to have enlisted fairly early on in the war, and by January 1915 had joined his troop – the 2nd Wessex Field Company of the Royal Engineers – on the front line.

Sadly, Sapper Francis’ time in the army was to be brief. He was caught up in the fighting at Ypres, and he was injured at Hill 60 on 27th April. He was moved to a local hospital for treatment.

It seems that messages crossed in the communication with George’s family. They received a letter confirming that he was recovering in hospital after receiving a wound to the body, but not to worry. A day or so later his postcard confirming his arrival in France was received, but by this time he had been shipped back to England for treatment.

His parents received a telegram to confirm this, and his father and brother set out to visit him. By the time they had reached the hospital, however, he had sadly passed from a tetanus infection. In his pocket was a piece of shell; a sad souvenir of his frontline action.

Leonard George Francis died at Netley Hospital 3rd May 1915. He was just 19 years old.

He lies at rest in the cemetery of his home town, Shepton Mallet in Somerset.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, story, war

Private Francis Smith

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Private Francis Smith

Francis George Smith was born in Glasgow in 1890. Records are scattered, but some of the pieces pull together to give an outline of his life.

The son of William and Mary Smith, Francis was the fourth of six children. His tombstone confirms that William had worked as an optician, but passed away when Francis was a young man.

Francis was an electrical engineer, and had assisted Mary in her business in Glasgow before signing up.

Private Smith enlisted early on in the war, “on February 24th of this year [1915], when he left his native city for London, where he joined the motor transport section of the Army Service Corps” [Wells Journal, Friday 12th March 1915].

Billeted in Wells, he had been assigned to the 133 Mechanical Transport Company. Within weeks of moving there, however, it seems that Francis fell ill. Sadly, his was a life cut too short, and he passed away from pneumonia on 6th March 1915, aged just 25 years old.

Francis George Smith lies at rest in the cemetery in Wells.

Commonwealth War Graves, Cumbria, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Army Service Corps, Sergeant, Somerset, story, Sussex, war

Serjeant William Waterhouse

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Serjeant William Waterhouse

William James Waterhouse was born in 1875, the eldest of seven children to Richard and Elizabeth Waterhouse. The family lived in Cumberland, where Richard initially worked a grocer before becoming a music teacher.

William followed his father into food retail, working initially as a butcher’s boy in Barrow-in-Furness, before moving 400 miles to the south coast and settling in Eastbourne. Travel was definitely on William’s mind, however, as, by the 1911 census, he was a butcher’s manager at a hotel in Leicester.

William’s service records are limited; he was 39 when war broke out, and enlisted in the Eastern Mounted Brigade, before transferring Army Service Corps. During his time, he was promoted to Serjeant, and according to a newspaper report of his funeral “was most popular among the men.” [Wells Journal: Friday 9th July 1915]

It seems that, as part of his service, Serjeant Waterhouse had been assisting with haymaking in the Wells area, and it was after this that he fell ill. He developed pneumonia, and passed away on 30th June 1915. He 40 years old.

William James Waterhouse lies at rest in the cemetery of his adopted home town of Wells, in Somerset.

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

Private Wilfred Hockey

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Private Wilfred Hockey

Wilfred James Hockey was born in September 1892, the sixth of nine children to William and Mary. William was the village butcher, but Wilfred followed his older brother Oliver into the gardening business.

Military records for Wilfred are difficult to locate, but it appears that there is a reason for this.

He enlisted in February 1915, joining the Royal Marine Light Infantry. His initial service took him to Crystal Palace in South London – then a naval training base.

Returning home on leave on 12th March, Private Hockey fell ill on his first evening at home. Quickly diagnosed with ‘spotted fever’ (or meningitis), he sadly passed away on 25th March. He was just 23 years of age.

Wilfred Hockey lies at rest in the graveyard of St Matthew’s Church in his home village of Wookey, in Somerset.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Lance Corporal, photography, Royal Army Medical Corps, Somerset, story, war

Lance Corporal William Collard

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Lance Corporal William Collard

William Collard was born in August 1891, the youngest of two children to William and Agnes Collard from Wedmore in Somerset. William Sr was a carter for a local miller and his son followed him into labouring when he left school.

William’s life seems to have been a tragic one. His mother died in 1910, while his sister Mabel passed a year later.

William married Eva Heal, a woman from the same village, in April 1914. The couple didn’t go on to have any children.

There is limited information relating to William’s military service. What is apparent is that he enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps, presumably at some point after the start of the Great War.

Private Collard’s battalion, the 3rd South Midlands, were based in Essex and were shipped to France in March 1915. There is, however, no evidence that William went with his troop. His training must have gone well, however, and he was promoted to Lance Corporal.

Details of his death are vague; William’s gravestone confirms he passed on 18th April 1915; the cause of his death was not reported. He was 23 years of age.

A brief notice in a local newspaper gives a little more information:

Mr W Collard [Senior], of Wedmore, one of the patients at the Country Sanatorium, received last week the news of the death of his soldier son. The funeral took place on Thursday at Wedmore in the same grave as the mother and only other member of the family, a sister of the deceased.

Shepton Mallet Journal: Friday 30th April 1915

William Collard lies at rest in the churchyard of St Mary’s Church in his home village of Wedmore, Somerset.

William is remembered in on a plaque in Bristol Cathedral; this commemorates the fourteen members of the 3rd South Midland Field Ambulance who fell during the war.

Comment should also be made of William’s father. In the space of four and a half years, he had lost his wife and both his children. He was already in a sanatorium when his son died. He too passed away, in December 1924, at the age of 58.

William’s widow, Eva, never remarried. She went on to live the age of 96, and passed away in Poole, on the Dorset coast.