Tag Archives: 1915

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry, Great War, history, illness, injury, photography, Private, story

Private Edward Lewsley

Leave a comment
Private Edward Lewsley

Edward (Teddy) Lewsley was born in 1894, the ninth of twelve children to James and Charlotte Lewsley from London.

James had worked with horses, and become a cab driver at the turn of the century; Edward started as a general labourer on finishing school.

Edward’s military history is a little vague. From his gravestone, we know that he joined the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry and was in the 1st Battalion. The battalion fought at the Battles of Mons, Marne and Messines.

In the spring of 1915, Edward’s battalion fought in the Second Battle of Ypres and, given the timing, it seems likely that he was involved.

Whether he was on the Western Front or stationed in the UK, Private Lewsley was admitted to the Red Cross Hospital in Sherborne, where he passed away on 30th May 1915. He was buried in the town’s cemetery.

One of Edward’s brothers also enlisted in the Light Infantry.

Daniel Lewsley first joined the East Surrey Regiment in 1909 and continued through to 1928. This included a stint as part of the British Expeditionary Force in France.

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, story, war

Private Richard Elcocks

Leave a comment
Private Richard Elcocks

Richard William Elcocks was born in Wellington, Shropshire, the second son of foundryman Thomas Elcocks and his wife Emma. Born in June 1883, he was one of nine children.

After initially becoming a printer’s apprentice, he enlisted in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in May 1903. After his initial training and service, Private Elcocks was transferred to the Army Reserve in 1911.

In January 1914, Richard married Charlotte Shenton. Charlotte was a widow ten years his senior, and had two children, Albert and Fred.

When war broke out, Private Elcocks was again called up and shipped to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force. His records confirm that he received a gunshot wound to the left arm on 31st October 1914; the injury was enough for him to be shipped back to the UK for treatment.

He was treated in the Yeatman Hospital in Sherborne, Dorset, and appears to have been there for some time. His records state that he died on 26th June 1915 from an ‘intestical [intestinal?] obstruction following gun shot wound of left humerous’. He was 32 years of age.

Private Richard Elcocks lies at rest in Sherborne cemetery.

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

Rifleman Tom Clements

Leave a comment
Rifleman Tom Clements

Thomas Clements was born in St Helen’s, Lancashire in 1877. He was the youngest of ten children to George Clements and his wife Martha.

George worked as an engine fitter, and he seems to have follow the work wherever it went – consecutive censuses list him in Middlesex, Staffordshire, Yorkshire and Lancashire, although he disappears from 1891 onwards.

Thomas lived with the family up until his mother’s death in 1911, mainly in Burnley, Lancashire, where he worked as a grocer’s assistant. The last available census shows him living in the Salvation Army Home in Chorlton-upon-Medlock, to the south of Manchester city centre.

Tom’s military records are sparse – he enlisted in the 6th (Reserve) Battalion King’s Royal Rifles, who were based in Sheerness, Kent, for the entirety of the conflict. It is unlikely, therefore, that Rifleman Clements saw active service on the Western Front.

Sadly, the cause of Tom’s death is also absent from the records. He does not appear in any contemporary newspapers, so it is seems likely that he succumbed, as many did, to some form of illness, perhaps influenza or pneumonia. The Register of Soldier’s Effects give his next of kin as his father, George; the latest information on him was that he was an inmate of the Union Workhouse in Burnley, Lancashire.

Rifleman Clements died on 14th June 1915; he was 37 years old. He lies at rest in the graveyard of All Saints Church, Iwade in Kent, presumably close to where he was based, in Sittingbourne.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Dorset, Great War, history, injury, Lincolnshire Regiment, photography, story, war

Corporal Louis Townsend

Leave a comment
Corporal Louis Henry Townsend

Louis Henry Townsend, also known as Henry, was born in the spring of 1881 in Leytonstone, Essex.

Much of Louis’ life remains elusive, he first appears on the census in 1911, and from this we know that he married Florence Annie Ridley (known as Annie) in December 1906. The couple had three children, Thomas, Florence and George.

Louis’ marriage record suggests his father’s name was Thomas Clark, although he also remains a bit of a mystery.

Again, Louis’ military service appears lost to time. He enlisted in the Lincolnshire Regiment, and fought on the Western Front.

The Western Chronicle (26th March 1915) confirms that Corporal Townsend was brought to the Greenhill Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital in Sherborne, suffering from “a shot through the brain, and from the first was in an extremely precarious condition”.

Louis passed away from his wounds on 20th March 1915, aged 34. He lies at rest in Sherborne Cemetery.