Tag Archives: 1915

Commonwealth War Graves, County Antrim, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, Lance Corporal, Northern Ireland, photography, Private, Royal Irish Rifles, story, war

Lance Corporal John Bowden

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Lance Corporal John Bowden

John Bowden was born in Slaght, Ballymena, County Antrim, in 1896. The third of four children, he was one of three sons to David and Margaret. David was a railway labourer, and by the time of the 1911 census, the family had four wages coming in. John, at 15, was working as a solicitor’s clerk, while his older brothers were both employed, one as a baker, the other as an engine cleaner.

On Saturday afternoon last there were laid to rest in the Ballymena New Cemetery the mortal remains of Lance-Corporal John Bowden, of the Royal Irish Rifles, whose lamented demise from scarlet fever took place at Newtownards Camp… to the intense regret of his commanding officers and comrades, with all of whom he was on the most intimate and friendly terms.

The deceased was a bright, intelligent young man, of a rather retiring disposition but by his unassuming personality, combined with a cheery and lovable disposition, he gained for himself hosts of friends wherever he went.

He served his apprenticeship to the law in the office of Mr John Owens, solicitor… where he was held in the very highest esteem by his employer and fellow clerks. Indeed he was on happy relations with all the law clerks and young men in the town, all of whom deeply deplore his demise.

He was for a considerable length of time a staunch and loyal member of Slatt LOL No. 475, and… [at] Ballymena District Orange Lodge very sympathetic allusions were made to his untimely death, and the District Secretary (Br. Hugh Ballentine) was instructed to forward a letter of sympathy and condolence to the bereaved parents and other relatives in this season of their affliction.

The deceased was a most enthusiastic member of the No. C Company Ulster Volunteers (Harryville Branch) and here is may be remarked that out of a hundred of a membership there at the present time thirty-nine members in Lord Kitchener’s army, together with eight reserve men at the front, which educed the company by almost fifty per cent…

Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities the deceased very gallantly volunteered for active service and was accepted, being attached to the 12th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles… He was most attentive to his drill instructions, courteous and obliging to his officers, and a true comrade in every sense of the term.

Ballymena Observer: Friday 9th April 1915

Much of John’s service records are lost to time. His commitment to duty was underlined by his promotion to the role of Lance Corporal within months of enlisting.

John Bowden passed away from scarlet fever at Newtownards Camp on 1st April 1915. He was just 19 years of age. He was laid to rest in Ballymena New Cemetery, the newspaper report going on to outline the outpouring of grief at what would have been one of the town’s first military funerals of the war:

The tremendous crowds which formed in the funeral procession at the several squares and crossings en route to the cemetery testified to the respect in which the deceased was held by all who knew him.

The footpaths were lined and thronged with people all along the entire way, and as the funeral passed through the town business was suspended for the time being…

On arriving at the Cemetery the place was absolutely packed with spectators, all anxious to witness the carrying out of the obsequies… the scene was truly most pathetic, whilst to add to the sorrow and sympathy manifested on the face of everyone, the wailing and sobbing of deceased’s little sister as the remains were lowered into the grave were heartrending.

Ballymena Observer: Friday 9th April 1915
Lance Corporal John Bowden
(from findagrave.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, County Antrim, County Donegal, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, Lancashire, Northern Ireland, photography, Private, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, story, war

Private Rondaine Cary

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Private Rondaine Cary

Rondaine Tristram Cary was born in Lancashire in the autumn of 1896 and was the oldest of two children to Henry and Wilhelmina. Henry was an insurance agent, and, by the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to the parish of Linsfort in County Donegal, Ireland. This is near where Wilhelmina had been born, so it seems likely that the draw of family had been partially responsible.

The 1911 census found the Carys living a few miles down the road, in Buncrana. Rondaine was listed as being a scholar, while his younger brother, five year old John, completed the family setup. John was employed as a commission agent, and all four members of the household were listed as being Episcopalian.

When war came to Europe in 1914, Rondaine was keen to play his part. He seems to have enlisted almost at once, joining the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Assigned to the 11th (Service) Battalion (Donegal and Fermanagh), Private Cary was sent to Ballymena, County Antrim, for training.

Rondaine had only been in the camp for a matter of weeks, when he contracted measles. He was admitted to a hospital in Ballymena on 17th February 1915, but his condition worsened, and his father came to visit. Private Cary passed away on 27th February 1915, aged just 18 years of age.

The Cary family seemed unable to afford the cost of bringing their son’s body back to Buncrana. Instead, the local authority paid for Rondaine Tristram Cary’s coffin and funeral at Ballymena Cemetery, while his army colleague funded his headstone.

Commonwealth War Graves, Driver, Great War, history, photography, Royal Field Artillery, story, unknown, war, Wiltshire, Yorkshire

Driver Charles Millson

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Driver Charles Millson

Charles Millson was born in Scullcoates, Yorkshire, in the summer of 1897. One of nine children, his parents were called Charles and Eliza. Charles Sr was a general labourer and while still at school, his son found work as a newsboy, hawking papers for a local newsagent.

Sadly, there is little more concrete information about young Charles’ life. When war broke out, he stepped up to enlist, although the exact dates of his service are lost to time. He joined the Royal Field Artillery and, as Driver, was assigned to the 107th Brigade.

By the summer of 1915, Driver Millson was based on Salisbury Plain, near Amesbury, Wiltshire. This is where he was to breathe his last. Charles died on 7th June 1915, through causes unknown: he was just 18 years of age.

It would seem that the Millsons were unable to bring their son back to Yorkshire for burial. Instead Charles was laid to rest in Amesbury Cemetery, not far from where he had passed away.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, Lance Serjeant, Middlesex, Northern Ireland, photography, Scotland, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, Surrey, war

Serjeant John Chambers

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Serjeant John Chambers

John Dwelly Chambers was born on 21st August 1846, in Holborn, Middlesex. The second of four children, his parents were John and Sarah Chambers. John Sr was a tailor, and this was a trade into which his oldest son followed.

Unusually, John Jr travelled widely with his work and, by the late 1860s, he was based in Devon. It was here that he met and, on 5th March 1870, married Isabella Smith. She was born in Exeter, and couple initially made a life for themselves there.

The 1881 census return shows just how far the family moved in the coming years. John and Isabella were to have nine children: their first, Louise, was born in Exeter a hear after their marriage. The second child, son John, was born in Armagh, Ireland, though; their third, Emily, was born in Glasgow; while their fourth, George, was born in Surrey. It was only by the time their fifth and sixth children, Thomas and Charles, were born that they family returned to Devon. Their youngest three children – Percy, Victoria and Ivor, were all born in Somerset, when the family had settled in Taunton.

The reason for these moves seem to have been because his tailoring work was for the army. The 1891 census found the family living in army barracks, where John was listed as being a soldier. Ten years on, and John was recorded as being a Lance Sergeant in the Somerset Light Infantry, the Chambers’ still being billeted in barrack accommodation in Taunton.

By this point, Percy, now 17 years of age, was employed as a gunsmith, and a later photo suggests that all six of John’s sons went into the army.

Isabella died in 1906, at the age of 58: the following year, John married Elizabeth Dunning, a widow with her own children to raise. The 1911 census found the extended family living in the barracks: John, Elizabeth, Ivor and Elizabeth’s two daughters, Kate and Beatrice. John, by now, was listed as being a master tailor (military), Ivor was now a gunsmith, and the two girls were employed as a book binder and dressmaker respectively.

John had officially been discharged from the army by this point, but it seems likely that the outbreak of war brought him back into service. His life over the next few years is largely undocumented, but it is fair to assume that Serjeant Chambers was called back to the army, possibly to train newer recruits in the trade he had been working in for decades.

John Dwelly Chambers died of a heart attack on 2nd August 1915: he was just short of his 69th birthday. John was laid to rest in the sprawling St Mary’s Cemetery in Taunton, not far from the barracks to which he had devoted his life.

Serjeant John Chambers (seated middle, with his sons)
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Edwin Hawkins

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Private Edwin Hawkins

Another sudden death has occurred… when Edwin Giles Hawkins, Divisional Reserve company, 8th Divisional Train, BEF, passed away at the age of 38 years. Deceased… was called up with the National Reserves, and for some time he had been in France. On December 2nd he was granted eight days leave from the Front and arrived at home the same evening. He retired to rest at 10pm, apparently in his proper health. At 5am next morning he called his mother and complained of pains in the stomach. Hot water was applied and a doctor sent for but before the latter arrived he passed away.

Western Chronicle: Friday 10th December 1915

Edwin Giles Hawkins was bornin the autumn of 1877, the oldest of six children to Giles and Elizabeth. Giles had been born in West Coker, Somerset, and the family grew up in the Anchor Inn, Yeovil, where he was the innkeeper and glover.

By the time of the 1891 census, Giles had stepped down as landlord, and the growing family were living in a cottage next to the pub. He was working as a leather dresser and glover, working to feed his wife and five children.

Little information about Edwin’s time in the army before the First World War is available. However, his details are missing from the 1901 census, which would suggest that he was serving overseas at that point.

Edwin was called upon to due his duty once more when war was declared. Joining the Somerset Light Infantry, he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, and, by December 1914, he was in France. Private Hawkins was caught up at Ypres the following spring and returned home on leave in December 1915.

The cause of Private Hawkins’ death was recorded as being heart failure. As the newspaper report noted, he was 38 years of age.

Edwin Giles Hawkins was laid to rest in Yeovil Cemetery, a short walk from where his parents still lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, County Cork, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, Kent, photography, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, war

Stoker James Hurley

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Stoker James Hurley

James Hurley was born in Timoleague, County Cork, Ireland, on 1st August 1894. His was not an uncommon name so full details of his early life are a challenge to unpick. However, later records confirm that his father was also called James Hurley, and when he finished his schooling, he found work as a farm labourer.

When war broke out in Europe, James Jr was quick to step up and play his part. He enlisted in the Royal Navy on 12th January 1915, and took the role of Stoker 2nd Class. His service records show that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall, with dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

Stoker 2nd Class Hurley was sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his training. However, his time there was to be tragically brief. He was admitted to the Welcome Hospital when he contracted pneumonia and empyema, but the condition was to prove too severe. He passed away on 6th February 1915, at the age of just 20 years old. He had been in the Royal Navy for just 25 days.

James Hurley’s parents were unable to bring him back to Ireland for burial. Instead, he was laid to rest in the Roman Catholic section of the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, not far from the dockyard in which he had so briefly served.

Commonwealth War Graves, Fireman, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Lancashire, Merchant Navy, photography, Stoker, story, Trimmer, war

Stoker Thomas McCall

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Stoker Thomas McCall

Thomas McCall was born in Bootle, Lancashire, in 1892 and was one of two children to Francis and Elizabeth. Frank was a stoker on the steamers leaving Liverpool docks and, after working at the docks himself, Thomas soon followed his father onto the ships. By the summer of 1911, he had worked as a trimmer on at least two liners, the RMS Carmania and the RMS Empress of Britain.

When war came to Europe, Thomas stepped up, joining the Mercantile Marine Reserve – now better known as the Merchant Navy. By the summer of 1915, he was assigned to the seaplane carrier HMS Vindex, which spent most of the war in the North Sea.

Stoker McCall’s time there was to be brief. Details are sparse, but he passed away on 14th October 1915, with records suggesting this was due to disease. He was just 23 years of age.

Finances may have limited Frank and Elizabeth from bringing their son back to Lancashire: Thomas McCall was instead laid to rest in the Roman Catholic section of Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, not far from the dockyard in which he had been based.

Thomas’ headstone gives MaCall as his surname. This is an error: his name was spelt McCall.

Canada, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, Seaman, story, war

Seaman Peter Bennoit

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Seaman Peter Bennoit

Peter Bennoit was born in 1897 in St George’s, Newfoundland. The son of fisherman and sporting guide Peter Bennoit and his wife, Selina, little more is known about his early life.

When war was declared in Europe, he was quick to take up the call to arms. He made the journey to St John’s, and enlisted in the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve on 14th October 1914. He set sail for Britain on board the training ship HMS Calypso and, having arrived in November, he was transferred to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent.

Seaman Bennoit remained in Chatham for the next couple of month, presumably to await a formal posting. This was not to happen, however: he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham with mastoiditis, a bacterial infection of the inner ear. The condition was so serious that Peter succumbed to it: he passed away on 20th January 1915, at the age of just 18 years old.

Peter Bennoit was 2500 miles (4000km) from home, so it was not possible for him to be interred in Newfoundland. Instead, he was laid to rest in the Roman Catholic section of Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, not far from where he had passed.

Commonwealth War Graves, East Surrey Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Middlesex, photography, Private, story, Surrey, war, Wiltshire

Private Frederick Tullett

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CWG: Private Frederick Tullett

Frederick Edward Tullett was born in 1885 in Islington, Middlesex. The seventh of nine children, he was the fourth son of house painter John Tullett and his wife, Sarah.

When he completed his schooling, Frederick found work as an errand boy for a greengrocer. This appears to have been a trade he enjoyed: by the time of the 1911 census, he was employed as a greengrocer’s porter; while his marriage certificate records him as a fully-fledged grocer.

Frederick’s betrothed was Eliza Gundry, the daughter of a bricklayer from Wimbledon, Surrey. The ceremony was held on 18th April 1915 in the town’s All Saints’ Church. The couple were already living at 15 Dryden Road at this point.

It would appear that Frederick had already stepped up to serve his King and Country by the time of his marriage and, while his profession was listed as greengrocer, it may be that this was the job he continued while waiting to be formally mobilised.

Frederick had enlisted in the army by the start of 1915, and was assigned to the 8th (Service) Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment. The unit was based on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, and this is where Private Tullett would end up by that summer.

Crowded barracks were notorious as breeding grounds for infections diseases, and Frederick, sadly, was not to be immune. He contracted pneumonia, and was admitted to a military hospital in Codford. The condition was to prove his undoing: he passed away on 12th July 1915, at the age of 30 years old.

Finances may have prevented Eliza, who had been widowed after just 12 weeks of marriage, from bring her husband back home. Instead, Frederick Edward Tullett was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter’s Church in Codford, Wiltshire.

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

Private George Rawle

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Private George Rawle

George Rawle was born on 26th April 1867 in the Somerset village of Milverton. One of nine children, his parents were William and Ann. William was a shepherd turned general labourer and, when he first finished his schooling, George was sent north to Nether Stowey, where he worked as a stable boy at Castle Hill House.

The 1891 census found George back living with his parents, who had moved to Milverton, presumably following William’s work. George, by this time, was employed as a domestic groom, although the next census found both him and William – now 74 years of age – working as general labourers.

William died in 1902, and Ann passed away seven years later. By 1911, George had moved just up the road to Wiveliscombe. He was living in a four-roomed cottage and employed as a jobbing gardener. He shared his home with two of his sisters: Jane was 46 years old and working as a housemaid; Alice, 33 years of age, was a housekeeper.

When war came to European shores, George felt the need to step up and play his part. He joined up at an enlistment drive at the brewery in Wiveliscombe, and was assigned to the Royal Army Service Corps as a Private. While waiting for his medical he returned to the home he shared with his sisters. It was here, just five days later, that he ended his life.

A painful sensation was caused in Wiveliscombe on Wednesday morning, through the action of Priv. George Rawle, of the E Squadron, Somerset Mule Depot, who took his own life under distressing circumstances at his residence at Higher Nunnington.

Deceased… had been restless through the night, and about five o’clock in the morning he told his sister he was going to get up to write a letter. The sister begged him to put his clothes on, but he would not do so, and went downstairs. She followed him in her nightdress. He picked up a gun in the hall, and she tried to take it away from him, but failed. Rawle went out to the path in front of the door of the house. His sister took hold of his arm, but he wrenched himself away, put the muzzle of the gun in his mouth, pulled the trigger, and fell down beside her, having blown out his brains.

Dr WH Randolph was in attendance shortly after, but could only pronounce life extinct.

The inquest took place on Friday, before Mr Foster Barham, coroner for West Somerset.

Jane Rawle, deceased’s sister, said her brother had suffered from nervous depression for many years, and seventeen years ago was a patient at Cotford Asylum. Lately he had been worried about the house in which he lived.

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 29th September 1915

The jury at the inquest returned a verdict of suicide while of unsound mind. George was 48 years of age.

George Rawle was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Andrew’s Church, Wiveliscombe. His estate was shared between two of his sisters, Jane and Hannah.