Henry Percy Harris was born in the Devon village of Combpyne in the spring of 1893. The oldest of eleven children, he was one of five sons to Eli and Amelia Harris. Eli, who was known by his middle name, Charles, and was employed as a carter on a farm. In a similar vein, Henry was known as Percy, and he also took up farm work when he completed his schooling.
When war was declared, Percy was one of the first to join up. Joining the Devonshire Regiment as a Private, he was assigned to the 1st Battalion. His service papers have been lost to time, but during the opening months of the conflict, his unit fought at Marne, Aisne and Messines, amongst other fierce battles.
One record confirms that Private Harris was wounded in the thigh on the 20th June 1915. Details are unclear, but the 1st Battalion were fighting near Ypres at the time. Percy’s wound healed, and he would soon be back in the fray.
Percy seemed to impress his superiors, and he rose to the rank of Sergeant. By the autumn of 1917, he was caught up in the fighting at Passchendaele, and was injured again. Medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, his luck was not to hold a second time. he died from his wounds on 17th November 1917, at the age of 24 years old.
The body of Henry Percy Harris was taken back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful setting of St Mary’s Churchyard in his home village of Combpyne.
Robert Hawes was born early in 1891 in Rochester, Kent. One of twins, his parents Henry and Alice had six children in all. Sadly, two of their children, including Robert’s twin, Edward, died early.
Henry was a bricklayer, and the 1891 census found the family living in rooms at 26 John Street, to the south of the town centre. This was a road they would know well, and the following return, taken in 1901, found them living two doors down, at No. 22.
When Robert completed his schooling, he found work as a general labourer for a wine and spirit merchant. By 1911, the Hawes family had relocated to 171 Rochester Avenue. Just one road from their previous home, this move afforded the seven of them more space.
War broke out in the summer of 1914, and Robert stepped up to play his part. Leaving his job as a cellarman, he enlisted on 11th December 1915, and, as a Private, was assigned to the Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). His medical report notes that he was 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, and had slight varicose veins to his right knee.
Initially attached to the 12th (Reserve) Battalion, by the summer of 1916 Private Hawes had been transferred to the 7th (Service) Battalion and sent to France. His unit was deeply ensconced at the Somme, and Robert was wounded during the opening day of the Battle of Ancre Heights.
Robert’s injury – a gun shot wound to the head – meant he was medically evacuated to Britain, and he was admitted to King George’s Hospital, London. Despite the treatment he received, his condition would prove too severe: Private Hawes passed away on 13th February 1917, at the age of 26 years old.
The body of Robert Hawes was taken back to Kent for burial, and he was laid to rest in St Margaret’s Cemetery, Rochester.
Robert’s older brother, Harry, had also served in the First World War. Attached to the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Private H Hawes was killed on the first day of the Battle of Loos: he was 30 years of age.
Harry Henry Hawes is commemorated on the Loos Memorial at Dud Corner Cemetery, France.
By the time of Robert’s death, Henry and Alice had lost all three of their sons.
Arthur Ernest Catchpole was born in the spring of 1874 in the Suffolk village of Aldringham. The seventh of eight children, and the youngest of two boys, his parents were Joseph and Sarah Catchpole.
Joseph was employed as a gas fitter and, by the time of the 1881 census, had moved the family to Croydon, Surrey, presumably for work. The document recorded the family as living at 8 Cecil Terrace, a small cottage to the north-west of the town centre.
It seems that Arthur sought a way out as early as he could. The next census he appears on is from 1901, and this gives his profession as a Private in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Intriguingly, there is a record for a solder from Suffolk by his name, who was imprisoned in Dumfries in 1891. There are no other documents relating to the offence, but, as Arthur is absent from that year’s census, a link seems possible.
The 1901 census recorded Arthur – who was now known by his middle name – as living in the village of Speldhurst, between Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells, in Kent. It also confirms that he was married, he and local woman Ellen Hoadley having exchanged vows in the summer of 1896. The would go on to have ten children between 1896 and 1916, all of them boys.
By the time of the next census return, the Catchpole family had moved back to Surrey, and were living in a small cottage at 12 Paxton Place, West Norwood. Ernest was now working as a domestic gardener, with Ellen left to raise their then seven sons.
When war came to Europe in the summer of 1914, it is likely that Ernest stepped up to play his part. Full details of his time in the army have been lost to time, but he was medically discharged from service on 10th February 1916. Arthur (his military documents reverting to his first name) had contracted tuberculosis, and was suffering from chronic myocarditis, and, as a result, was deemed unfit to remain a soldier.
At this point, Arthur’s trail goes cold. It seems likely that he returned home, with a later document noting the family’s residence as 4A Durban Road, a ground-floor flat in a Victorian terrace house.
It seems likely that Arthur’s health caught up with him. He passed away on 10th April 1918: he was 44 years of age. His widow posted a note in the local newspaper: “In loving memory of Ernest Arthur Catchpole, late of KRR, the beloved husband of Ellen Catchpole, who fell asleep on 10th April, 1918.” [Norwood Press and Dulwich Advertiser: Saturday 20th April 1918]
The body of Arthur Ernest Catchpole was laid to rest in the sweeping Streatham Park Cemetery, a short distance from his grieving family.
In the sprawling Streatham Park Cemetery, Surrey, is a headstone dedicated to Lieutenant WR Fairbairn of the East Surrey Regiment, who died on 12th January 1917, at the age of 56.
There is frustratingly little information available about Lieutenant Fairbairn. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records confirm his widow as Mrs F Fairbairn, of 35 Egerton Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, but this was a boarding house and the couple were not resident there at the time of the 1911 census.
Without a confirmed first name, or place of birth, it isn’t possible to track down baptism or parental records, and Lieutenant Fairbairn’s name does not appear in contemporary newspaper reports.
As a commissioned officer, standard military records do not exist, and with no service number available, his time with the East Surrey Regiment is a mystery.
One document gives a tiny insight into Lieutenant Fairbairn’s life: the Hospital Registers for 1914-1919 confirms that he was admitted to the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital on Millbank, Westminster, on 12th December 1916. While the document doesn’t confirm his first name, it does show that he had been in the army for some 41 years, which might explain his absence from any census records. Now attached to the 21st Training Reserve, he was suffering from chronic bronchitis and nephritis.
Lieutenant Fairbairn was discharged from hospital on 6th January 1917, and for the next six days his trail goes cold. Whether he was sent to Streatham to recuperate, or whether he was based there with his wife is unclear.
Either way, Lieutenant WR Fairbairn passed away on 12th January 1917, ad the age of 56 years old. He was buried in Streatham Park Cemetery, taking the details of much of his life with him.
Within a few weeks of following his youngest brother Fred to the grave, Sergt. Alexander Hurst has himself passed away, after a shirt but severe illness, in his 55th year. Born at the Grammar School, Cavendish, on Michaelmas Day, 1862 (being the day on which his father, the late Mr Robert Hurst, commenced his duties as headmaster there) he early closely associated himself with the social life of the village. A keen sportsman, he achieved considerable success on the cricket field, being a stead batsman, and a bowler with plenty of “spin.” He also devoted much time and study to campanology, an ort of which he was a skilful exponent, and composed several peals. On leaving Cavendish in 1884, he was the recipient of a handsome testimonial from the parishioners in recognition of the good work he had done in the village… At Long Melford he was for many hears a member of the Volunteer force, in which he attained the rank of Sergt. He was an excellent rifle shot, and on several occasions he the satisfaction of figuring in the prize list at Bisley. On the football field he was a particularly neat half-back, and was a member of the winning County Senior Cup team in the season 1887-88. As a musician Sergt. Hurst showed considerable ability, being gifted with a critical ear, and possessing a baritone voice of sympathetic timbre. For many years he officiated as organist at Bulmer Parish Church. For the past twelve years or so Sergt. Hurst had resided in London, where he was in the employ of Sir Herbert Marshall & Rose as expert piano tuner. Shortly after the outbreak of war, notwithstanding his 50 odd years, he offered himself for service and joined the County of London Battalion with the rank of Sergeant. He devoted himself to his military duties with utmost zeal, and it seems more than probable that his anxiety to serve his country to the best of his ability hastened his end.
[Suffolk and Essex Free Press: Wednesday 7th March 1917]
Alexander Burnett Hurst was the middle of seven children – all boys – to Robert and Margaret Hurst. By the time of the 1881 census, he was teaching at Cavendish Grammar School, Suffolk, which was a small educational establishment with a dozen boarding students.
The next census followed the family’s move to Long Melford, and by this time Alexander was working as a pianoforte tuner, while his older brother Bernard was employed as an organist.
On 30th October 1899, Alexander married Maude Thurston. The daughter of a chemist from Ipswich, Suffolk, the couple married in her local parish church, St Lawrence’s. The couple’s wedding certificate recorded the groom as an organ builder.
By 1901, the newlyweds had set up home in Long Melford, taking a cottage two doors up from the historic Bull Hotel, and next door to Bernard and his family. Alexander was now working as a music teacher, although it seems likely that he had his fingers in many melodic pies by this point.
Alexander and Maude would go on to have three children – daughters Geraldine and Evelyn, and son Kenneth. The 1911 census suggests that the family had moved south by 1907, as this is where young Kenneth was born. The document recorded them in rooms at 134 Kennington Park Road, sharing the building with teachers, actresses and music hall artists.
Little information remained about Alexander’s military service. While the newspaper report suggests he was assigned to the London Regiment, other documents confirm he was a member of the Royal Defence Corps. The unit was specifically set up for older service personnel and, attached to No. 1 Protection Company, Serjeant Hurst was based in London.
Alexander Burnett Hurst died from pneumonia on 26th February 1917: he was 54 years of age. He was laid to rest in Streatham Park Cemetery, a short distance from where his widow and family were living.
Maude remained living on Kennington Park Road. By the time of the 1921 census she shared her home with her two daughters – the eldest of whom was working as a clerk and typist for the Shell Motor Oil Company – and her widowed mother, Mary Thurston.
Cyril William Renton was born in Brixton, Surrey, on 27th November 1872. The older of two children, hie parents were Edward and Emily Renton. Edward was an engraver and artist and, when Emily died shortly after Cyril’s younger brother was born, he married again, to Harriett Predier: the couple went on to have two children, Cyril’s half-brother and half-sister.
By the time of the 1891 census, Edward had moved the family to Hampstead, Middlesex. Setting up home in the illustrious South Hill, their home – a Georgian semi-detached villa backing onto Hampstead Heath – served as a fine setting for the now art dealer head of the household.
When Cyril completed his schooling, he found work as a stockbroker. On 22nd December 1894, he married Mary Nettleton at St Paul’s Church in Kentish Town. Mary was the daughter of a solicitor’s clerk, and Cyril’s new father-in-law seems to have helped his career.
The 1901 census found the young couple living at 33 Tivoli Road in Hornsey, Middlesex. Their eldest child, Lionel, had been born four years before, and Mary’s father and brother were also living with them. Cyril was now recorded as being an articled clerk for a firm of solicitors.
Second son Esmonde was born in 1897, and Cyril’s career continued its upward journey. By 1911 the Rentons had moved to 46 Glasslyn Road in Crouch End, and had taken on two servants to support the family. Cyril was now a full-blown solicitor and counted an estate agent’s clerk, a cement company secretary, a master stevedore and a human hair merchant amongst his neighbours.
[He] practised as a solicitor as the Police Court. For several years he represented the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. He was at one time the vice-president of the Highgate Thirty Club, and in 1914-15 became the president.
[Hornsey & Finsbury Park Journal: Friday 3rd August 1917]
While obviously good at his job, Cyril wanted more:
At a time when he seemed very likely to make a big name for himself in the various courts he attended, he decided to dispose of his practice and to study for the bar. In the Michaelmas law examination of 1913 he successfully passed in all the subjects and the “final,” and was thereupon duly “called.” He was getting on extremely well in the higher branch of his profession when war broke out…
[Hampstead & Highgate Express: Saturday 28th July 1917]
Cyril felt a call to serve his country, and so stepped up to enlist.
[He] joined the Inns of Court OTC, and went into training. When he obtained his commission je joined a battalion of the London Regiment, and, having been through a course at Hythe, he became a musketry instructor and was engaged in that capacity for many months. At last the authorities yielded to his repeated applications to be sent on active service, and he went to France. There he had six months’ fighting, and only returned after he had been wounded.
[Hampstead & Highgate Express: Saturday 28th July 1917]
Attached to the 20th (Country of London) Battalion (Blackheath and Woolwich), Lieutenant Renton’s older son, Lionel, was also fighting, and was attached to the 16th Service Battalion – also known as the Public Schools Battalion – of the Middlesex Regiment.
It is unclear whether Cyril returned to the fray, and by the spring of 1917, having recovered from injuries, he fell ill. His health seems to have been impacted by his injuries, and he passed away from his condition on 19th July: he was 44 years of age.
The body of Cyril William Renton was taken to Streatham, Surrey, for burial: the reasons are unclear, but it is likely that this is where his mother and father (who had died in 1904) had been buried. Private Lionel Renton was recuperating from injuries, and was able to attend the funeral with Mary and Esmonde.
Robert James Eustace was born in the summer of 1887 in the Oxfordshire village of Shirburn. The oldest of three children, he was the only son to James and Elizabeth (or Eliza) Eustace. James was a shepherd, and by the time of the 1901 census, he had taken up work on a farm near Slough, Berkshire. The document found the family living at 4 Wellington Place, on Grove Road, to the north of the town.
Eliza died in the years after that census was taken, and by the time of the next one, recorded in 1911, James and Robert had moved to 2 Pioneer Place in nearby Cippenham. Robert was employed as a carman, but it is clear that he sought more and he took the risk of emigrating for a better life.
Robert – who now took to calling himself James – moved to Gull Lake, Saskatchwean, where he took up work as a farmer. It is unclear when he left Britain, but when war broke out, he was called upon to come back.
James enlisted in Moosejaw on the 30th November 1915. His service papers show that he was 5ft 5ins (1.64m) tall, and had dark brown hair, blue eyes and a medium complexion.
After initial training, Private Eustace’s unit – the 28th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry – left for Europe. Departing from Halifax on the 15th August 1916, James arrived in Liverpool nine days later. Further training took place, and he arrived in France on 5th December.
Private Eustace fought in some of the key battles of that part of the conflict, including at Ancre Heights, and Arras. But it was at Hill 60 that James came unstuck, and he was badly wounded in the buttock and leg.
Initially treated on site, Private Eustace was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Admitted to the Lord Derby War Hospital in Warrington, Cheshire, on 26th August 1917, his wounds required surgery. James was also recorded as having an abscess in the psoas muscle in his lower back. During the operation, this was drained and cleaned. His service papers included a diagram of the operation from his surgeon.
James remained in hospital for a month, and during that time, he developed toxaemia. The combination of his injury, the abscess and the blood poisoning would ultimately prove fatal: Private Eustace passed away on 28th September 1917. He was 30 years of age.
The body of Robert James Eustace was taken back south for burial. James, shill a shepherd, was now living at Dorney Court Farm, not far from Slough, and it was in the village’s burial ground that he laid his son to rest.
Stephen Smith was born in Hilperton Marsh, Wiltshire, in 1890. The fourth of eight children, he was the second of three sons to Thomas and Vashti Smith. Thomas was a hawker, and the family were living at 14 Islington Place when Stephen was born.
By the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to 65 Shails Lane, slightly closer to Trowbridge town centre. Three of the family – Thomas, Vashti (who went by her middle name, Sarah), and their oldest child, Selina – were all employed in hawking. Stephen, just 12 years of age, was still at school, but his older brother, Alfred, was earning a little by collecting rags.
On 30th August 1908, Stephen married Beatrice Harding. They were both just 18 years of age at the time, and it seems to have been a love match: they went on to have three children, but their eldest, daughter Annie, was not born until 1911.
By the time of that year’s census, the young were renting a tenement at 5 Burbidge’s Yard. Just around the corner from Stephen’s Parents in Shails Lane, it was small courtyard filled with dyers, needleworkers, carpenters and hawkers.
Stephen also wanted to do his bit in the service of his King and, on the 14th June 1908, he enlisted in the 3rd Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment. His service papers show that he was 5ft 7.5ins (1.71m) tall, and weighed 155lbs (70.3kg). He was noted as having brown hair and brown eyes.
Over the next four years, Stephen remained on home soil. He proved his mettle, and was appointed to Lance Corporal on 21st June 1911, and Corporal less than a year later. In October 1912, he extended his service for another four years. By June 1913, Stephen had been promoted again, his exemplary service resulting in him being made Sergeant.
War broke out in the summer of 1914, and Sergeant Smith found that his rank meant that he wouldn’t be able to serve with his men. At his own request, he reverted to the rank of Private and, on 11th September, he transferred to the 1st Battalion and was sent to France.
Private Smith’s unit fought at the Battle of Messines, and he was injured there. A gunshot wound to his right foot meant a medical evacuation to Britain, and he was admitted to the 2nd Western General Hospital in Manchester, Lancashire, for treatment.
Following his discharge, Stephen remained on home soil, but his health was becoming affected in unexpected ways. He had developed varicose veins in late childhood, and these developed to the point where he was not longer fit for military duty. He was discharged on 15th April 1916, and returned home to Trowbridge. The condition was declared not to be related to his service, so he did not receive any recompense for it.
By the spring of 1917, another issue had presented itself. Stephen was suffering from tuberculosis, and the prognosis was not good. “In my opinion [Private Smith] acquired the disease whilst in the service and the disease was aggravated in consequence of his military duties. He is suffering from the disease in rather an advanced stage and it does not appear to me probable that he will live for another year.” Signed Leonard Crossley MD, County Tuberculosis Officer. [Medical Report on Stephen Smith: 28th March 1917]
Ultimately, Dr Crossley’s prediction would prove correct:
The death occurred on Saturday at Lower Broad Street of Stephen Smith, aged 27, who served for some time in the Army and was discharged nearly two years ago on account of a wound in the leg. For some time past he had suffered from tuberculosis, but he was out of doors as recently as Friday. He leaves a widow and four young children.
[Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser: Saturday 8th December 1917]
The body of Stephen Smith was laid to rest in Trowbridge Cemetery, not far from where his grieving family were still living.
While Stephen’s father disappears into history, his mother, Vashti, lived on until 1934. She was laid to rest with her son, mother and son reunited after 17 years.
Stephen O’Leary was born in the autumn of 1898 in the Wiltshire village of Keevil. The second of four children, he was the eldest son to Edward and Mary O’Leary. Edward was a thatcher by trade, and the family lived on Institute Road (now Martins Road), to the south of the village.
Stephen was only 16 years of age when war broke out, but is seems that he was called upon to play his part early in 1917. He was attached to the 37th Battalion of the Training Reserve Battalion, and sent to Salisbury Plain for his instruction.
Tragically, it would seem that Private O’Leary’s time in the army was to be brief. While in camp he contracted meningitis, and was sent to the Isolation Hospital in Stratford-sub-Castle, to the north of Salisbury. He died from the condition on 21st June 1917: he was just 18 years of age.
The body of Stephen O’Leary was taken back to Keevil for burial. He was laid to rest in the village’s St Leonard’s Churchyard.
William James Maslin was born in the autumn of 1898, and was the second of four children to Mark and Emma. Mark was a hay cutter from Liddington, Wiltshire, but the family were born and raised in Edington, near Westbury.
There is little specific information about William’s life, but it is clear that when war broke out, he was keen to play his part. He enlisted in the Training Reserve Battalion, and was assigned to the 25th Battalion. Sent to Wool, near Bovington, Dorset, it wasn’t long before Private Maslin fell ill. He passed away from bronchial pneumonia on 4th April 1917: he was just 18 years of age,
The body of William James Maslin was taken back to Wiltshire for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Ss. Mary and Katherine and All Saints’ Church in his home village, Edington.
William’s older brother, Walter Frank Maslin, also served in the First World War. Born in 1891, he followed in his father’s footsteps, working as a farm labourer.
On 24th September 1911, Walter married Rose Long. The couple set up home just along the road from Mark and Emma, and wend on to have three children: Florence, Herbert and Dorothy.
Walter enlisted in the Worcestershire Regiment, and was attached to the 2nd/8th Battalion. His unit fought at Fromelles, the Ancre and Langemarck, although, as his service papers no longer exist, it isn’t clear where or how Private Maslin served.
What is clear, however, is that he was captured, and taken as a prisoner of war. Imprisoned at Hamelin Camp, not far from the German town of the same name, he was certainly there by the spring of 1918. Conditions would have been harsh, and Private Maslin succumbed to pneumonia on 6th May 1918: he was 26 years of age. His widow and family would not find out about his passing for some weeks, and a death notice was only reported in the Devizes and Wiltshire Advertiser on the 18th July.
The body of Walter Frank Maslin was laid to rest in Friedhof Ohlsdorf, Hamburg, Germany.
