Tag Archives: 1918

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Labour Corps, Lincolnshire, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Private Harry Etherton

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Private Harry Etherton

Harry Etherton was born in Ansty, near Cuckfield, West Sussex on 3rd April 1872. The oldest of five children, his parents were Edwin and Louisa Etherton. Edwin was an agricultural labourer, and this was work in which his son followed his father.

On 29th April 1899, Harry married Annie Eliza Pennifold, a labourer’s daughter who was also from Ansty. The couple set up home in Cuckfield, and went on to have five children. Harry was, by this point, working as a road labourer for the local council, and this was a job he was to continue doing until the outbreak of the war.

Harry enlisted in 1915, joining the Royal Sussex Regiment as part of the National Reserve. As Private Etherton, he was then transferred across to the Labour Corps, and was assigned to the 409th Labour Coy. which was based at the Infantry Depot in Lincoln.

It was while Private Etherton was here, in the spring of 1918, that he contracted meningitis, and was admitted to the Northern General Hospital in the city. Sadly, he was to succumb to the disease, passing away on 30th June 1918, at the age of 46 years old.

Harry Etherton’s body was brought back to West Sussex for burial. He was laid to rest in Cuckfield Cemetery, not far from where his widow and children still lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Glamorganshire, Great War, history, illness, Lancashire Fusiliers, photography, Royal Air Force, Royal Engineers, Second Lieutenant, story, Wales, war

Second Lieutenant Francis Wakeford

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Second Lieutenant Francis Wakeford

Francis Reginald Steele Wakeford was born in the summer of 1893 in Penarth, Glamorgan. The middle of five children, his parents were Herbert – who was a master printer – and Mary Wakeford. When he left school, Francis became a stockbroking clerk, but when war broke out, he was quick to ensure he played his part.

Initially enlisting in the Royal Engineers, he was attached to the Glamorgan Yeomanry. By the time he was sent to France, however, he had been assigned to the Lancashire Fusiliers.

After eighteen months of fighting, in the spring of 1918, Second Lieutenant Wakeford transferred to the Royal Air Force and gained his wings. “During six months’ flying he had many encounters with enemy airmen, many of whom he brought down, and was also in several bombing raids over Germany.” [Western Mail: Monday 30th December 1918]

When the Armistice was declared, Francis returned to Wales. He has been suffering from an ongoing illness, and this was to be to what he was to succumb. Second Lieutenant Wakeford passed away in Cardiff on Christmas Day, 25th December 1918. He was just 25 years of age.

Francis Reginald Steele Wakeford was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Augustine’s Church in his home town of Penarth.

Second Lieutenant Wakeford (from findagrave.com)

Francis’ grave also commemorates the passing of his only brother, Charles Herbert Stanley Wakeford.

Four years Francis’ senior, Charles had enlisted in the 24th (Pembroke and Glamorgan Yeomanry) Battalion of the Welch Regiment. As the war moved through its final year, Lieutenant Wakeford found himself caught up in the fierce fighting of the Second Battles of the Somme.

Charles was killed on 7th September 1918, aged 28 years old. He was laid to rest in Tincourt British Cemetery, in Picardie, France. He is also commemorated on the family grave in St Augustine’s Church, Penarth.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Cyril Pratt

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Private Cyril Pratt

Cyril Robert Pratt was born on 31st October 1899 in the Somerset village of Halse. The younger of two children, his parents were local baker Robert Pratt and his wife, Elizabeth.

Little information about Cyril’s early life remains. He enlisted in the army not long after his eighteenth birthday, joining the Royal Warwickshire Regiment as a Private in November 1917. He was sent to Salisbury Plain for training, and was barracked in Larkhill, just north of Stonehenge.

Sadly, this seems to have been Private Pratt’s undoing. As with numerous other soldiers at the time, being billeted in cramped quarters with other men from across the country meant that disease was quick to spread. During his first winter at the camp, Cyril contracted pneumonia, and was admitted to the local Fargo Hospital. The lung condition was to get the better of him, and he passed away on 28th February 1918, at the age of just 18 years old.

Cyril Robert Pratt was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St James’ Church in his home village, Halse.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, Hampshire, history, injury, photography, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Corporal William Dunster

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Corporal William Dunster

William John Dunster was born in Uffculme, Devon, at the beginning of 1894. The older of two children, his parents were Robert and Mary Dunster. Robert was a carter and farm labourer, but when William left school, he found work on the railways. By the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to Milverton in Somerset, and William was employed as an engine cleaner at the station in Taunton.

William had always had a keen interest in the army, and joined the Somerset Light Infantry early in 1914. His full service records are not available, but he was assigned to the 1st Battalion and, when hostilities were declared, he was dispatched to France.

On 26th August 1914, with the heroic men of his Regiment, he leaped over the trench amid a hail of bullets: a terrible gunshot wound laid him low, and he was taken prisoner by the Germans. For two years he remained in the hands of his captors, and endured all those sufferings and privations which our brave men have to bear in Germany.

[In 1916] he was removed to Switzerland Then all was done that could be done to save a young soldier’s life – the skill of the doctor, the comfort of the hospital, the care of the nurse – but unfortunately his constitution had been undermined.

In December 1916, by the kindness of [the secretary of the Prisoners of War Society] Mrs Walsh, he was enabled to see his mother, who paid him a visit, and this for a time revived him wonderfully.

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 26th June 1918

By the spring of 1918, Corporal Dunster had been medically evacuated to England, and was admitted to a military hospital in Southampton. This gave Robert and Mary the chance to see their son again, and Mary remained at her son’s side until he passed away on 19th June 1918. He was 23 years of age.

William John Dunster was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Bartholomew’s Church in the village of Oake, where his family were living.

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

Private Victor Langdon

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Private Victor Langdon

Victor Frank Langdon was born in the autumn of 1897, the only child to Francis and Martha Langdon. Frank was a carter and cowman from Clatworthy in Devon, but it was in Bradford-on-Tone in neighbouring Somerset that Victor was raised.

Victor was 16 years old when war was declared, but he was still keen to play his part. While full details of his military service are not available, he initially enlisted in the Hampshire Yeomanry, before transferring across to the 15th (Service) Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment in 1917.

Records suggest that Private Langdon served as part of a territorial force and, by the summer of 1918, was based in Norfolk. It was here that he fell ill, and, while in the camp hospital on 15th June 1918, he passed away. Details of his condition are lost to time, but it was noted as “disease”. He was just 21 years of age.

Victor Frank Langdon was brought back to Somerset for burial. He lies at rest in the graveyard of St Giles’ Church, in his home town of Bradford-on-Tone.

Bandsman, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire Regiment

Bandsman Clifford Alway

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Bandsman Clifford Alway

Clifford Frederick Alway was born on 2nd February 1903 in Wellington, Somerset. He was the fifth of fourteen children to Samuel and Ann Alway. Samuel was a farm labourer and butcher and, when war broke out, he stepped up to play his part, enlisting as a Driver in the Royal Field Artillery.

Clifford also seemed keen to be involved, and it can only be assumed that one or both of his older brothers – William (born 1898) and Wyndham (born 1901) – had joined up. By the summer of 1918, Clifford enlisted in the Wiltshire Regiment. It seems likely, given that he was only fifteen years old, that he had lied about his age, as so many young men did.

He joined the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment as a Bandsman. This was a territorial force, and Clifford was posted to Kent, as part of the Thames and Medway Garrison.

It was here, where it was billeted in crowded barracks, that Bandsman Alway contracted influenza and pneumonia. Admitted to hospital in Aylesford, the conditions proved too much for his system, and he passed away on 3rd December 1918. Tragically, Clifford was just 15 years of age.

Clifford Frederick Alway was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Wellington Cemetery, not far from where his family still lived.

Samuel survived the war, spending more than three years in France – he was overseas when his son passed away, and so was unable to attend the funeral.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Dorset, Great War, history, photography, Private, Somerset, story, unknown, war, Wiltshire

Private Bernard Lane

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Private Bernard Lane

Bernard Fred Lane was born in Wellington, Somerset, in the spring of 1880, and was the oldest of nine children to Frederick and Agnes Lane. Frederick was a house painter and, after a stint as a butcher, his son followed the same work. By the time of the 1901 census he was one of four boarders with the Hapgood family, living in Bournemouth, Dorset.

On 5th October 1901, Bernard married Annie Louisa Joyner. The couple wed in St Paul’s Church in Poole, but soon settled back in Wellington, and went on to have four children: Agnes, James, Mildred and Winifred.

War came to Europe in 1914, and Bernard wanted to play his part. Full details of his military service are not available, but it is clear that he had enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment by March 1918. At some point during the conflict Private Lane was assigned to the Labour Corps, and attached to the 312th Company.

Bernard was serving on Salisbury Plain by the autumn of 1918, and fell ill, although it is not clear what befell him. Admitted to the Fargo Military Hospital at Larkhill, Wiltshire, he passed away on 15th October 1918. He was 38 years of age.

Bernard Fred Lane was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Wellington Cemetery, the resting place for several other members of his family.

Private Bernard Lane
(from findagrave.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, injury, photography, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Samuel Troake

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Private Samuel Troake

Samuel Troake was born in Wellington, Somerset, on 24th August 1890. His parents were Samuel and Mary Troake and he was one of seven children to the couple. Mary had been married before, and had a daughter of her own. Samuel Sr was a shepherd turned labourer: when Mary died in around 1894, he married again, to widow Sarah Carter. She also had children of her own, something that is noted in the 1901 census, which records husband and wife sharing the house (from his perspective) with six of his children and five step-children.

By the time of the next census, ten years later, the Troake family home was a lot less crowded. Road contractor Samuel Sr and Sarah were recorded living with Samuel Jr and his younger brother, Charlie – both of whom were wool spinners , and the couple’s grandson, Percy.

Working at the wool factory came with benefits for Samuel Jr. It was there that he met Alice Slade, and the couple married on 10th December 1914, at the local parish church. The couple set up home not far from his parents, but war was soon to take him away from his new bride.

Full details of Samuel’s military service are not available: he enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry, and was assigned to the 8th (Service) Battalion. He served on the Western Front, and remained there until almost the end of of the conflict.

Private Troake was recorded as being caught up in the conflict, and was medically evacuated to England for treatment to a bullet wound. Sadly, the injuries to his abdomen and bladder were to prove too severe – he passed away in a Portsmouth hospital on 30th October 1918. He was 28 years of age.

Samuel Troake was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Wellington Cemetery, not far from where his widow and father still lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, photography, Private, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, Somerset, story, unknown, war

Private Ernest Board

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Private Ernest Board

Ernest Board was born in Taunton, Somerset, on 20th September 1898 and was one of at least six children to Walter and Mary Board. Walter was a carter for the town’s gasworks, but, when Mary passed away in 1910, things changed dramatically for the family.

The 1911 census found Walter working as a cowman on a farm in Milverton, Somerset. All but two of his children are missing from that year’s national record, but Ernest and his older brother Arthur are noted as being ‘inmates’ at the National Nautical School in Portishead, near Bristol.

This was an establishment set up in 1869 for the destitute and neglected boys of the area. Ernest and Arthur were two of more than 320 students at the school which, at that time, was under the control of Commander Willoughby Still. School life was very strongly based on the running of a ship, with hammocks instead of beds, and a parade ground in front of the building.

There is no information about how long the brothers remained at the school, but, when war came to Europe, it would seem that they were keen to play their part. Sadly little detail remains of Ernest’s military life.

What can be determined, however, is that he enlisted in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, and was assigned to the 1st Battalion as a Private. His battalion fought at, and were evacuated from, Gallipoli, before moving to France. There is no record where Private Board was involved, sadly, although his Medal Roll Card shows that he was assigned the Victory and British Medals, although may not have actually seen time overseas.

Private Board’s passing is also lost to time. All that can be confirmed is that he died on 8th November 1918, and was just 20 years of age.

Ernest Board was laid to rest in Wellington Cemetery, Somerset: as this is not far from where his father was recorded on the census seven years earlier, it is likely that his place of burial was due to family connections in the area.

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

Private Herbert Towell

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Private Herbert Towell

Herbert William Towell was born in the autumn of 1899, the oldest of six children to James and Prudence. James was a wool sorter in a factory, who had been born in Rockwell Green, on the outskirts of Wellington, Somerset, and this is where he and Prudence raised their children.

The Towell family were locals to Rockwell Green. James’ brother Charles lived just a few doors away from him and the 1911 census recorded James and Prudence living at 105 Rockwell Green Road, while Herbert, aged eleven, was living with his paternal grandparents, William and Charlotte, at 131 Rockwell Green Road.

When he left school, Herbert found work as an engine cleaner. War, however, was imminent and he was keen to play his part, but was initially too young do so. His time came, though, and on 30th June 1917 he was enlisted into the 34th Training Reserve Battalion.

At seventeen years and nine months, Private Towell’s service record gives his height as 5ft 11ins (1.80m), his weight as 144lbs (65.3kg) and confirms that he had a mole on his right cheek. He was initially assigned to the 53rd (Young Soldier) Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment, and posted to the army base at Durrington, close to Stonehenge.

In November 1917, Private Towell was admitted to the camp hospital with diarrhoea. Sadly, he had also contracted tuberculosis and it was recommended that he spend some time in a sanatorium. On 6th February 1918, he was discharged from service on medical grounds, and ordered to present himself for review the following year.

Herbert was not to get the chance to do so: within a month of his discharge he succumbed to the lung condition, breathing his last on 5th March 1918. He was just 18 years of age.

Herbert William Towell was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Wellington Cemetery, within sight of his parents’ home.

Tragedy was to strike James and Prudence again less than a year later, when Herbert’s younger sister, Florence, passed away, aged just ten years old. No further information about her passing is available, so she may also have succumbed to one of the lung conditions running rampant across Europe in the aftermath of the war.