Tag Archives: 1919

Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, France, Great War, history, illness, Jersey, Lieutenant, Major, Middlesex, photography, story, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, war

Major Alexander Leslie

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Major Alexander Leslie

Alexander Augustus Maurice Leslie was born in France in 1852. One of five children, his parents were Government Secretary of State Francis Leslie and his French wife, Josephine.

Alexander’s mother died when he was 8 years old, by which point the family had moved back to Britain. Francis had set up home in Ealing, Middlesex, and they were living at 15 Castlebar Road, a Victorian villa.

When he completed his schooling, Alexander sought out a military life. The 1881 census recorded him as a Lieutenant in the Suffolk Regiment, living in St Helier, Jersey. He had married the year before, to Louisa Cumming, a surgeon’s daughter from Devon. They had a son, Maurice, by this point, and a daughter, Ida, was born the following year.

Lieutenant Leslie’s service records are sparse, but a later newspaper report fills in some of the gaps: “Leslie’s military experience, which extended… over a period of about 25 years, included participation in the Egyptian campaign in 1884, and service on the West Coast of Africa, in Jamaica, and in India.” [Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 30th April 1919]

During her husband’s time overseas, Louisa raised the children back home in Devon. She passed away in 1901, but which point, Alexander had retired with the rank of Captain. That year’s census found him living with Maurice and Ida at 14 Spencer Hill in Wimbledon, Surrey, a large detached villa. Maurice, now 20 years of age, was working as an accountant’s clerk, and the family had a live-in servant called Rose.

The next census record, from 1911, recorded Alexander living in rooms at 46 Leinster Gardens, Paddington. A substantial Georgian property, his landlady was Eveline Giradet, whose other residents included a barrister and a banker. Alexander’s occupation was now noted as Retired Major in the British Army.

From this point, Alexander’s trail grows cold. It is likely that he was called upon to play a part in the global conflict that broke out in 1914, though exactly when and how he did so is unclear. Records suggest he was admitted to Queen Alexandra’s Military Hospital on Millbank, Middlesex on 28th September 1916, suffering from syphilis. He only remained there for a couple of days, and his increasing age and health may have led to his retirement from duty.

For the past four years Major Alexander Maurice Leslie, who was for a period of a quarter of a century connected with the Royal Sussex Regiment, had been a resident of Worthing, and a brief intimation was given in the last issue… that he had died suddenly.

The circumstances were duly investigated by… the Deputy Coroner for West Sussex, on Wednesday afternoon, the inquiry taking place at the Central Fire Station, in High-street.

Evidence of identification was given by Colonel Francis Seymour Leslie… late of the Royal Engineers, who stated that the deceased, who was his brother, had lived at Worthing for the past four years, more or less all the time, though he had no permanent address…

Mrs Ethel William, a widow, at whose house… Major Leslie had lodged, stated that he had complained of indigestion and ate light food. On Monday evening he had his supper at half-past seven o’clock, going upstairs about half an hour later. About nine o’clock witness went to his room and found him lying in bed in great agony, and he exclaimed: “Oh, my poor heart!” Witness gave him some hot water to drink and sent for a doctor.

Dr Bernard Lees stated that he was sent for, but he found Major Leslie was dead when he got to the house. He had since made a post-mortem examination, which showed that the stomach and intestines were much distended, and there were signs of chronic gastric catarrh. The heart was fatty, but the valves were healthy. Death was due to syncope, the result of acute indigestion and the fatty condition of the heart.

A verdict of “Death from natural causes” was recorded.

[Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 30th April 1919]

[It should be noted that Alexander had been attached to the Suffolk Regiment throughout his military career. The error in the newspaper report is likely because of the Sussex town he had moved to in the mid-1910s.]

Alexander Augustus Maurice Leslie was 67 years of age when he passed away on 21st April 1919. His body was laid to rest in Broadwater Cemetery, to the north of the town he had called his home for more than four years.

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

Private William Mead

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Private William Mead

William Henry Mead was born in Frome, Somerset, in the spring of 1886. The second of six children, his parents were mason Henry Mead and his wife, Eliza. Henry’s work took him across the area: the 1891 census found the family living at 5 Tower Hill in Dilton Marsh, Wiltshire, while by 1901 they had moved to Upton Scudamore, closer to Warminster.

By this point, William was working as a farm labourer, but he then disappears from the records. His entry on the Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects when he died shows that he left a significantly higher amount of money than would normally be expected for someone who had simply enlisted for the duration of the war. It is possible, therefore, that his absence from the 1911 census is due to him being out of the country whilst with the army.

The document confirms that William served with the 2nd Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment. The unit saw action as Ypres, the Somme, Passchendaele and Messines, but, without his service records, it is impossible to know how or where Private Mead fought. He survived the war, however, and by the start of 1919, he was billeted in Tidworth, on the edge of Salisbury Plain.

Private Mead’s health was suffering by this point, and he was admitted to the camp’s hospital. He died, through causes unknown, on 27th April 1919: he was 33 years of age.

The body of William Henry Mead was taken back to Warminster, where his grieving family were now living. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of the town’s Christ Church.

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Leading Seaman, Lieutenant, Ordinary Seaman, Petty Officer, photography, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Royal Navy, story, war

Lieutenant Frederick Hill

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Lieutenant Frederick Hill

Frederick Charles Hill was born on 13th June 1882 in the Devon village of Marldon. One of seven children, his parents were William and Elizabeth Hill. William was a carpenter, and the 1891 census found the family living or boarding at the Royal Oak Inn.

When he finished his schooling, Frederick found work as a gardener. However, he sought a bigger and better life and, on 21st April 1897, he joined the Royal Navy. His service record suggests that he lied about his age to do so, giving his year of birth as 1881,

Frederick was below the age to formally enlist in the navy, and was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class. He was sent to HMS Impregnable, the training base in Devonport, Devon, spending the next eighteen months there. Promoted to Boy 1st Class in February 1898, he was given his first posting, on board HMS Agincourt, later that year.

In the autumn of 1898, Frederick was assigned to the cruiser HMS Leander. The following summer, and based on the date of birth he had previously provided, he came of age, and was formally inducted into the Royal Navy. His service records show that he was 5ft 2ins (1.57m) tall, with red hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion. Hs was also noted as having a scar on his forehead.

The now Ordinary Seaman Hill remained on board HMS Leander for more than two years. He proved a worthwhile member of crew, and was promoted to Able Seaman in May 1900. He left Leander in January 1901, and was billeted at HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Plymouth, Devon, which would become his base when not at sea.

Frederick’s contract was for twelve years, and during that time he would serve on four vessels. His dedication to the navy was evident by his promotions – he made Leading Seaman in October 1904, Petty Officer 2nd Class in October 1906, and Petty Officer 1st Class in March 1911. When his term of service ended, he immediately re-enlisted, and, at his annual reviews, was regularly noted for his very good character and superior ability. His career kept going from strength to strength, and, in 1914, he was promoted to Chief Petty Officer.

He was sent to Antwerp in September [1914] with the Royal Naval Division, and in 1916 went to the Dardanelles, there gaining his commission for bravery. After the evacuation he was sent to France and won the MC in the Ancre drive in 1916. In February 1918 he was sent for six months’ rest to England. Lieut. Hill volunteered to go to France again in November the same year, and contracted heart disease, from which he died. He returned to England early in June [1919], and, being on sick leave, went to Paignton Hospital, where his death occurred.

[Brixham Western Guardian: Thursday 7th August 1919]

Frederick Charles Hill was 37 years of age when he died on 2nd August 1919. His body was laid to rest in the family plot in St John the Baptist’s Church, Marldon.

Frederick’s headstone records his rank as Lieutenant Commander. However, Commonwealth War Grave Commission documents suggest his rank was Lieutenant.

Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Alexander Pollock

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Private Alexander Pollock

Alexander Pollock was born on 17th April 1893 in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. The oldest of eight children, his parents were David and Annie. There is little information about his early life, but when he completed his schooling, he found work as a general labourer.

When war broke out, Alexander – who was better known as Ike – stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 12th July 1915, just four months after his father had passed away. Private Pollock’s service records show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall and weighed in at 13st 4lbs (84.4kg). He had dark brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion, with a scar on his left bicep.

Private Pollock’s unit – the 57th Battalion – left Australia at the start of 1916, arriving in Egypt towards the end of February. They spent the next couple of months training at the Tell el Kebir camp, to the north of Cairo, before setting off to France, arriving in Marseilles on 23rd June.

Ike’s first taste of battle came within a matter of weeks, when his unit acted as a back-up force during the Battle of Fromelles. Described as the worst day in Australia’s history, the AIF suffered more than 5,000 casualties. The 57th Battalion, held in reserve, did not incur as many losses as other units and, as a result, Private Pollock would have remained entrenched on the Front Line after the worst hit battalions pulled back.

The next few years would see Ike remain on the Western Front. His service papers suggest that he did not see any leave until March 1918, but he was soon back in the action.

After the Armistice was declared, Private Pollock remained in France. He had a second period of leave from 22nd December 1918, spending the festivities in Britain. Back in France on 13th January 1919, he was moved to a training camp in Le Havre. By this point, however, his health was suffering, and he was moved back to Britain weeks after arriving.

Billeted at the ANZAC base in Codford, Wiltshire, Ike came down with influenza and pneumonia. He was admitted to the New Zealand General Hospital not far from the base, but the conditions were to prove fatal. He died on 21st February 1919, at the age of 25 years old.

Thousands of miles from home, and with his mother having also passed the previous year, the body of Alexander ‘Ike’ Pollock was laid to rest in the graveyard extension to St Mary’s Church, Codford.

Private Alexander Pollock
(from findagrave.com)
Berkshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Drummer, Great War, history, Lincolnshire, photography, Sherwood Foresters, story, unknown, war, Wiltshire

Drummer Malcolm Vacher

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Drummer Malcolm Vacher

Born at the start of 1902, Malcolm Edward James Vacher was the younger of two children to James and Alice Vacher. James was a domestic coachman and both he and Alice were born in Milton Abbas, Dorset. By the time Malcolm was born, the family had relocated to the village of Mortimer, Berkshire.

Alice died when her youngest was just five, and James moved the family to the village of Kelstern in Lincolnshire, possibly for work. Sadly, James passed away in 1916, leaving Malcolm and his older sister, Gladys, as orphans.

By this point war was raging across Europe, and it seems that Malcolm looked to the army as a new family. He enlisted in the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment), although his service papers have been lost to time.

It is unclear how or where Drummer Vacher served. He survived the war, however, and by the autumn of 1919, found himself on furlough in Wiltshire. His death certificate records that died on 26th October, from a combination of appendicitis and heart failure. Just 17 years of age, his sister was by his side when he passed.

Malcolm Edward James Vacher was laid to rest in St John’s Churchyard, Warminster. The Grave Registration Form notes that the headstone was paid for by his uncle.

By this point, Gladys had lost her parents and her brother. Twenty-one years of age when her sibling died, she nonetheless found the resilience to carry on.

The 1921 census recorded Gladys living at 1 Corporation Street, Kidderminster. Boarding with Jane Smith, she was working as garage assistant for the motorcycle department of the Castle Motor Co Ltd on Vicar Street.

In the spring of 1925, Gladys married radio engineer and dealer George Whitford. By the time of the 1939 Register, the couple were living at 81 New Road, Kidderminster. Gladys was helping her husband with the business, and was recorded as being a radio dealer and travel agent.

Gladys Whitford, née Vacher, passed away in the spring of 1960. An obituary outlined the life she had forged for herself after losing her brother:

Mrs Gladys Mary Whitford, who has died at her home in New Road, Kidderminster, aged 63, had conducted one of the oldest travel agencies in the Midlands for 30 years. The firm, founded by her husband’s grandfather in 1856, arranged emigration for many families seeking a new life in the Commonwealth.

Mrs Whitford joined the Women’s Legion in 1916 and was one of the first motor-cycle despatch riders attached to the Royal Army Service Corps. She was a member of the Kidderminster Chamber of Commerce and of the committee of the Kidderminster Retail Traders’ Association. She is survived by her husband, Mr George Whitford, a radio and television dealer.

[Birmingham Daily Post – Tuesday 12 January 1960]

My thanks go to Peter Calver and the members of the Lost Cousins website for their help in filling in details of Gladys’ life after the loss of her family.

Australia, Australian Pioneers, Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Egypt, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire, Yorkshire

Private Osborne Robinson

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Private Osborne Robinson

Osborne Robinson was born in the autumn of 1891. The middle of three children, he was the only son to Edward and Edith Robinson. Edward was a merchant of foreign products from West Hartlepool, County Durham, and this is where the family were raised.

Edward died in 1905, and this provided a marked change for the Robinsons. Edith moved the family to Richmond, Yorkshire, which is where her widowed mother still lived. The 1911 census recorded a divided family. Osborne’s older sister, Mary, was employed as a housekeeper for a widowed farmer in Thornton Watless, south of Richmond. His younger sister, Elsie, was living with her maternal grandmother and aunt in Richmond.

Edith and Osborne, meanwhile, were living at Swale Farm, Ellerton Abbey, to the west of Richmond. Edith recorded herself as living on private means, while her son was employed as a grazing farmer, presumably connected to the farm they were living on.

Osborne wanted to expand his horizons and, at the beginning of 1914, took the decision to seek a new life overseas. On 30th January, he boarded the SS Norman, bound for Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Within a matter of months, war had broken out, and Osborne felt he needed to play his part for King and Empire.

On 25th July 1915, while working near Cootamundra, New South Wales, Osborne enlisted, joining the Australian Imperial Force as a Private. His service papers show that at 23 years of age, he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall and weighed 140lbs (63.5kg). He had dark brown hair, blue eyes and a dark complexion, presumably from working outside.

Private Robinson left Australia on 5th October 1915, travelling on board HMAT A32 Themistocles for his journey to Europe. His unit – the 1st Australian Pioneer Battalion – spent time in Egypt, before moving on to Marseilles, France, in April 1916. By the autumn Osborne was on the Western Front, and, on 3rd September, during the Battle of Pozières, he was wounded in his left hand.

Initially treated at the 17th Casualty Clearing Station, Private Robinson was stoon transferred to the 1st Southern General Hospital in Birmingham. His injury took close to six weeks to heal, and he returned to an ANZAC base in Wareham, Dorset, towards the end of October.

Osborne spent a good few months on home soil, eventually re-joining his unit in France on 18th October 1917. Over the next year, he served on the Western Front, with two periods of leave – a week in Paris in March 1918 and a fortnight in the UK the following October. The Armistice declared, Private Robinson’s unit returned to its base near Warminster, Wiltshire, in January 1919.

Osborne had fallen ill with influenza by this point and his condition was to worsen to pneumonia. He died at a private address in Warminster on 8th February 1919: he was 28 years of age.

The body of Osborne Robinson was laid to rest in St John’s Churchyard, Warminster. It is unclear why Edith chose not to bring her son home, but the 1921 census recorded her, Mary and Elsie (neither of whom were married) living in the village of Reeth, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. All three were noted as being employed with home duties.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Pembrokeshire, photography, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, Wales, war

Stoker 1st Class Edwin John

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Stoker 1st Class Edwin John

Edwin John was born in St David’s, Pembrokeshire, on 18th February 1898. The youngest of nine children, he was the son of farmer Henry John and his wife, Caroline. Edwin’s mum died when he was just five years old, and Henry was left to raise the family alone.

When he finished his schooling, Edwin found work on the farm. When war broke out, however, he was called upon to play his part and, on 19th July 1916, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. His service papers show that he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, with dark hair, grey eyes and a dark complexion.

Stoker 2nd Class John was sent to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport, Devon, for his training. He remained there for three months, before being given his first assignment, the light cruiser HMS Liverpool. She spent the second half of the conflict patrolling the Mediterranean, and this is where Edwin would serve his time.

Edwin’s time in the navy was uneventful. He was promoted to Stoker 1st Class in March 1917, and, while he was consistently noted as being of very good character, his ability was recorded as being satisfactory.

On 28th April 1918, Stoker 1st Class John returned to shore to be demobbed. Given the war had another seven months to run, it is unclear why he was stood down, although it may have been on medical grounds. At this point his trail goes cold, but it is likely that he returned home.

Edwin’s health was certainly suffering by this point, and, on 7th March 1919 he passed away from bronchitis. He was just 21 years of age.

Edwin John’s body was laid to rest in St David’s Parish Cemetery, Pembrokeshire, not far from where his father and siblings still lived.

Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, King's (Liverpool Regiment), Labour Corps, Pembrokeshire, photography, Private, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Royal Army Service Corps, story, unknown, war

Captain Norman Owen

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Captain Norman Owen

Norman Howell Owen was born in the spring of 1888, and was the third of four children – all boys – to John and Elizabeth. John was a surgeon from Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, but the family were raised in Fishguard, where his practice was based.

Norman was an educated young man and, in 1906, attended the Sir Isaac Pitman & Son Phonetic Institute in Bath Somerset. He was studying shorthand, passing an examination in the subject after just three months. He passed an entrance exam for the National and Provincial Bank the following year, and, by the time of the 1911 census, he was working in the Fishguard branch and living back with his parents.

When war came to Europe, Norman was called upon to play his part. Full details of his service have been lost to time, but what remains paints an interesting picture of his time in the army. He appears to have enlisted in the King’s Liverpool Regiment as a Private, before transferring to the Labour Corps, then the Army Ordnance Corps.

By 1918 the Pembrokeshire Voters List noted Norman and two of his brothers as absentee voters – serving in the army, so not at home. Norman is recorded as being a Captain in the Army Service Corps, having received a commission on 8th February 1915. His older brother John is recorded as being a Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, while his younger brother, Lionel, was a Captain in the Royal Field Artillery.

The mystery of Norman continued: he survived the conflict, but by February 1919 had been admitted to the Broadway Military Hospital in Sheerness, Kent. He passed away on 1st March, the cause of his passing not readily available. Captain Owen was 31 years of age.

The body of Norman Howell Owen was taken back to Pembrokeshire for burial. He was laid to rest in Fishguard Church Cemetery.

Norman died intestate: his family went through probate, and his effects – totalling £1003 8s 10d (approximately £67,000 today) were left to his father.

accident, Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, Kent, Lieutenant, Middlesex, photography, Royal Air Force, Royal Engineers, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Second Lieutenant, story, Surrey, war

Captain Percy Rawlings

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Captain Percy Rawlings

Percy Townley Rawlings was born on 22nd September 1887 in Clapham, Surrey. Details of his early life are sketchy, and most of the information comes from second hand accounts. His baptism record gives his parents as Edward and Lizzie Rawlings. Edward was listed as being a gentleman, but there is no record of the family on the 1891, or 1901 census returns.

He was educated at Westminster School and Cambridge University, where he obtained honours in the Mechanical Sciences Tripos.

In 1910 he went to Woolwich Arsenal as [an] advanced workshop student, and in the following year he obtained a Commission in the Royal Engineers…

In 1912 he entered the Public Works Department of the Sudan Government, and during 1913-14 acted as engineer to the Egyptian Irrigation Service on the construction of the Blue Nile Dam.

On the outbreak of the War he was sent to France [as a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers], in the 2nd Field Co., being transferred in the following year to the [Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve], for engineering duties with the [Royal Naval Air Service].

In 1917 he flew to Constantinople in a Handley-Page machine, and bombed the Goeben, for which he received the DSC.

[1921 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Obituaries]

By the end of the conflict, Percy had been promoted to Captain. After the Armistice he remained involved in the Royal Air Force, and was involved in testing the rapidly changing technology of flight.

A Tarrant triplane, constructed at the Royal Aircraft Factory, Farnborough, was wrecked on a trial flight on Monday. The machine, which had six engines, each developing 500 horse power, after running along the ground toppled forward and seemed to bury itself in the earth. One of the pilots… Captain Rawlings, has died, and the other, Capt. Dunn, is in a very grave condition.

[Waterford Standard: Wednesday 28th May 1919]

Captain Percy Rawlings’ Tarrant triplane after the crash

Captain Dunn also died in the crash, which happened on 26th May 1919. Percy was 31 years of age when he died.

A close friend, Henry Edmunds, wrote to the Flight Magazine to express his sympathy at the loss:

As a boy, Rawlings was always interested in scientific matters, particularly photography and motors..

He was manly, open, and frank, fearless and honest, of an enquiring mind, and fond of experimenting. I remember his pre-heating paraffin vapour electrically, as a fuel for explosive engines…

It was at my house at Brighton that Rawlings met Mr. W. G. Tarrant, who was spending the week-end with me. Rawlings had just returned from the famous flight in the Handley Page to Constantinople, where he bombed the ‘Goeben.’ I remember his describing vividly his impressions of that memorable journey. If I recollect correctly, he motored down to Folkestone somewhat rapidly. He told me he believed the police were on the look-out for him for exceeding the speed-limit; but he went from Folkestone by air, proceeding to Naples. It was delightful to hear him recount that remarkable voyage. Their fears lest they should not be able to cross some of the high mountain ranges with the heavy load they were carrying, and where, had anything happened, they would have been out of the reach of all human aid. How he availed himself of a special camera for photographing portions of his trip, the results of which he feared it might be unwise to disclose at that time, so he brought the negatives back with him, and I believe they wore kept personally until after the War.

He and Mr. Tarrant were mutually attracted to each other, and discussed with much seriousness the construction of a new type of bombing-plane, which eventuated in the great Tarrant machine. Rawlings joined Tarrant shortly afterwards, and devoted all his energies to carrying on the work of design and construction. On several occasions he came down to see me, and related his experiences. He was full of confidence as to the future of his work; and invited me to take my first flight with him.

Townley Rawlings was a gallant gentleman. Those whom the gods love are taken early.

[Flight Magazine: 29th May 1919]

The speeding incident is an interesting anecdote, another similar incident recorded in a separate newspaper report:

Chauffeur Summoned for Fast Driving

Capt. Rawlings, who was killed in the Tarrant triplane accident, should have appeared as a witness yesterday in the Kingston court.

His chauffeur, Arthur B Cogger, of West Byfleet, summoned for exceeding the limit, was driving Captain Rawlings to Farnborough on Saturday, before the accident.

He said the captain told him he wanted to get along as quickly as possible as he was going to test an aeroplane. He had intended to come to court.

The summons was dismissed.

[Dublin Daily Express: Saturday 31st May 1919]

Percy Townley Rawlings was laid to rest in Highgate Cemetery, possibly close to where he or his family had been living.

Australia, Australian Field Artillery, Bombardier, Commonwealth War Graves, Driver, Egypt, Great War, history, illness, Lance Serjeant, Middlesex, photography, Private, Sergeant, story, war, Wiltshire

Serjeant Richard Ford

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Serjeant Richard Ford

Richard Oscar Ford was born in Williamstown, Australia, in July 1891. The oldest of four children – and the only son – his parents were Anthony and Mary Ford. Anthony was a soldier, but Richard chose a different route and took work as a labourer when he completed his schooling.

There is little information available about Richard’s early life, but when war broke out, he stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 9th November 1914.

By this point he was working as a bushman, and his service papers reveal something of the man he had become. Standing 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, he weighed 140lbs (63.5kg), Private Ford had auburn hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Assigned to the Light Horse Regiment, Richard left Australia for Europe on in March 1915. His unit arrived on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 15th July, and he would remain there for the next five months.

In December 1915, Richard came down with a bout of influenza, and was medically evacuated to the island of Mudros, then on to Alexandria, Egypt. In January 1916, he was admitted to hospital again, this time suffering from gonorrhoea and, after treatment, he re-joined his unit on 2nd February.

Private Ford’s unit spent that spring training in Egypt, but on 29th May, they set sail for the Western Front. Within a week they had disembarked in the French port of Marseilles and headed north to Etaples.

The next couple of years would prove a little disjointed. Richard switched units in August 1916, and given the rank of Gunner, but within two months his role had changed to Driver. His service records suggest that he managed to avoid injury during the fighting he was involved in, but that did not mean that he avoided hospital completely.

In January 1917 Driver Ford was admitted to the 51st General Hospital with a heart murmur, returning to his unit on 16th March. He had a second spell in hospital in February 1918, having come down with laryngitis.

In July 1918, having spent some time at the 4th Army Corporal School, Richard was reassigned to the 3rd Australian Field Artillery. This move seemed to have been the focus he needed. Initially promoted to Bombardier, within a month he rose to Lance Corporal, and by December 1918 he was a full Sergeant.

After the Armistice was signed, Richard was given three weeks’ leave, which he spent in Britain. By January 1919, however, his health was becoming an issue again, and he was admitted to the military hospital in Fovant, Wiltshire, suffering from influenza. The condition worsened, and Sergeant Ford passed away from bronchopneumonia on 4th February 1919. He was 27 years of age.

Richard Oscar Ford was laid to rest in Highgate Cemetery, Middlesex. While there seems to be no direct connection between the location and the man, his father, Anthony, had been born in Hackney, so it can be assumed that there was a family link to the area.