Tag Archives: 1919

accident, Chaplain, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Dorset, Great War, history, London, photography, Royal Army Chaplain's Department, Somerset, story, war

Reverend George Sweet

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Reverend George Sweet

George Charles Walrond Sweet was born on 4th December 1889, the oldest of three children to Reverend Charles Sweet and his wife Maud. A Church of England vicar, Charles moved around with his work, and, when George was born, he was based in Winterborne Kingston in Devon.

George was sent away to school, and, by the time of the 1901 census, Charles and the family had moved to Milton Lilbourne in Wiltshire, to tend the local flock.

After school, George studied at Oxford, then followed in his father’s footsteps by taking holy orders, and was soon appointed rector of Symondsbury, Dorset.

When war broke out, his calling was to serve in the Royal Army Chaplain’s Department. Details of his time during the conflict are unclear, although by the spring of 1919, he was attached to the headquarters of the Army of the Rhine.

It was here that he met Phyllis Squire Hickson, who was serving as a Nurse in the Queen Mary’s Auxiliary Army Corps. The couple fell in love and, in June 1919 they returned to England to marry. The wedding occurred on 6th August 1919, and the newlyweds set off on honeymoon the following day.

On his honeymoon tour, the Revd. George C Walrond Sweet… was drowned on Thursday evening in the Cherwell at Oxford, in the presence of his wife.

Mr and Mrs Sweet engaged a punt at Tims’s boathouse and went for a trip on the river. On returning about seven o’clock, when within 300 yards of the boathouse, the punt pole was embedded in the mud and, in attempting to dislodge it the pole broke.

Mr Sweet fell on the side of the boat and then over-balanced into the river. His wife tried to reach him, but without success, and then jumped into a second punt and from that into another boat, but failed to reach him, and he disappeared. The body was not recovered until a quarter of an hour had elapsed, and life was then extinct.

Mr Sweet, who was an MA of Keble College, was only married on Wednesday at St James’s Church, West Hampstead…

[Phyllis’ father] Mr William Hickson… said his daughter became engaged to Mr Sweet in France. He did not meet him until last Tuesday. They came to England to be married. Mr Sweet met with a bicycle accident some years ago and [he] understood from his daughter that her husband was unable to swim or take any active exercise, but while he had been in France his health had much improved.

It was stated [at the inquest] that Mr and Mrs Sweet had been married only one day when the accident occurred and Dr Brooks, a university coroner, said that the tragedy was one of the saddest that had ever come under his notice.

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 13th August 1919

The inquest confirmed that the punt pole had broken about 2.5ft (0.76m) from the top. When George was dragged from the river, artificial respiration was carried out for around 50 minutes, but proved unsuccessful. The inquest returned a verdict of accidental death. George was just 29 years of age.

Reverend George Charles Walrond Sweet’s body was brought to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Cross Church in Sampford Arundel, more than likely because he or his father had been vicars there.

This was the second tragedy to befall the Sweet family. George’s younger brother, Leonard, had been schooled in Sherborne, then at the Military College in Sandhurst. He joined the 1st Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment as Second Lieutenant on 5th February 1913, and was promoted to full Lieutenant in September 1914, and Captain in October 1915.

Captain Sweet was then attached to the 29th Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, and gained his wings at the British Flying School in Le Crotoy, France, in August 1915. On 22nd June 1916, he was on patrol duty over the British lines, when he was involved in a skirmish, and his plane crashed, killing him instantly. He was just 23 years of age.

Captain Leonard Sweet was laid to rest at the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Poperinge, near Ypres.

Captain Leonard Sweet
(from findagrave.com)

Phyllis Sweet never remarried. By the time of the 1939 England and Wales Register, she was living in Bridport, Dorset, and working as a political organiser and speaker. She passed away in August 1944 in Cannock, Staffordshire, at the age of 63 years old.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Machine Gun Corps, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, Surrey, unknown, war

Private Robert Creasey

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Private Robert Creasey

Robert Thomas Creasey (also known as Thomas Robert Creasey) was born in the village of Ash, near Farnham in Surrey, on 3rd January 1896. He was the youngest of four children to Edwin and Elizabeth Creasey. Edwin was the landlord of the Standard of England public house in the village.

When he died in 1902, Elizabeth moved her family to Somerset, where she had been born and where she still had relatives living. With four young children to raise, she married again in April 1903, to local dairy farmer Frederick Gould.

Robert was working as a farmer when war was declared, but was one of the first to step forward and volunteer. He enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry and in the autumn of 1915 was involved in the fighting in Gallipoli.

In July 1916 Private Creasey transferred to the Machine Gun Corps. Sadly, little further information about his military life is available, but he survived the war, and returned home to Somerset on furlough, before being demobbed.

This is where Robert’s trail ends. He passed away at home on 15th February 1919, presumably from one of the lung conditions running rampant across a war-torn continent. He was just 23 years of age.

Robert Thomas Creasey was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Michael and All Angel’s Church in Angersleigh, Somerset, not far from where his mother lived.

Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Cornwall, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, Somerset, story, war

Boy Sidney Buttle

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Boy Sidney Buttle

Sidney Alfred Buttle was born on 7th November 1900, one of eight children to Walter and Alice Buttle. Walter was a brickyard labourer from the Somerset hamlet of Churchstanton, but it was in nearby Wellington that he and weaver Alice raised their young family.

Sidney was just 13 years old when war broke out, but he was a young man who appeared keen to play his part. On 31st July 1917, he enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve, a regiment that suggests that, even at his young age, he had some experience of working with boats.

His service records show that Sidney was just 5ft 2.5ins (1.59m) tall, had a fresh complexion with hazel eyes. Given the rank of Boy, he was initially posted to Falmouth, Cornwall, where he spent nine months training. After this, he spent a further six months on short postings as a deck hand, before being sent to HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Boy Buttle was, by this point, suffering from neurasthenia, a nerve disorder, and it was this condition that led to his eventual discharge from naval service in December 1918.

Sidney returned home, but seems to have been weakened by the condition. He passed away at home on 3rd August 1919, at the tender age of just eighteen years of age. He was laid to rest in Wellington Cemetery, not far from where his family still lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, North Somerset Yeomanry, photography, Private, Somerset, story, unknown, war

Private William Woodgate

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Private William Woodgate

Much of William Woodgate’s life seems destined to remain a mystery. He was born in Dunsford, Devon, in around 1877, and was the son of Lewis Woodgate.

By the age of 14, he was living on a farm on Bovey Tracey, working as an agricultural labourer for the farm owners, Thomas and Betsy Dayment. Ten years later, William had made the move to Wellington in Somerset, where he was lodging with the Denner family, and working as a carter.

On 20th June 1903, William married Mary Jane Grinter, a signalman’s daughter from Wellington; the couple went on to have three children, Lewis, Leonard and Francis. The young family set up home in North Street, near the centre of the town. By the 1911 census, William had changed profession, and was working as a fish salesman.

War was about to descend on Europe, and, in May 1916, William signed up to play his part. He was enlisted as a Private in the North Somerset Yeomanry, and was assigned to the 2nd/1st Battalion. His service record shows that he was 5ft 2.5ins (1.59m) tall, and weighed 117lbs (53kg), and had a fair physical development.

Private Woodgate did not see any service abroad: his battalion became part of the 6th Cyclist Brigade, and he was based in East Anglia and, for a short while, in Northumberland.

There is little further detail about Private Woodgate’s life. He survived the war, and was transferred to the Army Reserve on 9th February 1919, having served for just under three years.

At this point, William’s trail goes cold. He returned home to Somerset, and passed away nine months later, on 11th November 1919. He was 42 years of age.

William Woodgate was laid to rest in Wellington Cemetery, not far from where Mary and their children lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, Leading Stoker, Petty Officer, photography, Royal Navy, Somerset, Stoker, story, suicide, war

Stoker Petty Officer Wilson Woodbury

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Stoker Petty Officer Wilson Woodbury

Wilson John Woodbury was born on 8th December 1888, and was the third of seven children to Daniel and Elizabeth Woodbury. Daniel was a chair maker from Wellington, Somerset, and this is where the family – including six boys and one girl – were raised.

By the time of the 1901 census, Daniel had had a change of career – he was now working as an oil presser. His and Elizabeth’s oldest three boys, Wilson included, had also found work, and were employed as wool spinners.

Elizabeth passed away in 1906, when Wilson was just seventeen years old. This may have pushed him to bigger and better things, and a career. On 13th August 1908, at the age of 19, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class. His service record shows that he was 5ft 7.5ins (1.71m) tall, had light brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. It also noted that he had a tattoo of a cross on his right forearm.

Stoker Woodbury was initially trained at HMS Vivid – the naval dockyard at Devonport. On 9th February 1909, however, he was given his first posting, on board HMS Defence. He spent two years on board the armoured cruiser, and, gained a promotion to Stoker 1st Class.

During the remainder of his initial service, Wilson served on two further ships – HMS Sentinel and HMS Bellona – returning to Devonport between each posting. When he completed his five-year contract, Wilson voluntarily signed up for a further seven years with the Royal Navy.

As war came to Europe, Stoker Woodbury was given a number of assignments, on the battleships HMS Caesar and Lord Nelson, the cruisers HMS Blake and Apollo, and the depot ship HMS Blenheim. Further promotions followed – Leading Stoker in 1915 and Stoker Petty Officer two years later.

Wilson’s oldest brother, James, was serving in the Labour Corps during the conflict. Based in Northern France, he was assigned to the 720th Company, although further details are unclear. He almost survived the war unscathed, but contracted an illness of some description and died on 3rd November 1918, aged 34 years old. He was laid to rest in the Terlincthun British Cemetery in Wimille, France.

Stoker Petty Officer Woodbury returned home on leave in July 1919. The plan was to meet up with his fiancée who lived in Rockwell Green, near Wellington, but he instead turned up unexpectedly at his brother Fred’s home instead. Wilson said he had returned to Somerset because his girlfriend had broken off the engagement the previous week: the couple had been due to marry when he next came home on leave.

Fred told Wilson that she was not worth it, and they had gone drinking with a friend. Fred later said that on his previous leaves his brother had taken to drinking more than was good for him, but on that evening – Saturday 2nd August 1919 – he did not get drunk.

The following Monday, Stoker Petty Office Woodbury had taken himself down to the railway at Wellington, and been hit by a train. The action was deliberate, as, about his person were three letters. The first was to Daniel.

To My Dear Father,

Sorry to cause you any inconvenience or trouble, and please don’t worry about me, as I’m not fit to worry about. I have had this in mind for about a week. I can’t sleep and can’t eat, as I am broken-hearted, but not insane. This is through love. Now I must exit myself, and I am in great pain. Written at 4:15pm Sunday afternoon…

This is all I have to say in this world. Hoping you and my dear sister will soon forget their broken-hearted

Wilson John Woodbury.

Wilson’s second letter was to his only sister, Ivy. This included details of a parcel left on board his ship, in which was the ring he had given to his fiancée, which he asked that Ivy wear as a memory of him.

Knowing the implications of what he was doing, the third letter was addressed to the jury of the inquest.

My leave expires at 1pm, and my life expires just before by my own hand. I wait to get the chance to put a stop to my life. This would not have happened to bring disgrace on my relations. I am quite sane. Written at 2pm.

On the afternoon of Monday 4th August 1919, Wilson made his way to the Woodford crossing, a short distance from Wellington Railway Station.

…he waited by the side of the line at the crossing for a train, and as the Northern express approached he laid down with his head on the metals, being practically decapitated.

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 13th August 1919

The fiancée in question did attend Wilson’s inquest, although the Coroner did not think it was necessary to call her. The newspaper report referred to her, but not by name. She will remain a mystery.

Despite the evidence of his own hand, the inquest found that Stoker Petty Officer Woodbury had committed suicide while temporarily insane. He was just 30 years of age.

Wilson John Woodbury was laid to rest in the cemetery of his home town, Wellington.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, Kent, Lance Corporal, photography, Private, story, The Lancers, war

Lance Corporal Frederick Twist

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Lance Corporal Frederick Twist

Frederick William Twist was born in around 1884, the older of two children to William and Clara Twist. William had been born in Faversham, Kent, and was a labourer in the cement works there.

Frederick did not follow his father’s trade, however, and, on leaving school, he found work in the printing office of the Faversham News, before moving on to Filmer Bros., a local nursery and bulb grower. He was a keen member of the Salvation Army, and played in the local Corps’ band. After more than a decade at Filmer Bros., Frederick took up new employment with Salvation Army Insurance, and worked out of the Whitstable office.

In the spring of 1909, Frederick married Helen Bedster, a bargeman’s daughter from Faversham. At the time of their wedding, she was working as a servant for a brewer manager in the town. The couple settled down in a terraced house in the centre of the town, and went on to have two children.

When war broke out, Frederick was called upon to play his part, but his time in military service was to be a troubled one. A contemporary newspaper expanded on this:

The toll of war continues through nearly a year has elapsed since the war practically ceased… [following] the death of Lance Corporal Frederick William Twist, 16th Lancers, a Faversham man, who passed away at the Military Hospital Woolwich, after a great deal of suffering.

Lance Corporal Twist enlisted under the Derby Scheme and being called up in May 1916, he joined the 16th Lancers and was sent to Ireland. At the end of that year he was drafted to France but in the following May he was invalided home with trench fever.

On his discharge from hospital in Devonshire he returned to Ireland. Then in March of last year there came the great offensive on the Western Front and for the second time deceased was drafted to France. He was not, however, at all fit, and the result was that he was obliged to fall out.

After a further spell in hospital and convalescent camp at the base he was employed on light duty – stores keeping and clerical work – to which he stuck with dogged spirit until in June last he again broke down and was once more in hospital.

Later he was transferred to the Royal Herbert Hospital, Woolwich, where he died on October 7th – a fine example of a British soldier who had struggled, even against weakness and suffering, to do his duty to the very last.

Faversham News: Saturday 18th October 1919

Lance Corporal Frederick William Twist was 35 years of age when he passed. He was laid to rest in the Borough Cemetery of his home town, Faversham.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Quartermaster, Royal Garrison Artillery, Sergeant, story, war

Quartermaster Serjeant George Bunting

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Quartermaster Serjeant George Bunting

George William Willis Bunting was born in Faversham, Kent, in the spring of 1889. The middle of eleven children to George and Mary Ann Bunting, he was also the oldest boy. George Sr was a labourer in the town’s munitions works, and his son followed suit, and was recorded as a cordite labourer there in the 1911 census.

When war came to Europe, George Jr was keen to play his part. He enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery, and was assigned to the 343rd Siege Battery. While full details of his service are not available, George’s life was laid out in a newspaper report following his death:

The death has occurred in quite pathetic circumstances of Battery Quartermaster Sergeant George William Bunting, 1st Kent Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery… who, after serving throughout the war, and coming unscathed through more than three years service in France, though he had several narrow escapes, had died of pneumonia at his home, just as he was anticipating return to civil life.

BQMS Bunting joined the Faversham Volunteer Corps (in which his father also formerly served) some seven years before the war, and when was broke out he was at the annual training with the Battery. War service immediately followed and in 1915 he went to France and, except for leave, had been out there ever since until a few weeks back when he returned for demobilisation. He was not feeling at all well when he arrived home, indeed he seems to have been so unwell that when he got indoors he remarked “I’m done.”

His words, unhappily, were only too prophetic, for he never left the house again, pneumonia developing and culminating in his death on February 27th, only nice days after his arrival.

Prior to the war the deceased, who was in his 30th year and unmarried, had been employed at the Cotton Powder Works ever since he left school. At the commencement of his war service, he was a Corporal, but his keenness at his work steadily gained him promotion and eventually he reached the rank of Battery Quarter Master Sergeant. Keen and conscientious himself, he expected the same in others, and it says much for his example and influence that he was held in the very highest regard by the men of his Battery, while to his officers he was a greatly valued NCO.

Faversham News: Saturday 15th March 1919

Quartermaster Serjeant George William Willis Bunting died at his Faversham home on 27th February 1919. He was just 29 years of age. He was laid to rest in the town’s Borough Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, injury, Kent, photography, Rifle Brigade, Rifleman, Sergeant, story, war

Serjeant Frank Ely

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Serjeant Frank Ely

Frank Harold Ely was born in November 1889, and was the oldest of four children. His parents were coal porter Frank Ely and his wife, Florence. They were both born in Kent, and raised their family in their home town of Faversham.

When Frank Jr left school, he found work as a bottler, but he had his eyes set on bigger adventures. In January 1908, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the 1st Battalion of the Rifle Brigade. His service records show that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall and weighed 109lbs (49.5kg). Rifleman Ely had brown hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion. He was also noted as having a scat on his right knee.

Rifleman Ely’s early service was wholly territorial, but not without incident: in 1909 he was treated for tonsillitis, two years later, he received treatment for syphilis.

He was also not one to toe the line. In August 1911, he was reprimanded for not appearing at the 6:30am parade. On 9th March 1912, he was severely reprimanded for ‘improper conduct in town, at about 11:35pm’. On 25th September 1913, he was reprimanded once again, this time for irregular conduct – using the officers’ latrines.

When war came to Europe, the Rifle Brigade were soon in the thick of it. On 26th August 1914, Frank was wounded in the hand during fighting at Ligny, France, and was then captured and held as a prisoner of war in Hamelin until the spring of 1918.

Moved to the Netherlands, Rifleman Ely was finally released after the Armistice was signed, and returned to England on 19th November 1918. He was demobbed the following March, but re-enlisted within weeks, was given the rank of Serjeant and was due to be shipped to India to continue his service.

However, while at an army camp in Aldershot, Frank contracted pneumonia. The struggles the previous few years had had on his health proved too much for him, and, on 26th August 1919 – five years to the day that he had been shot and captured – Serjeant Ely passed away. He was 40 years of age.

Frank Harold Ely was brought back to his home town for burial. He was laid to rest in Faversham Borough Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Royal West Surrey Regiment, story, war

Private Frank Jacobs

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Private Frank Jacobs

Frank Jacobs was born on 17th March 1892, and was one of fifteen children to George and Amelia Jacobs. George was a machine worker from Ashford in Kent, but the family moved around the county, presumably for work, as the years went on. Frank was born in Riverhead, near Sevenoaks, but within a few years, the family had settle in Faversham.

George and Amelia appear to have separated when Frank was in his early teens. There are no death records for George until the 1920s, but Amelia had a son with her maiden name in 1905 and, by the time of the 1911 census, she was married to a George Appleton, and had been for just under a year.

The same census recorded the Appletons living in Faversham with five of Amelia’s children, including Frank, who was employed in a local tannery.

On 25th October 1913, Frank married Ivy Clark, the Faversham-born daughter of a cement works labourer. The couple went on to have two children, Ronald and Eileen, in 1915 and 1916 respectively.

When was broke out, Frank was keen to play his part. He initially enlisted as a Private in the 10th (Service) Battalion of The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), but at some point was transferred across to the Labour Corps. He served throughout the conflict, and was based on home soil for the duration.

Private Jacobs remained on active service through to the summer of 1919. By this point he had returned home to Kent, but the war had taken its toll, and he fell ill. He was admitted to the Military Hospital in Chatham, but died from his illness – possibly one of the lung conditions prevalent at the time – on 30th August 1919. He was 27 years of age.

Frank Jacobs was laid to rest in the Borough Cemetery near his family home in Faversham.

Private Frank Jacobs
(from findagrave.com)

Tragedy was to strike again for the Jacobs family. When the Second World War broke out, Frank and Ivy’s son Ronald enlisted. He joined The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) and, towards the end of the conflict, he was among those fighting in Italy.

Private Ronald Jacobs was killed on 19th April 1945, aged just 30 years old. He was buried in Argenta, Emelia-Romagna.

While Ronald had not left a widow or any children, his mother, Ivy, had now lost her husband and only son to European conflict.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, story, Sussex, war

Gunner William Reeves

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Gunner William Reeves

William Reeves was born in the summer of 1896, one of eleven children to James and Ruth Reeves. James was a house painter from Henfield in West Sussex, and it was there that he and Ruth raised their growing family.

When war came to Europe, William was keen to play his part. He enlisted as a Gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery, and, by October 1915, was in France.

Little information survives about Gunner Reeves’ military service, but by the time he was demobbed, he had earned the Victory and British Medals, the 1915 Star and the Silver War Badge. The latter award was given to those servicemen who had been honourably discharged from service due to wounds or sickness.

William returned to Sussex, but to a quieter home, James having passed away in the spring of 1916. William was also suffering with his health. He had contracted tuberculosis while in the army, and this is the condition to which he finally succumbed. He passed away on 16th December 1919, aged just 23 years old.

William Reeves was laid to rest in Henfield Cemetery, within walking distance of his family home.