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

Private Victor Sperring

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Private Victor Sperring

Victor William Sperring was born in the spring of 1897, in Lympsham, Somerset. One of nine children, his parents were James and Catherine Sperring. James was a farmer, 22 years older than his wife and, when he died in 1904, she was left to bring up the family alone. She remarried, to dairy farmer Frederick Butler, continuing the farming life.

Frederick died in 1914, and with her older children now in their 20s, Catherine’s sons took up the reins to keep the farm going. War was on the horizon now, and tragedy was never going to be far from the Sperring household.

Of the five brothers, at least two – Victor and his older brother, Hubert – stepped up to serve their King and Country. Hubert joined the Gloucestershire Regiment, rising to the rank of Lance Corporal in the 1st/6th Battalion. He was caught up at the Battle of the Somme, and was recorded as missing, presumed killed, on 21st July 1916. He was just 23 years of age, and is one of the tens of thousands of names commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in Northern France.

Victor also joined the Gloucestershire Regiment, but his story is less clear. Certainly by 1918 he was attached to one of the regiment’s depots, possibly on home soil. He was admitted to the 2nd Southern General Hospital in the autumn of 1918, and this is where he passed away on 16th November. He was just 21 years of age.

Victor William Sperring was brought back to Lympsham for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in St Christopher’s Churchyard.

It seems likely that illness is what took Victor’s life. Just a month later, his sister, Annie, also passed away: she was interred next to her brother.

Catherine’s grief must have been indescribable, having lost a husband and three children in a matter of years. She continued on, however, and, by the time of the 1939 England and Wales Register, she was living with her son Roland, supporting him with his farm. She died in October 1941, at the age of 77: she was buried with her family in St Christopher’s.

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

Private Albert Daymond

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Private Albert Daymond

Albert Daymond was born on 7th June 1893, in Porlock, Somerset. The youngest of seven children, his parents were Devon-born Albert and Maria, who was also born in Porlock. Albert Sr was a wall mason, and, by the time of the 1901 census, his work had moved the family to the sleepy village of Luccombe.

When he finished his schooling at the village’s Church of England School on 20th December 1908, Albert found employment in a bakery. This was the employment he would continue in until, in the summer of 1914, war broke out across Europe.

Albert enlisted on 9th October 1914, joining the West Somerset Yeomanry as a Private. Little information about his military service is available, although the Commonwealth War Grave Commission records note that he was known by the surnames of Daymond and Daiman.

Tragically, Private Daymond’s time in the army was not to be a long one. He passed away while in a camp in Minehead, Somerset, on 10th December 1914. The cause of his passing is not known, but he was just 21 years of age.

Albert Daymond was brought back to Luccombe for burial. He was laid to rest in the village’s St Mary’s Churchyard.

Albert’s older brother, Alfred, also served in the First World War. Read his story here.

Commonwealth War Graves, Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry, Great War, history, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, unknown, war

Private Alfred Daymond

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Private Alfred Daymond

Alfred Daymond was born on 9th July 1891, in Porlock, Somerset. The second youngest of seven children, his parents were wall mason Albert Daymond and his wife, Maria. By the time of the 1901 census, Albert’s work had moved the family to the sleepy village of Luccombe.

When Alfred finished his schooling, he followed his father into wall building. This was the career he was still following when, in 1914, war broke out.

Alfred was quick to play his part for King and Country. He enlisted on 4th November 1914, joining the Somerset Light Infantry. Private Daymond’s service records show that he was 5ft 10ins (1.78m) tall, with good vision and a fair physical development.

Initially serving as part of a territorial force, Alfred remained on home soil until September 1916. At this point he was transferred over to the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, and became attached to the 7th (Service) Battalion. Details of his time in the army are sketchy, but his troop certainly fought at the Somme in 1916, and at Ypres the following year.

In May 1917, Alfred returned to British shores. His health appears to have been suffering, although it is not clear from what ailment. On 8th February 1918, Private Daymond was discharged from army service as being no longer physically fit.

Alfred’s trail goes cold at this point. It is likely that he returned home to Luccombe, and this is where he passed away, on 11th November 1918, Armistice Day. He was 27 years of age.

Alfred Daymond was laid to rest in the family plot of St Mary’s Church, Luccombe. He was interred alongside his younger brother, Albert.

Alfred’s younger brother, Albert, also enlisted for war service. Read his story here.

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, Training Reserve Battalion, war, Wiltshire

Private Arthur Thorne

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Private Arthur Thorne

Arthur Reginald Vellacott Thorne was born at the start of 1899 in Bridgwater, Somerset. One of six children, his parents were Sidney and Bessie Thorne. Sidney was a butcher and, by the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to Chichester, West Sussex, where he had found employment in a sausage factory.

The Thornes’ time on the south coast was not to last long: they had moved to Timberscombe, back in Somerset, by the time Sidney and Bessie’s youngest child, daughter Ivy, was born in March 1908. Tragically their happiness was not to last for long: Sidney passed away in October that year, aged just 35 years old.

With six children under the age of 12 to raise, times would have proved tough for Bessie. Her oldest child – Arthur’s older brother, Sidney – went to live with his paternal uncle’s family in Taunton, and began learning the butchering trade. Bessie took on the role of caretaker at Timberscombe School where her five younger children were being taught.

Being a butcher was not Sidney’s chosen career path. When he turned 17, in March 1914, he enlisted in the Coldstream Guards, lying about his age to do so. Six months later he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal and attached to the 3rd Battalion. With war having been declared in Europe, he soon found himself on the Front Line, fighting in the First Battle of Ypres.

Over the next couple of years, Lance Corporal Thorne remained on the Western Front. He was killed in fighting on 15th September 1916: he was just 19 years of age. Sidney’s body was never identified: he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in Picardie.

Arthur’s trail had gone cold at this point, but when he turned 18 years old, his brother having passed just months before, he too was called up. Assigned as a Private in the 35th Training Reserve Battalion, he was sent to Bovington Army Camp in Dorset for his induction. While there, in the cramped conditions of the military barracks, he fell ill. He was admitted to the Salisbury and District Isolation Hospital, which treated infectious diseases, and this was to be where he passed away. Private Thorne was just 18 years of age, and Bessie had lost her two oldest boys.

While Sidney’s remains were never recovered, Arthur Reginald Vellacott Thorne was brought back to Somerset to be laid to rest. He was buried in the peaceful graveyard of St Petrock’s Church in Timberscombe, not far from his father.

Bessie was to our live four of her children. Her youngest two sons, Edwin and Cecil, were to die too young. Cecil passed away in Timberscombe in May 1922, when he was just 16. Edwin died in November 1929, at the age of 26 years old.

Bessie lived on until 1958, passing away in Minehead when she was 84 years of age.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, injury, Labour Corps, London Regiment, photography, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Frank Gunney

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Private Frank Gunney

Frank Gunney was born in Brushford, Somerset, in the spring of 1890. The youngest of four children, with two sisters and a brother, his parents were William and Mary. William was a groom-turned-gardener, but when Frank left school, he found other employment: by the time of the 1911 census, he was recorded as being a tailor.

Frank’s older brother, James, followed his father’s trade, becoming a groom when he finished his schooling. His work took him to South Wales, where he met and married Emma Lewis. The couple went on to have two children: Hilda and Kenneth. When war came to Europe, James enlisted, joining the Royal Army Service Corps as a Private.

Frank followed his brother into the army, enlisting in the Somerset Light Infantry on 11th December 1915. This must have proved a tragic time for his mother, Mary, as, just ten days later, William died “after a long and painful illness.” [Western Times: Friday 24th December 1915]

Frank’s service records give little away about the man he had become, but do note that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall. He was re-assigned to the 1st/21st Battalion of the London Regiment, and was sent to France in June 1916.

Private Gunney’s service papers suggest that he was injured on 9th September 1916, having received a gun shot wound to the head. He appears to have been treated on site, and there seems to be no notable break in his time on the front line.

James was killed in action on 7th April 1917: he was 33 years of age, and was laid to rest in the Warlincourt Halte British Cemetery in Saulty. Mary had lost a husband and a son within eighteen months, and James had left a widow and two children.

In March 1917, Private Frank Gunney had transferred to the Labour Corps, and aside from a six-month period on home soil, would remain in France until September 1919. He then returned to Britain, and was demobbed a month later.

Frank returned to Somerset, but his trail then goes cold. Two documents give an idea as to what happened next, however. The first is a newspaper report about his burial:

The funeral took place in All Saints’ Churchyard, Dulverton… of Mr F Gunney, only don of Mrs Gunney… who died on Tuesday last. Deceased served three years in France, and has been in failing health practically ever since demobilisation, although the end came rather suddenly.

Western Times: Tuesday 22nd March 1921

His army Pension Ledger Card, confirms that he had been discharged from the army because of a ‘septic wound to his left thumb’, which was due to his military service. It appears that this had festered over the ensuing years: Frank Gunney passed away on 15th March 1921, aged 30 years of age.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Army Medical Corps, Somerset, story, war

Private Bertie Parsons

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Private Bertie Parsons

Bertie James Parsons was born in the summer of 1889, and was the fourth of six children to James and Elizabeth Parsons. James was a quarryman and slate-maker from Somerset, and he and Elizabeth raised their family in the parish of Ashbrittle.

While his older siblings found farm work in this peaceful part of the county, Bertie found employment as a baker’s assistant. This meant a move away from Somerset, and, by the time of the 1911 census, he was apprenticed to a bakery in the Crediton area of Devon.

The following year proved a tragic one for the Parsons family. Bertie’s younger brother, Richard, had found work as a hall boy for an estate in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire. This was to prove a springboard for him, and he landed work for one of the new class of liners ploughing the waters of the Atlantic. Employed as a 2nd Class Steward, he was employed on the RMS Titanic and, like most of the ship’s 900 crew, he perished on that fateful night of 15th April 1912.

Among the large number of souls who perished with the Titanic recently we regret to report that among that number was a young man named Richard Parsons, aged 18, a native of Ashbrittle, and whose relatives still live in the neighbourhood, his father, James Parsons, being an invalid.

The deceased, who a couple of years ago embarked on a seafaring life, was on board the Olympic when it collided with the Hawke, and he left his home about a month ago, and journeyed to Belfast to assist in getting the Titanic ready for her maiden voyage.

He was particularly pleased at being appointed to a post on the largest ship in the world.

Deceased, who was a bright lad and much respected in the village, occupied the position of lift steward on his previous boat, and on the Titanic was a steward in a second-class dining saloon.

He was unable to swim.

Somerset County Gazette: Saturday 27th April 1912
Steward 2nd Class Richard Parsons

Back in Devon, Bertie was still working as a baker. When war came to Europe, however, he stepped up to play his part. While full service details are not available, it is clear that he enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps as a Private. He was attached to the 2nd/1st Wessex Field Ambulance, who were sent to France in January 1916.

Private Parsons saw action – or helped treat the results of it – at some of the key battles on the Western Front: the Somme, Ypres, Cambrai, Givenchy and Festubert. In the autumn of 1917, Bertie returned home to marry Florence Riddaway, a milliner from Bow, Devon, who he had courted while working in nearby Crediton. The couple went on to have a son, Douglas, who was born on 26th May 1918.

It is unclear how long Bertie remained in the army after the Armistice was signed. By the summer of 1920, he was back on British shores, and had fallen ill. He was admitted to hospital in Bath with acute staphlococcic infection and a cerebral embolism. He died in hospital on 13th August 1920, at the age of 31 years old.

The body of Bertie James Parsons was taken back to Ashbrittle for burial. He was laid to rest in the village’s St John the Baptist Churchyard.

Tragedy was to remain close by for the Parson family. Florence was a couple of months pregnant when Bertie died. Bertie Jr was born on 26th March 1921, but both mother and son died during childbirth. They were laid to rest near her family in Devon.

Douglas, just two years old, was now an orphan. There is little information about his life in the aftermath of his parents’ passing, but by the time of the 1939 Register, he was working as a motor mechanic in Wellington, Somerset. He lived on until 1993, passing away in Taunton Deane, at the age of 74.

Bombardier, Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Garrison Artillery, Somerset, story, war

Bombardier Albert Packer

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Bombardier Albert Packer

Albert Edward Farvis Packer was born in Bristol, Gloucestershire, in 1890. The middle of three children, his parents were Francis and Eliza. Francis was a grocer, and when Albert finished his schooling, he worked as his father’s assistant.

Albert went on to work as a butcher’s manager for Messers. John Lewis and Sons in Midsomer Norton. By the time of the 1911 census, he was living in Batheaston with his parents and younger sister, Elsie. When war broke out, Albert stepped up to play his part, following in his older brother’s footsteps. He enlisted in Taunton on 9th December 1915: his service records showed that he was 5ft 10.5ins (1.79m) tall.

Gunner Packer was assigned to the Royal Garrison Artillery. Initially posted to a depot in Cornwall, he was soon assigned to the 173rd Siege Battery, and found himself in France by the beginning of October 1916. Albert remained overseas for the next fourteen months and, in March 1917, was appointed Acting Bombardier.

On 12th December 1917, Albert returned home on leave and, five days later, he married his sweetheart, stationery shop assistant Dorothy Flower, in St Paul’s Church, Bath. The couple made their way to Bristol, to stay with Dorothy’s parents, but Albert fell ill. He was admitted to the 2nd Southern General Hospital in Bristol, suffering from pleurisy and double pneumonia. The condition was to prove too much for his body, and he passed away, while still admitted, on 27th December 1917. He was just 27 years of age.

Albert Edward Farvis Packer was taken back to Bath for burial. He was laid to rest in the sweeping vista of the city’s Locksbrook Cemetery.

In less than a fortnight, Dorothy had become the blushing bride and a widow. She was to go on and find happiness, however. On 20th February 1920, she married Sapper Sidney Bethell, of the Royal Engineers. Their wedding was in Jamaica, where he was based, and the couple went on to have a daughter, Phyllis, the following year.

Sidney and Dorothy eventually settled in Hertfordshire. He died in 1953, at the age of 59: Dorothy passed the next 38 years as a widow again, passing away on 26th December 1991 – almost exactly 74 year after Albert – at the age of 93.

Albert’s older brother, Francis Packer, also fought and died in the First World War. His story can be found here.

Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, killed in action, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, war

Gunner Stanley Parry

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Gunner Stanley Parry

Stanley William Parry was born in the spring of 1890 in St George’s on the outskirts of Bristol, Gloucestershire. One of four children to Herbert and Susannah Parry, Stanley was a twin to brother Roland. Herbert was a commercial clerk for a chemical manufacturer, and this afforded the Parry boys a level of education, with both Roland and Stanley attended the Colston Endowed School in Bristol.

Tragically, Susannah had died when Stanley and Roland were just 3 years old: their younger brother, Wilfred, had died the year before, when just a babe-in-arms. By the time of the 1911 census, Herbert had moved the family to Portishead. He was still working as a clerk, while both of the twins were employed as insurance clerks. Their older brother, Edwin, was also a clerk, in the docks at Bristol, and Herbert had employed a live-in housekeeper, Mary Govier, to look after him and his sons.

When war came to Europe, both Stanley and Roland enlisted. The two of them joined the Royal Field Artillery as Gunners. While full service records are not available, Stanley was assigned to the 40th Trench Mortar Battery, while Roland became attached to A Battery of the 240th Brigade.

Stanley was serving in France in the summer of 1916, when he became ill.

The funeral took place on Saturday afternoon, at Portishead Cemetery, of Gunner Stanley Wm Parry, who… died at Mile End Hospital, London, on September 19th. The deceased, who was 27 years of age, was always somewhat delicate in health, but was anxious to serve his King and country, and joined the [Royal Field Artillery]. He was brought to London from France on the previous Saturday suffering from enteritis, and although he lived until his father reached him, he died shortly after. He was the third son of Mr HC Parry… whose two other sons are also serving, one in France and the other in Egypt.

Bristol Times and Mirror: Monday 25th September 1916

Gunner Stanley William Parry was laid to rest in Portishead Cemetery, just a short distance from the family home.

Gunner Stanley Parry
(from findagrave.com)

Roland continued to serve his country in France, but tragedy was to strike the family once more.

Mr HC Parry… has received the sad intelligence that his son, Rowland G Parry [sic], of the [Royal Field Artillery], was killed in action on the 17th September. A letter from deceased’s officer stated that Gunner Parry was returning to the battery when a shell burst on the track, killing deceased instantaneously, death being absolutely painless. The letter further states that Gunner Parry had been a very valuable member of the battery, and will be missed by them all. Gunner Parry was the second of Mr Parry’s three sons to lay down his life in the great fight, a twin brother having died in a military hospital in London last year. The other son, the eldest, is serving in Palestine.

Bristol Times and Mirror: Saturday 29th September 1917

Roland George Parry was 28 years of age when he died. He was laid to rest in the Vlamertinghe New Military Semetery, in Ypres.

Gunner Roland Parry
(from findgrave.com)

Herbert Parry passed away in the summer of 1920, at the age of 62. He had outlived three of his sons, as well as being a widower for 27 years. He was laid to rest in Portishead Cemetery with his son Stanley.

Edwin Parry, Stanley and Roland’s older brother, had returned from the First World War by the summer of 1919. He resumed his work as a clerk at the docks in Bristol, and married schoolteacher Annie Homewood in August 1919. They went on to have three children, Barbara, Gwladys and Roland. Edwin died in September 1959, at the age of 71 years old.

Commonwealth War Graves, Essex, Gloucestershire Regiment, Great War, Hampshire, history, India, injury, Malta, photography, Private, Sergeant, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Walter Fry

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Private Walter Fry

The youngest of three children to William and Annie, Walter Harold Fry was born in the summer of 1897 in Shepton Mallet, Somerset. William’s job as a railway guard and porter meant the family moved around the area and, by the time of the 1901 census, they had settled in Twerton, to the west of Bath.

Little information is available about Walter’s early life and, indeed, documents from that time seem to record him as both Walter Harold and Harold Walter. When war came to Europe, He was keen to serve his country, presumably because his older brother, William Jr, was already serving overseas in the Somerset Light Infantry.

Walter enlisted in the Gloucestershire Regiment, and, as a Private, was assigned to the 4th (City of Bristol) Battalion. His initial training took place in Wiltshire and Essex, but by March 1915, the battalion had been sent to the Western Front.

Private Fry’s service records no longer exist, by his headstone, in the family plot, suggests that he was injured in France in March 1916. He was medically evacuated back to Britain, although, again, details are sketchy, and admitted to a military hospital in Aldershot, Hampshire.

At this point, Walter’s trail goes cold. The next record for him is that of his passing, while still admitted to the hospital, on 31st December 1916. He was just 19 years of age.

The body of Walter Harold Fry was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Bath’s Twerton cemetery, a short walk from the family home.

Walter’s brother William had enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry by 1911. That year’s census recorded him as being billeted at St Andrew’s Barracks in Malta, but by the time war broke out, his troop, the 2nd Battalion, was based in Quetta, India.

He remained based in this far outpost for the duration of the conflict and, while his service records are no longer available, he seemed to have been dedicated to his job as, by October 1918, he had risen to the rank of Sergeant.

William was based in Rawalpindi by that point, and it was here that he died, through causes unknown, on 31st October 1918. He was 26 years of age.

Buried in Rawalpindi Military Cemetery, Sergeant William Fry is also commemorated on the family grave in Twerton.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, London, London Regiment, photography, Private, Rifleman, Somerset, story, Training Reserve Battalion, war

Private Harry Izzard

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Private Harry Izzard

Harry Izzard was born early in 1900, in Chiswick, London and was one of six children to Albert and Florence Izzard. Albert was a groom, but when he died in 1905, Florence, left with a young family to raise, remarried. Things seem not to have gone well between Harry and his stepfather, Richard Warren, and he soon found himself resident of the Church Army Home in London.

In 1914, his schooling complete, he was sent to the village of Clandown in Somerset, where he was employed at the local colliery. He seemed to have flourished in his new life, and he “made friends with all he came in contact with, being of a bright and cheerful disposition and associated with the football club, Wesleyan Young Men’s Bible Class and an ardent temperance worker.” [Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer: Friday 26th April 1918]

Harry was one of the village’s batch of miners passed for the Army ballot, but seemed eager not to wait to be officially called up. On the day of the ballot, he instead joined up voluntarily, enlisting in the 86th Training Reserve Battalion.

On enlistment he was sent to Clipstone Camp, Notts, where he quickly made friends. He, however, was placed on the sick list… and underwent [an] operation for appendicitis from which operation he never recovered.

Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer: Friday 26th April 1918

Private Izzard died on 20th April 1918, aged just 19 years old, a life of new promise cut tragically short. His connection with Clandown, and his disconnection from his family in London, was such that his body was brought back to Somerset for burial.

Harry Izzard was laid to rest in the quiet Holy Trinity Churchyard, his sister Mabel being the only family member represented at the service.

Harry’s older brother Herbert Izzard also served in the army. He had found work as a laundry labourer when he left school, and went on to marry Maud Woodage on 14th February 1915. The couple had a daughter, Winifred, later that year.

Herbert enlisted in the London Regiment as a Rifleman, and was assigned to the 17th Battalion, also known as the Poplar and Stepney Rifles. He soon found himself in France and was killed at the Somme on 19th April 1916. He is buried at the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery in Souchez.

Tragically, Herbert’s widow died in Oxfordshire in December 1918, leaving young Winifred an orphan at just three years old. She went on to live a long life, dying in 1997, at the age of 81.