Tag Archives: brother

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, King's (Liverpool Regiment), Merseyside, photography, Private, Second Lieutenant, Somerset, South Lancashire Regiment, story, war

Private Joseph Roe

Leave a comment
Private Joseph Roe

Joseph Leonard Roe was born on 16th February 1892 in Totnes, Devon. The older of two children, his parents were Francis and Mary Roe. Mary died in 1898, when Joseph was only six years old, leaving Francis, who was a traveller for a wholesale grocer, to raise his sons. Tragically, he also passed away in 1902, and it seems that Joseph and his brother were left in the care of their paternal grandmother.

Hope was to come out of adversity – the 1911 census recorded Joseph as boarding in a school in Tiverton, while his brother, who was called Francis, found work as a clerk at a chartered accountant. He was living with his grandmother Mary and aunt Marian in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Joseph followed in his father’s footsteps, finding work as a chemist’s merchant, and this took him travelling across the country. When war broke out, he was living in Wallasey, Merseyside, and it was from here that, on 28th August 1914, he was to enlist.

Joseph’s service records show that he was 5ft 11ins (1.80m) tall, was of good physical development and had good vision. He was accepted for enlistment into The King’s (Liverpool Regiment), and was assigned to the 10th (Scottish) Battalion.

After a coupe of months’ training, Private Roe set sail for France, arriving in Le Havre on 1st November 1914. His time overseas, however, was to be cut short, however, when he contracted a combination of myalgia, bronchitis and diarrhoea. He was medically evacuated back to Britain on 30th November, and given time to recover.

Private Roe remained on home soil for the remainder of his time in the army. However, he continued to suffer with his health. In the spring of 1916, he contracted tuberculosis and was at his grandmother’s home when he passed away on 4th April. He was just 24 years of age.

Joseph Leonard Roe was laid to rest in Totnes Cemetery, buried in the family grave, and reunited with his parents at last.

Francis, meanwhile, had also played an active part on the First World War. He joined the 2nd Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment and fought on the Western Front.

While at Etaples, he was wounded, and succumbed to his injuries on 7th January 1916, aged just 21 years old. Second Lieutenant Francis Roe was buried at Etaples Military Cemetery in Northern France.

His sacrifice is also commemorated on the family monument in Totnes Cemetery.

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

Private Frank Bates

Leave a comment
Private Frank Bates

Frank Bates was born on 29th June 1893, in Cuckfield, West Sussex and was the fourth of five children. His parents were tailor William Bates and his wife, Sarah.

Tragedy was to be a constant companion to the Bates family. Frank’s older brother, William, died in November 1907 after a protracted illness, at the tender age of just 19 years old. Four years later, his younger sister, Maggie, also passed away after an illness. She was just 21 years of age.

When he left school, Frank went into the service of the Messel family, who owned the Nyman’s estate close to where Frank and his family lived. When war was declared, however, he was keen to play his part, enlisting soon after hostilities were announced in August 1914.

Private Bates joined the 4th (Home Service) Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment and was sent to Newhaven for training. It was while he was here that he fell ill, and, having caught a chill, he returned to Cuckfield to recuperate. Sadly, his condition worsened, and he passed away at his family home on 31st January 1915. He was just 21 years old.

Frank Bates was laid to rest in Cuckfield cemetery, resting not far from his siblings.

Tragedy was to strike one more time for William and Sarah. Frank’s older brother Jack served as a Private in the 2nd/4th Battalion of the London Regiment. In the spring of 1918, he was caught up in that year’s Battles of the Somme, including fighting at St Quentin and Avre.

In May 1918, Private Bates was officially reported as missing, but it was later confirmed that he had died of injuries sustained in the fighting. He passed away on 16th April 1918, at the age of 29 years old.

Jack was laid to rest at the Chauny Communal Cemetery in Picardie, France, and is also commemorated in Cuckfield Cemetery.

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

Leave a comment
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, Cornwall, Deck Hand, Devon, Glamorganshire, Great War, Gunner, Hampshire, history, illness, Kent, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, Royal Naval Reserve, story, war

Deck Hand Philemon Richards

Leave a comment
Deck Hand Philemon Richards

Philemon Witheridge Richards was born on 9th July 1891 in Porthleven, Cornwall. He was one of at least seven children to George and Ann Richards. George was a sailor, as were he two oldest sons and, by the late 1890s, the family had made the move to Penarth in Glamorganshire.

When he left school, Philemon followed his father and older brothers into sailing. By the time he turned eighteen, George had passed away and Philemon wanted bigger and better things. On 16th July 1909, he enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery. His service records show that he stood 5ft 9.5ins (1.76m) tall, had good vision and was of good fitness.

Gunner Richards was posted to No. 6 Company and remained part of the territorial force. On 1st July 1911, after twenty months’ service, he was, at his own request, discharged from the army.

The trail goes cold for a while, and Philemon seems to have returned to a life at sea. This changed, however, when war broke out and, in October 1915, he was drafted into the Royal Naval Reserve as a Deck Hand.

Philemon’s time in service seems to have been shore-based however. After an initial posting to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport, he moved to HMS Victory, which was the name given to the dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire. He moved on again in the autumn of 1916, by which point he was based at HMS Pembroke, the Royal Navy’s shore-base in Chatham, Kent.

It was here that Deck Hand Richards fell ill. It is unclear what the condition was, but he was admitted to the Military Hospital in Chatham on 20th October 1916. His illness worsened, and he passed away there on 2nd November. He was just 25 years of age.

Philemon Witheridge Richards was brought back to Glamorganshire for burial. He lies at rest in the graveyard of St Augustine’s Church in Penarth.

Philemon’s gravestone is also dedicated to his brother, Thomas Witheridge Richards. Eighteen years Philemon’s senior, Thomas had been a sailor, and, while no records remain, it seems likely that he may also have been called into service during the First World War. He died at home on 4th July 1918, at the age of 45 years old. He was laid to rest in the same plot as his younger brother.

Berkshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Lieutenant, Midshipman, photography, Royal Navy, Second Lieutenant, Somerset, story, war

Lieutenant Alexander Spurway

Leave a comment
Lieutenant Alexander Spurway

Alexander Popham Spurway was born on 8th April 1891 in Newbury, Berkshire. He was the second of six children to Edward and Gertrude Spurway. Edward was a clergyman, and the family moved to Heathfield in Somerset when Alexander was a small boy. Education was key to Edward and, the 1901 census records show Alexander as being a boarder at the Portmore School in Weymouth, Dorset.

Reverend Spurway set the family up well in Heathfield: by the time of the next census in 1911, the family were living in the village rectory, with five members of staff.

Alexander, meanwhile, had taken a different route, entering the Royal Naval College at Osborne on the Isle of Wight in January 1904. He was a keen sportsman and, while there, he represented the college at both cricket and football.

In September 1908, he passed out from the college as a Midshipman, and served on HMS Canopus in the Mediterranean. His career continued, and he was made Sub-Lieutenant in December 1911, and Lieutenant two years later.

Reverend Spurway died at home in February 1914 and, by the time war broke out, Lieutenant Spurway was assigned to HMS Achilles. He remained on board the cruiser for the next two years and it was during this time that he developed diabetes: something that was to prove an ongoing issue for him.

Returning home in the autumn of 1915, the condition was to prove too much, and he passed away on 29th November 1915, at the age of 24 years old.

Alexander Popham Spurway was laid to rest in the graveyard of his late father’s church, St John the Baptist in Heathfield.

Lieutenant Spurway (from findagrave.com)

Sadly, Alexander was not the only member of the Spurway family to lose their life as a result of the war.

Richard Popham Spurway, Alexander’s older brother, was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Somerset Light Infantry, and was attached to the Hampshire Regiment, when it was moved to Gallipoli in 1915. He was killed on 13th August 1915, and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial at Canakkale, Turkey.

Alexander’s younger brother, George Vyvyan Spurway, joined the Royal Fusiliers, before transferring to the Machine Gun Corps. He had arrived in France in September 1916, and was killed while fighting on the Western Front on 28th March 1918. He was laid to rest at Arras and is commemorated on the memorial there.

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

Reverend George Sweet

Leave a comment
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, Lance Corporal, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, unknown, war

Private Tom Simmons

Leave a comment
Private Tom Simmons

Tom Simmons was born early in 1889, one of fourteen children to William and Elizabeth Simmons. William was a farm labourer from Devon, who had moved to Runnington, near Wellington in Somerset, with Elizabeth in the late 1880s. This was where their growing family was born and raised.

Tom found work away from Somerset when he left school and, by the time of the 1911 census, he was lodging in a house in Llanwonno, Glamorgan. He was employed as an assistant machine repairer at the local colliery.

War was beginning to encroach on England’s shores, and Tom was to play his part. Full service details are not available, but he enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps and served as part of a territorial force. For the part he played, he was awarded the Victory and British Medals and the Silver War Badge.

It would seem that Private Simmons survived the war and was demobbed, returning to Somerset at some point by the end of 1919. Sadly, his trail goes cold: the next record available is of his death – through causes unspecified – at home on 20th January 1920, at the age of 31 years old.

Tom was buried in Wellington Cemetery, not far from his family home.

Tom’s headstone also includes a dedication to a Lance Corporal F Simmons.

Frederick Simmons was seven years younger than his brother. When he left school, he worked as a wool spinner in the local wool mill. When war came to Europe, he too played his part. Again, full details of his service are sketchy, but he enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry.

Like Tom, Frederick served as part of the territorial force, and worked his way to the rank of Lance Corporal. After the war he returned home, but his life there was not set to be a long one. He passed away, through causes not noted, on 26th December 1926. He was just 30 years of age.

Frederick was laid to rest in the same grave as his brother. Technically not entitled to an official Commonwealth War Grave (the rules are laid out here), his service was remembered alongside that of Tom’s.

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

Private Herbert Macklin

Leave a comment
Private Herbert Macklin

Herbert Macklin was born in Lambeth, Surrey, on 14th August 1897, the youngest of six children to Enos and Sarah Macklin. Enos was a general labourer and, after his mother died in 1909, Herbert worked around his school as a baker’s errand boy, to bring in a little more money for his family.

After Enos passed away in 1912, and with his older sisters all having families of their own, Herbert and his older brother William did what they could to survive, getting some support from the local poor school.

The outbreak of war gave the brothers a sense of purpose, and both enlisted. William joined the Royal Field Artillery, and was sent to France in September 1915.

Herbert, being six years younger than his brother, enlisted later than his sibling. He joined the Middlesex Regiment, on 10th May 1916, and his service records show that he was 5ft 4.5ins (1.64m) tall, 126lbs (57.2kg) in weight and had a fair physical development. While Herbert had a fair physical development, he was also recorded as having flat feet, which somewhat limited his army service.

Private Macklin transferred across to the Devonshire Regiment a few months after enlisting. He was then assigned to the regiment’s Labour Corps in the summer of 1917, and remained with them for the rest of his service.

While William was serving abroad, Herbert remained on home soil for the duration. By the spring of 1918, he was working in Kent, but was admitted to hospital in Faversham, suffering from acute tonsillitis. Sadly, this was to prove too much for Private Macklin’s body to take: he suffered cardiac failure, and died on 12th April 1918. He was 21 years of age.

Herbert Macklin was laid to rest in the Borough Cemetery of the town in which he passed, Faversham.

Tragedy was to strike again for the Macklin brothers: as the war moved into its closing months, Driver William Macklin was based in Salonika, Greece. He was not to see England’s shores again, sadly: he passed away on 23rd November 1918, aged just 27 years old.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, history, Kent, Kent Royal Garrison Artillery, killed in action, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, story, war

Gunner Ernest Millgate

Leave a comment
Gunner Ernest Millgate

Ernest Millgate was born in late 1893, the fifth of six children to Henry and Agnes. Henry was a brewer’s drayman from Boughton, Kent, but it was in nearby Faversham that he and Agnes raised their family.

Ernest found work as a labourer in the town’s Cotton Powder Works, but when war was declared, he was one of the first to enlist. He joined the Royal Garrison Artillery as a Gunner on 5th September 1914, and was billeted nearby on the Isle of Sheppey. His service records show that he stood 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, had fair hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.

Gunner Millgate’s military service was to be tragically short, as a contemporary local newspaper was to report:

A terrible tragedy occurred at Minster, Sheppey, on Tuesday morning last, Ernest Millgate… who joined the Kent Heavy Battery barely a fortnight ago, being accidentally shot by a comrade, George Walter Cornelius… a gunner of three years’ service in the same Battery.

Gunner Cornelius, it appears, was handling a rifle preparatory to going on sentry duty shortly after eleven o’clock on Tuesday morning. On examining the rifle he had found that the magazine was charged but that there as no charge in the bore. Apparently the cut-off was in operation, for he pulled the trigger and there was no discharge. He examined the breech a second time and, afterwards pulled the trigger again. To his dismay there was this time a discharge and Millgate, who was standing near, fell dead, having been shot through the head. The theory is that Cornelius’ great coat, which he was wearing, caught in and released the cut-off, thereby bringing the magazine into operation.

Faversham Times and Mercury and North-East Kent Journal: Saturday 19th September 1914

An inquest was held, and it was a verdict of accidental death was given.

Gunner Ernest Millgate was just 21 years old, and had been in the service of the army for just eleven days. His body was brought back to Faversham, and he lies at rest in the town’s Borough Cemetery, just a few minutes walk from the home he had left just a fortnight before.

The same newspaper also ran a report on on Ernest’s older brother, Henry.

Private Millgate was a volunteer for the Northumberland Fusiliers, and was called into active service a couple of weeks before his brother. He had been caught up in the fighting at Mons, le Cateau and the Marne, and was, according to the newspaper, injured.

Medically evacuated to England for treatment, at the time of his brother’s funeral he was in a hospital in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Henry survived the war; he and his wife, Elizabeth, had two children, and he lived until 1939, passing away at the age of 52 years old.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, India, Kent, photography, Rifle Brigade, Rifleman, story, war

Rifleman Frederick Burstow

Leave a comment
Rifleman Frederick Burstow

Frederick William Burstow was born in the summer of 1893, and was one of thirteen children. His parents were plasterer Alfred Burstow and his wife, Lydia. Both came from Sussex, and it was in Bexhill-on-Sea where they raised their family.

There is little documented about Frederick’s early life, but he sought a life outside of Sussex and, in around 1900, he enlisted in the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, serving in India for a time.

Rifleman Burstow was still serving when, in August 1914, war was declared. His battalion was sent to France that November, and he ended up serving two terms on the Western Front.

In the summer of 1915, Frederick married Priscilla Epps. She was from Faversham, Kent, and this is where the couple set up home together.

It was while on his second term in France that Rifleman Burstow became ill. He had contracted enteric fever – also known as typhoid – and, at the beginning of 1916, he was sent home to recuperate. While here, Priscilla gave birth to a child, Alice.

Sadly, however, Frederick’s condition was to get the better of him: he passed away at home on 16th March 1916, at the age of just 24 years old.

Frederick William Burstow was laid to rest in the Borough Cemetery in his adopted home town of Faversham.

Rifleman Frederick Burstow
(from ancestry.co.uk)

Frederick was not the only Burstow family member to die during the war. His older brother, Arthur Edward James Burstow, fought on the Western Front with the 2nd Battalion of the London Regiment.

Private Burstow was caught up in the fighting in Arras in the spring of 1918, and was killed in action on 13th April. He was 38 years of age, and left behind a widow and six children.

Arthur Edward James Burstow is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium.