Tag Archives: Dardanelles

Commonwealth War Graves, Essex, Great War, history, illness, injury, Lancashire, Malta, New Zealand, New Zealand Canterbury Regiment, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Job Jefferies

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Private Job Jefferies

Job Jefferies was born on 12th October 1889 in the city of Timaru, on New Zealand’s South Island. The sixth of ten children, his parents were William and Ada Jefferies.

There is little information available about Job’s early life, but by the time war broke out, he had moved to Kongahu, at the northern tip of South Island. He was working as a labourer, and was employed by the Public Works Department.

Job was quick to step up and serve his country. He enlisted in the New Zealand Infantry on 12th February 1915, and was assigned to the Canterbury Regiment. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 10.75ins (1.79m) tall, and weighed 170lbs (77.1kg).

Private Jefferies left New Zealand in the summer of 1915, and his service record makes for grim reading.

On 9th August 1915, Job’s unit arrived in the Dardanelles, and he was firmly entrenched in the fighting at Gallipoli. Wounded on 5th September, he was initially treated at a casualty clearing station, before being medically evacuated first to Malta, then to Britain. He was admitted to the No. 2 Western General Hospital in Manchester, Lancashire, and would spend the next seven months there.

On 12th May 1916, Private Jefferies was on the move, leaving his base in Hornchurch, Essex, for the Western Front. He re-joined his unit on 7th July, but just nine days later was wounded at the Somme. Medically evacuated to Britain again, he spent the next couple of months being moved between hospitals. Discharged back to base in Hornchurch, Essex at the end of September, he would spend the next four months recuperating once more.

By February 1917, it would seem that Private Jefferies had been moved to Sling Camp near Bulford, Wiltshire. While there, he fell ill, and was admitted to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in nearby Codford. He was suffering from pneumonia, and this time his body could take no more. Job passed away on 7th February 1917: he was 27 years of age.

Job Jefferies was laid to rest alongside his fellow soldiers in the ANZAC extension to St Mary’s Churchyard, Codford.

Private Job Jefferies
(from findagrave.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Egypt, Essex, Great War, Greece, history, illness, injury, Lance Corporal, Middlesex, New Zealand, New Zealand Otago Regiment, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private James McLeod

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Private James McLeod

James McLeod was born on 15th April 1893 in Dunedin, New Zealand. There is little further information about his early life, although the Commonwealth War Graves Commission give his father’s name as Samuel, and his service records note his next-of-kin as his brother, George McLeod.

James was employed by A&T Watt as a French polisher. However, he gave that up on 25th January 1915, when he enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. His service records show that he was 5ft 8.5ins (1.74m) tall, and weighed 166lbs (75.3kg). He was recorded a having fair hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Private McLeod was assigned to the New Zealand Otago Regiment, and undertook his initial training on home soil. He evidently showed some promise as, on 1st May, he was promoted to Lance Corporal. Six weeks later his unit was heading for Europe, and by the summer James was in Egypt.

On 20th August 1915, Private McLeod was admitted to the New Zealand and Australian Convalescent Hospital in Mena with a gun shot wound to his finger. He remained there for three weeks, returning to his unit in time for them to leave for the Dardanelles on 7th November 1915.

What happened to James over the next couple of months is uncertain. Certainly he was on the Greek island of Moudros by 18th November and in the Dardanelles on 7th December 1915. Just 20 days later he was back in Alexandria, and he would remain there for the next few months. There is, however, nothing in his medical record to suggest that his return to Egypt was on health reasons.

On 6th April 1916, Private McLeod was on the move again, this time to France. He was wounded again on 14th July 1916, and medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Details of this injury are not clear, but he was admitted to the 2nd London General Hospital in Chelsea, Middlesex. After a month recuperating, James was released from hospital and sent to camp in Hornchurch, Essex. At this point he was also demoted to Private, although, again, the reason is unclear: it may have been a personal choice, or the reversion may have been connected to his injuries.

In September 1916, Private McLeod was transferred to the ANZAC Camp on the outskirts of Codford, Wiltshire. That winter he contracted pleurisy, and he was admitted to the No. 3 New Zealand Hospital, which was connected to the camp, on Christmas Day. His condition worsened, and James passed away from pneumonia on 28th December 1916. He was just 23 years of age.

Thousands of miles from home, James McLeod was laid to rest alongside his fellow soldiers in the extension to the graveyard of St Mary’s Church, Codford.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, injury, Kent, London, photography, Private, Royal Marines, Somerset, story, war

Private Frederick Sloley

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Private Frederick Sloley

Frederick Sloley was born on 7th April 1897 in Kingston St Mary, Somerset, and was the fourth of nine children to Walter and Mary Jane Sloley. The family were farm workers and were living with Walter’s parents – also agricultural labourers – in the 1901 census.

After he finished his schooling, Frederick found began working with the horses on the farm. When war broke out, however, he saw an opportunity to serve his King and Empire, and enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. He joined up on 5th October 1914, and his service records show that he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, with black hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

Private Sloley was initially sent to the Reserve Depot in Deal, Kent, for training, before moving to the Plymouth Division in Devon in March 1915. He records do not make it clear where he served specifically, but by 1916 he has fought in the Dardanelles and Mesopotamia.

It was while he was in the Eastern Mediterranean that Frederick was injured. Wounded in the spine by enemy gunfire, he was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Admitted to King George’s Hospital in London, surgery proved too late. Private Sloley passed away on 26th November 1916, at the age of just 19 years old. His mother, Mary, had managed to see him before he died.

The body of Frederick Sloley was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Mary’s Church in his home village of Kingston.