Tag Archives: Devon

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

Private Gabriel McIlroy

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Private Gabriel McIlroy

Gabriel McIlroy was born in the Australian town of Charters Towers in 1878. The oldest of four children, his parents were Patrick McIlroy – of whom there is little information – and his Danish-born wife, Ann.

There is little information available about Gabriel’s early life. He never married and, by time he enlisted in January 1916, he was employed as a labourer, and gave his mother as his next of kin.

Gabriel joined the Australian Imperial Force, and his service records give an insight into the man he had become. He was noted as being 5ft 3.5ins (1.61m) tall, and weighed 126lbs (57.2kg). Private McIlroy had a fair complexion, with brown hair and bluish eyes. He had a scar on his right arm, and was recorded as being Roman Catholic.

Gabriel’s unit – the 15th Battalion of the Australian Infantry – set sail from Brisbane on 21st October 1916. They sailed to Britain on the Boonah, a ship that had been built in Germany for trade with Australia. On the outbreak of way, she was docked in Sydney, and was seized by the Commonwealth authorities. Hastily converted to a troop ship, she was soon used to transport soldiers to Europe.

Private McIlroy arrives in Plymouth, Devon, on 10th January 1917. His battalion marched to Codford, in Wiltshire, where they were based before transferring to the Western Front. Sadly, he would not accompany his colleagues.

On 17th February, Gabriel was admitted to a military hospital in Sutton Veny, just a few miles from the camp. He was suffering from bronchitis, and the condition would prove fatal. Private McIlroy passed away on 19th February 1917: he was 39 years of age.

The body of Gabriel McIlroy was taken back to Codford for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard extension to the village’s St Mary’s Church.

The ship that had brought Gabriel to Britain would add its own footnote to the First World War. In October 1918, not long before the end of the conflict, she was one of the last vessels to leave Australia carrying troops. During the voyage, more than 300 of those on board had contracted influenza, in what became known as the Boonah Crisis.

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

Private James Williams

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Private James Williams

James Thomas Williams was born in Toodyay, Western Australia, in May 1888. The third of eight children, his parents were John and Mary Williams.

When he finished his schooling, James found work farming. Details of his early life are lost to time, but it seems likely that he had followed in his father’s footsteps.

When war engulfed the Empire, James stepped up to serve his King and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 24th August 1916. His service records show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall and that he weighed 134lbs (60.8kg). He was noted as having auburn hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.

Private Williams’ unit departed Australia from Freemantle on 9th November 1916. He would spend the next two months on board the Argyllshire, and eventually reached British shores on 10th January 1917. Assigned to the 16th Battalion of the Australian Infantry, his unit disembarked at Devonport, Devon, and made straight for base near Codford, Wiltshire.

The ANZAC troops had spent weeks cramped in the bowels of their ships, and space was once again at a premium in their army barracks. This congestion would prove fatal for numerous soldiers, as disease ran rife across the encampments.

Sadly, James would not be immune to poor health. Having contracted influenza, he was initially admitted to the camp infirmary, before being moved to the military hospital in nearby Sutton Veny. The condition was to get the better of him, and Private Williams passed away from a combination of flu and heart failure on 18th February 1917. He was 29 years of age.

The body of James Thomas Williams was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Codford, surrounded by others from his regiment.

Private James Williams
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Arthur Couchman

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Private Arthur Couchman

Arthur John Couchman was born in the spring of 1887, the oldest of seven children to John and Emma. John was a farm labourer from the parish of Wilmington, Kent, and this is where he and Emma raised their family.

When he completed his schooling, Arthur found work as a house boy, but soon turned his hand to gardening. When the opportunity was presented to him, however, and in the autumn of 1908, he emigrated to Australia, presumably to find work as a farmer.

Little about Arthur’s time overseas is detailed. He settled in Freemantle, to the south of Perth, and, early in 1916, he married Sarah McAlinden. She had left London for the Antipodes to work as a domestic four years previously. Their marriage seems to have been spurred on by Arthur’s imminent departure for the home country, as, on 19th June 1916, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force.

Working as a general labourer by this point, Arthur’s service records show that he was 5ft 3.5ins (1.61m) tall, and weighed 146lbs (66.2kg). He was found to have fair hair, grey eyes and a ruddy complexion. He also had tattoos on both of his forearms.

Private Couchman’s unit departed Freemantle on 9th November 1916, on a journey to Devonport, Devon, that would take two months. On his arrival, he was assigned to the 51st Battalion of the Australian Infantry, and dispatched to a camp near Codford in Wiltshire.

Tragically, Arthur’s army career was to follow a not uncommon path for those arriving in Britain from overseas. Within a matter of weeks he had been sent to the New Zealand Hospital in Codford, as he was suffering from bronchial pneumonia. On 15th February 1917, just four days after his admission he passed away from the condition. He was 29 years of age.

Thousands of miles from his Australian life, Arthur John Couchman was laid to rest in the new extension to St Mary’s Churchyard in Codford, not far from the camp in which he had been briefly based.

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

Private Albert Matthews

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Private Albert Matthews

In Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery, lies the body of Private Albert Edwin Matthews, of the Devonshire Regiment. There is little information available to fully piece together his life, but a range of records give tantalising glimpsed into the world that he inhabited.

The newspaper report of Private Matthew’s passing confirms that he died of pneumonia in the Red Cross Hospital, Lansdown Place, on 12th March 1915. His was a joint funeral with Private Harold Spackman, also of the Devonshire Regiment. He had enlisted at the start of the conflict, and had come from Plymouth, Devon. Frustratingly, the report does not give either of the soldiers’ ages.

Albert’s entry on the British Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects backs up a period of service of at least six months, and gives his unit as the 10th (Service) Battalion. It also provides his father’s name: Edwin Matthews.

Father and son do not seem to appear on any census records, and without a year of birth it is a challenge to track down any additional documentation.

There is a baptism record for an Albert Edwin Matthews, son of Edwin, from 28th September 1881, but this was in Sandown, on the Isle of Wight. While a connection is possible, there is no definitive link between the two men and Devon. (There is a 1911 census return for this Albert, but he is married with three children by this point and, as the military record gives Edwin Matthews as the sole beneficiary, it is unlikely that the two Alberts are one and the same.)

Albert’s life is destined to remain lost to time, therefore, one of the many mysteries in Locksbrook Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Middlesex, Norfolk, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, story, war

Private Arthur Harcourt

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Private Arthur Harcourt

Arthur Wellesley Harcourt was born on 18th June 1895 in Brentford, Middlesex. He was the youngest of five children to Charles and Eliza Harcourt.

The son of a Baptist minister, Charles was a banker’s clerk, but “practically the whole of [his] leisure in a busy life [was] spent in mission work, mainly in Middlesex…” [Middlesex & Surrey Express – Saturday 13 October 1900] When he died in 1900, at the age of 57, Eliza was left to raise her younger children alone.

Arthur’s young life was to be one of travel. The 1901 census, taken just six months after his father’s death, found him living in Walton le Soken (now Walton-on-the-Naze), Essex. Eliza had taken rooms for the family in a lodging house at 9 New Pier Street, yards from the town’s stony beach.

The next record for Arthur is from 1908. Surprisingly, for the grandson of a Baptist minister and the son of a missionary, he seems not to have been baptised when he was born. The document shows that he was christened on 26th April, at St Mary’s Church in the village of Sporle with Palgrave in Norfolk. There is nothing to confirm why he was in Norfolk, or why he chose to be baptised there: the 1911 census found Eliza and his siblings living back in Middlesex.

By this point, Arthur was on the move again. Now fifteen years of age, the same census found him visiting George and Amelia Kerswill at their home in Exeter, Devon. George was a retired nurseryman and florist from Hendon, and it seems likely that the couple were friends of the family.

By the time war broke out, the Harcourts had moved once again, this time setting up home in Reculver, Kent. Arthur was working as a surveyor’s assistant, but felt drawn to play his part. On 8th March 1917, he enlisted, joining the Army Service Corps as a Private. His records show that he was 5ft 4.5ins (1.61m) tall, and weighed 96lbs (43.5kg). He was of fair physical development, but it was noted that he had an understandard chest, but was deemed fit for military service.

Private Harcourt was sent to Somerset for training. Tragically, however, his health was to take a dramatic downturn. Admitted to the Bath War Hospital on 1st April with influenza, this quickly developed into double pneumonia and pleurisy. The strain was to be too much for his young body to bear: Arthur passed away on 18th April 1917, at the age of just 21 years old.

Surprisingly, Eliza, whilst able to live on her own means, did not chose to lay her son to rest close to home. Instead, Arthur Wellesley Harcourt was buried in Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, not far from the hospital in which he had breathed his last.

Australia, Australian Machine Gun Corps, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Albert Harris

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Private Albert Harris

Albert Arthur Harris was born on 14th December 1893 in Huon, Tasmania, Australia. The second of seven children – and the oldest son – his parents were Arthur and Eliza.

There is little information available about Albert’s early life. When he finished his schooling, he found work as an orchardist, and this was his line of work when, on 12th April 1916, he stepped up to serve his King and Empire.

Albert joined the Australian Imperial Force, and his records suggest that he had tried to enlist before, but had been turned down because of varicose veins. His medical report confirms that he was 6ft (1.83m) tall and weighed 155lbs (70.3kg). He had fair hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Private Harris set sail from Australia on 11th May 1917, arriving in Plymouth, Devon, two months later. He was billeted near Codford in Wiltshire, and assigned to the Australian Machine Gun Corps.

Albert’s time in Britain was to be brief. While in camp, he came down with peritonitis, and hospitalised. He developed septicaemia, and died on 27th July 1917: he was just 23 years of age.

Albert Arthur Harris was laid to rest in the newly extended graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Codford.

Private Albert Harris
(from findagrave.com)
Cheshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, London, photography, Private, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, story, war

Private Frank Perryman

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Private Frank Perryman

Frank Harry Tom Perryman was born in Axminster, Devon, on 16th October 1889. The third of six children – and the only boy – his parents were Barnabas and Emily. Barnabas was a carpenter and joiner, and the family lived in the centre of the town: first next door to the Red Lion Inn on Lyme Street, then around the corner on South Street.

By the time of the 1911 census, an opportunity had arisen to take Frank away from Devon. The document records him as one of four servants (in addition to a maid, butler and cook) for Eumenia Hime and her law student son, Stanley. Eumenia’s husband, Edward, was a merchant in Brazil, and their son had been born in Rio de Janeiro. Ste Georgian Croyland House on Cornwall Gardens in South Kensington, was the family’s London residence, and this is where young Frank was employed.

When war came to Europe, Frank was called upon to play his part. Sadly, his service records have been lost to time, but it is evident that he enlisted in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Private Perryman’s Medal Roll suggests that he served on home soil, and certainly by the end of the war – presumably while waiting to be demobbed – he was based in Cheshire.

In November 1919, Frank was admitted to the War Hospital in Warrington. Details are unclear, but it is likely that he had contracted one of the many lung conditions prevalent at the time. He passed away while still admitted on 19th November: he had not long turned 30 years of age.

The body of Frank Harry Tom Perryman was taken back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in Axminster Cemetery, on the outskirts of the town that had been his childhood home.

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

Gunner Colin Rough

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Gunner Colin Rough

Colin Thomas Frazer Rough was born in the autumn of 1896, and was the oldest of seven children to Thomas and Zelia. Thomas was a dairyman from Devon, and the family were initially raised in Charmouth. Thomas took up work as a farmer in 1911, and this meant a move to to Axminster: having finished his schooling, Colin helped his father on the farm.

Colin was still working with his father when war broke out across Europe. He stepped up to play his part, and enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery 11th December 1915. His service records show that he was 19 years and three months old, and stood 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall.

Gunner Rough was not formally mobilised until May 1916. He would spend the next two-and-a-half years on home soil, and was based in Catterick, Yorkshire.

On 31st July 1918, Colin was sent to France with his unit. Full details of his service overseas have been lost to time but it would seem that he was back on home soil by the beginning of 1919.

Gunner Rough had contracted influenza and pneumonia, and returned home to recuperate. The conditions were to prove too severe, however, and he passed away on 8th February 1919, at the age of 22 years old.

Colin Thomas Frazer Rough was laid to rest in the family plot in Axminster Cemetery. Tragically, his younger brother Alan had passed just three weeks earlier: the two were buried alongside each other.

Boy, Buckinghamshire, Bugler, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Drummer, Egypt, Great War, history, illness, London Regiment, Malta, photography, Private, Rifle Brigade, Royal Marines, story, war

Private Francis Chick

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Private Francis Chick

Francis Frederick Chick was born in the spring of 1886 in Axminster, Devon. One of eight children, his parents were brickmaker Edwin (or Edward) Chick and his wife, Elizabeth.

When he completed his schooling, Francis found work as a sawyer’s apprentice. However, he wanted bigger and better things and, on 19th November 1900, he enlisted in the army. At 14 years of age, he was just short of 5ft (1.52m) in height, and had fair hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.

Initially enlisting in the Royal Marine Light Infantry, Boy Chick was to serve three years in the naval division. The 1901 census found him based at the East Stonehouse Barracks in Devonport, Devon, where he was a Bugler.

In September 1903, Francis transferred across to the Devonshire Regiment, remaining within the band structure. He came of age in March 1904, and, as a Private, he took on the role of Drummer. By the start of 1909, his unit had moved overseas, and the next census, taken in 1911, found Private Chick billeted in St George’s Barracks in Malta.

Francis remained in Malta for three years, and moved to Egypt with his unit in January 1912. By this point, having completed nearly twelve years’ service, he elected to stay on and renewed his contract. While serving in North Africa, he completed his induction into the Camel Corps, although by the end of the year, he was back on home soil after nearly four years abroad.

At this point, Francis seems to fall off the radar. It is unclear whether his move back to Britain was because he had been placed on reserve status, or due to medical reasons. To add to the mystery, when war broke out, he did not re-join the Devonshire Regiment, but enlisted in the London Regiment instead. He was assigned to the 22nd (County of London) Battalion, but later records note a connection to the 22nd (Wessex and Welsh) Battalion of the Rifle Brigade.

Private Chick was in Buckinghamshire by the winter of 1915/16, and it was here that he became unwell. Admitted to hospital in Aylesbury, he died of pneumonia on 4th January 1916: he was 29 years of age.

The body of Francis Frederick Chick was taken back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in the cemetery of his home town, Axminster.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Lance Corporal, Lance Serjeant, photography, Private, story, war

Lance Serjeant Ralph Page

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Lance Serjeant Ralph Page

Ralph William Page was born in the autumn of 1889, and was the second of five children to William and Elizabeth. William was a brush maker from London, but the family were initially born and brought up in Ottery St Mary, Devon.

By the time of the 1901 census, the family had upped sticks and relocated to Kilmington, near Axminster. Three of the family – William, Elizabeth and Ralph’s older sister Ethel – were all working in bone brush making, William as a maker, and his wife and daughter as drawers.

Ralph initially followed in the family trade, but this was not to be enough for him. He was already volunteering for the Devonshire Regiment, and he took the opportunity to join full-time. He enlisted on 11th September 1907. His service records show that he was exactly 18 years of age, and that he had black hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. Ralph stood 5ft 4ins (1.62m) tall and weighed 10st 9lbs (67.6kg).

Private Page initially enlisted for five years on active service. During that time he remained on home soil and, by the autumn of 1911, he was promoted to Lance Corporal. The following spring, he extended his term of service, in advance of being placed on reserve status later in 1912.

Away from army life, romance had also blossomed. On 2nd September 1912, he married Beatrice White at St Mary’s Church in Axminster. She was the daughter of a carpenter, who had also follower her widowed mother into lacemaking. The couple would go on to have three children: Florence, Ralph and Frederick. A fourth child, Peggy, passed away when she was just a matter of weeks old.

When war was declared in the summer of 1914, Ralph was sent with his unit – the 1st Battalion – to France. He saw action at Mons, Messines and Armentières in the next few months alone. In October, Ralph was promoted to Acting Corporal, and just two months later he was made Acting Serjeant.

In March 1915, things seem to have changed for Ralph. He was transferred to a Depot unit on home soil, and reduced in rank to Private. Nothing in his service records suggests any misdemeanour leading to his transfer.

Private Page remined on home soil until the end of 1916. Attached to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, he made his way back up through the ranks again, and was a Corporal by the time he was reassigned to the 2nd Battalion and sent off to France once again that December.

Ralph was to be firmly entrenched on the Western Front over the next five months. It was during the German retreat back to the Hindenburg Line in the spring of 1917 that he received the injury that would remove him from the war. On 23rd April, the now Lance Serjeant Page was shot in the abdomen. He was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and did slowly recover. Ralph’s need for an abdominal belt meant that he was no longer fit to serve and he was ultimately discharged from the army on 29th November 1917.

Ralph returned home to Devon, but the war had taken its toll on his health. When pandemic spread around the world as the conflict drew to a close, he was to succumb. He passed away from a combination of the influenza and pneumonia on 5th November 1918, at the age of 29 years old.

Ralph William Page was laid to rest in Axminster Cemetery, Devon, not far from where his widow and children lived.