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Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, injury, London, London Regiment, photography, Rifleman, story, war

Rifleman Henry Banks

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Rifleman Henry Banks

The early life of Henry Ernest Banks is destined to remain lost to time as there is little documentation available to corroborate details. The first concrete documentation for him is his marriage certificate, and this sheds lights onto the man he had become.

The wedding took place on 7th August 1905, and confirms that Henry was 19 years of age. His father was recorded as being James Banks who, by this point was deceased. He had been a chairmaker, and his son had followed in a similar type of work, being employed as a French polisher.

Henry’s bride was 19-year-old Blanche Hearnden, who was noted as being the daughter of deceased traveller William Hearnden. At the time of their marriage, the newlyweds were living at 13 Busby Street, Bethnal Green, London. Now long since gone, the road led directly to St Matthew’s Church, which is where their nuptials took place.

By the time of the 1911 census, Henry and Blanche were living with her mother in Whitechapel. They had had a child, son Ernest, the previous year, and the mixed household included Blanche’s three sisters and their children. Money must have been tight, but four members of the household were bringing in some money, Henry working as a French polisher, with two of his sisters-in-law working as a cigarette packer and a printer’s assistant. Blanche and her other sister were listed as housewives, while her mother, who was also called Blanche, was noted as being a charwoman.

When war broke out, Henry was called upon to play his part. Details of his military service are sketchy, but it is clear that he enlisted in the London Regiment, and was attached to the 17th (County of London) Battalion, which was also known as the Poplar and Stepney Rifles.

Rifleman Banks’ unit was sent to France on 9th March 1915. Within a matter of weeks, however, he was back in the UK, and appears to have been admitted to a hospital in Paignton, Devon.

Henry died on 2nd May 1915, and one record – his entry on the Grave Registration Form – that sheds a little light on Henry’s passing. It is noted being as a result of a strangulated hernia, although this is the only document that gives any details about his death. Henry was 28 or 29 years of age.

Henry Ernest Banks was laid to rest in Paignton Cemetery, Devon.

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Leading Signalman Alexander Daisley

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Leading Seaman Alexander Daisley

Alexander William Arthur Daisley was born on 13th November 1886, and was the second of four children to William and Judith Daisley. William was a Private in the Royal Marines and, as the time his son was born, the family were based in Dartmouth, Devon. By the time of the 1891 census, however, they had moved to Kent, and were billeted in family accommodation in the Milton Barracks, near Gravesend.

Ten years on, and the 1901 census confirms that the Daisleys had relocated again. William had left his military service behind him, and had taken up work as a publican at the Seven Stars Inn in Litlington, Cambridgeshire. Alexander is noticeable in his absence from the record, however. The following year, he surfaces again, however, and seems that he was destined to follow his father’s naval career.

On 10th April 1902, Alexander enlisted in the Royal Navy. At just 15 years of age, he was assigned the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and was sent to HMS St Vincent, a training ship based in Haslar, Hampshire, for his induction. He remained there for the next fifteen months, gaining promotion to Boy 1st Class in February 1903.

Alexander spent the second half of that year at HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, before being given his first posting in November. His assignment was on board the armoured cruiser HMS Good Hope: she was to become his home for the next year and a half, during which he came of age, and was formally inducted into the Royal Navy.

At this point, Alexander’s service records give an insight into the man he was becoming. He was noted as being just 5ft 1in (1.55m) tall, with hazel eyes and light brown hair. He had a fair complexion and three scars on the back of his head. It seems that he had some aptitude, as he was given the rank of Signalman, rather than being directed to the role of seaman.

Over the next twelve years – the term of his contract – Signalman Daisley would serve on eight ships: in between assignments he would return to his Portsmouth base. His time in the Royal Navy was not without incident, and he spent three separate periods in the cells – 14 days in 1907, 17 days in 1908 and 10 days in 1909. Despite this, he was promoted to the rank of Leading Seaman in January 1913, while serving on board HMS Egmont, an armoured frigate.

On 9th March 1915, Leading Signalman Daisley was assigned to HMS Princess Irene, an ocean liner that had been converted to a minelayer at the start of the war.

On 27th May 1915, while Irene was moored off Sheerness, Kent, a series of explosions ripped through the ship, killing more than 350 crew. Leading Signalman Daisley was among those who perished: he was 29 years of age.

The body of Alexander William Arthur Daisley was buried in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent, alongside the other victims of the disaster.

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Dorset, Great War, history, illness, Leading Seaman, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Leading Seaman Sidney Crabb

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Leading Seaman Sidney Crabb

Sidney Harry Crabb was born in the seaside town of Lyme Regis, Dorset on 6th September 1888. One of nine children, his parents were Albert and Mary Crabb. Albert was a Trinity pilot, working on ships, and his son was destined to follow in his stead.

On 16th January 1903, Sidney enlisted in the Royal Navy. He lied about his age to be taken in, adding two years to his date of birth. That was still below the full enlistment age for the military, and he was taken on with the rank of Boy 2nd Class.

Sidney was sent to HMS Boscawen, a training ship, for his initial instruction. He remained there until mid-November 1903, by which time he had been promoted to Boy 1st Class. He then moved to the training battleship HMS Minotaur (which became HMS Boscawen II shortly afterwards), and remained on board for the next nine months.

On 7th September 1904, Sidney “came of age” (albeit he was two years younger than he had said), and was formally inducted into the Royal Navy. He was given the rank of Ordinary Seaman and, within a matter of days, was assigned to his first vessel, the tender HMS Fire Queen.

On 19th November 1904, Ordinary Seaman Crabb was reassigned, to the armoured cruiser HMS Sutlej. She was to remain his home for the next eighteen months, during which time Sidney was promoted again, to the rank of Able Seaman.

Over the next nine years, Sidney was to serve on six more vessels. On 9th December 1912, while back in Dorset, he married Lily Froom in the parish church of their home town, Lyme Regis. The couple would go on to have a son, Stanley, who was born in September 1914.

By this point, Able Seaman Crabb’s health was faltering. He was serving on board the battleship HMS Prince of Wales when war was declared, and had been promoted again, to Leading Seaman. By early October 1914, however, he was medically dismissed from service, having contracted pulmonary tuberculosis.

At this point, Sidney’s trail goes cold. He seems to have returned home, but it is unclear how much his failing health impacted on his daily life. The lung condition was ultimately to get the better of him: he passed away in Axminster, Devon, on 8th February 1917, at the age of 28 years of age.

Sidney Harry Crabb was taken the short distance back to Lyme Regis for burial. He was laid to rest in the town’s cemetery, overlooking the sea to which he and he late father had dedicated much of their lives.

Able Seaman, accident, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Dorset, Great War, history, Leading Seaman, Norfolk, Ordinary Seaman, Petty Officer, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Petty Officer 1st Class Albert Hodder

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Petty Officer 1st Class Albert Hodder

Albert George Hodder was born on 27th December 1878 in Lyme Regis, Dorset. The oldest of three children, his parents were Samuel and Ellen Hodder. Samuel was a general labourer who died in 1886, when he was 35 years of age. By the time of the 1891 census, Albert had given up school, and was working as a live-in cowboy in the nearby Devon village of Uplyme, bringing in what would be the only wage for him, his mother and his two younger brothers.

Working on a dairy farm would not bring in the money his family would need. So, on 7th August 1894, Albert sought out more of a career and enlisted in the Royal Navy. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 4ins (1.62m) tall with brown hair, grey eyes and a ruddy complexion.

Albert was under the age to formally enlist, and so was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class. He was sent to the training ship HMS Boscawen, and, over the next eighteen months he received a basic education and naval induction. By the end of July 1895, he had been promoted to the rank of Boy 1st Class.

On 12th November 1895, Boy Hodder was assigned to the ironclad ship HMS Alexandra, and his naval career began. Over the next nearly two decades, he would serve on twelve separate ships, rising through the ranks as he did so.

When Albert came of age, on 27th December 1896, he was serving on board HMS Gibraltar. Formally inducted into naval service, he was given the rank of Ordinary Seaman. He spent more than three years on board Gibraltar, and rose to Able Seaman on 1st January 1899.

From here his career continued: He was promoted to Leading Seaman on 18th May 1903, Petty Officer 2nd Class on 1st April 1905 and Petty Officer 1st Class just two years later.

In the autumn of 1912, Albert’s career changed course. He was assigned to HMS Maidstone, a submarine depot ship, and a life under the ocean waves started to appeal. On 28th March 1914, Petty Officer Hodder was sent to HMS Dolphin, home of the Royal Navy Submarine Service, where he was trained up for new duties. By October that year he was to be found serving on board the newly-commissioned submarine E11.

Over the next few months, he served in the North Sea, Baltic Sea, and the E11 was involved in a minor way in the defence of Scarborough in December 1914 and the Cuxhaven Raid ending on Christmas Day that year.

At this point, Petty Officer Hodder’s trail goes cold. He remained on the E11 until early February, by this time she was based off the Norfolk coast.

An inquest was held on Friday on the body of Albert George Hodder… of Lyme Regis, Dorset, a member of the crew of one of HM vessels, who died from the effect of immersion.

Evidence showed that at 9.20 on the previous Thursday night a petty officer heart the shout of “Man overboard.” He got on to a collier moored in the river and saw a black object float past. Unable to reach it, he jumped ashore and got into the ferry boat. He was then able to reach the object, which he found was the deceased. He held his head above the water while the ferryman pulled the boat to the quay. The deceased was got out in an insensible condition, a doctor sent for, and artificial respiration tired. Efforts were persisted till breathing was established, and he was then wrapped in blankets, with hot water bottle; but he succumbed to the effects of immersion and shock shortly after eleven. No one saw how the deceased fell overboard.

A verdict of “Accidental death” was returned.

[Diss Express: Friday 12th February 1915]

Petty Officer 1st Class Albert George Hodder was just 35 years of age when he died on 4th February 1915. His body was taken back to Dorset for burial, and he was laid in Lyme Regis Cemetery.

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Dorset, Great War, history, illness, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Able Seaman William Real

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Able Seaman William Real

William Thomas Bradley Real was born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, on 31st December 1875. His parents were coastguard William Real and his wife, Sarah. William Jr seems to have lived with his maternal grandparents for most of his life, even though he went on to have seven younger siblings.

Sarah died in the spring of 1891, just weeks after the birth of her and William Sr’s youngest child, and William Jr took this as an opportunity to seek a career for himself. Living next to the sea, and with a coastguard for a father, a role in the Royal Navy seemed an apposite choice. He joined up on 26th May 1891, just 20 days after his mother’s funeral.

William was under age when he joined up, and so was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class. His service records show that he was 5ft 8ins tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. He was initially sent to HMS Boscawen, the training ship moored in Portland, Dorset, and remained there until January 1893. By this point his training had paid off, and he had been promoted to the rank of Boy 1st Class.

William’s first posting was on board the ironclad HMS Alexandra. Over the next year he was posted to two further vessels, and, when he came of age on 31st December 1893, he was formally inducted into the Royal Navy, and given the rank of Ordinary Seaman. Over the next 25 years, he would serve on a total of sixteen more ships, returning to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport, Devon, between some of his voyages.

William’s career saw promotion – to the rank of Able Seaman on 4th February 1896. He also spent three days in the cells in August 1898, although the nature of his misdemeanour is unclear.

Away from his career William’s family life took hold. On 15th April 1911, he married Louisa French. Her parents owned and ran the George Hotel in Charmouth, Dorset. The couple went on to have a daughter, Maud, who was born in the spring of 1915.

When war was declared, Able Seaman Real was assigned to HMS Tiger. The most heavily armoured battlecruiser in the British Navy, She would go on to fight in the Battles of Dogger Bank, Jutland and Heligoland Bight, action William would have seen first hand.

By the spring of 1918, Able Seaman Real had become unwell. He was posted back to HMS Vivid on 1st May, and was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Plymouth. His admission was not to be a long one: he died of heart failure just five days later, at the age of 42 years old.

The body of William Thomas Bradley Real was taken back to Dorset for burial. He was laid to rest in Lyme Regis Cemetery, overlooking the town in which he had been born.

Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Dorset, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Boy 2nd Class Albert Loveless

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Boy 2nd Class Albert Loveless

Albert William Loveless was born on 23rd February 1901, the third of four children to Albert and Matilda Loveless. Albert Sr was a hawker and marine store dealer, and the family grew up and lived in the Dorset village of Mosterton.

When he completed his schooling, Albert Jr found work as a railway porter. When war broke out, however, he was keen to play his part before the opportunity passed him by and, on 10th September 1918, he enlisted in the Royal Navy.

As he was below the age to formally enrol, Albert was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class. His service records show that he was 5ft 2.5ins (1.59m) tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.

Boy Loveless was sent to HMS Powerful, a training ship based in Devonport, Devon, but sadly, his time there was to be brief. Within a matter of days, he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Plymouth, having contracted pneumonia. He passed away on 18th September 1918, having been in service for just a week. He was only 17 years of age.

The body of Albert William Loveless was taken back to Dorset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Mosterton, walking distance from his grieving family’s home.

Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, injury, King's Shropshire Light Infantry, Middlesex, photography, Royal Horse Artillery, Somerset, South Africa, story, war

Captain Francis Leach

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Captain Francis Leach

Francis James Leach was born on 27th June 1878 in the Somerset village of Martock. He was the middle of four children to John and Louisa Leach. John was a solicitor who was 17 years older than Louisa, who was his second wife, and by whom he had had two children. The 1881 census found the family living in a house called The Lawn on Church Street, supported by five servants: a nurse, an under-nurse, a cook, a housemaid and a footman.

The next census return, taken in 1891, recorded the family having moved to Seaton in Devon. Louisa was living at 7 West Cliff Terrace with five of the children and a domestic servant. John, however, is not noted on the document, although Louisa is still recorded as married, which would suggest that he had not passed away.

A later newspaper report helps build a picture of Francis’ life growing up:

…Leach was educated at Allhallows School, Honiton, was a thorough sportsman in every sense of the word, a good shot, a keen rider to hounds, a polo player, and cricketer.

[Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: Friday 7th May 1915]

When he finished his schooling, Francis felt drawn to an army career, and the newspaper confirmed his progress:

He served through the Boer War with the R Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, and was present at the relief of Kimberley and at the actions at Paardeberg, Poplar Grove, Zand River, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Diamond Hill and Wittebergen, and was awarded the Queen’s medal with six clasps and the King’s Medal with two. He was given his commission in the Shropshire Light Infantry in 1901, attained the rank of Captain last August and was appointed Adjutant of his Battalion February 2nd, 1914.

[Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: Friday 7th May 1915]

The 1911 census found Francis back with his mother. She was now living in the village of Hawkchurch, near Axminster, living in a 9-roomed house called The Vineyard. Louisa also had her daughter and two servants – a cook and a housemaid – supporting her. The census return also confirmed that Louisa was a widow, John having died some rears previously. Francis’ visit may have been a fleeting one, as his fiancée, Doris Maunsell-Smyth, was also visiting in preparation for a wedding.

Francis and Doris exchanged vows on 29th July 1911, the wedding taking place in Christ Church, Paddington, Middlesex. Their marriage certificate confirmed that the groom was an army officer, while the bride’s father, George Maunsell-Smyth, was noted simply as a gentleman.

When war broke out in the summer of 1914, Captain Leach and his unit was called up to play their part. Full details of his service have been lost to time, but he was sent to the the Western Front by December that year. Over the coming months, the battalion was involved in the Battle of Eloi and the Second Battle of Ypres.

The funeral of Captain Francis Leach of the 2nd Battalion Shropshire Light Infantry, as taken place in the village churchyard amid every token of respect and sympathy. The officer died at Boulogne of wounds received in action in Flanders.

[Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: Friday 7th May 1915]

Captain Leach died of his injuries on 26th April 1915. He was 36 years of age.

Interestingly, despite a decree that the conflict’s fallen would be buried overseas if that was where they died, it seems that Captain Leach’s family were able to circumvent that ruling. Whether that was because he died in a hospital ship in Boulogne’s harbour is unclear, but had he died in the town itself, he should have been laid to rest in France.

Either way, the body of Francis James Leach was brought back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John the Baptist Church, Hawkchurch, not far from where his mother still lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Dorset, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, Kent, Malta, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, story, war

Gunner Simeon Powell

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Gunner Simeon Powell

Simeon James Powell was born on 18th October 1882 in Wootton Fitzpaine, Dorset. The oldest of three children, his parents were Francis and Elizabeth Powell. Elizabeth died when Simeon was just 7 years of age, and his father remarried, and went on to have five children with his new wife, Annie.

Francis was a farmer, and Simeon found employment as an estate labourer. The 1911 census found the family living on Dodpin Farm in Monkton Wyld, a village to the north of Lyme Regis: Francis, Annie, Simeon and his three younger siblings.

On 12th June 1913, Simeon married Mary Hodder. There is little information about her, but it seems the couple set up home on the outskirts of Charmouth, Dorset. Mary was six years older than her new husband, and they didn’t go on to have any children.

War was declared in the summer of 1914, and by the following autumn, Simeon had signed up to play his part. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 11ins (1.8m) tall and weighed 188lbs (85.2kg).

Gunner Powell joined the Royal Garrison Artillery, and was formally mobilised on 31st May 1916. By November he was sent to Malta, returning to Britain in September 1917. His new posting was in Sheerness, Kent, and he would remain there for the next nine months.

In May 1918, Simeon fell ill. He had caught influenza, and when this developed into bronchitis, he was admitted to the local war hospital. His health began to deteriorate, and, on 10th June 1918, Gunner Powell passed away from a combination of bronchitis and haemoptysis. He was 35 years of age.

The body of Simeon James Powell was taken back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John the Baptist Church in Hawkchurch, near the family home just across the border in Dorset.

Coldstream Guards, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Guardsman, Hampshire, history, photography, story, unknown, war

Guardsman Francis Marchant

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Guardsman Francis Marchant

Francis George Marchant was born in the autumn of 1894, the fourth of five children to William and Emma Marchant. William – who went by his middle name, Walter – was a gamekeeper from the village of Uplyme in Devon, and this is where the family were born and raised.

Sadly, there is little specific information about Francis’ life. When war was declared, he stepped up to play his part, joining the Coldstream Guards as a Guardsman. Attached to the Machine Gun Corps, he would have spent time overseas, but details about his time in the military are long since lost.

By the end of the conflict, Guardsman Marchant was based in Hampshire, billeted in Witley Camp. While here, for reasons unknown, he was admitted to the Connaught Military Hospital. It was here, on 4th April 1919, that he passed away: he was 24 years of age.

Francis George Marchant was taken back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in Uplyme’s Ss. Peter & Paul’s Church.

Canada, Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, Huntingdonshire, illness, photography, Private, story, war

Private John Gaunt

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Private John Gaunt

John Alfred Gaunt was born on 15th October 1893, the fourth of five children to John and Jane Gaunt. John Sr was a cattle dealer from St Ives in Huntingdonshire, and it was in the nearby village of Needingworth that the family were born and raised.

John Sr sought out opportunities to support his wife and children and, in 1902 he moved the family to Canada, settling in Pincher Creek, Alberta. There isn’t a great deal of detail available about the Gaunts’ time in North America, but it is likely that farming became their way of life.

Tragedy struck the family in October 1912, when John Sr died, at the age of 61. By this point it seems that they had moved on to British Colombia. Just six months later, Jane also died, John Jr was left an orphan while still a teenager.

Most of the family seemed to remain on the west coast – a later document shows John’s older sister Julia living in Cranbrook, British Colombia – but John was working as a farmer by this point and had either returned to Pincher Creek after his parents’ deaths, or had remained there when they went west.

When war broke out in Europe in the summer of 1914, the Empire were called upon to serve, and John was to return to the country he had left more than a decade earlier. He enlisted on 20th January 1916, joining the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Private Gaunt’s service records show that he was 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall, 130lbs (59kg) in weight and had light brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. It was also noted that he had a fine scar, some 3.5ins (9cm) long, on his upper left arm and had a slight defect in his speech (although this is not elaborated on).

John departed for Europe on 21st August 1916, boarding the HMS Olympic for Liverpool, Lancashire. His unit was initially based in Witley Camps near Aldershot, Hampshire, and he would remain on base until the end of the year. This included eight weeks admitted to the Connaught Hospital, when he was suffering from a bout of syphilis.

By January 1917, John was transferred to the 21st Reserve Battalion, which meant a move to Seaford, East Sussex. He transferred again to the 50th Battalion on 19th March, a move which included being shipped off to France.

Over the next couple of months, things were to change dramatically for Private Gaunt. His service records note that he was wounded on 10th May, but that he remained on duty. On 21st July, he wad admitted to the No. 11 Ambulance Station in Rouen, suffering from jaundice.

He was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, initially to the Auxiliary Hospital in Exeter, Devon, then to Uplyme Hospital, just to the north of Lyme Regis. By this point, John was severely ill. He passed away on 13th August 1917, at the age of 23 years of age.

With the majority of his family living on the other side of the Atlantic, John Alfred Gaunt was, instead, laid to rest in the churchyard of Ss. Peter & Paul Church in Uplyme, not fat from where he had breathed his last. He is also among those servicemen to be commemorated on the Pincher Creek War Memorial.