Tag Archives: Devonshire Regiment

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, injury, photography, Sergeant, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Serjeant Walter Hayes

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Serjeant Walter Hayes

Walter Hayes was born in Somerset in 1883. The oldest of seven children, his parents were William and Mary Hayes. William was an agricultural labourer, and the family lived and worked at Houndhill, to the south east of Stogumber.

Walter also fell into farm work and, in the spring of 1914, he married Emily Mary Tarr. The wedding took place in Tiverton, Devon, but the couple did not stay there for long as, just weeks after their wedding day, Emily gave birth to a daughter, Edith, over the Somerset border in Dulverton.

Storm clouds were brewing over European shores, and Walter was called upon to play his part. His service records are also sparse, but they confirm that he initially joined the Somerset Light Infantry, before moving across to the Devonshire Regiment.

Walter had either been in the army earlier in his life, or he worked his way up during the war, and at some point he reached the rank of Serjeant. He saw fighting overseas and, according to later documentation, was caught up in a gas attack. This was to have an impact on his health and he was discharged from army service sooner than he might otherwise have done. Officially stood down in March 1919, he returned home to his wife and family.

Emily and Walter had a second child, William, later that year, and the family were finally able to settle into a routine. Walter’s health, however, was severely impacted and, on 12th January 1921, he passed away from bronchitis. The lung condition was found to be directly attributable to his war service, and that gas attack, Walter was 38 years of age.

Walter Hayes was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of All Saints’ Church in Dulverton.

Emily was pregnant when her husband died: she gave birth to their third child, a son she named Walter, just a few months later. She did not re-marry, and, according to the 1939 Register, she was boarding in a house in Dulverton and carrying out unpaid domestic duties.

Emily lived on until the autumn of 1973, passing away in Taunton at the age of 85.

Serjeant Walter Hayes
(courtesy of Trevor Hayes)

The early life of Walter Hayes was a challenge to piece together, as his was not an uncommon name in the area at the time. My thanks go to his great nephew, Trevor Hayes, for his help in pulling together the story and for the image of his great uncle.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, injury, London, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private William Harcombe

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Private William Harcombe

William Harold Harcombe was born on 25th September 1897 in Sampford Arundel, Somerset. One of twelve children, his parents were William and Jane Harcombe. William was an agricultural engine driver who, by the time of the 1911 census, had moved the family five miles north west to Ashbrittle.

When war came to Europe, William was one of the first to enlist, joining the Devonshire Regiment in August 1914. He was assigned to the 8th Battalion, and after nine months’ training, he found himself in Northern France.

Private Harcombe’s troop was involved in some of the fiercest skirmishes of the conflict, at Loos in the autumn of 1915, and at the Somme the following year. It was during this battle – probably at Delville or High Wood – that he was injured.

William was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and was admitted to a military hospital in Mile End, London. His injuries were to prove too severe, however, and he succumbed to them on 31st July 1916: he was just 18 years of age.

The body of William Harold Harcombe was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the tranquil graveyard of St John the Baptist Church in Ashbrittle.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Norfolk Regiment, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, South Africa, story, war

Private Thomas Fear

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Private Thomas Fear

Thomas Fear was born in around 1872 in East Pennard, Somerset. The youngest of six children, his parents were Thomas and Harriet Fear. Thomas Sr was a general labourer, who had moved his family to Bath, where work was more plentiful, by the time of the 1881 census.

When Thomas Jr finished his schooling, he sought bigger and better things. He enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment, and while his service records no longer exist, other documents confirm that he fought in the Second Boer War in South Africa at the turn of the century.

On 5th August 1893, Thomas had married Bath-born Sarah Hughes, who was the daughter of a printer’s machinist. The couple went on to have three children: Albert, Nora and Rose. By the time of the 1911 census, the family were living in a four-roomed apartment near the centre of Bath. Thomas was employed as a stoker for a gas company, Albert was working as a tailor’s errand boy, and Nora had found employment at a lace factory.

When war broke out, Thomas felt the calling to serve his country once more. He enlisted on 1st September 1914, just weeks after conflict had broken out, joining the Somerset Light Infantry. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 5ins (1,65m) tall and weighed 136lbs (61.7kg). He was noted as having brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Private Fear was transferred to his old regiment – the Devonshire – at the end of September, remaining on home soil until September 1915. At this point, his troop was sent to France, but he was not to remain on the Western Front for long. In November, his troop was sent to the Eastern Mediterranean, and for the next year, Thomas was based in Salonika.

While in Greece, Thomas contracted malaria, and this was to continue to affect his health in the months and years to come. By Christmas 1916, he had been sent back to Britain, and the following September, he was medically discharged from the army as he was no longer physically fit to continue.

At this point, Thomas’ trail goes cold. At the end of December 1917, “after much suffering patiently borne” [Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 5th January 1918], Sarah passed away, aged just 44 years of age. All of the children were of age by this point, and it can only be assumed that Rose, at least, was still residing in the family home.

The funeral took place at Locksbrook on Monday of the late Private Fear, whose death occurred at the [Bath] War Hospital. Private Fear, whose age was 45 [sic], was an old soldier, and had seen service in the South African and the late European Wars. In the latter he served with the 2nd/4th Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment, from which he was discharged in May, 1916. As an army pensioner, he was sent to the War Hospital by the Ministry of Pensions, but, unfortunately, his case proved fatal.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 18th October 1919

Thomas was actually 47 at the time of his passing, and it seems likely that he died of the condition that had resulted in his medical discharge from the army, malaria.

Thomas Fear was laid to rest in the military section of Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, not far from where Sarah had also been buried.

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

Private William Hunt

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Private William Hunt

William Reginald Hunt was born in the Somerset village of Butcombe on 14th September 1900. The youngest of six children, his parents were farmers Walter and Bertha Hunt.

Little information about William – who was known in the family as Reggie – is available. He was still at school at the time of the 1911 census and enlisted in the army in the summer of 1918. His service papers no longer exist, and his life in between these points is lost to time.

Private Hunt joined the Devonshire Regiment, and was attached to the 53rd (Young Soldier) Battalion. He was based at Rolleston Camp in Wiltshire and, while billeted there, in the cramped and overcrowded conditions of the army barracks, he contracted pneumonia.

William was admitted to the camp’s hospital, but the condition was to prove too much. He passed away on 23rd November 1918, aged just eighteen years old.

The body of William Reginald Hunt was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Michael’s Church, in his home village of Butcombe.

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

Private James Baker

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Private James Baker

James Baker was born in 1884, and was the youngest of three children to William and Martha Baker. The family were from Kentisbeare in Devon, and tragedy was to strike James early in life, when Martha passed away in 1890, followed by William just five years later.

By the time of the 1901 census, James had moved to the nearby village of Uffculme, where he was employed as a cowman on William Stevens’ farm. At the same time, he was gaining some military experience, volunteering for the Devonshire Regiment. This seemed to offer him a way out, and on 19th October 1903, he formally enlisted in the army.

Private Baker’s service records show that he was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, and weighed 127lbs (57.6kg). He had blue eyes, brown hair and a fresh complexion. James served for 16 months on home soil, but was sent to India in February 1905. He remained there until November 1906, when he returned to England’s shores once more.

James was transferred to the Army Reserve at this point, and returned to farm labouring. He found work in Somerset and, on 31st December 1910, he married Clara Pike. She was the daughter of a farm labourer, and the following year’s census found the newlyweds living with Clara’s widowed father, George, in Tapper’s Lane, North Petherton. James and Clara had a daughter, Clara, who was born in July 1912.

When war came to Europe, James was mobilised once more, and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion in the Devonshire Regiment. Within weeks of conflict erupting, he was in France, remaining there for six months. Over the next four years, Private Baker had two further tours of duty in France, as well as spending considerable time on the Home Front. He had a number of bouts in hospital, suffering from rheumatism, particularly in the winter months.

In the spring of 1918, Private James was caught up in the actions of Villers-Bretonneux, to the east of Amiens. He was badly wounded in the chest and abdomen, and medically evacuated to Britain. He was admitted to the 3rd Western General Hospital in Cardiff, where he spent time recovering. He was declared unlikely to be fully fit for war service, and, on 5th August 1918, he was formally discharged from military duty.

At this point, James’ trail goes cold. He returned to Somerset, and settled back into family life with his wife, daughter and son, Sidney, who had been born in 1915. James passed away at home, through causes unknown, on 27th September 1919, at the age of 35 years of age.

James Baker was laid to rest in the peaceful North Petherton Cemetery, within walking distance from the family home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Marines, Somerset, story, Tyne & Wear, war

Private John Mahaffey

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Private John Mahaffey

In a quiet spot in North Petherton Cemetery, Somerset, is a headstone dedicated to Private J Mahaffey of the Devonshire Regiment. He died on 5th February 1916, but there is little further information available for him.

Private Mahaffey’s service number leads you to one military record, his army pension ledger card. This confirms a little more information: his first name was John, he had two children noted (underage, and therefore eligible for part of his pension) – Elsie and Thomas – and a guardian is also given – Mrs Elizabeth Broom, who lived in Kentisbeare, Devon. The pension card also confirms the cause of John’s death: heart failure due to disease contracted on active service.

An unusual surname made searching contemporary newspapers easier, and a mystery was unveiled:

Private John Mahaffey, a native of Devonport.. was found dead in the Great Western Railway train at Durston on Saturday.

Deceased, who was in the Devon Regiment (86th Battalion Provisional Territorial Force), was 49 years of age, and had served twelve years in the Army. At the outbreak of war he re-enlisted, and latterly had been quartered at Blythe. It appears that he had been on a visit to his children at Devonport, and was upon his return journey when his death occurred. At Taunton he conversed with the guard of the train by while he travelled, and was then apparently in good health.

PS Hill, North Petherton, state that on Saturday, he… saw the body of the deceased… He examined the body, and found a bruise above the left eye and a scar on the nose. He found upon him his regimental pass and the return railway ticket. There was also money in his pockets.

George William Grinnett, a guard on the GWR, said… he was approached by deceased, who asked as to the train service to Newcastle. Witness understood that he had travelled from Exeter… He advised him to… change at Bristol. He then appeared to be all right, and in good health. On arrival at Durston [George] walked the train, and when passing the compartment that deceased entered at Taunton he noticed a man on the floor in the corridor. He went inside and found that the man was dead. He then communicated with three soldiers, who said they had not travelled with deceased. They had merely opened the door, and, seeing a man there, had walked away without telling anybody.

Dr William C Ghent… said her was called to see deceased. He was quite unable to form an opinion as to the cause of death. There was a good deal of blood on the face, and a slight wound on the nose. From a post-mortem examination he found that one of the valves of the heart was incompetent, and in his opinion death was due to heart failure. The blood on the nose might have been caused by a fall. There was no serious injury from the blow which would cause death.

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 9th February 1916

John’s previous twelve years in the army may relate to a Royal Marine Light Infantry service document for a John Mahaffoy. Born on 24th May 1864 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, he enlisted in Bristol as a Private on 24th April 1888. Primarily based out of Plymouth, he served until the summer of 1900, and was assigned to the Royal Fleet Reserve for a further seven years.

Further complexity is added to John’s story, with a marriage record for 6th April 1896. This confirms his wife’s name as Elizabeth Brown, the couple marrying in Devon. The 1901 census confirms two older children for the couple, Kathleen (mentioned in the newspaper report, who was born in 1897) and Margaret, who came along two years later.

The next census, however, shows a divided family. John was recorded as being one of 1200 patients in the Devon County Lunatic Asylum in Exminster. Elizabeth was living in Portsmouth, with their son, Thomas. She also had a boarder, Bertram Bound, an Able Seaman in the Merchant Navy. Kathleen was a patient in the Sanatorium for Devon and Cornwall Consumptive Patients in South Brent, Devon. Elsie, meanwhile, was recorded as living in Kentisbeare with her grandparents, Edmund and Elizabeth Broom.

This would suggest that John’s wife Elizabeth had died by the time of his death, and that guardianship of his children passed to his mother-in-law when he too passed away.

The last sad element of this tale is that John Mahaffey was not to be reunited with his children. There may have been a financial element, with the Brooms possibly unable to cover the cost of bringing him down to Devon. John was laid to rest in North Petherton Cemetery, a few miles from Durston Station, where his body had been discovered.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Royal Berkshire Regiment, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire Regiment

Private Herbert Lee

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Private Herbert Lee

Herbert Jack Lee was born in the autumn of 1893 and was one of twelve children. His parents were Devon-born John Lee and his wife, Emily, who came from Churchstanton, Somerset, and it was here that the young family were raised. John was a bootmaker-turned-innkeeper, and the Lees lived in the village’s Rising Sun Inn.

By the time of the 1911 census, John had returned to boot-making once more. Herbert, meanwhile, had found work as a domestic gardener, bringing in a second wage to a household that included his parents and two younger siblings.

When war came to Europe, Herbert – who was better known by his middle name – stepped up to serve his King and Country. Little of his service documentation remains, but a contemporary newspaper report outlined his time in the army:

[Jack] joined the service in January, 1916, and was posted to the Wilts Regiment. He was subsequently transferred to the Royal Berks, and with them proceeded to France, returning to England suffering from trench feet at Easter, 1917. He was then posted to the Devon Regiment, and put into an Agricultural Company, and employed at Offwell, near Honiton.

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 12th March 1919

Private Lee’s health had suffered badly during the winter of 1916/17 and, in the spring of 1919, he came down with a severe bout of influenza. His body was too weakened to recover, and he passed away on 4th March 1919, aged just 25 years old.

Herbert Jack Lee was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Paul’s Church, in his home village of Churchstanton.

Interestingly, in the same edition of the Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser that had reported on Herbert’s funeral, was a report on the state of the Lee’s former home, the Rising Sun Inn.

…some of the rooms were very damp through water having come in… [and] was not fit to live in. The house had been very well conducted by the present tenant [Frank Gill], but… trade… had gone down by four-fifths since the war..

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 12th March 1919

Frank Gill was applying to the Licensing Board to avoid paying taxes for the year, given the drop in clientele and the number of other public houses in the area to support any customers. His case was referred on.

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

Private Thomas Parsons

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Private Thomas Parsons

Thomas Alfred Parsons was born in the summer of 1885 in Twerton, Somerset. One of six children, his parents were railway engine driver William Parsons and his wife, Mary. When Thomas finished his schooling, he found work at a labourer at a mineral water supplier, something he continued doing through to the outbreak of war.

On 27th May 1912, Thomas married Lily Howell, a labourer’s daughter, the couple tying the knot in Twerton parish church. They were living in Charlton Buildings, next to the river and now student accommodation for Bath’s universities. Lily had had a son, in November 1905: young Ronald was either Thomas’, or he was accepted as his own.

When war came to Europe, Thomas stepped up to play his part. He enlisted on 11th December 1915, although he was not formally mobilised until six months later. Private Parsons initially joined the Devonshire Regiment, but by early 1917, he became attached to the 169th Labour Corps.

Sent to France in February that year, Private Parsons only remained overseas for a matter of six months. By early September Thomas had fallen ill, contracting a combination of bronchitis and phthisis (or tuberculosis). Medically evacuated back to Britain, he was admitted to a hospital in Plymouth, Devon, but grew weaker until, on 2nd October 1917, he passed away. He was 32 years of age.

The body of Thomas Alfred Parsons was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Twerton Cemetery, not far from his widow’s home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Essex, Great War, history, illness, Lance Corporal, London, Military Police Corps, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war, Worcestershire

Lance Corporal Ernest Phillips

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Lance Corporal Ernest Phillips

Ernest Algernon Phillips was born at the start of 1879 in the Somerset village of Winscombe. One of nine children, his parents were Arthur and Elizabeth Phillips. Arthur was a gardener, and Ernest followed suit when he finished his schooling.

By the time of the 1911 census, he was boarding with his younger sister Rose and her family – brother-in-law Leonard and nephew Leslie. Just a couple of weeks later, on 11th May 1911, Ernest married Winifred Carey. She was a coachman’s daughter from Winscombe, and the couple set up home in a cottage on the outskirts of the village.

When war broke out, Ernest felt a need to play his part. He enlisted in Bristol on 8th December 1915, but was not formally mobilised until the following June. Initially assigned to the Devonshire Regiment, he was transferred to the Worcestershire Regiment and attached to the 6th Battalion.

Private Phillips’ troop was based on home soil, and he was barracked in the garrison in Harwich, Essex, for the next six months. On 31st January 1917, he was transferred to the Military Police Corps, and given the rank of Acting Lance Corporal. Full details of his service from this point on are lost to time, but it is clear that he remained on home soil until the end of the war.

By November 1918, Ernest had fallen ill. He was admitted to the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital in London on 20th November, suffering from pneumonia. Within a matter of hours, while this seemed to have cleared, his pulse was ‘rapid, irregular and compressible.’ He was medicated, but did not respond to treatment, and passed away the following day. His death was noted as apparently being caused by clots of blood in the heart, but, at the request of his family, no postmortem examination was carried out. He was 39 years of age.

Ernest Algernon Phillips was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St James the Great Church in Winscombe.

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

Private Charlie Tucker

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Private Charlie Tucker

Charlie Tucker was born early in 1877 in the village of Mark, Somerset. The fifth of six children, his parents were Thomas and Caroline. Charlie’s mother died when he was only a toddler, probably during, or shortly after, the birth of his younger sister, Elizabeth. This left farm labourer Thomas to raise his family alone.

The 1881 census found the Tuckers living in Wedmore, five miles to the east of Mark, where Thomas was supported by his parents, George and Elizabeth. Both died in 1890, but by this point, Thomas had married again, to a widow, Ann Harding. She had a daughter, Mary Ann, who was welcomed into the family, but then Thomas and Ann had their own child, a son called Walter.

The next census, returned in 1891, recorded the family – Thomas, Ann, Charles, Mary Ann and Walter – living in Wedmore. Charles had finished his schooling by this point, and was employed as a general labourer and the family also had a boarder, Ralph Godney, who was just 9 years of age.

The family setup continued, and the 1901 census document found Thomas and Ann living with Charlie and Walter, all of whom were doing farm work. They still seemed to be open to supporting others, however, and had another boarder, a schoolgirl called Elizabeth Grant.

In the spring of 1904, Charlie married Lily Brown. Born in Wedmore, she was the daughter, and only child, of a labourer who was employed as a servant to an Axbridge famer at the time the couple wed. Charlie and Lily set up home in Blackford, near Wedmore, and went on to have four children: Thomas, Walter, William and Kathleen.

When war broke out in 1914, Charlie stepped up to play his part. Full details of his military career are lost to time, but it is clear from what remains that he had enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment by the autumn of 1916. Private Tucker joined the 13th (Works) Battalion, and remained stationed on home soil for the duration of his service.

Little further information about Charlie’s life is evident. Over the next couple of years his health began to fail, and in the spring of 1917 he had been admitted to Bath War Hospital with carcinoma of the stomach. This was to take his life: he passed away on 11th March 1917. He was 40 years of age.

Charlie Tucker’s body was brought back to Blackford for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church.

Lily, now widowed, was left with four young children to raise on her own. Whether for a new life and new opportunities, or to escape the painful memories that Somerset brought, she made the decision to emigrate. In April 1924, she and the children arrived in Canada, and settled in Ontario.

Further information for Lily is not readily available, but her two oldest children, Thomas and Walter, made lives for themselves, and died in 1975 and 1979, respectively.