Edwin Joseph Fricker was born on 2nd June 1898 in Vobster, Somerset. The youngest of nine children, his parents were Frederick and Ann, both of whom had been born just over the Wiltshire border in Zeals. Frederick was an agricultural labourer and, based on the places of birth of their children, it would seem that the family moved where his work took him.
Frederick died in the spring of 1911, at the age of 58. The census return, which was taken just a few months later, found the now-widowed Ann living at Stone Ash Cottage in Mells, with four of her children: Edwin and three of his older siblings: Pollie, James and Fred. Edwin’s brothers were bringing money into the home – James as a stone quarrier, and Fred as a pony boy, working underground in the local mines.
When war came to Europe, Edwin stepped up to play his part. While his service records have been lost, it is clear that he enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment, and was attached to the 10th (Service) Battalion.
The death of Pte. Edwin Joseph Fricker, of the Somerset Light Infantry, has recently taken place at the early age of 20 years. Deceased was called up from Bristol and was sent to India and after the signing of the Armistice was demobilised to return to his work in the mine. The cause of death was ague and pneumonia.
[Somerset Standard: Friday 28th February 1919]
The newspaper report of Edwin’s passing includes some inconsistencies: Private Fricker was not assigned to the Somerset Light Infantry, nor is there any evidence that he spent any time overseas. He did die from pneumonia, however, passing away on 16th February 1919: he was 20 years of age.
Edwin Joseph Fricker was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Edmund’s Church, Vobster, not far from where his mother still lived.
Alfred Taylor was born in the summer of 1888 in Crewkerne, Somerset. The second of twelve children, his parents were Henry and Selina Taylor. Henry, who was also known as Harry, was a stone mason, but when Alfred and his siblings left school, they went into the weaving industry, a key employer in the area.
War came to European shores in the summer of 1914, and Alfred was keen to play his part. He had already been a part of the 3rd (Special Reserve) Dorset Regiment, but formally enlisted on 9th December 1915, joining the Royal Garrison Artillery. His service records note that he was 5ft 9ins (1.77m) tall and weighed 149lbs (67.6kg). The document also confirms his next of kin as his father, who, at 48 years old, had also joined up, and was serving in the Royal Engineers in Canterbury, Kent.
Gunner Taylor was not mobilised until September 1916, and served the next eighteen month on home soil. He did his initial training in Hilsea, Portsmouth, before moving around the country. He finally made it to France in February 1918.
During his time in France, Alfred was caught up in a couple of gas attacks, and was evacuated to Britain at the end of August because of the impact on his lungs. Admitted to the 2nd Eastern General Hospital in Brighton, Sussex, his body finally succumbed to pneumonia. He passed away on 25th January 1919, at the age of 30 years old.
The body of Alfred Taylor was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the Townsend Cemetery of his home town, Crewkerne. “…All the members of Gunner Taylor’s family were present, except his father and his brother George, who [were] with the Army of Occupation in Germany.” [Western Chronicle: Friday 7th February 1919]
Albert Lowman was born in Crewkerne, Somerset, in the autumn of 1876. He was the younger of two children to Charles and Sarah Lowman. The 1881 census recorded the family – Charles, Sarah and their boys Charles Jr and Albert – living in Back Lane. Charles Sr was noted as being a labourer, although in the column highlighting any medical conditions (‘deaf-and-dumb’, ‘blind’, ‘imbecile or idiot’, ‘lunatic’), is one word: “afflicted”.
Charles Sr passed away in 1886, when Albert was just 9 years old. The next census, in 1891, found Sarah working as a charwoman, while her youngest, who had left school by this point, was employed as a labourer. Mother and son also had a lodger, Alice, who was a dressmaker. Charles Jr, by this point, had left home, and was living in Penarth, Glamorganshire, where he was apprenticed to his paternal uncle, who was a tailor.
On 28th November 1896, Albert married Sarah Ann Dodge, a weaver’s daughter who was also from Crewkerne. Albert recorded his job as a drayman, although this seems to have been piecemeal employment.
The next census found more permanent work, as he was cited as being a shirt factory packer, while Sarah was employed by the factory as a machinist. Making up the household was young Charles Lowman, the couple’s first son, who was just a month old although sadly, he survived only a couple of months more before dying.
Further tragedy is highlighted by the 1911 census, as it highlights that the couple had had a further child, who had also died when just a babe-in-arms. The Lowmans were now living on Hermitage Street near the centre of the town. Albert was still a shirt packer, and, even though their cottage was small, they had two boarders and a visitor staying. The lodgers brought the couple a little rent, which meant that Sarah no longer had to work.
War was closing in on Europe and, while his full military records are lost to time, it is clear that Albert had stepped up to play his part. He had enlisted by January 1918, and was attached to the Devonshire Regiment, through which he served with the 380 Company of the Labour Corps.
Private Lowman was barracked on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, and in July he was admitted to the military hospital in Salisbury itself, suffering from appendicitis. He was operated on, but died following complications. He passed away on 10th July 1918, at the age of 41 years old.
Albert Lowman was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the cemetery of his home town, Crewkerne.
Private Lowman’s pension ledger record shows the beneficiaries of his army service. The document identified Sarah as his widow, but also Phillis Annie Matilda Denning, the couple’s adopted daughter, who had been born in August 1904.
Sarah was not to outlive her late husband for long, however.
The death occurred with tragic suddenness on Sunday afternoon, January 7th, at her residence in Hermitage-street, of Mrs Sarah Ann Lowman… The deceased, who was of middle age, was about as usual attending to her ordinary household duties in the morning. Just before dinner hour, however, she complained of not feeling well and went upstairs to lie down. Her niece took her up a cup of how water, and she then apparently went to sleep. She awoke about 3:40pm, and then had to get out of bed owing to sickness. Upon going back into bed again she expired almost immediately. Dr Wolfenstein was called, but he could only pronounce life extinct.
Langport & Somerton Herald: Saturday 20th January 1923
Sarah was 47 years of age when she passed away. It is likely that she was laid to rest near her husband, although records to confirm this have been lost.
Albert’s brother, Charles, survived his sibling by less than six months. He had left tailoring behind him in South Wales, and instead embarked on a military career. He joined the Royal Field Artillery in 1895 and, over the course of his twelve years’ service, served in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.
Charles married Florence Dodge in 1908, and the couple went on to have two children – Cecil and Freda. When war broke out in 1914, he stepped up once more. Having already risen through the ranks from Gunner to Bombardier and Corporal, he re-entered service as a Sergeant in the Royal Garrison Artillery.
Based in Le Harve, Northern France, Sergeant Lowman was admitted to a hospital in Harfleur, having contracted bronchial pneumonia. Sadly, he passed away while admitted, on 8th November 1918, just three days before the end of the conflict. He was 43 years of age.
Charles Lowman was laid to rest in the Sainte Marie Cemetery, near the centre of Le Harve.
Ernest James Victor Whatley was born in the spring of 1899, the youngest of three children to George and Clara Whatley. Clara passed away in 1908, and George remarried the following year, to a woman called Sarah. Ernest’s brothers were sixteen years older than him, and so by the time of the 1911 census they had moved out of their father’s home. By that point, Ernest living with his father and stepmother in their house in Bath, Somerset.
Little further information is available about Ernest. With war raging across Europe, he enlisted in the army, but this was not before September 1916, and it is likely that he came of age before joining up.
Private Whatley served in the 1st/7th (Cyclist) Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment, and was based in Suffolk. It is while he was billeted that he was admitted to a hospital in Ipswich, although the cause of his admission is unclear.
Whatever befell Private Whatley, it was to prove his undoing. He passed away in the Ipswich hospital on 9th March 1917, at the tender age of just 18 years old.
Ernest James Victor Whatley’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in St James’ Cemetery, Bath, not far from his mother, Clara.
In St James’ Cemetery, Bath, is a headstone dedicated to one William Parry, once a Private in Devonshire Regiment. A lot of his life is lost to time, but his death highlights the length to which soldiers returning from the Great War were often left to fend for themselves.
On 4th November 1919, Private Parry “was found in an exhausted state lying under an arch in a suburb of [Bath], and told the police he had been there for 17 days. Crawling there to rest, he found himself afterwards too weak to move owing to trench feet” [Western Gazette: Friday 14th November 1919]
On 18th November, having been admitted to the Royal United Hospital in Bath, he passed away from pneumonia. “The police are endeavouring to ascertain something as to the man’s antecedents. He stated to them that he had no home.” [Western Gazette: Friday 21st November 1919]
An inquest into William’s death was held, and a miserable tale unfolded.
Parry was described as a seaman, and his address was given as 36 Catherine Street, Exeter…
[He had] said he was born at Swansea, had served in the 2nd Devons, and was demobilised at Exeter last March. He got into the arch because his feet were aching. He had come from Bristol. He did not say where he was going.
[When he died] Parry’s belongings… included a ration book, issued to him for the address in Exeter, his insurance card, and his out-of-work book. Parry had 10s 8d [approximately £11 in today’s money] in cash on him; but 10s 6d of this sum was given him by a lady since his arrival at the hospital. Parry had received various other gifts sent him by ladies from all over the country, who had read of the account of his discover in the Press. The last out-of-work donation received by him was on June 26th, and the ration book was issued at Exeter on March 24th. The address at Catherine Street, Exeter, as which Parry had stayed was that of a Church Army Home. He had also with him a card indicating membership of the Comrades of the Great War. The entries on his insurance card showed he was last employed on September 8th.
Inspector Lovell… gave the Coroner the result of exhaustive enquiries which he had made… regarding Parry’s antecedents… By the Exeter police he was informed that Parry registered at the Labour Exchange there as a seaman on March 25th. He then produced a certificate showing him to be a member of the Mercantile Marine. He had apparently served with the 2nd Battalion of the Devon Regiment for 2½ years. On May 16th, 1919, he obtained work as a painter in Exeter. He retained this employment till June 21st. A week later he obtained similar employment with another Exeter firm at 1s 3d [approx. £1.68] an hour and his earning averaged £2 [around £87] or more a week. He lest the Church Army Home on September 12th, explaining that he was going to Barrow-in-Furness, where he expected to obtain employment with Messrs Vickers, Sons, and Maxim. While staying at the Church Army Home he appeared to have been regarded as of a morbid disposition…
Inspector Lovell added that the members of the Exeter branch of the Comrades of the Great War had assisted him… and he was able to furnish the Court with a letter from Mr FW Drew, with whom Parry had lodged at the Church Army Home. The writer said he had met Parry in the latter part of April, and their friendship lasted until ten weeks ago, when deceased left Exeter. As they were two ex-Service men they became intimate friends, but apparently before the war he belonged to London.
After enlistment he had served in France, and was taken prisoner by the Germans. He was in their hands for three months; and acted as interpreter between his captors and the other British prisoners. He could speak German and other foreign languages, and undoubtedly was a man of superior education. Apparently, so far as his relations were concerned, he was “one of England’s lonely soldiers.” He said he was badly treated by the Germans, and suffered from a bad cough, the result of a wound in the chest. He was liable to depression when out of work, and the writer well remembered how pleased he was to think that he had obtained work at Barrow-in-Furness… “I deeply regret,” concluded the writer, “that he has come to such an untimely end. He was a good fellow, and would do anyone a good turn, if possible.”
In summing up, the Coroner remarked that exhaustive enquiries had been made into the case. There was no doubt from the medical evidence that the cause of death was pneumonia. It would appear that Parry had been on the road for some time when he crawled under the arch where he was found…
Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 22nd November 1919
Private William Parry died on 18th November 1919, aged around 44 years old. The British Federation of Discharged Soldiers and Sailors and the Comrades of the Great War jointly made arrangements for, and funded, his funeral, at which he was given full military honours. He was laid to rest in St James’ Cemetery, Bath.
Funeral of William Parry (from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Frederick John Coward was born in the Somerset village of Cucklington, in September 1900. The youngest of eight children, his parents were farm labourer Frank Coward and his wife, Agnes.
It is likely that Frederick followed in his father’s footsteps when he left school, labouring on a farm. He was only thirteen when war broke out in the summer of 1914, and over the next few years, he probably watched with envy as his older peers – and older brothers – went off to serve their King and Country.
While full details are no longer available, Frederick probably enlisted as soon as he turned eighteen. He joined the Devonshire Regiment as a Private and was attached to the 53rd (Young Soldier) Battalion. He was sent off to Wiltshire and billeted at the Rollestone Camp, to the north of Stonehenge.
Army and naval barracks were crowded places, and brought together boys and men from all over the country in a way that had never happened before. The cramped nature of the billets meant that disease would run rampant and, once it took hold, it could prove fatal. Sadly, young Frederick was not to be immune from this: he was admitted to the camp hospital, and passed away from ‘disease’ on 6th October 1918. He was just 18 years of age.
The body of Frederick John Coward was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the picturesque graveyard of St Lawrence’s Church in his home village of Cucklington.
The loss of her youngest boy seems to have proved too much for Agnes to bear. She died the following spring, at the age of 55 years old.
Bernard Charles Sugg was born in the spring of 1895 and was the third of eight children to Charles and Emma. Charles was a farm labourer from Somerset and the family were raised in Templecombe, to the south of Wincanton.
While Bernard’s older brother William followed their father into farm labouring, Bernard found employment working with a builder and mason when he left school.
When war broke out, the Sugg brothers wanted to step up and play their part for King and Country. William enlisted in the Royal Engineers in May 1915, while Bernard joined the Devonshire Regiment the following February.
Little information is available about Private Bernard Sugg’s military life. He was assigned to the 12th (Labour) Battalion, and was sent to France within a couple of months. He spent a year on the Western Front, but fell ill in the spring of 1917, and was brought back to Britain for treatment. Admitted to the Ladywell Hospital in Bermondsey, South London, with a fever, he passed away on 4th April 1917, aged just 22 years old.
Bernard Charles Sugg was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in his home village of Templecombe. Understandably distraught at her boy’s untimely death because of the conflict, on his mother’s wishes, his funeral was not accorded military honours.
Private William Sugg had an active career with the army. Having joined the Royal Engineers after being a platelayer for the local railway, he transferred across to the 2nd/4th Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment.
William was caught up in the fighting on the Western Front in the closing months of the war, and was killed on 25th August 1918. He was 25 years old, and was laid to rest at Gommecourt South Cemetery.
Charles and Emma had lost their two eldest boys to the Great War, but their younger three sons – Arthur, Reginald and Harold – were too young to be called up.
Herbert John Burgess was born in the spring of 1883 in the Somerset village of Henstridge. He was the only child to Stephen and Sarah Burgess. Stephen was a farm labourer and, by the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to nearby North Cadbury, where Herbert had also found farm work.
At this point, Herbert’s trail goes cold. None of the Burgesses appear on the 1911 census and, when war broke out, while documents confirm that Herbert enlisted, further details are limited.
Private Burgess joined the Devonshire Regiment, and was assigned to the 12th (Labour) Battalion. The troop was sent to France in June 1916, although it is unclear whether Herbert also went abroad. The next available record for him is that of his passing. He died on 10th February 1918, although, again, the cause and location of his passing is unknown. He was 35 years of age.
Wherever and however Herbert John Burgess died, he was brought back to Somerset for burial. He lies in a quiet corner of the graveyard of St Nicholas’ Church in his home village, Henstridge.
William Ernest Fey was born in Harburton, Devon, in the spring of 1889. The oldest of eight children, his parents were John and Margaret Fey. John was a farm labourer and, when he left school, William also took up work on the farm. By the time of the 1911 census he was listed as a horseman.
When was came to Europe, William was one of the first to step up and play his part. He enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment in the autumn of 1914, and was assigned as a Private in the 10th (Service) Battalion.
For part of his training, he was billeted in Bath, Somerset, and it was here, in April 1915, that he contracted meningitis. Private Fey was admitted to the city’s Red Cross Hospital, but the condition was to prove too much. He passed away on 24th April 1915, aged just 26 years of age.
Financial restraints may have limited John and Margaret’s ability to bring their boy back to Devon. Instead, William Ernest Fey was laid to rest in the quiet and picturesque Smallcombe Vale Cemetery on the outskirts of the city where he died.
Ernest Stanley Bailey was born in the autumn of 1900 in the quiet Somerset village of Barton St David. The oldest of three children, his parents were stonemason William Bailey and his wife, Fanny.
Ernest was only 14 years old when war broke out, but his time to serve his King and Country came in the summer of 1918. He enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment and was assigned to the 53rd (Young Soldier) Battalion.
Private Bailey was sent to the Rollestone Camp, near Shrewton in Wiltshire for training. With the war in its closing months, army barracks were still places rife with disease, and Ernest was not to be immune from this. He contracted influenza, which then became pneumonia, and was admitted to the camp hospital. Sadly, the conditions were to prove too much for his young body to bear, and he passed away on 6th November 1918. He was just 18 years of age.
Ernest Stanley Bailey was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St David’s Church in his home village, Barton St David.
Death and Service 