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Commonwealth War Graves, Egypt, Great War, history, Hussars, illness, India, Kent, photography, Sergeant, Sergeant Trumpeter, story, war

Serjeant-Trumpeter Alexander de Vere

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Serjeant-Trumpeter Alexander de Vere

Alexander Johnstone de Vere was born on 10th August 1889 in Murree, India (now Pakistan). He was one of five children to Norfolk-born Alexander Johnstone (also known as John Ralph de Vere), and his wife Dorothea who had been born in Sangor, India. Alexander Sr was a Sergeant Major in the 12th Lancers, and the family returned to England not long after his son was born, settling first in Aldershot, then in Sandhurst.

Alexander’s youngest sibling, George, was born in Cairo, Egypt, so the family was on the move again. Sadly, Alexander Sr died in a nursing home in the city just two years later and, after returning to England, Dorothea passed away in a Holborn infirmary just two years later.

Documents for the de Vere children – Ellen, Alexander, Dorothea, William and George – are few and far between. The 1911 census places Dorothea boarding with a family in Kingston-upon-Thames, where she was employed as a dress maker. The same document records William as a Bandsman in the 1st Battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders, based at Chanpatia, in Northern India. George, meanwhile, was a schoolboy at the Duke of York’s Royal Military School on the outskirts of Dover. Of the two eldest siblings, however, there is no record.

In the autumn of 1912, Alexander married Emily Louise Collins. Born in Norfolk in 1884, she was working as a servant in a house in Surrey when she and Alexander met. The couple married in Faversham, Kent, and settle down there, their daughter, Dora, being born in the town in January 1915.

Given his family’s military background, it is not unsurprising that Alexander enlisted in the army almost as soon as war was declared. He may have already seen military service, as he enlisted in the 11th Hussars as a Lance Corporal. By 15th August 1914, Alexander was in France.

Lance Corporal de Vere was quickly caught up in the fighting. He saw action at Mons and Nery in 1914, and at Ypres the following year. By this point, he had been promoted to the rank of Sergeant Trumpeter, reflecting the musical connection he shared with his younger brother, William.

Alexander remained in France until January 1916, when he was invalided home. He was admitted to Dorchester County Hospital in Dorset, suffering from a cerebral abscess. Despite treatment, he succumbed to the condition, passing away on 17th March 1916, at the age of just 26 years old.

Alexander Johnstone de Vere was brought back to Kent for burial. He was laid to rest in Faversham Borough Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, East Kent Regiment, Great War, history, Kent, photography, Private, story, suicide, war

Private Ambrose Hopkins

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Private Ambrose Hopkins

Ambrose Frank Hopkins was born in the autumn of 1886, in the Kent village of Ospringe. He was one of four children to shopkeeper-turned-farmer William Hopkins and his wife Julia.

When he finished school, Ambrose found employment in a brickyard in nearby Faversham. In August 1901, however, things took a turn for the worse for the Hopkins family.

Mr WJ Harris, Coroner, had a painful task on Monday evening, when he held an inquest on the body of William Hopkins, a farmer, who was found hanging in the cellar of his house that morning, having ended his life in consequence, it would appear, of business troubles.

Julie Hopkins, wife of the deceased, stated that her husband was 59 years of age… He went to bed on Sunday evening apparently in his usual health and at four o’clock that morning to light the fire which he usually did. Deceased had lately been troubled by business worries.

Blanche Sophia Hopkins, deceased’s daughter, stated that on going down the cellar about seven o’clock that morning (Monday) she saw her father hanging from a beam in the ceiling. She was too much frightened either to touch him or to notice if he was dead, but run up and sent to PC Ward and a doctor. The constable saw deceased just as she found him.

Faversham News: Saturday 31st August 1901.

The tragedy rocked the family and, within eighteen months, Julia too had died. By the summer of 1903, Blanche had auctioned off her once family home for the sum of £270, in order to support her and Ambrose, who was nine years her junior.

In 1906, Ambrose married Florence Harris, a widow thirteen years his senior, who had three children. The couple settled down in Faversham, and went on to have three children themselves – Elsie, Harold and William.

By now Ambrose was working as a labourer in Harty Ferry, just the other side of the Swale River on the Isle of Sheppey. But again, things were going to change as, in May 1916, he was called up for military service.

Private Hopkins was assigned to the 3rd Battalion of the The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). He was sent to Dover for training, before returning to home on leave in advance of further action.

An inquest was held at the Guildhall, Faversham, on Tuesday by the County Coroner… touching the death of Ambrose Frank Hopkins, aged 29… a Private in the 3rd Buffs, stationed at Dover, who hung himself on Sunday last.

Florence Amy Hopkins, the widow, stated that deceased has been… called to the colours three weeks that day. He had leave on Friday last until Sunday night. When he returned he seemed in very good health, but he told her he could not get on in the Army as he could not do his drill, etc.

He was a very quiet man of sober habits. They got on well together except for occasional tiffs. On the Sunday he said what a good breakfast and dinner she had got. All Sunday morning he was cleaning his buttons. He sat talking till after 3pm and then went out the back.

She went out for about twenty minutes, and when she returned she could not find him. Thinking he had gone to bed she went upstairs, but he was not there. Just about five she looked down the cellar stairs, thinking he might be at work there, and saw him hanging by a rope.

On the Saturday night she found the following note on the living room table in her husband’s handwriting. “Good night, my dear Flo, the last night here. My dear little wife, think of me and be good to the children.” She went upstairs, woke him up, and asked him what he had done it for, and he said it was only a joke. There had not been any words between them.

His one trouble was about going back. She told him to make the best of it, and that it would all be the better for him. He replied “Flo, I cannot and I never shall.” They owed a little, but nothing to worry about.

He complained of the food very much, and said that all he had on Thursday night was a piece of bread as hard as a brick. He had fallen away very much since he had been in the Army.

Alfred Willett, a munition worker.. stated that he was called by [Julia] about 5:30pm on Sunday and found deceased in the cellar hanging by a rope fastened to the rafters. The knees were about six inches from the ground, and the feet were touching the ground. Witness cut him down, but he was quite dead. His tunic and cap were off.

Lieutenant Hillier Hughes, of The Buffs, said that deceased had a clean conduct sheet, and he was quite up to average at drill. The food at dinner consisted of meat, two vegetables and pudding. An officer always went round to enquire if there were any complaints. The bread was fresh every day.

The Coroner, in summing up, said that apparently the deceased was not well balanced, and no doubt felt that he was not doing as well as he ought to.

The jury returned a verdict of “Suicide whilst temporarily insane.”

Faversham Time and Mercury and North East Kent Journal: Saturday 24th June 1916.

In very similar circumstances to his father, Private Ambrose Frank Hopkins had died on 18th June 1916. He was just 29 years of age. He was laid to rest in Faversham Borough Cemetery, finally finding some peace.

Bombardier, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Lancashire, photography, Royal Field Artillery, story, war

Bombardier John Harris

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Bombardier John Harris

Sadly, much of John Harris’ life is lost to time. Born in Liverpool in around 1896, he was one of at least eight children, but, with a name as common as his, there is little to identify who his parents were.

What information remains available, comes from contemporary newspaper reports of his funeral:

Acting Bombardier Harris, of the 13th Battery, 2/3rd West Lancashire, died from double pneumonia at The Mount Hospital [in Faversham, Kent] last Saturday. He was 20 years of age, belonged to Liverpool, and had been in the Brigade about ten months. Deceased had been ill for about a fortnight. Several of the men at The Mount attended the funeral, and one of the nurses there accompanied the deceased’s sister.

Faversham News: Saturday 25th March 1916

From this it is possible to determine that John enlisted in the 2nd/3rd West Lancashire Artillery of the Royal Field Artillery in May 1915. His was a territorial force that was, by the spring of 1916, based in Kent.

It would seem that Acting Bombardier Harris’ parents had passed on by the time that he died at The Mount. His siblings – brothers Alfred and Edward, sisters Edith, Clara, Louise, Alice, Kate and Elizabeth – were all based in Lancashire.

John Harris, therefore, was buried in the town where he passed away, and was laid to rest in Faversham Borough Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Labour Corps, Middlesex Regiment, photography, Private, story, Surrey, war

Private Herbert Macklin

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Private Herbert Macklin

Herbert Macklin was born in Lambeth, Surrey, on 14th August 1897, the youngest of six children to Enos and Sarah Macklin. Enos was a general labourer and, after his mother died in 1909, Herbert worked around his school as a baker’s errand boy, to bring in a little more money for his family.

After Enos passed away in 1912, and with his older sisters all having families of their own, Herbert and his older brother William did what they could to survive, getting some support from the local poor school.

The outbreak of war gave the brothers a sense of purpose, and both enlisted. William joined the Royal Field Artillery, and was sent to France in September 1915.

Herbert, being six years younger than his brother, enlisted later than his sibling. He joined the Middlesex Regiment, on 10th May 1916, and his service records show that he was 5ft 4.5ins (1.64m) tall, 126lbs (57.2kg) in weight and had a fair physical development. While Herbert had a fair physical development, he was also recorded as having flat feet, which somewhat limited his army service.

Private Macklin transferred across to the Devonshire Regiment a few months after enlisting. He was then assigned to the regiment’s Labour Corps in the summer of 1917, and remained with them for the rest of his service.

While William was serving abroad, Herbert remained on home soil for the duration. By the spring of 1918, he was working in Kent, but was admitted to hospital in Faversham, suffering from acute tonsillitis. Sadly, this was to prove too much for Private Macklin’s body to take: he suffered cardiac failure, and died on 12th April 1918. He was 21 years of age.

Herbert Macklin was laid to rest in the Borough Cemetery of the town in which he passed, Faversham.

Tragedy was to strike again for the Macklin brothers: as the war moved into its closing months, Driver William Macklin was based in Salonika, Greece. He was not to see England’s shores again, sadly: he passed away on 23rd November 1918, aged just 27 years old.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, history, Kent, Kent Royal Garrison Artillery, killed in action, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, story, war

Gunner Ernest Millgate

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Gunner Ernest Millgate

Ernest Millgate was born in late 1893, the fifth of six children to Henry and Agnes. Henry was a brewer’s drayman from Boughton, Kent, but it was in nearby Faversham that he and Agnes raised their family.

Ernest found work as a labourer in the town’s Cotton Powder Works, but when war was declared, he was one of the first to enlist. He joined the Royal Garrison Artillery as a Gunner on 5th September 1914, and was billeted nearby on the Isle of Sheppey. His service records show that he stood 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, had fair hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.

Gunner Millgate’s military service was to be tragically short, as a contemporary local newspaper was to report:

A terrible tragedy occurred at Minster, Sheppey, on Tuesday morning last, Ernest Millgate… who joined the Kent Heavy Battery barely a fortnight ago, being accidentally shot by a comrade, George Walter Cornelius… a gunner of three years’ service in the same Battery.

Gunner Cornelius, it appears, was handling a rifle preparatory to going on sentry duty shortly after eleven o’clock on Tuesday morning. On examining the rifle he had found that the magazine was charged but that there as no charge in the bore. Apparently the cut-off was in operation, for he pulled the trigger and there was no discharge. He examined the breech a second time and, afterwards pulled the trigger again. To his dismay there was this time a discharge and Millgate, who was standing near, fell dead, having been shot through the head. The theory is that Cornelius’ great coat, which he was wearing, caught in and released the cut-off, thereby bringing the magazine into operation.

Faversham Times and Mercury and North-East Kent Journal: Saturday 19th September 1914

An inquest was held, and it was a verdict of accidental death was given.

Gunner Ernest Millgate was just 21 years old, and had been in the service of the army for just eleven days. His body was brought back to Faversham, and he lies at rest in the town’s Borough Cemetery, just a few minutes walk from the home he had left just a fortnight before.

The same newspaper also ran a report on on Ernest’s older brother, Henry.

Private Millgate was a volunteer for the Northumberland Fusiliers, and was called into active service a couple of weeks before his brother. He had been caught up in the fighting at Mons, le Cateau and the Marne, and was, according to the newspaper, injured.

Medically evacuated to England for treatment, at the time of his brother’s funeral he was in a hospital in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Henry survived the war; he and his wife, Elizabeth, had two children, and he lived until 1939, passing away at the age of 52 years old.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Royal West Surrey Regiment, story, war

Private Frank Jacobs

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Private Frank Jacobs

Frank Jacobs was born on 17th March 1892, and was one of fifteen children to George and Amelia Jacobs. George was a machine worker from Ashford in Kent, but the family moved around the county, presumably for work, as the years went on. Frank was born in Riverhead, near Sevenoaks, but within a few years, the family had settle in Faversham.

George and Amelia appear to have separated when Frank was in his early teens. There are no death records for George until the 1920s, but Amelia had a son with her maiden name in 1905 and, by the time of the 1911 census, she was married to a George Appleton, and had been for just under a year.

The same census recorded the Appletons living in Faversham with five of Amelia’s children, including Frank, who was employed in a local tannery.

On 25th October 1913, Frank married Ivy Clark, the Faversham-born daughter of a cement works labourer. The couple went on to have two children, Ronald and Eileen, in 1915 and 1916 respectively.

When was broke out, Frank was keen to play his part. He initially enlisted as a Private in the 10th (Service) Battalion of The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), but at some point was transferred across to the Labour Corps. He served throughout the conflict, and was based on home soil for the duration.

Private Jacobs remained on active service through to the summer of 1919. By this point he had returned home to Kent, but the war had taken its toll, and he fell ill. He was admitted to the Military Hospital in Chatham, but died from his illness – possibly one of the lung conditions prevalent at the time – on 30th August 1919. He was 27 years of age.

Frank Jacobs was laid to rest in the Borough Cemetery near his family home in Faversham.

Private Frank Jacobs
(from findagrave.com)

Tragedy was to strike again for the Jacobs family. When the Second World War broke out, Frank and Ivy’s son Ronald enlisted. He joined The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) and, towards the end of the conflict, he was among those fighting in Italy.

Private Ronald Jacobs was killed on 19th April 1945, aged just 30 years old. He was buried in Argenta, Emelia-Romagna.

While Ronald had not left a widow or any children, his mother, Ivy, had now lost her husband and only son to European conflict.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, India, Kent, photography, Rifle Brigade, Rifleman, story, war

Rifleman Frederick Burstow

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Rifleman Frederick Burstow

Frederick William Burstow was born in the summer of 1893, and was one of thirteen children. His parents were plasterer Alfred Burstow and his wife, Lydia. Both came from Sussex, and it was in Bexhill-on-Sea where they raised their family.

There is little documented about Frederick’s early life, but he sought a life outside of Sussex and, in around 1900, he enlisted in the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, serving in India for a time.

Rifleman Burstow was still serving when, in August 1914, war was declared. His battalion was sent to France that November, and he ended up serving two terms on the Western Front.

In the summer of 1915, Frederick married Priscilla Epps. She was from Faversham, Kent, and this is where the couple set up home together.

It was while on his second term in France that Rifleman Burstow became ill. He had contracted enteric fever – also known as typhoid – and, at the beginning of 1916, he was sent home to recuperate. While here, Priscilla gave birth to a child, Alice.

Sadly, however, Frederick’s condition was to get the better of him: he passed away at home on 16th March 1916, at the age of just 24 years old.

Frederick William Burstow was laid to rest in the Borough Cemetery in his adopted home town of Faversham.

Rifleman Frederick Burstow
(from ancestry.co.uk)

Frederick was not the only Burstow family member to die during the war. His older brother, Arthur Edward James Burstow, fought on the Western Front with the 2nd Battalion of the London Regiment.

Private Burstow was caught up in the fighting in Arras in the spring of 1918, and was killed in action on 13th April. He was 38 years of age, and left behind a widow and six children.

Arthur Edward James Burstow is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium.

Berkshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Egypt, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, Royal Defence Corps, Royal West Kent Regiment, story, war

Private Hubert Fox

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Private Hubert Fox

Hubert Edward Fox was born in the spring of 1865, the youngest of five children to Alfred and Eliza Fox. Alfred was a baker, from Faversham, and it was in the town that he and Eliza raised their young family.

When he finished school, Hubert found work as a carter and labourer. He served in the King’s Royal Rifles for eight years, spending two of those stationed in Egypt.

In 1894 John married Elizabeth Rebecca Harris in their home town. The couple set up home in the Abbey Road, to the north of the town, and went on to have six children between 1896 and 1909.

When war broke out, Hubert enlisted to play his part once more. He joined up in 1915, and was assigned to the Royal Defence Corps. Private Fox was on guard duty at the Uplees Munitions Factory on 2 April 1916, when a series of explosions ripped through the base. The loss of life was horrific – more than 100 men and boys were killed – and Hubert was fortunate enough to escape serious injury.

In May 1918, Private Fox was invalided out of the army on medical grounds. He was sent to a hospital in Reading, Berkshire, returning to Kent after around six weeks. He was treated in the town’s nursing home, but never fully recovered from his illness: he passed away on 22nd August 1918, at the age of 53 years of age.

Hubert Edward Fox was laid to rest in the Borough Cemetery of his home town, Faversham, not far from the family home in Abbey Road.

At the time of Hubert’s funeral, his eldest son, also called Hubert, was reported as missing in action.

Hubert Jr had enlisted in the 10th Battalion of the Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) in August 1915, embarking for France the following May. After two years, Private Fox Jr moved to Italy with his division, but returned to the Western Front just a few months later.

In April 1918, Hubert was reported missing in action; he was later confirmed to be a Prisoner of War, and was eventually released and repatriated home in December 1918.

Hubert found work as a labourer and night watchman; the 1939 Register records him living in his Abbey Road home with his mother. He died the summer of 1968, at the age of 71 years old.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, history, Kent, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, story, unknown, war

Gunner George Boorman

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Gunner George Boorman

George Boorman was born in Lenham, Kent, in the spring of 1886, one of thirteen children to farm labourer George Boorman and his wife, Sarah. There is little further information about his early life, other than that he went into labouring when he finished school.

And agricultural life was not enough for George, however, and, on 15th January 1907, he enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery. His records show that he was 5ft 9.5ins (1.77m) tall and weighed 134lbs (60.8kg). George had hazel eyes, brown hair and a fresh complexion.

Full details of Gunner Boorman’s military service are not available, but the 1911 census records him as being attached to the 64th Company, based in Aden.

Further information about George’s life is difficult to piece together. His father died in 1913, and the next evidence of Gunner Boorman is that of his passing, on 18th March 1917. The cause of his death is lost to time, but he was 31 years of age.

George Boorman was laid to rest in the Borough Cemetery in Faversham, Kent.

Tragedy struck Sarah Boorman on more than one occasion. Four of George’s brothers died before they turned eighteen, while only six of her thirteen children outlived their mother.

Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Lieutenant, Norfolk, photography, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Captain Edward Wakeford

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Captain Edward Wakeford

Edward Francis Wakeford was born in Rottingdean, near Brighton, Sussex, in February 1881. He was the younger of two children to curate William Wakeford and his wife, Eliza.

The family home was always a busy one; the 1881 census records one visitor, four boarders and a servant. Ten years later, confirms one boarder and two servants.

By 1901, William had taken up a post in St Peter’s Church, Henfield. This seems to have been a step up: helping look after the family and a visitor were four servants – a gardener, a cook, a housemaid and a kitchenmaid.

In March 1907, Edward married Annie West Thornton; she was the daughter of a well-to-do family – the census records show that her father, William West Thornton, lived by private means, while Annie was sent to Surrey to attend a boarding school.

Edward and Annie couple set up home on the Sussex coast, and, when William passed away in 1912, were soon also living by private means. They went on to have three children: two girls, Olive and Iris, and a boy, who they named William after both of their fathers.

War was coming to Europe by this point. While full details of Edwards military service are not available, he appears to have given a commission in the Royal Sussex Regiment. Initially serving as a Lieutenant, but October 1914, he was promoted to Captain.

Edward was assigned to the 6th (Cyclist) Battalion, and served in East Anglia. It seems that he fell ill while there, and was admitted to the Norfolk and Norwich Military Hospital, suffering with appendicitis. Sadly the condition proved too much, and Captain Wakeford passed away following the operation. He died on 23rd February 1915, not long after his 34th birthday.

Edward Francis Wakeford’s body was brought back to Sussex. He was laid to rest in Henfield Cemetery, not far from the church where his father had served for so long.

Captain Edward Wakeford
(from findagrave.com)

The now widowed Annie wed again, marrying Reverend John Gurney in October 1917. Tragedy was to strike again, though, when she passed away just a year later, on 20th October 1918. She was laid to rest Henfield Cemetery, in the plot next to her late husband, Edward.

John Gurney went on to live a full live. He never married again, and settled in Buxted, near Uckfield. He passed away in November 1956, at the age of 76 years old. He was also laid to rest in Henfield Cemetery, where he was buried in the same plot as Annie.

Edward and Annie’s children also went on to have full lives, despite the early loss of their parents.

Olive never married, and passed away in Nottingham in 1986, aged 78 years old.

Iris married in Liverpool in 1934, and went on to have two children. When the marriage failed in the 1940s, she got wed again in 1949. She passed away in Cheltenham in 1965, at the age of 54.

William got married in 1940, at which point he was serving as a Lieutenant in the 1st King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. He saw action in Italy towards the end of the war, and was awarded a Military Cross for his service. When peace came to Europe again, he and his wife settled into a normal life, before emigrating to Australia. William passed away in May 1967, at the age of 54 years old.