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Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Somerset Light Infantry, story, Sussex, war

Private Albert Gale

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Private Albert Gale

Albert Gale was born in the Devon village of Chudleigh Knighton in October 1883, one of five children to John and Elizabeth Gale. It seems that Elizabeth may have died when Albert was young, as, by the time of the 1901 census, John was married to a Sarah Gale, and the family were living in the village of Hennock.

John was a clay cutter, and this was a trade into which Albert followed his father. Again, as time moves on, things change; the 1911 census found Albert boarding with his sister Sophy and her husband, fellow cutter Thomas Willcocks, back in Chudleigh Knighton.

War was coming to Europe and, in April 1916, Albert enlisted, joining the Somerset Light Infantry as a Private. He would have cut a commanding figure; his enlistment papers show that he stood at 5ft 10ins (1.77m) tall.

Albert served on home soil. While attached to the Somerset Light Infantry, he was assigned to the 661st Agricultural Company of the Labour Corps, working in Kent and Sussex.

During this time, he received hospital treatment on four separate occasions: in August 1916, he was admitted with cellulitis of the arm; in December 1916 and January 1917, he was treated on two separate occasions for scabies. In November 1918, however, he was admitted to the Military Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex, as he was suffering from influenza. Sadly, this last condition was to worsen and, on 21st November 1918, Private Gale died, having subsequently contracted pneumonia. He was 35 years old.

Albert Gale’s body was brought back to Devon for burial. His brother-in-law Thomas had died the previous summer; his story can be found here. Albert was laid to rest in the grave next to his sister’s husband in the churchyard of St Paul’s in Chudleigh Knighton.

With Thomas dead, Sophy had been left a widow. Understandably bitter at what the war had taken from her, when she was asked if she wanted a memorial for her brother, she returned the form with the following statement: “I don’t require the plaque and scroll in memory of my dear brother; a piece of paper won’t keep me.”

accident, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, injury, photography, Royal Navy, Somerset, story, war

Boy Clifford Day

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Boy Clifford Day

Clifford Day was born on 27th November 1897 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. He was one of eleven children to John and Sophia Day. John initially worked as a general labourer for a stonemason, but by the time of the 1911 census, he had begun working for a gas company. The family, at this point, were living in a five-room house a short distance from the town centre.

Living in a large household, a dream of escape may have fermented in young Clifford’s mind. To see some of the world, he joined the Royal Navy on 3rd September 1913. Given he was only fifteen, he was too young to formally enlist, but he was given the rank of Boy, and set to work.

Clifford’s service papers confirmed that he stood at 4ft 11ins (1.48m) tall, had brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. It was also noted that he had a scar on his forehead.

Boy Day’s service began on HMS Impregnable, where he spent nine months learning the ropes. He moved on to HMS Gibraltar in May 1914, before transferring to HMS Vivid – the shore-based establishment in Devonport – at the outbreak of the First World War.

On 3rd October 1914, Clifford was assigned to the battlecruiser HMS Tiger. He was on board for only three weeks, when he was taken back to HMS Vivid, and sent to the Naval Hospital there. He was admitted with a fractured skull, sadly passing the next day – the 26th October 1914 – at the age of just 16 years old. I’ve been unable to locate any further information about his injury, other than that an inquest found that it was accidental death.

Clifford Day was brought back to Weston-super-Mare for burial. He was laid to rest in the Milton Road Cemetery in the town.

Commonwealth War Graves, Essex, Gibraltar, Great War, Hampshire, history, London, photography, Private, Royal Defence Corps, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, unknown, war

Private Edmund Bevan

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Private Edmund Bevan

Edmund Thomas Bevan was born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, in November 1867, the son of blacksmith George Bevan and his wife, Mary Ann.

Unfortunately, little documentation remains on Edmund’s early life; after his baptism record, the next evidence for him comes in the form of his military service record, twenty years later.

Looking for a life of adventure, Edmund gave up his labouring job and joined the Somerset Light Infantry. His enlistment papers confirm the date – 12th May 1887 – and showed that he stood at 5ft 4ins (1.62m) tall and weighed in at 120lbs (54.4kg). The papers also note that he had dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. He also had a scar above his right eye.

Private Bevan joined up for twelve years’ service. He spent his first four years at bases in Essex and Hampshire, before being sent to Gibraltar in November 1891. He returned home after two years, and spent his remaining time in the army in his home county, Somerset. Noted that he had shown a very good character, he was discharged to the reserve brigade on 11th May 1899 in Taunton.

Sadly – tantalisingly – Edmund’s trail goes cold again at this point. When hostilities were declared in August 1914, it seems likely that he was brought out of reserve, but given his age at this point – he was 46 – he was assigned to the territorial force. As a Private in the 125th Coy of the Royal Defence Corps, he would have had civil protection in the London area, although again, specific details are not known.

The next confirmation of Private Bevan’s life is his gravestone. This confirms that he passed away 19th July 1917, at the age of 49. While no cause of death is evident, his pension record sheds a little more light onto his life in the early years of the twentieth century.

Edmund had married a woman called Martha, and the couple had gone on to have a child. Martha passed away in September 1913 and, according to the pension record, Edmund passed guardianship on to his brother Henry.

Edmund Thomas Bevan was laid to rest in the Milton Road Cemetery in his home town of Weston-super-Mare.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, Kent, Lancashire, Leading Stoker, photography, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, war

Leading Stoker Joseph Craven

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Leading Stoker Joseph Craven

Joseph Craven was born in Liverpool on 6th January 1870. There is little information available about his early life, but by the time of the 1891 census, he was boarding with a blacksmith and his family in Bootle, Lancashire. By this point he was working as a fireman – probably a stoker-type role, rather than for the fire service.

The following year, Joseph found an opportunity to broaden his horizons and, on 21st October 1892, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class. His papers show that, at the time of joining up, he was 5ft 4ins (1.62m) in height, had dark brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. No distinguishing marks were noted.

Joseph’s previous employment seemed to have stood him in good stead. After initial assessments at HMS Pembroke – the shore-based establishment at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent – he was quickly moved on to HMS Wildfire, based in Sheerness. His first sea posting was aboard the battlecruiser HMS Howe, and, within a couple of months, he had been promoted to Stoker 1st Class.

By the time Joseph’s initial twelve-year contract came to an end, he had served on board nine ships and travelled the world. When the time came, he voluntarily renewed his contract and continued his life at sea.

When back in port, he developed a private life. He met a young widow called Sarah Baker in Portsmouth, and the couple married in 1908. The census three years later found Joseph as the head of the household, living in a seven-room house with Sarah, her 13-year-old daughter, 80-year-old widowed mother and two boarders.

Stoker Craven’s naval service was, by this point, continuing apace. By the time hostilities were declared in August 1914, he had served on twelve further ships, and been promoted again, this time to the role of Leading Stoker. In between his voyages, he was based primarily at HMS Victory, Portsmouth Dockyard’s shore-base.

By the end of the following year, Joseph was almost entirely shore-based, moving from HMS Victory in Portsmouth to HMS Pembroke in Chatham and HMS Attentive in Dover. On 26th November 1916, he was serving in Chatham. A local newspaper picks up on what happened to him next:

Joseph Craven… belonging to Portsmouth, met his death under shocking circumstances at Chatham Dockyard on Sunday. When walking by the side of his ship, which was in dry dock, he tripped over some hose and fell headlong into the dock, turning two or three somersaults in his descent, and falling upon his head at the bottom, 80ft [24.3m] below. He was killed instantly.

Kent Messenger and Gravesend Telegraph: 2nd December 1916

An inquest on the 46-year-old’s death was held, and a result of accidental death was returned.

Joseph Craven was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, walking distance from the dockyard in which he lost his life.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, Hampshire, history, Kent, killed in action, photography, Royal Marines, story, Surrey, war, Wiltshire

Gunner George Hewlett

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Gunner George Hewlett

George Henry Hewlett was born on 11th July 1892, the oldest of four children to Henry and Louisa Hewlett. Henry was a painter from Hampshire, who travelled for work. George and his youngest sibling were born in Romsey, while his two brothers were born in Swindon, Wiltshire. By the time of the 1901 census, when George was eight years old, the family had settled in Hammersmith, London.

The next census, in 1911, recorded the family as living in Caterham, Surrey. By this time, George and his father were working as gardeners, while his brothers were working as grocers. Louisa, meanwhile, was employed as a live-in housekeeper for a spinster and her mother just around the corner.

War was coming and George was determined to do his bit. Full details are not available, but he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry, taking on the role of Gunner. In May 1918 he was on board HMS Iris, a Mersey ferry requisitioned by the Royal Navy for support in the planned raid on Zeebrugge.

On 23 April 1918, HMS Iris was towed across the English Channel to Zeebrugge by HMS Vindictive; she was carrying a couple of platoons of the 4th Battalion of the Royal Marines as a raiding party. When the Vindictive neared the Zeebrugge she cast the ferry aside. Iris tried to pull up to the breakwater under heavy fire in order to off-load the raiding parties which were on board. She sustained heavy fire and a shell burst through the deck into an area where the marines were preparing to land. Forty-nine men were killed, including Gunner Hewlett. George was 28 years of age.

George Henry Hewett’s body was brought back to England. He was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, not far from the dockyard at which he was based.

George’s two brothers also fought in the First World War.

John William Hewlett, who was two years younger than George, joined the 1st Royal Marine Battalion of the Royal Naval Division as a Private. He fought on the Western Front, and was killed in fighting on 22nd October 1916. He was 21 years of age. John was laid to rest at the Mesnil-Matinsart Cemetery near the town of Albert in Northern France.

Joseph Herbert Hewlett was born three years after George. When war was declared, he enlisted in the Buffs (East Kent Regiment), joining the 4th Battalion as a Private. Dispatched to India, he was initially based in Bombay, but was injured in fighting. He was sent back to England, and treated at the Military Hospital at Netley, near Southampton. Sadly, his wounds proved too severe – he passed away on 4th April 1915, aged just 20 years old.

In the space of three years, Henry and Louisa Hewlett had lost all three of their sons to the war. After George’s death, a local newspaper reported this was their “sad and proud record”. [Dover Express: Friday 31st May 1918]

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, London, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, story, Trimmer, war

Trimmer John Kelly

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Trimmer John Kelly

John Kelly was born in East London on 11th January 1871, the son of Charles and Jane. There is not a lot of concrete information about his early life, but he seems to have married an Isabella Coles in the late 1890s, and the couple went on to have at least one child – a daughter they called Lizzie.

On 13th May 1915, with the First World War raging, John enlisted. He joined the Royal Navy for the duration of the war as a Trimmer (or Stoker), His enlistment papers show that he stood at 5ft 6ins (1.67m tall), had a fair complexion and blue eyes. He is also noted as having a scar on his chin.

During his time at sea, Trimmer Kelly served on board a number of vessels; his primary base, however, remained HMS Pembroke, the shore-based establishment at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent.

It was while he was on board HMS Hecla, a depot ship, that John fell ill with stomach problems. Returned to Chatham, he was admitted to the Naval Hospital in the town, but died of a carcinoma of the stomach on 17th November 1918. He was 47 years old.

John Kelly was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, a short distance from the dockyard where he had been based.

Cambridgeshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, King's (Liverpool Regiment), photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Percy White

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Private Percy White

Percy White was born in the spring of 1890, the youngest of four children to Frank and Fanny White. Frank was a tailor from Frome, Somerset, and this is where the family were raised and settled for most of Percy’s life.

By the time of the 1911 census, Frank and Fanny had been married for 30 years. Frank was still working as a tailor, while Percy’s three older siblings – all girls – were working as silk weavers and packers. Percy had moved away from the family’s clothing heritage, and had found work as a hairdresser.

War was on the horizon, however, and Percy was called upon to do his duty for King and Country. He was initially assigned as a Private to the King’s (Liverpool Regiment) when he joined up in the autumn of 1914. Full details of his military service are not readily available, but it seems that he served on the Front Line in France, but was invalided out late in 1917.

By that point, he had met Bessie Cundick, who had been born in Wiltshire. They married in Andover in the spring of 1916, when they were both 26 years old.

Back in England, and discharged from the King’s (Liverpool Regiment), Percy was transferred to the Labour Corps and, for the last year of the war had done agricultural work in Cambridgeshire. After the armistice was signed, Frank fell ill and died on 4th February 1919.

Private White attended the funeral at the Vallis Road Cemetery in Frome with his family, before returning to his unit. By this point, however, he had himself fallen ill with influenza, and was admitted to the East General Hospital in Cambridge. The condition was to prove too much, however, and he passed away on 16th March, less than six weeks after his father’s death. He was just 29 years of age.

Percy’s body was brought back to Frome; he too was laid to rest in the Dissenters’ Cemetery in Vallis Road, Frome.

accident, Bombardier, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Ireland, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, war

Bombardier Daniel Mcauley

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Bombardier Daniel McAuley

Daniel Mcauley was born in Belfast in around 1883, one of six children to John and Margaret Mcauley. John was a farmer, and when Daniel – who was named after his uncle – left school, he found labouring work to help the family bring in an income.

In January 1909, Daniel married Annie Fittis, the daughter of a linen tenter (stretching cloth on a loom while it was drying and maintaining the machines). The couple had had a son, John, eighteen months before, and would have another child, Sarah, later that year.

The 1911 census for Northern Ireland found the young family living with Annie’s mother and two sisters in Dayton Street, near the middle of Belfast. Annie and her sisters were working as flax spinners, while Daniel was a labourer. Tellingly, the document lists inhabitants’ religion – Daniel is the sole Roman Catholic amongst a family of Presbyterians.

War was coming to Europe, and Daniel was called on to do his bit. Sadly, full details of his military service are not available, but what is clear is that he enlisted as a Bombardier in the Royal Field Artillery towards the end of 1914. He was shipped to England, and barracked in Somerset, near Frome.

Sadly, the next evidence of Daniel’s life comes in a wealth of newspaper articles that report on the accident that led to his death.

One soldier was killed and another seriously injured as the result of a horse attached to a Royal Field Artillery wagon bolting at Frome Saturday morning. The wagon was on its way to the stables when the horse got out of control and ran along Christ Church Street West.

One man, who was riding in the wagon, in jumping clear was seriously cut about the head and body, and was taken to the hospital. The other, Bombardier Daniel MacAulay, belonging to Glasgow [sic], remained in the wagon trying to pull up the horses, but the vehicle swerved across the road and he was thrown out, his head coming into contact with a street lamp.

He was taken to the hospital on the police ambulance, but died before admission. He was a married man, about 34 years of age, and was to have gone on leave Saturday in order to visit his sick child. In the morning he received a letter from his wife saying that the child had been seriously ill and had gone blind.

Mr Douglas Mackay, deputy coroner, held an inquest at Frome on Tuesday on the body of the deceased. The verdict was “Accidental death.”

Shepton Mallet Journal: Friday 19th March 1915

Other newspapers reported similarly, a couple stating that Daniel was father to three children. There is no evidence that this was the case and, given that all of the reports state that he came from Scotland, when he was Irish, it is likely that this too was an error. Each newspaper give variations of the spelling of his surname too, evidence that spelling was often at the mercy of the person documenting it, even in the media.

Daniel was buried in Somerset and Annie travelled to England to attend the funeral. Again, newspaper reports suggest that Daniel’s brothers also attended, although he had only one male sibling.

Bombardier Daniel Mcauley died on 13th March 1915, aged around 33 years old. He was laid to rest in the Vallis Road Burial Ground in Frome, also known as the Dissenters’ Cemetery (for those who did not follow the English Protestant faiths.

McAuley (McCauley), Daniel, Bombardier, Royal Field Artillery, 7 Wall Street Belfast, Died, March 1915
Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Frederick White

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Private Frederick White

Frederick James White was born in the autumn of 1898, one of four children to Frederick and Emma White. Frederick Sr was a gas fitter from Frome, and the Somerset town was where the family were raised.

As a youngster, Frederick Jr attended the Primitive Methodist Sunday School in the town. He also acted as treasurer for the local YMCA. He was only 15 when war broke out, so was not able to enlist immediately.

However, by 1916 he had joined the 1st Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment as a Private and, at some point, was assigned to the Royal North Devon Hussars.

Either way, in whichever regiment he served, Frederick saw fighting in France, and was wounded in the autumn of 1917. Medically evacuated back to England, he was admitted to the temporary military hospital at Collegiate Hall in Sheffield.

The local newspaper shed a little more light into Frederick’s life:

Deceased, who was in the North Devon Hussars, died on November 22nd, at Sheffield, of wounds he received on November 5th. He was brought back to England three weeks to the day from the time he sailed for France.

Somerset Standard: Friday 30th November 1917

Private White’s wounds were too much; he passed away at the age of just 19 years old.

Frederick James White’s body was brought back to his home town. He was laid to rest in the Dissenters’ Cemetery in Vallis Road, Frome.

Frederick Sr and Emma White would have been understandably saddened by their son’s passing. They had four children; their eldest, Florence, had passed away before reaching her first birthday. Their youngest, Reginald, had died in childbirth. Frederick had died as a result of the First World War.

Sadly, the tragedy wasn’t yet over. Their only surviving child, Frederick’s younger brother William, passed away in August 1919, aged just 17 years old.

Frederick Sr and Emma had outlived all of their children, none of whom had reached or survived their teenage years.

Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hertfordshire, history, illness, injury, North Somerset Yeomanry, photography, Somerset, South Africa, story, war

Captain Hugh Brooking

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Captain Hugh Brooking

Hugh Cyril Arthur Brooking was born on 15th September 1870 and was one of six children (although he also had three further half-siblings through his father’s first marriage). His father, Arthur Brooking, was the vicar of the Hertfordshire village of Bovingdon, and it was in the vicarage that he and his wife Marian raised their family (with the help of seven servants).

Hugh led a life befitting of a reverend’s son; he was educated at St Mark’s School in Windsor, Lancing College and Down College, both in Sussex. He continued his studies at the Mining College in London (now part of Imperial College London), and went out to South Africa to further that work.

The local newspaper reporting on his funeral takes up the story:

When the Boer War broke out he joined the Imperial Light Horse, and was engaged in the battles of Elandslaagte, Wagon Hill and others, was in Ladysmith during the siege, and the relief of Mafeking. He was several times mentioned in despatches, and obtained the Queen’s medal and six clasps, and the King’s medal with two clasps. He then joined the South African Constabulary, under General Baden Powell.

He had previously held a commission in the North Somerset Yeomanry, and after leaving it for a short time he re-joined a soon as the [First World War] was declared, and was in France with his regiment when it made its famous stand against the Prussian Guards. All his superior officers were killed or wounded, and he was temporarily in command of the regiment.

He received the ribbon of the 1914 Star of Mons, but did not live to get the star. He served with the regiment 20 years. He was latterly attached to the Labour Corps at West Ham.

Captain Brooking came to Frome with his parents as a boy. In his youth he was a thorough sportsman, well known in the hunting field, genial and kindly, ready with a pleasant word, and courteous to all, he won friendly appreciation from all classes of townsfolk.

He had seen a great deal of fighting, though from exposure and other causes his health suffered, and he was employed on home service.

He was in command of the 371st Labour Company, and second in command of his battalion, when he met with the slight accident which led to his death. He grazed his knuckles, causing bleeding, but of so slight a character that no notice was taken of it. A few hours later he again struck his hand, and fresh paint appears to have affected the wound, and blood poisoning supervened.

Somerset Standard: Friday 7th June 1918

In his personal life, Hugh had met and married Florence Day, a farmer’s daughter seventeen years his junior from Somerset. The wedding was in the autumn of 1912, and they would go on to have two children, Granville and Hugh Jr. The boys would both go on to lead distinguished lives, Granville in the armed forces and Hugh as a ‘King’s Messenger’ in South America.

Following Captain Brooking’s injury, he was admitted to the Military Hospital in Purfleet but the treatment he received there was to do no good. Three months after the accident, on 31st May 1918, he passed away; he was 47 years of age.

Hugh Cyril Arthur Brooking’s body was taken back to Frome; he was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John the Baptist Church in the town.

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Captain Hugh Brooking
(from findagrave.com)