The death occurred at the Voluntary Aid Detachment Red Cross Hospital last week of Private John Thompson, aged 38 years, of the 10th Battalion Gloucester Regiment. The deceased was admitted to the Hospital about two months since with injuries which developed into hemorrhage [sic] of the brain.
[Salisbury and Winchester Journal: Saturday 19th December 1914]
The life of John Thompson is a challenge to unpick. Full service details are lost to time, but his Pension Ledger Card confirms that he was married to a Mary Ellen, who lived in Ladywood, Birmingham, and that the couple had a daughter, Florence May, who was born on 4th October 1903.
The family do not appear on the 1911 census return, and there are no marriage records for John and Mary. It is uncertain whether the couple had wed before the time of the 1901 census, and without a definite place of birth, John’s name is too common to provide an accurate search before then.
The British Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects suggests that he had served with the Gloucestershire Regiment for less than six months, and, given the date of his death, it is probable that he enlisted shortly after war was declared, falling ill soon after that.
The 10th (Service) Battalion was based on Salisbury Plain when Private Thompson first became unwell, and it seems likely that he was camped near Mere, Wiltshire, as this is where the VAD hospital was situated.
John Thompson died on 9th December 1914, at the age of 38 years old. He was laid to rest in Mere cemetery on the outskirts of the town.
Harold Stanley Randall was born in Taunton, Somerset, in the autumn of 1898. One of twins, his parents were Joseph and Elizabeth Randall. Joseph was a carpenter, and when Elizabeth died in 1900, he was left with nine children to raise on his own. This led to Harold being raised Joseph’s brother and sister-in-law, George and Caroline, and he is noted as living with them in Bath, Somerset, in the 1901 and 1911 censuses.
There is little direct evidence of Harold’s life: at the time of the 1911 census he was still at school, so it is not clear what employment he took up once his education came to an end. When war broke out, he played his part, and had enlisted in the Gloucestershire Regiment by the summer of 1918.
Private Randall was attached to the 17th Battalion, a territorial force based in Essex. By the end of the war, Harold was billeted in St Osyth, and it was here that he fell ill. Details of his condition are lost to time, but his health was impacted enough for him to be admitted to the general hospital in Colchester.
Harold Stanley Randall’s illness was to get the better of him. He passed away on 7th December 1918, aged just 20 years old. His body was brought back to Somerset for burial, and he was laid to rest in Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery. His next of kin was noted as his aunt Caroline, who had raised him from a toddler.
Details of Fred Maynard’s early life are a challenge to piece together. His First World War service records give his age as 44 years old when he enlisted in September 1914, and confirm his place of birth as Melksham, Wiltshire.
A newspaper report of his funeral gives the name of three brothers – Charles, Frank and Arthur – while only one census return, from 1881, provides a potential match for the family. This suggests Fred’s parents were iron fitter Alfred Maynard and his wife, Deborah, and gives the family’s address as Waterworks Road in Trowbridge.
Fred joined the army in the autumn of 1888. Initially assigned to the Gloucestershire Regiment, he had transferred to the Wiltshire Regiment by the following spring. Private Maynard showed a commitment to duty: in December 1890 he was promoted to Lance Corporal, rising to Corporal in the summer of 1893.
Fred was stood down to reserve status after his seven years’ active duty, but was recalled to the army in December 1899, when war broke out in South Africa. Promoted to Serjeant, he was sent to fight in the Boer War, and was mentioned in dispatches on 2nd April 1901 for special and meritorious service in South Africa. He was stood back down to reserve status in October 1901.
On 21st November 1895, Fred had married Louisa Card. The couple set up home in Trowbridge, but soon moved to London. They went on to have six children: Ernest, Nora and Leslie, who were all born in the London; and Arthur, Martha and Stuart, who were born in Cardiff, the family having moved to Wales by 1910.
The army was not finished with Fred, however, and, within weeks of war breaking out in the summer of 1914, he was called back into service. Given the rank of Serjeant again, he was attached to the South Wales Borderers. Fred was 44 years of age by this point, his service records confirming that he stood 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, weighed 164lbs (74.4kg) and had brown hair and hazel eyes.
Attached to one of the regiment’s depots, it seems unlikely that Fred saw service overseas this time around. He was discharged from the army on 1st September 1916 and this seems to have been on medical grounds. Later documents suggest that Serjeant Maynard had been diagnosed with carcinoma of the pylorus, or stomach cancer.
Fred returned to Cardiff, but his time back home was to be short. He was admitted to the Lansdown Road Military Hospital, and passed away on 23rd November 1916. He was 46 years of age.
It seems that Fred’s brother’s had some sway in his funeral. Instead of being laid to rest in Cardiff, where Louisa and the children were living, he was, instead, buried in the Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, Somerset. His sibling Charles, who was a sergeant in Bath City Police, lived in the city, as did another brother, Frank.
Fred’s headstone also commemorates his and Louisa’s son, Leslie. He had joined the army in the 1920s and, in the summer of 1943, was in Yorkshire, undergoing officer training.
The death of an officer cadet through the accidental discharge of a rifle whose bolt had jammed was described at an inquest…
Captain WH Price said he was in charge of an exercise on the moors which involved the used of small arms and the firing of live ammunition. A squad of cadets lay on the ground in front of a trench firing over a range. All finished firing except Cadet Frank Holroyd, who said his bolt had hammed while firing a second round. [Price] told him to release the bolt by knocking the cocking piece up and back.
This attempt failed, and he told Holroyd to get back into the trench, turn the rifle magazine upwards, place the butt on the side of the trench, and kick the bolt down with his foot. While Holroyd was doing this he noticed Maynard standing in the trench about 4ft away from Holroyd and on his right-hand side.
Captain Price said he saw the rifle was pointing down the range when Holroyd kicked the butt. The cartridge suddenly exploded and Maynard dropped into the trench, shot in the head, and was dead when they reached him.
[Bradford Observer: Saturday 19th June 1943]
Officer Cadet Leslie Maynard was 36 years of age when he was killed. His body was taken back to Somerset for burial: he was laid to rest in the same grave as Fred, father and son reunited after 27 years.
Louisa remained somewhat elusive as time wore on. Fred’s military records confirm that she had moved from Cardiff to the Isle of Wight by 1922. By the time of her son’s death, she was living in Sidcup, Kent.
Walter Brett was born in Batheaston, Somerset, on 12th July 1896. The fourth of seven children, he was the second son of George and Louisa Brett. George was a groom and coachman from Norfolk, and his work took the family around the country. Louisa had been born in Staffordshire, their oldest child, daughter Florence, had been born in South Wales. By 1893, the family had settled in Somerset, but the next census, taken in 1901, found them in Branksome, Dorset.
When Walter finished his schooling, he found work as an errand boy for a hairdresser. By now the Bretts had moved back to Somerset, where George – and his widowed father, John – were working as coachmen for a Mr Page. There were seven in the household – George, Louisa, Walter and three of his siblings, and George Sr – and the family were living at 1 Nelson Terrace, on Walcot Street, Bath, in a six-roomed cottage.
Walter sought bigger and better things for himself. His older brother, Frederick, had left home, and was working as a grocer’s assistant in Brislington – now a suburb of Bristol – and he too wanted a career. On 23rd January 1912, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. As he was only 15 year of age, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and was sent to HMS Impregnable, a training ship based in Devonport, Devon, for his induction.
Obviously showing signs of ability and commitment to the role, Walter was promoted to Boy 1st Class just seven months later. His first assignment was on board the battleship HMS Cornwallis, and he spent the remainder of 1912 serving with her.
After a brief period back in Devonport – this time at HMS Vivid – and six weeks aboard HMS Lancaster, Boy 1st Class Brett was assigned to the ship that would become his home for the next three years. HMS Lion was a battlecruiser, and she was to serve as the flagship of her class of ships during the First World War.
Walter came of age while serving on Lion, and was given the rank of Ordinary Seaman on his eighteenth birthday. His service records show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having a mole on his stomach.
Walter was promoted to Able Seaman in the summer of 1915, and remained on board HMS Lion until the end of April the following year. His ship had been involved in a number of skirmishes by this point, including the Battle of Heligoland Bight, the defence of the raid on Scarborough and the Battle of Dogger Bank. In June 1916, she would be caught up in the Battle of Jutland, but Able Seaman Brett was back on terra firma by this point, and was billeted in Devonport.
On 1st August 1916, Walter was given a new posting, when he was assigned to the dreadnought battleship HMS Ajax. Acting as support to the Norwegian convoys in the North Sea, he was to remain on board until the closing weeks of the war.
Walter’s brother Frederick, meanwhile, was also caught up in the conflict. He had enlisted in the Gloucestershire Regiment, and was assigned to the 12th Battalion. By the spring of 1917, his unit was based in Arras, and was Private Brett was heavily involved. Following an attack on 8th May, he was declared missing, presumed dead. He was 24 years of age, and is commemorated on the Arras memorial.
Back at sea, in October 1918, Able Seaman Walter Brett became unwell, contracting a combination of influenza and pneumonia. He was transferred to the Hospital Ship Garth Castle, but the conditions were to get the better of him. He passed away on 27th October, at the age of 22 years old.
Walter Brett was brought back to Somerset for burial. His parents had lost both of their sons, but were able to lay their youngest to rest in Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath.
Percy James Wall was born in the Somerset village of Kilmersden in the summer of 1880. The fifth of ten children, his parents were called Robert and Amelia. Robert was a cashier for a local colliery, but it seems that Percy did not follow into his father’s line of work.
The 1901 census found Percy working as a draper’s assistant for Jolly & Son’s in Bath. He was one of 27 boarders at the company’s lodgings on Milsom Street in the city centre. By 1911, he was still working for the same company, but as a draper’s clerk, and had moved to some new lodgings just to the north in Lansdown Road.
When war broke out, Percy stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Gloucestershire Regiment, although his full service records are no longer available. Private Wall was attached to the 1st/4th Battalion, and, by the autumn of 1916, he found himself caught up in fighting at the Ancre, part of the Battles of the Somme.
Percy was badly wounded, and evacuated to Britain for treatment. Full details are unclear, but his injuries were enough for him to medically discharged from the army. He was awarded the Silver War Badge – proof of his genuine discharge – but at this point his trail goes cold.
Percy struggled on with his injuries for a further two years. Hhe may have remained in hospital since his original injuries, but there are no records to corroborate this either way. At the start of 1919, he had been admitted to the Bath War Hospital, his family having also moved to the city by this point. He finally succumbed to his wounds, passing away on 3rd March 1919: he was 38 years of age.
Percy James Wall was laid to rest in the sprawling Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, his pain finally eased.
Richard Ezra Baron White was born in the autumn of 1886 in the Cornish village of St Minver. The third of four children, his parents were Joseph and Zillah White. Joseph was a ship’s carpenter by trade, and Richard served an apprenticeship as a woodworker. By the time of the 1911 census, however, the Whites were working as farmers on the outskirts of the village.
When war was declared, Richard stepped up to serve King and Empire. It is unclear when he enlisted, but he joined the Gloucestershire Regiment, and was attached to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion. Private White was based in Kent during the conflict, his unit being attached to the Thames and Medway Garrison.
Richard survived the conflict, but the winter of 1918/19 was to prove his undoing. He contracted pneumonia, and was admitted to the military hospital in Aylesford. The condition was to get the better of him: he passed away on 20th February 1919, at the age of 33 years.
The body of Richard Ezra Baron White was taken back to Cornwall for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Menefreda’s Church in his home village, St Minver.
Frederick Chamberlain was born in the summer of 1896, the youngest of six children to John and Susan Chamberlain. John was a gardener from Dulverton in Somerset, but it was in Abbots Leigh, near Bristol, that the family were born and raised.
When he finished his schooling, Frederick found work in service and, by the time war broke out, he was employed as a footman. War presented a new adventure, however, and he was quick to step up and serve his country. He enlisted on 1st September 1914, just a few weeks after hostilities were announced, and was assigned to the 1/4th (City of Bristol) Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment.
Private Chamberlain’s service records are pretty sparse, but his unit was sent to France in May 1915, and he was to spend the next thirteen months on the Western Front. He seemed to have performed his duty well, however, and during that time was promoted to Corporal. Frederick returned to Britain in the summer of 1916, for what seemed to be health reasons. He was discharged from the army on medical grounds in November, suffering from phthisis, or tuberculosis.
At this point, the trail goes cold. He returned to Somerset, but his health deteriorated. Frederick passed away at home on 18th July 1919: he was just 22 years of age.
Frederick Chamberlain was laid to rest in the family plot in Holy Trinity Churchyard, Abbots Leigh. His funeral was presided over by Reverend Walter Brinkley, who had performed his baptism two decades earlier.
Oliver Edgar Haskins was born in 1896 in Portbury, Somerset. One of ten children, his parents were John and Hester Haskins. John was a gardener, and the 1911 census noted that Oliver was ‘working at home’, although no trade is listed.
When war came to Europe, Oliver stepped up to serve his King and Country, and was one of six Haskins brothers to fight in the conflict. He joined the Gloucestershire Regiment, and was initially assigned to the 15th (Reserve) Battalion. Based on home soil, his unit were barracked at Chiseldon Camp on the fringes of Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.
At some point Private Haskins transferred to the Labour Corps, and became attached to the 207th Employment Company. It is not possible to identify exactly where he served, but he remained on home soil during the conflict.
The funeral took place at Portbury on Saturday of Mr Oliver Haskins… He was very popular in the village and at business, by virtue of his cheerful disposition and sterling qualities, and was beloved by everybody who came into contact with him. Mr Haskins was taken ill some ten days ago, and confined to his room, but he apparently made a quick recovery until Monday last, when he was suddenly taken worse and died in a few hours, at the age of 24.
Bristol Times and Mirror: Monday 19th January 1920
Oliver Edgar Haskins died on 12th January 1920. He was laid to rest in the once peaceful graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Portbury.
William George Newton was born in Culmstock, Devon, early in 1889. His mother, Ada, was unmarried at the time, and there is no indication as to who his father was. The 1891 census found mother and son living with Ada’s parents, John and Hannah, in South Street, Wellington, Somerset.
In the summer of 1892, Ada married Frederick Higgins, a police constable from Baltonsborough. The couple set up home in the village of Mark, and went on to have ten children. It was at this point that William took on Frederick’s name, though whether that was because he was actually his birth father is unclear.
When he finished his schooling, William found labouring work. On 9th March 1910, he married Annie Achilles, a painter’s daughter from Glastonbury. The couple set up home in a small cottage in Bank Street, Highbridge, and went on to have three children.
The next year’s census recorded that William was employed as a stoker for Highbridge Bacon Co Ltd, a large factory to the south of the town. His and Annie’s oldest child, son William Jr, who was just two months old at this point, and William’s grandfather, the now widowed John, completed the household.
When war broke out, William stepped up to play his part. He enlisted on 28th October 1915, joining the 3rd Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment as a Private. His service records show that he was 26 years and 10 months old, and stood 5ft 2ins (1.57m) tall.
Private Higgins’ service documents confirm that he served for nine months before being medically discharged from the army. He had contracted haemoptysis and had an enlarged heart. His medical records confirmed that, at the time of his dismissal, he was totally incapacitated and unable to work.
William returned to Somerset, but is would seem that his health continued to dog him over the next couple of years. He passed away on 29th October 1918, at the age of 29 years of age.
William George Higgins was laid to rest in the cemetery of his adopted home town, Highbridge.
Annie was now a widow, with three young children to support. She married again in the spring of 1922, to bus conductor William Davey. Annie was to outlive not only her husband, but all three of her children.
William and Annie’s youngest, Cyril, passed away when he was just a couple of months old.
Albert, their middle son, “had been for a great while a cripple from trouble in his leg, but was able to get about on crutches.” [Central Somerset Gazette: Friday 22nd July 1932] He passed away on 16th July 1932, aged just 18 years old.
William Jr had tried out in the Royal Navy when he was sixteen years of age. Beginning with the rank of Boy 2nd Class, he was dismissed in March 1928, as he was deemed unsuitable for the rank of Boy 1st Class.
In the autumn of 1934, he married Nettie King, the daughter of a factory worker from Street, Somerset. The couple went on to have three children, although in an echo of his parents’ tragedy, their middle child, Phyllis, passed away when just eighteen months old.
When war came to Europe for a second time, William sought to serve his country for a second time. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force, and rose to the rank of Leading Aircraftman. On 18th June 1940, he was on board a Blenheim aircraft flying from the UK to Malta, when the plane came down in bad weather near Marseille. William and his two companions, Pilot Officer Johnston and Sergeant Micklethwaite were all killed.
Leading Aircraftman Higgins was laid to rest in the Mazargues War Cemetery near Marseille.
Victor William Sperring was born in the spring of 1897, in Lympsham, Somerset. One of nine children, his parents were James and Catherine Sperring. James was a farmer, 22 years older than his wife and, when he died in 1904, she was left to bring up the family alone. She remarried, to dairy farmer Frederick Butler, continuing the farming life.
Frederick died in 1914, and with her older children now in their 20s, Catherine’s sons took up the reins to keep the farm going. War was on the horizon now, and tragedy was never going to be far from the Sperring household.
Of the five brothers, at least two – Victor and his older brother, Hubert – stepped up to serve their King and Country. Hubert joined the Gloucestershire Regiment, rising to the rank of Lance Corporal in the 1st/6th Battalion. He was caught up at the Battle of the Somme, and was recorded as missing, presumed killed, on 21st July 1916. He was just 23 years of age, and is one of the tens of thousands of names commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in Northern France.
Victor also joined the Gloucestershire Regiment, but his story is less clear. Certainly by 1918 he was attached to one of the regiment’s depots, possibly on home soil. He was admitted to the 2nd Southern General Hospital in the autumn of 1918, and this is where he passed away on 16th November. He was just 21 years of age.
Victor William Sperring was brought back to Lympsham for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in St Christopher’s Churchyard.
It seems likely that illness is what took Victor’s life. Just a month later, his sister, Annie, also passed away: she was interred next to her brother.
Catherine’s grief must have been indescribable, having lost a husband and three children in a matter of years. She continued on, however, and, by the time of the 1939 England and Wales Register, she was living with her son Roland, supporting him with his farm. She died in October 1941, at the age of 77: she was buried with her family in St Christopher’s.
Death and Service 