Inquests have been held by Mr PB Ingoldby, County Coroner, on the bodies of Sergt. S Pickett, aged 36, and Sergt. A Martin, aged 29, whose deaths occurred recently as the result of an explosion in the New Forest.
The evidence showed that Sergt. Martin was killed. Sergt. Pickett was found insensible from shock, and died five hours later in hospital. In both cases the verdict was that death took place accidentally, and that no blame was attached to anybody.
[Hampshire Independent: Saturday 3rd March 1917]
The life of Sergeant A Martin is a challenge to piece together. While no service papers remain, the few documents that are available don’t provide enough information to unpick the his details.
His entry in the Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects confirms his name as Alfred Albert Martin, and that he served in the 3rd Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. The document also gives his beneficiary as his mother, Philaidah.
Sergeant Martin’s pension ledger card gives his mother’s name as Louisa Martin, of 64 Bedford Street, Kingstone Road, Portsmouth. It also provides details of a brother, Sergeant Arthur Theodore of the Devonshire Regiment, who also died during the conflict.
The newspaper report suggests Alfred would have been born in around 1888, but there is no definite evidence of him, Philaidah/Louisa or Arthur in census records from 1891 to 1911.
Alfred’s Medal Roll Index Card confirms that he served in the Balkans, and arrived there on 25th April 1915. It gives his rank only as Sergeant, which would suggest that he may have had some military background before the First World War.
Sadly, there are too many pieces to the jigsaw of Sergeant Martin’s life missing to be able to build a better picture. Killed by an accident, he was laid to rest in Lyndhurst Cemetery, not far from where he died.
Robert Fisher was born on 12th September 1888 in Lyndhurst, Hampshire. He was the sixth of eight children to James and Sarah Fisher. James was a coachman, and the family lived on Pike’s Hill, to the north of the town centre.
James died in 1901, and Robert remained at home to support his mother and two younger sisters. The 1911 census found the family living in the same four-roomed cottage on Pike’s Hill: Robert was employed as a mail driver, while his sister Kathleen worked as a domestic servant. The family also had a lodger, William Penny, to help bring in some extra money.
When war broke out, Robert stepped up to play his part. His service documentation has been lost, but it is clear that he enlisted in the opening weeks of the conflict, and was assigned to the 1st Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. As proof of a quick turnaround for these new recruits, Private Fisher found himself in France by mid-November 1914.
Fighting on the Western Front near Armentières, Private Fisher was wounded on 3rd December 1914. He was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and admitted to Netley Hospital near Southampton, Hampshire. He had been “struck in no less than seven places by shrapnel.” [Hampshire Independent: Saturday 3rd July 1915]
Eventually well enough to return home, by June 1915, Robert’s health had deteriorated. He contracted meningitis, and was admitted to the Isolation Hospital back in Southampton. The condition would ultimately prove fatal and Private Fisher passed away on 20th June 1915: he was 26 years of age.
Robert Fisher was laid to rest in the family plot in Lyndhurst Cemetery, alongside his father, and not far from where his grieving mother still lived.
Joseph Walls was born in Tortington, near Arundel, in West Sussex, on 13th November 1880. The youngest of four children, his parents were gamekeeper James Walls and his wife Annie. James moved the family to where his work took him and, by the time of the 1891 census, they had settled in the New Forest village of Sway, Hampshire.
When Joseph finished his schooling, he found work as a horseman and groom. The 1901 census found him living with his parents and older sister in a house in Brockenhurst. He seems to have taken his work seriously, and soon found himself a position as a chauffeur. The next census, taken in 1911, recorded him as working for Ann Libbey and her family in the village of Boldre.
On 18th February 1914, Joseph married Edith Perry. A carpenter’s daughter, she was working as a domestic servant when the couple exchanged vows. Their wedding certificate confirms that Joseph was ten years his new wife’s senior, and that they ceremony was witnessed by his older brother Frederick and her younger sister, Esther.
Joseph and Edith would go on to have two children: Vera was born in 1915, while Daphne came along three years later. During this time, however, war was raging across Europe, and Joseph had stepped up to play his part.
Private Walls enlisted within weeks of war being declared, on 10th December 1914. His service papers show that he was living at Hospital Cottage in Lyndhurst when he joined up. He was 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall, with black hair, grey eyes and a dark complexion. He was also noted as being asthmatic since he was a child.
Assigned to the 1st/4th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment, over the next few years, Private Wallis would see the world. Within days of enlisting, he was shipped out to India, where he would spend nearly three years (apart from the in the summer of 1917, when he served as part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force). During this time, Joseph was promoted to Lance Corporal, although by the time he left the army, he had returned to the tank of Private.
By the beginning of September 1917, Joseph was back on home soil. A spell of malaria that spring had impacted his asthma, and at the end of November, he was deemed no longer fit for war service. Private Walls was medically discharged from the army on 29th November 1917.
At this point, Joseph’s trail goes cold. He definitely returned home – Daphne was born just a few days after the Armistice – but it is unclear whether he was it enough to work.
Joseph Walls died on 14th February 1919: he was 38 years of age. He was laid to rest in Lyndhurst Cemetery, not far from where Edith and their children lived.
Joseph Tyler was born in the spring of 1882, and was the youngest of three children to Joseph and Sarah. Joseph Sr was a carter from Staffordshire, and the family were born and raised in Wordsley.
The 1901 census found the Tylers living in Brierley Hill, with Joseph Jr having found employment as a glass worker. His father passed away in 1907, and so he remained at home to support his now widowed mother.
By the 1911 census, Sarah and Joseph had moved to Birmingham, and were living at 32 Wiggin Street, a terraced house in the Ladywood area. Joseph listed his employment as a glassblower, while his mother gave no employment, presumably looking after the home.
When war came to Europe, Joseph stepped up to play his part. Full details of his service have been lost, but it is clear that he enlisted early on in the conflict. He joined the Hampshire Regiment, and was sent to Wiltshire for training.
Tragically, Private Tyler’s time in the army was not to be a lengthy one. Barracked near the village of Boyton, he was quickly admitted to the local military hospital. Suffering from heart failure, this would take his life: Joseph died on 13th October 1914, at the age of 32.
The body of Joseph Tyler was laid to rest in Boyton Cemetery, not far from the camp that had, so briefly, been his home.
Thomas Fidler was born on 15th May 1881 in Newbury, Berkshire and was the fourth of eight children to Charles and Sarah. Charles was a groom, who travelled where the work was, and, by the time of the 1901, the family has relocated to Whitchurch in Hampshire.
When he finished his schooling, Thomas found work as a dairyman. However, he had always had his sights on bigger and better things, and, having been a volunteer for the local militia, he was keen to become a full soldier. Things did not go immediately to plan though, and he was initially turned down because he was under height – he was just 5ft 3ins (1.6m) tall when he turned 18.
But Thomas was persistent, and, on 27th June 1898, he was formally enrolled in the Hampshire Regiment. Along with his height, his service records confirm other details about the young man he had become. The document show that he weighed 124lbs (56.2kg), and that he had brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. The records advise that he was considered fit for duty, but also note that he was given special authority to enlist, presumably to bypass the concerns about his height.
Private Thomas Fidler would go on to build up quite a military career for himself. He spent nearly two years on home soil, before his unit was shipped out to South Africa. During his time in the colony, he served in a number of the campaigns, and was awarded with the Queen’s South Africa medal, including clasps for Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Transvaal, and the King’s South Africa Medal 1901-1902.
After more than two years spent overseas, Thomas’ unit returned to Britain. He would remain on home soil until 1903, extending his service beyond the five compulsory years, and choosing to remain on active duty, rather than being stepped down to reserve status. In September of that year, his unit was on the move again, and he was transferred to Malta.
It would not be until September 1905 that Private Fidler saw home soil again. He was formally stood down from duty the following June and assigned to the Army Reserve. Interestingly, his transfer papers recorded that his conduct was indifferent, disobedient… inclined to drink.
Thomas’ attitude over the years was evidenced by his entries in the Regimental Defaulter Book. He was disciplined no fewer than twelve times during his military career. His offences included being absent from parade and using insubordinate language. While stationed in Malta, he was punished for being drunk four times. Over the years, Private Fidler spent 125 days confined to barracks, and was fined a total of £1 2s 6d for his crimes.
When he was not confined to barracks, Private Fidler would likely be found in a sick bay. Between January 1901 and September 1905, he spent 342 days in hospital with conditions ranging from fevers, psoriasis, scabies and gonorrhoea.
On 22nd March 1905, while serving in Malta, Thomas was admitted to hospital having suffered a fractured jaw following a scuffle. The cause of the injury is recorded in detail in an eleven-page report, which outlined that Private Fidler had been out in Valetta, and ended up quite drunk. He was approached by a couple of military police officers, and became abusive towards them. While trying to take off his boots, a private from another regiment, who was also drunk, came along and punched him in the face, fracturing his jaw. Both men were arrested and taken back to barracks. The investigation in to the incident found that, while Private Fidler was off duty at the time, he was to blame for the altercation.
In June 1906, Thomas returned to civvy street, and to his former job as a dairyman. On 5th February 1907, he married Tryphena Snook, who was the daughter of his employer. The couple had had a son the previous year, and would go on to have three more children in the next few years.
The 1911 census found the young family living in Sparsholt, Hampshire, the household being made up of Thomas, Tryphena and their older two children, Tryphena’s parents, William and Emma, and a boarder, William Clark, who was a carter on the farm.
By the summer of 1914, Thomas had been formally stood down from the army, his contract coming to an end on 26th June. A storm was brewing over the Channel, however, and he would soon be called upon to play his part once more.
Details of Thomas’ re-enlistment into the army have been lost to time. It is likely that he was called upon quite quickly. He was assigned to the South Wales Borderers, and, with the experience he had under his belt, was given the rank of Lance Corporal.
Thomas’ unit – the 4th (Service) Battalion – was initially sent to France, and he arrived there early in July 1915. Within a matter of weeks, however, the battalion moved on to the Eastern Mediterranean, ending up at Gallipoli.
Lance Corporal Fidler’s time in on the peninsula would have been fraught with danger. In the autumn of 1915, he was badly injured and was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Admitted to hospital in Devon, his wounds were to prove too severe, and he passed away on 5th November, at the age of 34.
The funeral rook place at Paignton… of Lance-Corpl. Thos. Fidler, of the 4th South Wales Borderers, who died at Oldway Hospital on Friday as a result of wounds sustained at Gallipoli. The widow and other mourners followed, and the Matron of the Hospital (Miss Blackmore) was among those present. Wounded convalescents from Oldway and a Company of the 7th Devons, under Capt. Brearley, attended, and the Devons provided a firing party.
[Exeter and Plymouth Gazette – Tuesday 09 November 1915]
Thomas Fidler was laid to rest in Paignton Cemetery.
Alfred Pollard was born in the spring of 1869 in Hinton Charterhouse, Somerset. His early life seems to have been a little disjointed. The son of Harriett Pollard, who had him out of wedlock, his baptism record gives no details of his father.
The 1871 census found him living with his mother and her widowed father, Thomas Pollard. Ten years later, Harriett is living with her husband, Walter Hayden, and four children, including Alfred – who has also taken the name of Hayden. Thomas is also recorded as living with the family.
Alfred is missing from the 1891 census return. Harriett, however, is now listed as married and the head of the household. She and Walter had a further three children – their youngest, Percy, being just three months old. Times must have been tough for her: the same census recorded Walter as being an inmate of the Somerset and Bath Asylum, where he is listed as being a lunatic.
Harriett died at the start of 1892, aged just 46 years old: Walter died three years later, at the age of 55. Both are buried in the graveyard of St John the Baptist Church, Hinton Charterhouse.
The passing of his mother and the diminishing health of his stepfather seems to have spurred Alfred into building a career to support his siblings. Having been working as an engine driver, on 7th December 1892, he enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry.
Alfred’s service records give his height as 5ft 7ins (1.7m) and his weight as 137lbs (62kg). He was noted as having black hair, bark eyes and a coarse complexion. He also had a number of tattoos, including a cross on his right forearm; a circle of dots on his right wrist; crossed flags, an anchor and Jubilee 1887 VR and crown on his left forearm; and a bracelet on his left wrist. The records also noted the loss part of the middle finger on his right hand.
Private Pollard quickly became a career soldier. Over 21 years, he rose through the ranks to Lance Corporal (July 1902), Corporal (April 1906), Lance Sergeant (November 1907) and Serjeant (June 1911). He spent more than 14 years in India, and was involved in the Mohmand Campaign of 1897. He was formally discharged on 6th December 1913, having served as a signaller for eleven years, and a Provost Sergeant for three. His discharge papers confirmed his exemplary character, and that he was “thoroughly hardworking, sober and reliable.“
Back on civvy street, Alfred found work as a labourer in an iron foundry. This was not to last long, however, as he stepped up once more when war was declared in the summer of 1914. Joining the Somerset Light Infantry on 12th October, he retook his previous rank of Serjeant.
Alfred served on home soil during this second period in the army. Initially attached to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, his unit was based in Devonport, Devon. In September 1916, Sergeant Pollard was transferred to the 2nd Garrison Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment, which was based in nearby Plymouth. In January 1917, he moved again, to the Hampshire Regiment. He spent most of the year with 18th (Home Service) Battalion in Aldershot, Hampshire, and by December had moved to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, which was based in Gosport.
Sergeant Pollard remained on active service until the end of February 1919, when he was formally demobbed. At this point, his trail goes cold, although he seems to have settled in Bath, Somerset. He went on to marry, although details of his wife are limited to the name Mrs AE Pollard and her date of birth, 15th March 1879.
Alfred Pollard died of cardiac failure on 7th March 1921: he was 52 years of age. He was laid to rest in the army section of Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery.
James Henry Savory was born in Gloucester in the spring of 1872. An only child, his parents were Frederick and Sophia Savory. Frederick was innkeeper of the town’s Bell Inn, but things seemed to go wrong for the family as time passed.
Both Frederick and James disappear from the 1891 census return, while Sophia is recorded as being an inmate in the Bristol City Workhouse. She was still there ten years later, although whether she had been there for the full decade is unclear.
James, by this point, had found employment as a travelling labourer. By the autumn of 1891, he had met Edith Morgan, a butcher’s daughter from Bristol. The couple married on 16th May 1892, four days before Edith gave birth to their first child, a daughter they called Eleanor. The couple set up home in Bedminster, James finding work as a foreman at the local marble works. He and Edith went on to have four children in all.
James was drawn to piecemeal work: by the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to Portishead, Somerset, and he was employed as an ironmonger. His son, James Jr, was apprenticed in the same line of work, and the family had a relative, 71-year-old printer William Badger, boarding with them to bring in a little extra money.
What war came to Europe, James stepped up to play his part. Full records are not available for him, but he certainly enlisted in the army. Based on his age – he was 42 years old when the conflict began – it seems likely that he either volunteered for service, or that he was called up later in the war.
Private Savory was attached to the 19th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. Whether he service on home soil or overseas is unclear, but he survived through to the end of the war, and had returned home by the start of 1919.
James Henry Savory died on 6th March 1919: he was 46 years of age. He was laid to rest in Portishead Cemetery, not far from where his widow still lived. Edith lived on until October 1957: she was laid to rest with her late husband, reunited after nearly forty years.
Arthur Reuben Thomas was born in Banwell, Somerset, on 27th September 1899. The older of two children, his parents were blacksmith Edwin Thomas and his wife, Mary.
Little information about Arthur’s life is documented. At the time of the 1911 census he was still a schoolboy, and it is likely that he helped his father out in the smithy when he finished his education.
By this point war was raging across Europe, and it is likely that young Arthur was keen not to miss out. Details of any military service are lost to time, but it seems possible that he joined up as soon as his age allowed.
Private Thomas was assigned to the 53rd (Young Soldier) Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment, and sent to Rollestone Camp on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, for training.
Sadly, Arthur’s time in the army seems to have been a short one. He was admitted to a camp hospital in nearby Tidworth, suffering simply from ‘disease’, and it was from this that he passed away on 6th January 1918. He was just eighteen years of age.
Arthur Reuben Thomas’ body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Andrew’s Church in his home village of Banwell.
Archibald Percy Wilds was born in 1896 in Kilmington, Somerset. The youngest of three children, his parents were dairy farmers Charles and Emma Wilds. Charles passed away when Archibald was just a toddler, and with the help of her family, Emma raised their children while maintaining the business.
When he left school, Archibald also helped out on the farm, but war was coming, and he wanted to play his part for King and Country. Details about his service are sketchy, but it is clear that he joined the Somerset Light Infantry as a Private, before transferring to the Hampshire Regiment. He was assigned to the 15th (Service) Battalion, also known as the 2nd Portsmouth.
While Private Wilds’ battalion saw action in France, it is unclear whether he went with them. His records show that he was awarded the Victory and British Medals for his time in the army, but they do not give a date for him embarking for the continent.
The only other records relating to Private Wilds are those confirming his passing. The Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects confirms that he passed away on 26th February 1918 in a military hospital, while another database suggests that he died of wounds, although it is not possible to confirm how he was injured, or where specifically he passed. What can be confirmed is that he was just 21 years of age when he died.
Archibald Percy Wilds was brought to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in the graveyard of St Michael’s Church in Blackford, not far from where his mother still lived.
Emma Wilds went on to live until she was 70 years old. She passed away in 1932 and was also laid to rest in the family plot, reunited again with her husband and son.
Alexander Popham Spurway was born on 8th April 1891 in Newbury, Berkshire. He was the second of six children to Edward and Gertrude Spurway. Edward was a clergyman, and the family moved to Heathfield in Somerset when Alexander was a small boy. Education was key to Edward and, the 1901 census records show Alexander as being a boarder at the Portmore School in Weymouth, Dorset.
Reverend Spurway set the family up well in Heathfield: by the time of the next census in 1911, the family were living in the village rectory, with five members of staff.
Alexander, meanwhile, had taken a different route, entering the Royal Naval College at Osborne on the Isle of Wight in January 1904. He was a keen sportsman and, while there, he represented the college at both cricket and football.
In September 1908, he passed out from the college as a Midshipman, and served on HMS Canopus in the Mediterranean. His career continued, and he was made Sub-Lieutenant in December 1911, and Lieutenant two years later.
Reverend Spurway died at home in February 1914 and, by the time war broke out, Lieutenant Spurway was assigned to HMS Achilles. He remained on board the cruiser for the next two years and it was during this time that he developed diabetes: something that was to prove an ongoing issue for him.
Returning home in the autumn of 1915, the condition was to prove too much, and he passed away on 29th November 1915, at the age of 24 years old.
Alexander Popham Spurway was laid to rest in the graveyard of his late father’s church, St John the Baptist in Heathfield.
Lieutenant Spurway (from findagrave.com)
Sadly, Alexander was not the only member of the Spurway family to lose their life as a result of the war.
Richard Popham Spurway, Alexander’s older brother, was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Somerset Light Infantry, and was attached to the Hampshire Regiment, when it was moved to Gallipoli in 1915. He was killed on 13th August 1915, and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial at Canakkale, Turkey.
Alexander’s younger brother, George Vyvyan Spurway, joined the Royal Fusiliers, before transferring to the Machine Gun Corps. He had arrived in France in September 1916, and was killed while fighting on the Western Front on 28th March 1918. He was laid to rest at Arras and is commemorated on the memorial there.
Death and Service 