David Edward McGregor was born in Bega, New South Wales, Australia, in the summer of 1880. One of fourteen children, his parents were John and Isabella McGregor.
There is little information about David’s early life, but when he completed his schooling, he found work in a dairy, eventually becoming employed as a cheesemaker.
When war broke out, David stepped up to serve his King and Empire, enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force as a Driver on 7th July 1916. His service records show that he was 5ft 10.5ins (1.79m) tall and weighed in at 168lbs (76.2kg). A Presbyterian, he was noted as having black hair, brown eyes and a medium complexion.
Driver McGregor’s unit – the 15th Battalion of the Australian Infantry – set sail from Brisbane on the SS Boonah on 21st October 1916. Their journey would take ten weeks, arriving in Devonport, Devon, on 10th January 1917. From here David was marched in to the ANZAC camp at Codford, Wiltshire.
The lengthy sea voyage had taken its toll on a lot of the troops, and David was not to be immune. He came down with pneumonia and, after initially being treated in the camp hospital, he was admitted to the military hospital in Codford in a moribund condition. Driver Brooks’ move was to prove too little, too late, and he passed away on 23rd January 1917, just a day after being admitted. He was 36 years of age.
David Edward McGregor was laid to rest in the ANZAC extension to St Mary’s Churchyard in Codford, Wiltshire, not far from the base he had so briefly called home.
Harold Vincent Brooks was born in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, in the spring of 1898. One of ten children, his parents were William and Mary Brooks.
Little information is available about Harold’s early life, but when he completed his schooling, he found work as a labourer. When war broke out, he was initially turned down for military service because of poor eyesight, but as the conflict rolled on, he tried to enlist again and was accepted into the Australian Imperial Force.
Private Brooks’ service records show that he was 5ft 4.5ins (1.63m) tall, and weighed 136lbs (61.7kg). A Roman Catholic, he had brown hair, hazel eyes and a medium complexion.
Assigned to the 47th Battalion of the Australian Infantry, Harold left his home country from Brisbane on the 27th October 1916. The ship his unit was sailing on – the Marathon – took just over ten weeks to reach Britain, eventually docking in Devonport, Devon. From there Private Brooks was marched to the ANZAC camp in Codford, Wiltshire.
Harold’s time in Britain was not to be a lengthy one. He contracted pneumonia, and was admitted to the nearby Sutton Veny Military Hospital on 24th January. Private Brooks’ condition worsened, and he passed away on 5th February 1917. He was just 19 years of age.
Thousands of miles from home, the body of Harold Vincent Brooks was buried in the newly extended St Mary’s Churchyard, Codford.
Alfred Henry Parkinson was born in Reedy Creek, South Australia, on 20th October 1880. One of nine children, his parents were William and Isabella Parkinson.
There is little concrete information about Alfred’s early life, but when he finished his schooling he found work in the mines. When war broke out, however, he stepped up to play his part, joining the Australian Imperial Force on 2nd November 1916.
Private Parkinson’s service records show that he was 5ft 9ins (1.65m) tall, and weighed in at 10st 4lbs (65.3kg). He was noted as having brown hair brown eyes and a fair complexion. After a month’s training, he left Australia on board the SS Berrima, bound for Europe.
Alfred’s unit – the 16th Battalion of the Australian Infantry – arrived in Devonport, Devon, on 16th February 1917. Within a matter of days he arrived at the ANZAC camp at Sutton Veny, Wiltshire.
Illness amongst the Australian troops was rife by the time they arrived in Britain, and Private Parkinson was not to be immune. He was admitted to the Military Hospital connected to the camp on 20th March, suffering from bronchial pneumonia. The condition worsened, and he died just six days later. Alfred was 36 years of age.
Thousands of miles from home, the body of Alfred Henry Parkinson was laid to rest in the newly extended graveyard of St Mary’s Church, Codford, not far form the base in which he had breathed his last.
George William Land was born early in 1891, and was the only child to George and Caroline Land. George Sr was a greengrocer from Dagenham, Essex, and the family were living in Ilford when his son was born.
Caroline seems to have died a few months after George Jr’s birth, and, by the time of the 1901 census, he was in the care of her parents. His father was still running the shop, and was supported by George Jr’s aunt.
The 1911 census found George Jr employed as a greengrocer, and it seems likely that he was working alongside his father by this point. He was living with his maternal and uncle, who was also employed in the same line of work.
When war was declared, it seems that George Jr wated to play his part. Full details of his service have been lost to time, but it seems that he joined the Merchant Navy and, by the summer of 1918, he was working as a Carpenter’s Mate on board the SS Mesaba. She was a cargo liner, requisitioned by the Admiralty for transport duties.
On 31st August 1918, the Mesaba left Liverpool, Lancashire, for Philadelphia. The following day, she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-118, and foundered. She sunk off the coast of County Wexford, with the loss of 20 souls, Carpenter’s Mate Land included. George Jr was 27 years of age.
The body of George William Land was laid to rest in St David’s Parish Cemetery, Pembrokeshire. It is unclear whether his body had been brought to Wales with the seventy survivors who had been rescued, or whether it had washed ashore there some time after the sinking.
Born at the start of 1902, Malcolm Edward James Vacher was the younger of two children to James and Alice Vacher. James was a domestic coachman and both he and Alice were born in Milton Abbas, Dorset. By the time Malcolm was born, the family had relocated to the village of Mortimer, Berkshire.
Alice died when her youngest was just five, and James moved the family to the village of Kelstern in Lincolnshire, possibly for work. Sadly, James passed away in 1916, leaving Malcolm and his older sister, Gladys, as orphans.
By this point war was raging across Europe, and it seems that Malcolm looked to the army as a new family. He enlisted in the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment), although his service papers have been lost to time.
It is unclear how or where Drummer Vacher served. He survived the war, however, and by the autumn of 1919, found himself on furlough in Wiltshire. His death certificate records that died on 26th October, from a combination of appendicitis and heart failure. Just 17 years of age, his sister was by his side when he passed.
Malcolm Edward James Vacher was laid to rest in St John’s Churchyard, Warminster. The Grave Registration Form notes that the headstone was paid for by his uncle.
By this point, Gladys had lost her parents and her brother. Twenty-one years of age when her sibling died, she nonetheless found the resilience to carry on.
The 1921 census recorded Gladys living at 1 Corporation Street, Kidderminster. Boarding with Jane Smith, she was working as garage assistant for the motorcycle department of the Castle Motor Co Ltd on Vicar Street.
In the spring of 1925, Gladys married radio engineer and dealer George Whitford. By the time of the 1939 Register, the couple were living at 81 New Road, Kidderminster. Gladys was helping her husband with the business, and was recorded as being a radio dealer and travel agent.
Gladys Whitford, née Vacher, passed away in the spring of 1960. An obituary outlined the life she had forged for herself after losing her brother:
Mrs Gladys Mary Whitford, who has died at her home in New Road, Kidderminster, aged 63, had conducted one of the oldest travel agencies in the Midlands for 30 years. The firm, founded by her husband’s grandfather in 1856, arranged emigration for many families seeking a new life in the Commonwealth.
Mrs Whitford joined the Women’s Legion in 1916 and was one of the first motor-cycle despatch riders attached to the Royal Army Service Corps. She was a member of the Kidderminster Chamber of Commerce and of the committee of the Kidderminster Retail Traders’ Association. She is survived by her husband, Mr George Whitford, a radio and television dealer.
[Birmingham Daily Post – Tuesday 12 January 1960]
My thanks go to Peter Calver and the members of the Lost Cousins website for their help in filling in details of Gladys’ life after the loss of her family.
John Stuart Butler was born on 8th May 1896 in Warminster, Wiltshire. The middle of three children, he was one of three boys to John and Harriet Butler. John Sr was a coachman, and the family lived at 3 St John’s Terrace on the eastern side of the town.
When John Jr – who was known as Jack to avoid any confusion with his father – finished his schooling, he found work as an office boy. He sought a life of adventure, however, and looked to the Royal Navy.
Jack enlisted on 3rd June 1912 and, being underage, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class. Initially sent to HMS Impregnable, the training base in Devonport, Devon, within three months he had been promoted to Boy 1st Class.
Over the next year-and-a-half, Jack served on three separate ships. After leaving Impregnable, he was assigned to armoured cruiser HMS Royal Arthur. From there he moved to the battlecruiser HMS New Zealand and the battleship HMS Dreadnought. In between assignments Boy Butler’s returned to what became his shore base, HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire.
While assigned to Dreadnought, Jack came of age. He was formally enlisted in the Royal Navy, his service papers confirming that he was 5ft 6.5ins (1.69m) tall, with brown hair, grey-blue eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having a scar on his right side.
In May 1915, Jack was promoted again, this time to Able Seaman. His annual reviews noted his character was very good, but that his ability was satisfactory. He would remain on HMS Dreadnought for nearly three years, before being reassigned to HMS Mohawk, a destroyer that was attached to the Dover Patrol, protecting the English Channel against German incursions, in July 1916.
On the night of the 26th October 1916 a number of enemy torpedo boats carried out a raid into the Channel. When one of the German vessels sank HMS Flirt, Mohawk was one of six ships sent to retaliate. As she left Dover harbour, she was hit by a barrage of shells. Her steering jammed, but she remained floating. The German torpedo boats escaped, but four of the Mohawk’s crew – including Able Seaman Butler – were killed. He was just 20 years of age.
The body of John Stuart “Jack” Butler was taken back to Wiltshire for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John’s Church, on the same road as where his grieving parents were still living.
Osborne Robinson was born in the autumn of 1891. The middle of three children, he was the only son to Edward and Edith Robinson. Edward was a merchant of foreign products from West Hartlepool, County Durham, and this is where the family were raised.
Edward died in 1905, and this provided a marked change for the Robinsons. Edith moved the family to Richmond, Yorkshire, which is where her widowed mother still lived. The 1911 census recorded a divided family. Osborne’s older sister, Mary, was employed as a housekeeper for a widowed farmer in Thornton Watless, south of Richmond. His younger sister, Elsie, was living with her maternal grandmother and aunt in Richmond.
Edith and Osborne, meanwhile, were living at Swale Farm, Ellerton Abbey, to the west of Richmond. Edith recorded herself as living on private means, while her son was employed as a grazing farmer, presumably connected to the farm they were living on.
Osborne wanted to expand his horizons and, at the beginning of 1914, took the decision to seek a new life overseas. On 30th January, he boarded the SS Norman, bound for Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Within a matter of months, war had broken out, and Osborne felt he needed to play his part for King and Empire.
On 25th July 1915, while working near Cootamundra, New South Wales, Osborne enlisted, joining the Australian Imperial Force as a Private. His service papers show that at 23 years of age, he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall and weighed 140lbs (63.5kg). He had dark brown hair, blue eyes and a dark complexion, presumably from working outside.
Private Robinson left Australia on 5th October 1915, travelling on board HMAT A32 Themistocles for his journey to Europe. His unit – the 1st Australian Pioneer Battalion – spent time in Egypt, before moving on to Marseilles, France, in April 1916. By the autumn Osborne was on the Western Front, and, on 3rd September, during the Battle of Pozières, he was wounded in his left hand.
Initially treated at the 17th Casualty Clearing Station, Private Robinson was stoon transferred to the 1st Southern General Hospital in Birmingham. His injury took close to six weeks to heal, and he returned to an ANZAC base in Wareham, Dorset, towards the end of October.
Osborne spent a good few months on home soil, eventually re-joining his unit in France on 18th October 1917. Over the next year, he served on the Western Front, with two periods of leave – a week in Paris in March 1918 and a fortnight in the UK the following October. The Armistice declared, Private Robinson’s unit returned to its base near Warminster, Wiltshire, in January 1919.
Osborne had fallen ill with influenza by this point and his condition was to worsen to pneumonia. He died at a private address in Warminster on 8th February 1919: he was 28 years of age.
The body of Osborne Robinson was laid to rest in St John’s Churchyard, Warminster. It is unclear why Edith chose not to bring her son home, but the 1921 census recorded her, Mary and Elsie (neither of whom were married) living in the village of Reeth, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. All three were noted as being employed with home duties.
Edwin John was born in St David’s, Pembrokeshire, on 18th February 1898. The youngest of nine children, he was the son of farmer Henry John and his wife, Caroline. Edwin’s mum died when he was just five years old, and Henry was left to raise the family alone.
When he finished his schooling, Edwin found work on the farm. When war broke out, however, he was called upon to play his part and, on 19th July 1916, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. His service papers show that he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, with dark hair, grey eyes and a dark complexion.
Stoker 2nd Class John was sent to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport, Devon, for his training. He remained there for three months, before being given his first assignment, the light cruiser HMS Liverpool. She spent the second half of the conflict patrolling the Mediterranean, and this is where Edwin would serve his time.
Edwin’s time in the navy was uneventful. He was promoted to Stoker 1st Class in March 1917, and, while he was consistently noted as being of very good character, his ability was recorded as being satisfactory.
On 28th April 1918, Stoker 1st Class John returned to shore to be demobbed. Given the war had another seven months to run, it is unclear why he was stood down, although it may have been on medical grounds. At this point his trail goes cold, but it is likely that he returned home.
Edwin’s health was certainly suffering by this point, and, on 7th March 1919 he passed away from bronchitis. He was just 21 years of age.
Edwin John’s body was laid to rest in St David’s Parish Cemetery, Pembrokeshire, not far from where his father and siblings still lived.
Peter Moran was born in Kilmeena, County Mayo, Ireland, on 29th January 1876. Details of his early life are hard to track down, but when he finished his schooling, he wound work as a fisherman.
By 19th August 1891, Peter sought to make a more permanent career of the sea. He signed up to the Royal Navy, and was sent to HMS Impregnable, the shore base in Devonport, Devon, for his training. Being just 15 years of age, he was too young to formally enlist, and was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class.
Over the next few years, Peter learnt the tools of his trade. On 2nd July 1892 he was promoted to Boy 1st Class, and the following February he was given his first sea-faring assignment, on board the battleship HMS Neptune. By March 1893 Boy Moran found himself serving on board HMS Daphne, a screw sloop which would become his home for the next three years.
During his time aboard Daphne, Peter came of age, and was given the rank of Ordinary Seaman. His service records show that he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, with light hair, grey-blue eyes and a fresh complexion. Within eighteen months he had proved his mettle, and was promoted to Able Seaman.
Over the next decade, Peter would serve on eight vessels. By the time the term of his contract came to an end in September 1903, he had been promoted twice – to Leading Seaman, then to Petty Officer 2nd Class.
Peter renewed his contract, but seems to have chosen a new career path. On 2nd October 1903 he moved to HM Coastguard and, as a Boatman, was assigned to Pendeen Cove, Cornwall.
Love blossomed for Peter, and he married a woman called Caroline in the next few years. There is little further information about her, but the couple would go on to have three children – Mary in 1908, Florence in 1911 and Thomas in 1913.
Boatman Moran would spend twelve years with the coastguard, moving to St Ives, Cornwall, in September 1908, and Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, in March 1914. By this point he had been promoted to Leading Boatman, and was set on a new life in Wales. Sadly, the new life was not to be: on 2nd June 1915 he passed away from pneumonia. He was 39 years of age.
The body of Peter Moran was laid to rest in Fishguard Cemetery: a life at sea, and forging homes in three countries at an end.
Norman Howell Owen was born in the spring of 1888, and was the third of four children – all boys – to John and Elizabeth. John was a surgeon from Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, but the family were raised in Fishguard, where his practice was based.
Norman was an educated young man and, in 1906, attended the Sir Isaac Pitman & Son Phonetic Institute in Bath Somerset. He was studying shorthand, passing an examination in the subject after just three months. He passed an entrance exam for the National and Provincial Bank the following year, and, by the time of the 1911 census, he was working in the Fishguard branch and living back with his parents.
When war came to Europe, Norman was called upon to play his part. Full details of his service have been lost to time, but what remains paints an interesting picture of his time in the army. He appears to have enlisted in the King’s Liverpool Regiment as a Private, before transferring to the Labour Corps, then the Army Ordnance Corps.
By 1918 the Pembrokeshire Voters List noted Norman and two of his brothers as absentee voters – serving in the army, so not at home. Norman is recorded as being a Captain in the Army Service Corps, having received a commission on 8th February 1915. His older brother John is recorded as being a Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, while his younger brother, Lionel, was a Captain in the Royal Field Artillery.
The mystery of Norman continued: he survived the conflict, but by February 1919 had been admitted to the Broadway Military Hospital in Sheerness, Kent. He passed away on 1st March, the cause of his passing not readily available. Captain Owen was 31 years of age.
The body of Norman Howell Owen was taken back to Pembrokeshire for burial. He was laid to rest in Fishguard Church Cemetery.
Norman died intestate: his family went through probate, and his effects – totalling £1003 8s 10d (approximately £67,000 today) were left to his father.
Death and Service 