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Air Mechanic, Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Air Force, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, story, Surrey, war

Air Mechanic 3rd Class William Mells

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Air Mechanic 3rd Class William Mells

William John Mells was born in Southwark, Surrey, on 13th November 1873. His parents were Thomas and Elizabeth Mells, although much of his early life is lost to time.

The 1891 census found the 19-year-old William as one of four boarders living with the Skinner family in Peckham, Surrey, where he was working as a shoe maker. By the turn of the century, however, he had changes jobs, and was employed as an advertising contractor, possibly fixing signs to walls across the country.

It was while William was working in Somerset when he met Ethel Pryor. She was the daughter of a caterer, born and bred in Somerset. On 16th August 1903, the couple married at Ethel’s parish church in Bath. They set up home in a small cottage on King Edward Road in the city, and went on to have two children, Edith, who was born in 1904, and John, who was born the following year.

Storm clouds were brewing across Europe at this point, and William was called upon to play his part in the autumn of 1918. He had previously served as part of the Army Service Corps Volunteers, and had reached the rank of Lance Corporal. When his time to actively serve King and Country came, however, he chose the fledgling Royal Air Force and, on 24th October 1918, joined them as an Air Mechanic 3rd Class.

William was sent to Blandford Forum, Dorset, for training. While here, in packed and busy billets, he contracted influenza, which developed into pneumonia. He passed away from the conditions at the camp hospital on 3rd November 1918, ten days short of his 45th birthday, eight days before the end of the conflict and after just ten days’ service.

William John Mells’ body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the city’s St James’ Cemetery, and was joined by his widow, when she passed away in 1955.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone and website gives Air Mechanic Mells’ name as John William, but all other records – including censuses, marriage document and service records – confirm his name as William John Mells.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, King's (Liverpool Regiment), Lance Corporal, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire Regiment

Lance Corporal Jack Brooks

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Lance Corporal Jack Brooks

Jack Brooks was born in the autumn of 1890 and was the second of nine children. His parents, John and Kate Brooks, both came from Bath, where they ran a bakery on Queen Street, in the centre of the city. When he left school, it was natural for Jack to follow in his parents’ trade.

When war arrived on Europe’s shores, Jack stepped up to play his part and, on 7th December 1915, he enlisted in the Wiltshire Regiment as a Private. His service records show that he was 25 years and 2 months old, was 5ft 8.5ins (1.74m) tall, and weighed 156lbs (70.8kg). He was also noted to have a scrotal hernia, had flat feet and an upper set of dentures. These were enough for him to be passed for home service only, and he was formally mobilised on 10th February 1916.

Private Brooks seems to have taken a while to settle into army life. He was soon transferred across to the East Lancashire Regiment and, in May 1916, was attached to the 8th Works Coy as a Lance Corporal. In February 1917 he was transferred again, this time to the King’s Liverpool Regiment. On 6th June 1917 he was demoted to Private for ‘neglect of duty’, for not taking proper care of the stores that he was in charge of.

He married a woman called Rosina Elizabeth in 1917: the couple went on to have a son, William, who was born on 22nd November that year.

Jack continued serving after the end of the war and, by the beginning of 1919, was based in Aldershot. It was while here that he fell ill, and was admitted to the town’s Connaught Hospital on 11th February, suffering from influenza and pneumonia. Sadly the combination of illnesses was to prove to much: he succumbed to them, breathing his last on 27th February 1919. He was just 28 years of age, a boy with his mother, Kate, with him when he passed.

The body of Jack Brooks was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the city’s St James’ Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Cumbria, Devonshire Regiment, Glamorganshire, Great War, history, illness, London, photography, Private, Somerset, story, Wales, war

Private William Parry

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Private William Parry

In St James’ Cemetery, Bath, is a headstone dedicated to one William Parry, once a Private in Devonshire Regiment. A lot of his life is lost to time, but his death highlights the length to which soldiers returning from the Great War were often left to fend for themselves.

On 4th November 1919, Private Parry “was found in an exhausted state lying under an arch in a suburb of [Bath], and told the police he had been there for 17 days. Crawling there to rest, he found himself afterwards too weak to move owing to trench feet” [Western Gazette: Friday 14th November 1919]

On 18th November, having been admitted to the Royal United Hospital in Bath, he passed away from pneumonia. “The police are endeavouring to ascertain something as to the man’s antecedents. He stated to them that he had no home.” [Western Gazette: Friday 21st November 1919]

An inquest into William’s death was held, and a miserable tale unfolded.

Parry was described as a seaman, and his address was given as 36 Catherine Street, Exeter…

[He had] said he was born at Swansea, had served in the 2nd Devons, and was demobilised at Exeter last March. He got into the arch because his feet were aching. He had come from Bristol. He did not say where he was going.

[When he died] Parry’s belongings… included a ration book, issued to him for the address in Exeter, his insurance card, and his out-of-work book. Parry had 10s 8d [approximately £11 in today’s money] in cash on him; but 10s 6d of this sum was given him by a lady since his arrival at the hospital. Parry had received various other gifts sent him by ladies from all over the country, who had read of the account of his discover in the Press. The last out-of-work donation received by him was on June 26th, and the ration book was issued at Exeter on March 24th. The address at Catherine Street, Exeter, as which Parry had stayed was that of a Church Army Home. He had also with him a card indicating membership of the Comrades of the Great War. The entries on his insurance card showed he was last employed on September 8th.

Inspector Lovell… gave the Coroner the result of exhaustive enquiries which he had made… regarding Parry’s antecedents… By the Exeter police he was informed that Parry registered at the Labour Exchange there as a seaman on March 25th. He then produced a certificate showing him to be a member of the Mercantile Marine. He had apparently served with the 2nd Battalion of the Devon Regiment for 2½ years. On May 16th, 1919, he obtained work as a painter in Exeter. He retained this employment till June 21st. A week later he obtained similar employment with another Exeter firm at 1s 3d [approx. £1.68] an hour and his earning averaged £2 [around £87] or more a week. He lest the Church Army Home on September 12th, explaining that he was going to Barrow-in-Furness, where he expected to obtain employment with Messrs Vickers, Sons, and Maxim. While staying at the Church Army Home he appeared to have been regarded as of a morbid disposition…

Inspector Lovell added that the members of the Exeter branch of the Comrades of the Great War had assisted him… and he was able to furnish the Court with a letter from Mr FW Drew, with whom Parry had lodged at the Church Army Home. The writer said he had met Parry in the latter part of April, and their friendship lasted until ten weeks ago, when deceased left Exeter. As they were two ex-Service men they became intimate friends, but apparently before the war he belonged to London.

After enlistment he had served in France, and was taken prisoner by the Germans. He was in their hands for three months; and acted as interpreter between his captors and the other British prisoners. He could speak German and other foreign languages, and undoubtedly was a man of superior education. Apparently, so far as his relations were concerned, he was “one of England’s lonely soldiers.” He said he was badly treated by the Germans, and suffered from a bad cough, the result of a wound in the chest. He was liable to depression when out of work, and the writer well remembered how pleased he was to think that he had obtained work at Barrow-in-Furness… “I deeply regret,” concluded the writer, “that he has come to such an untimely end. He was a good fellow, and would do anyone a good turn, if possible.”

In summing up, the Coroner remarked that exhaustive enquiries had been made into the case. There was no doubt from the medical evidence that the cause of death was pneumonia. It would appear that Parry had been on the road for some time when he crawled under the arch where he was found…

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 22nd November 1919

Private William Parry died on 18th November 1919, aged around 44 years old. The British Federation of Discharged Soldiers and Sailors and the Comrades of the Great War jointly made arrangements for, and funded, his funeral, at which he was given full military honours. He was laid to rest in St James’ Cemetery, Bath.

Funeral of William Parry
(from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, story, war

Private George Mason

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Private George Mason

Much of George Mason’s life is destined to remain elusive, and much of the information comes from just a couple of documents.

His Commonwealth War Grave headstone confirms that he was a Private in the North Somerset Yeomanry and that he died on 28th December 1916. Sadly, his service records no longer exist, but his pension records state that he ‘died of disease’ and give his mother as Harriet Mason.

There is only one census record for a Harriet Mason with a son called George. This dates from 1901, and give the head of the household – Harriet’s husband and George’s father – as bootmaker Albert Mason. It also gives George’s age as 9 years old, suggesting he was born in around 1892.

Further research brings nothing further to categorically link to the Mason family, and so it is impossible to add any further details to Private Mason’s life.

All that can be determined is that George Mason died of an illness on 28th December 1916, and that he was around 24 years of age. He was laid to rest in St James’ Cemetery in his home city of Bath.

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Egypt, Great War, history, illness, India, Mesopotamia, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, Scotland, Somerset, story, war

Able Seaman William Green

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Able Seaman William Green

William Charles Green was born on 27th December 1897, one of five children – and the only son – to William and Mary Green. The family’s backstory is a bit hard to decipher.

William Sr was born in the Bath Union Workhouse in 1869 and the only details of his parentage comes in his marriage certificate, which suggests that his father was also called William Green, who was deceased. The same document records the groom as being a miner, and that he and Mary were living in Widcombe, Bath.

The Greens do not appear on the 1901 census – or at least that census record for them is lost to time. The next census return, in 1911, does have the family recorded as living in three room in St George’s Place, Widcombe. This particular census was the first to put the onus on the resident to complete the form, and, in William Green Sr’s case, this has led to a handful of anomalies in the record.

William Sr notes his trade as “going out with commercial travellers and hotel work also”. He confirms that he was “Somerset-born”, but suggests that Mary was born in “South Wells” (a spelling error, which should be South Wales), even though her birth and marriage certificate confirm she came from Bath.

The Greens certainly spent some time in Wales – their eldest daughter was born in Merthyr Tydfil, while William Sr was working as a miner there. By the time of William Jr’s birth, however, the family seem to have returned to England – he is recorded as coming from Bath.

William was 13 years old at the time of the 1911 census, and still at school. When he left education, he found work at a fishmonger, but with war closing in on Europe by this point, he was keen to serve his King and Country.

On 7th May 1915, William enlisted in the Royal Navy and, as he was just under age, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class. His service records note that he was 5ft 1in (1.55m) tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. Intriguingly the records give the place of his birth as Aberdare, Glamorganshire, but whether it is this document or the 1911 census that is incorrect is impossible to confirm.

Boy Green was initially sent to HMS Impregnable, the training establishment based in Devonport, Devon. He spent four months there and, on the day he was promoted to Boy 1st Class, he was assigned to HMS Defiance, the navy’s Torpedo School, off the Plymouth coast. In October 1915 he was assigned to HMS Fox, and remained on board for the next three years.

Fox was a cruiser that patrolled the seas from the East Indies to Egypt and the Red Sea. While on board, William came of age, and was formally enrolled in the Royal Navy as an Ordinary Seaman. With a character that was classed very good, even if his ability was noted as satisfactory, within eighteen months he was promoted again, to Able Seaman.

In August 1918, William was assigned to HMS Mantis, a river gunboat that patrolled the Tigris around Baghdad. He remained on board until the end of the year, when he was assigned to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Plymouth.

Over the next fifteen months, Able Seaman Green’s time was split between Plymouth and HMS Columbine, the naval base at Port Edgar on the Firth of Forth. It was when he was back in Devon, early in 1920, however, that he fell ill.

Able Seaman Green had contracted influenza, which had developed into pneumonia, and it was the combination of lung conditions that was to ultimately take his life. He passed away at the naval base on 5th March 1920, at the age of just 22 years old.

William Charles Green’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in St James Cemetery, Bath, to be reunited with his parents when William Sr died in 1938 and Mary passed away in 1959.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, illness, London, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Sergeant, Somerset, story, Surrey, war, Wiltshire

Serjeant John Carthew

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Serjeant John Carthew

John Wallace Carthew was born in Warminster, Wiltshire, in the spring of 1892. The second youngest of seven children – three of whom did not survive childhood – his parents were miller James Carthew and his tailoress wife, Sarah.

John was destined to make a path for himself. By the time of the 1911 census, he was boarding with the Southon family in Aldershot, and working as a chauffeur.

On 22nd March 1914, John married Caroline Hamilton, a parlour maid for Captain Charles Woodroffe and his family in Aldershot. The couple set up home in Queensgate Mews, London, and having had a daughter, Cecilia, who was born that February.

When war came to Europe, John was quick to enlist. He joined up on the 21st December 1914, and was assigned to the Mechanical Transport section of the Royal Army Service Corps. His service records note that he was 6ft 1in (1.85m) tall, with a scar on his right eyebrow.

Private Carthew rose through the ranks, becoming a Corporal in 1916, and a Serjeant in 1918. During this time he acted almost exclusively as chauffeur to General Sir William Robertson. His duties were mainly based on home soil, but he did spend a year in France, while Robertson was Chief of the General Staff there.

As the war came to a close, Serjeant Carthew fell ill. Based in a camp in Aldershot, he contracted influenza, and this developed into pneumonia. This was to take his life, and he passed away at the town’s Connaught Hospital on 25th November 1918. He was just 26 years of age.

Caroline was living in Bath, Somerset by this point, and this is where the body of her husband was brought for burial. John Wallace Carthew was laid to rest in St James’ Cemetery, in the family plot where his father, who had died in 1911, was also buried.

Commonwealth War Graves, Driver, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Isle of Wight, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, war

Driver Frederick Parsons

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Driver Frederick Parsons

Frederick Charles Harold Parsons was born in 1889, the older of two children to George and Ann Parsons. George was a general labourer from Drayton in Somerset, and this is where he and Ann raised their young family.

Ann’s mother, Elizabeth, was a constant presence in the family’s lives, moving in with them when her own husband, William, died. The 1911 census found a packed family home, with George, Ann, Frederick, Elizabeth, Ann’s widowed brother Joseph and her nephew Robert all living under the same roof.

Frederick – who was known by the nickname Chall – was working as a grocer’s assistant by this point, but when war broke out, he was quick to step up and serve his King and Country. He enlisted on 2nd September 1914, joining the Royal Field Artillery as a Driver. His service records note that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall and weighed 116lbs (52.6kg). He had dark hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion, and had a scar below his left eye.

For the first ten months of Driver Parsons’ service, he remained on home soil. He was finally sent to France in the summer of 1915 and spent nearly two-and-a-half years overseas. Towards the end of that time, he began to have issues with his kidneys, and was posted back to the UK for treatment.

Initially admitted to Milton Hospital in Portsmouth, Chall was then moved to the VAD Hospital in Ryde on the Isle of Wight. He was initially diagnosed as having kidney stones, but was subsequently found to have enlarged kidneys. He was placed on furlough in May 1918, before being medically discharged from service at the end of August.

At this point, Chall’s trail goes cold. He appears to have returned home to Drayton, as it was in nearby Langport that his death was subsequently registered. He died on 11th December 1918, at the age of just 29 years old.

Frederick Charles Parsons was laid to rest in the family plot in St Catherine’s Churchyard, Drayton.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Navy, Somerset, Stoker, story, war

Stoker 2nd Class George Bonning

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Stoker 2nd Class George Bonning

George Thomas Bonning – whose forenames seem to have been interchangeable – was born on 9th August 1887 in the Somerset village of Kingsbury Episcopi. His parents were farm workers James and Elizabeth Bonning, and George also entered farm work when he finished school.

In 1909, George marred Olive Harvey, the daughter of another agricultural labourer from the village. The couple set up home together in the village, and went on to have a daughter, Lilian, the following year. It was around the time of their daughter’s birth that George’s mother passed away, happiness and sadness in a short space of time for the young family.

By 1911, George was employed as a carter in a factory, presumably a financial step up from his previous employment on the farm. The money was still not a great deal, however, and Olive was also working, machining gloves at home for the local factory.

War came to Europe, and on 14th December 1916, George enlisted in the Royal Navy, along with four other men from the village, including friend and neighbour Tom Mounter. His service records show that he was 5th 11.5ins (1.82m) tall, with black hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion.

Stoker 2nd Class Bonning was sent to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport, for training, and it was here that he contracted a chill. Tragically, this developed into pneumonia, and he died in the barracks on 20th January 1917. He was 29 years of age, and had been in service for just 37 days.

George Thomas Bonning’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful Kingsbury Episcopi Cemetery.

Olive never remarried after losing her husband. She remained in the village, raising Lilian and finding occasional employment to help pay the bills. She passed away on 26th March 1968, at the age of 79, and was laid to rest with George, husband and wife reunited after more than fifty years.

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, Training Reserve Battalion, war, Wiltshire

Private Charles Oborne

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Private Charles Oborne

Charles Philip Oborne was born in Mosterton, Dorset, early in 1899. He was the middle of three children to Charles Oborne. Charles Sr had been married before, to a woman called Martha, and the couple had a son, Joseph. Martha died in the mid-1890s and Charles remarried, to a woman called Elizabeth. They went on to have two children, of which Charles Jr – better known as Charley to avoid confusion with his father – was the older.

There is little documentation for the Oborne family. Charles Sr was a farm labourer, and the family moved from Dorset to Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Shepton Mallet in the early 1900s. At the time of the 1911 census, Charley was a student, and there is no direct evidence of what he went on to do when he finished his schooling.

Nor are there many documents relating to his military service. Private Oborne joined the Training Reserve, and was assigned to the 94th Battalion. The troop had formed from the 16th (Reserve) Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment, and was based in Chiseldon, to the south of Swindon in Wiltshire. There is nothing to confirm when he enlisted, but given his age, and when he passed, it is likely to have been during the winter of 1916/17.

What is clear is that while Private Oborne was training, he contracted pneumonia, and, on 20th March 1917, he passed away from the condition. He was just 18 years of age.

The body of Charles Philip Oborne – Charley to his friends and family – was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Benedict’s Roman Catholic Churchyard in the village of Downside, a mile to the north of Shepton Mallet, and not far from Stratton-on-the-Fosse, where his family were still living.

Charles was not alone in succumbing to pneumonia at Chiseldon Camp that spring. Two Somerset soldiers from battalions based there, Private Everett Ferriday, and Private Ivan Day, passed away in the same hospital just days after Charles.

You can read their stories by following the links above.

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, Somerset, story, Suffolk, war

Able Seaman Jesse Baber

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Able Seaman Jesse Baber

Jesse Baber was born on 28th February 1889 and was the youngest of thirteen children to John and Jane Baber. John was a farm labourer from Westcombe in Somerset, and it was in this village that he and Jane raised their family.

Jesse chose not to follow his father and siblings into farm work and instead, on 6th October 1906, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. As he was underage for full service at the time, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class and sent to HMS Ganges, a training establishment on the outskirts of Ipswich, Suffolk. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall at the time of joining. He was also noted as having dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion, with a mole on his right cheek being highlighted as a distinguishing mark.

Boy Baber spent six months at HMS Ganges, and was promoted to Boy 1st Class for his commitment. He was then transferred to HMS London, a dreadnaught battleship for a further six months. During his time on board, Jesse came of age, and was formally enrolled in the Royal Navy with the rank of Ordinary Seaman.

Over the next eight years, Jesse served on eleven different vessels, sailing between his British base of HMS Vivid in Devonport and the East Indies. His service seems to have generally been very good – he was promoted to Able Seaman in February 1909 – although he did spend five days in the brig in July 1912 for reasons unrecorded.

When war broke out, the ships that Able Seaman Baber served on patrolled the waters of the Mediterranean. In the summer of 1916, while on board HMS Dartmouth, he contracted malaria. Jesse was admitted to a hospital in Malta, where he remained for six weeks, and was then sent on leave home to recover.

He arrived at Castle Cary [in Somerset] on the evening of the 23rd August, on a visit to his sister, in a very serious condition, being practically in a state of collapse. Medical attention was immediately obtained, but his condition was hopeless, and he lay in an unconscious condition until Friday September 1st, when he expired, death being due to meningitis, following malaria.

[Shepton Mallet Journal: Friday 15th September 1916]

Jesse Baber was 27 years old when he passed away. He was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Batcombe, not far from where his mother, who was now 74 years old, was living.