Tag Archives: illness

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Sidney Biddiscombe

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Private Sidney Biddiscombe

Sidney William Biddiscombe was born in South Cadbury, Somerset, in the spring of 1895. The eighth of sixteen children, his parents were Thomas and Constance Biddiscombe. Thomas was an agricultural labourer, and this is work that Sidney went into when he finished school.

When war came to Europe, Sidney was quick to enlist. Whether this was out of a sense of duty, a keenness to get involved, a need to follow his older brothers, or as an escape from farm labouring is unclear, though. He joined the Somerset Light Infantry in August 1914, and was assigned to the 7th (Service) Battalion.

There is little information available about Private Biddiscombe’s time in the army. He received his training in Hampshire, and was based at Aldershot. The sudden influx of young men from across the country into small, cramped billets meant that illness ran rife, and Sidney, it seems, was not immune. He contracted measles, and was admitted to the camp’s Isolation Hospital.

Sadly, the infection was to get the better of Private Biddiscombe, and he passed away at the hospital on 5th March 1915. He was just 20 years of age.

Sidney William Biddiscombe was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Thomas a Becket’s Church in his home village of South Cadbury.

Sidney’s epitaph notes he is “never forgotten by mother, brothers and sisters”. His father, Thomas, died in 1918, at the age of 62, and so was not commemorated on his son’s headstone, which was erected at a later date.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, King's (Liverpool Regiment), photography, Rifleman, story, war

Rifleman William Locke

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Rifleman William Locke

William Thomas Locke was born at the start of 1900 in the Kent village of Eccles. His parents were Thomas and Annie Locke, although it seems that he was orphaned early on. The 1901 census recorded him as living with his grandparents John and Mary Locke. Their daughter Annie is also recorded as living at the property, although there is nothing to confirm whether she was William’s mother or an aunt.

By the time of the 1911 census John Locke had died. Mary was living in the same house, with two of her sons – Frederick and Alfred – and her grandchildren, William and his cousin Gladys. Both of William’s uncles were labourers in the local cement works, and it seems likely that this would be work that he would have followed them into once he had completed school.

William’s trail goes cold at this point, although he would have been too young to join up at the outbreak of the First World War. Records confirm that he had enlisted by March 1918, and it seems likely that he would have done so as soon as he came of age.

Rifleman Locke joined the 5th Battalion of the King’s (Liverpool Regiment), but this is the only detail of his military service that can be confirmed. The next record for him confirms that he passed away on 5th October 1918, having been admitted to hospital in Oswestry, Shropshire, suffering from intestinal problems. He was just 18 years old when he passed.

William Thomas Locke’s body was brought back to Kent for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter & St Paul’s Church in Aylesford, the parish church for his home village of Eccles.

The specific location of William’s grave is not known, although it is likely that he was laid to rest near his grandfather. Instead, he is commemorated on a joint headstone in the First World War section of the graveyard. William’s grandmother passed away the following year, and records confirm that his next of kin was noted as his aunt, Mary Ann Longley.

Commonwealth War Graves, East Kent Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, Royal West Kent Regiment, story, war

Private Charles Grigsby

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Private Charles Grigsby

Charles Grigsby was born in Boughton Monchelsea, a village to the south of Maidstone, Kent, in the summer of 1878. His parents were farm labourer William Grigsby and his wife, Elizabeth, and he was one of four children. Charles’ mother passed away when he was just three years old, and William married again – to another Elizabeth. They had six children – half-siblings to Charles.

Charles falls off the radar for a few years – his First World War service records suggest that he had enlisted with the East Kent Regiment, and so may have been serving abroad at the time of the 1891 and 1901 censuses.

In 1904 he was back in Kent, however, where he married Henrietta Harpum. The daughter of a soldier, Henrietta had been born in Shoeburyness, Essex, but the family had moved to Frindsbury, Kent, not long afterwards.

The 1911 census found the Grigsbys living in the village of Eccles, near Aylesford. Charles was working as a blacksmith’s striker at the local cement works, and they had their Henrietta’s nephew, George, living with them at the time the record was taken.

When war was declared, Charles stepped up again to play his part. He enlisted on 24th August 1914, and was assigned to the Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). Private Grigsby’s service records confirm that he was 5ft 6.5ins (1.69m) tall, and weighed 129lbs (58.5kg). He had brown hair, blue eyes and tattoos on both arms.

Tragically, Henrietta died not long after her husband joined up, although the exact date and cause of her passing is lost to time. Assigned to the 6th (Service) Battalion, Charles was, by this time, based in Hythe, on the Kent coast.

Private Grigsby’s time back in the army was to be a short one, however. He was admitted to Shorncliffe Military Hospital in January 1915, suffering from bronchial pneumonia, and is was this lung condition that was to take his life just weeks later. He passed away on 22nd February 1915, at the age of 35 years old.

Charles Grigsby was brought back to Aylesford by his siblings. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter & St Paul’s Churchyard. It is likely that he was buried alongside Henrietta, although the exact location of his grave is not longer known. Instead, he is commemorated on a joint headstone in the First World War section of the graveyard.

Commonwealth War Graves, East Kent Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Labour Corps, Machine Gun Corps, photography, Private, story, war

Lance Corporal Ernest Green

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Lance Corporal Ernest Green

Ernest Green was born on 31st March 1881 – four days before that year’s census – in the Kent village of Aylesford. The middle of eleven children, his parent were William and Sarah Green. William was a labourer in the local clay works, and this is employment that Ernest and his brothers also entered into.

On 10th December 1904, Ernest married Emily Chapman. She was the daughter of another labourer, and the couple went on to have seven children, the oldest of whom was born in May 1905.

The family set up home in Aylesford, not far from Ernest’s parents, and life would have been set, had it not been for the intervention of the First World War.

Ernest enlisted early on, joining The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) in December 1914. His service records confirm that he was 33 years old when he enlisted, and stood 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall. Sadly, Private Green’s service records are a little sketchy, and it is unclear whether he ever saw action overseas, although it is likely that he did at some point.

Private Green transferred to the Machine Gun Corps in February 1916, and then moved again – to the Labour Corps – in the summer of 1918. He joined the 426th Agricultural Coy, and was based in Canterbury.

Working outside through the summer and autumn, it seems that Ernest’s health may have begun to suffer and he was admitted to the Canterbury Military Hospital in December 1918, having contracted influenza. Sadly, the lung condition was to prove his undoing: Private Green passed away at the facility on 20th December 1918. He was 37 years of age.

Ernest Green was brought back to Aylesford for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter & St Paul’s Church, although the exact location of his grave is not longer known. Instead, he is commemorated on a joint headstone in the First World War section of the graveyard.

Army Veterinary Corps, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, story, war

Private Frederick Baker

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Private Frederick Baker

Fredrick James Baker was born in the spring of 1894, in the Kent village of Malling. One of eleven children, his parents were James and Elizabeth Baker. James was a labourer in the local chalk and clay pits and, by the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to Burnham, near Aylesford.

Frederick followed his father into labouring work, and they made a living at the local lime works. War was closing in on Europe, however, and he felt he needed to play his part for King and Country. He joined the Royal Army Veterinary Corps and, while his service records no longer exist, it is evident that he had enlisted by November 1916.

It is unclear whether Private Baker served at home or overseas, but he appeared to be dogged by ill health. He was medically discharged from the army on 26th May 1917, and returned to civilian life.

Sadly, it is at this point that Frederick’s trail goes cold. The only other evidence for him is that of his passing. He died from illness at home on 25th February 1919, at the age of just 24 years old.

Frederick James Baker was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter & St Paul’s Church in Aylesford, not far from where his grieving family still lived.

While buried in the churchyard, the location of Frederick’s grave is not known. Instead, he is commemorated on a joint headstone in the First World War section of the graveyard.

Commonwealth War Graves, Glamorganshire, Gloucestershire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Kent, London, photography, Private, story, Wales, war

Private Frederick Johnson

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Private Frederick Johnson

Frederick Leonard Johnson was born in the spring of 1898, in Wandsworth, South London. His parents are recorded as Frederick and Catherine Johnson, although no other information about his early life remains.

On 16th February 1918, Frederick married Winifred Peters. She was a dock labourer’s daughter from Aberavon in Glamorganshire, and the couple wed at the parish church in the town. The marriage certificate confirms that Frederick was living in Port Talbot and working as a carpenter. It also notes that his father had died by this point.

It seems likely that the young couple married because Winifred was pregnant. The couple had a son, who they called Frederick, on 1st August 1918.

Frederick had enlisted in the army by this point. While his service records no longer exist, he joined up at some point towards the end of the war – no earlier than May 1918 – and was assigned to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. This was a territorial force, and Private Johnson would have been based in Kent as part of the Thames and Medway Garrison.

Little else is known about Frederick’s service. The only other thing that can be confirmed is that he was admitted to the Preston Hall Military Hospital in Aylesford, Kent, in the autumn of 1918, suffering from a combination of influenza and pneumonia. Sadly, the lung conditions were to get the better of him and he passed away on 27th November 1918, at the age of just 20 years old.

Frederick Leonard Johnson was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Aylesford, not far from the hospital in which he had passed. It is unclear whether he ever met his son.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Lance Serjeant, Middlesex, photography, Private, Sergeant, story, war, Wiltshire Regiment

Lance Serjeant John Whiddett

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Lance Serjeant John Whiddett

John Whiddett was born in Hammersmith, Middlesex, in 1892, and was one of thirteen children to Alfred and Mary Ann Whiddett. Alfred was a house painter while Mary Ann worked as a charwoman to bring in some additional money for the growing family.

John worked as a porter when he left school, but when war came to Europe, he stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Wiltshire Regiment in the summer of 1915, and was assigned to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion.

While Private Whiddett served in France, he returned to Britain, and promoted to Corporal and then Lance Serjeant. His battalion eventually formed part of the Thames & Medway Garrison. Frederick found himself in Kent by the autumn of 1917 and served out the remainder of the war there.

At some point during the autumn of 1918, Lance Serjeant Whiddett fell ill. He was admitted to the Preston Hall Military Hospital in Aylesford, suffering from a combination of influenza and pneumonia. Sadly he was not to survive these lung conditions, and he succumbed to them on 22nd November 1918. He was just 26 years of age.

Finances may have restricted John’s family’s ability to bring his body back to Middlesex. Instead, he was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter and St Paul’s Church in Aylesford, Kent.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, story, war

Private Arthur May

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Private Arthur May

The life of Arthur May is a difficult one to uncover. Born in Aylesford, Kent, in the summer of 1879, he was baptised on 10th August, and only his mother’s name – Eliza May – recorded.

There is a record of an Arthur May from Aylesford in the 1881 census, but that gives his mother’s name as Ann (and the father’s as labourer William May). Twenty years later, the same Arthur may is listed as boarding with his sister and brother-in-law’s family in Halling, Kent, where he was working as a labourer in the local cement works. Again, however, it is impossible to confirm that this Arthur May is the one being sought.

Further records identify Arthur’s wife as a woman called Annie, although no marriage records remain to confirm a union.

Details of Private May’s war service is pretty limited, but he seems to have enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment in February 1917. He subsequently transferred to the 167th Coy Labour Corps and was sent to France, but returned to Britain a month later, having fallen ill. His condition turned out to be tuberculosis and he was medically discharged from the army in August 1917.

Private May’s medical report adds some tantalising detail to his military service. He is recorded as being 39 years and one month old, 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, with a pale complexion, blue eye and light brown hair. He had a tattoo on his left forearm and was working as a labourer, while living in Ditton, near Maidstone, in Kent.

The report also suggests that Arthur had initially enlisted in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in November 1915. It notes that he was frequently disabled with shortness of breath and a cough during his fourteen months with the navy.

Arthur returned home after his discharge. While his trail goes cold, it is likely that his lung condition continued to dog his civilian life. On 6th July 1919, he passed away and, although no cause is freely recorded, as there is a lack of comment in contemporary local newspapers, illness would be a possible cause. He was 40 years of age.

Arthur May was laid to rest in the graveyard of his local church, St Peter’s & St Paul’s in Aylesford, Kent.

Channel Islands, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Jersey, Kent, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire Regiment

Private John Poignand

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Private John Poignand

John Francis Poignand was born in St Brelade, Jersey in 1885. The oldest of four children, his parents were farmers Jean and Louisa Poignand. John followed his parents into farming and moved to nearby St Lawrence.

It was here that he met and married farmer’s daughter Lydia Helleur. The couple set up home in St Lawrence, and went on to have two children, John and Clarence.

War was closing in on Jersey’s shores and, when the call came, it seems that John was keen to play his part. Sadly, full details of his military service have been lost to time, but what remains confirms that he had enlisted in the Wiltshire Regiment by the spring of 1918.

Private Poignand was assigned to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, a territorial force that remained on the British mainland. He was to be based in Kent, his troop forming part of the Thames and Medway Garrison.

The only other records of John’s service are that of his passing: he had been admitted to the Preston Hall Military Hospital, suffering from a combination of influenza and pneumonia, and these are what were to take his life. Private Poignand died on 26th November 1918, at the age of 33 years old.

John Francis Poignand was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter and St Paul’s Church in Aylesford, not far from where he had died.

Lydia went on to marry a man called Robinson. Her trail goes cold, but her and John’s younger son, Clarence, does appear in later records.

Flight Sergeant Poignand served with the Royal Air Force in the Second World War, and was based at Seletar in Singapore. He was taken as a Prisoner of War by the Japanese on 11th March 1942, but there is no other record for him. His PoW record confirms that he was married and living in Romford, Essex, at the time of his capture.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Renfrewshire, Royal Army Service Corps, Scotland, story, war

Private William Johnstone

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Private William Johnstone

In the First World War section of St Peter and St Paul’s Churchyard in Aylesford, Kent, is a headstone dedicated to T4/174339 Private W Johnstone of the Royal Army Service Corps. Little other immediate information is apparent, and there are no military records available based on his service number.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website confirms that Private Johnstone transferred across to the 697th Agricultural Coy of the Labour Corps. He was given another service number – 440640 – and this allows access to a few more strands of his life.

Private Johnstone’s first name was William, and he had a dependent, Mrs CM Gunn, who lived at Moss Fall in Linwood, Paisley. The records, however, add a little more confusion to the story – Mrs Gunn is recorded as U/Wife and a guardian is also noted: Mrs Catherine McDree.

The waters are muddied further by the Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects. While this confirms that William had enlisted by the spring of 1918, it also highlights that his effects and war gratuity were not actually claimed.

With no date of birth for William, it is impossible to narrow down any further details of his early life: there are too many combinations of William and Catherine in the Paisley area to be able to identify them with any confidence.

The only thing that can be confirmed is that Private William Johnstone died from a combination of influenza and pneumonia on 5th November 1918, at the Preston Hall Military Hospital in Aylesford, Kent. He was buried in the nearby churchyard.