Tag Archives: illness

Bedfordshire Regiment, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Glamorganshire, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Labour Corps, Middlesex Regiment, Monmouthshire Regiment, photography, Private, Royal West Kent Regiment, story, war

Private William King

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Private William King

William Samuel King was born in the summer of 1880, and was one of four children to Richard and Elizabeth King. Richard was a railway worker from Totnes, Devon, and this is where the family were born and raised.

When he left school, William found work as a house painter, and this is a job he continued to do through to the outbreak of the Great War. On 8th June 1908 he married Minnie Edmunds: the couple went on to have a son, Leslie, who was born in 1912. William and Minnie had, by this point, moved to Swansea, West Glamorgan, presumably as work was more plentiful here than in their Devon home. His work as a decorator seems to have been recognised, and he was admitted to the National Association Partnership, Swansea South.

On 1st December 1915, William enlisted and his service records show that he was 5ft 2ins (1.57m) tall. While it is clear that he spent his time on home soil, his service seems a bit disjointed.

Private King wasn’t formally mobilised until September 1916, when he was assigned to the 2nd/2nd Battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment. In December he was transferred to the Royal West Kent Regiment before returned to his original battalion in February 1917. A month later, he moved to the Bedfordshire Regiment, before moving to the Middlesex Regiment a few weeks later. This also seems to have been a temporary move as, three weeks later, he was assigned to the 337th Works Company of the Labour Corps (although this was still part of the Middlesex Regiment).

The potential reason behind Private King’s haphazard service seemed to become a little clearer when, in September 1917, he was referred to Fort Pitt Hospital in Rochester, Kent. He was noted as being “very talkative, noisy [and] in a state of mental disease… he has… exalted and grandiose ideas and is difficult to restrain.” His mental health was obviously suffering, and he was discharged from military service in December 1917.

William returned home, although it was not to be for long. He passed away on 13th April 1918, at the age of 37 years old. While no cause of death is evident, it seems likely to have been connected to his ‘mania’, which had been exacerbated by his army service.

William Samuel King was laid to rest in Totnes Cemetery, not far from his parental home.

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

Able Seaman David Coleman

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Able Seaman David Coleman

David Coleman was born in the spring of 1880, one of nine children to Jeremiah and Mary Coleman. Jeremiah was a farmer from County Cork, Ireland, and it was in his home village of Killbrittain that the family were raised.

When David left school, he found work as a labourer and mechanic and, in the spring of 1896, he left Ireland for England in search of a bigger and better life for himself.

Things may not have gone quite to plan, however, and, on 17th March 1897, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. He was too young to enrol for full service at this point, however, and so he took on the rank of Boy 2nd Class. He was initially assigned to the training ship HMS Northampton and quickly made Boy 1st Class.

Over the next year, David served on two vessels – HMS Calliope and HMS Doris. When he turned eighteen, he was officially enrolled in the Royal Navy, and given the rank of Ordinary Seaman.

David remained on HMS Doris for nearly four years, and seemed to impress his superiors. By the end of his time on board, he had been promoted again, reaching the rank of Able Seaman.

Over the next nine years, Able Seaman Coleman served on ten different ships, each time returning to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport. In March 1910, with his contract complete, he was stood down to reserve status.

The same year, he married Florence Tompkins, who had been born in Newton Abbot, Devon. The couple set up home in Totnes and went on to have three children. David found work as an electrician for the local electric light works.

War was coming to Europe by this point and, in August 1914, Able Seaman Coleman was called back to duty. He served for two years on board the battleship HMS Caesar and, having previously been assigned to HMS Defiance, returned there again. In May 1916, he was assigned to HMS Vernon, one of the shore-based establishments in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

It was while he was in Portsmouth that he fell ill, and was admitted to the town’s Haslar Hospital. Details of his condition are unclear, but he was to succumb to it, passing away on 2nd July 1917, at the age of 37 years old.

David Coleman was brought back to Devon for burial: he was laid to rest in the town’s cemetery, not far from the family home.

Tragedy was to strike the Coleman family again when, early in 1918, both of David and Florence’s younger children – David, aged 5, and Mary, age 2 – passed away. Causes of death are again unclear, but it seems likely to have been one of the lung conditions that would ravage Europe as the war entered its final stage.

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, story, war

Gunner Henry Brewer

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Gunner Henry Brewer

Henry William Brewer was born the spring of 1869 in Bitton, Gloucestershire. His is a common name for the area, and so it is not easy to unpick details of his early life.

On 5th May 1895, Henry married Ann Williams, a carter’s daughter from Keynsham, Somerset. The couple wed in St Thomas’ Church in Widcome, near Bath, and their marriage certificate gives Henry’s trade as a labourer, and his father as Louis Brewer.

The young couple up home in Kingswood, near Bristol, and went on to have three children, Henry, Lucy and Ethel. The 1901 census recorded Henry’s trade as a coal miner and hewer, but noted that he was also a Gunner in the Royal Artillery.

Sadly, Henry’s military records are lost to time, but if he was employed in the army, this would account for the lack of documents relating to his early life. It may be that he had completed his initial term of service by the time he and Ann married, or that he was a volunteer with the Royal Artillery at the time of the census.

Whatever his connection with the army, when war broke out he was called into service. He joined the 30th Company of the Royal Garrison Artillery, and was based in Weymouth, Dorset, as part of Britain’s South Coast defences.

Without military documents, it’s challenging to identify Gunner Brewer’s trail during the war. Sadly, the next documents relate to his passing. He was admitted to a military hospital in Weymouth, suffering from the kidney condition nephritis. This was ultimately to kill him, and he passed away on 28th February 1917, at the age of 48 years old.

Henty William Brewer’s body was brought back to Gloucestershire for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Bitton.

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

Stoker 1st Class Thomas Woodman

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Stoker 1st Class Thomas Woodman

Thomas Daniel Woodman was born on 17th March 1892 in the village of Oldland, Gloucestershire. One of sixteen children, his parents were Daniel and Ruth Woodman. Daniel was a fireman, stoking furnaces at a local paper mill, but Thomas wanted bigger and better things.

On 20th April 1910, not long after he turned 18, Thomas enlisted in the Royal Navy. His service records show that, when he joined up, he was 5ft 6ins (1.67m) tall, had brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. It was also noted that he had a long scar on his left wrist, and a tattoo of a cross on the same spot.

Stoker 2nd Class Woodman was to be based at HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport. From here he undertook his training, and it was from the Devon port that he began and ended his seafaring. In June 1911, while on board HMS Caesar, he was promoted to Stoker 1st Class.

When war broke out, Thomas continued his naval service. During the course of the conflict, he served on three vessels – HMS Blake, HMS Diligence and HMS Woolwich – returning to Devonport in February 1919.

On 8th March 1919, while on leave, Thomas married Eva Paget at St Barnabas’ Church in Warmley. She was the same age as Thomas and daughter of a sexton. Tragedy was to strike the couple, however as, within a matter of weeks, the young groom contracted meningitis. He passed away at the Royal Naval Hospital in Plymouth on 21st April 1919. He was just 27 years of age.

Brought back to Gloucestershire for burial, Thomas Daniel Woodman was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Barnabas Church, where, just 44 days earlier, he had married his beloved Eva.

Eva herself went on to lead a remarkable life. After the loss of Thomas, she never remarried, and, by the 1930s, was living with her sister, and doing unpaid domestic duties.

On 2nd May 1998, at the age of 105, she became the oldest person in the world to go supersonic, by flying on Concorde on a 90-minute flight around the Bay of Biscay. This was the first time she had ever left Britain, and only the second time she had ever left Bristol.

Eva Woodman passed away in her Bristol nursing home on 17th October 1999. She was 107 years old.

She was buried with her late husband, finally reunited after 80 years apart.

Able Seaman, Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, story, war

Able Seaman Frederick Carter

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Able Seaman Frederick Carter

Frederick Carter was born in the autumn of 1896 in the village of Wick, Gloucestershire, midway between Bristol and Bath. He was one of nine children to farm labourer John and his wife, Charlotte.

Sadly, there is little concrete documentation on Frederick’s life. When he left school, he found work in the local shoe trade, as his older siblings had done before him.

At some point he enlisted in the Royal Naval Voluntary Reserve, although, again, exact details on this are scarce. This particular branch of the Royal Navy was there for people with no specific sailing or sea-faring experience behind him, although Frederick must have been dedicated to his duty as he had risen to the rank of Able Seaman.

What is clear is that he survived the war, but was invalided out of service, having contracted pulmonary tuberculosis. He returned to Warmley, Gloucestershire, where his parents were now living. Sadly, this was to be his last home, as well, as he passed away from the condition on 28th August 1919, at the age of just 22 years old.

Frederick Carter was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Barnabas Church, in Warmley, Gloucestershire.

Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, illness, London, photography, Private, Royal Army Medical Corps, story, war

Private Alec Willmott

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Private Alec Willmott

Alec William Willmott was born in 1886 and was one of six children to Henry and Ellen Willmott. Henry was a farm labourer from Oldland in Gloucestershire, and this is where the family were raised.

When he left school, Alec found work making shoes and boots at a local factory – this was work most of the Willmott children went into. On 24th April 1916, he married Elsie Frost in the local church. The couple set up home in Keynsham, and went on to have a son, Cecil, who was born in August 1917.

Alec played his part during the war. Full service details are not available, but it is clear that he had enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps by the spring of 1918. There is no confirmation of whether Private Willmott served at home or overseas, but, by October 1918, he had been admitted to the 2nd London General Hospital in Chelsea, suffering from a combination of influenza and pneumonia.

Sadly, these conditions put a strong pressure on his heart: Private Willmott passed away from cardiac failure on 2nd November 1918, at the age of just 32 years old.

Alec William Willmott was brought back to Gloucestershire for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Anne’s Church in his home village, Oldland.

Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, illness, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Royal Navy, story, war

Private Frank Mayo

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Private Frank Mayo

Francis James Stephen Mayo was born on 24th November 1894 in Oldland, a small Gloucestershire village near Bristol. One of eight children, his parents were collier Samuel Mayo and his wife, Diana.

Frank, as he was known, sought a life of adventure from the start. In July 1911, not content with life as a farm labourer, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class. His service records show that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall, had light hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Sent to the training ship HMS Impregnable, Boy 2nd Class Mayo’s time there was short. When Samuel found out what his son had done, he paid £10 (the equivalent of around £1250 in today’s money) for his discharge.

Frank went back to farm work, but, with storm clouds brewing on European shores, his time was to come again. On 8th September 1914, just a month after war was declared, he enlisted. His service records show that he had gained an inch (2.5cm) in height since his attempt to join the Royal Navy.

Again, Frank’s attempt to escape what he presumably felt to be a humdrum life were thwarted. His service records confirm that he was discharged on medical grounds because he was deemed not likely to become an efficient sailor.

On Christmas Day 1915, Frank married Martha Sweet, the daughter of a chimney sweep. The couple settled down in Keynsham, not far from either of their families, and had a son, Henry. Frank, by this time, seemed to have given in to the inevitable, and looking for a regular wage, began working at one of the local collieries.

Frank still had a dream to fulfil, though, and with no end to the war in sight, he again enlisted, joining the Training Reserve in June 1917. His records show that he had gained another inch in height, and has a number of tattoos on his right forearm. His records this time show that he had a slight heart problem, and was also suffering from a touch of rheumatism.

Private Mayo was assigned to the 440th Company of the Labour Corps, and seemed, at last, to be fulfilling the role he had wanted to be doing for the last six years. As time went on, however, his health seems to have been failing him and, in the summer of 1918, he contracted pulmonary tuberculosis. He passed away from the condition on 30th August 1918, while at camp, aged just 23 years of age.

Brought back to Gloucestershire for burial, Francis James Stephen Mayo – or Frank – was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Anne’s Church in his home village of Oldland.

Bombardier, Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, war

Corporal Ernest Jenkins

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Corporal Ernest Jenkins

Ernest Gilbert Jenkins was born on 4th April 1888, the tenth of eleven children to Eli and Julia Jenkins. Eli was a dairyman from Dorset, but the family were born an raised in Marksbury, a village in Somerset. When Eli passed away in 1910, he was laid to rest in the nearby town of Keynsham, and this is where Julia and the family moved.

Ernest tried to make his mark by finding a career in the army and enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery on 22nd June 1908. He gave his trade as a electrician for the National Telephone Company and his records noted that he stood 5ft 7ins (1.70m) tall, with good vision and good physical development.

The 1911 census records the widowed Julia and five of her children living on Charlton Road, Keynsham, in a 12-roomed house, with a domestic servant and three visitors. While not noted as such, it would seem that Julia was running a boarding house, but without any further details, this is impossible to confirm.

Ernest may have completed his initial term of service by this point and he was recorded as living with his mother and working as a salesman of cattle feed. Bombardier Jenkins’ military records show uninterrupted service from 1908 to 1917, so it is likely that, at the time of the 1911 census, he was, in fact, on reserve.

When war broke out in 1914, Ernest was called back into duty. By March 1915, he found himself in France, having been promoted to Acting Corporal. He served on the Western Front until June 1916, when he was sent back home.

Corporal Jenkins seems to have been suffering with his health and, in July 1916 was admitted to hospital with pyrexia (fever). Medically evacuated to England for treatment, a heart murmur was also identified, and after treatment, he was relieved of active duty and placed on reserve in January 1917. The heart condition continued, however, and by the end of the year, he was medically discharged from the army.

At this point, Ernest’s trail goes cold. He returned to Bristol and is noted in the 1919 edition of Kelly’s Directory, as living back in Charlton Road with Julia.

The next record for Ernest confirms his passing. He died on 25th July 1919 in a nursing home in Bristol. He was just 31 years of age.

Ernest Gilbert Jenkins was laid to rest in the family plot in Keynsham Cemetery. When Julia passed away in 1929, at the age of 78, she was buried there as well, finally reunited with her husband and son.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Royal Engineers, Sapper, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Sapper Albert Headington

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Sapper Albert Headington

Albert Edward Headington was born on 5th December 1876 in Keynsham, near Bristol, in Somerset. The ninth of eleven children, his parents were Joseph and Jemima Headington. Joseph was a stonemason and, while he seems not to have had his father’s talents, Albert worked with the same material, becoming a bricklayer’s labourer when he left school.

On 29th May 1899, Albert married Ellen Gray. She was a mason’s daughter from Semley in Wiltshire, and it seems that he was either working there or had some connection with the family through his father’s work. The couple settled down in Keynsham, and went on to have two children, Harold, who was born in 1900, and Edith, who was born in 1912.

By the time of the 1911 census, the family had settled in a small house in the middle of Keynsham. Albert had, by this point, found other employment, and was working for Great Western Railways as a packer.

When war broke out, Albert stepped up to play his part. He enlisted on 22nd June 1915, joining the Royal Engineers as a Sapper. Sent for initial training in Chatham, Kent, he returned home on leave at the end of August. Tragically, he had fallen ill by this point, and died at home on 4th September 1915, having contracted cerebrospinal meningitis. He was 38 years of age.

Albert Edward Headington was laid to rest in the quiet cemetery of his home town of Keynsham.

Ellen went on to live a full life. She and Edith emigrated to Canada in 1921, following Harold, who had made the same move a year earlier. They all settled in the town of Welland, Ontario, not far from Niagara Falls.

Both of Albert and Ellen’s children married and had children of their own. Ellen never remarried, and passed away on 4th November 1956, at the age of 80 years old. She was laid to rest in the Holy Trinity Anglican Cemetery in Welland.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Devon Yeomanry, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Leonard Luscombe

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Private Leonard Luscombe

Leonard Luscombe was born in the spring of 1894 in the Devon village of Ipplepen. He was the fourth of five children to William and Bertha Luscombe, bakers and grocers in the village.

When he left school, Leonard found work as a clerk in a bank, but it is clear he was after bigger and better things. On 27th August 1912 he enlisted in the Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry as a Private. His service records show that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall, had good vision and was of good physical development.

Private Luscombe was sent to Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire for his training, but then returned to Devon at a base near Bovey Tracey, where he remained when war broke out in 1914. That autumn, he contracted tuberculosis, and it was to prove severe enough for him to be medically discharged from the army in February 1915.

Leonard returned to his life in Ipplepen, but his lung complaint was to dog him for the next few years. He finally succumbed to the condition on 26th October 1918, at the age of just 24 years old.

Leonard Luscombe, whose “cheerful hopefulness and intelligence gained him much popular sympathy” [Western Times: Saturday 2nd November 1918], was laid to rest in the family grave in St Andrew’s Churchyard in his home village.