Tag Archives: illness

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Leicestershire, photography, Royal Engineers, Sapper, Somerset, story, Surrey, Training Reserve Battalion, Wales, war

Sapper Walter Wigginton

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Sapper Walter Wigginton

Walter Wigginton was born in the Leicestershire village of Illston-on-the-Hill in the summer of 1880. The second of seven children, his father John was a grazier, managing cows over a six-acre pasture. His mother, Rebecca, who was also born in Leicestershire, raised the family and managed the home.

Walter turned his hand to carpentry, and, by the time of the 1901 census, he was boarding with a widow in Frimley, Surrey, employed for his woodworking skills. By 1905, his journeyman life had taken him to the Somerset village of Trull. It was here that he met and married Annie Oaten, and here that the couple settled down to raise their family. They had two children, Dorothy, born in 1906, and Winifred, who was born two years later.

War was closing in on Europe and, by the summer of 1916, Walter had joined up to play his part. Initially assigned to the 65th Training Reserve Battalion, he had not long transferred across to the Royal Engineers as a Sapper when he fell ill.

Sapper Wigginton was admitted to the Kinmel Park Military Hospital near Abergele on the North Wales coast, suffering from bronchial pneumonia. Sadly, this lung condition was to get the better of him, and he passed away at the hospital on 29th December 1916, at the age of 36 years old.

Walter Wigginton’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of All Saints’ Church in Trull, where his widow and children still lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, story, Wales, war

rivate Walter Strickland

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Private Walter Strickland

Walter Strickland was born in 1890 in Pitminster, Somerset, the youngest of eight children to William and Sarah Strickland. William was a farm labourer, but his son found employment in the local coal mines on leaving school.

In December 1910, Walter married local woman Eliza Burton. The couple moved with Eliza’s brother and sister-in-law to Monmouthshire, where mining was the primary industry. After a couple of years, the young couple moved back to Somerset and went on to have a son, Wilfred, who was born in 1913. Walter had found other work, by this time, and was employed as a groom.

Storm clouds were brewing over Europe, and Walter enlisted in September 1915. He was assigned to the Royal Army Service Corps and given the rank of Private. His service records show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.67m) in height, and had a 35in (89cm) chest measurement.

Details of Private Strickland’s military service are limited. It seems likely that he was sent overseas, but that cannot be confirmed. By the start of 1917, however, he was back in England, and had been admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Netley, near Southampton. He was suffering from an exophthalmic goitre – also known as Grave’s Disease – which results in heart palpitations, and an enlargement of the thyroid gland.

Sadly, this was an illness to which Private Strickland was to succumb: he passed away in the hospital on 28th February 1917, Eliza by his side. He was just 27 years of age.

Walter Strickland’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of All Saints’ Church in his now home town of Norton Fitzwarren.

Berkshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Lieutenant, Midshipman, photography, Royal Navy, Second Lieutenant, Somerset, story, war

Lieutenant Alexander Spurway

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Lieutenant Alexander Spurway

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.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, story, war

Private William Pole

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Private William Pole

William James Pole was born on 22nd July 1892 in the Somerset village of Halse. He was the third of six children to shepherd and farm labourer William Pole and his wife, Harriet. When he left school, William Jr also found work on a relative’s farm in Herefordshire.

William Jr was still working on the farm when war broke out. He enlisted in the spring of 1915, joining the Royal Army Service Corps as a Private. There is no evidence of whether he served overseas, although it seems likely that he would have done, if only for a short while.

By September 1915, however, he was back on English soil, having been admitted to Netley Hospital in Southampton, suffering from enteric fever, also known as typhoid. Sadly, his illness was to get the better of him, and he passed away in the medical facility on 12th September 1915. He was just 23 years of age.

William James Pole’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He lies in the graveyard of St James’ Church, Halse. His parents would also be buried there: William Sr in 1935, and Harriet in 1949.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Cyril Pratt

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Private Cyril Pratt

Cyril Robert Pratt was born on 31st October 1899 in the Somerset village of Halse. The younger of two children, his parents were local baker Robert Pratt and his wife, Elizabeth.

Little information about Cyril’s early life remains. He enlisted in the army not long after his eighteenth birthday, joining the Royal Warwickshire Regiment as a Private in November 1917. He was sent to Salisbury Plain for training, and was barracked in Larkhill, just north of Stonehenge.

Sadly, this seems to have been Private Pratt’s undoing. As with numerous other soldiers at the time, being billeted in cramped quarters with other men from across the country meant that disease was quick to spread. During his first winter at the camp, Cyril contracted pneumonia, and was admitted to the local Fargo Hospital. The lung condition was to get the better of him, and he passed away on 28th February 1918, at the age of just 18 years old.

Cyril Robert Pratt was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St James’ Church in his home village, Halse.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Somerset, story, Training Reserve Battalion, war

Private John Winter

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Private John Winter

John Charles Winter was born in the summer of 1898, the younger of two children to James and Henrietta Winter. James was an agricultural labourer and carter from the village of Oake in Somerset. Henrietta had been born in Ontario in the USA, and was the daughter of English immigrants.

Little is documented about John’s early life. The 1911 census shows him living with his parents and his mother’s widowed brother, an army pensioner. At 12 years old, John was still at school.

War was coming to Europe by this point, and, as soon as he was able to (and probably encouraged by his uncle), John enlisted. He joined the 33rd Training Reserve Battalion, which was connected to the Warwickshire Regiment, at some point after August 1916.

Again, the details of his military service are scarce, but it seems that he soon fell ill, presumably from one of the medical conditions that tend to run rife in barracks crowded with men from across the country. The illness was to get the better of him and, on 4th February 1917, Private Winter passed away. He was just 18 years of age.

John Charles Winter was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Bartholomew’s Church in his home village of Oake.

Private John Winter
(from findagrave.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Dragoon Guards, Great War, history, illness, Lancashire, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private William Bullock

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Private William Bullock

Frederick William Bullock, who was known by his middle name, was born in the spring of 1894 in the small Somerset village of Hillfarrance. His parents were Frederick and Mary, and he was one of eleven children.

Frederick Sr was an agricultural labourer, but William wanted a life of adventure, and, by 1910, he had joined the army. It seems likely that he lied about his age when he enlisted, as he would only have been 16 years of age. Assigned as a Private to the 6th Dragoon Guards (The Carabiniers), he was based in Aldershot, Hampshire. His service records show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, had black hair and grey eyes.

Private Bullock’s early years of service were seemingly free of incident but this was to change. On 22md January 1914, his troop were preparing to board ship to sail to Egypt, but William went AWOL. He was apprehended a week later, tried and convicted of desertion. He was imprisoned for 56 days and his previous service with the army was forfeited.

On 16th August, just a fortnight after war was declared, Private Bullock was sent to France. He spent three months on the Western Front before returning to England. In June 1915, he had transferred to the 3rd (Prince of Wales) Dragoon Guards, and was again sent to France.

William remained in France until the end of July 1916, when he fell ill and was medically evacuated to England for treatment. He was initially admitted to the 2nd Southern General Hospital in Bristol with a crumbling spine, but then transferred to the 2nd Western General Hospital in Manchester for more specialist treatment.

The condition, while not aggravated by his military service, was enough to have him medically discharged because of it. Private Bullock left the army on 28th July 1917.

At this point, William’s trail goes cold. What can be confirmed is that he passed away on 24th September 1918, at the age of 24 years old. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Giles’ Church in Bradford-on-Tone, a village not far from his birthplace, where his family now lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire Regiment, history, illness, Norfolk, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Victor Langdon

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Private Victor Langdon

Victor Frank Langdon was born in the autumn of 1897, the only child to Francis and Martha Langdon. Frank was a carter and cowman from Clatworthy in Devon, but it was in Bradford-on-Tone in neighbouring Somerset that Victor was raised.

Victor was 16 years old when war was declared, but he was still keen to play his part. While full details of his military service are not available, he initially enlisted in the Hampshire Yeomanry, before transferring across to the 15th (Service) Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment in 1917.

Records suggest that Private Langdon served as part of a territorial force and, by the summer of 1918, was based in Norfolk. It was here that he fell ill, and, while in the camp hospital on 15th June 1918, he passed away. Details of his condition are lost to time, but it was noted as “disease”. He was just 21 years of age.

Victor Frank Langdon was brought back to Somerset for burial. He lies at rest in the graveyard of St Giles’ Church, in his home town of Bradford-on-Tone.

Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Cornwall, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, Somerset, story, war

Boy Sidney Buttle

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Boy Sidney Buttle

Sidney Alfred Buttle was born on 7th November 1900, one of eight children to Walter and Alice Buttle. Walter was a brickyard labourer from the Somerset hamlet of Churchstanton, but it was in nearby Wellington that he and weaver Alice raised their young family.

Sidney was just 13 years old when war broke out, but he was a young man who appeared keen to play his part. On 31st July 1917, he enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve, a regiment that suggests that, even at his young age, he had some experience of working with boats.

His service records show that Sidney was just 5ft 2.5ins (1.59m) tall, had a fresh complexion with hazel eyes. Given the rank of Boy, he was initially posted to Falmouth, Cornwall, where he spent nine months training. After this, he spent a further six months on short postings as a deck hand, before being sent to HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Boy Buttle was, by this point, suffering from neurasthenia, a nerve disorder, and it was this condition that led to his eventual discharge from naval service in December 1918.

Sidney returned home, but seems to have been weakened by the condition. He passed away at home on 3rd August 1919, at the tender age of just eighteen years of age. He was laid to rest in Wellington Cemetery, not far from where his family still lived.

Bandsman, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire Regiment

Bandsman Clifford Alway

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Bandsman Clifford Alway

Clifford Frederick Alway was born on 2nd February 1903 in Wellington, Somerset. He was the fifth of fourteen children to Samuel and Ann Alway. Samuel was a farm labourer and butcher and, when war broke out, he stepped up to play his part, enlisting as a Driver in the Royal Field Artillery.

Clifford also seemed keen to be involved, and it can only be assumed that one or both of his older brothers – William (born 1898) and Wyndham (born 1901) – had joined up. By the summer of 1918, Clifford enlisted in the Wiltshire Regiment. It seems likely, given that he was only fifteen years old, that he had lied about his age, as so many young men did.

He joined the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment as a Bandsman. This was a territorial force, and Clifford was posted to Kent, as part of the Thames and Medway Garrison.

It was here, where it was billeted in crowded barracks, that Bandsman Alway contracted influenza and pneumonia. Admitted to hospital in Aylesford, the conditions proved too much for his system, and he passed away on 3rd December 1918. Tragically, Clifford was just 15 years of age.

Clifford Frederick Alway was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Wellington Cemetery, not far from where his family still lived.

Samuel survived the war, spending more than three years in France – he was overseas when his son passed away, and so was unable to attend the funeral.