Tag Archives: illness

Commonwealth War Graves, Denbighshire, Great War, history, illness, London, photography, Royal Engineers, Sapper, story, Wales, war

Sapper James Tod

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Sapper James Tod

James Tod was born in the spring of 1891 in Chirk, Denbighshire, and was one of nine children. His parents were builder John Tod, who was from Scotland, and Margaret Tod, who had been born in Llangollen.

John passed away when James was in his teens and, when he left school, James found work as a joiner to help support his mother financially.

When war came to Europe, James was called upon to play his part. Full details of his military service are not available, but he had enlisted by the beginning of 1917. James joined the Royal Engineers as a Sapper, and was assigned to the London Electrical Engineers.

It is unclear whether Sapper Tod served overseas, but he certainly would have been based in the London area, carrying out repair works as needed. The London Electrical Engineers were also pioneers in the use of searchlights to spot enemy aircraft and Zeppelins raiding the capital. A detachment was also sent to France to position and man searchlights on the Western Front, although, again, it is not clear whether James was one of those involved.

It is clear that James was back in Wales at the start of 1917, however, as, on 18th January, he married his sweetheart, Emily Mary Edwards, at the parish church in his home town. Emily was the daughter of a gamekeeper from nearby Pontfadog, but it was in Chirk that the coupler were to make their home.

Sapper Tod was soon back on duty, however, and the next evidence available for him is that of his admission to the Grove Military Hospital in Tooting, South London. He had contracted a combination of influenza and pneumonia, and these lung conditions were sadly to get the better of him: he passed away on Armistice Day, the 11th November 1918. He was just 27 years of age.

James Tod was brought back to Wales for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in the town.

It seems that James had been in some debt when he passed, as some of his war pension was held over to cover those costs.

Tragically, Emily was five months pregnant when James died. She gave birth to a son, who she named after his father, on 9th March 1919.

Emily never remarried, and, by the time of the 1939 Register for England and Wales, was recorded as the Lodgekeeper for Deer Park Lodge, which was attached to Chirk Castle. She passed away on 19th December 1973, at the age of 84 years old. She was laid to rest with her late husband, a couple reunited at last after more than five decades.

James Jr lived a long life, passing away in the spring of 1999, in his eightieth year.

Air Mechanic, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Middlesex, photography, Royal Air Force, story, Sussex, war

Air Mechanic 1st Class Harold Weston

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Air Mechanic 1st Class Harold Weston

Harold Stanley Weston’s early life is destined to remain a mystery. He was born, according to his Royal Air Force service records, in Southgate, Middlesex in 1887 and, before war broke our, was working as a waiter before enlisting.

On 3rd August 1915, he married a woman called Gertrude in Hastings, Eat Sussex, and it appears that this is where the couple set up home. Harold has initially enlisted in the army, but transferred across to the Royal Flying Corps on 28th October 1915. Air Mechanic 2nd Class Weston’s service records show that he stood just 5ft 2.5ins (1.59m) tall.

Over the next three years, Harold rose through the ranks to Air Mechanic 1st Class, and served in France for nine months during 1916. He then returned to England, and was based at an airfield near Detling, Kent. When the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service merged in April 1918, he transferred across to the newly-formed Royal Air Force, and was attached to 27 Squadron.

In November that year, Harold was admitted to the Military Hospital in Maidstone, also in Kent, having contracted influenza and pneumonia. Sadly, the lung conditions were to get the better of him, and he passed away on 1st November 1918, at the age of just 31 years old.

Air Mechanic 1st Class Harold Stanley Weston’s body was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Martin’s Church in Detling, not far from the base at which he served. Gertrude posted her thanks to “all [their] friends for their kindness and sympathy shown to her in her sad bereavement, more especially Captain Saunders, RAF, Major Chapman, KCC [Kent County Council?], Sergeant Fowle, KCC, and Sergeant Weller, RAMC [Royal Army Medical Corps]” [Maidstone Telegraph: Saturday 9th November 1918]

Commonwealth War Graves, East Yorkshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, story, Sussex, war

Private George Sinclair

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Private George Sinclair

In a quiet corner of the village cemetery in Cuckfield, West Sussex, is a headstone dedicated to Private WG Sinclair. Attached to the East Yorkshire Regiment, he passed away on 12th February 1919.

A search of military records gives a little more detail: this was a George William Sinclair, who had died from pneumonia at the West Hylands Institution, which was Cuckfield’s workhouse. George was 29 years old, but there is little concrete information about his early life.

A newspaper report from the day before Private Sinclair’s death, however, begins to shed a little more light onto his life:

George William Sinclair was charged with being a deserter from the Cuckfield Union Workhouse, on November 6th, and carrying away clothing to the value of £1, the property of the Guardians of the Cuckfield Union. PC Upton said that he arrested the prisoner at the Somerstown Police Station. Prisoner was remanded, but as he was taken ill he was removed to the Workhouse Infirmary.

Mid Sussex Times: Tuesday 11th February 1919

George’s entry in the Army Register of Soldier’s Effects does not give a next of kin, so it is not possible to determine categorically where he was born and raised, or who his parents were.

A little more digging found a George William Sinclair recorded in the UK Calendar of Prisoners in 1916. He had been arrested for “feloniously breaking and entering the dwelling house of Sarah Waddingham, and stealing one bicycle, one pair of shoes, one purse, one tobacco box, one tobacco pipe and one microscope, the property of said Sarah Waddingham, at West Halton [near Hull], on the 7th July 1916.“

It is not possible to say definitively that this George William Sinclair is the same one buried in Cuckfield Cemetery, but, given the regiment he was attached to, and the newspaper report prior to his passing, it is likely to be more than just a coincidence.

George pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to six months’ hard labour. This was not his first offence, and had had spent a total of more than eighteen months behind bars over a period of ten years up to this point. On each occasion, he was convicted of theft.

It is possible, given that the country was at war by this point, that George was given the option to enlist, rather than serve his sentence. Again, this is an assumption, however, but Private Sinclair’s Pension Ledger confirms that he was discharged from the army on 6th November 1918.

George William Sinclair appears on another workhouse register, this time in Westminster, London, where he spent a couple of nights just before Christmas that year.

If these records all relate to the same man, his life seems to have been a troubled one. I can only hope that he found peace in that quiet corner of West Sussex.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Lance Corporal, photography, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Lance Corporal James Matthews

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Lance Corporal James Matthews

James Matthews was born in the summer of 1894, the youngest of five children to James and Margaret Matthews. James Sr was a farm worker from Cuckfield in West Sussex, and it was on Hodshrove Farm in nearby Ansty that the family were raised.

James Jr worked on the farm when he left school, but when war broke out, he found a bigger calling for himself. Full details of his military service are not available, but he seemed to have enlisted early on in the conflict, joining the 9th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment. Originally formed in Chichester, West Sussex, he soon found himself billeted in the South Down near Portslade.

James must have impressed his superiors, as he was soon promoted to Lance Corporal for his work. All was not to go well, however, as, during the early months of 1915, he contracted pneumonia.

Lance Corporal Matthews was admitted to the 2nd Eastern General Hospital in Brighton, but the lung condition was to get the better of him, and he passed away on 7th March 1915. He was just 20 years of age.

James Matthews was brought back to his home village for burial. He lies at rest in Cuckfield Cemetery, in the shadow of Holy Trinity Church.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Lieutenant, photography, Royal West Surrey Regiment, story, Surrey, Sussex, war

Lieutenant Frederick Tugwell

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Lieutenant Frederick Tugwell

Frederick William Tugwell was born in Cuckfield, West Sussex, in the autumn of 1888. The youngest of three children to John and Mary Tugwell, his father was a tailor in the village.

Little more is known about Frederick’s early life, but, when war broke out, he wad there to play his part. He enlisted in The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) and, by July 1916 was in France. Frederick obviously made an impression in the army and rose through the ranks, reaching Lieutenant by the time the Armistice was declared in November 1918.

Lieutenant Tugwell remained overseas when the war ended and was based in Cologne. In March 1919, he returned home on leave, staying with his sister, Constance, who lived in Guildford, Surrey. It was here that he fell ill and here that he passed away, breathing his last on 2nd March 1919. He was just 30 years old.

Frederick William Tugwell was brought back to West Sussex for burial – he lies at rest in the cemetery of his home village, Cuckfield.

A mystery surrounds Frederick’s next of kin. His medal record suggests that it was his widow – Mrs FW Tugwell – who applied for that recognition. The address given for her is the same as for Constance. The newspaper report of his death gives no mention of a widow, only that he died at his sister’s home. There is also no clear evidence for Frederick getting married, although this may have been lost to the passage of time. His widow may, of course, have been living with her sister-in-law, but again, this cannot be confirmed either way.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Private William Haylor

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Private William Haylor

William Charles Haylor was born in the summer of 1870, in the West Sussex village of Cuckfield. He was one of eight children to agricultural labour Michael Haylor and his wife, Betsy. Michael passed away in 1886 and, with children to raise, his widow took in washing to earn money.

William found work as a farm labourer and, by the time of the 1901 census was living in a cottage at Beech Farm in the village, with his mother, younger sisters, one brother-in-law and six nieces and nephews.

On 25th October 1905, William married Florence Linstead. She was a carter’s daughter from South London, and it is not exactly clear how they met. It seems likely, though, that Florence had taken work on one of the estates in the Cuckfield area. The couple exchanged vows at St Antony’s Church in Florence’s home town, Nunhead, before settling down back in West Sussex.

When war came to Europe, William was keen to play his part. He enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment on 9th November 1914 and was assigned to the No.6 Supernumerary Company of the 2nd/4th Battalion. This was a territorial force, set in place for those older volunteers keen to serve King and Country.

Private Haylor’s time in the army was to be brief, however, as at his medical he was found to be medically unfit for military service. No further details are available, but it meant that William had spent just 82 days in the army.

At this point, William’s trail goes cold. He returned home, and presumably continued in his previous line of work. Again, however, the status quo was not to continue for long. He passed away at home, through causes unknown, on Christmas Day, 25th December 1915. He was 45 years of age.

William Charles Haylor was laid to rest in the cemetery in his home village, Cuckfield. He was accorded a military funeral.

Coldstream Guards, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Guardsman, Hertfordshire, history, illness, photography, story, Sussex, war

Guardsman Sydney Proctor

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Guardsman Sydney Proctor

Sydney Francis Proctor was born in the autumn of 1886 in the Hertfordshire town of Bushey. The middle of three children, his parents were George and Annie Proctor. George was a stationary engine driver, and Sydney found work at a local iron foundry – possibly working alongside his father – when he left school.

This was not to be Sydney’s long term career, however, as, by the time of the 1911 census, he had moved to West Sussex and settled in Cuckfield, near Haywards Heath. By this time he was working as a gardener, and was employed at the nearby Borde Hill estate.

It is likely that Sydney had made the move to Sussex a few years earlier, as the same document confirms that he was married to a London-born woman called Florence, who was five years his senior. The couple would go on to have a daughter, Frances, who was born in December 1912.

Sydney’s wartime service is a little sketchy. He enlisted in the Coldstream Guards in November 1914, and was assigned to the 4th Battalion. While full details of his service are not available, Guardsman Proctor certainly served overseas, and may have seen some of the fiercest fighting of the conflict, at Loos, Ypres and the Somme.

Guardsman Proctor survived the conflict, but paid a price. In October 1918, he was medically discharged from military service, as he was suffering from aortic regurgitation – a heart complaint. He returned home to Sussex, but this respite was not to be for long. Sydney passed away on 17th July 1919, at the age of 32 years old.

Sydney Francis Proctor was laid to rest in the cemetery of his adopted home town, Cuckfield.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Labour Corps, Lincolnshire, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Private Harry Etherton

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Private Harry Etherton

Harry Etherton was born in Ansty, near Cuckfield, West Sussex on 3rd April 1872. The oldest of five children, his parents were Edwin and Louisa Etherton. Edwin was an agricultural labourer, and this was work in which his son followed his father.

On 29th April 1899, Harry married Annie Eliza Pennifold, a labourer’s daughter who was also from Ansty. The couple set up home in Cuckfield, and went on to have five children. Harry was, by this point, working as a road labourer for the local council, and this was a job he was to continue doing until the outbreak of the war.

Harry enlisted in 1915, joining the Royal Sussex Regiment as part of the National Reserve. As Private Etherton, he was then transferred across to the Labour Corps, and was assigned to the 409th Labour Coy. which was based at the Infantry Depot in Lincoln.

It was while Private Etherton was here, in the spring of 1918, that he contracted meningitis, and was admitted to the Northern General Hospital in the city. Sadly, he was to succumb to the disease, passing away on 30th June 1918, at the age of 46 years old.

Harry Etherton’s body was brought back to West Sussex for burial. He was laid to rest in Cuckfield Cemetery, not far from where his widow and children still lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Private Frank Bates

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Private Frank Bates

Frank Bates was born on 29th June 1893, in Cuckfield, West Sussex and was the fourth of five children. His parents were tailor William Bates and his wife, Sarah.

Tragedy was to be a constant companion to the Bates family. Frank’s older brother, William, died in November 1907 after a protracted illness, at the tender age of just 19 years old. Four years later, his younger sister, Maggie, also passed away after an illness. She was just 21 years of age.

When he left school, Frank went into the service of the Messel family, who owned the Nyman’s estate close to where Frank and his family lived. When war was declared, however, he was keen to play his part, enlisting soon after hostilities were announced in August 1914.

Private Bates joined the 4th (Home Service) Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment and was sent to Newhaven for training. It was while he was here that he fell ill, and, having caught a chill, he returned to Cuckfield to recuperate. Sadly, his condition worsened, and he passed away at his family home on 31st January 1915. He was just 21 years old.

Frank Bates was laid to rest in Cuckfield cemetery, resting not far from his siblings.

Tragedy was to strike one more time for William and Sarah. Frank’s older brother Jack served as a Private in the 2nd/4th Battalion of the London Regiment. In the spring of 1918, he was caught up in that year’s Battles of the Somme, including fighting at St Quentin and Avre.

In May 1918, Private Bates was officially reported as missing, but it was later confirmed that he had died of injuries sustained in the fighting. He passed away on 16th April 1918, at the age of 29 years old.

Jack was laid to rest at the Chauny Communal Cemetery in Picardie, France, and is also commemorated in Cuckfield Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Glamorganshire, Great War, history, illness, Lancashire Fusiliers, photography, Royal Air Force, Royal Engineers, Second Lieutenant, story, Wales, war

Second Lieutenant Francis Wakeford

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Second Lieutenant Francis Wakeford

Francis Reginald Steele Wakeford was born in the summer of 1893 in Penarth, Glamorgan. The middle of five children, his parents were Herbert – who was a master printer – and Mary Wakeford. When he left school, Francis became a stockbroking clerk, but when war broke out, he was quick to ensure he played his part.

Initially enlisting in the Royal Engineers, he was attached to the Glamorgan Yeomanry. By the time he was sent to France, however, he had been assigned to the Lancashire Fusiliers.

After eighteen months of fighting, in the spring of 1918, Second Lieutenant Wakeford transferred to the Royal Air Force and gained his wings. “During six months’ flying he had many encounters with enemy airmen, many of whom he brought down, and was also in several bombing raids over Germany.” [Western Mail: Monday 30th December 1918]

When the Armistice was declared, Francis returned to Wales. He has been suffering from an ongoing illness, and this was to be to what he was to succumb. Second Lieutenant Wakeford passed away in Cardiff on Christmas Day, 25th December 1918. He was just 25 years of age.

Francis Reginald Steele Wakeford was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Augustine’s Church in his home town of Penarth.

Second Lieutenant Wakeford (from findagrave.com)

Francis’ grave also commemorates the passing of his only brother, Charles Herbert Stanley Wakeford.

Four years Francis’ senior, Charles had enlisted in the 24th (Pembroke and Glamorgan Yeomanry) Battalion of the Welch Regiment. As the war moved through its final year, Lieutenant Wakeford found himself caught up in the fierce fighting of the Second Battles of the Somme.

Charles was killed on 7th September 1918, aged 28 years old. He was laid to rest in Tincourt British Cemetery, in Picardie, France. He is also commemorated on the family grave in St Augustine’s Church, Penarth.