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Commonwealth War Graves, Dorsetshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war, Yorkshire

Corporal Frank Crew

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Corporal Frank Crew

Frank George Crew was born in Twerton, Somerset, on 25th January 1886. The fourth of five children, his parents were nurseryman and market gardener William Crew and his laundress wife, Fanny.

When Frank finished his schooling, he followed his father into the nursery trade, and this is how he was employed when war was declared. He enlisted in the Dorsetshire Regiment on 19th July 1915, and was assigned to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion. Private Crew’s service records are limited, but his medical report shows that he was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, weighing around 10st (63.5kg).

On 6th October 1918, Frank, who had been promoted to Corporal by this point, was admitted to the Military Hospital in York with a bullet wound to his right forearm. Given that his battalion remained on home soil for the duration of the conflict, it is unclear whether this was an accidental injury at camp, or if he transferred to another troop when he recovered.

Little additional information for Frank remains. He remained in hospital until 8th November 1918 and it is unclear if he continued with his army service once he recovered – although given the Armistice was declared three days later, it is unlikely that he did.

On 11th November itself, Frank married Kate May, a mason’s daughter from Limpley Stoke, to the west of Bath. By this point he recorded his profession as gardener, so it seems his army career was indeed behind him. The couple went on to have a daughter, Peggy, who was born a year later.

William died in 1920, and by the time of the following year’s census, Frank, Kate and Peggy were living with Frank’s now-widowed mother. The extended family had a home on Padleigh Hill, to the south west of Bath city centre, and Frank seemed to be the main breadwinner, working as a labourer for Stothert & Pitts Ltd, a crane company on the River Avon.

Sadly, Frank was only to survive the census by a couple of months. He passed away on 21st August 1921, dying from a combination of influenza and epilepsy. He was 35 years of age.

Frank George Crew was laid to rest in the quiet Englishcombe Churchyard, close to the family home.

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

Sapper Arthur Coward

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Sapper Arthur Coward

Arthur Coward was born in the village of Faulkland, near Radstock, Somerset, on 6th November 1888. One of twelve siblings, of which only five survived childhood, his parents were Henry and Mercy Coward.

Henry was an agricultural labourer, who was 62 years of age when Arthur was born. By the time Arthur had finished his schooling, the family had moved west, to Writhlington, and he took up work in the local colliery.

Arthur was a keen motorcyclist, and when war came to Europe, he enlisted in the Royal Engineers. Working as a dispatch rider, Sapper Coward was assigned to the 34th Division Signal Company, and soon found himself in France.

Arthur returned home for a fortnight’s leave on 22nd October 1918. “He should have returned to France again on the 4th [November] but had a few days previously contracted influenza and this was followed by double pneumonia. Everything possible was done for him, but despite a robust constitution he gradually sank and died peaceful a few hours before the public learnt that the war in which he had taken part was ended.” [Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer: Friday 15th November 1918]

Sapper Coward had died on 11th November 1918, having celebrated his thirtieth birthday just five days previously. His father, Henry, had lost another child, at the age of 91.

Arthur Coward was laid to rest in the tranquil Writhlington Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Leading Mechanic, London, Mechanic, Patty Officer Mechanic, photography, Royal Air Force, Sergeant, Somerset, story, war, Yorkshire

Serjeant Algernon Spurge

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Serjeant Algernon Spurge

Algernon Carlyle Graham Spurge was born on 27th August 1891 in Bath, Somerset. The middle of five children, his parents were Algernon and Ida Spurge.

Algernon Sr was a portrait photographer, based in the Twerton area of the city, and this was very much a family business. The 1901 census recorded the Spurges as living in Victoria Road, Bath, with Ida’s brother, Tom Leaman, who was working as a photographic reloader.

Later that year, however, things were to take a turn for the worst. Algernon Sr seems to have been having some business worries and, on the morning of 16th December, he set off for work as usual. His and Ida’s daughter, also called Ida, arrived at the studio to find her father in some distress, a bottle of potassium cyanide – used as part of the photographic process at the time – next to him. He asked Ida to fetch him some water and salt, but when she returned, he declared it was too late, and lost consciousness. A doctor was called, but Algernon passed away shortly after he arrived.

A note was found, which read “My dearest wife, I really cannot stand the worry and anxiety of another day, to say nothing of weeks and perhaps months. Ask Mr Ashman and Mr Withy to be kind enough to help you straighten out matters a little. My best love to you and all my dear ones. AS” [Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer – Saturday 21 December 1901] Ashman and Withy were family friends, who were also in the photography business.

An inquest was held and a verdict of suicide while temporarily insane was recorded.

The family rallied round, and Algernon’s widow and children moved in with Ida’s widowed mother in Bristol. Algernon’s daughter Ida continued working in photography, and Algernon Jr also took up the business. The 1911 census found him boarding with, and working for, his uncle Tom in Bath.

War was closing in on Europe by this point and, when it was declared, Algernon stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service on 4th June 1915 as a Leading Mechanic (Photography). His service records show that he was 5ft 5ins (1.66m) tall, with dark brown hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion.

Algernon was initially assigned to the shore establishment HMS President in London for three years, rising to the rank of Petty Officer Mechanic (Photography). In April 1918, when the Royal Air Force was created he transferred across to HMS Daedalus in Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire, and rising to the rank of Sergeant Mechanic.

That autumn, with the end of the war in sight, Algernon fell ill. He contracted influenza, and this developed into pneumonia. He was admitted to the Military Hospital in York, but the conditions were to prove too much for his body to take. He died on 27th October 1918, aged just 27 years old.

The body of Algernon Carlyle Graham Spurge was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in St James Cemetery, Bath, not far from his father. When Ida passed away in 1926, she was buried in the same cemetery, father, mother and son reunited once more

Serjeant Algernon Spurge
(from ancestry.co.uk)
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, 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.

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

Boy 2nd Class Henry Butcher

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Boy 2nd Class Henry Butcher

Henry George Butcher was born on 29th September 1900, the middle of five children to Henry and Sarah Butcher. Henry Sr was a labourer in a nursery and the family were born and raised in his and Sarah’s home village of Merriott, Somerset.

Henry Jr followed his father into agricultural labouring when he finished school. When war was declared, he was too young to enlist and, seeing his older friends head off to glory, he must have been desperate to play a part before it was all over.

Henry’s chance finally came when, on 2nd September 1918, he joined the Royal Navy. His service records show that he was 5ft 2.5in (1.59m) tall, had brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. As he was under-age when he enlisted, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and sent off to HMS Powerful, a training ship in Devonport.

Naval and army barracks were crowded places, and brought together boys and men from all over the country in a way that had never happened before. The cramped nature of the billets meant that disease would run rampant once it took hold, and it could prove fatal. In the last week of September 1918, seventeen boys from HMS Powerful died from a combination of influenza and pneumonia and, on Friday 27th, Boy 2nd Class Butcher was to join that list. He was two days from his eighteenth birthday, and had been in the Royal Navy for just 25 days.

Henry George Butcher’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of All Saints’ Church in his home village of Merriott.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Dorset, Dorset Yeomanry, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Garrison Artillery, Shoeing Smith, Somerset, story, war, West Midlands, Wiltshire

Gunner William Merritt

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Gunner William Merritt

William Merritt was born in the summer of 1895 in Chippenham, Wiltshire. He was the youngest of three children to John and Elizabeth Merritt. John was a blacksmith, and he moved the family to Milborne Port, Somerset, when William was just a boy.

William found work as a shoesmith when he left school, but was one of the first to enlist when war broke out in 1914. He had his medical examination on 17th November, which confirmed that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall, had good vision and was of good physical development.

Initially assigned to the Dorset Yeomanry, Private Merritt’s trade soon found him taking on the role of Shoeing Smith for the battalion. He was obviously good at what he did, because by May 1915, he had been promoted to the rank of Corporal Shoeing Smith.

William had not enlisted in the army to make and mend shoes, however, and, in March 1916, he transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery, back with the rank of Gunner. Rather than being sent to the Western Front, however, he found himself billeted at a camp in the West Midlands.

Little further information about Gunner Merritt’s service is available for the next couple of years. The next record for him comes on 5th November 1918, confirming his admission to the Birmingham War Hospital, as he was suffering from influenza and pneumonia. Sadly, his admittance to hospital was to prove too late: he passed away from heart failure the following day. Gunner Merritt was just 23 years of age.

William Merritt’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the cemetery of the town in which he had plied his trade before the war, Milborne Port.

William’s sparse personal effects were also returned to his parents. The records note that these included: “pair [of] boots, 6 postcards, razor, comb, toothbrush, shaving soap and brush, letter, pair of socks, bell.”

Another bureaucratic error is highlighted in a letter sent from the hospital in which William passed to his regiment’s records office notes that “I have to inform you that the body was forwarded to his Wife for burial…” William was unmarried, and his body was actually returned to his mother, Elizabeth.

Buckinghamshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Percy Gerrish

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Private Percy Gerrish

Percy Gerrish was born on 22nd August 1890 in Bath, Somerset. The youngest of three children – all boys – his parents were Alfred and Charlotte Gerrish. Alfred was painter and decorator by trade but, by the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to Batheaston, and he was employed as a school attendance officer.

Alfred and Charlotte had raised their children well: the same census recorded their oldest son, also called Alfred, was employed as a clerk; their middle son, Reginald, was a printer; Percy, then 20 years old, was working as a draughtsman for an engineering company,

War came to Britain’s shores in 1914, and while he did not join up at once, when the Military Service Act of 1916 came in, Percy found himself conscripted. He enlisted on 24th November 1916 and, while he noted a preference for the Royal Field Artillery or Royal Garrison Artillery, his previous employment made him ideal for work as a clerk in the Army Service Corps.

Private Gerrish’s time in the army was spent on home soil. Full details are not available, but he certainly served in camps around Codford, Wiltshire. This may have been how he met a young woman called Ada Cox, who lived in Bemerton, on the outskirts of Salisbury. On 21st July 1917, the couple married in the new Mrs Gerrish’s local church.

Percy’s army career went well, although during 1918 illness was to dog him. He spent a week in a hospital in Fovant, near Salisbury in June, suffering from influenza, before being readmitted for a month just a week later, having contracted pharyngitis – an inflammation of the pharynx.

By the late summer of 1918, Private Gerrish had been moved to Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. His ongoing health conditions were still an issue, however, and on 23rd October he was admitted to the Tickford Abbey Auxiliary Hospital. He had contracted laryngitis by this point, but, as the weeks in hospital progressed, he was soon also bogged down by tuberculosis.

Sadly, this was to prove Percy’s undoing. He passed away on 27th December 1918, aged just 28 years old.

Percy Gerrish’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John the Baptist Church, in a plot next to his father, Alfred, who had died seven months before.

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

Private Ernest Bailey

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Private Ernest Bailey

Ernest Stanley Bailey was born in the autumn of 1900 in the quiet Somerset village of Barton St David. The oldest of three children, his parents were stonemason William Bailey and his wife, Fanny.

Ernest was only 14 years old when war broke out, but his time to serve his King and Country came in the summer of 1918. He enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment and was assigned to the 53rd (Young Soldier) Battalion.

Private Bailey was sent to the Rollestone Camp, near Shrewton in Wiltshire for training. With the war in its closing months, army barracks were still places rife with disease, and Ernest was not to be immune from this. He contracted influenza, which then became pneumonia, and was admitted to the camp hospital. Sadly, the conditions were to prove too much for his young body to bear, and he passed away on 6th November 1918. He was just 18 years of age.

Ernest Stanley Bailey was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St David’s Church in his home village, Barton St David.