Walter George Colchin was born in 1884 in Borden, Kent. His parents, Herbert and Frances, moved the family – three sons, including Walter, and a daughter – to the village of Iwade, where they ran the Woolpack Inn.
There isn’t a great deal of information about Walter’s life. He married Bertha Sparks from the neighbouring village of Milton in 1916.
Walter joined the war effort at some point after that – I have been unable to find an exact date – and enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps, before transferring to the Agricultural Company Labour Corps.
Private Colchin was on active service in Steyning, West Sussex, when the war came to a close. On 23rd December 1918, he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and died. He was 34 years old.
Walter Colchin is buried in the graveyard of All Saints Church in his home village of Iwade.
Osbourne Ethelbert Winch was born in Kent in 1888, one of three sons to Ernest and Ann Winch. Being the eldest, he inherited his unusual combination of names from his grandfathers – Osbourne on his mother’s side and Ethelbert on his father’s.
Osbourne had moved out of the family home by the time of the 1911 census, and, when war broke out, was quick to enlist. His records show that he was a tall man – standing at 5ft 10ins (1.78m) and he was declared fit for territorial service.
Private Winch joined the 45th Provisional Battalion, before moving to the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles (also known as the Buffs) in 1916. Soon to be posted to the Front Line, Osbourne married Elsie Taylor in March that year, and he was posted in April.
Along with the move to the Buffs, Private Winch received promotions, first to Lance Corporal and then to Corporal. He again transferred to the Base Depot at Etaples in December 1916 and, for some reason, he reverted to being Private. His records confirm this was “under Para 12.VV.W.L.9/Geb No 5080 (AGI)”, although I have not been able to established what this means. There is no mention of disciplinary behaviour in his records, so whether this was because of the transfer to the depot, I cannot say.
Either way, he was transferred to the Front again on 13th December 1916, and remained on the Cavalry rate of pay.
Private Winch remained at the Front for a number of months. On 19th April 1917, possibly while involved in the Nivelle Offensive, he received gunshot wounds to the head and right hip. He was moved to a hospital in Béthune in northern France, where his hip was operated on.
Osbourne was transferred back to the UK on the Hospital Ship Cambria for medical treatment. His medical report from the UK hospital makes for grim reading:
Private states that he lay out for 2 days before being brought in. Gun shot wound head and right hip 19.4.17. Op on hip at Béthune – bad cough on admissions and moist sound in chest. Large septic wound over right hip exposing iliac crest and much comminution of ilium [breakage of the hip bone]. Acute pneumonia developed and patient grew steadily worse.
Medical Report: E Hamilton-Browne, Military Hospital, Endell Street, London WC
Private Osbourne Winch died at 4pm on 30th April 1917. He was 28 years old. He lies at peace in the graveyard of St Bartholomew’s Church in his home village of Bobbing in Kent.
Henry Edward Thurley was born in 1895, the tenth of twelve children to George and Charlotte Thurley. George was a brickmaker from Enfield, Middlesex, and the family moved around to follow his work.
Born in Sheerness, Kent, by the 1901 census, Henry was living with his family in Shoeburyness, Essex. Ten years later, the family had relocated back in Kent, and Henry had joined his father in the brickmaking business, while also working as a waterman – working on boats in the nearby Medway estuary.
When the Great War came, Henry was quick to enlist. He joined the East Kent Regiment – also known as “The Buffs” – in August 1915. After his initial training, Private Thurley was sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force.
Private Thurley was wounded on 6th March 1916, receiving gunshot wounds to his right foot, head and eyes. He was sent home to recover, but within a couple of months, he was back on the front line, serving for King and country again.
Henry was wounded again on 16th January 1917; this time is was his right eye that was affected, and he was shipped back to the UK and admitted to Merryflats War Hospital in Glasgow. His wounds appeared more serious this time, and he succumbed to them at 3:50pm on 1st February 1917. He was just 21 years old.
Private Henry Thurley was buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin in his home village of Upchurch in Kent.
Walter Apps was born in 1896 in Kent. He was one of thirteen children to Richard Apps, a shepherd, and his wife Emeline. By the age of 14 he was listed as working on the farm the family lived on; his older brother Bertie was also helping out.
In February 1916 Walter was called up; his enlistment papers show he worked as a horseman, and that he joined the Royal East Kent Regiment (also known as the Buffs because of the colour of their tunic).
Private Apps was posted to the Western Front as part of the British Expeditionary Force in October 1916, and was soon transferred to the Royal West Kent Regiment.
He saw active service, and was wounded on 17th July 1917, receiving a gun shot wound to the face, which resulted in him losing the sight in his left eye.
Private Apps was repatriated on 8th August 1917, and remained there. He was discharged from the army as being no longer medically fit to serve at the beginning of the following March, but sadly passed away on 27th March 1918. He was just 22 years old.
Walter Apps lies at rest in the graveyard of St Bartholomew’s Church in Bobbing, Kent.
Louis Henry Townsend, also known as Henry, was born in the spring of 1881 in Leytonstone, Essex.
Much of Louis’ life remains elusive, he first appears on the census in 1911, and from this we know that he married Florence Annie Ridley (known as Annie) in December 1906. The couple had three children, Thomas, Florence and George.
Louis’ marriage record suggests his father’s name was Thomas Clark, although he also remains a bit of a mystery.
Again, Louis’ military service appears lost to time. He enlisted in the Lincolnshire Regiment, and fought on the Western Front.
The Western Chronicle (26th March 1915) confirms that Corporal Townsend was brought to the Greenhill Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital in Sherborne, suffering from “a shot through the brain, and from the first was in an extremely precarious condition”.
Louis passed away from his wounds on 20th March 1915, aged 34. He lies at rest in Sherborne Cemetery.
Death and Service 