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Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Middlesex, Norfolk, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, story, war

Private Arthur Harcourt

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Private Arthur Harcourt

Arthur Wellesley Harcourt was born on 18th June 1895 in Brentford, Middlesex. He was the youngest of five children to Charles and Eliza Harcourt.

The son of a Baptist minister, Charles was a banker’s clerk, but “practically the whole of [his] leisure in a busy life [was] spent in mission work, mainly in Middlesex…” [Middlesex & Surrey Express – Saturday 13 October 1900] When he died in 1900, at the age of 57, Eliza was left to raise her younger children alone.

Arthur’s young life was to be one of travel. The 1901 census, taken just six months after his father’s death, found him living in Walton le Soken (now Walton-on-the-Naze), Essex. Eliza had taken rooms for the family in a lodging house at 9 New Pier Street, yards from the town’s stony beach.

The next record for Arthur is from 1908. Surprisingly, for the grandson of a Baptist minister and the son of a missionary, he seems not to have been baptised when he was born. The document shows that he was christened on 26th April, at St Mary’s Church in the village of Sporle with Palgrave in Norfolk. There is nothing to confirm why he was in Norfolk, or why he chose to be baptised there: the 1911 census found Eliza and his siblings living back in Middlesex.

By this point, Arthur was on the move again. Now fifteen years of age, the same census found him visiting George and Amelia Kerswill at their home in Exeter, Devon. George was a retired nurseryman and florist from Hendon, and it seems likely that the couple were friends of the family.

By the time war broke out, the Harcourts had moved once again, this time setting up home in Reculver, Kent. Arthur was working as a surveyor’s assistant, but felt drawn to play his part. On 8th March 1917, he enlisted, joining the Army Service Corps as a Private. His records show that he was 5ft 4.5ins (1.61m) tall, and weighed 96lbs (43.5kg). He was of fair physical development, but it was noted that he had an understandard chest, but was deemed fit for military service.

Private Harcourt was sent to Somerset for training. Tragically, however, his health was to take a dramatic downturn. Admitted to the Bath War Hospital on 1st April with influenza, this quickly developed into double pneumonia and pleurisy. The strain was to be too much for his young body to bear: Arthur passed away on 18th April 1917, at the age of just 21 years old.

Surprisingly, Eliza, whilst able to live on her own means, did not chose to lay her son to rest close to home. Instead, Arthur Wellesley Harcourt was buried in Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, not far from the hospital in which he had breathed his last.

Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Cornwall, Devon, Great War, Greece, history, illness, India, Kent, Mesopotamia, photography, Powys, Royal Army Medical Corps, story, Surrey, war

Captain William Mence

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Captain William Mence

William Charles Mence was born in Blackheath, Kent in the spring of 1877. He was the oldest of five children to William Cookes Mence and his wife, Susanna.

William Sr was a chemist-turned-dentist, and by the time of the 1881 census, the family had moved to prestigious lodgings on the corner of Claremont and Victoria Roads in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. William had set up practice in the building, and employed two servants to assist him with the practice, and two more to help Susanna with the family.

Dentistry would keep William Sr occupied for at least the next thirty years, a move to nearby Surbiton in the late 1890s being the only change tot he business.

William Jr, meanwhile, was making his own way in the medical world. The 1901 census recorded the 24-year-old Mr Mence visiting a possible mentor, physician and surgeon Charles Gallie, in Camberwell. William was also noted as being a physician and surgeon, and this was to become the career in which he forged his way.

On 9th August 1906, William married Dorothy Mytton in the Saint Aelhaiarn’s Church in Guilsfield, Powys, Wales. Dorothy was the daughter of a retired army captain, Devereaux Mytton. She had been born in Guilsfield and, at the time of the 1901 census, was living with her family and ten servants at Garth Hall, close to the village.

The young couple’s marriage certificate also sheds some light on William’s career. It confirms that he was working as a medical practitioner, and was living in the village of Perranzabuloe in Cornwall.

William and Dorothy went on to have five children, and named them to reflect their combined family histories. Daughter Evaline Dorothy Cookes Mytton Mence was born first, in 1907, followed by sons John Herbert Myttone Cookes Mence, Devereaux Mervyn Mytton Cookes Mence and Godfrey Powis Mytton Cookes Mence. Their fifth child, daughter Myfanwy Susan Mence, was born in 1914.

When war broke out in Europe, William was drawn to play his part. While full details about his service are not available, his public standing meant that he took a commission as Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. His Medal Roll Index Card confirms that he was awarded the 1914-1915 star, so he joined early in the conflict. It also outlines that he served in Mesopotamia from 4th February 1916, in France in 1917 and in Salonika from 1917 to 1919.

Ill health seemed to have dogged him in later years, and by the summer of 1919, Captain Mence had returned to British shores, and to Devon, where his practice had moved to shortly before the conflict.

Dr William Charles Mence, of Axminster, who died in Axminster Cottage Hospital on Friday night, recently returned from active service… He was a medical officer under Axminster Board of Guardians…

Western Morning News: Monday 28th July 1919

William Charles Mence died on 25th July 1919 as a result of an ongoing illness: he was 42 years of age. He was laid to rest in Axminster Cemetery, not far from the family home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Middlesex, Northumberland Fusiliers, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private Herbert Smart

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Private Herbert Smart

Herbert – or Bertie – Smart was born on 9th February 1885, and was the middle of five children to John and Lucy. John worked as a gardener and the family were raised in the Kent town of Sidcup.

By the early 1900s, Bertie had moved to London, and had settled in Islington, Middlesex. He was working as a fruiterer and, on 19th May 1907, he married Lucy Purton, a policeman’s daughter from the east of the capital.

The couple set up home in Kensington, and went on to have four children: Frank, Herbert, Kathleen and Frederick. The 1911 census found the family renting three rooms in a tenement at 36 Netherwood Road. They were sharing their home with Lucy’s younger brother, Frederick.

When war broke out across Europe, Bertie was called upon to play his part. Full service details have been lost to time, but it is clear that he enlisted in the second half of 1916, and was assigned to the Northumberland Fusiliers. Attached to the 2nd/4th Battalion, it seems that he may have been sent to the South West for training.

Private Smart’s time in the army was not to be a lengthy one. He came down with cerebrospinal meningitis, and was admitted to the War Hospital in Bath, Somerset. The condition was to get the better of him: he passed away was still admitted, on 11th January 1917. He was 31 years of age.

Herbert Smart was laid to rest in the sweeping grounds of Bath’s Locksbrook Cemetery.

These were tragic times for the Smart family. Lucy’s brother died just four months after her husband, and Lucy herself passed away in February 1918. In just over a year, the four children – Frank, Herbert, Kathleen and Frederick – had become orphans.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, injury, Kent, photography, Private, story, war

Private Melbourne Mumford

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Private Melbourne Mumford

Melbourne Linas Mumford was born on 13th June 1898, and was one of seven children to William and Fanny. William was a Gunner in the Royal Artillery, and while Melbourne and his siblings were born in the Kent village of Cliffe, the family soon moved to rented rooms in Stafford Street, not far from his new barracks in Gillingham, Kent.

It seems that William’s term of service came to an end, and he moved the family to Devon, where he had been born. Fanny died in 1909, at the age of just 33, and he was suddenly left to raise the family alone. The1911 census found William and his three sons – including Melbourne – living in a cottage in Paignton. William was by now working as a nurseryman, while Melbourne’s older brother, also called William, was bringing in some money as a paperboy for Smith & Sons.

When war came to European shores, Melbourne stepped up to play his part. Full service details have been lost to time, but later documents confirm that he had enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment on 9th August 1915. Attached to the 9th (Service) Battalion, papers confirm that he was 5ft 3.5ins (1.61m) tall, and weighed 99lbs (44.9kg).

Private Mumford’s unit fought as Loos in 1915, and at the Somme in 1916, but it was at Ypres, on 7th October 1917, that he was badly injured. Melbourne was shot in the left thigh, which caused a compound fracture in his femur. Medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, he spent time hospitalised in Manchester.

Recuperation was ongoing, but was not to prove successful, and Private Mumford was eventually discharged from the army on 22nd January 1919.

Melbourne’s treatment would continue, however, and he had a further operation on his leg that summer. Tragically, however, his body had been weakened, and he passed away following the procedure, on 27th August 1919. He was just 21 years of age.

The body of Melbourne Linus Mumford was laid to rest in Paignton Cemetery, not far from the family home in Corsham Road.

Private Mumford’s Dependant’s Pension was assigned to Mrs Kate Mumford, who was recorded as his mother. This would suggest that William had remarried after the 1911 census, although there are no records to confirm this.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, killed in action, Middlesex, photography, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, war

Stoker 1st Class Albert Knieriem

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Stoker 1st Class Albert Knieriem

Albert George Knieriem was born in Bromley-by-Bow, Middlesex, on 1st January 1892. The eighth of nine children, his parents were German-born Gottliept (anglicised to George) Knieriem, and his London-born wife, Caroline.

George was a labourer at the local gas works, and the family had rooms at 3 Hancock Road. Their home has long since gone, but the Knieriems shared the property with the Richard and Eliza Bone and their four children.

George passed away in March 1906, with Caroline dying less than eighteen months later. Albert found himself an orphan at just 15 years of age. It seems that his oldest brother, also called George, found him employment as a local iron foundry. By the time of the 1911 census, he was boarding with the Fryatt family, at 29 Hancock Road, not far from the old family home.

Albert sought bigger and better things for himself, however, and was drawn to a life at sea. On 14th July 1911 he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall, and that he has light brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

Stoker Knieriem was initially sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his training. He remained there for four months, before being given his first posting, on board the cruiser HMS Intrepid. She would be his home for the best part of a year, during which time Albert was promoted to Stoker 1st Class.

In September 1912, Albert transferred to HMS Acteon. A former hulk, she was based at Sheerness, Kent, as was used as a torpedo school. Albert would remain there for more than two years, attached to the school’s tender, HMS Kestrel.

On 18th January 1915, Stoker 1st Class Knieriem’s service records note one word: “Run”. Albert had absconded, remaining at large for two months. He was apprehended on 23rd March, and sentenced to 28 days’ detention for going AWOL. Put back on duty on 28th April, he was reassigned, to the former cruise liner, HMS Princess Irene.

The Princess Irene had been requisitioned by the Royal Navy on the outbreak of war and converted into a minelayer. On the morning of 27th May 1915, she was moored in the Medway Estuary and was being loaded with mines. A faulty primer set off a series of explosions, destroying the ship and killing more than 250 crew, Stoker 1st Class Knieriem among them. He was 23 years of age.

Albert’s name comes up in a newspaper article about one of the subsequent enquiries. The Coroner’s inquest on 18th June focused on the bodies in coffins 29 to 34.

No. 32 body was very much shattered. It was dressed as a stoker. The name “A. G Knieriem” was no the band of the trousers.

The body was identified as that of Albert George Knieriem, aged 23, stoker, 1st class, of Bromley-by-Bow.

[Sheerness Guardian and East Kent Advertiser: Saturday 19th June 1915]

Albert’s body was laid to rest in the naval section of Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent. He was buried alongside some of the other crew whose bodies had been rescued and identified.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, killed in action, Middlesex, photography, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, war

Stoker 1st Class William James

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Stoker 1st Class William James

William Charles James was born on 12th September 1893, the ninth of ten children to John and Isabella James. John was a sawyer from Shoreditch, Middlesex, and this is where he and his Surrey-born wife raised their family.

By the time of the 1911 census, John and Isabella were living in four rooms at 36 Falkirk Street, Hoxton, Middlesex with three of their children – including William – and Isabella’s brother, Charles. The building was inhabited by 17 people in total, four families renting out the nine rooms of the house.

The James family had three wages coming in. In addition to John’s work at the wood mill, his brother-in-law was employed as a casual winder cleaner. William was also in work, serving as an office boy a a draper’s warehouse. Isabella would have been running the household and looking after her youngest, schoolboy Thomas. William’s 27-year-old sister, Rachel, completed the household: she was not working, but was noted as having been suffering from a chest disease for at least four years.

Whether seeking a life away from London’s East End, or to bring in a more permanent wage for his family, William sought a more stable and financially lucrative career. On 8th January 1913, he enlisted in the Royal Navy for the standard twelve-year contract. His service records show that he had progressed from an office boy to a clerk, and confirm his physical features: he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall, with dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion. His records also highlight a scar on his left forearm and another above his right eye.

William was given the rank of Stoker 2nd Class, and sent off to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, to be trained. After six months he was given his first assignment, on board the cruiser HMS Forward, which would remain his home for the next two years.

During his time on Forward, William, rising to Stoker 1st Class in January 1914. The ship was assigned to patrol the eastern coast of England, and, in December that year, bore witness – but was not directly involved in – the German bombardment of Hartlepool.

In April 1915 Stoker James was moved to HMS Princess Irene, an ocean liner requisitioned on the outbreak of war and converted to a minelayer. On the morning of 27th May 1915, she was moored in the Medway Estuary and was being loaded with mines in preparation for a mission. At 11:14am, a faulty primer on board set off a series of explosions, and she blew apart and sank. More than 250 crew – including Stoker 1st Class James – were killed. He was just 21 years of age.

The body of William Charles James was brought ashore and laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent. He was buried alongside some of the other crew whose bodies had been rescued and identified.

Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, history, Kent, killed in action, photography, Royal Navy, Signalman, story, Suffolk, war

Ordinary Signalman Frederick Timms

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Ordinary Signalman Frederick Timms

Frederick James Timms was born on 21st January 1897 in Watford, Hertfordshire. One of ten children – and the oldest surviving boy – his parents were Frederick and Rosina Timms. Frederick Sr was a farm labourer, but when his son completed his schooling, he found work with a blacksmith.

Frederick Jr wanted bigger and better things, however, and, on 18th April 1913, he enlisted in the Royal Navy, set on a life at sea. As he was below the age to be a full recruit, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and was sent to HMS Ganges, the navy’s training base on the outskirts of Ipswich, Suffolk, for his induction.

During his initial training, Boy Timms seems to have had some educational affinity. Seven months after enlisting, he was moved to the signal corps, and ranked as Signal Boy accordingly. In April 1914, a year after enlisting, he was transferred to HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, for posting. He was assigned to the battleship HMS Duncan, his first formal service at sea.

Over the next year, Frederick served on three further ships, coming of age on board the cruiser HMS Latona. Now formally inducted into to the Royal Navy, he was assigned the rank of Ordinary Signalman.

In March 1915, Frederick was transferred again, to HMS Princess Irene, an ocean liner built in 1914 for the Canadian Pacific Railway. With the outbreak of the war, she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy, and converted to a minelayer. In the spring of 1915, she was involved in laying a minefield to the north west of Heligoland, but spent much of her time in and around the Thames Estuary.

On the morning of 27th May 1915, Princess Irene was moored in the Medway Estuary and was being loaded with mines in preparation for a mission. At 11:14am, she exploded and disintegrated, taking two neighbouring barges with her. More than 250 crew – including Ordinary Signalman Timms – were killed. He was just 18 years of age.

Frederick James Timms body was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, alongside some of the other crew whose bodies had been rescued and identified.

Frederick’s death was the second tragedy to strike the Timms family in less than a fortnight. Back in Hertfordshire, Rosina had been pregnant with her eleventh child. On 16th May, she had had an internal haemorrhage, which resulted in the loss of both mother and child.

Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Hampshire, history, Kent, killed in action, Leading Signalman, photography, Royal Navy, Signalman, story, war

Leading Signalman Alexander Daisley

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Leading Seaman Alexander Daisley

Alexander William Arthur Daisley was born on 13th November 1886, and was the second of four children to William and Judith Daisley. William was a Private in the Royal Marines and, as the time his son was born, the family were based in Dartmouth, Devon. By the time of the 1891 census, however, they had moved to Kent, and were billeted in family accommodation in the Milton Barracks, near Gravesend.

Ten years on, and the 1901 census confirms that the Daisleys had relocated again. William had left his military service behind him, and had taken up work as a publican at the Seven Stars Inn in Litlington, Cambridgeshire. Alexander is noticeable in his absence from the record, however. The following year, he surfaces again, however, and seems that he was destined to follow his father’s naval career.

On 10th April 1902, Alexander enlisted in the Royal Navy. At just 15 years of age, he was assigned the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and was sent to HMS St Vincent, a training ship based in Haslar, Hampshire, for his induction. He remained there for the next fifteen months, gaining promotion to Boy 1st Class in February 1903.

Alexander spent the second half of that year at HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, before being given his first posting in November. His assignment was on board the armoured cruiser HMS Good Hope: she was to become his home for the next year and a half, during which he came of age, and was formally inducted into the Royal Navy.

At this point, Alexander’s service records give an insight into the man he was becoming. He was noted as being just 5ft 1in (1.55m) tall, with hazel eyes and light brown hair. He had a fair complexion and three scars on the back of his head. It seems that he had some aptitude, as he was given the rank of Signalman, rather than being directed to the role of seaman.

Over the next twelve years – the term of his contract – Signalman Daisley would serve on eight ships: in between assignments he would return to his Portsmouth base. His time in the Royal Navy was not without incident, and he spent three separate periods in the cells – 14 days in 1907, 17 days in 1908 and 10 days in 1909. Despite this, he was promoted to the rank of Leading Seaman in January 1913, while serving on board HMS Egmont, an armoured frigate.

On 9th March 1915, Leading Signalman Daisley was assigned to HMS Princess Irene, an ocean liner that had been converted to a minelayer at the start of the war.

On 27th May 1915, while Irene was moored off Sheerness, Kent, a series of explosions ripped through the ship, killing more than 350 crew. Leading Signalman Daisley was among those who perished: he was 29 years of age.

The body of Alexander William Arthur Daisley was buried in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent, alongside the other victims of the disaster.

Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Essex, Great War, history, Kent, killed in action, Middlesex, photography, Royal Navy, story, Sussex, war

Boy 1st Class Bernard Smyth

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Boy 1st Class Bernard Smyth

Bernard Arthur de Plumley Smyth was born in Erith, Kent, on 16th September 1897. The second of four children – all of them boys – his parents were Reginald and Emily Smyth.

Bernard’s early life was a delicate one, and he spent at least some time at Great Ormond’s Street Hospital in Camden, London. His weakened health was such that he was baptised at the hospital’s local church – St George the Martyr – on 11th February 1900.

It is intriguing to see Reginald Smyth’s life develop over the years. His son’s baptism record gives his line of work as labourer, but by the following year’s census, he had moved the family to Ifield, West Sussex, where he was noted as living on his own means. Moving forward another decade, and the family had moved again, settling in a 9-roomed villa in Burgess Hill. Reginald was now listed as being a nurseryman and the family of six were sharing their home with boarder Horatio Jacoby, who was living by private means.

Bernard was still a schoolboy at this point. His health had seeming recovered over the years, and he was ready to make his mark on the world. On 6th March 1913, he enlisted as a Boy 2nd Class in the Royal Navy. His service records show that he was 5ft 3ins (1.59m) tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.

Boy Smyth was initially sent to HMS Ganges, the shore-based establishment in Suffolk, for his training. He remined there for six months, and was promoted to Boy 1st Class for his work.

On 26th September 1913, Bernard was given his first posting, on board the cruiser HMS Grafton. He remained on board for nine months, before returning to shore – this time to the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent – for the summer.

In August 1914, war was declared and by the end of that month, Boy 1st Class Smyth was given his second assignment, aboard the battleship HMS Formidable. She was a key vessel in the Channel Fleet, her role part of a convoy patrolling the seas of the southern coast of Britain.

Early on the morning of 1st January 1915, while off the Dorset coast, the battleship was torpedoed by a German submarine. Other ships in her convoy came to her aid, but it would prove fruitless. After a couple of hours – and another torpedo strike – she sank, taking more than 540 officer and crew – including Boy 1st Class Smyth – were lost. He was just 17 years of age.

We regret to record that a former scholar of the London Road Council Schools, Burgess Hill, lost his life through the disaster which came to HMS Formidable on January 1st. This was Bernard Arthur de Plumley Smith, the second son of Mr and Mrs Smyth, of Edward cottage, Brook Road, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, late of Elgin Villa, Crescent Road, Burgess Hill. He was 17 years of age, and a first-class boy on board the ship. He bore the reputation of being smart, steady ad industrious, and was well known in Burgess Hill…

[Mid Sussex Times: Tuesday 12th January 1915]

Bernard Arthur de Plumley Smith was laid to rest in a communal grave in Lyme Regis Cemetery, in the hills above the Dorset town where he had been brought ashore following his ship’s sinking.

Commonwealth War Graves, County Durham, Dorset, Great War, history, Kent, killed in action, photography, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, war

Stoker 1st Class William Fawkes

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Stoker 1st Class William Fawkes

William Fawkes was born on 31st July 1883 in South Shields, Country Durham. One of seven children, his parents were called William and Ann. William Sr was a steam crane operator in the local docks, and the 1891 census found the family living with Ann’s widowed husband Ralph in an apartment on Bedford Street.

Ralph died not long after the census was taken, and it seems that William and Ann took over the tenancy. The 1901 return found the family living at 8 Bedford Street, this noted as being a private home. William Jr had finished school and was employed as a labourer to a blacksmith; three of his sibling were also gainfully employed, the family managing to scratch together enough of a living to pay the rent.

By the start of 1903, William Jr was starting to get itchy feet, and sought out a career on the ocean wave. On 5th January he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class, and was sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his training. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 3.5ins (1.61m) tall, with bark hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion. He was also noted as having his initials – WH – tattooed on the back of his right hand.

Stoker Fawkes completed his training in October 1903, and was sent to the battleship HMS Sans Pareil as his first posting. He only remained on board for a couple of months, before a move to another battleship, HMS Resolution. In June 1904, he was transferred again, to HMS Swiftsure, a third battleship that he would call home for the next three years.

During his time on board Swiftsure, William was promoted, gaining the rank of Stoker 1st Class for his work. Over the next decade, he served on a further seven ships, returning to his base in Kent between voyages.

In the spring of 1904, William married Mary Hornby. The daughter of a publican, she had continued to support her mother and siblings after his death in 1897. With William at sea, the 1911 census found her living in a one-roomed apartment on Commercial Road in South Shields, together with her mother, Euphemia, and her son, James. He was born a couple of years before she married William and bore her maiden name: it is unclear whether James was her husband’s son.

By the summer of 1914, war had been declared, and Stoker 1st Class Fawkes had been assigned to another battleship, HMS Formidable. She was part of the Channel Fleet, her role to patrol the seas of the southern coast of Britain.

Early on the morning of 1st January 1915, while off the Dorset coast, she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-24. Other ships in her convoy came to her aid, but it would prove fruitless. After a couple of hours she sank. 120 members of the crew were saved, but more than 540 officer and crew – including Stoker 1st Class Fawkes – were lost. He was 31 years of age.

William Fawkes’ body was one of those recovered and identified. It seems that Mary was unable to cover the cost of a funeral. Her husband was, instead, laid to rest in a communal grave in Lyme Regis Cemetery, in the hills above the Dorset town where he had been brought ashore.