Reginald James Clark was born on 30th March 1896 in Shoreditch, East London. His parents were carver Reginald Clark and his wife, Elizabeth.
When he left school, Reginald found work as a boot packer, but was war on the horizon. On 3rd March 1915, he enlisted in the Royal Navy, signing up for the duration as a Stoker 2nd Class. His service records show that he stood 5ft 4.5ins (1.63m) tall, had dark brown hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion.
Stoker Clark was initially sent to the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent – also known as HMS Pembroke – for training, but was soon given his first posting. This was on the depot ship HMS Hecla, and he spent more than two years aboard, gaining a promotion to Stoker 1st Class in the process.
In June 1917, Reginald returned to Chatham, and spent the summer barracked at the Dockyard. HMS Pembroke was particularly busy at that point in the war, and temporary accommodation was needed quickly. Chatham Drill Hall was brought into service, and Reginald found himself billeted there.
On the 3rd September 1917, the German Air Force carried out its first night air raid: Chatham was heavily bombed and the Drill Hall received a direct hit; Stoker 1st Class Clark was among those killed. He was just 21 years of age.
Reginald James Clark was laid to rest, alongside the other victims of the Chatham Air Raid, in the Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham.
Ernest Hoskins was born in Catford, Kent on 18th July 1885, and was the oldest of six children to Joseph and Harriet Hoskins. Joseph was a landscape gardener from Devon, who sought his fortune in the capital; the family moved across the London over the years, in search of work.
Ernest found work as a ship’s stoker when he left school. War soon broke out, and, on 14th July 1915, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Stoker 1st Class. His service records give him as 5ft 10in (1.78m) tall, with light brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. Interestingly, they also confirm a date of birth as 21st July 1889.
Stoker Hoskins was initially posted to HMS Pembroke – the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent – and spent the rest of the year there. He was then moved up river to the shore-based establishment in London known as HMS President, remaining there for eighteen months before transferring back to Kent.
Ernest seems not to have always been on the right side of the law: within days of arriving back in Chatham, he was detained for 36 days for “offering [a] forged receipt and attempting to obtain money by false pretences.”
Ernest was released on 6th May 1917, but within a couple of months, he was detained again, this time for five days for reasons unknown. By the end of July he returned to his duties.
HMS Pembroke was a busy place that summer, and temporary accommodation was needed. Chatham Drill Hall was brought into service, and the newly-released Ernest found himself billeted there.
On the 3rd September 1917, the German Air Force carried out its first night air raid: Chatham was heavily bombed and the Drill Hall received a direct hit; Stoker Hoskins was among those killed instantly. He was just 28 years of age (according to his service records).
Ernest Hoskins was laid to rest alongside the other victims of the Chatham Air Raid, in the Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham.
Robert William Franklin was born on 9th March 1894, one of four children to Alfred and Annie Franklin. Alfred was Australian, who had settled in England in his teens and settled in Woolwich, London, to marry and raise his family. It was not long, however, before the family upped and moved to Greenock, Scotland.
There is little information available about Robert’s early life, but in 1913 he enlisted in the Royal Navy, and served for three years. His enrolment papers show that he was 5ft 4.5ins (1.64m) tall, had auburn hair and brown eyes. He was also noted has having a scar on his abdomen and had been working as an appliance fitter.
Details of his initial service are not readily available, although a later newspaper report suggests that he “was with the Naval Division at the siege of Antwerp [October 1914] and served through the Gallipoli campaign” [Daily Record: Saturday 8th September 1917].
Able Seaman Franklin was transferred to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in April 1916, and was based at HMS President – the London shore-based establishment. However, he had moved to The Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent – also known as HMS Pembroke – by the end of July 1917. With the move came a promotion, and Robert took the rank of Leading Seaman.
The Dockyard was particularly busy that summer, and the large number of extra servicemen meant that Robert was billeted in temporary accommodation in Chatham Drill Hall.
On the 3rd September 1917, the first night air raid carried out by the German Air Force bombarded the town, and scored a direct hit on the Drill Hall; Leading Seaman Franklin was among those killed instantly. He was just 23 years of age.
Robert William Franklin was laid to rest, along with the other victims of the Chatham Air Raid, in the Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham.
John Thomas Abrey was born in Earl’s Court on 12th August 1867, the middle of five children to John and Anne Abrey. John Sr was a carpenter and labourer from Suffolk, and Anne was from Suffolk. By the time they married, however, the couple had settled in London.
When he left school, John Jr found work as a printer, but he was after bigger and better things and, on 4th October 1882, he joined the Royal Navy. He was only 15 at this point, and so was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class. His service document record that he was 5ft 2ins (1.57m) tall, had brown hair, brown eyes and a sallow complexion.
John received his training at HMS Ganges, the shore-based establishment near Ipswich, Suffolk, and gained promotion to Boy 1st Class. He then spent six months on the training ship HMS Impregnable, before being given his first posting on HMS Minotaur. He served aboard for just over a year, during which he turned 18, and so was formally inducted in the Royal Navy, and was given the rank of Ordinary Seaman.
At this point, John signed up for a period of ten years and, over that time, he served on board seven further ships, and was promoted to the rank of Able Seaman.
On 25th May 1890, John married Christiana Ann Hamshaw at All Saints Battle Bridge in Islington. Christiana had been married and widowed twice, and had two teenaged daughters. The couple settled down – as much as a sailor can – and had two children of their own, John and William.
In August 1895, having completed ten years’ naval service, Able Seaman Abrey was stood down to the Royal Naval Reserve. Over the next few years, he maintained this service, while finding work as a labourer.
When war broke out, John was recalled to active duty and, over the next three years, served on a number of vessels. Between each assignment, however, he returned to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, which had become his base. It was here that he was barracked in the summer of 1917.
It was a particularly busy for the base, and temporary accommodation was set up in the Drill Hall; this is where John was billeted.
On the night of 3rd September 1917, Chatham suddenly found itself in the firing line as a wave of German aircraft bombed the town. The Drill Hall received a direct hit, and Able Seaman Abrey was amongst those to be instantly killed. He had celebrated his 50th birthday the month before.
John Thomas Abrey was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham along with the other servicemen who had perished during the Chatham Air Raid that night.
Frederick Charles Cable was born on 22nd November 1890 in Eastbourne, West Sussex. He was the younger of three children to John and Louisa Cable, and the family lived on one floor of a three-storey house in the middle of the town.
When Frederick was born, John was working as a billiard marker, but it seems that this was a poor way to scratch together a living for a young father. The 1901 census found the family in London, where John had been born, and where he was not employed as a hotel waiter.
Sadly, the new set-up was not to last long: John died in 1905, leaving Louisa to raise her boys on her own. The next census record, in 1911, records the two of them living a five-room terraced house in East Finchley. They were not alone, however, as they were sharing it with a widow – Elizbeth Hickinbottom – and her 34-year-old son, George.
A year later, George and Louisa married, and went on to have a daughter, also called Louisa. Frederick, meanwhile, was to find love of his own, and, in the spring of 1914, while working as a milkman, he married Dorothy Ada Laurence. They would go on to have a son, who they named after his father, a year later.
By this point, war was raging in Europe, and Frederick was called to do his duty in May 1915. His records show that he was 5ft 7ins (1.70m) tall, had dark brown hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion and was given the rank of Stoker 2nd Class.
Over the next couple of years, Frederick served on two ships – HMS Actaeon and HMS Weymouth – and it was on board the latter that he was promoted to Stoker 1st Class in April 1916. The majority of his time, however, was spent on shore-based establishments: HMS Victory in Hampshire and HMS Pembroke in Kent.
The Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham (HMS Pembroke) was where he spent most of his time, and was where he returned to in the summer of 1917. It was a particularly busy place at that point in the war and temporary accommodation was set up. Frederick found himself billeted at The Drill Hall, away from the main barracks.
On the night of 3rd September 1917, Chatham suddenly found itself in the firing line, as the German Air Force launched a bombing raid. One of the bombs landed squarely on the Drill Hall, and Stoker Cable was killed instantly. He was just 26 years old.
Over a hundred servicemen perished during the Chatham Air Raid that night. They were buried in a mass funeral at the Woodlands Cemetery in nearby Gillingham. This, too, is where Frederick Charles Cable was laid to rest.
Frederick’s brother John Cable also fought in the First World War. He served as a Sergeant in the 21st Battalion Middlesex Regiment and was killed at the Battle of St Quentin on 25th March 1918. He was 28 years old and left a widow and three children.
Serjeant John Cable is commemorated on the Arras Memorial in Northern France.
Joseph Charles Sackett Jackson was born in Rotherhithe, Surrey, on 4th May 1884, and was one of seven children. His father – post office worker Joseph Jackson Sr – died in 1895, leaving his mother, Eliza, to raise the family.
She soon married Matthew Newton, a widower himself, and the 1901 census found the couple living in Asylum Road, Peckham with eleven of their children and step-children. Joseph, who was 17 years old by this point, was one of only four of the household to be working, and was employed as a brass turner.
Keen to better himself, Joseph looked to a longer career and, in September 1901, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. His service records show that he was 5ft 3ins (1.6m) tall, had dark brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.
Initially underage, he served on the home front, Joseph was based at the shore establishments around the country – HMS President (London), HMS Pembroke (Chatham Dockyard, Kent) and HMS Victory (Portsmouth, Hampshire). In 1906, when he turned 23, he formally enlisted in the Royal Navy, and was given the rank of Stoker 2nd Class.
Over the next year, Joseph served on three vessels – HMS Hawke, HMS Dido and HMS Pathfinder – and was promoted to Stoker 1st Class. He continued his work at sea, but returned to HMS Pembroke in between voyages.
In the summer of 1913, Stoker Jackson was assigned to the battleship HMS Dominion, and it was here that he spent the next four years. He was promoted again, to Acting Leading Stoker in July 1915, and full Leading Stoker six months later. The role may not have suited Joseph, however: his service records recorded a drop in his character from Very Good to Fair, and he was demoted to Stoker 1st Class at the end of August 1916.
By the summer of 1917, Joseph was back at Pembroke and, as the dockyard was overcrowded, was billeted in temporary accommodation in the Drill Hall.
On the 3rd September 1917, the first night air raid carried out by the German Air Force bombarded the town, and scored a direct hit on the Drill Hall; Stoker 1st Class Jackson was among those killed instantly. He was 33 years old.
Joseph Charles Sackett Jackson was laid to rest, along with the other victims of the Chatham Air Raid, in the Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham.
Wilfred Harry Francis was born in October 1890 in Castle Cary. He was the oldest of eight children to Edward and Rosina Francis, both of whom had also been born in the Somerset Town. Edward was a baker in his younger days, but, by the 1911 census he was employed as a builder’s labourer. Wilfred was recorded in the same document as a tailor.
War was coming to Europe, and Wilfred enlisted. He had been a volunteer in the Somerset Light Infantry, but on 6th April 1915, he made this a formal role. His service records show that he stood 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall had light blue eyes and light brown hair.
Private Francis was assigned to the 6th Battalion and sent to France in the summer of 1915. His battalion was immediately thrown into the thick of the fighting at Ypres. The intensity of the battles of Hooge and Bellewaarde seemed to impact Wilfred as, on 7th October, he was admitted to the 4th London General Hospital, suffering from shell shock.
Wilfred was discharged after two weeks, and signed off as fit for light duties. It seems that he didn’t return to the Western Front, but instead was transferred to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the regiment, based in Devonport.
The memories still seemed to haunt Private Francis, however. He was admitted to hospital again – this time the County of Middlesex Hospital in Napsbury, near St Albans – with mania. This time his ‘mental deficiency’ proved to much for the army, and he was discharged from military service on 18th July 1916. His discharge papers show that he gave the hospital as his address and recommended that he be admitted to a civil asylum.
Wilfred’s trail goes cold for the next few years. He seems to have been brought back to Somerset for ongoing treatment, but passed away in Wells on 27th March 1919; the cause of his passing is not known. He was 28 years of age.
Wilfred Harry Francis was laid to rest in the Castle Cary Cemetery, hopefully finding peace at last.
John Walker Lake was born in Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the spring of 1892, the only child of estate manager and auctioneer Percy Lake and his wife Elizabeth.
John’s mother passed away in 1900, when he was only eight years old, and details of his early life are hard to come by. However, by the time of the 1911 census, he had left school and enrolled in a mining college in Guston, near Dover, Kent.
When war broke out, John was quick to enlist. He joined the London Regiment on 18th September 1914, and was assigned to the 2nd/23rd Battalion. His service records show that he stood 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall, had light hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.
Private Lake was not to remain in the army for long. Within weeks of joining, he contracted tuberculosis and, on 22nd February 1915, after just 158 days, he was discharged from service as being no longer medically fit for duty.
At this point, John’s trail goes cold. He initially returned to live with his father in Eastbourne. By the autumn of 1918, however, he was in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, probably for health reasons.
The tuberculosis got the better of John Walker Lake, however; he passed away on 20th October 1918, at the age of 26 years old. He was laid to rest in the Milton Road Cemetery in Weston-super-Mare.
Stafford Edmund Douglas was born on 4th January 1863, the second of four children to Stephen and Mary Douglas. Stafford came from a military family, his father having been a Captain in the Royal Navy. This led to a lot of travelling and, having been born in Donaghadee, County Down, he then moved to South Wales.
By the 1880s, when Stephen and Mary had set up home in Portsmouth, Stafford had started to carve out a career for himself, and was a Lieutenant in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, based at Edinburgh Castle.
Over the coming years, Lieutenant Douglas, who stood 5ft 8.5ins (1.74m) tall and also spoke French, travelled the world, serving in South Africa, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Hong Kong. By 1894 he had made Captain, and he finally retired in 1903, after nineteen years’ service.
On 29th April that year, at the age of 40, Stafford married Mary Louisa Harris. She was the daughter of an army colonel, and the couple wed in St George’s Church, Hanover Square, London. The couple set up home in Exeter, Devon, and went on to have two children – Violet and Stafford Jr.
At this point, Stafford’s trail goes cold. When war broke out in 1914, he was called back into duty, working as a Railway Transport Officer in Norwich. He continued in this role until 1919, before being stood down and returning home.
Stafford Edmund Douglas passed away on 15th February 1920, at the age of 57 years old, although no cause of death is immediately apparent. He was laid to rest in the Milton Road Cemetery in Weston-super-Mare, presumably where his family were, by this time, residing.
Hector Joseph Parks was born in the spring of 1885, the youngest of five children to William Jacob and Mary Ann Parks. William was a ship’s steward who, when Mary died in 1895, remarried, giving Hector a further two half-siblings.
With William employed at sea, Hector spent a lot of time with his paternal grandparents and, in fact, both the 1891 and 1901 censuses recorded him as living in East London with them. That later document shows that Hector had left school, and was working as a carman for a delivery company.
The next available record for Hector comes thirteen years later, when it is evident that he was among the first to volunteer for war service. He enlisted in the Middlesex Regiment and, while full details of his army career are not available, he soon found himself in the thick of things, arriving in France on 14th August 1914.
Private Parks’ battalion – the 4th – was caught up in skirmishes from the outset of war, fighting at Le Cateau, Marne, Aisne and Hooge. Over the next few years, the Middlesex Regiment found itself at The Somme and Ypres and, while it is not possible to place Hector directly in these conflicts, it seems likely that he would have been involved in a lot of them.
In January 1918, Private Parks was back on home soil, having been admitted to the Auxiliary Hospital at Ashcombe House in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. Sadly, the cause of his return to England is lost to time, but he was to succumb, passing away on 20th January 1918, at the age of 32 years old.
Hector Joseph Parks was laid to rest in Somerset – he is buried in the Milton Road Cemetery in Weston-super-Mare.
