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Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, Surrey, war

Private Leonard Patch

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Private Leonard Patch

Leonard David Patch was born on 22nd October 1892, the oldest of four children to David and Fanny Patch from Norton-sub-Hamdon in Somerset. David was a stone mason, but when his eldest son left school, he found work as a carpenter.

When war came to Europe, Leonard was one of the first from the village to volunteer. Given the small size of Norton-sub-Hamdon, it seems likely that he would have done so with friends; many of the Pals Battalions were formed like this.

Leonard joined the Somerset Light Infantry as a Private, and was assigned to the 7th Battalion. He was sent to Woking, Surrey, for training and it was while he was billeted there that he contracted measles. Moved to the Military Isolation Hospital in Aldershot, he developed pneumonia, and passed away from the lung condition on 25th February 1915. He was just 22 years of age, and had seen no military action.

Private Patch’s body was brought back to his home village, where he was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church, where he had been baptised two decades before.

Of Leonard’s brothers, two saw active service.

John Henry Patch, the second oldest of the siblings, served in the Royal Engineers, enlisting just ten months after his brother had died. He survived the war, married Linda Turner in Yeovil and went on to have a son, Norman. John passed away in February 1969, a few days after his 75th birthday.

Edward Lionel Patch – the third brother – served with the Devonshire Regiment. He too survived the war, marrying Honor Brown in 1923; they also had a son, called David. Edward passed away in Yeovil in 1966, aged 70 years old.

The youngest of the four brothers, Clarence William Patch, was born in 1899 and was lucky enough not to have seen military service. He married Emily Brown in 1924 and the couple had a daughter, Emmie. Sadly, she passed away as a babe-in-arms, and Emily was to follow soon after. In 1931, Clarence married again, this time to Emily Dyer; they went on to have a son, Douglas Leonard. Clarence passed away in 1945 at the age of just 46 years old.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Labour Corps, photography, Pioneer, Royal Berkshire Regiment, Royal Engineers, Somerset, story, war

Pioneer Charles Churchill

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Pioneer Charles Churchill

Charles Churchill was born towards the end of 1883, in the Somerset village of West Chinnock. One of six children, his parents were Isaac Churchill and his wife Elizabeth. Isaac was an agricultural labourer, and the family lived in a cottage on Eastfield Farm, where he worked.

When he left school, Charles also found work on the farm. He knew the owners well and, in 1909, married their servant, Ellen Mary Young, in the parish church. The couple moved in with Ellen’s widowed mother, Harriet, and went on to have two children, Florence, born in 1909, and George, who was born three years later.

By this time war was on the horizon. Full details of his military service are not available, but it appears that Charles initially enlisted in the Royal Berkshire Regiment. He subsequently transferred to the Labour Corps, before being reassigned again to the Royal Engineers.

There are no dates available for the transfers, so it’s impossible to know how quickly they took place. Charles’ record shows that he was awarded the Victory and British Medals while in the Royal Engineers, however, so it is likely that he spent most of his time in this regiment.

The medal record also confirms that Pioneer Churchill did not serve in a theatre of war, so would have spent his time on home soil.

Sadly, this is where information on Charles seems to dry up. He survived the war, but contracted pneumonia late in 1919 and passed away on Christmas Day that year. He was just 36 years of age.

Charles Churchill was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in his home village of West Chinnock, the place where he and Ellen had been married ten years earlier.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Driver, Great War, history, illness, India, Ireland, Kent, Lance Corporal, Mesopotamia, photography, Private, Royal Engineers, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, Wales, war

Stoker 1st Class Patrick Tynan

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Stoker 1st Class Patrick Tynan

Patrick Tynan was born in Roscrea, Southern Ireland, on 9th June 1893. He was the eldest of four children to John and Anne Tynan, but sadly, there is no further information available for his early years.

Patrick’s story really picks up on 14th December 1915, when he joined the Royal Engineers as a Private. His service record states that he was living in Bangor, Gwynedd, and that he was a stall keeper at a fairground – a subsequent document noted his trade as a showman. He was noted to be 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall, weighed 151lbs (68.5kg), and had numerous scars on his back.

Private Tynan did not stay in the UK for long. Assigned the new role of Driver, he was attached to the GHQ Signal Company and sailed from Devonport on 30th June 1916, bound for Mesopotamia. Arriving in Margil – the port connected to Basra – he was based here for more than a year, before moving north to Baghdad.

By this time, Patrick had risen to the rank of Lance Corporal, and was obviously a trustworthy member of the company. Towards the end of 1917, he had again been promoted, this time to Corporal.

During his time in modern day Iraq, Patrick was admitted to hospital a handful of times; there is little information on the conditions he suffered, but none appear to have been life threatening, as they were only for short periods. It’s also interesting to find that his service records confirm a month’s leave in May 1918, spent in India.

When the war came to a close, Corporal Tynan was still in the Middle East. Ready to be demobbed, his company moved to India and boarded the SS Chupra in Calcutta on 26th February 1919, bound for home.

Back in the UK, however, Patrick was not ready to give up the formal military life. Having returned to Gillingham in Kent, where the Royal Engineers were based, he initially found work as a tram conductor, but soon signed up for a five year term with the Royal Navy as a stoker.

He was based on HMS Pembroke II, the shore-based establishment at Chatham Dockyard, but sadly, his time in the navy was to be a short one. Admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in the town with pneumonia, he passed away form the condition on 1st October 1919. He was just 26 years old.

Patrick Tynan was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham. He had a short but full life, something his modest gravestone doesn’t begin to hint at.

Able Seaman, Commonwealth War Graves, County Durham, Great War, Hertfordshire, history, illness, Ireland, Kent, London, photography, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Royal Navy, Scotland, story, war

Able Seaman Michael Goulding

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Able Seaman Michael Goulding

Michael Joseph O’Neill Goulding was born on 5th May 1884, the oldest of six children to Michael and Ellen Goulding (née O’Neill). Michael Sr worked for the inland revenue and his job took him around most parts of the British Isles.

Michael Jr had been born in Limerick – both of his parents came from Ireland – but his subsequent three siblings (Patrick, Margaret and William) had all been born in Scotland. His second youngest sibling, Lily, was born in County Durham, the youngest back in Scotland, while, by the time of the 1901 census, the whole family were living in Forest Gate, East London.

The census also shows that Michael Jr, having left school, was working at Customs House (presumably where his father was employed), as a boy copyist on tea accounts. The inland revenue at that time was a career for life; by the next census in 1911, the family had moved to Hertford, where Michael Sr was a customs and excise supervisor, and Michael Jr was an assistant clerk at the same place of employment.

War was on its way, but Michael seems not to have enlisted immediately. While specific dates for his joining up are not available, it appears that he was still working for the Inland Revenue when he got married in Shoreditch, in April 1917. His wife was called Bridget Mary Gough (known as Bryde), and she had also been born in Ireland. The couple went on to have a daughter, Ellen (or Eileen), the following year.

By this time, Michael had definitely enlisted. He joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and was based at HMS Pembroke, the shore-based establishment in Chatham, Kent. This was the location for the Navy’s main accounting base, so it is likely that he was employed for financial, rather than his military, skills.

Able Seaman Goulding served through to the end of the war and beyond, and it was while he was based in Kent that he became unwell. Admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, he succumbed to a combination of bronchitis and pneumonia on 22nd February 1919. He was 34 years of age.

Michael Joseph O’Neill Goulding was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in nearby Gillingham. His family were still in Hertford, while his widow and daughter moved back to Ireland.

Michael Joseph O’Neill Goulding
(courtesy of ancestry.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Kent, London, photography, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, war

Stoker 1st Class Cornelius O’Brien

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Stoker Cornelius O’Brien

Documentation on the early life of Cornelius Edward O’Brien is pretty scarce, so it is impossible to build a picture of him before the First World War. He was born in the late 1890s in Whitechapel, East London and was working as a carman when he received his enlistment papers.

Cornelius joined the Royal Navy as a stoker on 27th November 1915 and was sent to HMS Vivid II, the shore-based establishment in Devonport that served as the Stokers and Engine Room Artificers School. He trained there for a couple of months before being assigned to HMS Drake, where he spent most of 1916.

Returning to Devonport, Stoker O’Brien spent a further year on board HMS Vivid II, gaining the rank of Stoker 1st Class. By the end of 1917, however, he was back at sea, having been sent to HMS Vixen, a naval destroyer that served in the Thames Estuary, performing anti-submarine patrols and counter mining operations there.

In mid-November 1918, with the war officially over, Cornelius was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, suffering from influenza, pneumonia and pleurisy. Sadly these were to prove too much of a challenge for him and he passed away on 21st November 1918.

Cornelius Edward O’Brien was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, not far from the Naval Dockyard in Chatham.

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Private Edgar Rattle

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Private Edgar Rattle

Edgar Albert Rattle was born in Yeovil, Somerset, in 1895, the youngest of three children to Alfred and Charlotte Rattle. Alfred was a railway porter from Yatton, who raised his family in a cottage near the centre of the town.

When he left school, Edgar found employment as an accounts clerk; by the time of the 1911 census, Alfred has moved from being a porter to collecting passengers’ tickets; the family lived in a terraced house next to the station where he worked.

War was on the horizon by now and, although Edgar’s full service records are no longer available, the documents that do remain give an indication as to his time in the army.

Private Rattle enlisted in the early stages of the war; he joined the Somerset Light Infantry in October 1914, although it is not clear which battalion he was assigned to. Later in the conflict, he had been attached to the Labour Corps, and spent some time working on a farm in Ilchester.

It was while in Ilchester in October 1918, that Edgar had some leave, and travelled to Dorset. He was taken down with pneumonia and admitted to the Bournemouth Military Hospital, but subsequently died, breathing his last on 24th October 1918. He was just 23 years of age.

Edgar Albert Rattle’s body was brought back to Yeovil for burial. He lies at rest in the town’s cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Egypt, Great War, history, illness, Lance Corporal, Palestine, photography, Royal Engineers, Sapper, Sergeant, Somerset, story, war

Sergeant Herbert Rendell

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Sergeant Herbert Rendell

Herbert George Rendell was born in the summer of 1886, the oldest of six children to George and Catherine Rendell. George was a twine maker from West Coker, near Yeovil in Somerset, and it was in this village that he and Catherine raised their young family.

While he initially found work as a labourer when he left school, the lure of a better life and career proved too much for Herbert and, in June 1905, he enlisted in the Royal Engineers as a Sapper. He spent three years spent on home soil, working hard and earning a Good Conduct medal for his service. During his tour of duty, he contracted pneumonia, spending five weeks in hospital in Chatham, Kent, over Christmas 1905, but fully recovering.

In September 1908, Herbert was sent to Singapore for a three-year tour of duty with the 21st Company. His body was not accustomed to the different environment, and he was hospitalised three times for malaria and myalgia, as well as two bouts of gonorrhoea in 1908 and 1910.

In December 1911, Sapper Rendell returned home, where he served for a further three years before war broke out in the summer of 1914. Having been promoted to Lance Corporal, and after a short bout in hospital following a reaction to his cowpox vaccination, he was sent to Egypt.

Assigned to the 359th Water Company, he would have been charged with constructing and maintaining the supply pipes to and from the Front Line and for his work was soon promoted to Corporal.

In the spring of 1918, the now Sergeant Rendell was transferred to the 357th Water Company, and found himself in Palestine, where he stayed until the end of the war. He came home on leave in April 1919, and it was here that, once again, he contracted pneumonia.

Sadly, Sergeant Rendell was not to recover from the lung condition for a second time; he passed away at his parents’ home on 9th April 1919, at the age of 32 years old.

Herbert George Rendell was laid to rest in Yeovil Cemetery, not far from the village where he was born.

Commonwealth War Graves, East Yorkshire Regiment, Egypt, Great War, history, illness, India, photography, Private, Somerset, story, Wales, war, Wiltshire Regiment

Private Joseph Dodge

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Private Joseph Dodge

Joseph Dodge was born in the summer of 1883, and was one of twelve children, including eleven boys. His parents were David and Eliza Dodge, who raised their growing family in Stoke-sub-Hamdon, a few miles to the east of Yeovil, Somerset.

David was a mason and stone sawyer, but his children went into other roles when they left school; Joseph found work as an agricultural labourer.

In October 1903, Joseph married Elizabeth Ann Case – better known as Annie – who came from just over the Dorset border in the village of Corscombe. Setting up home in Yeovil itself, the couple went on to have two children – both boys – Walter and Norman.

War was coming to Europe, and Joseph was intent on doing his bit. Full service details are not available, but the documents that exist confirm that he enlisted as a Private in the Wiltshire Regiment. Initially assigned to the 1/4th Battalion (which served in Egypt), he transferred to the 2/4th Battalion (which served in India).

Sadly, there is no documentation to give service dates, it is impossible to establish when or if Joseph actually served in these locations. India seems likely, however, as he later transferred to the 1st Garrison Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment, which was based in Lucknow.

Private Dodge survived the war and came back to England, but seems to have contracted pneumonia on the journey home. Admitted to hospital in Liverpool, the condition sadly got the better of him. He passed away on 16th February 1919, at the age of 35 years old.

Joseph’s body was brought back to the county of his birth; he was laid to rest in Yeovil Cemetery.

Joseph came from a very patriotic family, and local newspapers early in the war highlighted that many of the Stoke-sub-Hamdon brothers had enlisted to serve King and Country.

At the time of the article, six had enlisted – Thomas, Arthur and Percy (all in the Somerset Light Infantry), Albert (West Somerset Yeomanry), Evan (Royal Navy) and David (Canadian Infantry).

Corporal David Dodge seems definitely to have distinguished himself. Having emigrated to Canada before the war, he returned to Europe when conflict broke out. An article in the Western Chronicle reported that he had “been awarded the Military Medal for conspicuous bravery on the field under heavy fire.” [Western Chronicle: Friday 15th November 1918]

Amazingly, of the seven brothers who fought in the conflict, only Joseph perished.

An earlier series of articles tells the tragic story of another of Joseph’s siblings. Henry Dodge (known as William) had moved to Senghenydd, to the north of Cardiff, in 1910; mining work was plentiful there and he and a number of his fellow villagers had sought money from the black gold.

On the 14th October 1913, and explosion happened in the mine and together with the resulting fire and subsequent poisonous gas outpouring killed more than 430 miners. Initially reported missing, William was later confirmed dead; he was just twenty years old and left a widow and child.

Chief Stoker, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Leading Stoker, photography, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, war

Chief Stoker John Seager

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Chief Stoker John Seager

John Edward Seager was born in Gillingham, Kent, in March 1869. One of eight children, his parents were labourer William Seager and his wife Maria (who was known by her middle name, Elizabeth).

John was keen to have adventure in his life, and the local Naval Dockyard in Chatham gave him that opportunity. on 23rd April 1887, he enlisted in the Royal Navy for the standard twelve years’ service. During that time, he served on six different ships, begging his career as a Stoker and rising through the ranks to become a Leading Stoker at the end of his time.

In April 1899, John re-enlisted and was given the rank of Chief Stoker. After completing his initial training at the on-shore establishment HMS Pembroke, he was assigned to HMS Cossack. Over the next ten years, he served on five more ships, before being moved over the Royal Naval Reserve in 1909.

During this time, John had gotten married. Emmeline Ada Driver was also born in Gillingham, and had found work as a nurse in the Surrey County Asylum. The couple married on 8th August 1903 in New Brompton, and set up home in a cottage close to the centre of Gillingham, close to their families and within walking distance of the dockyard.

When war broke out, John was called back into active service. He spent a year on board HMS Wildfire and five months on HMS Attentive. Most of his time, however, was spent at HMS Pembroke in Chatham. It was while he was here in January 1918 that he was admitted to hospital with pneumonia and tuberculosis. Sadly, Chief Stoker Seager was to succumb to these conditions; he died on 1st February 1918 at the age of 49 years old.

John Edward Seager was laid to rest in the Grange Road Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent. He is commemorated in the Woodlands Cemetery, which replaced this now park.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Labour Corps, Middlesex Regiment, photography, Private, story, Sussex, war

Private William Osborne

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Private William Osborne

William Osborne is sadly one of those names that seems destined to be lost to time.

The starting point for any research is always going to be the gravestone; this is situated in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent and confirms his service number, rank and regiment and the date of his death.

The service number helps confirm his first name, and that his widow was called Eliza, but without his age and confirmation of when he was married, there are too many potential Williams and Elizas/Elizabeths to confirm a definite identity.

The only thing that can be confirmed, therefore, is that William enlisted in the Middlesex Regiment at some point before April 1918, and subsequently transferred across to the Labour Corps. He passed away on 8th November 1918 at the Second Eastern General Hospital in Brighton, Sussex, having contracted pneumonia.

William Osborne lies at rest in that Gillingham Cemetery, not far from where his widow was living.