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

Private Walter Selman

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Private Walter Selman

Walter Charles Selman was born on 7th June 1899, the youngest of four children to Walter and Annie Selman. Walter Sr was a gardener and, by the time of the 1911 census he had moved the family to the sleepy Somerset village of Burrington.

Sadly, there is little documentation surrounding Walter’s young life. His gravestone confirms that he enlisted in the Wiltshire Regiment; although there is no date to confirm when he enrolled, it is likely to have been in the second half of the conflict, given his age.

Private Selman was assigned to the 4th Battalion, but there is no clear confirmation of where he served. The 1/4th Battalion fought in India and Egypt; the 2/4th was also based in India but remained there for the duration. The 3/4th Battalion – the most likely to be Walter’s troop – was a reserve troop, based on home soil.

Where little is known about Private Selman’s military service, there is similarly little information about his passing. His pension records bluntly put his cause of death as ‘disease’; as with many other recruits towards the end of the war, it is likely that this was, in fact, either influenza or pneumonia.

Sadly, the mustering of the Allied armies – and the associated mixing of young men from across the country in crowded barracks – brought a real danger of disease, and lung complaints were commonplace. While there is no definite proof, it appears that Private Selman may have succumbed to one of these conditions; he passed away in a military hospital on Salisbury Plain on 7th April 1918, two months short of his 19th birthday.

Walter Charles Selman lies at rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church in his home village of Burrington, Somerset.

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

Private Henry Venn

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Private Henry Venn

Henry John Venn was born in September 1900, the youngest of three children to Charles and Mary Venn. Charles was a gardener, and the family lived in the small Somerset village of Shipham.

Sadly, there is little information available about Henry’s life, although when war broke out, he enlisted as a Private in the Devonshire Regiment. There is no documentation to confirm exactly when he enrolled, although, given his age when the conflict began, it it unlikely to have been before 1918.

Indeed, later records show that his parents were refused a war gratuity. This was only usually the case where a soldier had completed less than six months’ service. It is likely, therefore, that Private Venn did not join up before he turned 18 years old in September 1918.

Henry joined the 53rd Training Reserve Battalion; they were based at the Rollestone Camp near Stonehenge, Wiltshire. It is here that he likely became unwell, as he was subsequently admitted to the Military Hospital on Salisbury Plain. He was suffering from influenza and pneumonia, and this is what he succumbed to. Private Venn passed away on 10th November 1918 – the day before the Armistice that ended the conflict. He was just 18 years old.

Henry John Venn lies at rest in the graveyard of St Leonard’s Church in his home village of Shipham in Somerset.

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

Sapper Percy Burleton

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Sapper Percy Burleton

Percy Edward Burleton was born on 24th July 1885, the youngest of seven children to George and Lucy Burleton. George was a quarryman, and the family lived in the village of Draycott, near Wells in Somerset.

Percy’s older brother Lewis worked for the railways, and this is a trade that his younger sibling followed. By the time of the 1911 census he was living with his brother in Glastonbury and worked as a carman, delivering goods to and from the local station.

In February 1914, Percy appeared as a witness in an inquest about the death of a colleague, George Gillett. George had gone missing one night after the two had met for a drink in a local pub. The alert was raised when George’s coat was found hanging on a branch on the banks of the River Brue, to the south of the town; the waters were dredged and George’s body found.

At the inquest, Percy confirmed that the two men had had a drink in a local pub, and that George had seemed a little strange, but not the worse for drink. He reported that the deceased man had been quieter than usual at the railway stables for a week or so. George had left the pub at 10:55 that evening, and that was the last time that Percy had seen him.

Part of a carman’s duty was to collect money for the goods they had delivered; this was then paid to the station clerk on a daily basis. In the week leading up to his death, the stationmaster had been advised of some financial discrepancies, and on the day he drowned, he had been spoken to and advised the matter would be reported to the police if the missing amount was not paid back.

The place where George’s coat was found was not on his way home from the pub, and he would have had to have gone out of his way to get there. When considering their findings, the jury returned a verdict of suicide during temporary insanity, citing that the financial situation George had apparently gotten himself into.

When war broke out, Percy seemed to have been keen to get involved. Initially joining the Devonshire Regiment in September 1914, his experience with his job saw him transferred to the Railway Operating Division of the Royal Engineers.

Shipped to France on 22nd September 1915, his service saw him awarded the Victory and British Medals and the 1915 Star. Sapper Burleton was moved to the Eastern Front and served in the Balkans for three years. According to the Central Somerset Gazette, which reported his passing, he contracted ‘a chill’ on the boat back to England and was admitted to Frensham Hill Hospital in Surrey.

Sadly, the chill seems to have been more severe than the report suggested, and Sapper Burleton passed away on 17th September 1918. He was 32 years old.

Percy Edward Burleton lies at rest in the graveyard of St Peter’s Church in his home village of Draycott, Somerset.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Machine Gun Corps, photography, Private, Somerset, Staffordshire, story, war

Private Walter Millard

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Private Walter Millard

Walter John Millard was born in the summer of 1887, the youngest of nine children to Robert and Elizabeth. Robert was a farmer, and brought his family up in the village of Wedmore, Somerset. Walter followed in his father’s footsteps, and by the time of the 1911 census, was listed as a farm labourer in Wedmore, working for a William Millard, who presumably was a cousin of the family.

In March 1915, Walter married Jessy Masters, daughter of a grocer in nearby Wells. The couple set up home in the neighbouring village of Wookey, but would later make their home in Westbury-sub-Mendip.

In December 1915, aged 28, Walter was called up, and assigned to the Reserve Machine Gun Corps. He was not formally mobilised for almost three years when, in October 1918, he was shipped to Rugeley, Staffordshire, for training.

During this time, Private Millard was taken ill, and was admitted to the Military Hospital at Cannock Chase within weeks with influenza. His health deteriorated and, on 7th November 1918, he died from pneumonia. He was 31 years of age.

Had it not been for the quirk of fate of having been mobilised a month before the war ended, tragically, this would likely not be a story that needed to be told.

Walter John Millard was brought back to Somerset, and lies at rest in the graveyard of St Lawrence Church in Westbury-sub-Mendip.

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

Private Thomas Lowes

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Private Thomas Lowes

TJ Lowes is another of those names that challenges you to find out more about their lives. A quick search against the surname and service number identified the full name of Thomas James Lowes, and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website confirms he was the husband of Mary Lowes.

There is enough circumstantial evidence available to suggest a particular set of records, but nothing to fully connect this gravestone to those records.

Based on that documentation, this is what I believe to be the Thomas James Lowes’ life.

Thomas James Lowes was born in Chatham, Kent, in 1863. One of eight children, his parents were Joseph and Jane Lowes, who came from Durham. Joseph was a shipwright, and moved the family to Hampshire in around 1860, before settling in Kent a year or so later. Given his trade, it the sea ports were an obvious draw, and he found work in the Naval Dockyard in Chatham.

When he left school, Thomas found work as a painter, and this was work that stood him in good stead all his life. He started decorating houses, but soon found employment in the dockyard.

Joseph died at some point in the 1880s, and by the 1891 census, Thomas was living at home with his mother and three of his younger siblings, all working to bring money in.

It was later that year that he got married, to a woman called Mary. The couple went on to have two children – Elsie (who was born in Sutton, Surrey) and Thomas Jr (who was born back in Kent). The young family came to live close to the dockyard again, as this is where Thomas was obviously earning his living.

War was on the horizon and, while Thomas’ full service records do not exist, it’s been possible to piece some bits together. He enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps early on in the conflict, and worked as a farrier for No. 2 Company Depot. From here on in, however, Private Lowes’ documentation becomes confusing.

The Army Register of Soldier’s Effects confirms the service number documented elsewhere – T4/234931 – and that he passed away on 20th November 1916. It states that the the money was passed to his father, Thomas, which doesn’t tally up with the other records.

The other documentation available – the Pension Ledger and Index Cards – all include the Private Lowes’ service number, but give his widow , Mary Lowes, as his beneficiary.

Thomas contracted pneumonia while on active service; he was admitted to the Royal Herbert Hospital in Woolwich, but succumbed to the illness on 20th November 1916. He was 53 years old.

Thomas James Lowes was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.

Private Thomas Lowes
Artificer, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Chief Engine Room Artificer 2nd Class Charles Miller

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Artificer Charles Miller

Charles Frederick Caleb Miller was born on 12th December 1887 in Gillingham, Kent. His parents were Charles and Harriet Miller, and he had two younger siblings, Mabel and Harriet.

Tragically, Charles Jr’s mother died when he was only three years old; his father went on to marry again – to his widow’s younger sister, Jane – and the couple had two further children – Jane and Beatrice – who were Charles Jr’s half-sisters.

Charles Sr worked as a ship’s rigger in the Military Dockyard in Chatham, and naval life obviously caught his son’s eye. In 1903, having left school, he enlisted in the Royal Navy, started as a ‘boy artificer’, working in the engine and boiler rooms of ships.

His initial service was for twelve years, and he worked on a number of vessels, as well as being assigned to HMS Pembroke, the shore base in Chatham. He worked his way through the ranks to Engine Room Artificer 2nd Class by 1915.

In June of that year, Charles married Ellen Holden. the daughter of a dairyman from Chelsea. The couple went on to have a daughter, Joan, who was born in 1918. At the time of their wedding, Charles was based on HMS Lance, and his military service was to continue.

His period of service extended until the end of the war, Charles served on a number of other vessels, including HMS Surprise, Blenheim and Prince George and rose to Chief Engine Room Artificer 2nd Class.

It was while he was assigned to HMS Ganges in January 1920 that he became unwell, however. He had contracted bronchial pneumonia, and died of a combination of that and heart failure on 9th February 1920. He was 32 years old.

Charles Frederick Caleb Miller lies at rest in Woodlands Cemetery in his home town of Gillingham, Kent.

Charles Miller (from ancestry.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, history, illness, Kent, London, photography, Royal Marines, story, war

Corporal Albert Shrubsall

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Corporal Albert Shrubsall

Albert Arthur Shrubsall was born in Deptford, South London, in April 1896. He was the youngest of three children – all boys – to ironmonger George Shrubsall and his wife Jessie.

While his brothers continued to live at home after they had left school and got jobs, Albert found live-in work as a pageboy, or servant, for Wilfred Lineham, who was a professor of engineering for a London college. It was while he was working here that his mother, Jessie, passed away. She died in 1913, aged just 43.

Details of Albert’s military service are a bit scant. He enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry, although I have been unable to confirm when he joined up. He was assigned to the Chatham Division, and was based at the Naval Dockyard in Kent, ultimately being promoted to Corporal.

Albert married Gertrude Spoore – affectionately known a ‘Ginty’ – in Deptford in October 1917. Sadly, the marriage was to las less than six months, as, on 9th April 1918, Albert passed away, having contracted pneumonia and septicaemia. He was just 22 years old.

Albert lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in his adopted home town of Gillingham in Kent.

Albert’s two brothers George and Alfred were also involved in the First World War.

George, had gone on to become a tailor’s assistant when he left school. He married Emily Hawkes in 1911, and the couple went on to have a son, also called George, the following year.

When war broke out, he enlisted in the Machine Gun Corps, and served on the Western Front. Sadly, he was caught up in the fighting, and was killed in action on 22nd August 1917. He was buried at the Tyne Cot Memorial in Flanders.

When he left school, Alfred went on to become a butcher’s assistant. War came along, and he enlisted straight away.

Enrolling in the Royal Field Artillery, Gunner Shrubsall was assigned to the 95th Brigade. Sadly, he had recorded less than six months’ service, as he passed away on 8th January 1915, aged just 21 years old. His brigade did not go to France until the following year, so, while no cause of death is recorded, it is likely that he died from a communicable disease like influenza or pneumonia.

Alfred is buried in the family grave in Deptford, South London.

Within a period of just three years, George had lost all three of his sons to the Great War. Given the previous death of his wife, you can only imagine the heartbreak he was going through.

Commonwealth War Graves, East Surrey Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Manchester Regiment, photography, Private, story, war

Private John Friday

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Private John Friday

John Francis Friday was born in June 1898 to John and Laura Friday from Gillingham in Kent. Laura passed away when John Jr was only ten years old, and his dad remarried, meaning John Jr had eight full and half siblings. John Sr was a farm labourer, and the family lived on the river front in Gillingham, Kent.

John’s military service seems a bit of a challenging one. A letter to Gillingham Police Station dated November 1916 stated that he had not received his call up papers, but that he would present himself that day for enlistment.

John eventually enlisted on 27th December 1916; his joining records show that he was 18 years and six months old, and stood at just under 5ft 3ins (1.57m) tall. He also noted that his preference was to be assigned to the Royal Engineers.

Private Friday initially joined the Manchester Regiment, and, while serving on the Western Front, seemed to have a bit of a rebellious streak in him. He was pulled up on misdemeanours such as neglect of duty on at least five occasions before being admitted to hospital in Calais in December 1917, suffering from trench foot. After serving some further time in England, he again found himself in France in the summer of 1918.

On 11st March 1919, he was transferred to the East Surrey Regiment, and was shipped back to England at the beginning of April. Sadly, it looks like John was stricken by poor health; he passed away on 6th July 1919, having contracted pneumonia. He was just 21 years old.

John Francis Friday lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in his home town of Gillingham in Kent.

Coldstream Guards, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Guardsman, history, illness, photography, Somerset, story, Wales, war

Private Herbert Packer

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Guardsman Herbert Packer

Herbert Packer was born in December 1889, the youngest of nine children to Joseph and Ann Packer. Joseph was a railway carrier (or porter) and the family lived in Cheddar, Somerset.

The 1911 census found Herbert on his travels; he was working as a grocer’s assistant, and boarding with a family in Abergavenny, South Wales. He was obviously keen to develop his skills, and soon moved to Barnstaple in Devon to work for the Lipton’s grocery there.

In the autumn of 1914, Herbert married Lydia Snell, a dressmaker from Wales and the young couple lived together in the Devon town where he worked. He was very active in the community; he was a teacher at the local Wesleyan Sunday School, and active in the church choir having, according to a local newspaper, “a capital voice”.

Herbert enlisted in the spring of 1916, and had the honour of joining the Coldstream Guards. He did his training in London, and was due back to Barnstaple on leave before starting his active service when he was taken ill. Admitted to the London Hospital with pneumonia, within a couple of weeks he had succumbed to the condition. Guardsman Packer died on 3rd December 1916, aged just 26 years old.

Herbert Packer lies at rest in St Andrew’s Churchyard in his home town of Cheddar in Somerset.

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

Private Sidney Warren

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Private Sidney Warren

Sidney John Warren was born in January 1890, one of eleven children to shipwright George Warren and his wife Elizabeth. The family lived in Salmon Parade, on the riverside in Bridgwater, where George would have plied his trade. By the time of the 1911 census, Sidney had found work as a grocer’s assistant, and was living with his parents and the youngest of his brothers, Edward.

While exact details of Private Warren’s military career are not available, documents confirm that he enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry. Assigned to the 4th Battalion, he was based in India and Mesopotamia during the conflict. No details are available of his time there, but at some point, he transferred to the Labour Corps back in Somerset.

And there Sidney’s trail goes cold. He survived the war, but passed away on 27th November 1918, suffering from pneumonia. He was just 28 years old.

Sidney John Warren lies at rest in the family grave at St John’s Cemetery in his home town of Bridgwater in Somerset.