Thomas Bidder was born on 10th April 1893 on Lower Winsham Farm, Braunton, Devon. One of twelve children, his parents were farmers John and Eliza Bidder.
Thomas sought a life away from the farm and he enlisted in the army, joining the prestigious Coldstream Guards. The 1911 census recorded Private Bidder as being in barracks in a camp in Chertsey, Surrey.
When war broke out, Thomas was mobilised, and soon found himself on the Western Front. It is unclear exactly when or how he served, but a later report suggests that he was wounded in February 1915, and medically evacuated to Britain for treatment.
After being treated in different hospitals, he was sent home to convalesce, but here (no doubt as the indirect result of the wounds) tuberculosis developed, and death was due to this cause.
[Western Times: Thursday 19th August 1915]
Thomas Bidder died on 16th August 1915, at the age of 23 years old. The newspaper report noted that he “was a man who was greatly admired for his soldierly and other qualities, and at Braunton he will long be held in the fondest remembrance.”[Western Times: Thursday 19th August 1915]
Thomas was laid to rest in St Brannock’s Church in his home town of Braunton.
Thomas was not the first of the Bidder siblings to die during the war. His younger brother, Walter, served in the 2nd Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. Private Bidder was killed on 18th December 1914, aged just 19 years old. He is commemorated on the Le Touquet Memorial in France, and on the family headstone in Braunton.
Ernest West was born in the autumn of 1894 in Barnstaple, Devon. The middle of seven children, his parents were Charles and Eliza. The 1901 censes recorded Charles as being the innkeepers of a pub on North Street in Braunton, but ten years later he had changed career, and was a corn and manure merchant. The family had moved to Scur Farm to the north of the town centre.
War broke out in the summer of 1914, and Ernest stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Royal North Devon Yeomanry, and was attached to the 1st Battalion. Full service details have been lost to time, but by the autumn of 1915, Private West was in the Balkans, and was among those to land at Sulva Bay on the Gallipoli peninsula.
Ernest survived the fighting, but contracted dysentery. He was medically evacuated back to Britain, and admitted to the 3rd North General Hospital in Sheffield, Yorkshire. Sadly, the condition was to get the better of him, and he passed away on the 13th February 1916, at the age of just 21 years old.
The body of Ernest West was taken back to Devon for burial, and he was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Brannock’s Church, Braunton.
Ernest was not the only West sibling to die during the First World War. His older brother William enlisted in the 1st Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment and, in the autumn of 1917, found himself in the fighting at Passchendaele. He was killed in action on 4th October, at the age of 27. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.
Ernest Shambrook was born in the parish of Heanton Punchardon, Devon, in the autumn of 1889. The youngest of six children, he was one of four sons to Robert and Fanny Shambrook. Robert was a miller’s waggoner, and the family lived at Heddon Mill in nearby Georgeham.
When Ernest completed his schooling, he took up work as a tailor, something his older brother, James, had previously gone into. The 1911 census found that Ernest had left home and was boarding with the Heath family in Ottery St Mary, where he was employed in tailoring.
When war broke out, Ernest stepped up to play his part. His service papers have been lost to time, but it is clear that he enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment at some point after September 1914. Private Shambrook was assigned to the 2nd/5th Battalion, and sent to Newton Abbot for training.
His time in the army, however, was to be a brief one. Ernest contracted pneumonia, and had to be admitted to the VAD Red Cross Hospital in the town. His condition, however, was to prove fatal, and Private Shambrook passed away on 4th March 1915: he was 25 years of age.
The body of Ernest Shambrook was taken back to the family church, St Brannock’s in Braunton for burial. The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, reporting on his funeral, notes one of the mourners as “Miss Wotton (deceased’s fiancée)” [Thursday 11th March 1915]. There is no further information on Ernest’s intended.
Arthur Frederic Thornton Phripp was born in Gillingham, Dorset, in the summer of 1894. The middle of three children, and the only son, his parents were Frederick and Kate Phripp. Frederick was a farmer, and the family lived in Slaughter Gate, to the west of the town centre.
The 1911 census recorded Frederick and Kate managing the farm, and raising their youngest child, daughter Lucy. Arthur, however, is missing, and it seems that he had taken started working for the Post Office as a boy clerk. Where he was living is unclear, but later documents suggest that he may have moved to London.
When war broke out, Arthur stepped up to play his part, joining the 1/21st (County of London) Battalion of the London Regiment, which was also known as the First Surrey Rifles. Private Phripp arrived in France on the 16th March 1915 and, over the next couple of years, fought at Loos, the Somme and Messines. He rose through the ranks, reaching Sergeant and, in the autumn of 1917, he was awarded a commission to Second Lieutenant.
Arthur returned to Britain to formally take the commission, and was transferred to the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment. Back on home soil, it was a chance to see family again, but tragedy was to strike.
A painful sensation was created in the town when it became known that Mrs Kate Phripp, 65, of Slaughtergate Farm, and her son, Arthur TF Phripp, 23, had been killed in the Zeppelin raid on Friday.
At the inquest on seven of the victims on Monday evidence was given that Mr Phripp was stopping with some friends, and his mother went up from Gillingham on Friday to see him. Evidence given by the police showed that warning had been given in every principal thoroughfare in the district where the fatalities occurred, and the theatres had been warned. The bomb came quite unexpectedly. Besides the killed nine people were seriously injured and nine slightly injured. A great amount of glass was smashed. It was mentioned that Mrs Phripp and her son had been attending the theatre, where is was announced that the warning had been given, and that the play would continue until the guns were heard. The play was continued to the end, and the deceased left at their own risk. The Coroner observed that it was clear that some people took the optimistic view that the raid was over. If people went out into the street after a warning they did to at their own risk. A formal verdict was returned, and they commended the work of the police, special constables and ambulance workers, who, they said, had acted promptly and pluckily…
[Bridport News: Friday 26th October 1917]
The Zeppelin that raided London that night had originally been one of eleven aircraft tasked with attacking Britain’s northern industrial towns. But strong winds disrupted the operation, and one airship – L45, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Waldemar Kölle – was blown south instead.
Meanwhile, Second Lieutenant Phripp and his mother had just left His Majesty’s Theatre in the Haymarket, where they had been watching the comedy Chu Chin Chow, and were making their way across Piccadilly Circus, returning to their friend’s house.
By ill twist of fate, at that moment Kölle released a 100kg (220lb) bomb, which exploded in the road outside the Swan & Edgar department store. The resulting explosion destroyed the building’s frontage and left a crater in the road some 10ft (3m) across and 4ft (1.2m) deep. Seven people were killed: this included Kate and her son.
The bodies of Kate and Arthur Phripp were taken back to Dorset for burial. They were laid to rest together in Gillingham Cemetery, not far from where Frederick and Lucy were grieving.
[Note: My thanks go to Tony Otton for his insight into the event that led to the passing of Arthur and his mother.]
William Arthur Coward was born in the autumn of 1878 in Gillingham, Dorset. The youngest of three children, his parents were Arthur and Sarah Coward. Arthur died around the time his son was born, and, while he was baptised William, he was known by Arthur from there on in.
Sarah was left to being up her children alone and, by the time of the 1891 census, she had taken work as a laundry woman. The family were living on Gas House Lane, and Arthur’s older brother Hubert, or Bertie, had finished school and was working as an errand boy.
When he had completed his education, Arthur took a job as an ostler for a local inn, but wanted a reliable career and, on 30th October 1897, he enlisted in the army. Joining the Dorsetshire Regiment as a Private, his service papers show the young man he was becoming. His medical record notes that, at 19 years of age, he was a little under 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, and weighed 127lbs (57.6kg). He had dark brown hair, brown eyes and a sallow complexion. He was also found to have a scar on the left side of his neck, and slight varicose veins.
Assigned to the 2nd Battalion, Arthur spent the first few months training on home soil. In February 1898, however, his unit was sent to the Mediterranean and, that December, he transferred to the 3rd Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers. Over the next three years, Private Coward was based in Malta and Crete, but things were to go awry.
Bertie had passed away in the spring of 1899 and, on 25th February 1901, Arthur was imprisoned for an unrecorded felony. Tried ten days later, he was convicted of the offence, and imprisoned for three months. On his release, on 12th June, he was formally discharged from the army, and sent back to Britain.
By the time of the 1911 census, Arthur was back home. Taking up his former job as a ostler, he is recorded as living in a four-roomed house on Cemetery Road, Gillingham, with his mother. His older sister, Emily, was also living at home, the census noting that she had been an imbecile since birth.
When war broke out in the summer of 1914, Arthur would be called upon to play his part as part of Kitchener’s Army. He joined the Army Ordnance Corps on 14th April 1916, his papers suggesting little change in stature or looks, bit noted that he now suffered from eczema.
Private Coward survived the war, but in the winter of 1918, he fell ill with influenza, and this became bronchial pneumonia. His illness led to a medical discharge from the army on 15th March 1919.
At this point, Arthur’s trail goes cold. He returned home, but his health appears to have hampered him. He passed away on 24th October 1919 in Shaftesbury, Dorset. He was 41 years of age.
The body of William Arthur Coward was laid to rest in Gillingham Cemetery, just a short walk from where his mother and sister were living.
Sarah had now lost her husband and two sons and, in her early 70s, she was looking after her disabled daughter. The 1921 census found them still living on Cemetery Road, where Sarah was undertaking home duties, Emily being unable to work. She outlived her youngest child by a decade, her daughter dying just five months later, in May 1930.
In the town cemetery of Gillingham, Dorset, is the grave of Private G Wallace of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, who died on 14th April 1915. His entry in the British Register of Soldiers’ Effects confirms his first name as George, and that he died on the town’s Leatham Red Cross Hospital. Private Wallace was recorded as being in the 8th Battalion, and his beneficiary was noted as being his father, James.
Unfortunately, beyond this, there is little concrete information about George’s early life: his regiment would suggest that he was born north of the border, but, without a year or location of birth, it is impossible to narrow down the documentation.
A newspaper report does, however, confirm how his life came to an end:
An inquest was held at the Drill Hall on Friday morning, on the body of Private George Wallace, of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, who died at the Gillingham Red Cross Hospital as a result of injuries by the kick of a horse at Codford Camp… Corporal James Doig, of the 12th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, said the accident occurred on the Wednesday, April 7th. The stable was only an open shed, and deceased was going up the near side of the horse when it let our and kicked Wallace in the pit of the stomach and knocked him over. He fell in towards the stall among the feet of the horse, which let out again and caught him in the head. While witness went to the horse’s head another witness Private O’Neil, hauled Wallace our. When Wallace was pulled out O’Neil took him to the field hospital, where he managed to walk with some assistance. Lieutenant WE Hopkins, RAMC, proved attending to the deceased as far as possible. There were no facilities for serious cases, and, thinking it was only a case of slight concussion, he had the deceased sent to the Gillingham Red Cross Hospital. If he had been aware it was a fracture of the skull, he should have sent the case to Salisbury Infirmary. The field hospital was only a detention ward, with no hot or cold water supply and no instruments. He cleaned the wound in the head as far as possible. Dr Huntly said he examined the deceased at the Gillingham Hospital. The skull was fractured, and everything was done for him by himself and Dr Morgan, but he died from septic inflammation. If the wound had been “sweet” it would have given him a better chance after the operation was performed. A verdict of “Accidental death” was returned.
[Southern Times and Dorset County Herald: Saturday 24th April 1915]
The body of George Wallace was laid to rest in Gillingham Cemetery, not far from the hospital in which he had died.
Harry Mildenhall was born in the autumn of 1873 in Eton, Buckinghamshire. The third of six children, his parents were Henry and Harriet Mildenhall. Henry was a groom, and the family lived on first on Mill Lane, before moving to Alma Road in nearby Boveney, by the time of the 1891 census.
The next census return, taken in the spring of 1901, recorded Harry as having left home. Initially apprenticed to house painter Glen Rowland, the document found him as boarding with his employer at 1 Thames View, Clewer, on the outskirts of Windsor, Berkshire.
It was not long before Harry would set out on his own. On 14th April 1906, he was living on Speedwell Street, Oxford. It was on that day that he married Annie Berridge in the parish church. Seven years her new husband’s junior, Annie was a labourer’s daughter, with a history of her own:
Annie Berridge (19), domestic servant, Peterborough, was charged with obtaining 4s. by false pretences from Martha Withers on Feb. 4th. The evidence showed that Berridge had been residing with Mrs Knighton of Wellington-street, who was known to Mrs Withers. On Monday week she visited the latter’s house at Oundle-road and stated that Mrs Knighton wanted to borrow 6s. In consequence Mrs Withers gave her 4s., but afterwards discovered that Mrs Knighton had never sent for the money. Accused pleaded guilty, electing to be dealt with summarily. The Bench gave defendant a chance to retrieve her character by dealing with her ad a first offender and binding her over to come up for judgment when called upon.
[Peterborough Standard: Saturday 16th February 1901]
But Annie was not done with the law just yet:
Annie Berridge (19), single soman, of no fixed abode, was charged with stealing from 11, City-road, a pair of shoes, value 4s. 6d., the property of Elizabeth Ryall, on the 24th. She was further charged with stealing from 7, Perseverance Cottages, Star-lane, money to the amount of 1s., the property of Ethel Norman, on the 18th. In the first care Elizabeth Ryall stated that accused asked for lodgings. She stayed one day and went out the following morning. As accused did not return witness looked round and missed a pair of shoes (produced), an old pair being left in their place. Detective-Sergeant Smith stated that he saw accused in Broadway on the 25th wearing the shoes missed by the previous witness. Accused, who cried bitterly, elected to be dealt with summarily, and pleaded guilty. The Chief Constable stated that a fortnight ago the accused was before the Bench and was then bound over to be of good behaviour. The Bench retired, and on their return into Court the Chairman stated that it appeared leniency was no good. That had been tried a fortnight previously, and a sentence of two months’ imprisonment would now be passed. The second charge was not proceeded with.
[Peterborough Standard: Saturday 2nd March 1901]
The 1902 census, taken just a month later, recorded Annie’s fate: she was imprisoned in Northampton Prison. Meeting Harry may have been what helped Annie back on the rails. After their wedding the couple took rooms at 6 Mill Street, Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and went on to have three children: Edward, Albert and Annie.
War came to Europe in the summer of 1915, and, despite his age, Harry would step up to play his part. He enlisted in the Army Service Corps on 16th September 1915, his papers confirming that he was of Church of England by faith, and was 5ft 5.5ins (1.66m) tall.
Private Mildenhall was sent to France within a fortnight of enlisting, although his exact role is unclear. He certainly remained overseas until April 1917, when he returned home for three months. He returned to the fray in July 1917, transferring to the Labour Corps.
Harry next returned to Britain in May 1918. By this point, however, he had fallen ill, and was admitted to Station Road Hospital in Gillingham, Dorset, suffering from bronchitis. Any treatment proved to be too little, too late: Private Mildenhall died from heart failure at 8:15pm on 16th May 1918, at the age of 44 years old.
The body of Harry Mildenhall was laid to rest in Gillingham Cemetery, not far from the hospital where he had breathed his last.
Of Annie there is no further record. The 1921 census records the three children boarding with separate families: Edward and Albert were living with the Bowd family at 35 Gracious Street, Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire. Annie, meanwhile, was living with Joseph and Harriett Wing, just around the corner from her brothers at 5 Whitmore Street. The census records note that the children’s father was dead, but their mother alive.
William Thick was born in Gillingham, Dorset, in the autumn of 1885, and was the oldest of four children to Henry and Emma Thick (who also went by the names Harriett and Fanny). Henry was a general labourer, and the family lived in a cottage at Culvers Corner, on the western outskirts of the town.
William initially found work as a mason, but he sought bigger and better things. Already a volunteer in the local militia, on 19th April 1904, he formally enlisted in the army. Taking the rank of Private in the Dorsetshire Regiment, he was attached to 2nd Battalion. His service papers note that he was 5ft 5ins (1.65m) tall and weighed 129lbs (58.5kg). He was recorded as having dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. His medical report also notes a lateral curvature of his spine.
Private Thick spent the first two years of his service on home soil. In February 1906, however, his unit was sent to India, and he would spend the next five years in and around Poona. William completed an initial seven years’ service in April 1911: stood down to reserve status, he returned home.
In the spring of 1914, William married Eliza Belgin. There is little information available for her, but she gave birth to the couple’s only child, daughter Hettie, the following January.
By this point, war had broken out, and Private Thick was called into action once more. Attached to the 1st Battalion, he was sent to France within days of the outbreak of hostilities. Within the first six months of the conflict, William’s unit was involved in the battles of Mons, the Marne, the Aisne, Messines and Armentières, some of the fiercest fighting of the conflict.
By the summer of 1915, Private Thick was suffering from rheumatism. He was admitted to the No. 1 Canadian General Hospital in Boulogne, but was soon transferred to Britain, as he contracted pleurisy. Sent to the Norfolk War Hospital in Norwich, his condition deteriorated, and he passed away on 2nd July 1915: he was 29 years old.
The body of William Thick was taken back to Dorset for burial: he was laid to rest in Gillingham Cemetery, not far from where his family were living.
Eliza had been widowed just six months after having Hettie. The only other record for her is the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s record that she had moved to Harold Road, Roath, South Glamorgan.
In the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire, is a headstone dedicated to the memory of Gunner R Dobson of the Royal Field Artillery. The early life of Robert Dobson, however, is a challenge to unpick.
Born in Kilbride, County Wicklow, in 1873, he was the son of John Dobson and, according to his later service papers, he had three brothers: William, John Jr and Richard.
When he finished his schooling, Robert found work as a gamekeeper, but he wanted more adventure, and, on 27th April 1891, he enlisted in the Royal Artillery. Given the rank of Gunner, his papers note that he was a little over 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, and weighed 150lbs (68kg). A Presbyterian, he had brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.
Gunner Dobson signed up for a period of seven years, and during this time he travelled the world. From March 1893, he was based in India, but was invalided home for reasons unclear in November 1894. He would remain on home soil for the next three years, and was stood down to reserve status in April 1898.
While back on home soil, love had blossomed and, on the 14th May 1898, Robert married Mary Bull. A labourer’s daughter from Steeple Ashton, the couple wed in the parish church. Robert gave his address as the same village, and, given the proximity of the garrison town of Trowbridge, it is likely a local posting is how the couple met.
On 3rd November 1899, Gunner Dobson was called into duty once more. Attached to the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Field Artillery, his unit headed to South Africa, and he was quickly caught up in the Boer War. He would remain overseas until the spring of 1901, at which point he returned to Britain once more.
After a total of twelve years’ service, Robert was formally stood down from army service on 26th April 1903, returning to Steeple Ashton and Mary. The 1911 census – the only one of the four returns taken during his lifetime on which he appeared – found the couple living in a cottage on Common Hill, to the north of the village centre. Robert, now 38 years old, was working as a farm labourer.
When war broke out in Europe, Robert stepped up to serve his country once more. He initially re-joined his old unit, but seems to have transferred over the Labour Corps, and was attached to the 95th Company. His service records for this period have been lost, so it is unclear when or how he served.
Robert survived the conflict, but would pass away on 28th July 1919. The cause of his passing is unclear, but he was 46 years of age when he died.
The body of Robert Dobson was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Steeple Ashton.
It is with deep regret we record the death of Mr G Aubrey Manaton, son of Mr and Mrs William Manaton, of Braunton, who had just passed away at his home in Braunton. Mr Manaton was a young journalist of brilliant prospects, his scholarly attainments and aptitude for the profession being such that he made rapid steps for one so young. Having served his articles on a Barnstaple weekly newspaper, he went to London and joined the staff of one of the Newsagencies, and subsequently that of “The Times.” For a short while he was a war correspondent for the latter paper in France, and during that period made most able contributions to the paper, notably among them being a graphic account of the sinking of a large warship off the French coast, of which he was an eye witness in the early days of the war. He served for a short time with the Inns of Court Officers’ Training Corps, from which he was invalided on account of ill-health. Besides being naturally gifted in his literary capacity, Mr Manaton had a wealth of charm of personality and character, and his death, at the early age of 26, is deeply regretted, especially among his intimate friends, of whom he had a great many. He was unmarried. In their bereavement, the parents, whose eldest son was killed in the war some time since, will have a measure of sympathy both full and sincere. One of deceased’s brothers, Lieut. Arthur Manaton, is serving in France with the Yorks and Lancs Regt.
[Western Times: Tuesday 30th July 1918]
George Aubrey Manaton was born on 9th June 1892 in Braunton, Devon. The second of five children, his parents were William and Sarah Manaton. William was a tailor and outfitter, and the family lived in a nine-roomed house – Hillside – on Church Street, to the north of the town centre.
George was working as a journalist by the time of the 1911 census. When war broke out, his work took him to France, but by the summer of 1915, he felt he could no longer remain a mere observer. Back in London, on 17th June, he enlisted in the army, and was assigned to the Inns of Court Officers’ Training Corps.
Private Manaton was sent to Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, for his training. His time in the military, however, was to be a short one, and he was discharged for being unlikely to become an efficient soldier on medical grounds on 26th November 1915.
At this point, George’s trail goes cold. His older brother, Fred, a Private in the 9th (Service) Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment, had survived Gallipoli, but was killed during the Battle of the Somme in September 1916. He was laid to rest in Puchevillers British Cemetery in Picardie.
George Aubrey Manaton passed away on 25th July 1918: he had turned 26 just a few weeks before. He was laid to rest in the Methodist Chapelyard of his home town, Braunton.
Death and Service 