Frederick Henry Browning was born on 19th March 1884, and was the third of five children to John and Elizabeth Browning. Born in Dunedin, New Zealand, there is little information about his early life, but as he grew up, he found work as a blacksmith.
When war broke out in Europe, Frederick was working for JS Collins at the Mountain Hotel in Queenstown. By this point he had also spent three years in military service, working for the Ambulance Brigade in Nelson, at the northern tip of South Island.
Frederick stepped up to play his part, enlisting on 22nd August 1916. His service documents show that he was 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, and weighed 153lbs (69.4kg). A Methodist, he had black hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion.
Attached to the New Zealand Otago Regiment, Private Browning was sent to Trentham, on the North Island, for training. An asthmatic, he spent two weeks in hospital with the condition in October 1916. On 30th December 1916 his unit departed for Europe on board the SS Athenic, a White Star Line ship conscripted for troop use at the start of the war.
Frederick’s asthma returned on the journey, and he spent a further week of the journey in his sick bed. The Athenic docked in Devonport, Devon, on 3rd March 1917, and Private Browning was sent straight to the town’s military hospital, his lung condition once again affecting him.
It would not be until 14th March that Frederick eventually re-joined his unit, who were based in a camp just outside the Wiltshire village of Codford. His health was really struggling, however, and he came down with a bout of pneumonia. On 24th March he was admitted to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital near the camp, but the condition was to get the better of his weakened body. Private Browning passed away on 31st March 1917, at the age of 33 years old.
The body of Frederick Henry Browning was laid to rest in the ANZAC graveyard extension of St Mary’s Church, Codford, not far from the base he had so briefly called home.
Ronald Dumbleton was born in Pukeuri Junction, New Zealand, at the end of 1890. His parents were William and Lucy, but about his early life, there is very little information.
When he finished his schooling, found work as a telegraphist and, by the time war broke out, he was employed at the Oamaru Post Office. This employment fitted in perfectly with his hobby as a volunteer in the Signal Company.
Ronald enlisted in the Otago Regiment of the New Zealand Infantry on 13th June 1915. His service records show that he was 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall and weighed 140lbs (63.5kg). An Anglican by faith, he had black hair, dark eye and a dark complexion.
Assigned to the 7th Battalion, Private Dumbleton’s unit set sail for Europe towards the end of the year and, after a few weeks in Egypt, Ronald arrived in Britain in March 1916. His previous military service stood him in good stead. On 8th July 1915 he was promoted to Lance Corporal, and just six weeks later he had made full Corporal.
In April 1916, Ronald arrived in France. Transferred to the 1st Battalion, he would remain overseas for six months. Caught up in the fighting at the Somme, he was injured in his left arm and shoulder and medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Corporal Dumbleton was admitted to the 1st Southern General Hospital in Birmingham, and remained there for a month.
In November, Corporal Dumbleton transferred to a hospital in Hornchurch, Essex. He then seems to have been moved to the ANZAC base near Codford, Wiltshire, for his ongoing recuperation. He was given two weeks’ leave in January 1917, returning to the base towards the end of the month.
At this point, Ronald’s trail goes cold. He remained based in Codford, possibly as he was not yet fit enough to re-join his unit on the Western Front. While in camp, however, he fell ill, passing away on 5th April 1917. He was 26 years of age.
Thousands of miles from home, Ronald Dumbleton’s body was laid to rest in the extended graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Codford, not far form the base which he had called home.
The early life of Charles Miles, whose body lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, is a challenge to unpick, and the starting point is the last document relating to him.
His military Pension Ledger confirms that he died on 13th May 1918, from empyema, a bacterial infection affecting the lungs. The document cites his next-of-kin as Miss Hilda Miles, of 15 St John’s Road in Gillingham. She is noted as being the guardian of two children – Ada, born in 1905, and George, born the following year – because their mother, Charles’ wife, had passed away on 30th May 1912.
An online search for Ada and George gives an entry in the 1911 census. This finds them as the youngest two of six children to Charles and Elizabeth Miles. The document also gives a clue about their future guardian, Hilda: she is their older sister.
The Miles family were living at 45 Commercial Street in Whitechapel, East London. Charles, at 39, was recorded as a Royal Marines Pensioner and schoolkeeper. His wife, Elizabeth, was assisting with this role, and the couple had two other surviving children, Charles Jr and Walter.
While it is still difficult to piece together Charles’ childhood, his Royal Marine service records do shed a little light onto it. Born in Hampstead on 23rd November 1871, he was working as an ironmonger’s assistant when he enlisted. He joined up on 23rd August 1889, the document showing that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, with brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion. He also had a tattoo on his right forearm.
Private Miles had joined up in London but, as with most Royal Marine recruits, he was sent to the base in Walmer, Kent, for his initial training. In the spring of 1890 he moved to the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, and this would become his regular port for the remainder of his service.
Charles’ service proved to be a committed one. Over the next decade he would serve on five ships, and would rise through the ranks. In October 1894 he was promoted to Lance Corporal, making full Corporal less than a year later. On 1st January 1899 he was promoted to Sergeant, and by the start of 1908, he held the rank of Colour Sergeant. Formally stood down to reserve status on 22nd November 1910, he was noted as having a very good character.
Away from the service, there is no record for Charles and Elizabeth’s marriage. She had been born in Sheerness, Kent, and was a year younger than her husband. It is likely that they were married by 1897, as this is when their oldest child was born. The 1901 census recorded them living on Manor Street in Gillingham, but, once Charles had been stood down, the school keeper’s position in the East End came up.
When war broke out, Charles was called upon to play his part once more. He returned to Chatham, leaving his younger children in Hilda’s care. By September 1914 he had moved to HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and he would remain there for the next eighteen months. His shore base and naval experience suggest that, at 43 years of age, his was more of a training or mentoring role, although there is nothing in his records to confirm this.
In February 1916, Colour Sergeant Miles returned once more to Chatham, and the naval base there would be his home for the next few years. He was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in the spring of 1918, and passed away from the infection on 13th May 1918. He was 46 years old.
Charles Miles was laid to rest in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham.
After their father’s death, the Miles siblings found their own way in life.
By the time of the 1921 census, Ada, now 16 years old, was working as a domestic servant for Henry Chapman, a ship’s surveyor, and his family. They were living at 73 Milton Street in Fleetwood, a short stroll from the Lancashire coast.
Hilda, into whose care Charles had given his youngest children, was now 22 years of age. She had married William Swift, a pattern maker for the Admiralty, in the summer of 1918. They would not have any children, and the 1921 census found the couple living at 15 Milner Road, Gillingham. She too was just a short walk from the shoreline, but was also within walking distance from the cemetery in which her father had been buried.
Walter Marsh was born on 17th April 1891 in Beckenham, Kent. The fifth of thirteen children, his parents were Harry and Louisa Marsh. Harry was a bricklayer from Doncaster, Yorkshire, while his wife was from Enfield, Middlesex. By the time their first child was born, however, they had moved to Kent, and the 1901 census found the family living in a small terrace at 77 Birkbeck Road.
In such a large family, it would have been a challenge to find your place. It seems that Walter wasn’t able to make his mark on the world within the constrains of his siblings and so, on 11th August 1910, he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a dark complexion. He was also noted as having a scar on his back, and passed his swimming exam when he was tested on 4th November.
Private Marsh’s initial training was undertaken in Deal, Kent, but over the following eight years, his main base was to be the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham. In six separate postings, he would spend more than three-and-a-half years at sea, including a year on the battleship HMS Russell and the submarine depot ship HMS Cyclops.
In January 1915 Walter was promoted to the rank of Corporal, and it was around this time that he got married. In the summer of that year, he tied the knot with Gertrude Crozier, a domestic servant, and daughter of a Chatham flour mill labourer.
Corporal Marsh would continue in the Royal Marine Light Infantry until January 1918. Medically discharged, he was seen to no longer be fit for military service, although it is unclear what condition or injury led to the end of his eight year career.
As this point, Walter’s trail goes cold, and the next record relates to his passing. He died in Chatham on 30th June 1918, at the age of 27 years old. Gertrude had given birth to their first child, a daughter named after her mother, just six months before.
The body of Walter Marsh was laid to rest in the naval section of Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent, not far from the base that had become a home from home.
After the loss of her husband, Gertrude would go on to marry again, wedding Royal Navy Petty Officer Frederick Harris on 1st January 1920. The couple went on to have a child of their own, daughter Florence, towards the end of that year.
Born in the spring of 1872, Herbert James Kingdon was the ninth of ten children to George and Elizabeth. George was an agricultural labourer from the Devon village of George Nympton, it was here that the family was born and raised.
George died in 1900, at the age of 72, from this point on, Elizabeth also disappears from the records. In the spring of 1900, Herbert, now also a farm labourer, married Elizabeth – or Bessie – Speed. She was a farmworker’s daughter from South Molton, just two miles to the north. The couple set up home close to where Herbert had been living, and would go on to have five children by the time war was declared: Frederick, Florence, Frank, Annie and Herbert Jr.
George Nympton was a small village, and most of Herbert’s siblings remained close. The 1911 census found Herbert and Bessie living in the village, next door to Bessie’s parents who appear to have moved closer to support their daughter’s family. Three of their four children now old enough to attend the local school, while Herbert was still doing farm work, alongside his father-in-law, George Speed, and his brother-in-law, Fred.
When war broke out, Herbert stepped up to play his part. His full service records are no longer available, but the documents that do still exist suggest that he had enlisted by the start of 1917. Joining the Devonshire Regiment, he was assigned to the No. 4 Agricultural Company, and remained on home soil. By this point, Bessie had had a sixth child, Edward, and it is likely that she needed all the help she could get. With her husband remaining close by, and with her parents still living next door, she seems to have been supported.
By the summer of 1917, Private Kingdon had become unwell, and was suffering from a combination of pneumonia and pleurisy. Convalescing at home, the conditions were to get the better of him: he passed away on 27th June 1917, at the age of 45 years old.
Herbert James Kingdon was laid to rest in the graveyard of St George’s Church, George Nympton, in sight of his former home.
Bessie was pregnant when her husband passed: she gave birth on 13th January 1918, to a baby girl, Mary.
Bessie would only outlive her husband by five years. The last record for her is the 1921 census, when she was living in the family home with five of her children, and her parents, now in their mid-60s, living next door.
James Gard was born on 8th March 1889 in the Devon village of Rose Ash. One of fourteen children, he was the fourth of six sons to George and Mary Gard. George was a poultry dealer, but when both he and Mary died within two months of each other in 1897, their children were suddenly left as orphans.
The 1901 census found 12-year-old James visiting the Cole family, farmers who lived a few miles away in Bishops Nympton. James’ older brother Philip had plans, however, and in 1907, the two of them set out for a new life in Canada.
Boarding the SS Saxonia in Liverpool, they arrived in Boston with 50s (approx. £390 in today’s money) between them. Their final destination was to be Winnipeg in Manitoba, but the soon moved further north, setting up neighbouring homes in the town of Fisher Branch.
Both siblings found farming work, but when war broke out in Europe, James stepped up to play his part. On 24th February 1916 he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and was assigned to the Canadian Infantry. His service records show that he was 6ft (1.83m) tall and weighed 155lbs (70.3kg). He had dark brown hair, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion.
Private Gard set sail for Britain within a matter of weeks, arriving in Shorncliffe, Kent, on 12th May 1916. His unit – the 44th Battalion – moved to their base in Bramshott, Hampshire, and this is where he would receive his training.
James’ unit was involved in the fighting at the Somme and Ancre, and his commitment was rewarded when, on 20th January 1917, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Just days later, however, he was badly injured.
A high explosive shell exploded near Sergeant Gard that day, bursting both of his eardrums. Initially treated on site, he was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and was admitted to the Military Hospital in Tooting, Surrey. He developed mastoiditis in both ears, and this, combined with septicaemia, lead to his ultimate death. He passed away on 1st April 1917, at the age of 28 years of age.
The body of James Gard was taken back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter’s Church in his home village, Rose Ash.
Albert Chapple was born early in 1895, and was the son of Elizabeth Chapple. She was just 16 years of age when he was born, and her parents, John and Sarah, unofficially adopted him as their own. John was a church sexton from the village of Knowstone, Devon, and this is where the Chapple family were raised.
Elizabeth married William Dart, a fishmonger from Dawlish, in 1909, and by the time of the census two years later, they had set up home in Beach Street, close to the town’s railway station.
Albert, meanwhile, was still living with his grandparents back in Knowstone. John, now 66 years of age, was employed as an agricultural labourer, while his grandson was working as a cattle boy on the same farm.
When war broke out, Albert was called upon to play his part. Sadly, full details of his military service have been lost, but it is clear that he had enlisted by June 1916. He enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps as a Private, with his entry in the British Army of Soldiers’ Effects suggesting that his unit was attached to the 2nd/1st Wessex Field Artillery.
Private Chapple’s pension record confirms that he had been admitted to the 2nd Western General Hospital in Exeter, Devon. He passed away on 10th December 1916, following an operation, although the document gives no clue as to why he had needed surgery. He was just 21 years of age.
Albert Chapple’s body was taken back to Knowstone for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Peter’s Hospital in the village.
The next census return, taken in 1921, found Elizabeth and William still plying their trade in fish in Dawlish. By this point, they had had a son, Edmund, who was five years old. Elizabeth’s sister, Rosie, was living with them, and assisting in the business.
Gilbert Charles Nott was born in the autumn of 1895, and was the older of two children to William and Eleanor. William was a plumber and ironmonger from Bampton in Devon, and this is where the family were born and raised.
For the whole of Gilbert’s life, the Notts lived on Brook Street in the centre of the town. The 1901 census found the family at numbers 9 and 10, while the 1911 record confirmed they had moved up the road to number 7 Brook Street. At this point, however, Gilbert was recorded as living with his widowed maternal grandmother, Eleanor Besley. At 15 years of age, he was working, and was employed as a bookkeeper at the Bampton Lime & Stone Company.
When war broke out across Europe, Gilbert was called upon to play his part. He enlisted after December 1915, and was assigned to the 3rd/4th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. Sent to Hursley Park near Winchester, Hampshire, for training, his time in the army was to be brief.
In the spring of 1916, he was admitted to the Victoria Hospital in Winchester, passing away there on 3rd May. The cause of his death is not readily confirmed, but his sparse service records suggest that he died from ‘disease’. He was just 20 years of age.
At the family’s request, the body of Gilbert Charles Nott was taken back to Devon for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Michael’s Church in Bampton, the church in which he had been baptised just two decades before.
William James Thomas was born in Manordeifi, Pembrokeshire, in 1894. The older to two children his parents were Benjamin and Ellen Thomas. Benjamin was a groom, and, at the time of the 1891 census, the family were living at Cilwendeg Lodge at the entrance to the Welsh estate.
The family moved to Aberporth on the Cardigan coast by the 1901 census. Benjamin had become a farmer, and William, now 17 years of age, was helping out.
Something changed dramatically for William, however, and by 1914, he was living in the West Sussex village of Ferring, some 200 miles (320km) from his birthplace. By this point he was working as a motor driver and, on 25h March, he married Winifred May Knight at St Mary’s Church in Goring-by-Sea.
William stepped up to serve his country when war broke out, enlisting on 18th February 1915. His service records show that he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, and weighed 138lbs (62.6kg). He was noted as having a mole on his right cheek, and that several teeth were missing. The document confirms his marriage to Winifred, but also gives details of a child, Evelyne Winifred, who had been born in 1905: there is nothing to confirm whether she was his, or was born to Winifred before the couple met.
Private Thomas was assigned to the Army Service Corps Mechanical Transport Division, and sent to nearby Worthing for his training. His time in the army was to be tragically brief, as within a fortnight he had been admitted to the town’s Red Cross Hospital, suffering from cerebrospinal fever.
On 23rd March, William was transferred to Worthing Civil Infections Hospital, but any treatment he was receiving was to prove ineffective. He passed away on 31st March 1915, at the age of 31 years old.
The body of William James Thomas was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church, Goring, where just over a year before he and Winifred had been married.
Ernest Arthur Pointing was born on 21st March 1896 in Goring-by-Sea, Sussex. The second-to-last of thirteen children, his parents were William and Kate. William was a baker from Brighton, but by the time of the 1901 census, the family were living at The Cottage, next to Goring Hall.
When Ernest left school, he found work as a stable boy. The next census, taken in 1911, found him and his parents – William now having retired – living at 1 Elm Tree Cottages in the centre of Goring itself. The three of them shared the house with Ernest’s older sister, Louisa, and his nephew, seven-year-old Herbert.
Alongside his paid work, Ernest also volunteered for the Royal Sussex Regiment and, within a week of turning eighteen, he stepped up to enlist with them. His medical report, undertaken on 18th March 1914, show that he was 5ft 4.5ins (1.64m) tall, and weighed 112lbs (50.8kg). He had dark brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. He as noted as having two scars on his left thumb, and two more on his right knee.
Assigned to the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment, Private Pointing would spend the next nine months training on home soil. By the middle of January 1915, however, he was sent to France. Intriguingly, he was to spend only two months overseas, before returning to home soil. There is no evidence of him being injured, but it would not be until September 1915 that he returned to the fray.
In January 1916, Private Pointing transferred to the Machine Gun Corps. He remained overseas until March 1916, at which point his health seemed to have become affected. Ernest returned to Britain, and was ultimately discharged from military on 28th March 1917. He was suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, the condition that would ultimately take his life less than six months later.
Ernest Arthur Pointing died on 5th October 1917. He was just 21 years of age. He was back in Sussex by this point, and he was laid to rest in the family plot in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Goring. He was buried alongside his father, William, who had died two years earlier.
Death and Service 