Tag Archives: Rifleman

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, injury, New Zealand, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, photography, Rifleman, story, war, Wiltshire

Rifleman William McMullan

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Rifleman William McMullan

William McMullan was born in Okaihau, on New Zealand’s North Island, on 10th May 1896. One of three children, his parents were James and Rose McMullan.

There is little concrete information about William’s early life. By the beginning of 1916, he was working as a bushman and volunteering for the local militia. The First World War provided an opportunity to put his skills to use, and he enlisted in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade on 15th January 1916.

Rifleman McMullan’s service records show that, at 19 years and 8 months of age, he was 6ft (1.83m) tall and weighed 12st 6lbs (79kg). A Roman Catholic, he had brown hair, blue-grey eyes and a medium-dark complexion.

William left New Zealand in May 1916, bound for Britain. The journey took ten weeks and, after disembarking in Devonport, Devon, his unit marched to Sling Camp, near Bulford, Wiltshire, arriving there on 29th July. Just a few weeks later, however, Rifleman McMullan was on the move again, and he found himself on the Western Front towards the end of September.

On 16th November 1916, while fighting at the Somme, Rifleman McMullan received a gunshot wound to his thigh. A blighty wound, it saw him medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and he was admitted to the No. 1 New Zealand General Hospital in Brockenhurst, Hampshire. A few weeks later, he was moved to Codford, Wiltshire, for recuperation at the No. 3 NZ General Hospital.

William would spend the next few weeks in Wiltshire, but after initially being discharged from hospital, he was re-admitted on 25th January 1917. He had contracted broncho-pneumonia, and this would be the condition to which he would succumb. Private McMullan passed away on 13th February, at the age of just 20 years old.

Thousands of miles away from home, William McMullan was laid to rest in the ANZAC extension to St Mary’s Churchyard in Codford, close to the camp he had most recently called home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, New Zealand, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, photography, Rifleman, story, war, Wiltshire

Rifleman Bertram Winterburn

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Rifleman Bertram Winterburn

Bertram Winterburn was born in the city of Hutt, on New Zealand’s North Island, on 23rd April 1877. The oldest of eleven children, his parents were Arthur and Ada Winterburn. Arthur was a postmaster from South Island, and it would be here that he and Ada would raise their family.

There is little concrete information about Bertram’s life. The 1913 Post Office Directory records him as working as a labourer, and living in Otaki, a town back on North Island. He seems to have moved wherever the work took him, however, and, by the time war broke out, he was living in Hunterville, 110km (68 miles) further north.

Bertram stepped up to serve the empire when the call came. He enlisted in Trentham on 27th June 1916, and was assigned to the New Zealand Rifle Brigade.

Rifleman Winterburn left from Wellington on board the steam ship Willochra on 16th October 1916. His unit – H Company, 18th Reinforcements – would not arrive in Devonport, Devon, until 29th December. They were then marched to their base at Sling Camp near Bulford, Wiltshire.

The journey from New Zealand, would take its toll on the new recruits, with many falling ill before, or shortly after, they arrived. Bertram would not be immune from this and, at the end of January 1917, he was admitted to the 3rd NZ General Hospital in Codford, suffering from influenza. His condition worsened, developing into bronchitis, and this would take his life. Rifleman Winterburn died on 4th February 1917: he was 39 years of age.

Thousands of miles from his home, Bertram Winterburn was laid to rest in the newly extended graveyard attached to St Mary’s Church in Codford.

Australia, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, New Zealand, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, photography, Rifleman, story, war, Wiltshire

Rifleman Alexander Shaw

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Rifleman Alexander Shaw

Alexander Richardson Shaw was born in Sandhurst, Victoria, Australia, on 10th February 1884. The second of seven children – although two of his younger siblings died when just babes-in-arms – his parents were Thomas and Elizabeth Shaw.

Little is known about Alexander’s early life. Thomas passed away in 1890, and Elizabeth was left to raise the family alone.

The next document for Alexander is his army service record, confirming that he enlisted on 27th June 1916. By this point he had moved to New Zealand and settled in Wellington. He was employed as a labourer and working for a GG Holmes.

It seems that Alexander had tried to enlist before: his records show that he had previously been turned down because of poor eyesight. At this point, however, with the war raging in Europe, and thousands of New Zealanders being called upon, he was taken on. His service records show that he was 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall, and weighed 12st 6lbs (78.9kg). Alexander was also noted as having fair (reddish) hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion.

Rifleman Shaw was sent to Trentham, outside Wellington, for his basic training. His time there was not without incident, however, and on 21st July he was confined to barracks for three days for failing to comply with an order.

On 16th October 1916, Rifleman Shaw’s unit – the New Zealand Rifle Brigade – set sail from Wellington on the SS Willochra for their ten-week voyage to Europe. Discipline remained tight on board and, as the ship was nearing the end of its journey, Alexander was again pulled up. His records simply state that his offence was ‘for clothing issued’, and he was stopped the sum of 3d 6d from his pay.

The Willochra arrived in Devonport, Devon, on 29th December 1916 and, while the rest of his unit was sent to their base at Sling Camp near Bulford, Wiltshire, Rifleman Shaw was admitted to the port’s military hospital. His condition is unclear, but by 10th January he was well enough to be moved to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in Codford, Wiltshire.

Private Shaw was suffering from influenza, and this quickly developed into pneumonia. He passed away on 15th January 1917, just five days after being admitted. He was 32 years of age.

Thousands of miles from home, the body of Alexander Richardson Shaw was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard extension to St Mary’s Church in Codford, not far from where he had died.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, New Zealand, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, photography, Rifleman, story, war, Wiltshire

Rifleman Alfred Glastonbury

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Rifleman Alfred Glastonbury

Alfred George Glastonbury – who was better known as Jack – was born on 26th June 1882 in Canvastown, New Zealand. The oldest of fourteen children, he was one of nine sons to Alfred and Matilda Glastonbury.

There is little concrete information about Jack’s early life. He found work with New Zealand Railways, and married Eliza Taylor on 30th January 1904. The couple had a son – also called Alfred – on 2nd December 1908, but Eliza passed away just a couple of weeks after he was born.

Jack married a second time in July 1914, to Ann Leeks. Setting up home in Ohingaiti, they went on to have three children: John, Norah and Harold.

When war came, men of the Empire were called upon to play their part. Jack enlisted on 30th May 1916, and was assigned tot he New Zealand Rifle Brigade. His service records show that he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, and weighed 182lbs (82.6kg). He had light brown hair, blie eyes and a fair complexion: he was also recorded as never being absent from his job as a surfaceman through sickness or accident, but did have signs of varicose veins in his left leg.

Rifleman Glastonbury’s unit departed from Wellington on 25th September 1916. The troop ship Devon arrived in Devonport, England, two months later, and the regiment marched to Sling, near Bulford, Wiltshire, where they would be based.

Jack’s time there would be brief, however. He was admitted to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in Codford on 3rd December, suffering from gastritis. He would succumb to the condition quickly, passing away on 5th December 1916: he was 34 years of age.

Alfred George ‘Jack’ Glastonbury was laid to rest in the ANZAC extension to St Mary’s Churchyard, Codford, cloe to the hospital in which he had breathed his last.

Rifleman Alfred Glastonbury
(from findagrave.com)
Australia, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, New Zealand, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, photography, Private, Rifleman, story, war, Wiltshire

Rifleman John Delaney

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Rifleman John Delaney

Little information is available on the early life of Rifleman John Delaney. Born in Launceston, Ausrtalia, on 31st January 1888, by the summer of 1916 he was working as a shepherd in the New Zealand settlement of Whatatutu.

It was here that he enlisted in the country’s Expeditionary Force, and was assigned to the Rifle Brigade. His service records note that, at 28 years of age, he was 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall and weighed 143lbs (64.9kg). The record confirms that he had fair hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion. He had tattoos on both forearms, and a scar on his left foot. The service docmentation also gives his next-of-kin as his friend, Mr G Garrett of Springbank, near Canterbury, on New Zealand’s South Island.

John’s unit boarded the TSS Maunganui in Wellington on 15th November 1916, embarking on the ten week voyage to Britain. Arriving in Devonport on 29th January 1917, Rifleman Delaney arrived at the ANZAC camp in Codford, Wiltshire, a few days later.

The journey had taken its toll on a lot of the newly arrived troops. John was admitted to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital on the outskirts of the camp with pneumonia on 10th February. His condition was to prove too severe, however, and he passed away just seven days later. He was 29 years of age.

John Delaney was laid to rest in the specially extended graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Codford.

Across the available documentation, John’s rank is given as both Private and Rifleman. I have used the latter rank, as this is what is provided by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Rifleman John Delaney
(from findagrave.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, New Zealand, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, photography, Rifleman, story, war, Wiltshire

Rifleman Frederick Keys

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Rifleman Frederick Keys

Frederick Charles Keys was born in Dunedin, New Zealand on 15th January 1882. The third of eight children, his parents were Benjamin and Annie Keys.

There is little information about Frederick’s early life. When he finished his schooling, it is likely that he found work as an agricultural labourer, and this is the job he was doing when war broke out.

As so many of his countrymen were to be, Frederick was called upon to serve his empire. He signed up in Christchurch on the country’s South Island, enlisting on 27th July 1916. He have his job as a farm hand, and his address as Silver Grid, a boarding house and billiard saloon on the city’s Manchester Street.

Frederick’s medical report confirms that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall and weighed 136lbs (61.7kg). He had fair hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion. He was noted as being a very suitable man for the army.

Assigned to the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, Rifleman Keys embarked for Europe from Wellington on 15th November 1916. Two-and-a-half months later, his ship – the Tahiti – arrived in Devonport, Devon, and the New Zealand troops marched on to their final destination, the ANZAC camps just outside Codford, Wiltshire.

Frederick would spend the next few months training in the camp, although his time there was not without incident. On 31st March 1917, he was docked two days’ pay for ‘being in a crowd some members of which were gambling’. It is not clear whether Frederick himself was gambling, but given his last residence in New Zealand, it is unlikely that he wasn’t immune to chancing the odds.

Two weeks later, Rifleman Keys was admitted to the 3rd New Zealand General Hospital near the camp. He was suffering from pleurisy, but any treatment was to prove too late. He passed away from the condition on 15th April 1917: he was 35 years of age.

Frederick Charles Keys was laid to rest in St Mary’s Churchyard, Codford, in a new extension added for the fallen ANZAC troops.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, injury, London, London Regiment, photography, Rifleman, story, war

Rifleman Henry Banks

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Rifleman Henry Banks

The early life of Henry Ernest Banks is destined to remain lost to time as there is little documentation available to corroborate details. The first concrete documentation for him is his marriage certificate, and this sheds lights onto the man he had become.

The wedding took place on 7th August 1905, and confirms that Henry was 19 years of age. His father was recorded as being James Banks who, by this point was deceased. He had been a chairmaker, and his son had followed in a similar type of work, being employed as a French polisher.

Henry’s bride was 19-year-old Blanche Hearnden, who was noted as being the daughter of deceased traveller William Hearnden. At the time of their marriage, the newlyweds were living at 13 Busby Street, Bethnal Green, London. Now long since gone, the road led directly to St Matthew’s Church, which is where their nuptials took place.

By the time of the 1911 census, Henry and Blanche were living with her mother in Whitechapel. They had had a child, son Ernest, the previous year, and the mixed household included Blanche’s three sisters and their children. Money must have been tight, but four members of the household were bringing in some money, Henry working as a French polisher, with two of his sisters-in-law working as a cigarette packer and a printer’s assistant. Blanche and her other sister were listed as housewives, while her mother, who was also called Blanche, was noted as being a charwoman.

When war broke out, Henry was called upon to play his part. Details of his military service are sketchy, but it is clear that he enlisted in the London Regiment, and was attached to the 17th (County of London) Battalion, which was also known as the Poplar and Stepney Rifles.

Rifleman Banks’ unit was sent to France on 9th March 1915. Within a matter of weeks, however, he was back in the UK, and appears to have been admitted to a hospital in Paignton, Devon.

Henry died on 2nd May 1915, and one record – his entry on the Grave Registration Form – that sheds a little light on Henry’s passing. It is noted being as a result of a strangulated hernia, although this is the only document that gives any details about his death. Henry was 28 or 29 years of age.

Henry Ernest Banks was laid to rest in Paignton Cemetery, Devon.

Channel Islands, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, Jersey, photography, Rifleman, Royal Irish Rifles, Royal Jersey Militia, story, war

Rifleman Joseph Gionta

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Rifleman Joseph Gionta

Joseph Marie Louis Gionta was born on 7th January 1897 in St Ouen, Jersey. He was the oldest of three children to Matthieu and Marie Gionta. Marie has been married before, and so her two children – Joseph’s older stepbrothers – made up the household.

Shoemaker Matthieu passed away when Joseph was just a teenager. By the time of the 1911 census, Marie was living in two rooms in St Ouen’s, supported by her five children. She was working as a charwoman, while her two children from her first marriage were farm labourers, bringing in three probably meagre wages to the family home.

When war broke out, Joseph stepped up to play his part. Initially enlisting in the Royal Jersey Militia, his unit was absorbed by the 7th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles shortly after he joined up. Rifleman Gionta’s service records confirm he was 5ft 3.5ins (1.61m) tall, and that he was 19 years old when he enlisted.

Joseph’s battalion served in France from December 1915, and he spent the next ten months overseas. In October 1916, he returned to the UK, and was transferred to the regiment’s 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalion, serving in Ireland.

Towards the end of 1917, Rifleman Gionta became unwell, contracting tuberculosis. This led to his medical discharge from the army on 29th January 1918, and he returned to the Channel Islands. At this point, his trail goes cold, and it is not until the autumn of 1920 that he resurfaces.

Joseph Marie Louis Gionta passed away on 24th September 1920: he was 23 years of age. A cause of death is unclear, although the likelihood is that it was related to the lung condition that he picked up while on active duty. He was laid to rest in the peaceful St Ouen’s Churchyard in Jersey.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, injury, London Regiment, Middlesex, photography, Rifleman, story, Sussex, war

Rifleman Conrad Bedford

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Rifleman Conrad Bedford

Conrad Thomas Bedford was born on 8th August 1891 in Bowes Park, Middlesex. The younger of two children, his parents were Thomas and Clara Bedford. Thomas was a bank clerk, who had a strong focus on education and, after his untimely death in 1899, aged just 40, Clara was keen to ensure that her only son received the best.

Conrad was educated at Seaford College in Sussex, and was boarding there at the time of the 1901 census. Whilst there, he served in the College Cadet Corps, which was attached to the Royal Sussex Engineers, and by the time he left, in 1909, he had taken the rank of Corporal.

When he completed his schooling, Conrad found work as a clerk in the London Joint Stock Bank, and soon volunteered for the London Rifle Brigade. When war broke out, he willingly stepped up to serve his country, and became attached to the regiment’s 5th Battalion.

The 1/5th (City of London) Battalion (London Rifle Brigade), to give the London Regiment’s unit it’s full title, fought on the Western Front, and Rifleman Bedford arrived in the Wallonia region of Belgium on 4th November 1914.

Early in 1915, Conrad was based near Ploegsteert, when, at around 2am on 27th February, he was shot in the right shoulder. He was medically evacuated to Britain, and admitted to the American Women’s War Hospital, in Paignton, Devon. While his injury was treated, sepsis set in, and Rifleman Bedford succumbed to it: he passed away on 15th March 1915, at the age of 23 years old.

Surprisingly, Clara did not bring her son back to London, where she was living. Instead, Conrad Thomas Bedford was laid to rest in Paignton Cemetery, not far from where he had breathed his last.

Riflemen Conrad Bedford
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, County Antrim, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, Northern Ireland, photography, Rifleman, Royal Irish Rifles, story, Surrey, war

Rifleman David Orr

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Rifleman David Orr

David Orr was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, in 1897, one of five children to William and Annie Orr. William was employed as a railway porter but, when Annie died in the early 1900s, he took on work as a dealer.

By the time of the 1911 census, David, who was now 13 years old, had taken a job as a message boy. War was coming to Europe, however, and he felt it his duty to serve his King and Country.

David joined the Royal Irish Rifles, and was attached to the 18th Battalion. He “was one of the first in [the] district to join the Ulster Division when it was formed in September 1914, and began his training at Cleggan Camp. He was subsequently transferred with his regiment to Clandeboye, where he completed his training…” [Ballymena Weekly Telegraph: Saturday 26th February 1916]

Rifleman Orr’s unit arrived in France on 5th October 1915, but was only overseas for a matter of months.

While serving in the trenches, he was stricken by illness, and was eventually sent back to England and underwent treatment in the 4th London General Hospital, Denmark Hill, and at the Wallace Field Convalescent Home, Croydon. His condition improved somewhat, and he was afterwards transferred to Victoria Barracks, Belfast; but the improvement was, unfortunately, only of a temporary nature…

Ballymena Weekly Telegraph: Saturday 26th February 1916

David Orr passed away on 17th February 1916: he was 18 years of age. He was laid to rest in Ballymena New Cemetery, not far from where his family still lived.

Rifleman David Orr
(from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)