John Slade was born in Winchmore Hill, Buckinghamshire, in 1865. One of three children to Edward and Mary, he also had three half-siblings from his mother’s previous marriage. Edward was a hawker, but when he left school, his son sought bigger and better things. By the time of the 1891 census he was recorded as being a Private in the Royal Marine Light Infantry, and was based in Chatham, Kent.
Sadly, Private Slade’s service records have been lost to time, so it is not possible to identify where his role took him. The 1901 census, however, shed some light on his time in the navy. It found him living at 36 Cross Street in Gillingham, Kent, with his wife, Annie, and his adopted daughter, Lillie. They had also taken on three boarders – Frank Hall, Harry Monk and Charles Barwell – all of whom were in the navy as well.
Ten years later on, and thing had changed once more. Still living in Gillingham, it seems that John’s time in the Royal Marine Light Infantry had come to an end. Instead, he was living at 54 James Street and giving his trade as an unemployed labourer. Still noted as being married, there is no sign of either Annie or Lillie: instead John was living with widow Laura Greyson and her two teenage boys, Charles and George.
At this point, John’s trail goes cold. As he was formally granted a Commonwealth War Grave, he must have stepped up to serve his country once more when war broke out in 1914. He would, however, have been getting on in years at this point, so how for long that service continued is anyone’s guess. He passed away from ‘disease’ on 22nd July 1918, at the age of 53 years of age.
John Slade was laid to rest in the military section of Woodlands Cemetery, Gllingham, the town that had been his home for more than three decades.
In amongst the rows of naval headstones in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, is one dedicated to James Williamson, a Private in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. He was killed in action on 27th May 1915, while attached to the ship HMS Princess Irene, and was 32 years of age when he passed.
There is little specific documentation relating to Private Williamson’s life, but what remains allows us to piece together something of the man he was.
James was born in the Dennistoun area of Glasgow in around 1883, and was one of five children to William and Jane Williamson. When he finished his schooling, he seems to have had a pull to the sea: whether this was because he was following in his father’s footsteps, or because of his home’s proximity to the river and docks is unclear.
By the time of the 1911 census, James was already serving in the Royal Marines. He was based on the cruiser HMS Philomel, which was in the Gulf of Oman on the day the census was taken, and was one of 19 Royal Marines on board our of a total compliment of 244 crew.
There is little more concrete information about Private Williamson’s life. By the spring of 1915, he had been assigned to the HMS Princess Irene, an ocean liner requisitioned during the war and converted into a mine layer. On 27th May, she was moored off Sheerness in Kent, when a series of explosions ripped her apart. More than 270 crewmen were killed: this included the 32-year-old James.
The crew whose bodies were not able to be identified were laid to rest in a communal grave in Woodlands Cemetery: James Williamson was laid to rest nearby, in a burial of his own.
Interestingly, James’ entry on the Royal Navy and Royal Marines War Graves Roll gives his next of kin as a friend, Miss J Malone of 3 Ashview Terrace, Newton Mearns, near Glasgow. There is no other information about her.
Arthur William Green was born on 27th August 1896, the middle of five children to William and Mary Green. William was a shoemaker, who was employed at the Clark’s factory in Street, Somerset, and this is where the family were born and raised.
Clark’s was the key employer in Street and, by the time of the 1911 census, five of the Green family were working for them. This included the 15 year old Arthur, whose job was a shoe cutter.
When war came to Europe, Arthur had already stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Royal Marine Artillery in March 1914. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having a scar on the back of his neck.
Private Green was initially under age for service in the regiment, only coming of age at the end of August 1914. He initially completed his training either in Chatham, Kent, or Plymouth, Devon, becoming a Gunner on 5th February 1915. That spring he was assigned to the battleship HMS Warspite, and would remain on board for the next four years.
In February 1918, Gunner Green was assigned to the 4th Battalion of the Royal Marines. Still serving on Warspite, on 23rd April he was involved in the Raid on Zeebrugge. A combined action by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, the aim was to block the entrance to the port of Bruges-Zeebrugge by sinking obsolete ships. A total of 1700 men were involved, and, in the ensuing battle, some 200 were killed and 400 wounded.
Gunner Green was one of those who was injured in the battle. When the Warspite returned home, he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, Kent, but his injuries were to prove too severe for him to overcome. He passed away on 17th May 1918, at the age of just 21 years old.
Arthur William Green was laid to rest in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, not far from the Chatham base he had briefly known as home.
John Merritt was born on 17th August 1880 in Shoreditch, London, and was the youngest of three children to James and Emily Merritt. James was a dock labourer, who passed away when his son was just four years old. Emily remarried the following year, having a child with her new husband, George Wise, in 1888.
When he completed his schooling, John found work as a stoker. However, he sought bigger and better things and, on 21st February 1898, he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. Not yet eighteen years old, his service records show that he was 5ft 5.5ins (1.64m) tall, with grey eyes, brown hair and a fresh complexion. His service records also record a couple of tattoos: an anchor on his left forearm, and a crossed heart on his right.
Over the next two decades, Private Merritt sailed and saw the world. Primarily based out of the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, he served on ten ships in all. His superiors obviously thought highly of him, as his records note his character and ability as very good throughout his service.
On 3rd July 1909, John married Harriett Wise. She was a lighterman’s daughter from East London, who was working as a cork cutter when the couple exchanged their vows. They went on to have two children: Florence, who was born in 1910, and Reginald, who came along six years later.
By the time war was declared in the summer of 1914, John seems to have been mainly shore-based, his time being split between Chatham and Portsmouth, Hampshire.
On 7th March 1917, Private Merritt was on board the gunboat HMS Spey, which was carrying out diving operations in the Thames Estuary. At 4 o’clock in the afternoon, in “bitterly cold and boisterous conditions” [Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald: Saturday 24th March 1917], the ship lost an anchor, and the decision was made to return to base at Sheerness, Kent. Another vessel, the HMS Belvedere, was close by and turned towards the Spey, and, despite trying to avoid a collision, the smaller ship was struck a glancing blow.
The Spey was 40 years old, and the impact sheered numerous rivets from the side. Water gushed in, and the gunboat sunk beneath the Thames within a matter of minutes. Some of the crew had managed to escape on a life raft, but it was not fitted with lights or flags. The boat drifted and was not found until five hours later, partially submerged: all on board had died.
In total, twenty of the thirty-seven crew perished on that March afternoon, including Private Merritt. He was 36 years of age.
It would seem that Harriett was unable to cover the cost of bringing her late husband’s body back to London for burial. Instead, John Merritt was laid to rest in Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, not far from the naval base in Chatham which he had called home for so long.
In the middle of the military section of the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, is a headstone commemorating the life of John David Roche.
Details of John’s life are a challenge to piece together, although a later document gives his next-of-kin as Mrs E Roche of 108 Osnaburgh Street, Regent’s Park, London. There is a baptism record from 1897 for John David Roche, whose mother’s name was given as Lizzie. John’s father is listed as David, and the christening took place in Chelsea. There are no other records or census returns to give any further family background.
John’s time in military service is also hard to determine. That he joined the Royal Marine Light Infantry is clear, although when he enlisted and where he served are sadly lost to time.
Details of Private Roche’s passing are also unclear. He is noted as having died of disease, although the specific cause is not detailed. Given the location of his burial, it seems likely that he passed either at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, or at the hospital in the town connected to it.
John David Roche passed away on 2nd June 1916. If the baptism was correct, he was a day short of his 19th birthday.
Much of the early life of James Kendall is destined to remain shrouded in the mists of time. Born on 10th June 1883 in Stalbridge, Dorset, his parents are recorded as James Kendall and Anna Louisa Yeatman.
The 1901 census recorded James as being the head of a household, despite being only 17 years old. He was working as an agricultural labourer, and was living with his maternal grandmother, Mary Ann Yeatman, and her daughter, Louisa (the census recorded her as James’ aunt, although she shared a name with his mother).
James sought a proper career, however, and, on 19th July 1901, he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. His service records show that he was 5ft 6.5ins (1.69m) tall, with brown eyes, light brown hair and a fresh complexion.
Private Kendall was sent to Deal in Kent for his training: he remained here for nine months, before being transferred to Portsmouth, Hampshire. Over the next twelve years, he served on ten ships – including the HMS Duke of Wellington, HMS Egmont and HMS Renown – returning to the HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, in between each assignment.
James was billeted at HMS Victory when war was declared. During the conflict he remained based in Portsmouth, while being assigned to HMS Cornwall and HMS Birmingham for spells. It seems likely that his shore service helped support new recruits: Private Kendall’s experience would have been invaluable.
In 1915, James married a woman called Edith: there are no other details for her, other than that she his named as his next of kin on his service records.
When the armistice was declared, Private Kendall was serving on HMS President III, a shore base split between Bristol, Windsor and London. He returned to Portsmouth in the summer of 1919 and was formally stood down the following January, having been invalided out of the Royal Marines. He had served for more than eighteen years, and consistently received notices of high levels of character and ability.
James’ dismissal from service was as a result of an unrecorded illness, likely to be one of the lung conditions prevalent at the time. The next record for him is that of his passing, on 24th May 1920, at Bath War Hospital, Somerset. He was 36 years of age.
James Kendall was laid to rest in the city’s Locksbrook Cemetery. He was interred in the military section on the graveyard, often reserved for those servicemen whose families were unable to afford to bring their loved ones home.
George Joseph Vowles was born in Winsley, Wiltshire, on 18th September 1881. The older of two children, his parents were Joseph and Sophia Vowles. Joseph was an agricultural labourer from Bedminster, who was 46 when his son was born, and twenty years older than his wife. By the time George’s sister was born, in 1890, the family had moved west, and had settled in Wraxall, near Nailsea in Somerset.
George found work as a gardener when he finished his schooling, but he had his sights set on bigger and better things. Sophia had died in 1894 and on 21st March 1900, he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. His service records show that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, with light brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having a scar on the back of his neck.
For the next ten years, George seemed to flourish, serving on a number of ships, including HMS Niobe and HMS Andromeda. In between voyages, he was based at the RMLI depot in Plymouth. During this time he was promoted twice, to the rank of Corporal in September 1902 and Serjeant five years later.
Serjeant Vowles’ contract of service ended in 1911, but with his father now also having passed, he was re-engaged. He continued to make great strides, and, as war broke out, served on HMS Medea and HMS Theseus.
George’s service was cut short in the spring of 1916. Based back at the Plymouth Depot at the time, he fell ill with pulmonary tuberculosis. Sadly, the condition was to get the better of him, and he passed away on 6th April 1916, at the age of 35 years old.
George Joseph Vowles’ body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of All Saints’ Church in Wraxall, alongside his parents, and not far from where his now-married sister, Dorothy now lived.
On the main road between Glastonbury and Wells, on the outskirts of the village of Coxley is the old Wesleyan Methodist Chapel. Now converted to a house, its back garden contains the remains of Private WR Parsons, who died in January 1919.
William Reginald Parsons was born on 22nd February 1895 in the hamlet of Chilton Burtle, near Bridgwater. The second of eight children, his parents were Wallace and Harriet Parsons. By the time of the 1901 census, the family had moved to Wells, where William was employed as a platelayer by Great Western Railways.
When he left school, William found employment as a paper maker, and was employed by the St Cuthbert’s Paper Mill to the west of the city. He wanted bigger and better things, however, and, on 11th April 1912, he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry.
Private Parsons’ service records show that he was 5ft 6.5ins (1.68m) tall, with brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. It was also noted that he had a small scar on the right side of his back. Initially sent to the regiment’s depot in Deal, Kent, this is where he was tested for his swimming ability: he passed on 24th June 1912.
William remained in Deal until the end of the year. After seven months in Portsmouth, Hampshire, he embarked on a number of postings that lasted for the next six years. Initially assigned to the battleship HMS Bulwark, Private Parsons’ main posting was on board another battleship, HMS Zealandia.
Primarily based guarding the North Sea Coast, Zealandia also served in the Mediterranean, sailing as far as the Dardanelles towards the end of 1915. In all, Private Parsons spent more than three years on board the battleship.
William’s next posting was on board the cruiser HMS Royalist, on which he served until the end of the First World War. While he was on board, it appears that he became unwell, and he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Granton, near Edinburgh. Details of his condition are not readily available, but they were serious enough for him to succumb to them: he passed away on 30th January 1919, at the age of just 23 years old.
The body of William Reginald Parsons was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the quiet churchyard of the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Coxley.
(c) Sharky Ward 2025
As the chapel is now a family home, its garden is not readily accessible. The photo of Private Parsons’ grave was taken by Commonwealth War Graves Commission volunteer Sharky Ward, to whom I am indebted for its use.
In a quiet spot in North Petherton Cemetery, Somerset, is a headstone dedicated to Private J Mahaffey of the Devonshire Regiment. He died on 5th February 1916, but there is little further information available for him.
Private Mahaffey’s service number leads you to one military record, his army pension ledger card. This confirms a little more information: his first name was John, he had two children noted (underage, and therefore eligible for part of his pension) – Elsie and Thomas – and a guardian is also given – Mrs Elizabeth Broom, who lived in Kentisbeare, Devon. The pension card also confirms the cause of John’s death: heart failure due to disease contracted on active service.
An unusual surname made searching contemporary newspapers easier, and a mystery was unveiled:
Private John Mahaffey, a native of Devonport.. was found dead in the Great Western Railway train at Durston on Saturday.
Deceased, who was in the Devon Regiment (86th Battalion Provisional Territorial Force), was 49 years of age, and had served twelve years in the Army. At the outbreak of war he re-enlisted, and latterly had been quartered at Blythe. It appears that he had been on a visit to his children at Devonport, and was upon his return journey when his death occurred. At Taunton he conversed with the guard of the train by while he travelled, and was then apparently in good health.
PS Hill, North Petherton, state that on Saturday, he… saw the body of the deceased… He examined the body, and found a bruise above the left eye and a scar on the nose. He found upon him his regimental pass and the return railway ticket. There was also money in his pockets.
George William Grinnett, a guard on the GWR, said… he was approached by deceased, who asked as to the train service to Newcastle. Witness understood that he had travelled from Exeter… He advised him to… change at Bristol. He then appeared to be all right, and in good health. On arrival at Durston [George] walked the train, and when passing the compartment that deceased entered at Taunton he noticed a man on the floor in the corridor. He went inside and found that the man was dead. He then communicated with three soldiers, who said they had not travelled with deceased. They had merely opened the door, and, seeing a man there, had walked away without telling anybody.
Dr William C Ghent… said her was called to see deceased. He was quite unable to form an opinion as to the cause of death. There was a good deal of blood on the face, and a slight wound on the nose. From a post-mortem examination he found that one of the valves of the heart was incompetent, and in his opinion death was due to heart failure. The blood on the nose might have been caused by a fall. There was no serious injury from the blow which would cause death.
Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 9th February 1916
John’s previous twelve years in the army may relate to a Royal Marine Light Infantry service document for a John Mahaffoy. Born on 24th May 1864 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, he enlisted in Bristol as a Private on 24th April 1888. Primarily based out of Plymouth, he served until the summer of 1900, and was assigned to the Royal Fleet Reserve for a further seven years.
Further complexity is added to John’s story, with a marriage record for 6th April 1896. This confirms his wife’s name as Elizabeth Brown, the couple marrying in Devon. The 1901 census confirms two older children for the couple, Kathleen (mentioned in the newspaper report, who was born in 1897) and Margaret, who came along two years later.
The next census, however, shows a divided family. John was recorded as being one of 1200 patients in the Devon County Lunatic Asylum in Exminster. Elizabeth was living in Portsmouth, with their son, Thomas. She also had a boarder, Bertram Bound, an Able Seaman in the Merchant Navy. Kathleen was a patient in the Sanatorium for Devon and Cornwall Consumptive Patients in South Brent, Devon. Elsie, meanwhile, was recorded as living in Kentisbeare with her grandparents, Edmund and Elizabeth Broom.
This would suggest that John’s wife Elizabeth had died by the time of his death, and that guardianship of his children passed to his mother-in-law when he too passed away.
The last sad element of this tale is that John Mahaffey was not to be reunited with his children. There may have been a financial element, with the Brooms possibly unable to cover the cost of bringing him down to Devon. John was laid to rest in North Petherton Cemetery, a few miles from Durston Station, where his body had been discovered.
Frederick Sloley was born on 7th April 1897 in Kingston St Mary, Somerset, and was the fourth of nine children to Walter and Mary Jane Sloley. The family were farm workers and were living with Walter’s parents – also agricultural labourers – in the 1901 census.
After he finished his schooling, Frederick found began working with the horses on the farm. When war broke out, however, he saw an opportunity to serve his King and Empire, and enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. He joined up on 5th October 1914, and his service records show that he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, with black hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.
Private Sloley was initially sent to the Reserve Depot in Deal, Kent, for training, before moving to the Plymouth Division in Devon in March 1915. He records do not make it clear where he served specifically, but by 1916 he has fought in the Dardanelles and Mesopotamia.
It was while he was in the Eastern Mediterranean that Frederick was injured. Wounded in the spine by enemy gunfire, he was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. Admitted to King George’s Hospital in London, surgery proved too late. Private Sloley passed away on 26th November 1916, at the age of just 19 years old. His mother, Mary, had managed to see him before he died.
The body of Frederick Sloley was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Mary’s Church in his home village of Kingston.
Death and Service 