William James Maslin was born in the autumn of 1898, and was the second of four children to Mark and Emma. Mark was a hay cutter from Liddington, Wiltshire, but the family were born and raised in Edington, near Westbury.
There is little specific information about William’s life, but it is clear that when war broke out, he was keen to play his part. He enlisted in the Training Reserve Battalion, and was assigned to the 25th Battalion. Sent to Wool, near Bovington, Dorset, it wasn’t long before Private Maslin fell ill. He passed away from bronchial pneumonia on 4th April 1917: he was just 18 years of age,
The body of William James Maslin was taken back to Wiltshire for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Ss. Mary and Katherine and All Saints’ Church in his home village, Edington.
William’s older brother, Walter Frank Maslin, also served in the First World War. Born in 1891, he followed in his father’s footsteps, working as a farm labourer.
On 24th September 1911, Walter married Rose Long. The couple set up home just along the road from Mark and Emma, and wend on to have three children: Florence, Herbert and Dorothy.
Walter enlisted in the Worcestershire Regiment, and was attached to the 2nd/8th Battalion. His unit fought at Fromelles, the Ancre and Langemarck, although, as his service papers no longer exist, it isn’t clear where or how Private Maslin served.
What is clear, however, is that he was captured, and taken as a prisoner of war. Imprisoned at Hamelin Camp, not far from the German town of the same name, he was certainly there by the spring of 1918. Conditions would have been harsh, and Private Maslin succumbed to pneumonia on 6th May 1918: he was 26 years of age. His widow and family would not find out about his passing for some weeks, and a death notice was only reported in the Devizes and Wiltshire Advertiser on the 18th July.
The body of Walter Frank Maslin was laid to rest in Friedhof Ohlsdorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Leonard Stephen Lovelock was born early in 1887 in the Wiltshire village of Edington. The son of Ellen Lovelock, there is no confirmation of who his father was. Ellen married Stephen Drewett in 1889, and from this point on Leonard took that surname. Stephen was a sawyer, and he and Ellen set up home in Kington Langley, near Chippenham.
Leonard, however, was destined for a different upbringing. The 1891 census return found him living with Jesse and Ann Coldrake, who were recorded as his grandparents: also in the household were Betsy Drewett (Jesse’s mother-in-law) and Emily Drewett (his daughter-in-law). The relationships are a little confusing, but Leonard remained with Jesse and Ann for the1901 and 1911 census records.
When he completed his schooling, Leonard followed Jesse into farm labouring. The later census return recorded the family living in a three-roomed cottage on Tinhead, the road leading north from Edington village centre.
Farm work was only the first step for Leonard and, by the time war broke out, he was employed as an attendant at the Wiltshire County Asylum in Devizes. He enlisted on 12th January 1916, his medical records showing that he was a little under 5ft 6ins (1.67m) tall, and weighed 170lbs (77.1kg).
Private Drewett was initially assigned to the 12th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment and, on 14th June 1916, his unit crossed the channel for France. While there, he was transferred to the Labour Corps, and was attached to the 152nd Labour Company. In the summer of 1917, Leonard joined the 5th Army School of Cookery, but after just six weeks he was admitted to a camp hospital suffering from epileptic seizures.
Moved from the camp hospital to the 2nd Australian General Hospital in Wimereux, by the end of the year, Private Drewett had been medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. He was sent to the General Military Hospital in Colchester, Essex, but his condition would ultimately prove fatal. Leonard died on 12th March 1918: he was 32 years of age.
The body of Leonard Stephen Lovelock Drewett was taken back to Wiltshire for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Ss Mary and Katherine and All Saints in his home village of Edington.
Private Leonard Drewett (from Edington Church memorial)
Alfred Frederick Lane was born on the 8th August 1899 in the Wiltshire village of Edington. The third of three children, his parents were Alfred and Ada Lane. Intriguingly, Alfred’s older brother, Percy, who was both the year before, is not recorded as living with his family, the 1901 and 1911 census returns show him as living with his maternal grandparents in Newbury, Berkshire.
Alfred Sr was an innkeeper, and the family lived in the White Horse Inn, one of four pubs in the village. His tenure as landlord did not seem to last for long, however, and, by the time of the 1911 census, he was recorded as being a dairy farmer. With two children to support, he and Ada had taken in a lodger, railway servant Ambrose Perrett.
When war came to Europe, Alfred Jr would eventually be called upon to serve his country. He did not, however, go willingly.
Alfred Frederick Lane (18, single), of White’s Farm Edington, had been refused exemption by the local tribunal, also by the War Agricultural Committee.
The father appeared, and said he was told to get a substitute, but this boy helped on his grandmother’s farm and she did not want a substitute, as she could hardly get about.
Captain Morley: Then I should think she does want one.
Mr Lane said his mother-in-law’s land was five miles away, near Heywood Church, and his son cycled there every morning after he had helped milk the cows at home. He had nine cows in milk and could not milk them all himself, as sometimes he did not get about very early, being “a bit bronchial.”
Captain Morley: How long have you been “touched in the wind?”
Mr Lane: A long time. Dr Willcox, of Warminster, only gave me six months to live – that was four years ago (laughter).
The Tribunal refused exemption and the Chairman said “You must tell your mother-in-law she must get a substitute.”
[Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser: Saturday 2nd March 1918]
Alfred Sr’s attempt to get his son off the hook seemed a desperate measure, and he was not afraid to lie to do so. His mother-in-law, Ada’s mother, had lived in Berkshire and had died seven years earlier. Alfred Sr’s own mother, Hannah, had indeed helped on a farm, but she had passed away in 1900. He may have been suffering from bronchitis, but that was not going to save his son from joining the army.
Private Lane joined the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, and was sent to Ireland for training.
On Sunday last week Mr [Alfred] Lane, of The Farm, Edington, received the sad news that his only son had been fatally shot in a military camp near Dublin. It is only about three months that he joined up, being attached to the Cycling Corps of the Wiltshire Yeomanry.
[Devizes and Wilts Advertiser: Thursday 18th July 1918]
Alfred’s time in the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry had been cut tragically short. In Dublin, a trial was held for the man accused of his killing.
At a general court-martial held in Ship Street Barracks, Dublin, Private Walter H Lester, Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, was charged with the manslaughter of Alfred Frederick Lane at Kilbride Camp, Co. Wicklow, on the 6th July. There was a second charge under the Army Act of having negligently fired a military rifle which fatally wounded Lane.
Mr Smylie, defending, submitted that a charge of manslaughter was not one for trial before a court-martial, and that there was no additional offence disclosed in the second charge.
The Judge-Advocate said that in his opinion the particulars set out in the second charge were the same as those in the first charge. It would only be necessary for the Court to find on one charge, and if they found accused guilty on the second charge he would advise the Court to refer the question of the validity of that charge to the convening officer.
This was agreed to, and evidence was then taken.
Lance-Corporal McCullagh stated that he was in a bell tent on the morning of July 6 with seven others, including the accused and the deceased. The deceased and Private Seansbury were wrestling on the floor. Witness heard an explosion, and they all rushed out, except deceased, who was lying on the floor. His face was covered with blood.
Private Haire said the accused was standing near the two men, who were wrestling. He had a rifle in his hand. He put his hand into his trouser pocket, and took a “round,” which he placed in the rifle, and pointed at the two boys, who were wrestling, and then pulled the trigger. When they heard the explosion they ran out.
Private Bannerin said he could not explain where the accused got the “round,” which was in the rifle.
The accused stated that he put what he took to be a “dud” cartridge in the rifle, which he raised to his shoulder to try. He did not believe it would go off.
His counsel also pleaded that the affair was purely accidental.
Accused was found not guilty on both of the counts.
[Belfast Telegraph: Friday 16th August 1918]
Alfred Frederick Lane was just 18 years of age when he died. His body was brought back to Wiltshire for burial, and he was laid to rest in the graveyard of Ss. Mary and Katherine and All Saints’ Church, not far from where his family still lived.
Private Alfred Lane (from ancestry.co.uk)
The loss of their son, particularly after their personal plea for him to be excused service, dealt Alfred and Ada a savage blow. Alfred Sr died a year after his son, at the age of just 56 years old.
Ada continued with the running of the farm, with her daughter Elsie and son-in-law William, to help. Ada passed away in 1924: she was 52 years of age.
Frank Baden Farmer was born in the summer of 1892 in the Wiltshire village of Semington. The twelfth of thirteen children, his parents were groom and gardener John Farmer and his wife, Jane.
When he completed his schooling, Frank – who was known as Toby to his family and friends – found work as a labourer in a local iron foundry. War broke out in the summer of 1914, and he gave up his job to enlist. He joined the Army Service Corps as a Private and, by early August 1915, he was in France.
Details of Private Farmer’s life in the army have been lost to time, but he certainly survived the war, and returned home to Wiltshire. At this point, Frank’s trail goes cold. The next documents for him relate to his passing – from disease, on 1st February 1921. He was 27 years of age.
The body of Frank Baden Farmer was laid to rest in the graveyard of St George’s Church in his home village of Semington.
Interestingly, The Wiltshire News of the 18th February (thirteen days after Frank’s funeral) included a photograph of the newly installed war memorial tablet in St George’s. Unveiled the week before, it is likely that Private Farmer’s passing came to late for his name to be included on it.
William Henry John Hancock was born in the autumn of 1896 in the Wiltshire village of Semington. One of three children – although one of his siblings had died before he was born – his parents were Henry and Alice Hancock. Henry’s line of work seemed to change over time: William’s baptism record notes he was a baker; the 1901 census suggests he was a poulterer and fishmonger; by 1911 he is recorded as being a market gardener.
William was recorded in census records as John, although his family and friends called him Jack. The 1911 document confirms that, at 14 years of age, he had completed his schooling and was employed as a rubber worker at the local India Rubber factory. His older brother, Richard, was also working, though as a wood trellis maker in a local saw mill. The Hancock family had also taken in two lodgers: William Haines was also a rubber worker, while Herbert Reynolds was employed at the saw mill as well.
When conflict broke out in Europe, William – Jack – was called upon to play his part. Full details of his service have been lost to time, but it is clear that he enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery as a Fitter, and was assigned to B Battery of the 2nd Reserve Brigade. A territorial unit, it seems likely that he was assigned to them while recovering from an illness contracted overseas. By 21st December 1918, Fitter Hancock had been discharged from service, as he was physically unfit to continue.
Jack returned home to Wiltshire, and is likely to have tried to pick up on his previous life. His health had been impacted, however, and he passed away after “a short illness” [Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser: Saturday 12th June 1920] on 3rd June 1920: he was 23 years of age.
The body of William Henry John Hancock – Jack to his friends – was laid to rest in the graveyard of St George’s Church in his home village.
As an interesting aside, a newspaper reported on a luck escape that Henry had had back in 1911:
Last week Mr Hancock, of Semington, on going to the fowl cote found a snake quite a yard and a half long, and as thick as one’s arm. It had a toad in is mouth, and was seen to make a hasty meal of this. Mr Hancock killed the unwelcome visitor with a hay-fork
[Devizes and Wilts Advertiser: Thursday 13th July 1911]
Patrick Thomas O’Neill was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on 2nd March 1888. Little information is available about his early life, but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission confirms he was the son of Jane O’Neill, and the family lived at 151 Taranaki Street.
When he completed his schooling, Patrick found work as a driver for Munt, Cotterell & Co. A large transport and cartage company, when the First World War broke out, they became involved in transporting supplies to the military camp at Trentham. Because of this connection, many of the company’s workers – Patrick included – enlisted.
Patrick’s service papers show that he joined up 22nd August 1916. His medical confirms that he was 5ft 4.5ins (1.64m) tall and had fair hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.
After his training at Trentham, Private O’Neill’s unit – the New Zealand Machine Gun Corps – left Wellington for Europe. After a week’s break in Simon’s Town, South Africa, their ship – the Walmer Castle – arrived in Devonport, Devon, on 27th March 1917. During the second part of the voyage, Patrick was admitted to the ship’s hospital, for an infestation of pubic lice.
The voyage from New Zealand to Britain had taken nearly three months, so when the regiment finally arrived at their camp in Sling, Wiltshire, it must have been something of a relief. For Private O’Neill, however, it marked the beginning of a regular pattern of misdemeanours.
In April 1917, Patrick moved to a base in Tidworth. A matter of weeks later, he went AWOL, and forfeited three days’ pay as a result. Private O’Neill was then sent to Grantham, Lincolnshire, where the ANZAC united had their machine gun training base. Over the next two months, he went AWOL on four separate occasions, resulting in him losing a total of 10 days’ pay and, for the final absence, 96 hours’ detention.
Private O’Neill disappearances seem to have been those of a lad about town: a couple of days after his final return, he was admitted to the venereal section of the camp hospital in Grantham. His condition – and probably his behaviour – was such that he was transferred back to Wiltshire, and admitted to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital near Codford.
Private O’Neill was not done, however. On 6th December 1917, and having been discharged back to his unit just a day before, he went AWOL again, this time in spectacular fashion. He was arrested by military police in Edinburgh on 14th January 1918. Taken in handcuffs back to Codford, he forfeited 71 days’ pay – plus a 2s fine for his arrest – and punished with 90 days in the cells.
Patrick’s imprisonment began on the 1st March 1918, but it was a sentence he would not complete. On 16th May, he was taken from his cell and admitted to the camp hospital, once again to the venereal section. Less than a week later, he was dead, having suffered an embolism. Private O’Neill was 30 years of age when he passed, on 21st May 1918.
The body of Patrick Thomas O’Neill was laid to rest in the extension to St Mary’s Church, Codford, not far from the base in which he had been incarcerated and hospitalised.
Charles John Harvey was born in Nelson, New Zealand, on 30th May 1892. Little information is available about his early life, but documents give his parents as George and Eleanora Harvey.
Charles was working as a general labourer when war broke out, and was called upon to play his part on 19th October 1916. Attached to his country’s Canterbury Regiment, his medical report showed that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, and weighed 11st 2lbs (70.8kg). An Anglican, he was recorded as having dark brown hair, blue eyes and a dark complexion. He was noted as having no vaccination marks.
This fact that Private Harvey hadn’t been vaccinated would come back to haunt him. Sent to an army camp in Trentham, near Wellington, within a matter of weeks he was hospitalised with measles. He remained admitted until 13th December 1916, when he was discharged back to his unit.
It was not until 2nd April 1917, that Private Harvey would set sail for Britain. The journey from Wellington to Devonport would take ten weeks, and Charles was marched in to camp at Sling, Wiltshire, on 10th June that year.
Assigned to the 2nd Company of the 2nd Battalion, Private Harvey finally arrived in France on 27th August 1917. He served on the Western Front for a couple of months, before falling ill again. This time it was influenza that had incapacitated him, and he was admitted to a hospital in Le Tréport for a month while he received treatment.
Charles’ recovery was to be a slow one and, in the end, he was medically evacuated to Britain for ongoing medical support. By February 1918, he had spent time in four different hospitals and, intriguingly, had forfeited three days’ pay for going AWOL while a patient in a medical facility in Hornchurch, Essex. By the start of April 1918, Private Harvey was discharged to the ANZAC camp in Codford, Wiltshire.
His health issues were not over, however, and, on 21st April, Charles was taken in to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in near the Codford camp. He was suffering from acute nephritis, and this would ultimately prove fatal. Private Harvey died on 7th May 1918: he was 25 years of age.
The body of Charles John Harvey was laid to rest in the graveyard extension of St Mary’s Church, Codford.
Thomas Patrick Perwick was born in Balfour, a town on New Zealand’s South Island, on 19th August 1889. There is little information available about his early life, but his parents were Australian Alfred Perwick and his Irish-born wife, Catherine.
When Thomas completed his schooling, he took up agricultural work, and was working as a farmer when he received the call up to join the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
Private Perwick’s service records show that he enlisted on the 18th October 1916. Standing 5ft 10ins (1.78m) tall, he weighed 11st (69.9kg). His medical report shows that he had light brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. The papers also note Thomas’ religion as Roman Catholic.
Sent to Trentham for training, Private Perwick would be assigned to the New Zealand Otago Regiment. His unit left Wellington on 15th February 1917, making the ten-week voyage to Britain. Thomas disembarked in Devonport, Devon, on 2nd May, and was marched in to camp in Sling, Wiltshire, the same day.
Private Perwick was attached to the 2nd Battalion, and was sent to France on 9th June. Straight into the fray, his unit fought at Messines, but was wounded in the head and arm during fighting at Passchendaele. Medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, he was admitted to hospital in Brockenhurst, Hampshire, before being moved back to the Wiltshire ANZAC camps at Sling and Tidworth.
Thomas was discharged to duty on 7th January 1918, but was not out of the woods. He fell ill with mumps, and was sent to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in Codford, Wiltshire, for treatment. While admitted, he contracted tuberculosis, and, over the next four months, his health deteriorated. Private Perwick’s body finally succumbed on 4th May 1918: he was 28 years of age.
Thousands of miles from his home, Thomas Patrick Perwick was laid to rest in the graveyard extension of St Mary’s Church, Codford, not far from the hospital in which he had breathed his last.
Francis Kemp Morris was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 29th September 1884. The older of two children, his parents were William and Fanny Morris. London-born Fanny, had been married twice before, and Francis – who was better known as Frank – had two half-siblings from each of those marriages.
There is little information about Frank’s early life. On 22nd March 1910, he married Lavinia Edwards. The couple went on to have three children – Albert, Ivy and Mavis – and Lavinia had had a son, William, two years before their wedding.
Fanny died in February 1915, at the age of 63. Tragically, Lavinia would also pass away in December 1916: she was just 26 years of age. Frank now had found children to raise. He was employed as an engineer, but was called upon to serve his King the following summer.
Assigned to the New Zealand Otago Regiment, Private Morris’ service papers note that he was 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, and weighed 148kbs (67.1kg). He was recorded as having dark hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion. He had a scar in the middle of his back, and tattoos on both of his forearms and his left knee. Deemed fit for service, Frank was sent to Trentham, near Wellington for training.
On 21st November 1917, Frank’s unit left New Zealand for the ten week voyage to Britain. Arriving in Liverpool, Lancashire, on 8th January 1918, he was marched in to Sling Camp, Wiltshire, the same day, in preparation for his unit’s move to France.
Private Morris, however, would not spend any time fighting the enemy. On 12th April 1918, he was admitted to a military hospital in Tidworth, Wiltshire, suffering with hypertrophy of the tonsils. The following day he was moved to the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital near Codford with gonorrhoea. Over the coming days he contracted bronchitis, and this would be the condition that ultimately claimed his life. Frank died on 20th April 1918, at the age of 33 years old.
Thousands of miles from home, Francis – Frank – Kemp Morris was laid to rest in the graveyard extension to St Mary’s Church, Codford, not far from the hospital in which he had spent the last few weeks of his life.
Frank’s next of kin was noted as a friend, E Biddle, while his war pension was given to Henry Holbrook of St Mary’s Industrial School, Auckland, the guardian of the now orphaned children.
The early life of John Charleston is a challenge to unpick. Later documents confirm his parents as being John and Clare Charleston from Cardiff, Glamorganshire, although there are no baptism or census records to provide additional detail.
Much of the information about John’s life comes from his New Zealand Expeditionary Force service papers. These confirm that he was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, on 1st April 1887. The document suggests that he had spent nine years in the Royal Navy, and that, at the point he enlisted, on 19th September 1916, he was working for the shipping company Shaw, Savill & Albion.
By this point, John was living in Wellington, New Zealand, and had been there for at least a decade. He had married Mary Agnes Sykes in the city on 6th February 1906, and they had four children: Clarence, Phyllis, Arthur and Kenneth.
John joined the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, and was passed as medically fit: his medical noted he was 5ft 2.5ins (1.59m) tall, with brown hair, grey eyes, and a fresh complexion.
Rifleman Charleston spent the next three months training at barracks in Trentham. This time was not without incident, however, and he spent two separate period in hospital – for a growth on his tongue in October 1916, and appendicitis a month later. By the middle of January, however, his unit boarded HMNZT 75 bound for Britain.
The journey back to the UK took ten weeks, and it would not be until 28th March 1917 that Rifleman Charleston marched into Sling Camp in Wiltshire. He would remain there for two months as preparations were made to go to France. During this time, John went AWOL for three days. On his return he was confined to barracks for a week, and docked that three days’ pay.
Rifleman Charleston’s unit arrived in France on 26th May 1917. John, however, would not see much, if any, fighting. Within a couple of days he was admitted to hospital with syphilis, a condition which would keep recurring over the coming months. John was sent back to Britain, spending four separate periods of time receiving treatment over the next eight months.
John’s last admission was in the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in Codford, Wiltshire, on 23rd January 1918. This time, his condition would prove to be too severe. Rifleman Charleston passed away from syphilitic meningitis on 15th March 1918: he was a fortnight short of his 41st birthday.
The body of John Charleston was laid to rest in the graveyard extension of St Mary’s Church, Codford, not far from where he had breathed his last.
Death and Service 