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Army Veterinary Corps, Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Great War, history, illness, photography, story, war

Private Jonathan Lewin

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Private Jonathan Lewin

There is tantalisingly little information available about Private J Lewin, and what I have been able to identify has come from a variety of disparate sources.

Jonathan William Lewin was born in 1877/8 in Essex. By the time of the 1911 census, he was working as a painter in Colchester. He was living in the town with his wife, Agnes Cudmore, who he had married in early 1902. The couple had no children.

The remainder of the information of Private Lewin’s life comes from a piece in the Western Gazette:

The death has occurred at the Yeatman Hospital [Sherborne, Dorset] of Private Jonathan Lewin, of the Army Veterinary Corps. The deceased soldier had been at the Front for a year, and about three months ago was brought home sick and sent to the Yeatman Hospital. He was there found to be suffering from a malignant disease, and his recovery from the first was hopeless. Deceased, who belinged to Colchester, and was 38 years of age, leaves a widow but no children. The funeral took place yesterday and was attended by a number of wounded soldiers and the members of the VTC.

Western Gazette: Friday 7th July 1916.

Private Jonathan Lewin lies at rest in Sherborne Cemetery.

One of the reasons I love researching this type of history, is trying to discover the person behind the name on the gravestone. It seems such an additional loss, therefore, when the life of a brave soldier, like Private Lewin, has disappeared through time.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Dorset, Great War, history, injury, Lincolnshire Regiment, photography, story, war

Corporal Louis Townsend

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Corporal Louis Henry Townsend

Louis Henry Townsend, also known as Henry, was born in the spring of 1881 in Leytonstone, Essex.

Much of Louis’ life remains elusive, he first appears on the census in 1911, and from this we know that he married Florence Annie Ridley (known as Annie) in December 1906. The couple had three children, Thomas, Florence and George.

Louis’ marriage record suggests his father’s name was Thomas Clark, although he also remains a bit of a mystery.

Again, Louis’ military service appears lost to time. He enlisted in the Lincolnshire Regiment, and fought on the Western Front.

The Western Chronicle (26th March 1915) confirms that Corporal Townsend was brought to the Greenhill Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital in Sherborne, suffering from “a shot through the brain, and from the first was in an extremely precarious condition”.

Louis passed away from his wounds on 20th March 1915, aged 34. He lies at rest in Sherborne Cemetery.