Thomas Ellis was born in 1896 in St Leonard’s, Sussex. The third of twelve children, his parents were George and Ellen Ellis. George was a general labourer, but when he finished his schooling, Thomas found work as a golf caddy. The 1911 census recorded the Ellis family living in four rooms at 7 Caves Road to the east of the town centre.
There is little additional information about Thomas, sadly. He joined the Royal Navy when war broke out, and was working as a Stoker 1st Class by the closing months of the conflict. He passed away, through causes unknown, on 7th July 1918, at the age of just 23 years old.
Thomas Ellis was laid to rest in the naval section of the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, not far from the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham – HMS Pembroke – at which he was based.
Bernard Arthur de Plumley Smyth was born in Erith, Kent, on 16th September 1897. The second of four children – all of them boys – his parents were Reginald and Emily Smyth.
Bernard’s early life was a delicate one, and he spent at least some time at Great Ormond’s Street Hospital in Camden, London. His weakened health was such that he was baptised at the hospital’s local church – St George the Martyr – on 11th February 1900.
It is intriguing to see Reginald Smyth’s life develop over the years. His son’s baptism record gives his line of work as labourer, but by the following year’s census, he had moved the family to Ifield, West Sussex, where he was noted as living on his own means. Moving forward another decade, and the family had moved again, settling in a 9-roomed villa in Burgess Hill. Reginald was now listed as being a nurseryman and the family of six were sharing their home with boarder Horatio Jacoby, who was living by private means.
Bernard was still a schoolboy at this point. His health had seeming recovered over the years, and he was ready to make his mark on the world. On 6th March 1913, he enlisted as a Boy 2nd Class in the Royal Navy. His service records show that he was 5ft 3ins (1.59m) tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.
Boy Smyth was initially sent to HMS Ganges, the shore-based establishment in Suffolk, for his training. He remined there for six months, and was promoted to Boy 1st Class for his work.
On 26th September 1913, Bernard was given his first posting, on board the cruiser HMS Grafton. He remained on board for nine months, before returning to shore – this time to the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent – for the summer.
In August 1914, war was declared and by the end of that month, Boy 1st Class Smyth was given his second assignment, aboard the battleship HMS Formidable. She was a key vessel in the Channel Fleet, her role part of a convoy patrolling the seas of the southern coast of Britain.
Early on the morning of 1st January 1915, while off the Dorset coast, the battleship was torpedoed by a German submarine. Other ships in her convoy came to her aid, but it would prove fruitless. After a couple of hours – and another torpedo strike – she sank, taking more than 540 officer and crew – including Boy 1st Class Smyth – were lost. He was just 17 years of age.
We regret to record that a former scholar of the London Road Council Schools, Burgess Hill, lost his life through the disaster which came to HMS Formidable on January 1st. This was Bernard Arthur de Plumley Smith, the second son of Mr and Mrs Smyth, of Edward cottage, Brook Road, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, late of Elgin Villa, Crescent Road, Burgess Hill. He was 17 years of age, and a first-class boy on board the ship. He bore the reputation of being smart, steady ad industrious, and was well known in Burgess Hill…
[Mid Sussex Times: Tuesday 12th January 1915]
Bernard Arthur de Plumley Smith was laid to rest in a communal grave in Lyme Regis Cemetery, in the hills above the Dorset town where he had been brought ashore following his ship’s sinking.
Wilfred Clarence Ansfield was born in the spring of 1899, and was the youngest of eleven children to Frederick and Frances Ashfield. Frederick was an innkeeper from West Tarring in Sussex, and the family were living in the public house he ran – possible the Vine Brewery on the Hight Street.
Frederick died at the start of 1904, and by the time of the next census, taken seven years later, Frances had moved the family to Salvington. They settled at 1 Beaconsfield Terrace, with six of the Ansfield children sharing the home with their mother. Three of Wilfred’s brothers were employed as gardeners – possibly at one of the many nurseries in the area – while he was still at school.
When war came to Europe, Wilfred was keen to serve his King and Country. Full service details have been lost to time, but it is clear that he enlisted in the Royal Engineers and, as a Pioneer, was assigned to the 3rd Provisional Company (later renamed the 642nd (London) Field Company). This was a territorial force, and it is unlikely that Wilfred saw any action overseas.
The only other document that can definitely connected to Pioneer Ansfield is the record of who his pension was assigned to. This confirmed Frances’ name and address, but also gives the cause of her son’s death, noted as ‘acute paralysis’. This could have been as a result of a tetanus infection, but nothing remains to confirm either way. Wilfred died on 25th June 1916: he was just 17 years of age.
Wilfred Clarence Ansfield was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Andrew’s Church in West Tarring, He was buried alongside Frederick, father and son reunited after twelve years.
Frank Arthur Page was born early in 1891, and was one of seven children – and the youngest son – to Matthew and Emily Page. Matthew was a bricklayer’s labourer from Lancing in Sussex, while Emily had been born in Norfolk. It was in the village of Steyning, however, that the couple raised their family.
By the time of the 1901 census, Matthew had been invalided out of work. The family had moved to a small cottage in Lancing by this point, and Frank’s older brothers were working to bring in some money for the family.
The next census return, taken in 1911, found Matthew and Emily living Frank and his older brother Sydney at 2 Ivy Cottages in Lancing. Both of the Page siblings were working as market gardeners by this point, bringing in some money to help support the family.
War came to Europe in the summer of 1914, and Frank stepped up to serve his King and Country. Full details of his military service are lost in the mists of time, but it is clear that he enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers, and was attached to the 26th (Service) Battalion (Bankers).
Frank’s unit served in both France and Italy, although, without his documents, it isn’t possible to determine where, and for how long, he served. During his time in the army, however, he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal, underlining a level of dedication on his part.
Matthew passed away in the spring of 1917, and it appears that Frank was demobbed at some point after the Armistice. By the autumn of 1919, he was back in Sussex, living with his now widowed mother. His time in the army seems to have impacted on Frank’s health by this point, and he died ‘from disease’ on 24th October 1919. He was 28 years of age.
Frank Arthur Page was laid to rest in the graveyard of St James the Lesser Church in Lancing, not far from where his father had been buried.
The life of Russell Engleback seems destined to remain lost in the mists of time and the only concrete information for him relate to his military service.
Ordinary Seaman Engleback joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Service on 3rd July 1914, just weeks before the declaration of war. His records confirm his date of birth – 11th August 1896 – and his occupation, which was a printer. He was 5ft 5ins (1.64m) tall, and had dark brown hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion.
Russell was sent to HMS Victory – the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire – for training, before being assigned to the battleship HMS Commonwealth in October. He remained on board for the next two years, rising to the rank of Able Seaman during this time.
Able Seaman Engleback returned to HMS Victory in August 1916, but may have moved to another naval base, HMS Pembroke in Chatham soon afterwards. Certainly he was at the Kent dockyard when he fell ill in November, as he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital around this time.
Russell was suffering from nephritis – kidney disease – by this point, and it was a condition that was to ultimately kill him. He passed away on 23rd November 1916, while still admitted in hospital: he was just 20 years of age.
Russell Engleback was laid to rest in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, not far from the Chatham dockyard. His pension records give Fred and Amelia Tiffin – Russell’s Sussex-based mother and stepfather – as his next-of-kin.
Robert Edwin Dawe Pollard was born on 8th April 1894 in Bath, Somerset. The youngest of three children, his parents were Joseph and Elizabeth Pollard. Joseph was a gardener from Banwell, but it seems that Robert had his sights on bigger and better things.
At some point Robert emigrated to Canada, and, by the time war was declared in Europe, he was working as an insurance clerk in Winnipeg. He felt a duty to serve his country, however, and on 2nd August 1915, he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
Private Pollard’s service records confirm he was 5ft 6ins (1.69m) tall, with dark brown hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion. He was also noted as being a Presbyterian.
Robert’s commitment to the cause is underlined by his rise through the ranks. Attached to to the 8th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry (also known as the 90th Winnipeg Rifles), he arrived in France on 27th February 1916.
The 8th Battalion was involved in some of the fiercest fighting of the war, and, on the 1st June 1916, he was wounded in his left arm. Admitted to a hospital in Camiers, he was moved to Etaples, before returning to his unit before the month was out.
For good or for bad, this was just before the Battle of the Somme and, over the next few months, Private Pollard fought bravely and hard. Moving from the Somme, his unit fought at Passchendaele and Ypres. On 1st October 1916, Robert was promoted to Corporal, and made Sergeant just three months later.
In April 1917, Robert was admitted to hospital again, this time with an infected foot. Within six weeks he was back with his unit, though, and on 7th November 1917, he was promoted to Company Serjeant Major. He was obviously good at what he did, and this was recognised. On 28th December 1917, he was mentioned in despatches, and the following June he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal.
As the war entered its closing months, Company Serjeant Major Pollard, still led from the front. He returned to Britain at the end of November 1918, and was attached to the 18th Reserve Battalion in Seaford, Sussex ahead of being demobbed.
It was here that Robert contracted influenza. Whether at his family’s request is unclear, but he was admitted to Bath War Hospital for treatment but, after everything that he had been through, it was a combination of the flu and toxaemia, or blood poisoning, that was to prove his undoing. Company Serjeant Major Pollard died on 23rd December 1918, aged just 24 years old. His mother, Elizabeth was by his side.
Robert Edwin Dawe Pollard was laid to rest Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from where his family lived. His headstone recognises the Military Medal he was posthumously awarded.
Company Serjeant Major Robert Pollard (from findagrave.com)
Robert Ivor Perham was born in the Dorset village of Purse Caundle in the autumn of 1892. The oldest of eight children – and thirteen years older than his youngest sibling – his parents were farmers Thomas and Annie Perham.
Thomas took the family where the work was: the 1901 census found them living at Manor Farm in West Chelborough, Dorset. Ten years later, they had moved north in the county, to Ryme Intrinseca. Robert was helping his father on the farm by now, his seven siblings all still being at school.
Robert saw an opportunity for farming to give him an adventure and, on 27th March 1913, he set off for Australia to work as a ranch hand. His time in the Antipodes was to be cut short, however, when, in the summer of 1914, war broke out in Europe. He made the lengthy journey back to Britain to serve his King, and was assigned to the 2nd King Edward’s Horse regiment.
Private Perham’s time in the army seemed not to have been a lengthy one. Full details of his service are lost to time, but it is likely that he arrived back in Blighty in the early weeks of 1915. He quickly fell ill – from ‘spotted fever’, or meningitis – and was admitted to the 2nd Eastern General Hospital in Brighton, Sussex. Sadly, it was a condition to which he would succumb: Robert passed away on 17th April 1915, at the age of 22 years old.
The body of Robert Ivor Perham was taken back to Dorset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Hippolyte’s Church in Ryme Intrinseca.
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.
Laurence Edward Horsnell la Vavasour dit Durell was born on 24th December 1894, one of seven children to Edward and Julia. Edward was born in Jersey, in the Channel Islands, but he and Julia were living in Camberwell, Surrey, when Laurence was born.
The census records from the time show a family who came to be divided. In 1901, Edward was working as an artificial limb maker, while Julia looked after their son and the house the family shared at 14 Kerfield Crescent.
By 1911, things had changed significantly. Edward was now employed as a grocer’s storeman, and he and Laurence – apprenticed to a carpenter – were living with his parents, Edward and Sarah, at their home in St Clement, Jersey. Julia, meanwhile, was still on the mainland, where she was employed as a housekeeper for Frederick Manford, a 31-year-old cinema attendant in Hastings. Laurence’s younger sister, Phyllis, was also living there.
Laurence seemed keen to carve out a career for himself and, on 3rd January 1913, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Ship’s Carpenter. His service records show that he was 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall, with dark hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. He was first sent to HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, for his training.
Over the next five years, Ship’s Carpenter Durell served on six ships, and as war broke out in the summer of 1914, his role became more and more vital. In May 1917, while serving on board the cruiser HMS Castor, he was promoted to the rank of Shipwright 2nd Class.
During the summer of 1918, Laurence contracted pneumonia. He was transferred to the hospital ship Soudan, but the condition was to prove too severe. He passed away on 15th July 1918, at the age of 23 years of age.
Laurence Edward Horsnell la Vavasour dit Durell was taken back to Jersey for burial. He was laid to rest a family plot in St Clement Churchyard, not far from where his relatives still lived.
Frederick George China was born in Bath, Somerset, in the summer of 1885. He was the second of children to tailor George China and his wife, Gloucestershire-born Frances.
Frederick was working as a grocer’s assistant when his father died in 1906, at the age of 52. Determined to earn money for Frances and his three sisters, he left Somerset for work. The 1911 census recorded him as living in Worthing, West Sussex, boarding with the Vitler family. Percy was a baker’s assistant, and lived at 4, Tarring Road with his wife and two daughters. The census noted two visitors to the property, railway contractor Robert Puttock and his wife, Annie.
On 26th December 1912, Frederick married Lucy Hellier. Born in Midhurst, West Sussex, she was working as a confectioner’s shop assistant in Worthing’s Montague Street, boarding with the manager, Catherine Castle, her mother and her niece. The couple wed in Stanmer Parish Church, to the north of Brighton, which is where Lucy’s family were then living.
The newlyweds moved back to Bath, and Frederick took up a job as manager of the Widcombe branch of the Twerton Co-operative Society. Their only child, son Douglas, was born in February 1915.
By this point, war was raging across Europe, and Frederick stepped up to play his part. His full service details are no longer available, but he joined the Somerset Light Infantry in June 1916, and was assigned to the 7th Battalion.
He was in a battalion of the Somersets, who were heavily engaged at Langemarck, but he and his chum came safely through the severe fighting at that place. While returning, some time after, to the front trenches, he was knocked out by a shell, and received severe injuries. The spine was so badly hurt that, if he had survived, he would never have walked again.
[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Saturday 29 September 1917]
Private China was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and he was admitted to King George’s Military Hospital in South London. Lucy and Frances travelled to Surrey to see him, and were with him when he passed, his wounds being too severe for him to survive. He passed away on 21st September 1917, at the age of 32 years of age.
The body of Frederick George China was aid to rest in Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from where his father, George, was buried.
Private Frederick China (from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Death and Service 