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Commonwealth War Graves, Glamorganshire, Great War, history, injury, photography, Sergeant, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Serjeant Joseph Smith

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Serjeant Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith was born at the beginning of 1879 in Bath, Somerset. The fifth of six children – all boys – his parents were William and Sarah Smith. William was a carpenter and, while he did not follow in his father’s trade, Joseph found employment as a house painter when he left school.

Joseph married Alice May Martin in 1896: the couple were young, the groom being a year older than the bride, and they went on to have a daughter, Dorothy, who was born the following year. The newlyweds moved into a small, terraced house in Bath with Alice’s mother and sister, both of whom were widowed, and Alice’s nephew.

The 1911 census found the extended family living in larger home away from the centre of the city. Joseph was still employed as a house painter, Dorothy had left school and was apprenticed to a dressmaker. Alice looks to have been looking after the household, while her mother and sister were both living on their own means.

In his spare time, Joseph was also a member of staff at Bath’s Theatre Royal. He was sporty, with a keen interest in football and partial to a game of cricket. He was also very connected to St Stephen’s Church in the city, and was involved in parish life.

War was coming to Europe, and Joseph stepped up to play his part. Full details of his military service are lost to time, but from his gravestone and linked records, it is clear that he enlisted in the 6th Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry. Further details are outlined in a contemporary newspaper report:

Though married, he was anxious to enlist practically as soon as the war began: and on January 16th, 1915, he offered himself for service, and was at once accepted. He did not leave England till 16th August [1916]. He had been selected for inclusion in 32 drafts on various occasions prior to that date; but had been obliged to remain behind from illness or some other cause. When he actually sailed, it was not as a member of a draft, but as one of five sergeants who had volunteered for special service.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 28th October 1916

Sergeant Smith made it to the Western Front, and was entrenched at the Somme. The newspaper report picks up on what happened next:

He was wounded in September, being struck by a bullet while leaving the trench preparatory to advancing. The bullet struck him in the thigh, and severed an artery… After doing what he could with his first-aid dressing, Sergt. Smith crawled some three miles from the firing line amid bursting shells. After five hours of this painful progress he was picked up by a stretcher party.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 28th October 1916

Sergeant Smith was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and was admitted to the 3rd Western General Hospital in Cardiff. Alice and Dorothy were a constant presence as his bedside, but the wound was to prove too severe, and he passed away at the hospital on 25th October 1916. He was 38 years of age.

Joseph Smith was brought back to Bath for burial. He was laid to rest in the Lansdown Cemetery, overlooking the city he called home.

Carmarthenshire, Chaplain, Commonwealth War Graves, County Durham, Great War, history, illness, London, photography, Royal Army Chaplain's Department, Shropshire, Somerset, story, war, Yorkshire

Reverend Charles Jefferys

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Reverend Charles Jefferys

Charles Thomas Claude Jefferys was born on 23rd August 1880 in the small Carmarthenshire town of Laugharne. One of five children, his parents were naturalist Charles Jefferys and his wife Adeline.

Charles’ Jr’s life was to be one of education, and his father’s standing allowed for the best. He studied at Ellesmere College, Shropshire, then attended Durham University and Durham Theological College. By the 1901 census he was passing that education on to others: he was listed as a schoolmaster at Stow Wood College in Hampshire.

By 1908 Charles had returned to Wales, and was living in Monmouth. On 2nd January he married Eva Pride, an estate agent’s daughter from Tetbury, Gloucestershire. The marriage certificate confirms that, by this point, Charles was a clerk in holy orders, on his way to his true calling.

The 1911 census showed what a transient life the church could lead to: Charles and Eva were listed as living in a house in Oswaldkirk, North Yorshire. Their two young children, George and Charles, born in 1909 and 1910 respectively, were living with Eva’s sister, back in Tetbury.

When war came to Europe, Reverend Jefferys must have felt compelled to play his part. He joined the Army Chaplains’ Department, and by May 1916, he found himself in France. His role – providing pastoral care to the troops – would have led him to some of the darkest places of the Front Line. He remained there for the next couple of years, only returning to the family home – now in Chelsea, London – towards the end of the conflict.

Reverend Jefferys had contracted pneumonia, and he had returned from the continent to recuperate. Sadly, the condition was to prove too much, and he succumbed to it on 20th November 1918, at the age of 38.

Charles Thomas Claude Jefferys was taken to Somerset for burial – there were close family connections in the Bath area. He was laid to rest in the family plot, alongside his paternal grandmother in the city’s St James’ Cemetery.

Further tragedy was to strike in June 1925 when Eva also passed away. Details of her death are unclear, but this left George and Charles as orphans in their early teens.

Commonwealth War Graves, Cumbria, Devonshire Regiment, Glamorganshire, Great War, history, illness, London, photography, Private, Somerset, story, Wales, war

Private William Parry

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Private William Parry

In St James’ Cemetery, Bath, is a headstone dedicated to one William Parry, once a Private in Devonshire Regiment. A lot of his life is lost to time, but his death highlights the length to which soldiers returning from the Great War were often left to fend for themselves.

On 4th November 1919, Private Parry “was found in an exhausted state lying under an arch in a suburb of [Bath], and told the police he had been there for 17 days. Crawling there to rest, he found himself afterwards too weak to move owing to trench feet” [Western Gazette: Friday 14th November 1919]

On 18th November, having been admitted to the Royal United Hospital in Bath, he passed away from pneumonia. “The police are endeavouring to ascertain something as to the man’s antecedents. He stated to them that he had no home.” [Western Gazette: Friday 21st November 1919]

An inquest into William’s death was held, and a miserable tale unfolded.

Parry was described as a seaman, and his address was given as 36 Catherine Street, Exeter…

[He had] said he was born at Swansea, had served in the 2nd Devons, and was demobilised at Exeter last March. He got into the arch because his feet were aching. He had come from Bristol. He did not say where he was going.

[When he died] Parry’s belongings… included a ration book, issued to him for the address in Exeter, his insurance card, and his out-of-work book. Parry had 10s 8d [approximately £11 in today’s money] in cash on him; but 10s 6d of this sum was given him by a lady since his arrival at the hospital. Parry had received various other gifts sent him by ladies from all over the country, who had read of the account of his discover in the Press. The last out-of-work donation received by him was on June 26th, and the ration book was issued at Exeter on March 24th. The address at Catherine Street, Exeter, as which Parry had stayed was that of a Church Army Home. He had also with him a card indicating membership of the Comrades of the Great War. The entries on his insurance card showed he was last employed on September 8th.

Inspector Lovell… gave the Coroner the result of exhaustive enquiries which he had made… regarding Parry’s antecedents… By the Exeter police he was informed that Parry registered at the Labour Exchange there as a seaman on March 25th. He then produced a certificate showing him to be a member of the Mercantile Marine. He had apparently served with the 2nd Battalion of the Devon Regiment for 2½ years. On May 16th, 1919, he obtained work as a painter in Exeter. He retained this employment till June 21st. A week later he obtained similar employment with another Exeter firm at 1s 3d [approx. £1.68] an hour and his earning averaged £2 [around £87] or more a week. He lest the Church Army Home on September 12th, explaining that he was going to Barrow-in-Furness, where he expected to obtain employment with Messrs Vickers, Sons, and Maxim. While staying at the Church Army Home he appeared to have been regarded as of a morbid disposition…

Inspector Lovell added that the members of the Exeter branch of the Comrades of the Great War had assisted him… and he was able to furnish the Court with a letter from Mr FW Drew, with whom Parry had lodged at the Church Army Home. The writer said he had met Parry in the latter part of April, and their friendship lasted until ten weeks ago, when deceased left Exeter. As they were two ex-Service men they became intimate friends, but apparently before the war he belonged to London.

After enlistment he had served in France, and was taken prisoner by the Germans. He was in their hands for three months; and acted as interpreter between his captors and the other British prisoners. He could speak German and other foreign languages, and undoubtedly was a man of superior education. Apparently, so far as his relations were concerned, he was “one of England’s lonely soldiers.” He said he was badly treated by the Germans, and suffered from a bad cough, the result of a wound in the chest. He was liable to depression when out of work, and the writer well remembered how pleased he was to think that he had obtained work at Barrow-in-Furness… “I deeply regret,” concluded the writer, “that he has come to such an untimely end. He was a good fellow, and would do anyone a good turn, if possible.”

In summing up, the Coroner remarked that exhaustive enquiries had been made into the case. There was no doubt from the medical evidence that the cause of death was pneumonia. It would appear that Parry had been on the road for some time when he crawled under the arch where he was found…

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 22nd November 1919

Private William Parry died on 18th November 1919, aged around 44 years old. The British Federation of Discharged Soldiers and Sailors and the Comrades of the Great War jointly made arrangements for, and funded, his funeral, at which he was given full military honours. He was laid to rest in St James’ Cemetery, Bath.

Funeral of William Parry
(from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Bombardier, Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, Pembrokeshire, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, Wales, war

Corporal James Stuckey

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Corporal James Stuckey

James Oscar Stuckey was born in the summer of 1886, in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire. The second of eight children, his parents were James and Minnie Stuckey. James Sr was a carter from Langport in Somerset, and his work took him across the country. James Jr’s older sister was born in Sandown, on the Isle of Wight, and, when his next sibling was born, the family had moved back to Somerset and were living in the village of Curry Rivel.

By the time of the 1901 census James Sr was working as a warehouseman. James Jr had also left school and found employment as an agricultural labourer.

On 24th March 1913, James married Margaret Beatrice Tilley – who was better known as Beattie. The couple set up home in Curry Rivel, and went on to have two children, Cecil and James.

By this time war was coming to Europe and, in January 1915, James stepped up to play his part for King and Country. He enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery, and was given the rank of Gunner. Over the next couple of years, he served in France and Italy, rising through the ranks to Bombardier and Corporal.

During this time, however, James’ health was being impacted. His troop was gassed while in France, and he was hospitalised a couple of times with bronchitis and tuberculosis, and it was TB that saw him evacuated to Britain for treatment in September 1918.

His condition was such that Corporal Stuckey was medically discharged from the army on 23rd November 1918, as he was no longer fit for duty. He returned to civilian life, and settled back into Curry Rivel.

He was well-known in the district, and being of a jovial disposition, was liked by everyone with whom he came into contact. He was a member of the Curry Rivel Male Friendly Society.

Langport & Somerton Herald: Saturday 11th December 1920

James’ lung conditions were to get the better of him. After a protracted illness, he finally succumbed, breathing his last on 3rd December 1920. He was just 34 years of age.

James Oscar Stuckey was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Andrew’s Church, in Curry Rivel.

Australia, Australian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Cornwall, Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry, Gloucestershire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, killed in action, Labour Corps, photography, Private, story, Wales, war

Private Arthur Cock

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Private Arthur Cock

Arthur Cock was born in around 1885 in Wadebridge, Cornwall. One of eleven children, he was the son of mortar mason William Cock, and his wife, Louisa.

When he left school Arthur helper his father out in the business, but when war came to Europe’s shores, he stepped up to play his part. Sadly, his service records are lost to time, and it is a challenge to piece together his time during the conflict from a confusion of other documents.

It is clear that Arthur enlisted in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, as this is what is engraved on his headstone. However, his Medal Roll suggests that he also served in the Gloucestershire Regiment and the Labour Corps. He seems not to have fought overseas, and was awarded the Victory and British Medals for doing his duty.

Private Cock’s entry in the Army Register of Soldier’s Effects confirms that he must have enlisted before February 1919, and that he passed away at Whitchurch Hospital.

An entry in the local newspaper, reporting on his death, reads as follows:

In loving memory of Pte. Arthur Cock, son of William, and the late Louisa Cock, of Wadebridge, who died August 5th, at Whitchurch War Hospital, Cardiff.

Cornish Guardian: Friday 8th August 1919

Interestingly, the facility Arthur had been admitted to was a psychiatric hospital, but with no other confirmation as to his passing, it is only possible to assume the cause of his death. He was 34 years old when he passed away.

Arthur Cock’s body was brought back to Cornwall for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful, wooded graveyard of St Breoke’s Church, next to the family grave in which Louisa had been buried three years previously.

The family grave, by this time, was tragically quite full. William was able to mourn his son, wife and six of Arthur’s siblings – Mary, William, John, Fred, Charles and Ernest – who had all passed in childhood and were laid to rest there.

Arthur’s younger brother – another William – also fought in the First World War. His service records reveal a lot about his life.

Private Cock enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 7th September 1914. At the time he was working as a railway porter in Morphettville, now a suburb of Adelaide, Australia. His records confirm that he was 5ft 8.5ins (1.74m) tall, and weighed 158lbs (72kg). He had brown hair, brown eyes an a fresh complexion.

William left Australia for the battlefield on 20th October 1914, and soon found himself in the Eastern Mediterranean. Sadly, this was to be the end of the line for him: he was killed on the battlefields of Gallipoli on 23rd March 1915, aged just 28 year of age.

William Cock was laid to rest in the Shrapnel Valley Cemetery in Gallipoli. He is commemorated on the headstone of the family grave back in St Breock.

Bedfordshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Denbighshire, Great War, Hertfordshire, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, story, Wales, war

Private Philip Johnson

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Private Philip Johnson

Philip Johnson was born in the summer of 1891 in Wrexham, Denbighshire. One of eight children his parents were Samuel and Mary Johnson. Samuel was a wine merchant from Scotland, while Mary had been born in Cheshire. When Philip was born the family were living and running the town’s Lion House inn on the High Street.

Mary died in 1897 and, in 1909 Samuel moved his family on. He bought the Royal Hotel in Llangollen, which occupied a large plot on the riverside, and which included a large garden.

The Royal Hotel was a busy business: to look after the guests, there were eleven members of staff living in. This was to be a Johnson family business, however, with Philip’s older sibling Elizabeth managing the hotel with her father, his brother Samuel Jr assisting, his sister Ethel acting as bookkeeper and Philip himself managing the bar.

In the spring of 1914, Philip married Elizabeth Kelsall, whose family ran the Eivion Hotel, down the road from The Royal. The couple set up home in the town – possibly even still living at Samuel’s hotel – and had two children.

When war came to Europe, Philip stepped up to play his part. Sadly, full details of his military service are lost to time, although it is clear from other documents that he had enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps.

For The Royal Hotel, this was a challenging time. By December 1916, two of Samuel’s sons – including Philip – were away on service, as were nine of the hotel’s seventeen staff. Samuel applied for Samuel Jr’s exemption from war service on the basis that he was the hotel’s manager, but this was refused. A year later, he applied for another of the hotel’s servant’s, an Evan Edwards, exemption, but again this was refused.

Philip, meanwhile, was attached to the 728th Coy of the Motor Transport section of the Royal Army Service Corps. His troop served the RE Signal Service Training Centre, but it is unclear whether he saw any action overseas. By the end of the war, however, he was based in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.

With winter closing in, illness became rife in the cramped condition of army barracks. Private Johnson contracted pneumonia, and was admitted to the Bedford Military Hospital, not far from where he was based. Sadly, the lung condition was to get the better of him, and he succumbed to it, passing away on 7th November 1918, aged just 27 years old.

Philip Johnson’s body was brought back to Wales for burial. He was laid to rest in a family plot in the graveyard of St John’s Church in his adopted home town of Llangollen.

Commonwealth War Graves, Denbighshire, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, story, Wales, war

Private William Hughes

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Private William Hughes

William Thomas Hughes was born on 4th August 1898 in Llangollen, Denbighshire. One of twins, he was also one of seven children to William and Margaret Hughes. William Sr was a bricklayer and the family lived on Fron Bache, a land to the south of the town, leading into the hills. The Hughes’ baptised their first five children on the same day – 5th October 1904 – in the parish church.

Little further information on young William’s life remains. When war broke out, he stepped up to play his part: details of when have been lost to time, but, according to later records, he had enlisted by December 1917.

Private Hughes joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and was assigned to one of their depots, possibly on the North Wales coast. Certainly this is where he was based by the spring of 1918 as, in May of that year, he was admitted to the Red Cross Hospital in Colwyn Bay, having contracted malaria.

Tragically, this condition was to get the better of him: Private Hughes passed away on 7th May 1918, at the tender age of just 20 years old.

William Thomas Hughes was brought back to Llangollen for burial He was laid to rest in the graveyard of the town’s St John’s Church.

Commonwealth War Graves, Denbighshire, Great War, history, photography, Private, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, story, unknown, Wales, war, Wiltshire

Private George Williams

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Private George Williams

George Williams was born in 1887 in Ruthin, Denbighshire. One of thirteen children – of whom sadly only seven survived – his parents were John and Martha Williams. John was a carpenter and joiner and, when the children had grown a little, he and Martha took on the Registered Tramp Lodging House in Church Street, Llangollen.

The 1911 census recorded George living with his parents and working as a carter. His younger brother John was employed as a labourer, while the rest of his siblings were at school. The boarding house was full as Martha’s brother was staying there, along with four lodgers.

George married Catherine Edwards on 27th May 1911. She was an engineer’s daughter, also from Llangollen, and the couple tied the knot in St Collen’s Church, which was on the same street as the Williams’ boarding house. The newlyweds moved to Ruabon, six miles (10km) to the east of Llangollen, and had a daughter, Martha, who was born in 1912.

When war was declared, George was quick to enlist. He joined the 8th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and was sent to Salisbury Plain for his training. While here, however, Private Williams passed away. The cause of his passing is not readily available, but it seems likely that he succumbed to illness, possibly brought on by the sudden influx of men from across the country suddenly billeted together in the confines of an army camp. He died on 7th December 1914, aged just 27 years of age.

George Williams’ body was brought back to Wales for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John’s Church in Llangollen.

Tragically, just six days after George’s death, Catherine gave birth to their second child. George Jr would never know his father.

Commonwealth War Graves, Denbighshire, Great War, history, illness, Norfolk, photography, Private, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, story, Wales, war

Private James Jones

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Private James Jones

James Ward Jones was born on 17th August 1871 in the Denbighshire town of Llangollen. He was the oldest of eleven children to William and Anne Jones. William was a bricklayer’s labourer, and James followed suit when he finished school.

On 30th April 1898, James married fisherman’s daughter Mary Jones. The couple set up home in Llangollen and went on to have ten children.

When war came to Europe, James stepped up to play his part for King and Country. Sadly, little detail of his military service remains available. but it is clear that he enlisted in the Royal Welch Fusiliers and, as a Private, he was assigned to the 47th Provisional Battalion. The troop was based on home soil, and James found himself sent to Norfolk for his war work.

It is unlikely that Private Jones was in camp for long. On Christmas Day 1915 he collapsed having had a seizure, and passed away. He was 44 years of age.

James Ward Jones’ body was brought back to Wales for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John’s Church in his home town of Llangollen.

Mary was left with ten children to bring up on her own. She married again, to a Jack Evans, in the autumn of 1916. The couple had two children of their own. Mary passed away in December 1935, aged just 58 years old.

Commonwealth War Graves, Denbighshire, Great War, history, illness, Lance Corporal, photography, Private, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Scotland, story, Wales, war

Lance Corporal John Roberts

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Lance Corporal John Roberts

John Briscoe Roberts was born in 1882 in the Welsh village of Llanaelhaiarn. He was the oldest of ten children to the village’s sub-postmaster Samuel Roberts and his wife Elizabeth.

When he left school, John found employment with a local estate agent and, by the time of war was declared, he was working as a clerk for a timber mill in Llangollen, Denbighshire.

John was quick to enlist – he joined up on 15th August 1914 and, as a Private, was assigned to the Royal Welch Fusiliers. His service records show he was 5ft 7ins (1.70m) tall, and weighed 142lbs (64.4kg). They also note that he had black hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion.

Private Roberts’ initial service was carried out on home soil. He worked diligently and was rewarded for it, being promoted to Lance Corporal in December 1914. By the following June, his troop, the 8th Battalion, was sent overseas, first to Mudros in Greece, and then on to Gallipoli. In September 1915, Lance Corporal Roberts contracted dysentery and tuberculosis. He was medically evacuated back to Britain and admitted to the 1st Scottish General Hospital in Aberdeen to recover.

On 26th January 1917, John married Gladys Emily Edwards in Wrexham Parish Church. The couple settled down in Llangollen, where Gladys was from, and where John had been working before the war. His lung condition continued to dog him, however and, after another couple of months, he was deemed no longer fit for active service, and medically discharged from the army.

John took up his role in the timber yard again, remaining there for the next year or so. Tuberculosis was ultimately to get the better of him, however, and he passed away on 3rd July 1918, at the age of 36 years old.

John Briscoe Roberts was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John’s Church in Llangollen, Denbighshire.