Tag Archives: West Sussex

Coldstream Guards, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Guardsman, Hertfordshire, history, illness, photography, story, Sussex, war

Guardsman Sydney Proctor

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Guardsman Sydney Proctor

Sydney Francis Proctor was born in the autumn of 1886 in the Hertfordshire town of Bushey. The middle of three children, his parents were George and Annie Proctor. George was a stationary engine driver, and Sydney found work at a local iron foundry – possibly working alongside his father – when he left school.

This was not to be Sydney’s long term career, however, as, by the time of the 1911 census, he had moved to West Sussex and settled in Cuckfield, near Haywards Heath. By this time he was working as a gardener, and was employed at the nearby Borde Hill estate.

It is likely that Sydney had made the move to Sussex a few years earlier, as the same document confirms that he was married to a London-born woman called Florence, who was five years his senior. The couple would go on to have a daughter, Frances, who was born in December 1912.

Sydney’s wartime service is a little sketchy. He enlisted in the Coldstream Guards in November 1914, and was assigned to the 4th Battalion. While full details of his service are not available, Guardsman Proctor certainly served overseas, and may have seen some of the fiercest fighting of the conflict, at Loos, Ypres and the Somme.

Guardsman Proctor survived the conflict, but paid a price. In October 1918, he was medically discharged from military service, as he was suffering from aortic regurgitation – a heart complaint. He returned home to Sussex, but this respite was not to be for long. Sydney passed away on 17th July 1919, at the age of 32 years old.

Sydney Francis Proctor was laid to rest in the cemetery of his adopted home town, Cuckfield.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Labour Corps, Lincolnshire, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Private Harry Etherton

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Private Harry Etherton

Harry Etherton was born in Ansty, near Cuckfield, West Sussex on 3rd April 1872. The oldest of five children, his parents were Edwin and Louisa Etherton. Edwin was an agricultural labourer, and this was work in which his son followed his father.

On 29th April 1899, Harry married Annie Eliza Pennifold, a labourer’s daughter who was also from Ansty. The couple set up home in Cuckfield, and went on to have five children. Harry was, by this point, working as a road labourer for the local council, and this was a job he was to continue doing until the outbreak of the war.

Harry enlisted in 1915, joining the Royal Sussex Regiment as part of the National Reserve. As Private Etherton, he was then transferred across to the Labour Corps, and was assigned to the 409th Labour Coy. which was based at the Infantry Depot in Lincoln.

It was while Private Etherton was here, in the spring of 1918, that he contracted meningitis, and was admitted to the Northern General Hospital in the city. Sadly, he was to succumb to the disease, passing away on 30th June 1918, at the age of 46 years old.

Harry Etherton’s body was brought back to West Sussex for burial. He was laid to rest in Cuckfield Cemetery, not far from where his widow and children still lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, unknown, war

Private George Bennett

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Private George Bennett

George Ernest Bennett was born in 1895 in Cuckfield, West Sussex, the oldest of four children to Alfred and Annie Bennett. Much of his early life is a mystery – within eighteen months, his parents had moved to Kent, leaving George with his widowed paternal grandmother.

By the time of the 1911 census, both Alfred and Annie were dead, along with their only daughter. George’s two younger brothers were in a poor school back in Sussex, while George was living with one of his father’s sisters and her family, and working as an errand boy.

By the time war broke out, it seems that George had plans for an army career. He had certainly enlisted by September 1914, and joined the 1st/4th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment. This was a primarily territorial force, and Private Bennett initially received his training on the East Sussex coast.

Full details of George’s military service aren’t available, but what is clear is that he was admitted to the Military Hospital in Newhaven in the spring of 1915, and this is where he died on 19th March. The cause of his passing is not known, but he was just 20 years old.

Brought back to Cuckfield, where his father’s family still lived, George Ernest Bennett was laid to rest in the village’s cemetery, within sight of Holy Trinity Church.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Private Frank Bates

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Private Frank Bates

Frank Bates was born on 29th June 1893, in Cuckfield, West Sussex and was the fourth of five children. His parents were tailor William Bates and his wife, Sarah.

Tragedy was to be a constant companion to the Bates family. Frank’s older brother, William, died in November 1907 after a protracted illness, at the tender age of just 19 years old. Four years later, his younger sister, Maggie, also passed away after an illness. She was just 21 years of age.

When he left school, Frank went into the service of the Messel family, who owned the Nyman’s estate close to where Frank and his family lived. When war was declared, however, he was keen to play his part, enlisting soon after hostilities were announced in August 1914.

Private Bates joined the 4th (Home Service) Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment and was sent to Newhaven for training. It was while he was here that he fell ill, and, having caught a chill, he returned to Cuckfield to recuperate. Sadly, his condition worsened, and he passed away at his family home on 31st January 1915. He was just 21 years old.

Frank Bates was laid to rest in Cuckfield cemetery, resting not far from his siblings.

Tragedy was to strike one more time for William and Sarah. Frank’s older brother Jack served as a Private in the 2nd/4th Battalion of the London Regiment. In the spring of 1918, he was caught up in that year’s Battles of the Somme, including fighting at St Quentin and Avre.

In May 1918, Private Bates was officially reported as missing, but it was later confirmed that he had died of injuries sustained in the fighting. He passed away on 16th April 1918, at the age of 29 years old.

Jack was laid to rest at the Chauny Communal Cemetery in Picardie, France, and is also commemorated in Cuckfield Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Lieutenant, photography, Royal Field Artillery, story, Surrey, Sussex, unknown, war

Lieutenant Harry Street

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Lieutenant Harry Street

Henry Street – known as Harry – was born on 22nd April 1875 in Oxted, Surrey and was one of thirteen children to Jacob and Emma. Jacob was an agricultural labourer, and this is work Harry initially went into when he left school.

However, it seems that Harry was after more of a career, and looks to have enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery by 1895. His trail goes cold for a while, and it can be assumed that he served abroad, although exact details of his career are lost to time.

By 1906, Harry was back in England, and, on 15th October he married Janette Street at St Peter’s Church in Tandridge, Surrey. The marriage record confirms that Harry was a soldier, while his new wife was the daughter of a labourer. Janette was three years Harry’s junior, and there does not seem to be any close family connection, in spite of their shared surname.

Again, information on Harry’s life at this point is sparse. When war was declared, he was either still serving with the Royal Field Artillery, or was called back in to duty. By December 1914, he had been promoted to Lieutenant: this was to be a rank he would continue to hold until the end of the conflict. He certainly served abroad, and was awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medals, in addition to the Victory and British Medals. He was also given the French Medaille Militaire, although reasons for this award are lost to time.

Lieutenant Street survived the war, and by the autumn of 1919, he was living at Bright Farm in Cuckfield, West Sussex. It was here, too, that he passed away, through causes unknown. He died on 5th October 1919, at the age of 44 years old.

Harry Street was laid to rest in Cuckfield Cemetery, in the shadow of the village’s Holy Trinity Church.

Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Lieutenant, Norfolk, photography, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Captain Edward Wakeford

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Captain Edward Wakeford

Edward Francis Wakeford was born in Rottingdean, near Brighton, Sussex, in February 1881. He was the younger of two children to curate William Wakeford and his wife, Eliza.

The family home was always a busy one; the 1881 census records one visitor, four boarders and a servant. Ten years later, confirms one boarder and two servants.

By 1901, William had taken up a post in St Peter’s Church, Henfield. This seems to have been a step up: helping look after the family and a visitor were four servants – a gardener, a cook, a housemaid and a kitchenmaid.

In March 1907, Edward married Annie West Thornton; she was the daughter of a well-to-do family – the census records show that her father, William West Thornton, lived by private means, while Annie was sent to Surrey to attend a boarding school.

Edward and Annie couple set up home on the Sussex coast, and, when William passed away in 1912, were soon also living by private means. They went on to have three children: two girls, Olive and Iris, and a boy, who they named William after both of their fathers.

War was coming to Europe by this point. While full details of Edwards military service are not available, he appears to have given a commission in the Royal Sussex Regiment. Initially serving as a Lieutenant, but October 1914, he was promoted to Captain.

Edward was assigned to the 6th (Cyclist) Battalion, and served in East Anglia. It seems that he fell ill while there, and was admitted to the Norfolk and Norwich Military Hospital, suffering with appendicitis. Sadly the condition proved too much, and Captain Wakeford passed away following the operation. He died on 23rd February 1915, not long after his 34th birthday.

Edward Francis Wakeford’s body was brought back to Sussex. He was laid to rest in Henfield Cemetery, not far from the church where his father had served for so long.

Captain Edward Wakeford
(from findagrave.com)

The now widowed Annie wed again, marrying Reverend John Gurney in October 1917. Tragedy was to strike again, though, when she passed away just a year later, on 20th October 1918. She was laid to rest Henfield Cemetery, in the plot next to her late husband, Edward.

John Gurney went on to live a full live. He never married again, and settled in Buxted, near Uckfield. He passed away in November 1956, at the age of 76 years old. He was also laid to rest in Henfield Cemetery, where he was buried in the same plot as Annie.

Edward and Annie’s children also went on to have full lives, despite the early loss of their parents.

Olive never married, and passed away in Nottingham in 1986, aged 78 years old.

Iris married in Liverpool in 1934, and went on to have two children. When the marriage failed in the 1940s, she got wed again in 1949. She passed away in Cheltenham in 1965, at the age of 54.

William got married in 1940, at which point he was serving as a Lieutenant in the 1st King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. He saw action in Italy towards the end of the war, and was awarded a Military Cross for his service. When peace came to Europe again, he and his wife settled into a normal life, before emigrating to Australia. William passed away in May 1967, at the age of 54 years old.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, history, illness, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, story, Sussex, war

Gunner William Reeves

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Gunner William Reeves

William Reeves was born in the summer of 1896, one of eleven children to James and Ruth Reeves. James was a house painter from Henfield in West Sussex, and it was there that he and Ruth raised their growing family.

When war came to Europe, William was keen to play his part. He enlisted as a Gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery, and, by October 1915, was in France.

Little information survives about Gunner Reeves’ military service, but by the time he was demobbed, he had earned the Victory and British Medals, the 1915 Star and the Silver War Badge. The latter award was given to those servicemen who had been honourably discharged from service due to wounds or sickness.

William returned to Sussex, but to a quieter home, James having passed away in the spring of 1916. William was also suffering with his health. He had contracted tuberculosis while in the army, and this is the condition to which he finally succumbed. He passed away on 16th December 1919, aged just 23 years old.

William Reeves was laid to rest in Henfield Cemetery, within walking distance of his family home.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, Sussex, Wales, war

Private Harry Maidment

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Private Harry Maidment

Henry James Maidment – known as Harry – was born in Penarth, South Wales, in the autumn of 1890. He was one of seven children to Somerset-born Henry and Minnie Maidment. Henry Sr was a general labourer, and, when he died in 1899, Minnie remained in Penarth, earning money to support the family as a hawker of fruit.

By the time of the 1911 census, most of Minnie’s children were still living at home, with all but one of them working. Harry was employed as a van driver for a laundry, while his siblings were working variously as labourers, sailors and a housekeeper.

In the autumn of 1911, Harry married Annie Hillier, a servant who had been born in Yeovil, but who had also moved to South Wales. The couple went on to have a son, Henry, in October 1912, but he tragically passed away when he was just a couple of months old. They were not to have any other children.

War was coming to Europe by this point, and Harry was keen to play his part. He enlisted towards the end of 1914, joining the 1st Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry as a Private. He arrived in France at the beginning of May 1915, and would have seen fighting at Ypres that spring.

It seems that Private Maidment was wounded at Ypres; he was medically evacuated home and was admitted to the Graylingwell Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex. Details of his injuries are not available, but they must have been severe; he passed away from them on 23rd July 1915, aged just 25 years old.

Harry James Maidment’s body was brought back to Somerset; he was laid to rest in the graveyard of Christ Church, Frome, his parents’ home town, and where his widow, Annie was living.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Lance Corporal, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, story, Surrey, Sussex, war

Lance Corporal Harry Cheeseman

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Lance Corporal Harry Cheeseman

Harry George Cheeseman was born in the summer of 1893, one of eleven children to Charles and Sarah Cheeseman. Charles was an innkeeper, and ran the now-closed Red Lion Inn in Angmering, West Sussex for more than twenty years.

Harry did not follow in his father’s footsteps when he left school. Instead, he moved in with his older sister and her family in Horsham, where he worked as a roundsman on his brother-in-law’s dairy farm.

When war broke out, Harry was eager to enlist. He joined the Royal Sussex Regiment on 16th September 1914, and was assigned as a Private to the 9th (Service) Battalion.

Initially formed in Chichester, Private Cheeseman found himself moved to Portslade, then Shoreham, then Woking in Surrey, before eventually being sent to France at the beginning of September 1915. By this point, he had proved his worth and had been promoted to Lance Corporal.

Harry’s bravery shone through; in November 1915, while battle was raging, he brought an injured colleague into a field hospital and was about to rescue another when he himself was injured. His wound – a gun shot wound to the spine – was initially treated on site, but he was soon evacuated back to England.

Lance Corporal Cheeseman’s injuries proved to be life-changing. A later newspaper report stated that he had been “physically helpless” [Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 5th March 1917], so paralysis seems likely. Awarded the British and Victory Medals and the 1914 Star, he was medically discharged from the army in May 1916.

Harry returned home, but never really recovered from his injuries. He died on 26th February 1917, at the tender age of 23 years old. His funeral “which was of a most impressive character, was witnessed by five hundred people” [Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 5th March 1917], and he was laid to rest in the graveyard of St Margaret’s Church in his home town.

Army Veterinary Corps, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, London, photography, Private, story, Sussex, war

Private Frederick Finch

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Private Frederick Finch

Frederick Henry Harvey Finch was born in 1876 in the Sussex village of Ripe. He was one of eleven children, born to James and Eliza Finch. James was an agricultural labourer, a trade into which most of his children, Frederick included, followed.

In the spring of 1900, Frederick married Ellen Maloney. She had been born in Fareham, Hampshire, and, by the time of the 1891 census, ages just nine years old, was recorded in the Union Workhouse in Portsea. The couple wed in Hailsham, and went on to have three children, Frederick Jr, Hilda and Herbert.

By now, Frederick had moved on from farm labouring, and was working as a groom and a gardener. Within ten years, however, he had moved the family to the coast and the village of Angmering; he had found new employment, working as a carter for a coal merchant.

Frederick continued in this line of work as war broke out, but was one of the first to join the village’s contingent of the Voluntary Training Corps. He seemed to be content with this and at the start of 1917, he enlisted in the armed forces, joining the Army Veterinary Corps.

Private Finch was sent to Woolwich for training, but within a matter of weeks fell ill. Admitted to the Royal Herbert Hospital, he passed away on 24th January 1917, at the age of 40. No specific cause of death is recorded, but a local newspaper report of his funeral suggests, rather disingenuously, that “his health, which was never very robust, proved unequal to the strain of Army life”. [Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 7th February 1917]

Frederick Henry Harvey Finch was brought back to Angmering for burial He lies at rest in the graveyard of St Margaret’s Church in the village.