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Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, injury, Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, photography, Private, story, war

Private Wilfred Morse

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Private Wilfred Morse

Wilfred John Morse was born in the spring of 1886 in the Gloucestershire village of Upper Slaughter. The oldest of six children, he was one of five sons, although one of his brothers died when he was a babe in arms, and a second died when he was nine. Wilfred’s parents were agricultural labourer and carter John Morse and his wife, Amy. John travelled to where the work took him, and by the time of the 1901 census, the family had settled in Burford, Oxfordshire.

The following census return, taken in 1911, noted that Wilfred had also found farm work, and he was employed as a milkman, possibly on the same farm as his father. When war broke out, however, Wilfred would step up to play his part.

The full service papers for Private Morse have been lost to time, but it is clear that he had enlisted in the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry early on in the conflict. Assigned to the 6th (Service) Battalion, he found himself on the Western Front by July 1915.

It is unclear how long William remained on the Western Front, but is is likely that he was involved in the Battle of the Somme. By the start of 1917 he was injured, and his wounds were severe enough for him to be medically evacuated to Britain for treatment.

We regret to announce the death of Wilfred John Morse… of the Oxford and Bucks LI, who passed away in a London hospital after an operation following shell wounds and gas. After the action he was conveyed to the Australian Base Hospital and then to London, where it was found necessary to operate.

[Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette: Friday 9th March 1917]

Wilfred John Morse died on 1st March 1917, at the age of 30 years old. His body was taken back to Oxfordshire for burial, and he was laid to rest in the graveyard of St John the Baptist Church, Burford.

Canada, Canadian Infantry, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Lieutenant, London, photography, Somerset, story, war, Wiltshire

Lieutenant Henry Jones

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Lieutenant Henry Jones

Lieut. H C Jones, of the 3rd Battalion Toronto Infantry, sone of Mr C J Jones, solicitor of Bradford-on-Avon, died on Friday morning in a London nursing home, as the result of wounds received in France about six weeks ago. Lieut. Jones, who was about 30 years of age, served his apprenticeship at Messrs. Stothert and Pitt’s, Bath, and afterwards went to Canada. He returned to England with the first Canadian contingent, as a sergeant in the Mechanical Transport. He received his commission in the Toronto Infantry last summer. Six weeks ago he was dangerously wounded in the jaw by shrapnel, while serving in France, and was taken to the Duchess of Westminster’s Hospital at La Touquet. There he was operated on by Dr Fraser, of Bath. He was later taken to a nursing home in London, where he underwent several operations. Death, however, took place yesterday morning, as stated above. Lieut. Jones’s only other brother is Second Lieut. B Jones of the… Wiltshires, and is serving in France. His eldest sister is also in France, serving as a military nurse.

[North Wilts Guardian: Friday 7th January 1916]

Henry Charles Jones was born on 22nd November 1884 in Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. The oldest of four children, his parents were Charles and Alice Jones. As the newspaper report suggested, Charles was a solicitor and, by the time of the 1891 census, the family were living in some comfort at 3 Woolley Street, near the town centre. Alice was supported by a domestic servant and two live-in nurses for the children.

The status quo remained until Henry moved to Bath to serve a the engineering company in Bath. From here, as the North Wilts Guardian suggests, he emigrated to Canada, although the exact dates for the move are unclear. He had certainly relocated to Valcartier, Quebec, by the summer of 1914, and was emplpyed as a chauffeur.

On 23rd September that year, with war declared in Europe, Henry joined the Canadian Infantry. His service papers show that he was 5ft 8.5ins (1.74m) tall, with dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion. He was noted as having two vaccination scars on his left arm, an appendectomy scar on his left side, a scar over his left knee and a mole on the back of his neck.

By the summer of 1915, Lieutenant Jones was in France when he fell ill. He was admitted to the 3rd London 85th Field Ambulance on 26th August, suffering from diarrhoea, and remained there for three days.

It was on 17th November 1915, that Henry was wounded. Where he was based at the time is unclear, but his unit – the 3rd Battalion (Toronto Regiment) were ensconced on the Western Front that autumn. The newspaper report outlined the progress his treatment took from there. He contracted septic pneumonia and it is to this that Lieutenant Jones seems to have succumbed. He died on 31st December 1915, at the age of 31 years old.

The body of Henry Charles Jones was taken back to Wiltshire for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Christ Church, Bradford-on-Avon.

Their son’s death seems to have taken its toll on Henry’s parents. Charles died a year later, at the age of 67: Alice died just two months later, at the age of 62.

Henry’s headstone incorrectly gives the date of his death as 31st December 1914.

Commonwealth War Graves, Cornwall, Devonshire Regiment, Dorset, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, story, war

Private Hedley Perry

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Private Hedley Perry

Hedley James Garfield Perry was born in Camborne, Cornwall in the autumn of 1898. One of nine children, his parents were John and Thurza Perry. John was a farm labourer, and the family lived in a semi-detached cottage at 15 Tehidy Road, to the north of the town centre.

Hedley was under age when war broke out, but it is clear that he wanted to play his part. His service records are long since lost, but he had enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment by the spring of 1918. Private Perry’s unit – the 9th (Service) Battalion – was involved in the final advance on Picardy in the last weeks of the war, and it was during this time that he was wounded.

Private Perry was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and he was admitted to a military hospital in Gillingham, Dorset. Hedley’s injuries would prove too severe, however, and he succumbed to them on 4th December 1918, just three weeks after the Armistice was signed. He was 20 years of age.

The body of Hedley James Garfield Perry was laid to rest in Gillingham Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, India, Lance Corporal, Military Provost Staff Corps, photography, Private, Sergeant, South Africa, story, war, Wiltshire, Wiltshire Regiment

Serjeant Frederick Bewley

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Serjeant Frederick Bewley

Frederick John Edwin Bewley was born in Calne, Wiltshire, on 10th May 1882. Noticeably absent from the 1891 and 1901 census records, his parents were Chelsea pensioner John Bewley, and his wife, Annie.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Frederick was drawn to a life in the army. Having already been a volunteer in the local militia, on 20th November 1900, he enlisted in the Wiltshire Regiment. His service papers show that, at 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, he weighed 125lbs (56.7kg). He sported brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having a scar on his right thigh and calf.

Private Bewley’s contract was for 12 years. During that time, he travelled the world spending three years in South Africa, and more than five in India. He was back in South Africa when his initial term of service came to an end, and he re-enlisted without thinking about it.

In May 1904 Frederick has been promoted to Lance Corporal, a rank he would hold for the next 12 years. During his second term of service, war broke out, but he would only spend short periods of time overseas.

…a member of the regular army, [Frederick] crossed to France with Lord French’s Expeditionary Force in August, 1914, and was wounded in the thigh at the battle of Mons. After a short period at Netley Hospital he went to Flanders in the following November. The awful conditions prevailing in the trenches was responsible for an attack of frost-bite, and tuberculosis following, he was treated at Winsley and Harnwood Sanatoriums…

[Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser: Saturday 27th December 1919]

From 1th January 1915, Lance Corporal Bewley would remain on home soil. The sharp clarity of near-death experiences, along with a reconnection with home life, led to love blossoming and, on 6th May, he married labourer’s daughter Lilian Fidler. Both were living in Holt, Wiltshire, by this point, and it was in the village’s church that the couple exchanged vows.

Back on home soil, a new opportunity had opened up for Frederick, and he transferred to the Military Provost Staff Corps, a unit set up to police the army. In January 1916, he was promoted to Corporal; just weeks later, Vivian gave birth to their first child, Eric. and he rose to Sergeant eighteen months later.

On 1st August 1917, Corporal Bewley was promoted again, taking the rank of Serjeant. By this point, however, his bouts of poor health were coming back to haunt him, and, just six weeks after his promotion, he was medically discharged from the army.

After returning to Holt, Frederick welcomed a second son with Lilian on New Year’s Eve 1918, when Vivian was born. The following winter, his tuberculosis struck again, and this time it was clear the illness would prove fatal. He passed away on 21st December 1919, aged 37 years old.

The body of Frederick John Edwin Bewley was laid to rest in Hold Old Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Great War, history, injury, Kent, London Regiment, photography, Private, story, war

Private William Cox

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Private William Cox

William John Cox was born in the autumn of 1893, and was the second of seven children. His parents – William and Kate Cox – were from Kington Magna, Dorset, and this is where they would raise their family.

William Sr was a farm labourer, and this is work into which his son would follow. By the time of the 1911 census, the family were living in a cottage on Church Street, with William Jr and his younger brother, Frederick, both agricultural workers.

When war came to Europe, William would step up to play his part. Full service details have been lost, but it is clear that he had enlisted in the army by the summer of 1916. As a Private, he was assigned to the 4th Battalion of the London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers).

Private Cox certainly saw action overseas, and would find himself entrenched at the Somme. At some point, he was wounded, and his injuries were bad enough for him to be sent back to Britain for treatment. He was admitted to hospital in Chatham, Kent, but his wounds would prove to be too severe. William passed away on 20th December 1916: he was 23 years of age.

The body of William John Cox was taken back to Dorset for burial. He was laid to rest in the tranquil surrounds of All Saints’ Churchyard in Kington Magna.

William’s younger brother, Frederick, also fought in the First World War. Read his story here.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Kings Royal Rifle Corps, photography, Rifleman, story, Surrey, war

Rifleman Joseph Nicholls

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Joseph James Nicholls was born in Battersea, Surrey, on 19th October 1889. There is frustratingly little information about his early life, although what remains legible on his service records confirm his mother’s name was Jenny, and he had five siblings: brothers William and Jack, and sisters Martha, Rose and Sarah.

On 8th May 1911, Joseph married Lavinia Tutte in St Mary’s Church, Battersea. She was the daughter of a boiler cleaner, and their marriage certificate provides a little more insight into the new groom’s background. His father is named as Joseph James Nicholls, a farrier who had died before his son married. Joseph Jr was working as a carman, and the couple were living at 43 Lombard Road. The couple would go on to have two children, daughters Jane and April.

When war broke out, Joseph was quick to step up. He enlisted 14th September 1914, just six weeks or so into the war, giving up his job as a carman to do so. He was 5ft 9ins tall and weighed 133lbs: he had brown hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having a mole on his left arm.

Assigned to the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, he spent the next ten months training at Larkhill Camp, Wiltshire. During this time, he went AWOL (from 5:30pm on 24th May to 6:30pm on 9th June 1915), and forfeited 17 days’ pay. 

On 23rd July 1915, Rifleman Nicholls was dispatched to France with his unit – A Company of the 12th (Service) Battalion. There is little information available about where he served, although his unit landed near Saint Omer, and trained in camps around Fleurbaix. He was admitted to hospital for four days on 19th February 1916 for an undocumented illness, but this was not to impact his readiness for battle.

On 2nd March 1916, Rifleman Nicholls was wounded in the right shoulder, and admitted to the camp hospital. His injuries would prove too severe, however, and he succumbed to them on 4th March 1916. He was 26 years of age.

Joseph James Nicholls was laid to rest in the Essex Farm Cemetery near Ypres, Belgium.

Joseph was the first husband of my maternal great great aunt.

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire, Worcestershire Regiment

Private Albert Cockell

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Private Albert Cockell

Albert Leonard Cockell was born in the spring of 1917, and was the youngest of four children to William and Annie Cockell. William was a plate layer and packer for Great Western Railways, and the family were born and raised in the village of Dilton Marsh, near Westbury, Wiltshire.

Albert finished his schooling early, to help bring in some money. The 1911 census recorded him – at 13 years of age – employed as a glove worker. When he was old enough, though, he followed in his father’s stead and, by the time war broke out, he was working as a porter at Westbury Station.

In the autumn of 1916, Albert stepped up to serve his country. He enlisted in the Worcestershire Regiment, and was assigned to the 4th Battalion. He soon found himself in the thick of things, and, by the spring of 1917, his unit was entrenched near Arras.

Sincere sympathies will be felt for Mr and Mrs William Cockell in the death of their son, Private Albert Leonard Cockell, Worcester Regiment, which took place on July 8th from wounds received while on active service in France. Private Cockell… joined the army about nine months ago, and during fighting on the 23rd April was struck by shrapnel. He was sent back to Dorchester and died on Sunday.

[Warminster & Westbury Journal: Friday 20th July 1917]

Albert Leonard Cockell was wounded on the first day of the Second Battle of the Scarpe. He died from his injuries on 8th July 1917, and his body laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church, Dilton Marsh.

Commonwealth War Graves, Egypt, Essex, Great War, history, illness, injury, New Zealand, New Zealand Canterbury Regiment, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire

Private Thomas Kearse

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Private Thomas Kearse

Thomas Walker Kearse was born in Westport, New Zealand, on 15th December 1891. One of seven children, his parents were British emigrant Thomas Kearse and his local-born wife, Rosanna.

There is little information available about Thomas’ early life. He found work as a general labourer when he finished his schooling, by which time his mother had passed away. By his mid-20s, he had relocated to Kaikohe, on North Island.

When war broke out, Thomas stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in Trentham on 16th February 1915, and was assigned to the New Zealand Canterbury Regiment. Private Kearse’s medical examination noted that he was just over 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, and weighed 139lbs (63kg). He had light hair, blue-grey eyes and a fair complexion. He was also noted as having a scar on his right shin.

Private Kearse would be in the army for two-and-a-half years, but would experience enough warfare for a lifetime. On leaving New Zealand his unit made for the Dardanelles, arriving there on 16th August 1915. He was wounded early on, and medically evacuated to Malta. His injuries would need further treatment, however, and he was shipped to Britain, and sent to hospital in Birmingham.

Thomas spent time recuperating at a base in Hornchurch, Essex, and it would seem that, while here, he met Catherine Goodwin. A romance started, but Thomas was sent to re-join his unit, who were barracked in Egypt. Within a month, however, he was on the move again, arriving in France in April 1916. While there, he went absent without leave for two days, and forfeited a month’s pay as a result.

In October, Private Kearse was wounded in the head and arm by gunfire, and, after initial treatment in Rouen, he was medically evacuated to Britain. Admitted to the 3rd Southern General Hospital in Oxford, he would remain here for the next month. He was then sent to the ANZAC base in Codford, Wiltshire, again to recuperate, but, while there, he was admitted to the camp’s venereal unit for a fortnight.

Discharged again, his condition had not cleared up: Thomas was back in hospital on 5th December 1916, and he spent a further two weeks admitted.

On his latest discharge, Private Kearse was marched to Sling Camp, near Bulford, where he took up a role as cook. He would remain there for the next four months and, during this time, he and Catherine exchanged vows. She had given birth to a daughter, Ivy, the previous October, and this helped formalise their family unit.

Over the next few months, Thomas’ life repeated itself. He was admitted to hospital in Codford again in June 1917, and went AWOL for 26 hours on 27th/28th July (for which he was docked four days’ pay). Discharged from hospital on 4th September, he was marched back to the Sling Camp.

Within six weeks, however, he was sent back to hospital in Codford, this time suffering from pneumonia. This time, Thomas would not be as fortunate. The lung condition got the better of his, and he passed away on 25th October 1917, at the age of 25 years old.

The body of Thomas Walker Kearse was laid to rest in the ANZAC extension to St Mary’s Churchyard in Codford, not far from the hospital he had visited so many times.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Lance Corporal, Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire Regiment, photography, Private, story, war

Lance Corporal Charles Webb

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Lance Corporal Charles Webb

Charles Edward Webb was born in Wootton, Northamptonshire in the autumn of 1894. The oldest of seven children, his parents were clay pit foreman David Webb and his wife, Hannah.

When Charles finished his schooling, he found work as a brewer’s labourer: the 1911 census found the family living in a four-roomed cottage on Wootton High Street.

Little information is available about Charles’ time in the army. A later report, however, confirms that he enlisted not long after the declaration of war in 1914. He joined the Northamptonshire Regiment, and was assigned to the 7th (Service) Battalion.

Private Webb’s unit fought in some of the fiercest battles of the conflict, including at Loos in 1915, the Somme in 1916 and Ypres in 1917. During this time Charles was promoted to Lance Corporal.

Webb, Lce.-Corpl. CE (23), Northants, eldest son of Mr and Mrs Webb of Wootton, and fiance of Miss M Seamark, of Northampton; died in the University War Hospital, Southampton, on December 3, of wounds received in action on June 7; enlisted at the outbreak of war.

[Northampton Chronicle and Echo – Monday 31 December 1917]

The date of Charles Edward Webb’s injuries coincide the the first day of the Battle of Messines, in which the Northamptonshire Regiment played a crucial role. He was 23 years old when he died: his body was taken back home for burial and he was laid to rest in St George’s Church Cemetery, not far from the homes of his grieving family and fiancée.

Charles’ younger brother William also served in the First World War. As a Private in the 10th (Service) Battalion of the Essex Regiment, he was caught up in the Battle of Amiens on 8th August 1918, and was declared missing presumed dead: he was just 18 years of age. He is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois British Memorial in Harcourt, France.

Coldstream Guards, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, story, war, Wiltshire, Yorkshire

Private William Loxley

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Private William Loxley

LOXLEY, WILLIAM, Private, No. 14657, 4th Battn. Coldstream Guards, eldest s. of the late William Loxley, Engine Fitter, by his wife, Ellen, dau. of the late Edward Stringer; b. Ecclesfield, co. York, 26th Oct. 1885; educ. there; was a stove and grate fitter; volunteered and enlisted 9 Jan. 1915; went to France, 15 Aug. 1915, and died in Convalescent Home, Westbury, co. Wilts, 27 Nov. 1915, of wounds received in action during the Battle of Loos, 27-29 September 1915. He m. at Grimsby, 4 Aug. 1912, Edith Mary (3, Burton Street, Langsett Road, Sheffield, widow of Philip Munty, and dau. of the late Frederick Charles Unwin.

De Ruvigny’s Role of Honour

William was the second of four children to William and Ellen. The family lived at 50 Town End Road in Ecclesfield, a small stone-built cottage overlooking grassland on the edge of the village.

Aside from his entry in de Ruvigny’s Role of Honour, there is no further information about his widow, although the British Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects names both Edith and William’s nephew – Faedon Muntz – as beneficiaries.

Injured at Loos, a local newspaper provided an obituary:

Giving up his profession for the Army, [William] was drafted out to France, and received a bullet through the forehead. After a long treatment in hospital he was, a fortnight ago, invalided home for ten days, leaving only a few days ago, then appearing to making rapid progress. He had a relapse, and on Friday his memory left him. Later he became delirious and passed away.

[Sheffield Daily Telegraph: Monday 29th November 1915]

William Loxley died at the Haywood House Hospital in Westbury, Wiltshire, on 27th November 1915: he was 30 years of age. His body was laid to rest in the town’s cemetery.