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Canada, Canadian Infantry, Channel Islands, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Jersey, Kent, Oxfordshire, photography, Private, story, Surrey, Sussex, war

Private Philip le Cornu

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Private Philip le Cornu

Philip Francis le Cornu was born on 29th July 1894 in St Peter’s, Jersey. The youngest of five children, his parents were Philip and Mary le Cornu. Philip Sr was a farmer, but it seems that both he and Mary passed away not long after his youngest son’s birth. By the time of the 1901 census the children had been split between family members, and Philip Jr was living with his maternal grandparents.

Philip finished his schooling, and seems to have sought a purpose in life. He emigrated to Canada and, by the time war broke out, was living in Grande-Mère, Quebec. He found employment as a clerk, but with conflict raging on the other side of the Atlantic, he responded to the call to arms.

Philip enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 12th September 1916. His service records show that he was 22 years and 2 months old and stood 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall. He had black hair, blue eyes and a dark complexion. Private le Cornu sailed to Britain, and arrived there on 7th April 1917.

Billeted in Shoreham, West Sussex, Philip was attached to the 14th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry. Within weeks he was sent to France, and, on 15th August 1917, was caught up in the Battle of Hill 70 near Lens.

During the skirmish, Private le Cornu was badly wounded in the thigh and sent to the 58th Casualty Clearing Station. Within days he was moved to the 4th General Hospital in Camiens, but his condition necessitated medical evacuation to Britain.

Over the next year, Philip had three operations on his leg, and spent time at the 3rd Southern General Hospital in Oxford, the Manor War Hospital in Epsom, Surrey, and the 16th Canadian General Hospital in Orpington, Kent. Tragically, all of the medical treatment was to prove to no avail. Private le Cornu passed away from his injuries on 14th September 1918, more than a year after Hill 70. He was 24 years of age.

Philip Francis le Cornu’s body was taken back to the Channel Islands for burial. He was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Mary’s Church on Jersey.

X-ray of Private Philip le Cornu’s left femur
(from uk.forceswarrecords.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, County Antrim, Great War, history, injury, Ireland, Northern Ireland, photography, Private, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, story, war

Private Charles McManus

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Private Charles McManus

Charles McManus was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, in 1891. The middle of three children, his parents were John and Maryann McManus. John was a horse dealer: when they finished their schooling Charles’ older brother, John Jr, found work as a hawker.

Maryann died in 1907, aged just 47 years of age. The next census record, in 1911, found John Jr living with his wife and family in Ballymena, while John Sr was boarding with a fishmonger elsewhere in the town. Alexander, Charles’ younger brother, was a pupil at an industrial school in Dublin, but Charles himself is missing from the census return.

John Sr passed away in 1913, at the age of 53 years old. Charles was 22 years old and an orphan. The following year war was declared, and Charles was one of the first to step up and serve his country. He joined the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers on 14th September 1914, and was attached to the 1st Battalion.

Full service records for Private McManus are lost to time. However, his unit was sent to Gallipoli in the spring of 1915, only to be evacuated from the region the following January. The 1st Battalion was then sent to France where it became entrenched at the Somme. For Private McManus and his colleagues, this must have felt like going from the frying pan into the fire, but this time he was not to emerge unscathed.

At some point Charles was wounded. He was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and admitted to the King George’s Hospital in London. Whatever his injuries, they were to prove too severe: he died on 24th July 1916, at the age of 25 years old.

Charles McManus’ body was taken back to Antrim for burial. He was laid to rest in the Crebilly Cemetery, overlooking his home town, Ballymena. His pension ledger suggests there was happiness in his life, beyond the killing fields. His next of kin is noted as Miss Mary Gordon of Ballymena, recorded as his unmarried wife.

Bedfordshire Regiment, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Lancashire, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

Private William Lock

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Private William Lock

William Charles Shallis Lock was born in the spring of 1894, the eldest child to Harriet Lock. Born out of wedlock, Harriet went on to marry William’s father, Charles Shallis, in 1897. The couple would go on to have two more children – Walter and Lilian – before Harriet’s untimely death in 1900.

The 1901 census recorded William living with his maternal grandparents, Daniel and Ellen Lock, in the family’s home village of Bishops Lydeard, Somerset. Daniel was a farm labourer and, by the time of the 1911 census, William was making his own way in the world, boarding at Rainbow Wood Farm in Claverton, to the east of Bath. The document seems to indicate that William had ditched his first name, and was now using Charles as his preference.

War came to Europe in the summer of 1914, and Charles stepped up to play his part. Sadly, full service records are no longer available for him, but it is clear that he had enlisted in the opening months of the conflict, and that he joined the Bedfordshire Regiment.

Assigned to the 7th (Service) Battalion, Private Lock found himself in France by the end of August 1915. Charles would have found himself in the thick of the fighting, and was entrenched at both the Somme in 1916 and Passchendaele the following year.

It seems likely that Private Lock’s luck ran out at either the Battle of St Quentin in March 1918, or at the Battle of the Avre, just a few weeks later. That he was wounded is certain, as he was medically evacuated back to Britain, and admitted to Liverpool Infirmary. Charles’ injuries were to prove too severe, however, and he died while admitted on 5th April 1918. He was just 24 years of age.

The body of William Charles Shallis Lock was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest towards the front of the graveyard of St Mary’s Church, in his home village, Bishops Lydeard.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, Royal Fusiliers, Somerset, story, war

Private William Yandell

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Private William Yandell

William Daniel Yandell was born in 1884 in Bishops Lydeard, Somerset. The second of four children, his parents were Samuel and Jane Yandell. Samuel was a farm labourer, and this is work that William and his younger brothers, wins Sam and Walter, also went into.

The 1911 census found William living with Walter, who had found employment as a labourer at Cotford Asylum, not far from the village. The brothers also had a boarder, Samuel Chaffey, a carter, who brought in some more money to the household. Samuel Sr and Jane were all that remained in the family home. Samuel Jr had married three years before, and was living in a small cottage with his wife, Rosina, and their two children. The oldest of the Yandell siblings, Alice, had been married for ten years by the time of the census, and was living with her husband and son in Minehead.

Samuel Sr died in the spring of 1914. By the summer, war had been declared, and the three Yandell brother enlisted to serve their king and heir country.

William, by this point, had found work at the Goodlands Coal Yard and volunteered for the local fire brigade. He did not enlist immediately but joined the Royal Fusiliers in the spring of 1916. Attached to the 3rd Battalion, Private Yandell found himself in France that summer.

On 1st October 1916, he was badly wounded in the right arm and shoulder, and was medically evacuated to the 2nd Western General Hospital in Manchester for treatment. This proved to be long-term support, and on 21st January 1917, he underwent an operation on the injury. Private Yandell was not to come round from the surgery: he passed away the following day at the age of 33 years of age.

William Daniel Yandell was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Mary’s Church in his home village of Bishops Lydeard.

The deepest sympathy is felt for [William’s] widowed mother and relatives, as the widow has another son a prisoner of war in Turkey, who was taken with General Townshend’s force at Kut, and no news has been heard since they were taken prisoner. Another son is somewhere in Salonica, from whom no news has been heard for some weeks past.

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 31st January 1917

Walter was the son being held in Turkey. He had joined the Somerset Light Infantry as a Private, and was assigned to the 1st/5th Battalion. His troop was caught up in the Siege of Kut in the spring of 1916. He died on 31st May 1916, soon after being taken prisoner, a fact his mother would not be made away of for at least nine months, based on the newspaper report. Private Walter Yandell is commemorated on the Basra Memorial in Iraq.

Sam Jr was the son who was based in Salonika. Full details of his military service are not available, but later records confirm that he survived the war. By the time of the 1939 England and Wales Register, he was living back in Bishops Lydeard with Rosina, and was working as a Mess Orderly at a military camp. Sam died in January 1951, at the age of 63.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Gunner, history, injury, Middlesex, photography, Royal Garrison Artillery, Somerset, story, war

Gunner Basil Corney

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Gunner Basil Corney

Basil John Corney was born in Berrynarbor, Devon, in the summer of 1895. The fourth of five children, his parents were William and Elizabeth. William’s work as a farm bailiff, took the family across the area: by 1901, they had moved to Shapwick in Somerset, and the next census record, in 1911, found the family living in Stogumber, where William had taken up management of the White Horse Hotel. Basil, meanwhile, was employed as a butcher’s assistant in the village.

When war came to Europe, Basil stepped up to serve his King and Country. He enlisted on 10th December 1915 and, from this point, preferred to go by his middle name, rather than his first. He asked to be assigned to the Royal Army Service Corps, but by the time he was mobilised in April 1916, he was attached to the Royal Garrison Artillery. Gunner Corney’s service records show that he was 20 years and 8 months old, stood 5ft 10ins (1.77m) tall and weighed 155lbs (70.3kg).

Basil was assigned to the 143rd Siege Battery and, by August 1916, he was sent to France. His time in Europe was to be brief, however, as, on 1st October, he was shot and wounded by shell fire in his right knee while fighting at the Somme. Invalided to Britain for treatment, he eventually seemed to recover, and was transferred to the regiment’s No.2 Depot.

In April 1918, Gunner Corney was admitted to hospital in Edmonton, Middlesex, as his injury was causing some issues again. An examination identified that his kneecap had all but disintegrated, and this led to his eventual dismissal from armed service on medical grounds. He left the Royal Garrison Artillery on 14th November 1918 and was awarded the Silver Badge, noting the reason for him not being in the army.

Basil returned to Somerset, but his time back with his family was to be brief. He passed away at home on 12th December 1918: he was 23 years of age.

The body of Basil John Corney was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Stogumber, across the road from, and within sight of, where his family still lived and worked at the White Horse Hotel.

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

Private Herbert Perry

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Private Herbert Perry

Herbert Perry was born in Sampford Brett, Somerset, on 2nd July 1887. One of fifteen children, his parents were Henry and Mary Perry. Henry was a groom and gardener, and the family were raised in a small cottage in the centre of the village.

Herbert and his siblings attended the local Church of England school, but once he finished his education his own trail goes cold. The next records relate to his military service, although they are also a bit scarce.

What is clear is that Herbert enlisted early in the war. He joined the 1st Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment, and was in France as soon as January 1915. Private Perry found himself at Ypres, and it was here, in July, that he was badly injured.

Private Perry was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and he was admitted to the 5th Northern General Hospital in Leicester. Sadly, this was to be where he would breathe his last: his wounds were to prove too severe, and he succumbed to them on 1st August 1915. He had not long turned 28 years of age.

Herbert Perry’s body was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in the peaceful graveyard of St George’s Church. There he was reunited with his mother, Mary, who had died three years before.

Herbert’s older brother, William, joined the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry when war broke out. Assigned to the 1st Battalion, he rose to the rank of Lance Corporal. William fought at the Somme, and was killed there. He is commemorated at the Thiepval Memorial, and remembered on the family headstone in Sampford Brett.

Commonwealth War Graves, County Louth, Great War, history, India, injury, Ireland, Malta, photography, Private, Royal Irish Fusiliers, Royal Irish Rifles, Somerset, South Africa, story, war

Private Owen Lambe

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Private Owen Lambe

Owen Lambe was born in Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland, in November 1873. There is little information about his early life, but later documentation confirms that he was the son of John and Ellen Lambe, and that he had three brothers and one sister.

When Owen finished his schooling, he found work as a baker. He was also volunteering as a soldier in the 6th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles at the time, however, and this sparked a career move for him. On 7th May 1890, he formally enlisted: his medical report shows that he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, and weighed 128lbs (58kg). He was noted as having brown hair, grey eyes and a dark complexion.

Over the twelve years of his contract, Private Lambe saw a fair bit of the world. After eighteen months on home soil, he was sent to Malta, where he remained until November 1894. His battalion was then moved to India, where they remained for more than three years.

With seven years’ service under his belt, Owen returned to Britain. Put on reserve status, he was recalled to active duty in October 1899, as hostilities broke out in South Africa. He served in the Second Boer War for nearly three years, until, in July 1902, he returned home once more. By this point, he had completed his contract, and formally stepped down from the army on 31st August.

Owen’s trail goes cold at this point, and it is only possible to pick up details from later documents relating to his death. These confirm that he had re-enlisted by the spring of 1916, and that he joined the 8th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers. Based on his previous army experience, Private Lambe would have been sent to the Western Front fairly readily, and his battalion was certainly involved in the fighting at the Battle of the Somme.

It was here, on the front line, that Owen was injured. Again, details are sketchy, but he received gun shot wounds severe enough for him to me medically evacuated to Britain for treatment. He was taken to Somerset and admitted to the Volunteer Aid Detachment Hospital in Burnham-on-Sea for treatment. Private Lambe’s wounds were to prove too severe, however: he passed away from his injuries on 3rd September 1916, at the age of 42 years old.

Owen Lambe was laid to rest in the Roman Catholic section of Burnham Cemetery. His headstone was paid for by the local Catholic church.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, injury, photography, Private, Regimental Serjeant Major, Scotland, Sergeant Major, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

Regimental Serjeant Major John Wimble

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Regimental Serjeant Major John Wimble

John Henry Wimble was born in the autumn of 1870, in Bathampton, Somerset. One of seven children, his parents were William and Charlotte Wimble. Charlotte had been married before, but her husband, John Eastment, had died in 1862, leaving her with three children to raise. She remarried in 1864, and William helped support the growing household.

John sought an escape to adventure and, when he finished his schooling, he enlisted in the army. Full service records are not available, but by the time of the 1891 census, he was noted as being a Private in the Somerset Light Infantry, and was living in barracks in Farnborough, Hampshire.

In the autumn of 1891, John married Eliza Hammond. She had been born in Calne, Wiltshire, and, at the time of their wedding, which took place in Bath, she was working as a parlour maid. The couple would go on to have two children, Percy and Victor.

John completed his army service and, according to the 1911 census, the family had settled in Cheddon Fitzpaine, to the north of Taunton. He was noted as being an army pensioner and that he was working as a warehouseman in the government stores. By the time war broke out, the family had moved to Burnham-on-Sea, where John had taken up the role of caretaker at the local Institute.

The war has cost another gallant local soldier, in the person of Sergt.-Major Wimble, of the Somersets, his life. This brave man re-joined the Army when war broke out on condition he could go to the Front. He was wounded, and died in a hospital at Edinburgh. The War Office had the remains sent to Burnham on Tuesday, where they were placed in St Andrew’s Church, and a large attendance of the public and the [Volunteer Training Corps] attended the funeral on Wednesday.

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser: Wednesday 17th November 1915

John had been assigned to the 6th (Service) Battalion on re-enlisting, and was quickly sent to the front. Caught up in the Action of Hooge and the Second Attack on Bellewaarde, he was medically evacuated to Britain in the autumn of 1915, and passed away on 4th November, at the age of 45.

Here, though, accounts differ slightly. While the newspaper report suggests that he died of his wounds, the Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects gives the cause of death as gastritis.

After the funeral at St Andrew’s Church, John Henry Wimble’s body was laid to rest in Burnham Cemetery.

Regimental Serjeant Major John Wimble
(from findgrave.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, King's Own (Royal Lancashire Regiment), Lancashire, photography, Private, Somerset, story, Surrey, war

Private Charles Bagley

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Private Charles Bagley

Charles Sainsbury Bagley was born in the autumn of 1889, one of eleven children to Benjamin and Jane Bagley. The couple’s early life was an intriguing one: they had both been born in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex. The 1891 census recorded the couple living on board the barque Mizpah, with their three oldest children. Benjamin was the vessel’s master and there were ten other members of crew on board.

By the time Charles was born, the family had returned to shore and settled in Minehead, Somerset. By now Benjamin was working as a hairdresser and tobacconist on Park Street near the centre of the town.

Benjamin died in 1910, but left a thriving business to support Jane. At least three of the Bagley siblings went into hairdressing, while Charles’ older brother, Joseph, set up a bakery and confectioner’s in the town with his wife. Charles is absent from the 1911 census, although later records would suggest that he had moved to Lancashire, where he was also working as a hairdresser.

On 3rd July 1915, Charles married Celia Rogers in Lancaster. War was raging across Europe at this point and, in August 1916, he enlisted in the army. His service records confirm that he was 5ft 7.5ins (1.71m) tall and weighed 128lbs (58kg). Private Bagley joined the 5th Battalion of the King’s Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) and by the end of the year he was on the Western Front, based around the Ypres salient.

The early part of 1917 proved relatively quiet for Private Bagley’s troop. At the end of July, however, he was caught up in the battle of Pilkem Ridge, and was shot in his left leg. Initially treated on site, the wound was severe enough for him to be medically evacuated to Britain for treatment.

Charles was admitted to the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford, but his wounds were to prove to be too severe. He passed away on 28th October 1917, at the age of 27 years old.

The body of Charles Sainsbury Bagley was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the family plot in Minehead Cemetery, reunited with his parents, Jane having died at the beginning of 1917. The seafaring headstone paid homage to his father’s maritime service.

Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Gloucestershire, Great War, history, killed in action, Leading Seaman, Ordinary Seaman, Petty Officer, photography, Royal Navy, Somerset, story, Suffolk, war

Petty Officer Thomas Slade

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Petty Officer Thomas Slade

Thomas Charles Slade was born in Bristol, Gloucestershire, on 13th March 1880. One of twins, he and his sibling Ernest were two of nine children to Charles and Elizabeth Slade. Not long after the twins were born, the family had moved to Minehead, Somerset, where both Charles, who was a mason and bricklayer, and Elizabeth had hailed from.

Whilst Ernest seemed content to remain in Somerset – going on to become a poultry farmer – Thomas sought a life of adventure. Foregoing his gardening job, he enlisted in the Royal Navy, setting his sights on a life at sea.

Thomas’ service records show that he joined up on 12th November 1895. He stood just 5ft 2ins (1.57cm) tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion. As he was to young to formally join up, he was give the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and sent to HMS Impregnable, the shore-based training establishment in Devonport, Devon.

Boy Slade seemed to create a good impression. He was promoted to Boy 1st Class in July 1896, and the follow February was given his first posting, on board the battleship HMS Benbow. This was the ship he was serving on when he turned 18 and, having come of age, he was officially inducted into the navy, and given the rank of Ordinary Seaman.

And so began a glittering career for young Thomas. Over the twelve years of his contract, he served on nine different ships, returning to HMS Vivid – the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport – between voyages.

Small in stature, Thomas appears to have been a dedicated young man. His annual reviews noted his character was ‘very good’ every year, and his ability was either ‘very good’, ‘superior’, or ‘excellent’. He was promoted to Able Seaman in September 1898, just eighteen months after becoming an Ordinary Seaman. By June 1906 he rose in rank again, ending his initial term of service as a Leading Seaman.

Thomas was not done with the navy yet, however. He immediately re-enlisted and, over the ensuing years served on a further four vessels. He spent more and more time on board HMS Defiance, the torpedo and mining school ship in Devonport. Whether this was because he was being taught, or was supporting incoming students is unclear, but by September 1912, he had been promoted again.

In November 1915, the now Petty Officer Slade had moved to the depot ship HMS Dido. His new posting supported the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla in the North Sea, patrolling the waters off the East Anglian coast. In February 1917 he moved to another of the support vessels, HMS Sturgeon.

In June 1917, a mine exploded on board, injuring a number of the crew, including Petty Officer Slade. The wounded were transferred to a hospital near Ipswich, and it was here that Thomas was to pass away. The only one of those caught up in the incident to die, he was 37 years of age.

Thomas Charles Slade was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the sweeping Minehead Cemetery, close to the grave of his mother, Elizabeth, who had passed away nine years before.

Thomas’ headstone also includes an inscription to Roy Thomas Allen, who died six months after him. Roy was the young son of Thomas’ younger sister Emily: an uncle and nephew reunited.