Frederick William Grantham

The bad quality photo above is that of Captain Frederick William Grantham who was born in South Norwood, Surrey on 10 July 1870. He was the brother of William Wilson Grantham whose biography is included on the Chailey 1914-1918 website. I have not included the biographies of either Frederick or his son Hugo because they were more connected with Barcombe (just outside the Chailey parish boundaries) and Beeleigh in Essex. Nevertheless, both men made the ultimate sacrifice for their King and Country and deserve our remembrance, albeit in a blog entry.

The following information is taken from De Ruvigny’s roll of honour.

GRANTHAM, Capt. Frederick William 2nd Bn Royal Munster Fusiliers. Died 9th May 1915. Son of Sir William Grantham and Emma Grantham, of 100, Eton Square, S.W. and Barcombe Place, Sussex. Joined the volunteers while at Cambridge in 1890 and afterwards the Post Office Rifles in 1893 and the Munster Militia in 1899. Served in the South African War 1900 with the Imperial Yeomanry. Passed into the reserve of Officers 23rd January 1909 but when the European war began was immediately called up and joined the Royal Munster Fusiliers with the rank of Capt. 6th Aug. 1914. Went to the front in France 22nd Sept 1914 and was killed in action near Richebourg L'Avoue 9th May 1915 leading his men in attack on the German trenches early in the morning of that day. He was for three months reported wounded and missing but his body was found by a patrol in August. Panel 43 and 44. His son 2/Lt. Hugo Frederick Grantham also fell and is buried in Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery, Turkey.

The panels referred to above are those on the Le Touret war memorial in France. Obviously, having been found once, Captain Grantham’s body (which we must presume was buried, having been found) was subsequently lost.

On 27th August 1915, The Essex Review wrote:

Captain Frederick William Grantham, Royal Munster Fusiliers, of Beeleigh Abbey, who has been killed in action, was the second son of the late Justice Grantham. Born in July 1870 he was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, and called to the bar in 1894, being subsequently appointed Clerk of Assize on the Oxford Circuit. He was a great traveller in the Far East and an authority on eastern philosophy. He received the King’s medal for his services in the South African war. On the outbreak of war he rejoined his regiment, the Royal Munster Fusiliers, with his old rank, and had been serving with it in Flanders since September. He was reported wounded and missing on May 9, and is now reported killed in action. His latest commission was dated August 6, 1914. The deceased officer’s eldest son, Lieutenant Hugo Frederick Grantham, fell in the Dardanelles on June 28 last.

The panel below, commemorating both men, was erected in All Saints church in Maldon in January 1917. Again, The Essex Review covered the event.

Maldon:- All Saints. A memorial tablet is erected in the church to the memory of Captain Frederick William Grantham 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers, killed near Richebourg L’Avoué 9th May 1915 aged 45, and his elder son, Hugo Frederick Grantham 2/1st Essex Regiment, killed on the Gallipoli Peninsula 28th June 1915 aged 20.


Frederick’s name also appears on the Barcombe (Sussex) and Maldon (Essex) war memorials.

Three Cornford Brothers Go to War

The title of this post is taken from a privately published history of the same name which was recently sent to me by Stan Cornford. Stan's father Tom Cornford and his uncles Trayton Cornford and John Henry Cornford all served during the First World War.

Trayton and Tom both appear to have joined the Lancers at Roeheath, Chailey in September 1914, both men subsequently transferring to the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. Trayton was killed near Serre on the Somme in November 1916 but Tom later transferred to the 1/10th Manchesters, winning the Military Medal in 1918. Tragically, he died in 1933 when his son was only three years old. He is buried in St Peter's churchyard, Chailey.

John Henry Cornford, the third brother, was a pre-war regular artilleryman who served time in India and appears to have served right through the Great War only to die in England in 1920. He is buried at Deepcut in Surrey. So three brothers, three premature deaths, and all are now commemorated on the Chailey 1914-1918 website.

My grateful thanks to Stan for some fascinating correspondence and Cornford family information. Incidentally, none of the brothers was mentioned in Reverend Jellicoe's monthly roll call of local serving men. Although Tom had been born at Chailey and his brothers at Plumpton, the family had probably moved out of the area a good while before the First World War began.

Chailey Green - June 2008

I stopped by Chailey Green last week and took some photos on what was, after a grim May Bank Holiday Monday, a pretty fine June day. The war memorial was, of course, the first shot I took. For those who don't know Chailey, that's the new vicarage behind the memorial. The old vicarage, the one that Reverend Jellicoe inhabited and stood in front of for the photograph that I've included on his page, is now a private residence that appears to be undergoing renovation. On the day we were there, a huge Marks and Spencer lorry reversed past us and into the driveway there.

Row of cottages next to the new vicarage. I don't know their original name and would be pleased to hear from anybody who can advise me on this.

This property lies opposite the war memorial and, beyond that, the cottages in the previous image.

A somewhat overgrown churchyard and a pretty standard shot of St Peter's. Unfortunately the church was locked - as most British churches tend to be these days - but I've been inside before and probably could have gone inside again had I called at the vicarage.

The grave of John Cecil Glossop Pownall. I really didn't have a chance to look around the graveyard properly. As I mentioned, it was overgrown and I also had my two year old daughter (below) in tow. I did however spot John Pownall's grave - and also that of Margaret Blencowe - and paid my respects there. John's brother, Lionel Pownall, was killed during the First World War but he emerged unscathed, serving as a captain with the Royal Field Artillery.

Click on any of the images for a larger version.

Ernest Stevens and Alice Pointing

I've added a photo of Ernest Stevens and Alice Pointing (above). The couple were married in 1915 and Ernest would serve with the Salvage Corps after the war had ended. Alice's four brothers all served their King and Country and their mother, also Alice Pointing, worked as a cook with Sussex 54 VAD.

The 5th Leicesters learn bomb throwing

Back in the early 1980s, having recently lost my grandfather and regretting that I'd never spoken to him properly about his own First World War experiences, I decided to set out and interview as many surviving veterans as I could find. My introduction to Chailey happened at this time when I was loaned an autograph album kept by a VAD nurse who'd worked with Sussex 54 VAD in Chailey and Newick. But I was principally interested in meeting the old soldiers and over the next ten years or so I probably interviewed or corresponded with about 100 Great War veterans - mostly in the Chelmsford area where I grew up, and at Loughborough where I went to university. I've recently started re-transcribing these tape-recorded interviews and I'll publish extracts here. As far as Chailey goes, it's slightly off tangent, but it is still WW1 and the old soldier tales are too good not to be shared.

So I'll start with Private Harold Shephard of the 5th Leicesters whom I interviewed in Loughborough in June 1984 when he was 88 years old. Mr Shephard joined the TF in 1911 and by 1915 he was in France. Here he is describing a Mills' bomb training course:

"Before we went to Egypt we had reinforcements come up to us at Marseilles. Now we’d been using the Mills bomb for twelve months near enough in the trenches and all the instructions we’d got were pull the pin out, count three and throw it.

Now in the reinforcements that come out we’d got an instructor as had been instructing on this bomb in England and had never thrown one - not the live thing - he’d thrown the dummy. And he come out to us in Marseilles and he says, I’ve come out from England to give you instructions on this bomb. So we all said, well what instructions are there? So he said, I’m coming to that in a minute, let me describe what I’ve come out here for, I’m stationed with the regiment now.

So he says, this is a Number 5 Mills’ Bomb. He says, you unscrew the bottom like this and take it off and at the top of that there’s a little detonator - and it’s only like a bit of electric wire and it’s about an inch long like that and curled up and then goes into the bomb. Now he took it out – we didn’t know nowt about this – he took it out and he says, now look, I’m going to tell you what not to do. So I says, he's pulling us bloody leg, you know, and all this that and the other. He gets this detonator out - and it weren’t only about that high - and he gets a little pocket knife and he says, now this is what I don’t want you soldiers to do. And he just touched the top of it and off went three of his fingers.

He’d been using the dummies in England but as soon as he got out here he was playing with the live stuff. We all said, fancy a bloody man coming out like that and telling us this when we’d been using them for twelve months.

Harold Shephard died in Loughborough in 1988 at the age of 92.

Alice Pointing and Ernest Stevens

Thanks to correspondence from a relative I've been able to fill in additional detail for Alice Pointing and Ernest Stevens (who has languished on my site as E F Stevens for the past two years).

I had always assumed that the Alice Pointing noted as serving as a cook with Sussex 54 VAD was the sister of Frank, George, James and William Pointing. In all likelihood however, it appears that it was in fact their mother. I have made this point on Alice's page.

Alice junior however, married Ernest Frank Stevens in December 1915 and so I am pleased, finally, to be able to reproduce his name in full and also to add additional detail to his page. Two years after initially publishing my research on-line, these small titbits coming through continue to fascinate as well, of course, as building a greater picture of Chailey's protagonists during those Great war years.

Richard William Gibson

I've updated the page for Richard Gibson and added him as another Great War fatality. Chailey Parish Magazine doesn't have an awful lot to say about him. He's mentioned as serving his King and Country in 1914 but by December 1916 he disappears altogether.

Whilst I can't be sure, I feel fairly confident that this man is the same Richard William Gibson who lost his life in September 1916 whilst serving with the 2nd Royal Sussex Regiment. He was a regular soldier (enlisting circa 1904) and an Old Contemptible, having arrived in France at the end of August 1914.

Richard has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial on the Somme. His name does not appear on the Chailey War Memorial or on the memorial at Hailsham where he was born.

Arthur Hamilton Boyd

The image above was sent to me this morning and shows a slightly blurred Reverend Arthur Hamilton Boyd in 1948. His medal ribbons can clearly be seen.

Medal cards on-line

I noticed today that Ancestry have put the WW1 medal cards on-line. This will be an enormous boon to WW1 researchers not only because the information becomes far more easily accessible, searchable and ultimately cheaper than the information you get direct from the National Archives, but also because the Ancestry photographer has helpfully taken a shot of the back of the card as well. In most instances the back will be blank, but some, like the attached card for my great uncle, Alfred Arthur Nixon, show an address and details of correspondence.

All images are Crown copyright of course, but as this is a non commercial blog and this post is written with the intention of informing and educating, I hope HM will forgive me and not send me to the Tower on this occasion.

69th and 84th Garo Labour Companies

This is most definitely off-topic as far as Chailey is concerned, but in a shining example of shameless self-promotion (aimed as much at search engines as humans), I am flagging up another WW1 website which I have just launched.

The 69th and 84th Garo Labour Companies website is a small Freewebs site which commemorates the men of these two north east Indian labour corps companies during the First World War. A memorial in Tura, (then in the state of Assam, now in Meghalaya), commemorates the 55 labourers who did not return.

As far as Chailey is concerned, I hope to be able to correct the record of another of Chailey's men very soon. I have been in touch with a relative and all being well will be updating the relevant page during the coming week.

William Horace Simmons

William Horace Simmons was another old Chailey soldier overlooked by the Reverend Jellicoe in his monthly roll call of serving parishioners. He originally attested with the 21st Hussars in 1893 and his early service record makes fascinating reading.

Despite brushes with authority, William saw a good deal of service abroad. He was in the “East Indies” (India) between 8th March 1894 and 23rd October 1896 and then went straight to Egypt until 11th November 1899. He was home in England briefly between November 1899 and February 1900 but then sailed for South Africa on 13th March that year to fight the Boers. He returned home on 15th July 1900 (presumably as a result of sickness or wounds) and was discharged in 1901. He was entitled to the Queen’s South Africa Medal.

He enlisted for a second time on 22nd October 1914, this time signing up with the Military Mounted Police at Aldershot and served with this regiment until his discharge from the army on 15th August 1917.

I am surmising that the reason for William’s omission in Chailey Parish Magazine was due to him having moved out of the immediate area many years before. I am happy to remember him at last on the Chailey website.

Fletching British Legion - women's section

Thanks to Geoff Isted in Sussex I've been able to add tiny snippets to two more records. James Brazier and Percy Ireland both served their King and Country during WW1. James was killed in action in March 1918 whilst serving with the Royal Garrison Artillery but Percy survived (albeit with a head wound) and returned to his wife and children in Fletching.

In 1926, James's sister and Percy's wife both joined the women's branch of Fletching British Legion (the Royal had not been added at this point in time), and I am grateful to Geoff for digging out this additional information.

Victor George Ashford - a brief war

Victor George Ashford was born about 1900 in Newick. He appears on the 1901 census as the youngest child of James Thomas Ashford (a fishmonger) and his wife Jane. Three other children are also noted.

Victor's service record more rightly belongs on a Newick commemoration site as he lived at Colonels Bank, Newick. However, his service record notes Colonels Bank as being in Chailey and so I am more than happy to add his name to the Chailey parish roll call.

Chailey 1914-1918 - two years old

This time two years ago, with the first fireworks bursting outside my flat in India, I was struggling to publish my Chailey 1914-1918 commemoration site. I'd set myself the goal to get it published in 2005 and I made it with a few hours to spare. Publishing my research on-line was the best thing I ever did. Although I had a lot of information, there were - and still are - huge gaps which I hoped that visitors to my site would help fill. They have and they continue to do so.

So again, thank you to everybody who has helped me over the past 24 months. Just today, as a result of information receive from a distant relative, I have been able to update the page for Frederick Sweetman, a Wivelsfield man who joined the Royal Sussex Regiment Special Reserve in September 1914, served overseas twice and was then discharged on a pension of ten shillings a week in 1916. Frederick was a widower when war was declared yet, with two young daughters to support, that didn't stop him from volunteering to serve his King and Country.

Tonight I shall raise a glass to the men and women of Chailey and indeed to all our country's servicemen and women (past and present) whose sacrifices allow us to enjoy the freedoms we so happily take for granted.

Happy New Year to you all.

Frederick Ernest Sweetman

I've updated the page for Frederick Ernest Sweetman thanks to additional information contained in his surviving service record (and a prompt from a distant relative). Frederick's service record indicates that he was a regular soldier and I think it likely that he was also a Boer War veteran, although if he was, the papers aren't with his WW1 papers in the WO 364 series. Frederick was also the brother-in-law of George Kenward, another Chailey man who served his King and Country.

Ernest Arthur Malins

I've added a photograph of Ernest Arthur Malins (standing left), along with his brother Sidney Howard Williams Malins. Both men wear the cap badge of the Royal West Kent Regiment. The photograph was taken in England with the men's parents.

Ernest was a patient at Hickwells in Chailey and would later be killed on the Somme in July 1916. Sidney would survive the war, attaining the rank of warrant officer class 2 with the Northumberland Fusiliers.

Ivan Duffield corrected

Thanks to Eleanor Manvell, I've corrected Ivan Duffield's record. I had recorded this man as having been born in Slinfold, Sussex when in fact the man recorded in Reverend Jellicoe's monthly parish returns had been born at Ringmer.

Thomas Jesse Woodhams

I knew from a previous contact that Thomas Woodhams emigrated to the US some time before 1915. Now, thanks to Dennis Savage in Australia, I've been able to pinpoint that date (as well as the name of the ship on which he sailed) and I've consequently updated Thomas's page with this information. He served with the RFA during the First World War.

259027 Pte Roland Gilbert, Labour Corps

The undated photo above, sent to me by Mike Gilbert, features his grandfather Roland Gilbert (seated third from left) when he was serving in the Royal Sussex Regiment. The reverse of the card, sent to his three children, simply reads, love to you all, Daddy.

In March 1915, Chailey Parish Magazine had noted that Roland Gilbert was serving his King and Country.  In October 1915 it reported, Gilbert, Private R, 10th Royal Sussex, France. 

Ten months later in August 1916 the parish magazine noted that Private Gilbert has been wounded and was in England.  His final entry in the parish magazine appears in September 1917 which simply states, Gilbert, Private R, 10th Royal Sussex.  Wounded.

It seems likely that Roland Gilbert was 4469 Private Roland Gilbert.  His medal index card has two numbers and two regiments for him, the second being 259027, a Labour Corps number.  It would seem to fit the information contained in the parish magazine that Private Gilbert was wounded with the 10th Royal Sussex Regiment, returned to England to recuperate and then transferred to the Labour Corps.

Roland Gilbert was born in Burwash, Sussex in 1880, his birth registered in the Ticehurst district in March of that year.  He was the son of William and Ann Gilbert and appears on the 1881 census for Burwash as a one year old infant.  The family was living at Toll Gate Cottage and comprised William Gilbert (aged 23), an agricultural Labourer, his wife Ann (aged 27), Roland and the couple's one month old daughter (un-named on the census return).  All four family members are noted as having been born in Burwash.  They also shared the house with another family: Harry Kemp (aged 71) and his two daughters: Sarah Kemp (aged 40) and Hannah Kemp (aged 38 and bed-ridden).

I have been unable to locate the family on the census returns for 1891 and 1901 but thanks to Roland's grandson, Mike Gilbert, who contacted me as a result of finding this website,  Iam able to fill in further details post 1901.

In 1902 Roland married Mabel Day, their marriage registered in the Brighton district in the December quarter of that year.  Four children followed quickly: Percy Gilbert (born in 1903), Dorothy Gilbert (born in 1904), Ella Gilbert (born in 1905) and Kathleen Gilbert (born in 1907).  The family lived in Lower Station Road, Chailey, next door to Mabel's parents William and Emma who let rooms and had a small market garden.  Mike Gilbert thinks that the properties were called The Pines and Fernside (one of these now re-named Wray Lodge).  This ties in with Kelly's Directory for 1915 which notes William as being the owner of Pines Apartments.  Logic suggests therefore that Roland and his family lived at Fernside.

In 1909, Mabel Gilbert died at the young age of 30 and her sister became a surrogate mother to the four young Gilbert children. 

 

 

It is clear from the entry in Chailey Parish Magazine that, despite being the breadwinner for four children, Roland Gilbert voluntarily enlisted in the army.  He would have been 35 years old by then.  Mike Gilbert remembers his father saying that he had to leave school in 1915 to help in the market garden as his father had joined the army. Fortunately, as mentioned above, Roland survived the war and came home to Chailey to continue bringing up his family.

My thanks to Mike Gilbert for the wonderful photos of his grandfather, father and aunts.

Much to add

Although I've not updated this page for a while, there is a lot to add to the site, both as a result of contact from relatives and also thanks to service records A-C (the burnt documents) now available on-line.

The reason for not updating the site is as a result of work commitments, other WW1 projects, family matters and my site hosts experiencing a security threat which has led to them changing all the passwords. Once I fathom out how to re-instate everything, normal service will be resumed.

Cottingham and Kenward

As a result of information received from relatives I've updated the pages for the Cottingham brothers - Alfred Cottingham, Frederick Cottingham, George Cottingham, James Cottingham and William Cottingham - and also the page for John Walter Kenward.

Chailey National School 1899

The photo above shows pupils from Chailey National School and was taken in 1899.

The only child I've identified so far is five year old Frederick Bray who sits far right. I feel convinced though, that many of his classmates would also have gone on to serve their King and Country. For the time being though, they remain frozen in anonymity and the innocence that was society before the First World War.

Alfred Jenner & Douglas Uridge

I have updated the biographies for two more Chailey men: Alfred Jenner and Douglas Uridge. Both would have had interesting stories to tell.

Alfred joined the army as a regular soldier in 1915 and sustained a gunshot wound in 1917. It was a huge carbuncle on his shoulder however, which was to prove most troublesome to him and which would eventually lead to a sizeable army gratuity. Alfred's service record speaks volumes for the insanitary conditions in which men lived in the trenches. Besides his carbuncle, he was also hospitalised at various times as a result of conjunctivitis, trench fever and myalgia.

Douglas Uridge first joined the army on 1st August 1914. He was in Canada at the time but never sailed with his regiment. A kick in the head from a horse caused him to be discharged from the army. Undeterred, he sailed for England and finally succeeded in re-enlisting, this time with the Army Service Corps. Even so, he was discharged in 1917, a Medical Board noting that he was, "thin, weak. Slightly anaemic, narrow chest and poor physique generally."

769654 Pte Horace Raymond Martin, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

Chailey Parish Magazine notes in September 1916 that H Martin is serving with the Grenadier Guards in England.  In December 1916 it notes that he is serving with the 13th Grenadier Guards and this information is then repeated up to and including December 1917.  After this, there are no further references to this man.

According to his attestation papers, Horace was born in Newick on 2nd June 1897.  I think that this is a soldier's "white lie" however and that he was really born in the second half of 1898, his birth registered at Lewes district in the September quarter of that year.  He appears on the 1901 census living at Church Road with his parents and seven siblings.  The household comprised, William John Martin (head, aged 47; a self employed builder), his wife Adela Martin (aged 42) and their eight children.  In age order they are: William Henry Martin (an 18 year old carpenter), Florence Kate Martin (aged 15), Mabel Grace Martin (aged 13), Edith Cicely Martin (aged 11), Alfred Geoffrey Martin (aged ten), John Sidney Martin (aged five), Daisy Evaline Martin (aged four) and Horace (aged two).

There was of course, no “13th Grenadier Guards” but with the wisdom of hindsight and due acknowledgement to Horace’s headmaster at Newick, John Oldaker, it is possible to see how this error arose.

Horace’s brother John served with the 10th Royal Grenadiers, CEF and it appears that the Reverend Jellicoe got this information slightly wrong and then attributed the incorrect regiment to Horace.  In all likelihood both the boys were in Canada when war was declared because both joined Canadian units. 

Horace, who would only have been about 16 when war was declared, enlisted at Toronto on the 4th January 1916 (still under age) and was posted to the 124th Battalion of the CEF.  He was given the number 269654. His attestation papers note that he was born in Newick, Sussex and give his address as 26 McRoberts Avenue, Toronto, Canada. His next of kin is noted as his mother, Adela Martin, also of the same address.  Horace's trade is given as machinist. He was five feet six and a half inches tall, had a fair complexion, blue eyes and black hair.  A scar on his right ankle is also noted.

On 1st January 1917 Horace transferred to Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI)  having already been in France with the 124th Bn CEF since 4th December 1916.  A note in the PPCLI roll of honour records that he was struck off strength on 7th February 1919.

The photograph that appears on this page, plus details of Horace’s enlistment are from John Oldaker’s collection of serving ex pupils from Newick School.  My thanks to Simon Stevens for this information.

Also see this post. Is it the same Horace Martin?

Midshipman Anthony Martin Kimmins, HMS Marlborough

 

Anthony Martin Kimmins was born on 11^th October 1901, his birth registered at Hendon, north London in March the following year.  His mother, Grace Kimmins, (later Dame Grace Kimmins), co-founded Chailey Heritage Hospital (previously the Chailey Union Workhouse) with Alice Rennie the following year.  The following information is taken from East Sussex County Council’s page on Chailey Heritage Hospital:

“It is world-famous for its ground-breaking approach to orthopaedics. Originally it offered hospital treatment, education and training in craftwork to children with severe physical disabilities. Much of the philosophy of care derived from Grace Kimmins' husband, Dr C W Kimmins, who was an educational psychologist for the London County Council. Chailey Heritage was initially a private institution and relied heavily on donations for its survival. Grace Kimmins tirelessly and inventively raised funds for the hospital. She was well-connected and used her contacts to secure the patronage and support of royalty, the aristocracy, affluent businessmen and the press.”

Anthony Kimmins spent two years at Osborne and two terms at Dartmouth before first going to sea in HMS Marlborough.  He first appears in Chailey’s parish magazine as Cadet Captain A Kimmins, Royal Navy, in October 1916.  By April 1917 he is listed as A M Kimmins and by December that year is recorded as Midshipman A M Kimmins, HMS Marlborough.  This information is then repeated monthly up to and including the final published roll call in July 1919.

 
Anthony Kimmins joined the Fleet Air Arm in the inter-war years until retirement from the Royal Navy.  Immediately after, he entered the film world, starring first as an actor (his debut was in 1933 in The Golden Cage) and latterly as a director (from 1937).  He rejoined the Royal Navy during the Second World War, serving first as a naval broadcaster and latterly becoming a captain on the staff of the Director of Naval Intelligence.  After the war he went back to producing and directing films.  He wrote his autobiography – Half Time – in 1948 and died in 1964.

Anthony’s older brother Brian also served his King and Country during the First World War.

On a separate note, on this day 89 years ago, my grandfather's brother, John Frederick Nixon, was killed in action whilst attached to the 8th London Regiment (The Post Office Rifles). Jack has no known grave and is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois memorial in France. May he rest in peace.

John BASIL Lee Jellicoe, RNVR

John Basil Lee Jellicoe was the eldest son of the Reverend Thomas Harry Lee Jellicoe of St Peter’s Church, Chailey and Bethia Theodora Jellicoe (nee Boyd).  His uncle, Arthur Hamilton Boyde OBE MC TD, who was also a clergyman in civil life, would have a distinguished career in the army during the First World War.

Basil Jellicoe was born on 5th February 1899.  He first gets a mention in Chailey Parish Magazine’s roll of honour in March 1917 where he is noted as Jellicoe, J B L, Univ OTC, Oxford.  By December 1917 he is noted as serving with the RNVR and in March 1918 is noted as assistant paymaster with the RNVR.  This information is then repeated monthly up to and including the final published roll call in July 1919. 

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004) has this to say about Basil Jellicoe: 

 

Jellicoe, (John) Basil Lee (1899-1935), housing reformer and Church of England clergyman, was born on 5 February 1899 at Chailey, Sussex, the elder son of Thomas Harry Lee Jellicoe, rector of Chailey, and his wife, Bethia Theodora, youngest daughter of Sir John Boyd, of Maxpoffle, Roxburgh, lord provost of Edinburgh from 1888 to 1891. His father was a cousin of J. R. Jellicoe, first Earl Jellicoe.

A few months before the end of the First World War he left Oxford to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and served for a short time in the Mediterranean. 

 

In later life, he worked in Somers Town, north London, and campaigned tirelessly for better housing. He died prematurely, at the age of 36 in 1935 and is buried in St Peter's churchyard, Chailey. See photos of his grave here.

 

Basil's younger brother Christopher Theodore Jellicoe is also noted in Chailey’s Parish Magazine as serving his King and Country.

GSSR/649 Pte Obediah Wood, Royal Sussex Regt

Obediah Wood is another of Chailey’s men who does not feature in Reverend Jellicoe’s monthly roll call of serving parishioners. His attestation papers though, which survive at The National Archives, state that he was born in Chailey and that at the time of his enlistment at Hurstpierpoint on 21st September 1914, he was 40 years old. He also had previous military experience having served with Kent Royal Garrison Artillery for six years and Sussex RGA for one year and 31 days before being discharged at his own request.

He was five feet, five and a half inches tall and was passed fit for one year’s service with the Royal Garrison Artillery Special Reserve on 24th September 1914. Four days later however he was transferred to the 9th Royal Sussex Regiment at Shoreham and given the number GSSR/649; a number which really belonged with the Royal Sussex Regiment Special Reserve rather than a New Army battalion. He remained with the 9th Battalion until the 16th August 1915 when he was posted to the 10th Royal Sussex Regiment.

He arrived in France on 4th October 1915 and five days later was posted back to the 9th Battalion, remaining with this battalion on the Western Front until 5th August 1916. He then sailed for England and was posted, on arrival the following day, to the Royal Sussex Regiment Depot on 6th August 1916. Sixty three days later, on 7th October 1916, he was discharged from the British Army.

During his initial period in England, Obediah (who appears as Obed on all but one of his military documents), attended a Brigade Transport Training class at Colchester on 5th September 1915.

Obed was discharged from the army as a result of epilepsy, a condition he’d suffered from since he was 12 or 13. A Medical Board, convened on 23rd September 1916, noted that he used to fall down unconscious and that for the last three years he had had difficulty swallowing, although he had taken normal food in hospital without difficulty. The Board noted that his epilepsy had been aggravated by military service and awarded him a conditional pension of 20 shillings a week for the next six months. Subsequent Boards over the next two years increased his award which seems to have run until 31st December 1918.

On his papers, Obed Wood’s next of kin is given as Thomas Marriott of Small Dole (in what is now West Sussex), and his home address given in September 1916 given as New Hall, Small Dole, Sussex.

238372 Gunner Frank William King, RFA

Frank William King was the eldest child of William and Mary King (nee Howell) and was born at Balneath Cottages, Chailey on 28th August 1898.  William became farm bailiff at Yokehurst, and at Michaelmas 1905 took over Pouchlands Farm, where Frank's younger brother Ernest was born and brought up.  The two boys both went to Chailey School and did a milk round with the horse and cart before and after school, delivering Pouchlands milk, cream and butter.

In 1916, Frank was 18 and had already joined Lord Derby's Volunteers.  The photograph reproduced on this page was taken in 1916 and shows Frank wearing a Derby Scheme armlet - an essential addition to a volunteer's wardrobe at a time when white feathers were still liberally handed out to men out of uniform.

Frank went to France with the Royal Field Artillery and survived uninjured, although no records have yet been discovered.  Chailey Parish Magazine first mentions him in June 1917 referring to him simply as King, Gunner F W, RFA and this information is then repeated monthly up to and including the final published roll in July 1919. 

The National Archives gives one possibility for Gunner Frank W King in the Royal Field Artillery (although three drivers of that name are listed), and that is 238372 Gunner Frank W King.

 

 

William King died in 1921 and Frank helped his mother run the farm for nearly ten years until he died in a tragic accident in May 1931. He was buried near his father in East Chiltington churchyard.

 

My thanks to Tim Bishop for contacting me and sending me the splendid photo of Frank.

Charles Bristow and Christopher Short

Thanks to information recently received, I've been able to update the pages for Charles Bristow and Christopher Nathan Short. Charles, who was born in Chailey but emigrated to Australia before the start of the First World War, served with the AIF and was killed in action in September 1917. I have previously written about him on this blog.

Charles's sister Elizabeth would later go on to marry Christopher Short who served with the Royal Navy. The information I have on him is still very scant. Charles was also related to two other Bristow men: Erle Bristow and another Charles Bristow. The name was obviously an unlucky one for he too was also killed in action in September 1917. Both men are remembered on Chailey's parish war memorial.

Alven Brown - six enlistments

Alven Henry Jesse Brown was born in Chailey about October 1869. He did not originally feature on this website for the simple fact that his name was not recorded in the Reverend Jellicoe’s monthly roll call of serving men. Thankfully though, Alven’s extensive service record (comprising over 40 separate pages) exists in the WO 364 pension series at the National Archives and I therefore summarise his military service below.

He attested with the East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) at Canterbury, Kent on 25th January 1887, enlisting for a period of seven years with the Colours and five on the Reserve. He gave his place of birth as Chailey, his age as eighteen years and three months and his trade as labourer. In answer to the question, “Have you resided out of your father’s house for three years continuously in the same place…” he answered, “Yes, Cheltenham” and also indicated that he was currently serving with the 4th East Kent Regiment, a militia outfit.

Alven was short – five feet four and a quarter inches – weighed 122lbs, had a fresh complexion, grey eyes and light brown hair. Two moles on his right forearm and let shoulder blade are noted as distinctive marks. His next of kin is noted as his father, Joseph Brown; brother, James Brown and sister Mary Brown, all living in Chailey. Alven was posted to the 2nd Battalion of the East Kent Regiment and given the service number 2207. Two years later he was granted his first Good Conduct Badge. He carried out all of his soldiering in the UK and was discharged on 24th January 1899.

During this time he also married Florence Annie Head at Bromley on 10th October 1891. He enlisted for a second time, in the Royal Southern Reserve Regiment (number 1966) on 27th March 1900, this time giving his trade as gardener. His term of service was one year at home and he was consequently discharged on 26th March 1900. On 26th August 1901 he enlisted for a third time, this time with the Royal Garrison Regiment (number 3362) for a period of two years (which he extended for four years in June 1903). He remained in the UK for two weeks and was then posted to Malta where he served from 20th September 1901 until 20th April 1904. He then sailed for South Africa, serving there between 21st April 1904 and 2nd October 1905. On his Royal Garrison Regiment papers, his next of kin is recorded as his wife, Florence Brown of 49 Albert Road, Penge, London SE, his sons Edward, Walter and George and his daughters Annie and Edith, all living at home with their mother. He was discharged from The Royal Garrison Regiment on 16th October 1905 and immediately re-enlisted as a regular with The Buffs the following day. He enlisted for a period of three years with the Colours and nine on the Reserve and was given his fourth army service number: 8179. His wife’s home address is noted on these papers as 7 Pembroke Road, Widmore, Bromley, Kent.

Alven was discharged on 18th July 1909 aged 40 years and nine months and elected to receive a War Office pension of eight pence per day for life.

When the First World War was declared, Alven Brown enlisted for a fifth time, joining The Buffs’ Special Reserve (number S/667) on 30th September 1914. He was now 44 years old and enlisted for a period of one year “unless War lasts longer than one year, in which case you will be retained until War is over.” Alven remained with The Buffs until 30th June 1917 when he transferred to The Labour Corps, finally being discharged on 28th March 1919. Children noted on his First World War service papers are Herbert Arthur Brown (born 3rd April 1907), John Brown (born 10th December 1908) and Horace Brown (born 7th October 1911). His wife’s address is now noted as 1 Buffs Cottage, Rumfields, Ramsgate, Kent.

Not content that he had done with soldiering, Alven Brown enlisted for a sixth and final time with The 47th Battalion of The Royal Fusiliers on 23rd June 1919. His new number was G/132630 and his period of service was to last until 30th April 1920. In actual fact he was demobbed twelve days after this but with so much service under his belt, it hardly mattered and one gets the feeling, reading through his papers that he would have been quite happy to continue in the army indefinitely. Alven Brown died in Ramsgate of heart disease on 11th December 1944 aged 75. His son George registered his death.

Frederick Neale - thoroughly trustworthy

The Sergeant F Neal noted by Chailey Parish magazine between October 1916 and December 1917 is Sergeant Frederick Neale, a regular soldier who first joined the army in 1901 and served continuously for the next twenty one years. His record is remarkable both from the point of view that all his soldiering was conducted in Britain and also that during that time he incurred no entries on his regimental conduct sheet. On his discharge from the army in 1922, his character testimonial would state:

“This is to certify that the above named soldier is thoroughly trustworthy and very hardworking. He has exercised a good influence in the Battalion. He has been employed as Sergeant Master Tailor and he has carried out his work most efficiently. He gained a 2nd Class Certificate of Education on 30th July 1912. Previous to enlistment he was a Tailor by profession.”

Frederick Neale enlisted with the Army Service Corps at Eastbourne on 21st August 1901 for a period of three years with the Colours and nine on the Reserve. He was 19 years and eleven months old and gave his place of birth as Fletching, Sussex. At the time of his enlistment he was a serving member with the 1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers (a unit which would later become the 5th Cinque Ports Territorial Force Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment). Frederick had previously tried to enlist in the regular army (date unknown) but had been rejected because he was underweight. Now though, he was passed fit. He was five feet five inches tall, weighed 115lbs, had a fair complexion and light brown eyes and hair. He was given the service number T/18417.

He received his first Good Conduct Pay at the rate of one shilling per day on 21st August 1903 and on 25th July 1904, extended his service to complete eight years with the colours. He was also granted Service Pay Class One at the rate of sixpence per day from that date. On 21st August 1906 he was granted his second good conduct badge and his service pay was increased to seven pence per day. Eight months later, on 24th April 1907, Frederick again extended his service to complete 12 years with the Colours. On 2nd January 1913, having served eleven years and five months with the Army Service Corps as a private, Frederick transferred to the 1st Royal Warwickshire Regiment where he was given the number 2259. Eight days later he was appointed Sergeant Tailor. On 13th August 1913, Frederick again extended his service, this time to complete 21 years in His Majesty’s Army.

Shortly after the First World War was declared, Frederick was posted to the regimental depot where he remained for almost the entire war. He spent one month with the 3rd Battalion in 1918 but towards the end of June that year was posted back to the depot. Only after the war had ended was he posted back to the regular battalions: to the 2nd on 11th April 1919; the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion on 3rd June 1919 and then finally the 1st Battalion on 15th July 1919. He was finally discharged from the army on 20th August 1922.

Although he received no campaign medals, Frederick Neale was awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in March 1920 and also received a £5 gratuity along with this. During his time soldiering, Frederick had found time for some personal life. His next of kin was initially recorded as his father, James Neale, of Fletching; but on 2nd March 1910 he had married Mable Murphy at the parish church in Fletching. The couple had three children – Mabel Esther Neale (born in July 1912 at Portsmouth), Kathleen Neale (born May 1914 at Shorncliffe) and a third child (name unclear on Frederick’s surviving papers) who was born in February 1916 at Lewes. Sadly, Kathleen died in infancy in April 1915).

Frank Oliver - six days a soldier

Frank Oliver’s First World War service lasted precisely six days.  This may explain why the Reverend Jellicoe omitted to mention him in his monthly roll call of serving men.  Nevertheless, he volunteered to serve his King and Country and so is remembered here. 

Frank enlisted in London with a labour battalion of the Royal Engineers.  It was 17th September 1915 and he was 41 years old.  His surviving service record comprising two scans of his attestation papers note that he was 41 years old and previously served seven years with the 3rd Royal Sussex Regiment.  His home address is noted as Chailey and his occupation as navvy.  At the top of the facing page, somebody has scribbled, “Pioneer pay 3/ per day”. 

Frank was a single man when he enlisted.  His next of kin is noted as Mrs Mercy Oliver (sister) of Brickyard Cottages, Hamsey nr Lewes.  

 

That’s really all that there is to tell from the surviving information at the National Archives.  Frank was discharged on 22nd October 1915 as “not likely to become an efficient soldier”.   

I think it possible that Frank Oliver was the uncle of Private John Oliver who was killed in action at Loos three days after Frank was discharged from the Royal Engineers.  The 1881 census notes a five year old Frank Oliver and six brothers (one of these, Henry J Oliver), living at the home of William and Elizabeth Barnett at 6 Hicks Cottages, Chailey.  All seven boys are noted as son-in-laws of William Barnett, yet all are also noted as unmarried.  To add to the Oliver conundrum, Henry John would not marry Mercy Mitchell until 1885. 

 

Nevertheless, I believe that the Mercy Oliver mentioned on Frank Oliver’s attestation paper is possibly his sister-in-law rather than sister but I would be happy to have this either proved or disproved.

Albert Malthouse & Edward Manville

Thanks to the availability of pension records on-line, I've been able to update the pages for Albert Malthouse and Edward Manville.

Albert was an old soldier who'd first enlisted with the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1885 and was 48 years old when he enlisted for a further period with the National Reserve during the First World War. Edward was conscripted into the army in 1916 but was clearly unfit, heart trouble causing him to be discharged from the army in 1916.

George & Harry Cottingham

I have updated the profile for George Cottingham and added an additional page for Harry Cottingham whom I had previously inadvertently omitted from the Chailey website. Both men's service records survive at The National Archives in Kew. Harry's record is interesting in that he served nineteen years with the Royal Artillery and then Royal Field Artillery and despite having seen service during both the Boer War (one year) and First World War (five years) he received no medals having done all of his soldiering in England.

Horace Coley - try, try again

Horace Henry Coley is another of Chailey’s men who does not appear on Reverend Jellicoe’s monthly roll call of men connected to the parish. The omission is understandable as Horace appears to have left Chailey parish some while before the start of the First World War and was settled in Walsall, near Birmingham, when he enlisted.

He was born in Chailey around September 1872 and appears on the 1881 census living with his family in Chailey village. The household comprised 46 year old John Coley, a market gardener born in Newick, his wife Hannah aged 44 (born in Hove) and five children: Margaret Coley (aged 20), Frederick Coley (aged 13), Emily Coley (aged 10), Horace (aged seven) and Edith Coley (aged four). All of the children had been born in Chailey; Margaret is also noted on the census as being deaf.

By the time the 1891 census was taken, the family had moved to the village of Barnham in the district of Westhampnett in Sussex. The address is noted as Fruit Farms and as before, John is noted as a market gardener although also noted as “neither employer nor employed”. Mary is recorded as domestic servant (although her deafness is not recorded) while Frederick and Horace are both noted as market gardeners. Emily is recorded as a laundress and Edith, a 14 year old scholar. There is also another sibling: Ernest F Coley, aged nine, also born in Chailey.

Ten years further on and the household has shrunk dramatically. The 1901 census sees the family living at Lingfield in Surrey. Hannah is now a widow and with her are Horace, noted as a married, 27 year old soldier, and Edith, a domestic servant. Horace’s profession reads “Part H W Service (Soldier)” and I am at a loss to make sense of the initials. I am guessing that the W could stand for War as the Boer War would have been current at the time. Nevertheless, he was certainly newly married and in uniform. He had married Alice Elizabeth Hall on 26th December 1900 at Lingfield although she does not appear on the same census return as her husband.

By the time the First World War started, Horace was 42 years old. Nevertheless, on 1st September 1914 he enlisted with the Black Watch at Walsall. His attestation papers state that he was a time expired soldier with the Black Watch; also that he was a miner by trade and that he was five feet nine and a half inches tall, weighed 154 lbs, had a fresh complexion, grey eyes and light brown hair. His next of kin is given as Alice Elizabeth Coley (wife) of 4 Brownhills Road, Walsall Wood, Staffordshire.

Horace was posted to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion on 2nd September and given the number 3432. His service though, was short-lived. On 24th October 1914 he was discharged “in consequence of having been found not likely to become an efficient soldier.” Although physically fit, Horace had an eye condition – nystagmus – which was the reason for his rejection. Undeterred, he tried again. On March 17th 1915 he travelled to Lichfield and enlisted with the North Staffordshire Regiment. This set of attestation papers gives a little more detail. It notes that he has previously served 16 years with the Black Watch and that his home address is King Street, Walsall Wood. A daughter is also recorded on his papers: Florence Georgia Wood born on 13th June 1902 in Atherstone, Warwickshire. Horace was quite heavily tattooed; something the authorities had neglected to record on his 1914 papers. The details though, are all there on the March 1915 papers: “two dancing girls on breast, both arms covered and a woman’s head underneath back knee.” Horace was posted to the regimental depot and given the number 17156. Again though, his service would be short-lived and he was discharged on 23rd June the same year. This time the medical notes report, “a very large enlargement of thyroid gland causing [unclear] and consequent inability to march.”

It’s a shame that Horace’s service record during his 16 years with the Black Watch does not appear to have survived. The fact that 16 years’ service is indicated in 1915 and also that he was vaccinated in 1898, suggests that he enlisted in this year. He was obviously a committed soldier and it must have been a very great disappointment to him that he was unable to serve his country again during the First World War. It certainly wasn’t for the want of trying.

Charles Moon - nineteen years in the army

Charles Patrick Moon does not appear in Reverend Jellicoe’s roll call of serving Chailey parishioners but he was born in Chailey in 1875 and so is included on this blog. Although the family had moved away from the parish by the time the 1881 census was taken, the Moon family was well established in Chailey, Charles’s grandfather Simeon having been the village blacksmith during the mid 1800s. The 1881 census return though, notes Charles living at Farnborough, Hampshire. The household comprised Chailey born Thomas Moon, head, married, a 42 year old army pensioner; his wife Mary, aged 28, born in Ireland, and their four children: Thomas (aged nine, born in Cork), Charles (aged seven, born in Chailey), Harriet (aged four, born in Plymouth) and Elizabeth (aged one, born in Guildford, Surrey).

By the time the 1891 census was taken, Charles was a seventeen year old at Gordon Boys’ Home in Chobham, Surrey. The home, built in 1885 as a memorial to Major-General Charles Gordon, maintained 240 boys who were trained for civil, naval or military life; according to their preference. Charles’s brother Thomas was living in Chailey at this time. He appears on the census as the 18 year old nephew of James and Esther Smith. The boys’ parents and siblings were still living in Farnborough. The household, located at Smith’s Cottage, York Road, now comprised Thomas and Mary (Thomas is recorded as “pensioner and fish dealer” and Mary as “fish hawker”) and five children: Harriet Agnes Moon (aged 14), Elizabeth E Moon (aged eleven), James Moon (aged eight), Caroline Annie Moon (aged six) and Simeon Moon (aged 20 months). The last three children had all been born in Farnborough.

It would seem likely that Charles’s spent his time at Gordon Boys’ Home preparing for a life in the army, as on 17th December 1898 he enlisted in the Oxfordshire Light Infantry in London for a period of seven years with the Colours and five years on the Reserve. His stated aged was 23 years and three months and he gave his trade as labourer. He was already a serving member of the 3rd Hampshire Regiment, a militia outfit, at the time of his enlistment in the regular army, and was five feet three inches tall and weighed 122 lbs. He had a medium complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair. Distinctive marks are noted as tattoos of anchor and flags on his left forearm and a bugle and “A” on his right forearm. He joined his regiment at Oxford on 20th December 1898 and was given the service number 5985.

On 8th April 1899 he was posted to the 1st Battalion and the following year, on 7th December, posted to the 2nd Battalion. He was posted back to the 1st Battalion on 15th October 1903 and on 1st April 1904 extended his service to complete eight years with the Colours. He was granted his first Good Conduct Badge on 26th December 1904 and the following September extended his service again to complete 12 years with the Colours. Having been posted back to the 2nd Battalion and then again to the 1st, he received his second Good Conduct Badge on 26th December 1906.

During his time in the army, Charles Moon was extremely well travelled. He was in England from the time of his enlistment in December 1898 until 22nd December 1899 when he sailed for South Africa and the Boer War. He remained there until 30th May 1900 when he returned home, staying in England until December that year. He then set sail for India where he remained for nearly four years, returning home to England in November 1904. In October 1905 he sailed for India again, spending a further 38 months in that country. He then travelled over the border to Burma, arriving there on 6th December 1908 and remaining there until 25th September 1910. Then it was back to India for a further four months before he returned to England at the end of January 1911. For his service during the Boer War he was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal with clasps for the Relief of Kimberley and Dreifontein.

On 20th February 1911, Charles was placed on the Army Reserve but was recalled to the colours when Britain declared war on Germany in 1914. He was certainly in France during the first year of the war but was returned to England on 16th December 1914 with dental caries. (His medical record notes that he’d already been supplied with artificial dentures at Government expense when he was in Burma). Although his service record is not clear on when he transferred to the 1st Garrison Battalion of The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, he was certainly discharged from this unit as a time-expired soldier (number 13939) on 19th February 1916. In the intervening months he had been abroad again, this time to Egypt, where he had arrived on 20th August 1915.

Charles’s next of kin was originally noted as his mother, Mary Moon, of 4 York Road, Farnborough, Hampshire but on 6th January 1912 (by now on the Army Reserve), he married Ann Udey (spinster) at the Wesleyan Chapel in Farnborough. Three children are also noted: Mary Kathleen, born 3rd October 1912 in Farnborough and Elizabeth Agnes Caroline Ann, born 25th April 1915, also in Farnborough. Sadly, his second daughter died on 23rd October 1915. A son, Charles, was born on 8th November 1916.

In March 1915, Charles’s address is noted as 12 Government Buildings, Camp Road, Farnborough, Hants. Nevertheless, he re-enlisted at Oxford on 5th August 1916. He served overseas with the BEF from 21st October 1916 until 12th October 1917 and then returned home to England until his discharge on 22nd May 1918. Army Form B.179 (Medical Report on an Invalid), dated 1st May 1918 notes that Charles was suffering from chronic bronchitis which originated at Rouen, France in October 1917. It reads, “He states he was quite well until he had an attack of bronchitis for which he was admitted to No 6 General Hospital, Rouen. From there he was sent home to hospital in England – in hospital six weeks, discharged 24.11.17 since then has done very little duty and has had a cough and been shortwinded.” The report notes that his bronchitis was attributable to service due to exposure to wet and continues, “Prematurely aged man. Some ankio-sclerosis. Has scattered coarse rhonchi both sides. Chest altered by coughing… cough loose and rattling.” The following page notes, “chronic emphysema” and concludes by assessing him at 30 per cent disability.

 
At the time of his discharge, Charles was serving as WR40707 Pioneer Charles Moon with a Roads and Quarries company of The Royal Engineers. He was 42 years old and was certainly awarded a pension until May 1920. He received a further allowance of 11/8, reduced to 3/6, for each of his children. Charles Moon’s discharge papers note that his military character was very good and that his character awarded in accordance with King’s Regulations was “very satisfactory”. In total, he had served eighteen years and eleven months in the British Army.

Medal index cards courtesy of Ancestry.

Charles Craddock - twenty one years a soldier

Charles Craddock's service record survives at the National Archives; so does that of his brother Walter. Both men were regular soldiers who enlisted in the army long before the First World War was declared.

I see that my web hosts are closed for the weekend for essential maintenance. Therefore, as a stop-gap measure until I am able to update his page entry on the site, I am pasting his service history here:

Charles Stephen Craddock, first noted by Chailey Parish Magazine in October 1914 as serving his King and Country, was born in Lewes, Sussex in 1879; his birth registered in the September quarter of that year. He appears on the 1881 census of England and Wales as a one year old infant living at North Place, Lewes, Sussex. Also noted at the household are Elizabeth Craddock (head of the household, married, aged 23 and noted as a general labourer’s wife) and her eldest son William G Craddock.

Ten years later, by the time the 1891 census was taken, Elizabeth is still noted as the head of the household (and now living at No 6, Cliffe Square, Lewes) but is recorded as being a widow earning her living as a washerwoman. William, aged 13 is working as a farm boy and Charles (12) is recorded as a scholar. However, there are two more mouths to feed: Walter Craddock (aged ten) and Annie Craddock (aged four).

Charles does not appear on the 1901 census because he’d enlisted in the army in 1898 and was fighting the Boers in South Africa. His brother Walter was also in uniform and appears on the census as a 19 year old soldier stationed at Grand Redoubt, Eastbourne.

Charles’s army service record survives in the WO364 Army Pension series at the National Archives in Kew, and it makes fascinating reading. He joined the Royal Sussex Regiment at Chichester on 10th January 1898 and was given the service number 5510. He was already serving part time with the 3rd (Volunteer) Battalion of the Sussex Regiment when he joined the regular army, his stated trade or calling being labourer. He was aged 18 and 11 months, stood five feet, five and a half inches tall and weighed 122lbs.

On 22nd February 1898 Charles was posted to the 1st Battalion and appears to have served with this unit until 1st March 1902 when he was posted to the 2nd Battalion. He had originally joined up to serve seven years with the colours and five on the reserve but he extended his period of service to eight years (on 1st April 1904) and then again to twelve years on 26th January 1906. In common with many army service records of the time, Charles’s record is full of entries granting, and then forfeiting, good conduct pay or badges. Between 1900 and 1907 there are no less than fourteen entries as he was first awarded a good conduct badge or pay and then lost it again due to some minor misdemeanour.

Charles was stationed in England until September 1899 and then five months in Malta. He was then sent out to South Africa in February 1900 and remained there for just over two years. His next posting was to India in March 1902 and he spent eight months there before returning to England. He was at “Home” between December 1902 and June 1904 and was then posted out to Malta again, remaining there for eleven months. He then spent 22 months in Crete before returning to England in March 1907 where he then remained until discharged to the Army Reserve on 9th January 1910; exactly twelve years after he first enlisted.

At some point during his service, his mother Elizabeth, noted as his next of kin, moved from Cliffe Square in Lewes to Sheffield Park which falls within Chailey Parish.

On 25th January 1910, Charles married Elizabeth Burns (spinster) at the register office in Maresfield, Sussex and July the following year, their daughter Lily Elizabeth was born. Three years later in March 1914 the couple would have a son, Charles Joseph Craddock, who much later, would serve as a regular soldier with the Grenadier Guards.

Charles senior however, was not yet finished with military life. In October 1911 he attested for service with section D of the Army Reserve. His previous period of service on the Reserve had expired on 9th January 1910 and his re-enlistment into Section D effectively meant that if required, he could be recalled to the colours. He was then aged 32 years and appeared to have grown two and a half inches as his height is given as five feet, eight. He had a dark complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair. He was tattooed on both arms and on his chest. Charles gave his trade as railway labourer and his address as 2 Market Lane, Lewes.

He then presumably settled down to civilian life for three years but was immediately recalled to the colours when Britain declared war on Germany, being mobilised on 5th August 1914.

Charles did not serve overseas with the Royal Sussex Regiment but instead remained at the regimental depot in Sussex. He was transferred, very briefly, to number 608 Home Service Employment Company of The Labour Corps in 1917 but then transferred back to The Royal Sussex Regiment on 30th November that year as “not suitable”. He was posted to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, on 2nd May 1918.

By this stage, according to his service record, he was living at Railway Cottages, Sheffield Park, Sussex. As Sheffield Park falls within Chailey Parish, this is why he appears on the Reverend Jellicoe’s list of Chailey serving parishioners. In October 1915, the parish magazine had noted that Pte C Craddock was serving with the 2nd Royal Sussex Regiment in England and had repeated this information every month up to and including the final published roll call in July 1919. He was certainly in England but with the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion rather than the 2nd. He was finally demobilised on 11th March 1919, his address now given as c/o Mrs Hobden, Plumpton Green, Plumpton, Sussex.

Charles Craddock died of TB at 40, Valence Road, Lewes on 13th March 1945. He was 65 years old and his profession noted as retired railway platelayer.

The killing time

In later years, relatives of Chailey's First World War veterans would remember their men's sacrifices; formerly, around the parish war memorial each Remembrance Sunday, and privately as another death anniversary approached. In late June and early July there would be plenty of occasions for reflection.

Arthur Tully of the 7th Royal Sussex Regiment, died of wounds on 23rd June 1918 and George Cheeseman of the 2nd Royal Fusiliers, died at Gallipoli on 28th June 1915. Arthur had been born at Ardingley in Sussex but George was born and bred in South Chailey.

On June 30th 1916, Thomas Homewood of South Chailey and the Royal Field Artillery, was killed in action in Belgium. Before joining the army he was employed at the Farmers’ Co-operative Association offices at Lewes and was a member of the Lewes Athletic Football Club.

If 1st July 1916 remains the worst day ever for the British Army, the previous day certainly stakes a claim for being the day that Sussex's pals' battalions died. Caught up in a diversionary attack on the Boar's Head, the 11th, 12th and 13th Battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment suffered over eleven hundred casualties. One of these was Albert Plummer of the 13th Battalion. Wounded on the 30th, he would die of his wounds on July 2nd.

And just to complete a sad triptych of Chailey casualties, Frederick Cottingham of the 8th Royal Sussex, was killed in action on July 1st 1916; one of sixty thousand British casualties sustained that day. May they all rest in peace.