On 6 August 2014, my friend Sue took me to the Tower of London. It was the beginning of the commemoration of the centenary of the start of World War One (WW1). The poppies had just started to be planted and Sue had submitted her Great Great Uncle James Bias to have his name read out at the roll call at the Tower of London. It was a moving event, with few people there to hear the list of WW1 soldiers names read out and with few poppies planted, we found ourselves moved by the whole evening. Afterwards, we went on to Victoria Park to see Spectra close up. Spectra was a series of 49 spotlights, all pointing vertically, towards the sky, accompanied by music. Designed by Ryoji Ikeda it shone for seven days over London, we could even see it from Farncombe, when we’d got home. It was a brilliant piece of artwork to mark the start of the WW1 centenary commemorations.
“…the lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime”
Sir Edward Grey, Foreign Secretary
At that time I knew absolutely nothing about WW1. I was fascinated by Sue’s collection of James Bias’ things from WW1 and I began to wonder if I had any ancestors that had fought in the war. Within a few weeks, I discovered my great great uncle Albert Marchant and his name was read out on the roll call on the 22 September 2017 – exactly 100 years since he had been killed. Over the last four years, I’ve found a number of ancestors that had been touched by WW1 and I thought that on the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1 it feels fitting to share three of those young men with you. For me, it reminds me that they are not just names on the war memorials, but real young men that had their lives stretching ahead of them, cruelly taken far too soon.
It’s important to note that researching soldiers in WW1 can be quite tricky. During WW2 the building where the records were kept was bombed. This means that a lot of the records were completely destroyed and that, for some soldiers, there are not many details available.
Albert Edward Marchant
Private, 240736, 1st 5th Bn Royal Sussex regiment
Born:10 April 1897
Died: 22 September 1917
Great Great Uncle
Albert was born to Lillian and Charles Marchant (a coachman) on 10 April 1897, in Eastbourne. He was the second eldest of eight children. In the 1911 census he was listed as a school boy and part time dairy boy. He signed up to the military in October 2014, at the start of WW1. He was 17. His younger brother, Frederick joined at the same time. He began by training in Hastings, Dover and Southampton. He then joined the Exepeditionary force in Flanders, France in July 1915. His company moved around from Sailly to For Grosvenor until November 2015. They were heavily shelled, but Albert escaped injury. Albert escaped injury until he was gassed in July 1917. He remained in hospital, recovering for several weeks. In August 1917, he was considered well enough to rejoin his regiment. Sadly, soon after, on the 22nd September 1917, Albert was killed by a bomb from an aeroplane, I think during the battle of Ypres. He is buried in Vlamertinghe.
Albert is remembered on the memorial plaque in the town hall at Eastbourne and also on a plaque at his school in Eastbourne.
William Arthur Grover
Lance Corporal, 240750, 1/5th Queens Royal West
Born: 19 June 1889
Died: 29th September 1917
First Cousin, three generations removed
William was born on the 19 June 1889 to John and Elizabeth Grover. At this time, John was a baker and they were all living in Catteshall Lane, in Godalming. William was the fifth child of seven. William was baptised in St Peter and St Paul’s church in Godalming on the 17 July 1889. In the 1901 census, the whole family had moved to Gosling cottages, in Busbridge. 10 years later in the 1911 census, William was 21 and was registered as a Pork Butcher. The census records six of the family living in a 5 room house at 31 Town End Street, Godalming.
We don’t have William’s service records, so we can’t say when he signed up or where he went. However, we do know that he had enrolled in 1/5th the Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment and that he was Lance Corporal in 1917. The War diaries for this regiment reveal that in September 1917 they were in Karradah, Baghdad. It seems that the British had managed to overthrow the Ottoman Turks on 11 March 1917. So, troops seemed to be stationed there to defend this position. The details are confusing from the war diaries, but it seems there was an attack on Mushaid Ridge and it was during this operation that William lost his life. He was 28 years old. His father, John had passed away a few months before and Elizabeth (his mother) was the Landlady of the Queens Head in Brighton Road. William is buried in Baghdad at the North Gate War Cemetery. He is remembered on the memorial plaque in Busbridge Parish Church and will be listed on the Godalming war memorial from 11 November 2018.
Albert Grover
Private. 69673. 6th Bn. The Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment
Born: 27 June 1895
Died: 17 December 1918
First Cousin, 3 generations removed
Albert was born on 27 June 1895 to John (a baker) and Elizabeth Grover, he was the youngest brother of William. The youngest of 7 children. He was baptised at St Peter and Paul’s church on 24th July 1895. In the 1911 census, Albert was living with his family at 31 Town End street, in Godalming. He was 15 and listed as a tailor’s apprentice. Two of his older sisters were listed as tailoresses.
Again, Albert’s service records or lost. However, we do know that when Albert was 22, he married Florence Victoria Kate Heather (she was 20) at St Nicolas Church, Guildford, Surrey. This was on the 10th February 1918. The war was to end in just a few short months. After the wedding, I’m guessing Albert went back out to France to continue to fight. Again, there’s a gap here. This is filled by the Busbridge roll of Honour. The Roses of No Man’s Land by Lyn MacDonald is a book about nursing in WW1. Here is a quote from the book, page 326 of the book. The story is being told by Sister Mary McCall, QAIMNS (R), No.4 General Hospital, Camiers.
“One particularly tragic case I remember was a little girl, a very young bride, who’d been brought out to see her wounded husband. She had probably caught the infection before she left, because not long after she arrived in the ward she collapsed and was taken to the Sick Sisters’ quarters with influenza. She died a day or two later and it was terribly tragic for the poor husband Then later he caught it and died too.”
The Roses of No Man’s Land by Lyn MacDonald
Although, in the text it doesn’t mention them by name, Florence and Albert’s names are in the index. It seems that Albert was wounded in battle and was taken to Etaples, a hospital. This was November 1918, the war was over. So, Florence was taken out to see her new husband. By the time she arrived, she had contracted Spanish Flu and she passed away in the hospital on 26 November 1918. It seems Albert contracted the same illness and was listed as having died of pneumonia on the 17 December 1918. They are both buried in Etaples Military Cemetery. They are buried a couple of rows apart from each other. The inscription on Albert’s headstone is “Sleep on Dear Son”. Florences’ headstone reads “In loving memory until the day break and the shadows flee away”. Florence was 21 and Albert was 23.
He is remembered on the memorial plaque in Busbridge Parish Church and will be listed on the Godalming war memorial from 11 November 2018.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,”
George Satayana
Train of Thoughts 