This page is dedicated to all in our extended family who served their country, and particularly those who gave their
lives in that service.
Fallen in the Great War
Oswald Bere, Private, 'B 'Coy 2nd/8th Bn. Worcestershire Regiment. Died 28 August 1917, age 23. Remembered at Tyne Cot.
Stanley Bere, Private, 26th Bn. Royal Fusiliers. Died 11 June 1916, age 26. Remembered at the Etaples Military Cemetery.
Francis Blackler, Rifleman, 4th Bn. 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade. Died 16 June 1917, age 24. Buried at Trois Arbres Cemetery.
James Blaen, Sergeant , 7th/8th Bn. Kings Own Scottish Borderers. Died 12 April 1917, age 34. Remembered on the Arras Memorial.
Albert Bubear, Private, 12th Bn. Middlesex Regiment. Died 15 July 1916, age 24. Remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.
Albert G. Bubear, Private, 13th (Princess Louise's Kensington) (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment,attd. 170th Tunneling Coy. Royal Engineers. Died 27 July 1917, age 28. Buried in Bethune Town Cemetery.
George Bubear, Private, 1st/7th (City of London) Bn. London Regiment. Died 7 October 1916, age 23. Remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.
Walter G. Bubear, Private, 1st Bn. Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). Died 29 August 1918, age 24. Remembered on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial.
William J. Bubear, Private, 15th Bn. Hampshire Regiment. Died 20 September 1918, age 29. Commemorated at Tyne Cot.
Ernest W. Burridge, Private, 6th Bn. Welsh Regiment. Died 27 October 1917, age 29. Buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery.
Fred Burridge, Serjeant (Master Tailor), 1st Garrison Bn. Devonshire Regiment. Died 2 June 1916, age 43. Buried in the Cairo War Memorial Cemetery.
Walter R. Burridge, Private, 2nd Bn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Died 21 March 1918, age 30. Remembered at the Pozieres Memorial.
Frederick Cann, Private, 2nd Bn. Devonshire Regiment. Died 1 July 1916, age 23. Remembered on the Thiepval Monument.
Robert Colbourne, Midshipman, HMS Vanguard. Died at Scapa Flow 9 July 1917, age 20. Commemorated at Chatham Naval Memorial.
Ernest S. Cook, Rifleman, 8th Bn. King's Royal Rifle Corps. Died 30 July 1915, age 23. Buried at Sanctuary Wood.
William A. Copeman, Private, 7th Bn. East Surrey Regiment. Died 5 March, 1916, age 19. Remembered at the Loos Memorial.
Arthur W.P.Daw, Artificer Engineer, HMS Bulwark. Died 26 November 1914, age 37. Remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
Reginald Daw, Private, 49th Bn. Australian Infantry. Died 7 June 1917, age 23. Commemorated at the Menin Gate.
Victor S. Dixon, Lance Corporal, 41st Bn. Australian Infantry. Died 27 June 1917, age 27. Commemorated at Kandahar Farm.
Frederick Drew, Private, 2nd Bn. Devonshire Regiment. Died 1 July 1916, age 28. Remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.
John Drew, Private, 8th Bn. Canadian Infantry (Manitoba Regiment). Died 28 April 1917, age 24. Buried at Orchard Dump Cemetery.
William Drew, Private, 1st/6th Bn. Devonshire Regiment. Died in Iraq 8 March 1916, age 19. Commemorated at the Basra Memorial.
Charles Fey, Private, Depot, Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 17 October 1918, age 21. Buried at Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol.
Frederick Fey, Private, 2nd/4th Bn. Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 27 August 1917, age 21. Buried at New Irish Farm Cemetery.
Luke Fey, Lance Corporal, Machine Gun Corps. Died
9 November 1916, aged 40. Buried in Heilly Station Cemetery,
Mericourt-L´Abbe .
Fred Frost, Private, Royal Army Service Corps. Died 24 March 1919, age 42. Buried in Stockleigh English Parish Churchyard, Devon.
James Frost, MM, Corporal, 10th Bn. King's Royal Rifle Corps. Died 9 May 1917, age 21. Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
Arthur Fursdon Gallin, Private, "B" Coy, 8th Bn., Devonshire Regiment. Died 25 September 1915 age 24. Remembered on the Loos Memorial.
Wilfred Garnsworthy, Private, 1st/23rd Bn. London Regiment. Died 5 April 1918, age 29.Commemorated on the Arras Memorial.
Arthur Grubb, Private, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry), 14th Bn. Died 21 March 1918, age 27. Remembered at the Pozieres Memorial.
Harold Heard, Private, 12th Bn. Royal Scots. Died on the Somme, 16 April 1918, age 19. Commemorated at Tyne Cot.
Henry Heard, Gunner, "A" Bty 154th Bde. Royal Field Artillery. Died 4 July 1916, age 36. Buried in Acheux British Cemetery.
Horace Heard , Private, 7th Bn. Seaforth Highlanders. Died 6 October 1915, age 21. Buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery.
Paul Lenton Heath, Guardsman, 1st Bn.
Grenadier Guards. Killed in action, 30 March 1918, age 31. Buried
in Bucquoy Road Cemetery, Ficheux.
William Hitchcock, Private, 8th Bn. Devonshire Regiment. Died 25 September 1915, age 20. Commemorated on the Loos Memorial.
Cecil Huxtable, Lance Corporal, 28th Bn. Australian Infantry. Died 4 October 1917, age 28. Remembered at Tyne Cot.
Herbert Joy, Drummer, 1st Bn. Devonshire Regiment. Died 16 September 1914, age 30. Remembered at La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre.
Jonas Kelly, Private, 16th Bn. Devonshire Regiment. Died 2 September 1918, age 26. Commemorated at Vis-en-Artois Memorial.
William Leach, Private, 17th Bn. Royal Fusiliers. Died 4 December 1917, age 20. Buried in Grevillers British Cemetery.
William Lee, Petty Officer Stoker, HMS Hampshire. Died 5 June 1916 age 33. Remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
Albert Loye, Private, 4th Bn. Royal Fusiliers. Died at Ypres, 24 August 1915, age 42. Commemorated at the Menin Gate.
Frederick Loye, Gunner, 351st Siege Bty. Royal Garrison Artillery. Died on the Somme, 6 November 1917, age 40. Buried at Tyne Cot.
Reginald P. Loye, Private, 12th Bn. Royal Fusiliers. Died 31 January 1917, age 40. Buried in Lillers Communal Cemetery.
Arthur Meecham, Private, 11th Bn. Worcestershire Regiment. Died 24 April 1917, age 20. Remembered at the Doiran Memorial.
Archie Mortimore, Private , 1st/6th Bn. Devonshire Regiment. Died 14 August 1916 in Mesopotamia, age 23. Buried in Amara War Cemetery.
Reginald Newcombe, Gunner, "X" 9th T.M. Bty, Royal Field Artillery. Died 22 March 1918, age 21. Remembered at Pozieres.
George Northcott, Private, 1st Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment. Died 19 April 1918, age 35. Buried in the Bienvillers Military Cemetery.
Charles Osborne, Able Seaman, HMS Defence, Royal Navy. Died 31 May 1916, age 21. Remembered at the Plymouth Naval Memorial.
William Osborne, Private, 2nd Bn. Hampshire Regiment. Died 13 August 1914, age 41. Remembered on the Helles Memorial.
John H.W.Parkyn, Sergeant, 2nd Bn. Devonshire Regiment. Died 28 June 1918, age 25. Buried in the Church of the Holy Cross, Crediton .
Daniel Passmore, Private, 2nd Bn. Devonshire Regiment. Died 18 December 1914, age 21. Commemorated on Le Touret Memorial.
John Pickett, Private, 3rd Bn. Royal Fusiliers. Died 24 May 1915, age 35. Commemorated at the Menin Gate.
Frederick Pyman, Sergeant, 12th Bn. Gloucestershire Regiment. Died 23 March 1916, age 36. Buried at Habarcq Cemetery.
Bertie Strong, Private, 50th Bn. Alberta Regiment, Canadian Infantry. Died 20 November 1916, age 31. Remembered on the Vimy Memorial.
Frederick Strong, Stoker First Class, HMS Good Hope. Killed in the Battle of Coronel 1st November 1914, age 25. Remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.
Albert Tucker, Private ,1st Bn. Devonshire Regiment. Died 12 December 1915, age 27. Buried at Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery.
Hubert J. Venn, Private,
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (E.Ontario Reg.) Died 10 April 1918, age 43. Buried at La Chaudiere Military Cemetery
Merlyn Waller, Private, 9th Bn. Devonshire Regiment, Died between
4 and 6 September 1916, age 20. Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
William Wensley, Private, 3rd Bn. Grenadier Guards. Died 29 September 1917, age 20. Commemorated at Bleuet Farm.
Alfred Willing, Private, 9th Bn. Devonshire Regiment. Died 30 September 1915, age 29. Commemorated on the Loos Memorial.
Robert Willing, Private 9th Bn. Devonshire Regiment. Died 1 July 1916, age 23 . Buried in the Devonshire Cemetery, Mametz.
In the Baptismal Register for St Swithun's Parish Church, in Sandford, after the Great War, an incumbent or parish clerk has revisited the register for parishioners baptised there in the 1880s and 1890s. He has added to their register entries inscriptions such as "Killed in Flanders 1917", " Lost both arms in France in 1916" " Died in France, 1915". These poignant additions are to be found below far too many baptisms for a tiny village of some 1200 souls.
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Laurence Binyon, For the Fallen |
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Lucknow
John Fursdon, husband of Maria Drew, Private in the 20th East Devon Regiment of Foot was killed in action storming the mutineers at the Siege of Lucknow, India on 14th March 1858
The Siege of Lucknow was the prolonged defence of the Residency within the city of Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny. After two successive relief attempts had reached the city, the defenders and civilians were evacuated from the Residency, which was abandoned.
John seems to have been in one of the columns attempting the relief of the Residency.
British soldiers at Lucknow
Charles Carter
Father of great-aunt Charlotte, Charles Carter served for over 24 years in the 10th (Prince of Wales' Own) Royal Hussars, joining in 1846 aged 17 and retiring in 1870. He rose through the ranks from
Private to Corporal, then Sergeant and Troop Sergeant Major and finally holding the rank of Squadron Quarter Master Sergeant, when he retired.
He served for eight years in the East Indies, then fought in the Crimea and was at the fall of Sebastopol. The regiment took him all over England, and he was stationed in London, Yorkshire, Norfolk and Aldershot. The regiment moved to Ireland for 5 years in 1863, dealing with the 'Fenian' troubles. It was there in Dundalk that his daughter Charlotte was born, wife of great uncle John Prettejohn Pitts.
Charles' wife Annie Brown was the daughter of a barracks sergeant George Brown, also a Chelsea Pensioner.
He was awarded a Medal for service in the Crimea with a clasp for the fall of Sebastopol, the Turkish Crimean medal and a medal for good conduct and long service.
He settled in Yorkshire, but had only 7 years to enjoy his retirement, dying there in 1877.10th Royal Hussar Officer 1845
The Willing Brothers
War memorials throughout the country bear testament to the losses suffered within families, the same names re-occurring. Robert and Alice Willing lost two of their four sons. Robert was a successful architect, living in Dartmouth at the start of the war. All their sons signed up. Both eldest son Alfred and youngest son Robert enlisted in the 9th battalion of the Devonshire Regiment.In September 1915, 29 year-old Alfred was killed in the Battle of Loos - a massive offensive by the Allies that saw the first use of gas by the British. Lack of wind meant the gas lingered across the Devonshire Regiment's front. Initially successful, the attack petered out, with no effective reserves in support. The fighting had subsided by 29th September. Alfred's medal card reads "Death regarded 30.9.15" - perhaps the date when his body or personal effects were found. He is commemorated on the Loos memorial.
In the following year Alfred's 23 year-old brother Robert was killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, at Mametz, in the action described below.
Arthur Joseph Grub
Arthur Grubb married in 1911, aged 21, and joined up in 1914, serving first in training camps in England. His daughter Annie was born in May 1915. She was 6 months old before he saw her. He was soon posted to France. Arthur served in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, then the Machine Gun Company. Whilst surrounded by death and destruction in the trenches he found time to embroider this handkerchief as a gift for his daughter. The Germans launched their last great offensive in Spring 1918. Arthur went missing on the first day,21st March 1918, the battle of Saint-Quentin. His daughter was to treasure the gift made for her by the father she never knew.
Privates Robert Willing (seated) and Alfred Willing
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Pte Arthur Grub
Reginald Loye
Pte Reginald Loye
Fred Frost
Recovering at a military hospital, Fred Frost,
front row, third from right
Vic Annett
Vic Annett
Not all deaths in France were from enemy action. Second cousin Reginald Loye, like his father before him, qualified as a solicitor. After the death of his father he joined Lloyds Bank, and in 1914 was working at their Cheltenham Road, Bristol branch. With a history of military service in his mother's family that stretched back to the early years of the 17th century, unsurprisingly Reginald volunteered for foreign service on the outbreak of war in August 1914. He failed the medical. Undeterred he managed to join the Bankers’ or Stockbrokers' Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers in March 1916, aged 39. He arrived in France in August of that year and joined the 12th Battalion at Dernancourt on the Somme. Within days he was plunged into battle, the battalion suffering daily from artillery and gas attacks. Reginald was constantly employed on special duty and patrol work during the autumn and winter of 1916-17. The Battalion War Diary tells us that the weather was exceptionally bitter in January 1917, freezing, with considerable snow falls. Whilst undergoing a course of machine-gun instruction under canvas in those wretched conditions, Reginald contracted pneumonia. His death was recorded at the 2/1st West Riding Casualty Clearing Station on 31 Jan 1917. He is buried at Lillers.
Another cousin in our Loye family, Fred Frost, joined the Territorials just a day or two before his sixteenth birthday in 1912. When war broke out he transferred into the Royal Field Artillery and was sent to France on 15th March 1915. Gunner Frost was serving with his battery on about 22nd May 1916 when it came under heavy fire. Fred was severely burned in an explosion and was evacuated to a casualty clearing station. He had suffered burns to his face, arms, hands, back and legs. It was clear from the letters written to his mother by the Sister-in-Charge at the Clearing Station that his survival was in doubt. "He has been burnt in an explosion and I am afraid is very bad. You may be sure we shall do everything we can for him."
Fred was moved to the base hospital at Rouen. He made some progress, and the Sister there was able to write that his face had already healed. But on 18 June 1916 "it was found necessary to amputate his left arm. It was burnt too badly to save." Fred was moved back to the UK where he continued to receive care. He was discharged from the Army on 21st August 1917, as being "no longer fit for War Service".
He married my cousin Doris Rouse in 1921, and they had 10 children. For many years Fred and Doris lived in an Earl Haig home. Fred died of TB in 1986.
Albert Victor Annett (Vic) was born in Heywood, Victoria Australia in 1890. When war broke out he was a farmer. He enlisted in 1915, and almost a year later he embarked for England, a member of the 10th Field Ambulance.
The Field Ambulance was a mobile front line medical unit (not a vehicle).The Ambulance was responsible for establishing and operating a number of points along the casualty evacuation chain, including relay posts and dressing stations. It also provided a Walking Wounded Collecting Station.
Vic disembarked at Plymouth in July 1916 and in November 1916 he was sent to France. He suffered synovitis (inflammation of joints) and had two spells in hospital in 1917. Then in October 1917 he received a gun shot wound. But he was soon back with his unit and back in action. In May 1918 he was wounded a second time by a gunshot. On this occasion his scapula was broken, and he was invalided back to England.
Before he had left Australia, his brother-in-law George Saffin had asked him to look up his family in Cheriton Bishop, Devon, if he had a chance. Whilst he was convalescing he took the opportunity to visit the Saffins. He fell in love at first sight one imagines, as during that period he actually married one of the Saffin daughters, Bertha, in Cheriton Bishop. He sailed back to Australia in January 1919, and she followed.
Sergeant Fred Burridge A Queen's South Africa medal with clasps for Transvaal, Driefontein, Paardeberg and Relief of Kimberley |
Fred Burridge had an extraordinary military career. The eldest son of Frank Burridge, shoemaker, and Elizabeth Inch, of variously Stanbury Court, Landscore and High Street, Crediton, he was working as a tailor when he enlisted in the Oxford Light Infantry in 1893, aged 20. He served in the UK , and by 1899 he was promoted to Corporal. In December 1899 he shipped out to South Africa, to play his part in the second Boer War. In February 1902 with eight Mounted Infantry he set off from Bloemfontein towards Buffou when they were cut off by a large party of Boers. He was stripped of everything he was wearing and left to do the best he could. It took him eight days to get back to his unit. He was promoted to sergeant for his good service in the field. When he returned to England in 1902 he had been awarded the Queen's South Africa medal with clasps for Transvaal, Driefontein, Paardeberg and Relief of Kimberley, and the King's South Africa medal with clasps South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902. His home postings thereafter included the Curragh in County Kildare, where his son was born, and Chatham, Kent. In 1905 he qualified as a master tailor and having extended his service and transferred to the 1st Bn., Royal Berkshire Regiment in 1908, he was promoted to Sergeant Tailor in the following year. He was discharged on 14 September 1911, and returned to Crediton. Then in 1914, despite his 18 years of service, and his age of 41, on the outbreak of the World War he enlisted again . This time he joined the Royal West Kent Regiment, and was made an acting sergeant immediately. However this did not last long, for after 19 days he was medically discharged with oedema in the right ankle, and enteric legs. The MO wrote on his discharge papers, " This man is quite unable to march because of weakness in his legs". Despite this, somehow Fred managed to go on to enlist in the Devonshire Regiment. He joined the 1st Garrison Battalion. Formed in August 1915, this comprised men who, although unfit for battle, were capable of discharging garrison duties. He was appointed Sergeant (Master) Tailor. On 15 October 1915 Fred sailed with the battalion to Cairo. This was his last posting, for on 2 June 1916 Fred died. He was buried in the Cairo War Memorial Cemetery. In 1920 Fred was posthumously awarded the 1915 Star, the Victory Medal and the British War medal. His effects were left to his son. |
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Private Harold Heard
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Harold was born on 13 August 1898. He went to the local school, and then like his father, he found employment with the railways, working for the Railway Clearing House, Burton-on-Trent, as did his younger brother Edgar. He enlisted on 3 August 1915, 10 days short of his 17th birthday. He first joined the 6th Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment, which was a Territorial regiment, and later transferred to the 12th Bn Royal Scots. He served with the British Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders from 19 November 1915. He would have participated in the Battle of the Somme with the Royal Scots in 1916, when his battalion lost 104 killed and 403 wounded or missing. The 12th Bn was in action at Arras in April-May 1917 and at Passchendaele in September and October 1917. April 1918 saw a major German offensive in Flanders intended to break through the British First Army, push the Second Army aside to the north, and drive west to the English Channel, cutting off British forces in France from their supply line. This Lys Offensive around the town of Armentières, the offensive straddling the Franco-Belgian border, saw several battles between 7 and 29 April as the Germans advanced. The Royal Scots were engaged in The Battle of Messines, 10-11 April, The Battle of Bailleul, 13-15 April, The First Battle of Kemmel, 17-19 April and The Second Battle of Kemmel, 25-26 April. From 13–15 April, the Germans drove forward in the centre, taking Bailleul, 7.5 miles west of Armentières, despite increasing British resistance. Harold was killed in action on 16 April 1918 in the Armentières sector. It seems probable that his death was a result of this German push.
He was awarded the Victory Medal, the British War Medal and the 1914-1915 Star.
In World War II Harold's younger sister Lucy was to lose her husband Harold Parker on HMS Harvester in 1943, and younger sister Marjorie was to lose her husband Reginald Adkins in a Japanese POW camp in 1945. |
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Stoker PO Walter Labbett |
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 HMS Russell |
Walter Labbett was born in Paddington in 1888, the son of Metropolitan Policeman John, and my great-great aunt Maria Fey. He was working as a barman when he enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1909, shortly after he had married. He served as a Stoker, and in his early years was posted to a number of ships and shore bases including 2 years on the battleship HMS Lord Nelson, and several months on the cruiser HMS Falmouth. At the outbreak of World War I he was a Leading Stoker on the battleship HMS Russell. In the early part of the war she was with the Grand Fleet on Northern Patrol, and in November 1914 bombarded German occupied Zeebrugge. In November 1915 she was sent to the Mediterranean to support the Dardanelles Campaign. Tragedy struck on 27 April 1916 when she was sailing off Malta and struck two mines laid by a German U-boat, and sank. Most of her crew survived the sinking, though 125 men were killed. Walter was "reported to have been saved following the sinking of HMS Russell" on the Casualty List issued by the Admiralty on 4th May 1916. But after a period ashore Walter was soon back at sea serving on the cruiser HMS St George, where he was made Stoker Petty Officer. He served at Salonika and his war ended on the cruiser HMS Latona. Walter was to serve another 12 years in the Navy, spending several years on the Mediterranean station where he was part of the fleet supporting the Greeks in the Greco-Turkish war in 1922. He was discharged in 1931, but re-enlisted at the outbreak of World War II in 1939. He served then at Chatham Naval Base, but was admitted to the Naval Hospital in 1941, which brought an end to his service. The father of six, he died in Edgware in 1980. |
Doing Their BitIn common with most families, our parents', grandparents' and great-grandparents' generations served their country when needed. Some were called up, many volunteered, or were serving in the reserves, militias or territorials. A few were regulars. Our earliest certain Heard ancestor, John Heard, was in the Royal Cornwall Militia, stationed at Crediton, when he met his wife Susannah Crossman in the 1790s. His daughter Susannah married John Southcott, a private in the Devonshire Regiment of Militia. Great (x3) grandfather John Berry was a private in No 1 Coy. on the nominal roll of the 1st Crediton Volunteers, January 1st, 1805. Three years earlier he and his father-in-law John Prawl had attended the muster in Exeter when the threat from Napoleon had seemed great. In 1887 the nominal roll of G Coy. (Crediton) of the 1st Rifle Volunteers, the Devonshire Regiment, included the names of several of our family. Devonshire being a seafaring county, we have had our share of sailors, including John Bate who joined in 1866, and served for 20 years, James Heard who enlisted in 1894 and Walter Bubear who joined the Royal Navy at 18 in 1896, and served until 1919. William Lee, descended from our Smallridges, was a Petty Officer Stoker who perished with Lord Kitchener in the mysterious sinking of HMS Hampshire in 1916. Moses Farthing served as a Stoker on HMS Renown and HMS Attentive between 1916 and 1919. Our women too did their bit, including several Wright sisters and cousins who were nurses during WWII, two of whom appear below, alongside men of the family photographed during their service. |
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 Cecil Huxtable1889-1917 |
 George Roden 1886-1951 |
 Will Madge 1892-1983 |
 Thomas Chisholm 1921-1957 |
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 William Willing 1891-1950 |
 Ernest Pickett 1883-1959 |
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 James Farthing 1891-1959 |
 Betty Wright 1920-2005 |
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 Frederick Heard 1922-2007 |
 Peggy Wright 1921-1979 |
 Albert Fey 1884-1958 |
 Jack Turner 1894-1935 |
 John Heard 1934-1996 |
 Fred Wright (1880-1946) in Ireland (seated right) |
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Corporal John Crofton Sadleir enlisted in Australia on 17th Jan 1916, aged barely 16 but giving his age as 21. He was wounded twice in action in France (1917). He then re-enlisted in 1940, understating his age by three years and without mentioning his previous service. He was killed in action at Sidon, Lebanon, during the operation against the Vichy French. He was mentioned in dispatches (London Gazette 30th Dec 1941). | |
| William Park (1883-1970) had only been in Australia a few years when the First World War broke out. He enlisted in the 11th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force in September 1914, one of the first infantry units raised at the beginning of the war. He took a couple years off his age when he enlisted. He served with the 11th Bn in Egypt, Gallipoli and France. Bill was wounded, and sent to convalesce in England, where he married. With the coming of WWII Bill enlisted again. Aged 57, he gave his age as 50 so that he could join up. He served from 1941 to 1949 as a member of the 10th Garrison. Bill had 6 sons, and all served. Two were prisoners of war - Happy escaped from the Germans and fought with Italian guerrillas for three years. Lance was a prisoner of the Japanese for five years. Stanley was a Desert Rat, and fought at Tobruk. Edgar served with the air force in the Pacific islands. One of his younger sons served in Korea, and another in Vietnam, and the tradition continued, with Bill's grandsons also serving in Vietnam. |
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 John Berry Wright (Jack) (1887-1959) enlisted officially on 13 October 1905. The family story is that he ran away to join the army. According to a family diary entry, "John Berry Wright entered the army October 24th 1905. Fought in the first battle in Flanders, August 1914, returned home again with a fractured leg 1918." John initially served for a few years only, and it seems likely that he transferred to the Reserve, for at the time of his marriage in 1911 his occupation was carpenter. He was called back to the Colours before the Great War started, for by 16 August 1914 he was in France with the BEF. He was an ambulance driver with the
Army Service Corps. His horse was Kitty, for whom he made the name badge below. Although he survived the War he suffered a fractured leg, which left him with a permanent limp. He was issued with the Silver War badge. By the time he was demobbed he was Acting Sergeant. He was awarded the 1914 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. After the war he returned to Sandford and worked as a carpenter on the Creedy Estate. |
John Berry Wright with horse Kitty |
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Left. This badge was made by Jack for his horse Kitty. It reveals his optimism regarding the duration of the war, as it reads " Kitty. The Great European War. 1914-15 " Then as the war dragged on, each year was added. "-16 ", "-17 ", "-18". |
 Fred Pickett enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment in 1915. The following year he joined the 2/6 Bn. Devonshire Regiment in India, and in 1917 went with the Battalion to Mesopotamia until the end of the war. Fred's war was not one of mud and trenches: for these Devons it was a war of fever, disease and consequent death. He kept a brief diary of his experiences, which can be downloaded.
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 Jack Heard 1916-1989 |
 Laurie Pitts 1912-1999 |
 Sgt. Den Heard1918-2001 |
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 Margaret Pickett 1927-2003 |
 Albert Pickett 1921-1988 |
 POW Charles Pickett 1918-1975 in Stalag XXA where he was a prisoner for most of the war |
 George Blackler 1839--1923 |
 Paul Sirgey 1929-1984 |
 Dorothy Wright 1906-1935 |
 in the Army WW2.jpg) "Jack" Pollard 1916-2000 |
Thomas Comins Pollard 1890-1949 |
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 Alfred Sydney Frayling 1893-1941 |
Donald Fraser 1892-1971 |
 POW Ray Heard 1917-2009 |
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Les Ashplant (1923-2005) had always wanted to be in the RAF, and joined up as soon as he was old enough. Unable to be a pilot, he volunteered for the dangerous role of Air Gunner with Bomber Command. On a mission over Germany to bomb Mannheim in 1943, his plane was shot down, and he earned the distinction of qualifying for the Caterpillar Club, by parachuting from the doomed plane to save his life. Captured by the Germans as he tried to escape to Switzerland, he was eventually taken to Stalag 4b, where he was imprisoned until the arrival of the advancing Russians. He got back to England in 1945. |
 Les was photographed by the Germans when he was shot down |
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Volunteers at Crediton Station, off to join the 6th Bn Devonshire Regiment. Maybe Fred Pickett's departure was like this. Probably taken some time between 1914 and 1916 the postcard proudly proclaims Crediton's total of over 300 volunteers thus far. Over 170 men of Crediton and its surrounding parishes, villages and hamlets did not return. |
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Medal Display
Top left: Private Fred Ashplant, RAMC. The British War Medal and the World War I Victory Medal.
Top right: Pioneer John Ashplant,
RE. The Mons Star, The British War Medal and the World War I Victory Medal. (Pip, Squeak and Wilfred)
Bottom: Sgt. Albert Hatten, Coldstream Guards. The Mons Star, The British War Medal, the World War I Victory Medal, the 39-45 Defence Medal, and the Special Constable Good Conduct and Long Service Medal.
Pilot Sergeant Kenneth Heard
Sgt Kenneth Heard was posted to 49 Sqdn in January 1942, based at Scampton in Leicestershire, flying Hampden bombers. He flew as Navigator on Operation Fuller - the Channel Dash - the operation to prevent the breakout of the German warships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen from Brest. His first mission in January was against the ships in Brest. He then attacked the ships in the Channel on 10th February, without success, and on his third mission on 12th February 1942 the aircraft and its crew, Pilot Sgt Phillips, W/OP Sgt Jackson, Sgt Toghill, Air Gunner and Sgt Kenneth Heard failed to return.
Kenneth Heard - back row, 3rd from left, and right
Bronze memorial in Exeter Cathedral to the officers and men of the Devonshire Regiment who lost their lives in the Great War
 Blackborough0001.JPG)
Stoker 1st Class John Blackborough 1907-1939
"Jack" was a stoker on the battleship HMS Royal Oak. She was the first large war ship to be sunk in WWII. On the night of 14th October 1939, U-boat U47 evaded the block ships at the RN anchorage at Scapa Flow and launched two torpedoes. The second hit the Royal Oak and she sank within fifteen minutes. Of the crew of 1200, 833 died. Today the wreck is a war grave and no diving is allowed on it.
Naval War Memorial on Plymouth Hoe
Private Sam Rowe 1902-1943
Sam Rowe died during the allied invasion of Italy in September 1943. The main allied landings were at Salerno, beginning on 9th September. Sam was a Private in the Pioneer Corps.
During 12th - 14th September the Germans counterattacked the Allied beachhead at Salerno, hoping to throw them back into the sea. Sam died on 13th September. Supported by Airborne reinforcements the Allies repulsed the counterattack, and consolidated the beachhead by 16th September. Sam is buried at the War Cemetery at Salerno.
The Devonshire Cemetery
The first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1st July 1916, saw the 9th Bn. Devonshire Regiment holding trenches at Mansell Copse, near the village of
Mametz. They were to attack towards the nearby village of Fricourt. Lt. Duncan Martin of A Coy. had identified the threat from German machine gunners in what had become known as Shrine Alley - the field of fire from machine guns established in a shrine in the village cemetery. As the 9th Bn. emerged from their trenches they were cut down by machine guns as predicted. The 9th continued to advance, along with the 2nd Gordons, and supported by the 8th Bn. Devonshire Regiment.
By 6.00pm the Division had achieved its objective and was being consolidated. But at a heavy price. The 8th had lost 3 officers killed, 47 men killed or missing and 7 officers and 151 men wounded. The 9th had lost 8 officers (including Lt. Martin) and 196 men killed or missing, 9 officers and 267 men wounded - 463 casualties of the 775 in action. Rather unusually the dead were buried in the trench they had left, by a working party led by the padre. Comrades erected a wooden plaque to mark the burial. Its legend read:
"The Devonshires held this trench.
The Devonshires hold it still."
Fallen in World War II
Reginald Adkins, Fusilier, 1st Bn Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Died 19 Jan 1945 in a Japanese POW Camp, age 32.
Basil Bray, Surgeon Lt. RNVR, HMS Greyhound. Died 22 May 1941 age 27. Remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
John Blackborough, Stoker 1st Class, RN, HMS Royal Oak. Died 13 October 1939. Remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
Leslie Stewart Norrish Conbeer,
Gunner, Royal Artillery,195 Bty., 61 (11th Bn. The London Regt.) H.A.A. Regt.
Died 30 November 1943, age 22
Buried in Catania War Cemetery, Sicily, Italy.
William Hansen, Lieutenant (Junior Grade), US Naval
Reserve, USS Helena. Died 6 July 1943, age 22. Remembered in the Manila
American Cemetery
Kenneth Heard, Sergeant, RAFVR, 49 Squadron. Died 12 February 1942, age 20. Commemorated at the RAF Memorial, Runnymede.
William Henry Jackman, Private, 5th Bn Dorsetshire Regt.
Died 11 July 1944, age 28. Buried in Secqueville-en-Bessin War Cemetery,
France.
Ronald Mallett, Corporal, Royal Corps of Signals, 201st Bde.Sig.Sec. Died 2 April 1943, age 24. Buried in Taukkyan Cemetery, Burma.
Harold Parker, Leading Signalman, RN , HMS Harvester. Died 11 March 1943. Remembered on the Chatham Naval Memorial.
Arthur Pickett, Sick Berth Attendant, RN, HMS Shrapnel. Died 21 July 1942, age 31. Remembered at the Wandsworth Crematorium.
Clifford Pickett, Major, the Kings Regt. , attd 2nd Bn Worcestershire Regt. Died 9 April 1945, age 33. Buried in Taukkyan Cemetery.
Samuel Rowe, Private ,242 Coy., Pioneer Corps. Died 13 September 1943, age 41. Buried in Salerno War Cemetery.
John Sadleir, Corporal, D Coy., 2/16 Bn Australian Infantry. Died 13 June 1941, age 41. Buried in Lebanon War Cemetery.
Joseph Cecil Wentworth Smith, Able Seaman, HMY Sappho. Lost at sea 30 September 1940, age 36. Remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.
Henry "Joe" Whidden , Private, 2nd Bn The Welch Regiment. Died 28 July 1945, age 21. Buried in Rangoon War Cemetery.
Maurice Willing, Flt Lt, Royal Australian Air Force. Missing 19 Jan 1942, age 23. Remembered at Ambon Memorial .
Olivia Willing, Student Nurse, City Hospital, Plymouth. Died 20 March 1941, age 19. Buried at Efford Cemetery, Plymouth.