C. P. Guy
Service no. 7658
Private, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), 1st Battalion
Born in Gloucester; enlisted in London; lived in Clapham
Died of wounds age 31 on 26 November 1914
CWGC: “Husband of Margaret Hannah Guy, of 30 Portland Place South, Clapham Road, London.”
Cited in De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour 1914-1918
Remembered at Zantvoorde British Cemetery, near Ypres, Belgium
1914
George Dimond
G. Dimond
Service no. L/6478
Private, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), 2nd Battalion
Died of wounds age 18 on 9 November 1914
Son of Charles and Clara Dimond, of 44 Priory Road, South Lambeth, London.
Remembered at Poperinghe Old Military Cemetery, Belgium
Information from British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1918 and 1911 census
George Dimond joined up at the age of 18 just before the war started, on 27 April 1914. He lived for only 194 days after that, dying of wounds to the legs on 9 November 1914 at Poperinghe. Allied forces commandeered this town, the primary military centre for British forces located in Flanders and only 10km from Ypres, as a base from the early days of the war. It remained in Allied command, apart from a period between May and October 1914.
Dimond, blue-eyed with dark brown hair, was 5 feet 7½ inches, weighing 116 pounds, with a 33 inch chest he could expand by 2½ inches. In civilian life he was a sawyer’s assistant. The Army records show that Dimond’s parents were separated. In 1911 his mother Clara, then 50, is listed as a boarder at 104 Hartington Road – her occupation is “charwoman” and she is described as “married but separated”. Dimond’s father, Charles, 49, meanwhile was boarding in 27 Dawlish Street. Between them they had five daughters and George.
George is cited in De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour 1914-1918.
James Stephen Clack
J. S. Clack
Service no. MS/775
Private, Army Service Corps, 1st Div. Supply Col.
Died age 29 on the 2 October 1914
Son of the late Andrew and Lucy Clack; husband of Annie Clack, of 25 Probert Road, Brixton
Remembered at La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial, Seine-et-Marne, France
Information from British Army WWI Service Records
James Stephen Clack stood 5 feet 7¾ inches tall, weighed 165 pounds (11½ stone). He was 38 inches around the chest, which he could expand by 2½ inches. The statistics bring to mind a fine-looking man. He would have been a good head taller than many in the recruitment office and his build would have contrasted markedly with his fellow soldiers – who were, by and large, skinny and slight. The approving officer gave his physical development the rare accolade: “very good,” he wrote enthusiastically.
Clack’s sallow complexion, grey eyes and brown hair were recorded, as was the ganglion on his left wrist. This last was nothing. What’s more, he was among the first to volunteer, presenting himself on 8 August 1914. He was recruited to the Army Service Corps as a driver. Another perfect fit as he was a lorry driver in civilian life and had worked as a motor engineer. The Army must have been delighted to have such a keen, healthy, qualified candidate.
Alas, after only 58 days the war was over for Clack. He was admitted to the 16th Field Ambulance on 28 September 1914 and by 2 October he had died of appenticitis and peritonitis.
At home, his wife Annie Clack, living at 10a Lingham Street with her 2-year-old daughter Mary Lucy, was sent her husband’s effects with a handwritten note: “Herewith 70 centimes (French) cash, the property of the late Private James Stephen Clack…” Later she was awarded 15 shillings a week for herself and her child. It cannot have seemed like a fair exchange.
Information from the 1911 census
In 1911 James Stephen Clack, 27, occupied in 3 rooms at 28 Connaught Mansions, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton SW2 with his wife Annie Clack, 24. James, who was working as a motor engineer, was born in Stockwell and Annie in Hounslow. They had been married less than a year.
Albert John Blackmore
A. J. Blackmore
Service no. 2966
Trooper, 1st Life Guards
Born in Wandsworth
Killed in action on 30 October 1914
Remembered at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial
This identification is somewhat tentative. This the only A. J. Blackmore in both the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database and in the Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-1919. There is an Albert Blackmore on the 1911 census, living at 1 Kielers Cottages, Clapham Road with his parents, Walter Blackmore and Fanny Blackmore, both 53, and from Devon (Puddington and Sandford). This Albert, aged 15, was a lift attendant in a mansion block. There is no evidence that this and the Blackmore in the military databases are the same person.
James Albert Andrews
J. A. Andrews
Service no 6703
Private, 1st (Royal) Dragoons
Formerly 6703, 2nd Dragoons (Scots Greys)
Killed in action on 12 November 1914, aged 22
Son of James and Rose Rebecca Andrews, of 60 Wilcox Road, South Lambeth, London.
Remembered at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Ieper, Belgium and at Stockwell War Memorial, London SW9