R. E. Wild
Service no. R/6573
Rifleman, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, “C” Coy. 9th Battalion
Died of wounds on 25 September 1915, aged 20
CWGC: “Son of Herbert John and Annie Wild, of 24 Halstead Street, Brixton, London.”
Remembered at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Ypres, Belgium and on the war shrine at St Michael’s Church, Stockwell Park Road, London SW9 0DA
Brother of Herbert William Wild
A.V.O. White
Private, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), 1st Bn
Service no. G/3438
Died on 25 September 191, aged 22
Remembered at Loos Memorial, France
CWGC: “Son of Mrs. Florence White, of 66, Wilcox Rd., South Lambeth Rd., London.”
Albert White was born in 1894 in the village of March, Cambridgeshire. His parents Edward White and Florence Mary Owers had married in 1875 and Albert was the youngest of nine children when he was born. In the 1901 census the White family were living in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in Fen Country, where both his parents and the majority of his siblings had been born. His father was working on steam-driven threshing machines.
Florence Mary White first appeared in Lambeth on the Electoral Rolls of 1907 and 1908 living at 58 Walnut Tree Walk in Kennington. By the time of the 1911 census, Florence was living nearby at 123 St George’s Road, Southwark, a busy thoroughfare running from Westminster Bridge Road to the Elephant and Castle. Florence was now 49 and in 25 years of marriage had borne 13 children, three of whom had died as infants. Florence neglected to state the ‘relationship’ of the individuals she named on her census form, but two were clearly her youngest children, Albert Victor White, 17, and Mildred Victoria Landlord White, 13. The enumerator later pencilled in the relationships, wrongly identifying widow Florence Clarissa Hayhoe as Florence’s sister; she was Florence’s daughter, who had married horse dealer Harry Hayhoe in 1898. He died in 1909 when the couple were living in Borough Road.
Florence White earned her income as a landlady. Her own father and brothers had been piano-tuners. Perhaps it was her love of music and the theatre which led her to seek ‘theatrical types’ as her guests. Her boarders in 1911 were two actors and a music-hall artist. Albert had also been attracted to the world of theatre and Florence described her son’s occupation, confusingly, as ‘super-theatrical’. The White family and their three guests lived in six rooms of the property with a young couple and their baby son in three other rooms.
An entry in the Queens Royal West Surrey Regiment Rough Register of Recruits shows 3438 Private White A. aged 21 enlisted on 16 November 1914. Albert volunteered in central London and probably trained with the 3rd Royal West Surrey Reserve based at the Chatham Lines before he was sent to France on 11 March 1915. A draft of 50 men reached the 1st RWS on Sunday 14 March when the battalion was in billets in the Bethune area. The battalion was held in reserve and on standby during March and April. More routine work followed in May. One man was killed and five wounded in a party helping to collect the wounded and bury the dead during the night near Givenchy on 26 May. June and July were months of providing various working parties before the battalion entered trenches near Cuinchy in the last week of July, sustaining small numbers of casualties on most days before returning to billets on 15 August 1915. More trench duty followed before the battalion prepared for their part in the offensive on 25 September. They advanced under cover of smoke wearing rudimentary gas helmets. Counterattacked, they were forced to retire under heavy machine-gun fire. Nine officers were killed or wounded, a total of 226 other ranks were killed, wounded or missing. Private 3438 White A. was posted missing that day.
Florence made enquiries via the Red Cross, hoping that Albert was a prisoner of war. The related card record showed her son had served in ‘D’ company, but there was no trace of the missing soldier who had ‘disparu [disappeared] 25 Sept 1915’. Florence gave her address as ‘Mrs. F. M. White, 3 Lansdowne Gardens, Stockwell, London S.W.’. The reply was ‘rien [nothing] 17.11.15’. After some months, Albert White was officially presumed to have died on or since 25 September 1915.
After 1918 Florence moved from Lansdowne Gardens to 66 Wilcox Road where she remained until 1928. There are no existing public records that show Albert’s initials as A.V.O.; to the Army he was plain Albert. Florence may have added two initials to make her son’s name more prominent on the Stockwell War Memorial. chris burge
a.v.o. white. Private, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), 1st Bn. Service no. G/3438. Died on 25 September 191, aged 22. Remembered at Loos Memorial, France
T. F. Wellington
Service no. 70152
Driver, Royal Engineers, L.Z. Cable Section
Born in Southwark; enlisted in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire; lived in Lambeth
Killed in action on 2 July 1915, aged 26
CWGC: “Son of Mrs Rose Cockman, of 22 Horace Street, South Lambeth, London.”
Remembered at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Ypres, Belgium
British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920
On 10 August 1915, less than a month after Thomas Frederick Wellington was killed in action at Ypres, the Royal Engineers Records Office wrote to his bereaved mother, Rose Cockman: “Special information has been received,” they said, ” … He was killed in action 2/7/15 and was buried behind Signal Station at Zillebeke, appros: Square L.22.D Map Belgium Sheet 28. 1/40,000.” But somehow Wellington’s remains ended up missing, and he is remembered instead on the panels of the Menin Gate Memorial and at Stockwell.
The Records Officer’s letter crossed with one of Mrs. Cockman’s in which she asked about the whereabouts of her son’s will and “small book”. These were not in his custody, the officer told her, in a letter sent the following day. However, Wellington’s personal effects were sent on. They indicate a man of careful and organised habits. As well as the usual watch, pipe, diary, letters, handkerchiefs, gloves, and so on, they included a holdall containing a razor, two toothbrushes, a lather brush, shaving soap and housewife (a small sewing kit for making repairs to uniforms). And, naturally, his driver’s licence.
Wellington’s Army career was solid, with no conduct issues. He started out in the London Army Troops of the Royal Engineers. He stayed 139 days and was discharged “in consequence of joining regular army.” He transferred to the London Signals Training Centre and from there on 16 December 1914 went to Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, where the Electrical Signalling Branch the School of Military Engineering was based. He went to France on 26 December.
Thomas Frederick Wellington, 5 feet 6 or 8 inches tall (depending on who was doing the measuring – both heights are given in his records), weighing over 10½ stone, with a 36 inch chest (which he could expand by 3 inches), was judged “good” in physical development. He had a fair complexion, dark grey eyes and light brown hair. In civilian life he had a varied career: from “ticket printer” in 1911, to engineer’s photographer when joining the Army in 1914. He also described himself as a draughtsman. He left 8 siblings (full and half).
Information from the 1911 census
Thomas Wellington, a 21-year-old ticket printer, lived with his mother, stepfather, sister and step-siblings at 15 Horace Street (now gone – replaced by a Local Authority housing estate), Stockwell. Charles Booth, in his poverty map of 1886-1903 described Horace Street as “poor and crowded”. Thomas’s mother, Rose Cockman, 44, from Torrington, Essex, had married Ernest Cockman, 39, a timber carman from Wandsworth, in about 1894. She had at least two children from her previous marriage: Thomas and Rose Wellington, 10, both born in Southwark. With Ernest she had a further three: Ernest Cockman, 6; Dorothy Cockman, 4; and Edith Cockman, 2, all born in South Lambeth.
G. J. Watts
Service no. S/1117
Private, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), 1st Battalion
Born in Westminster; enlisted in London
Killed in action on 23 April 1915, aged 34
CWGC: “Husband of Elizabeth J. Watts, of 75 Thorparch Road [this is an error, it is 95 Thorparch Road], Wandsworth Road, Lambeth, London.”
Remembered at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Ypres, Belgium
When Watts, who was born in Westminster in 1881, attested on 12 October 1914, aged 34, he was working as an outside porter. He declared that he had previously served in the 2nd battalion of the Royal West Kents, and was discharged in 1905 at the end of his term. He was 5ft 5in, just under 8½st with a 36½in chest. He had blue eyes, dark brown hair and a fresh complexion, with ‘profuse’ tattooing on both forearms and calves. His physical development was judged to be ‘Good’. He joined his battalion on 4 January 1915, was appointed unpaid lance coproral on 12 February and and was posted missing on 23 April. He had served a total of 194 days. His widow Elizabeth was left to bring up three children, Rose Elizabeth (born 1906), Lilian Maud (1909) and Violet May (1911).
W. G. Ware
Service no. 1187
Private, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 2nd Battalion
Born in Brixton; enlisted in Westminster; lived in Lambeth
Killed in action on 27 March 1915
CWGC: “Son of Mr W. H. Ware, of 34 Bessborough Gardens, Westminster, London.”
Remembered at Ferme Buterne Military Cemetery, Houplines, Nord, France and St Andrew’s Church, Landor Road, London SW9
Information from the 1911 census
William George Ware, 16, was a junior clerk at the Army & Navy Stores. He lived at 16 Dalyell Road, Stockwell, with his parents, William Henry Ware, 45, a foreman for a timber merchant, born in Battersea, and Edith Annie Ware (née Etheridge), 39, from Chelsea, and elder sister Edith Annie Ware, 17, a “lady clerk” at a coal office. The family had eight rooms. WIlliam Henry Ware has written “householder” proudly in the space for “Number of rooms in this dwelling.”
S. H. Tremelling
Service no. 3000
Private, London Regiment, 1st/24th Battalion
Enlisted in Kennington; lived in Brixton
Killed in action on 26 May 1915, aged about 22
CWGC: “Son of the late Mrs L. M. Tremelling.”
Remembered at Le Touret Memorial, France
Information from the censuses
Stanley Humphrey Tremelling, 18 in 1911, was a machine ruler working for a general printing firm. He lived with his 55-year-old widowed mother, Lucy Tremelling (nee Blundell) from Poplar and 30-year-old stepsister Hilda Tremelling (his dead father’s daughter), who was working as a dressmaker. The family lived in eight rooms at 1 Milkwood Road in Brixton.
In 1901 James Tremelling was a 53-year-old patten maker from Hayle, Cornwall and the family lived at 6 Gladstone Street in Southwark with James Tremelling’s brother Hampton, a French family of three and an American miner.