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age 18

Arthur Ambrose Wallis

19 August 2015 by SWM

A. A. Wallis
Service no. 30098
Private, Welsh Regiment, 2nd Battalion
Born in Lambeth; enlisted in Camberwell; lived in Lambeth
Killed in action on 8 September 1916, aged 18
Remembered at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

Information from the censuses

In 1911 Arthur Ambrose Wallis was a 13-year-old schoolboy living in three rooms at 29 Fountain Street (off Wandsworth Road, south of Hemans Street) with his parents and seven siblings. His father, Herbert Wallis, 38, was a railway porter from Tunbridge Wells, Kent; his mother, Louisa Wallis, 34, was from Westminster. The siblings were James Wallis, 14; Louie Wallis, 11; Kate Wallis, 9; Rose Wallis, 6; Minnie Wallis, 4; George Wallis, 1; Herbert Wallis, 2 months.

When Arthur was baptised at All Saints, South Lambeth, his parents lived at 9 Lansdowne Gardens, Stockwell.

Filed Under: Stockwell War Memorial, W names Tagged With: 1916, age 18, France, KIA

Frederick Charles Vincent Upton

19 August 2015 by SWM

F. C. V. Upton
Service no. 189301
Air Mechanic 2nd Class, Royal Air Force, 116th Squadron
Died on 11 November 1918 (Armistice Day), aged 18
CWGC: “Only son of Frederick William and Annie Upton, of 2 Portland Place South, Clapham Road, London.”
Remembered at Aylesbury Cemetery, Buckinghamshire

Information from the 1911 census

The Frederick Charles Vincent Upton who is in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database appears as Frederick William Upton on the 1911 census. This is somewhat confusing especially given that the census return was completed by his father. It is possible that the CWGC has made an error over the identity of this casualty as some details do match.

Frederick William Upton in the 1911 census was an 11-year-old schoolboy born in Farnham, Surrey, the only son (as corroborated in the CWGC database) of Frederick William Upton, 39, a coffee shop keeper from Betsham, Kent, and Annie Upton, 37, from Farnham, Surrey (she is described as “assisting in the business” on the census). They had three daughters: Ivy Blanche Upton, 14, born in Aldershot, Hampshire; Edith Gertrude Upton, 8; born in Farnham, Surrey: Hilda Annie Upton, 6, born in Farnham. The family lived in 5 rooms at 2 Portland Place South, near Clapham Road. This street has now disappeared (apart from a few houses) and has been replaced by Portland Grove. The area sits within the Mursell Estate.

Filed Under: Stockwell War Memorial, U names Tagged With: 1918, age 18, Died, Home

Charles John Totham

18 August 2015 by SWM

C. J. Totham
Service no. G/20867
Private, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), then London Regiment, posted to 1st/20th Battalion
Born in Stockwell; enlisted in Camberwell
Killed in action on 2 June 1918, aged 18
CWGC: “Son of Arthur John and Emma Alice Totham, of 2a Tasman Road, Landor Road, Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension, France

Information from the censuses

We have not found Charles Totham on the 1911 census, but his parents and siblings are registered at 32 Eastcote Street, Stockwell, where they had two rooms. Arthur John Totham, 33, was a “contractor’s carman” from Coggeshall, Essex;Emma Alice Totham, 33, was from Castle Combe, Wiltshire. Charles’s siblings were Lilian Annie Totham, 8, and Frederick Thomas Totham, 3, both born in Lambeth.

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

When joining the Kings Royal Rifle Corps at Battersea on 10 March 1915, Charles Totham gave his age to the attesting officer as 18 years and 272 days and his occupation as “carman”.

Totham was posted to Winchester on 12 March and then to Sheerness on 19 March, but he was found out on 19 June 1915 and discharged, “having made a mis-statement as to age in enlistment.” He had served 102 days. He returned to his family at 24 Lingham Street, Stockwell.

He was a slight lad, although at 5 feet 3 inches and weighing 121 pounds with a 35 inch chest he was not unusual. Many recruits were similarly slender and he was judged fit to serve. But he was only 15, possibly 16.

Later, he joined the Queen’s Own and died, killed in action at age 18.

Filed Under: Stockwell War Memorial, T names Tagged With: 1918, age 18, France, KIA

William Edward Smith

18 August 2015 by SWM

W.E. Smith
Rifleman, Rifle Brigade, 12th Bn.
Service no. S/2933
Killed in action on 25 September 1915, aged 18
Remembered at Ploegsteert Memorial, Hainaut, Belgium

Chris Burge writes:

William Edward Smith was born in Lambeth on 18 April 1897 and baptised on 16 May 1897 at St Saviour’s, St George’s Square, Pimlico. He was the first child of William Timothy, from Bethnal Green in east London, and Esther Annie Smith (née Butt) from Pimlico, on the north side of the Thames, who were married at St Mary the Less, Lambeth, in 1895. William Edward was born while his parents were living at 3 Hotspur Street, Kennington and William’s father worked as a ‘carman’. At the time of the 1901 census, the family were living in a five-storey tenement block at 279 Tooley Street, close to Tower Bridge and William’s father was working from home as a self-employed newsagent. 

The 1911 census shows how the family had grown since Edward was born. William Snr was now 38 and Esther, 33. In their 15 years of marriage eight children had been born with five surviving infancy: Edward, 13; Lilly, six; Sidney, three, Frederic, two; and Violet, three months. Esther’s widowed father John Butt was living with them, along with a niece Nellie Tilbrook, who may have been a visitor. William Snr was still working as a self-employed newsagent. Home for the Smith family was now 53 Lambeth Walk where they lived in five rooms as the sole occupants of the property. There were a further three more additions to the family: Ernest, born in 1912, Ivy (1914) and Winifred (1918).

At the outbreak of war William Edward Smith was 17 and the only child in the Smith family likely to play an active part in the conflict. A few damaged pages of his service papers have survived, smudged and barely legible in places but it is clear that he was caught up in the surge of volunteering in late August and early September 1914. He enlisted in London on 9 September, falsely claiming to be 19. At a little over 5ft 10in tall, weighing 8st 12lbs and with a 35in chest, he was not obviously underage. He was recruited to the Rifle Brigade as Rifleman S/2933 Smith, W.E. and initially posted to the newly formed 9th Battalion but was transferred on 1 October to the 12th Rifle Brigade who were at Blackdown near Aldershot, Hampshire. His conduct sheet shows him overstaying a pass at Blackdown and smoking on parade both there and when the battalion had moved to Grayshott by March 1915, and irregular conduct on parade in April at Larkhill. The long months of equipping and training the battalion came to an end when they embarked for France, sailing from Southampton on 21 July 1915 and landing at Le Havre on 22 July 1915. 

The battalion were first in trenches near Fleurbaix in early August and then Fauqissart on the Aubers Ridge. They worked on service and communications trenches in early September before returning to the front line trenches in the same area on 16 September. Orders were received on the 21st for an attack on enemy positions in conjunction with the Meerut Division, to take place on the 25th. The enemy were alerted by the explosion of a mine in their sector and an artillery bombardment. The attack was a costly failure with nearly all the officers either killed or wounded; of the other ranks, 43 were killed, 213 wounded and 76 missing, but believed killed. Rfm S/2933 Smith W.E. was originally listed in the battalion casualty returns as wounded on 25 September. This was revised on 19 November to killed in action on that day.

At the end of the war the Smith family were living at 16 Priory Place and it was William’s father who completed Army Form W5080 in order to receive his son’s medals, plaque and scroll. He listed the entire Smith family on the form, which was witnessed and countersigned at All Saints Church. 

Filed Under: S names, Stockwell War Memorial Tagged With: 1915, age 18, Belgium, Chris Burge, KIA

Harry Sharman

18 August 2015 by SWM

H. Sharman
Service no. TR/13/62040
Rifleman, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 51st Battalion
Died at home on 8 November 1918, aged 18
CWGC: “Son of Mrs. Elizabeth Sharman, of 15 Brooklands Street, South Lambeth, London. His brother Arthur Sharman also fell.”
Remembered at Lambeth Cemetery, Tooting, London SW17

Brother of Arthur Sharman

Filed Under: S names, Stockwell War Memorial, Tooting Cemetery Tagged With: 1918, age 18, Brothers, Home

Norman Victor Riva

18 August 2015 by SWM

N.V. Riva
Service no. 1891
Private, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 2nd Battalion
Born in Lambeth; enlisted in London; lived in Lambeth
Killed in action on 31 March 1915, aged 18
CWGC: “Son of Mr E. Riva, of 46 Priory Grove, South Lambeth, London.”
Remembered at Ferme Buterne Military Cemetery, Houplines, France

Information from the censuses

Norman Riva, 14 in 1911, was a dental assistant. He lived five rooms at 46 Priory Grove, South Lambeth, with his parents and siblings. Riva’s father, Charles Edward Forrester Riva, 42, a warehouseman (provisions), was from Camberwell; his mother, Susannah (née Martin), 41, was born in Westminster. Their six surviving children (of seven) were:
Francis Riva, 16, a railway clerk
Norman Riva, 14
William Riva, 11, at school and helping on a milk round
Ida RIva, 8
Dora RIva, 2
Edgar Riva, 7 months
All were born in South Lambeth. In 1901 the Riva family were living at 52 Priory Grove.

Filed Under: R names, Stockwell War Memorial Tagged With: 1915, age 18, France, KIA

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  • All the men
  • Died on 1 July 1916
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