Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

age 35

Arthur Webb

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A. Webb
Service no. 651657
Serjeant, London Regiment (First Surrey Rifles), 21st Battalion
Died of wounds on 31 August 1918, aged 35
CWGC: “Son of James and Mary Jane Webb, of 22, Kendoa Rd., Clapham, London. Native of Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, France and St Andrew’s Church, Landor Road, London SW9

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

The Army was evidently impressed by draper Arthur Webb. Shortly after he presented himself at the London Regiment’s Camberwell recruiting office in June 1915 he started on a trajectory through the ranks. Exactly a month later, he was appointed paid Lance Corporal. By the end of July he was Corporal, by October Lance Serjeant, and before he was posted to France he was Acting Serjeant. By January 1917 he was Serjeant.

Webb’s conduct was excellent – but not perfect. There was one black mark against his name: for being late for company parade some time in May 1917, for which he was reprimanded.

It was all over on 31 August 1918, when Webb died of a gunshot wound to the neck, “penetrating the spine” as noted in his file.

What else do we know about Webb? Physically, he was short (or rather, not tall) and not well built. He stood 5 feet 4½inches, with a 36½ inch chest (plus 2½ inches). He weighed 8 stone 10 pounds. He left a collection of effects, all forwarded to his mother, including the usual photos, letters, discs, pipe and notebook, but also two pairs of glasses, a watch and chain and, a small surprise,  a rosary in a tin box. We have plenty of evidence that Webb was an Anglican: his documents state it clearly, he is remembered on the memorial plaque at St Andrew’s, Landor Road and he lived in a Church institute with his mother, he may nevertheless have been “High Church” enough to find comfort in the use of a rosary. Or it may have merely been his good luck charm in a world in which every iota of luck was worth keeping beside you.

Information from the 1911 census

Arthur Webb, 27 in 1911, worked as a commercial clerk. One of six children, he lived with three siblings, two boarders and his widowed mother, Mary Jane Webb, 51, the caretaker at 57 Stockwell Road, a “preventive home” for girls, dedicated to training girls for domestic service. The property had 14 rooms, most probably not for habitation. The siblings were Henry James Webb, 30, an insurance clerk; Florence Webb, 23, no occupation; Alfred Webb, 21, an insurance clerk. The two boarders were Church of England ministers: John Smith, 24, single, from Hackney, and Harry Thomas James, 25, from Penarth in Glamorgan.

Walter Samuel Standley

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W. S. Standley
Service no. 5330
Private, London Regiment, 1st/20th Battalion
Born in Lambeth; enlisted in Lambeth; lived in South Lambeth
Killed in action on 1 October 1916, aged 35
CWGC: “Son of Samuel and Ellen Standley, of 26, Priory Rd., South Lambeth, London.”
Remembered at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

Information from the 1911 census

Walter Standley, 28, was a railway porter. In 1911 he lived with his family at 2 Church Terrace, Union Grove, Clapham, where they had seven rooms. His parents, Samuel Standley, 55, a wheelwright and Ellen Standley, 52, both from Hethersett, Norfolk, had five surviving children (of six). There were three at home: Walter, Ida Stanley, 24, a kitchen maid, and Fred Standley, 22, a builder’s labourer, all born in Clapham. Ellen Driscoll, a 31-year-old single laundry packer born in the City of London, boarded.

Edwin Charles Smart

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E. C. Smart
Service no. 263068
Rifleman, Monmouthshire Regiment, 1st Battalion
Born in Walworth; enlisted in Battersea
Killed in action on 3 September 1917, aged 35
CWGC: “Husband of Elizabeth Ann Smart, of 12, Thorparch Rd. Lambeth, London.”
Remembered at Loos Memorial, France

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

On 7 November 1917 Elizabeth Ann Smart, widow of Edwin Charles Smart, wrote to the War Office: “Will you please let me have my marriage and other certificates which I have forwarded to you on 20th of Sept,” she said. “…I am sorry to trouble you only I have a [illegible] means a [illegible] £5 to me and of which I would be glad, being left with four young children.” Although some of the letter has been so damaged that it I am not able to read it, it is clear that Elizabeth is struggling to manage on the money she has coming in. Clearly the possession of these certificates, perhaps to show the relevant authorities at the local pension board, would make a difference.

Smart was killed in action on 3 September 1917, leaving Elizabeth with the children. These included her son by a previous relationship Emlyn Thomas Campbell, 13, and three she had with Edwin: Eliza Louise, 6, Alice Maisie, not yet 5, and Edwin Alexander, 3, all born before they married at Lambeth Register Office on 5 December 1914.

Smart enlisted on 11 December 1915 when he was 34 and 7 months. He was described as 5 feet 8 inches and 10 stone. His chest measured 36 inches (which he could increase to 39). His physical development was “good.”

Thomas Albert Pilgrim

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T. A. Pilgrim
Service no. 8761
Company Quartermaster Serjeant, Cheshire Regiment, 86th Bty.
Born in Battersea; enlisted in London
Died of pneumonia on 19 May 1918, aged 35
CWGC: “Son of Mrs. S. Silk (formerly Pilgrim), of 3, Stockwell Grove, Stockwell, London, and the late H. Pilgrim. Served in the South African Campaign. Alternative Commemoration – buried in Hartlepool North Cemetery.”
Remembered at Hartlepool (Stranton) Cemetery

British Army WW Service Records 1914-1920

Thomas Albert Pilgrim’s Army career lasted 17 years – he signed up just shy of his 18th birthday. During this time he learned about Army discipline, rose through the ranks to be Company Quartermaster Serjeant, grew nearly 4 inches and acquired medals and multiple tattoos, not to mention a wife. But he died, despite the best efforts of the medical staff, of severe pneumonia in West Hartlepool. The King and Queen wrote of their sorrow at his passing to his widow.

In November 1901 Pilgrim, a general labourer, enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment. He was 17 years and 10 months, 5 feet 5¼ inches tall, blue-eyed with brown hair; he had a scar next to his left eye and tattoos on his left arm. At camp in Chichester, he was almost immediately in trouble: irregular conduct (seven days confined to barracks); absent from parade (three days); quitting coal fatigue without permission (three days); not complying with an order (five days), and at Jamestown, Ireland, making an improper reply.

More trouble followed. While serving in South Africa he made an improper reply to an N.C.O. for which he was confined to barracks for 14 days. Back in England, at Shorncliffe camp, he was absent from reveille. And it was there, on 4 April 1903 that Pilgrim left the regiment, having been “Discharged by Purchase.”. It was an expensive decision. The £18 he paid out equates to £7,500 in today’s money.

In November 1907, aged 24, he was back at the recruitment office, enlisting in the Cheshire Regiment. By now he had grown to 5 feet 9 inches, and was a solid 11½ stone, with a 38½-inch chest. He had also acquired an impressive set of tattoos: a flower head on his left arm, a female figure, a head, flags and flowers on his left forearm; a hand with two cards and a crescent on the back of his left hand; a snake, palm tree and “an Indian” on his right forearm; a heart on his left knee.

There were only two black marks against him in this period. On 10 March 1909 he bought a pair of boots from a private soldier “contrary to regulations,” for which he was severely reprimanded; on 27 November he was found drunk and disorderly in Belfast for which he was reprimanded again. However, he had evidently calmed down somewhat. Possibly his marriage in 1908 to a 29-year-old widow, Maud Kate Nurse, at Lambeth Register Office had an influence. He was now responsible for a wife and young stepchild. In this period, Pilgrim acquired some qualifications. In 1908 he gained a 3rd class certificate of education, rising to 2nd class in 1910. He qualified as an assistant instructor in signalling in 1911.

Life was changing for Pilgrim. He started to gain promotions, making Serjeant in 1913, and on 9 July 1914, shortly after he had suffered a bout of bronchopneumonia that had put him in hospital in Londonderry, he signed up for extended service. His military character was now judged to be excellent, his superior officers describing him as “very hard working and efficient,” “reliable,” and “trustworthy.”

Soon he was off to France, but he served only three months there (between August and November 1914). Most of the war was served on the Home front. He was appointed acting Company Serjeant in June 1915 and promoted six weeks later. All the signs were that Pilgrim would have survived the war had he not been brought down by a very severe case of pneumonia while at West Hartlepool.

The doctor treating Pilgrim at the No. 8 Durham V.A.D. (Voluntary Aid Detachment) Hospital, where he was admitted on 14 May 1918, described him as “practically moribund” (meaning approaching death). They fed him carefully with fluids him every half hour, administered strychnine (this was used as a stimulant if the patient collapsed suddenly) and surrounded him with hot water bottles. But there was no antibiotic treatment and he succumbed five days later. He was 35 and had served over 10 years.

Pilgrim’s widow Maud Kate received a pension of 24 shillings and twopence for herself and her child. She received a message from the Army Council: “The Army Council having heard with regret of the death of your husband, No. 8761, C.Q.M.S. Thomas Albert Pilgrim, Cheshire Regiment, of which you have already been informed. I am instructed to send you herewith the enclosed message of Sympathy in your bereavement from the King and Queen.” Unfortunately, Pilgrim’s file does not include a copy of the letter itself.

Although Pilgrim does not appear on the 1911 census for Lambeth or Wandsworth, his mother, Susannah Silk, 56, and sister, Daisy May Pilgrim, 22, are found at 3 Stockwell Grove, where they had two rooms. In 1901, before he signed up with the Royal Sussex Regiment, the 17-year-old Pilgrim was living with his mother, stepfather Tom Silk (a 39-year-old scaffolder from Battersea) and three siblings at the same address.

Information from the censuses

Although Thomas Albert Pilgrim from Clapham does not appear on the 1911 census for Lambeth or Wandsworth, his mother, Susannah Silk, 56, and sister, Daisy May Pilgrim, 22, are found at 3 Stockwell Grove, where they had two rooms. In 1901, before he signed up with the Royal Sussex Regiment, the 17-year-old Pilgrim was living with his mother, stepfather Tom Silk (a 39-year-old scaffolder from Battersea) and siblings at 3 Stockwell Grove.
Henry Pilgrim, 21, a carman, born in Battersea
Bertie Pilgrim, 16, a shop assistant born in Battersea
Diasy M. Pilgrim, 12, born in Battersea

Frank Sidney Minter

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F. S. Minter
Service no. 60899
Private, Royal Fusiliers, 22nd Battalion. Formerly 4542, East Surrey Regiment
Born in Lambeth; enlisted in Clapham; lived in Upper Tooting
Killed in action 10 March 1917 aged about 35
Remembered at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

Information from the 1911 census

Frank Sidney Minter was a 29-year-old commercial traveller selling herbs and seeds. He was born in South Lambeth, and was married to Ada Mary Minter, also 29, from Stockwell. They lived in three rooms at 49 Jeffreys Road, Stockwell, and had one child, Lilian Ada Minter, 5 months, born in South Lambeth. Mary Goldsmith, 63, Ada Mary’s mother, a laundress born in the City, lived with them.

George Henry Mayes

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G. H. Mayes
Service no. Deal/1834(S)
Private, Royal Marines, R.M. Div. Train, R.N. Div.
Died on 12 June 1915 at age 35
Died of wounds in 2nd (RN) Field Ambulance (shrapnel wound right side, same date)
CWGC: “Husband of Elizabeth M. Mayes, of 10 Stafford Road, Brixton, London.”
Remembered at Lancashire Landing Cemetery, Turkey