CWGC

Private Samuel Barnett

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in New York.

The grave of Private Samuel Barnett
The grave of Private Samuel Barnett

Samuel Barnett was born on 18 February 1879 in Belfast, Ireland, the eldest of the two sons of Matthew and Matilda Barnett.[1] He was a shipping clerk in Belfast before he emigrated to the United States in 1901 with his mother and his younger brother, Matthew. They lived on Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, a block from the Empire State Building; Samuel worked in New York as an underwriter.

On 11 February 1918 in New York he was examined and found fit for service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force and on 18 March he travelled by train via Niagara Falls to Toronto where he was attested and joined the 2nd Depot Battalion, 1st Central Ontario Regiment at Exhibition Camp; he was allocated the regimental number 3233160.

Although seemingly fit when he underwent his initial medical examination, from the time of his arrival in Toronto he felt under the weather and on 20 March he was sick in the cookhouse. He was taken to the hospital at Exhibition Camp in the early evening. There he was diagnosed as suffering from influenza and he soon developed pneumonia; he died of heart failure at 11.30pm on 23 March 1918. His body was returned home and he was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, on the northern side of the cemetery near the junction of 7th Avenue and 22nd Street, in Section J, Lot 33488. His mother and his brother are buried with him; their grave is unmarked. He is one of two First World War CWGC burials in that cemetery—the other is Cadet L H Thompson, Royal Air Force, who died on 30 October 1918.

The Canadian Book of Remembrance showing the entry for Private Samuel Barnett
The Canadian Book of Remembrance showing the entry for Private Samuel Barnett

Private Samuel Barnett is commemorated on page 364 of the Canadian First World War Book of Remembrance; that page is displayed on 10 August. His father received his Memorial Plaque and Scroll. Continue reading →

Private Thomas Camp

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of three essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Tennessee.

The grave of Private Thomas Camp in Chattanooga National Cemetery
The grave of Private Thomas Camp in Chattanooga National Cemetery

Thomas Camp was an American of British descent born at Madisonville, Tennessee on 24 January 1896, the son of Charlie and Annie (née Arp) Camp. Little is known of his wider family but he worked as a baker and lived in Shooks Gap, a small settlement south-east of Knoxville.

He enlisted at Montreal on 6 February 1918 for service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force and joined the 1st Depot Battalion, Quebec Regiment, where he was allocated the number 3081869. Camp’s early service was spent in hospital until 15 May, when he was posted to Valcartier, the site of the largest training camp in Canada, to be employed as a baker. Continue reading →

Sapper Lee Arvel Moss

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ 2 Comments

This is part of a series of three essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Tennessee.

The grave of Private Lee Moss
The grave of Private Lee Moss

Lee Arvel Moss was born at Vigor, a community near Athens, in McMinn County, Tennessee on 4 March 1887, the second of the five children and eldest son of Hugh and Cammie Moss.[1]

At the time of his enlistment he was living in Montreal and, although a blacksmith by trade, he was working as a steam fitter. He was a member of the Militia, serving with 4th Field Company, Canadian Engineers. He enlisted on 10 August 1916 for service with the 5th Pioneer Battalion, giving his year of birth as 1883, and was allocated the regimental number 1078503. Continue reading →

Corporal William Vannah Taylor

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of three essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Tennessee.

The grave of Corporal William Vannah Taylor
The grave of Corporal William Vannah Taylor

William Vannah Taylor IV was born on 4 December 1875 in Louisiana, the eldest of the six children of William Vannah Taylor III, a doctor (later the first mayor of the newly incorporated town of Olla, Louisiana) and Sarah Francis Davis.[1] Although he came from a long line of physicians—the previous four generations had produced doctors; his grandfather had served with the United States Navy as an Assistant Surgeon in the War of 1812—William V.Taylor IV entered the real estate business. Continue reading →

Private James Henry Hartley

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is one of two essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Kentucky.

The grave of Private James Henry Hartley
The grave of Private James Henry Hartley

Private James Hartley was one of the first men to join the newly formed Machine Gun Corps in the autumn of 1915. He was one of 79 men from The King’s (Liverpool Regiment) who formed the basis of 46th Company. By the end of the war a quarter—Hartley and 18 others—were dead. Continue reading →

Private John Benjamin French

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is one of two essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Kentucky.

The grave of Private John Benjamin French - note the second, original gravestone behind
The grave of Private John Benjamin French – note the original gravestone behind

John Benjamin French was an African-American born on 22 July 1896 in Lexington, Kentucky, the son of Ash and Lula French of 325 Race Street.[1] Little is known of his family but John French was working as a ‘shoe shiner and jockey ’ when he enlisted in 1918. Continue reading →

Private Bert Lancelot Brennen

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This essay is about the single First World War casualty commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Oregon.

The new grave marker for Private Bert Brennen

Private Bert Brennen was an American of Irish descent—he hailed from Detroit, Michigan, where he was born on 24 March 1882. Little is known of his parents, wider family or his early life but by the time he enlisted in 1918 he was working as a motor mechanic in Barons, Alberta.[1] While living in Barons, he became engaged to Helena W. Comstock, a California-born chiropractor.[2]

Bert Brennen was not conscripted—he enlisted into the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Calgary, Alberta on 23 May 1918. He joined the 1st Depot Battalion, Alberta Regiment and was allocated the number 3207145. He had recently suffered from pneumonia and he was placed in medical category ‘C3’—defined as being fit only for sedentary duties at home. Continue reading →

Private Harry Fooksman

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Maryland. 

Editors note: Private Fooksman is commemorated as  by the CWGC as ‘Private Harry Ross’, the name under which he served.

97th Battalion (American Legion) Cap Badge
97th Battalion (American Legion) Cap Badge

Harry Ross is something of an enigma—the name under which he served, and by which he is commemorated by the CWGC, is an alias.  He was born Harry Fooksman, the only son of a Russian Jewish family, both sides of which had emigrated to the United States in the late-1880s. Continue reading →

Private Francis George Thomas

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Louisiana.

Greenwood Cemetery, New Orleans
Greenwood Cemetery, New Orleans

Frank Thomas was born in 1891 at Wells Street,[1] off Gray’s Inn Road, London the eldest of the two surviving children of Francis and Emma Thomas. His father was a printer’s compositor, a trade that Frank was to be follow. His father died in the early part of 1900 and by 1911 his mother was working as a cook in a factory—Frank was living with her and was a printer’s apprentice.[2]

After the outbreak of war, he enlisted into the British Army on 9 September 1914 at Holborn for service with 7th (Service) Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment.[3] He joined his new battalion at Shoreham-by-Sea in Sussex and was allocated the regimental number 14178. Private Thomas did not serve there for long—he was discovered to have flat feet and was discharged on 27 October.

Not satisfied with his first experience of military service he enlisted again, this time at Islington, and joined The London Regiment. Continue reading →

Private Joseph Henry Wosikowski

~ Nick Metcalfe ~ Leave a comment

This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Louisiana.

SS Kermoor, commissioned as the USS Kermoor
SS Kermoor, commissioned as the USS Kermoor

Joseph Wosikowski was born on 10 June 1887 at St Marys, Southampton, the second son of Frank and Sarah Wosikowski.[1] His father was a Polish immigrant from Altjahn in West Prussia,[2] and his mother was from County Down in Ireland. His father and his elder brother were sausage skin dressers and his sister worked as a domestic servant. Joseph trained as a butcher with his father before enlisting into Royal Marine Light Infantry on 27 July 1905. Continue reading →