This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in New York.
Fireman Low On[1] is one of the few casualties buried in the United States who died as a result of enemy action.
He was born in the mid-1880s in Guangdong province in southern China. There is no record of his early life or when he became a mariner but he signed on for service with SS Diomed in Hong Kong on 14 March 1918. Continue reading
This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in New York.
Henry John Gardner ‘Harry’ Miller was born on 27 May 1891 at Southsea in Hampshire, the son of George and Louisa Miller—he was one of 14 children.[1] His father worked as a shipwright and Harry worked as a milkman in Portsmouth. In 1912, he married Harriet Freeman.[2]
He enlisted into the Royal Navy at Portsmouth on 10 May 1916 and was allocated the number PO/K/33007. His training lasted until 30 August and he joined the crew of HMS Leviathan, then alongside at Greenock in Scotland. He was promoted to Stoker 1st Class on 19 April 1917. Continue reading
This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in New York.
William Richard Eveleigh was born on 29 June 1881 at Dartington near Totnes in Devon, the sixth of the ten children of John and Harriet Eveleigh.[1] The family moved to Rattery in 1892. His father and brothers were farm labourers and that is how William Eveleigh was employed until he enlisted into the Royal Marine Light Infantry at Totnes on 28 August 1899. He was allocated the number 9932.
After his recruit training at the Depot at Deal, he finished his training as a ship’s gunner at Plymouth and joined the cruiser HMS Niobe on 10 December 1900—she acted as an escort for troopships at the latter stages of the South African War but he joined the ship too late to receive the Queen’s South Africa Medal. After a period ashore at Devonport he then served almost continually with the Fleet, interspersed with brief periods ashore. Continue reading
This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in New York.
Trimmer Walter John Joseph Bowles, Mercantile Marine Reserve
Trimmer Percy Samuel Tomas Hyett, Mercantile Marine Reserve
(and Trimmer Leslie James Thornton, Mercantile Marine Reserve)
Two teenage sailors of the Mercantile Marine Reserve—Trimmers Bowles and Hyett—died while HMS Alsatian was alongside in New York during the influenza epidemic in October 1918. A third teenage sailor, Trimmer Thornton, had died as the ship was approaching the United States; he was buried at sea and, for completeness, his story is included here. This story is linked with that of the men of HMS Andes. Continue reading
This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in New York.
In the village of Liberty in Sullivan County, New York, just prior to Remembrance Day 1921, a ‘Soldiers’ Circle’ was proposed by Liberty Cemetery Association. It was proposed particularly for ‘those veteran dead who have no families or friends to give them a fitting burial place ’.[1] One of the first soldiers to be buried there was Private Leonard Bowman, an Englishman, who had been wounded serving in France with 116th Battalion in 3rd Canadian Division.
His family name was, in fact, Bouman—his father, Bernard, was Dutch and worked as a ladies’ tailor in London. Leonard was born in West Hampstead on 4 September 1887, the fifth of the seven surviving children of Bernard and his wife Sarah.[2] Continue reading
Edwin Otterson Baker was born at Roanoke, Virginia on 12 October 1893,[1] the son of Herbert Baker and his first wife.[2] His mother had died by 1900 and his father subsequently remarried, Ethel Howard, on 24 June 1903. The following year the family emigrated to Canada, settling initially in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, where his younger half-sister, Barbara, was born in 1907.[3] By 1911 the family were living in Ottawa. Edwin later moved to Montreal, where he worked for a grocer.
He enlisted on 8 April 1916 in Montreal for service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. For one reason or another he decided to conceal both his real name and his place of birth. He gave his name as Edward Oliver Brownlee and his place of birth as Portage la Prairie. He joined the 148th Battalion and was allocated the regimental number 842021. The Battalion, comprising 32 officers and 951 other ranks, sailed from Halifax on RMS Laconia[4] on 26 September 1916 arriving in England on 6 October and on that day he was promoted to Lance Corporal. Continue reading
This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in New York.
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.
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
This is part of a series of essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in New York.
Ernest Arthur St George Bedbrook was born at Chatham Dockyard in Kent on 23 April 1879, the seventh of the 10 children of James and Matilda Bedbrook.[1] His father became ‘Chief Inspector of Machinery in Her Majesty’s Fleet’.
Educated at St. George’s College, Wimbledon, he became a civil engineer and joined the Civil Engineering Department of the Admiralty and later London County Council; in the latter appointment he was involved in the design of Greenwich generating station. He then worked for Messrs. Rendel & Robertson, Consulting Engineers for the India Office,[2] and was European representative of the Pennsylvania-based Midvale Steel Co. Continue reading
This is part of a series of three essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Tennessee.
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
This is part of a series of three essays about the First World War casualties commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Tennessee.
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
Sacrifice 