A century ago….

With the Centenary of the 1918 armistice now passed we record those who died later….

RALPH MORTIMER WRIGLEY whose parents lived at The Barton died in hospital on 6 November aged 21, a Lieutenant with 3rd Railway Company, Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers. He is commemorated on their memorial in the Priory Church at Monmouth.

1918 November 11: Armistice Day – ceasefire on the Western Front.

1918-1919: A world-wide influenza pandemic continued throughout the winter

.WILLIAM SHILL died on 22 November, age 26, a Private in A Company 11/OBLI. His parents Richard and Louisa Helen of Field Barn Ewen had lost a younger son HOWARD in 1916.

FREDERICK GEORGE ALLEN or ALLAN died in December 1918 having been discharged that April as unfit for further military service. In 1911 he had lived at 30 Victoria Road with a wife and small daughter. As a married man of 40 he could have claimed exemption from conscription but enlisted at Bath in February 1916 in the Somerset Light Infantry.

FREDERICK WILLIAM RICHINGS was born in 1877, son of Alfred and Roseanna of 77 City Bank Road. He had 24 years service with the Glosters including the Siege of Ladysmith, and had been wounded in 1917. He had been promoted to Sergeant Major and awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. FREDERICK died at home on leave whilst awaiting demobilization, shortly before his intended marriage. He is buried in Cirencester Cemetery

CYRIL LAWSON COLE – Captain 2/5 Glosters and Transport Officer 184 Infantry Brigade died on 14 March 1919. He was the third son of William Henry and Catherine of  Bourne House Brimscombe to die.

MARK A WRIGHT died the next day, aged 39. He served as Sapper in 54 Division Signals Company. He was son of Alfred Benjamin of Cirencester and husband of Agnes, living in Burton on Trent.Both men are buried in Etaples, a base area in Northern France where there were several hospitals. Their names are not on the St John’s Church memorial erected in November 1918.

1919 June 28: Treaty of Versailles signed, declaring Germany guilty of causing the war and liable to pay reparations.

PERCY GEYTON’s name was added after his death on 29 July 1919. He had served as Second Lieutenant in the Machine Gun Corps. PERCY had attended Cirencester Grammar School and became a bank clerk working in Devizes. His father lived at 6 Cricklade Street and was a wine merchant’s manager.

JOHN KENT is buried in Cirencester Cemetery. He died on 26 October 1919 aged 46. He had served as Staff Sergeant Farrier in 19 Hussars and left a wife, Gertrude Mary

ARTHUR CHARLES HAINES had served as a Sergeant in the Royal Marines Light Infantry, on HMS Cornwallis in the Dardanelles and then in HMS Lord Nelson. He died at home, 10 Whiteway Road Spitalgate, of illness resulting from service, on 15 February 1920.

CHARLES HENRY NEWELL’s name was added to St John’s Church memorial following his death on 1 September 1920 of injuries received in the war. He had served as a Corporal and is buried in Cirencester Cemetery

JULIA HERBERT is the only woman commemorated on Cirencester war memorials. She was a volunteer nurse at Bingham Hall.

Three Cirencester men who died after the war as a result of  wounds or illness are buried in Cirencester Cemetery; all three left widows living in the town –  W GARDINER – Corporal 25/Middlesex died on 13 May 1921 aged 37;  C HOOPER – Sergeant 5/Glosters died 19 June 1921 aged 60. JESSE BENJAMIN WRIGHT – Private 3/Rifle Brigade died on 25 August 1921 aged 37.

Timeline written by Dale Hjort

More about some of these men can be found in our WW1 biography section. A chronology of deaths of all WW1 names on the memorials can be found in Newsletter 61