Remembering their sacrifice 100 years on

With the 100th anniversary of the armistice rapidly approaching, I wanted to pay tribute to those members of our family who fought in "the war to end all wars". Some of them, captured by  patriotic fervour at the outbreak of war in 1914 bravely volunteered to serve their country, but as the war dragged on into 1916, the British Government was forced to introduce conscription which meant that married older men and fathers were forced to fight. My great-grandfathers, John Robert Melton and Charles James Upson were directly affected by this. 38 year old "Bob" Melton reported for duty with the 14th Battalion of the London Regiment (London Scottish) on 2nd August 1917. At the time, the married shipping clerk had 7 children between the ages of 3 and 16. 

Bob Melton with his wife Charlotte and daughter Kath

Charles, who oversaw the printing presses at the Ilford Recorder was also married and had 2 children; Violet aged 3 and Ivy, who was an 8th month old baby. The following excerpt from the Chelmsford Chronicle  shows that he lodged an appeal, but had his case dismissed. He subsequently joined the army and became a private in the Machine Gun Corps.

Excerpt from Chelmsford Chronicle dated 25th May 1917

I've recently been researching my great grandparents male siblings to see whether they served overseas in the First World War and managed to undercover some interesting stories. Bob's younger brother, Albert, volunteered with the 6th Battalion of the London Regiment (City of London Rifles) aged just 17. His regiment was dispatched to France on 17th August and formed part of the 47th (2nd London) Division that fought at the Battle of Loos. He only remained on the Western Front until 4th January 1916 and was discharged because he had lied about his age when he enlisted.

Charles's younger brothers also served in the First World War. Wilfred Owen Upson also joined the London Scottish and became Batman to Major Clowes. Rather than being some kind of caped crusader, a "Batman" is military terminology for a servant. He travelled to France with the regiment on 17th August 1915 and aside from a period of home leave in September 1917 remained there until April 1918. Arthur Upson served in the Army Pay Corps and the youngest brother, Albert Upson joined the Royal Navy and served on various land-based training facilities in Chatham and in Skegness. Neither saw front line action.

Charles's wife, my great grandmother Violet Lily Upson (formally Snow), had an older brother called Thomas Snow who was a Sergeant in the 4th Battalion of the Essex Regiment. He initially saw action in Gallipolli (August - December 1915) before being evacuated to the Greek island of Lemnos and then on to Alexandria (Egypt). The unit was later involved in the Palestinian campaign and fought at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd battles of Gaza.

My great-grandmother Ada Louisa Hewitt (formally Deacon), had a younger brother called William who joined the Royal Field Artillery. He served in France between 22nd June and 3rd December 1916. His unit was then moved to Salonika (in Greece) and remained there until 10th June 1917. After his stint in Greece he spent the remainder of the war in Alexandria (Egypt).

Perhaps the most heart-rending story I have found is that of William Edward Sherwood, the older brother of my great grandmother Charlotte Melton (formally Sherwood). At the outbreak of the war in 1914, Bill was a 36 year old wharf foreman living with his wife, Emily and their 2 children: Stanley aged 11 and Doris aged 8 in London's Limehouse. His life was turned upside down in 1915 as firstly his wife died in early in the year  and then his mother died suddenly on Christmas Day at her home on Salmon Lane of a brain haemorrhage. The family had been ripped to shreds and with the introduction of government conscription the following year, Bill found himself having to leave his children behind. Bill joined 19th Battalion London Regiment on 11th December 1916 and saw action at the Battle of Messines, the 3rd Battle of Ypres and at Cambrai, where on 29th November the unit took over the recently-captured Bourlon Wood just in time to be hit by a German counter-attack the following morning. The 1/19th Londons were badly affected by the enemy bombardment, particularly by gas shells. Out of 15 officers and over 600 men of the battalion who took up position in the wood, only 5 officers and 65 other ranks remained in the line by the end of the day, and many of those were later evacuated to hospital suffering the effects of gas. Unfortunately, it appears that Bill was one of those men. He was transported to Stationary Hospital No. 3 in Rouen and he succumbed to his injuries on 5th December 1917. He was laid to rest at the St Sever Cemetery Extension in Rouen and is commemorative certificate from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is below: