Selworthy, Somerset
ANGLO-BOER WAR 1899-1902
TROOPER Calverley Trevelyan Hancock (1879-1900)
A small memorial plaque in Selworthy Church is dedicated to the memory of Calverley Trevelyan Hancock. He was born at Meshaw, North Devon, on the 18th of April 1879, and was baptised at St John the Baptist Church, Meshaw, on the 18th of May 1879.
He was the son of the Reverend Frederick Hancock (1849-1920) and Baptista Josephine Wilson Hancock nee Woodhouse (1847-1940). His siblings were: Agnes Edwardine Brewster Hancock (1875–1952), Rev. Philip Woodhouse Perceval Hancock (1877–1962), Baptista Maryon Hancock (1881–1975), Frederick Willoughby Hancock (1883–1959), Marmaduke Theakstone Hancock (1886–1923), and Walter Raleigh Hancock (1887–?) Calverley's father was the Treasurer of Wells Cathedral, the Prebendary Rector of Meshaw, North Devon (1879-1884), Rector of Selworthy, Somerset (1884-1899), and Vicar of Dunster, Somerset from1899 until his death in January1920. The Reverend Frederick Hancock and his wife both have their graves in the Priory Churchyard of St. George, Dunster. Calverley was educated at Radley College, Oxford, and at Christ Church College, Oxford University. He entered Radley College on the 28th of April 1893, and was appointed a Prefect on the 22nd of September 1897. He entered Christ Church College, Oxford University, in October 1898. During the second Boer War he served as Trooper 10798 in the 40th Company of the Imperial Yeomanry (Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars). He was killed in action at Bethlehem, South Africa, on Friday the 13th of July 1900, aged 21 years. He was buried at Bethlehem Cemetery, Bethlehem, Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality, Free State, South Africa. In addition to his grave in South Africa he is commemorated on the Boer War Memorial in the Chapel of Radley College, Oxford. |
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WW1 1914-1918
SAPPER John Slade Barrett (1884-1917)
He was born at Westminster, London, in 1884 and enlisted into the army in Nunhead, Surrey, serving as Sapper T 5098 Royal Engineers, Sapper 20223 Somerset Light Infantry, and finally Sapper 508628 of the 505th Field Company Royal Engineers.
He was killed in action in Belgium on the 1st of August 1917. His body was never identified/recovered, and he is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial, Hainaut Belgium. PLOT Panel 1. |
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PRIVATE Albert Berkley Crockford (1897-1916)
He was born at Cutcombe, Somerset, in 1897 and was the son of James Crockford (d. 1903) and Ellen Priscott (formerly Crockford) nee Berkley, of Troytes Cottage, Tivington, near Minehead, Somerset. At the time of the 1901 Census, the family of James and Ellen Crockford were resident at Cutcombe; according to the census return all had been born there. James Crockford died in 1903, and Ellen remarried in 1907 to William Priscott. By 1911 the family were resident at Tivington, near Minehead; and from the census return it appeared the Crockford children took their stepfather's name, e.g. Albert Priscott, who was then 14 years old and still at school.
However, when the first world war came, he enlisted at Taunton, Somerset, as 15293, Private Albert Berkley Crockford of C Company, 1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry. His Regiment were deployed early in the war to France and after the fighting in the second battle of Ypres in May 1916 had moved South to the trenches of the Somme. Albert was killed in action on the 1st of July 1916, aged 19 years. His body was never identified/recovered, and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France Panel Reference: Pier and Face 2 A. |
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SECOND LIEUTENANT Wilfred Thomas Hucker (1897-1917)
He was born at Horfield, Bristol in 1897.
During WW1 he served as 3/6836 in the Somerset Light Infantry, initially as a Private, then Lance Corporal, and later as a Corporal. He was awarded the Military Medal for acts of gallantry and devotion to duty under fire. Wilfred was later given a field commission as a Second Lieutenant of the 3rd Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry (attached to the 8th battalion). He died of wounds received in action on the 22nd of December 1917, aged 20 years, and was buried at Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord, France. Plot III. E. 29. |
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PRIVATE Frederick John Prescott (1890-1915)
He was born at Allerford, nr Selworthy, Somerset, on the 11th of May 1890 and was the second son of John Prescott (d.1929) of Buddle Hill, Allerford, and Mary Prescott nee Burgess. His father was Gamekeeper to Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1842-1919), who owned properties on what is now the Holnicote Estate and particularly in the village of Selworthy.
Frederick attended Allerford school before becoming a Gardener for Sir Thomas Dyke Acland for five years. He was next in the employ of Sir Ian Heathcoat Amory (1864-1931) of Knightshayes Court in Tiverton, Devon, for one and a half years. At the commencement of WW1 he enlisted at Exeter, Devon, on the 17th of September 1914 to become Service no: 12628 in the 1st Battalion of the Coldstream Guards. His battalion were deployed to France on the 9th of January 1915 and he was killed in action at Cuinchy 16 days later, on the 25th of January 1915, aged 24 years. He was buried in the churchyard at the church of St Pierre, Cuinchy. During the First World War, Cuinchy was on the front line between German and Allied forces and severely damaged. After the war, the church of St. Pierre was rebuilt, as was most of the village. However, it was not possible to rediscover the position of Frederick's grave. Consequently, he is commeorated on the Le Touret Memorial, France. Panels 2 and 3. |
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PRIVATE Frederick Robert Priscott (1898-1918)
He was born at Selworthy, Somerset, in 1898 and was the son of Robert Priscott (1869-1951) and Agnes Jane Priscott nee Floyde (1866-?), of Coombe Cottage, Timberscombe, Somerset.
In WW1 he enlisted at Minehead to become Private 26782 in the 7th Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry. On the 30th of November 1917 Frederick was captured and made a prisoner of war during 'The Battle of Cambrai'. Also called 'The Cambrai Operations', the battle commenced on the 20th of November 1917 and employed new artillery techniques and massed tanks. Initially it was very successful with large gains of ground being taken, but German reserves brought the advance to a halt. Ten days later, a counter-attack regained much of the ground. Frederick died as a POW in Germany on the 6th of July 1918, aged 20 years. He was buried at Ohlsdorfer Friedhof (Also known as Dutch War Cemetery) Hamburg Cemetery, Germany. Plot VI. A. 15. |
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PRIVATE John Rawle (1884-1917)
He was born at Selworthy, Somerset in 1884 and was the husband of Ada Martha Rawle nee Burgess (1887-1969) of The Lodge, Allerford, Somerset.
In WW1 he served as Private 203697 in the 1st/5th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. The 5th Devons landed at Suez, Egypt, on the 4th of April 1917 and fought the Ottoman Turks through Egypt and into Palestine. John Rawle was killed in action on the 23rd of November 1917 and was buried at the Jerusalem War Cemetery, Israel. PLOT D. 7. |
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LANCE CORPORAL Walner Robins (1891-1918)
He was born at North Molton, Devon, in 1891 and was the son of Mr & Mrs William Robins of Allerford, Somerset.
He enlisted at Minehead as Private 750 of the West Somerset Yeomanry. In 1917 the Yeomanry served in Egypt fighting the Ottoman Turks, and in January 1917 the regiment converted from a yeomanry regiment to infantry. Walner became Lance Corporal 295077 of the 12th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry. They were redeployed to Marseilles in France in May 1918. He was killed in action on the 5th of July 1918, aged 27 years, and was buried at Tannay British Cemetery, Thiennes, Nord France. Plot 4. Row F. Grave 10. |
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PRIVATE Albert Louis Thompson (1893-1917)
He was born at Manchester, Lancashire, in 1893 and was the son of Albert and Mary Thompson of Whalley Range, Manchester. Later, as a widow, Mary Thompson resided at "Seatoller," Whitefield, Manchester.
In WW1 Albert served in three separate regiments. This was quite normal for the time as men were often transferred in order to keep-up the strength of a regiment that had suffered losses. He first served as Private 4256 of the Herefordshire Regiment. Secondly as Private 20563 of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry, and finally as Private 27828 in the 11th Battalion of the Border Regiment. He 'died of wounds' received in action in France on the 29th October 1917, aged 24 years old. He was buried at St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France. Plot P. II. N. 14B. where the personal inscription on his headstone reads: YOUNGEST SON OF ALBERT & MARY THOMPSON OF WHALLEY RANGE, MANCHESTER. |
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WW2 1939-1945
ABLE SEAMAN Philip Thomas Davis (1922-1943)
He was born at Wootton Courtney in 1922 and was the son of Alfred George Davis (1886-1969) and his wife; Elizabeth Alice Davis (1889-1960), of Venniford, Selworthy. His brother; Walter James Bailey Davis, was also killed during WW2. He was serving with the Black Watch (6th Battalion, Royal Highland Regiment) in Italy in 1944.
Philip joined the Royal Navy and trained as a Gunner at the shore-based HMS President III in Bristol to become Able Seaman (Service No: D/JX 339864). In September 1943 he was a Royal Navy gunner on board the merchant vessel 'MV Larchbank', which was transporting war supplies to India when it was sunk by a Japanese submarine in the Indian Ocean. On September the 9th 1943, 250 miles West of Cape Comorin, and near to the Maldives, the Japanese submarine I-27 torpedoed the 5,151-ton British armed motor vessel MV Larchbank. The ship was travelling from Baltimore, USA, to Calcutta, India, with 7,394 tons of general cargo and military stores, including 4 tanks, MTB-284 and MTB-285, 8 amphibious craft, and railway iron. The MV Larchbank sank within 2 minutes of being hit, taking 40 sailors and 6 Royal Navy gunners to their deaths. 19 sailors and 4 gunners survived and were rescued by the SS Panaman and landed at Ceylon. Philip was 21 years old. He is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial. Panel 79 Column 1. The Japanese Submarine I-27's reign of terror was to end abruptly on the 12th of February 1944 when the British Destroyers HMS Paladin and HMS Petard located the submarine near the Maldives. They pursued the vessel and destroyed it with depth charges, ramming, and torpedoes. Ninety-nine of I-27's crew were killed, and only one survivor was captured by the Royal Navy. |
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PRIVATE Walter James Bailey Davis (1920-1944)
He was born at Wootton Courtney in 1920 and was the son of Alfred George Davis (1886-1969) and his wife; Elizabeth Alice Davis (1889-1960), of Venniford, Selworthy. He was the brother of Philip Thomas Davis, who was killed in 1943 whilst serving as a Gunner in the Royal Navy. Prior to WW2 Walter worked at Tivington Farm, at Tivington near Selworthy.
During WW2 he served as Private 5678523 in the Black Watch (6th Battalion, Royal Highland Regiment). He was killed in action on the 24th of October 1944 in Italy as the allied forces pushed north against the massed German defences in the Apennines. Walter was aged 24 and was buried at the Coriano Ridge War Cemetery, Coriano, Provincia di Forli, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Plot XV. E. 11. |
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ACTING LIEUTENANT Marcus David Donati (1916-1941)
He was born in 1916 and was the son of Adrian William (1874-1956) and Florence Maud Donati (1885-1980), of Porlock, Somerset, and brother of Edward William Donati (1909-1985) and Raymond Francis Donati (1919-2010).
Marcus David Donati was a 25-year-old pilot with the Fleet Air Arm and was posted to HMS Goshawk, the Fleet Air Arm base at RNAS Piarco in Trinidad. In January 1941 he was in a contingent of pilots and air crew sailing west to the Caribbean training base on the SS Almeda Star when she was sunk by a German submarine off of Rockall in the Western Isles. At 07.45 hrs on the 17th of January 1941 the SS Almeda Star was about 35 nautical miles north of Rockall in heavy seas when the submarine U-96, commanded by Kptlt Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, hit her amidships with one G7e torpedo, causing the ship to stop. It did not immediately sink so U-96 fired again at 08.05 and 09.07 hrs, hitting Almeda Star in the stern and again amidships. The ship had launched four lifeboats but still had people on deck when U-96 surfaced and opened fire on her with her 88mm deck gun. Between 09.32 and 09.48hrs the submarine fired 28 incendiary shells, about 15 of which hit Almeda Star and started small fires aboard. The fires soon went out so at 09.55 hrs U-96 hit the ship with a fourth torpedo, which exploded in her forepart. Within three minutes Almeda Star then sank by her bow. The ship had transmitted one distress message and the Royal Navy responded by sending seven destroyers to search the area. They found neither survivors, boats nor wreckage: all 360 people aboard were lost, including those in the four lifeboats that had been launched. U-96 had been at the scene for more than two hours but escaped undetected. Marcus is commemorated on the The Fleet Air Arm Memorial (Bay 1 Panel 7) at Lee-On-Solent, Hampshire. |
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COMPANY SERGEANT James 'Jim' Farmer (1900-1941)
He was born at Dulverton, Somerset, on the 12th of December 1900, and was the son of Mary Farmer nee Stark (1865-1905). His father's details have yet to be established. His siblings were:
On the 17th of December 1941 the platoon were undergoing training at their Holnicote base in the use of a Thompson submachine gun when the gun fired accidentally, wounding Farmer in the upper leg. He was immediately rushed to Minehead hospital but died from severe blood-loss due his injury. He was aged 41. At his funeral on the 27th of December 1941 at Selworthy churchyard, he was buried with full military honours provided by members of both the Home Guard and the Royal Artillery. |
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SERGEANT Wilfred Lawrence Creech Hill (1916-1945)
Wilfred Lawrence Creech Hill was the son of James Hill (1871-1944) and his wife; Mary Ann 'Polly' Hill (1880-1952), of Allerford, Somerset.
He served as 5677781 with 5th Battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders and on the 11th of February 1945, whilst the Allied forces advanced into Germany, he was killed in heavy fighting in the Reichswald Forest. He was aged 29 and was buried at Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Kreis Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. PLOT 61. E. 8. Wilfred is also commemorated on his parents gravestone in the churchyard at Selworthy. |
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PRIVATE William Gordon McGowan (1920-1940)
He was born in 1920 and was the son of William McGowan (1882-1959) and his wife; Elizabeth Mabel McGowan (1883-1970), of Bossington Lane, Porlock.
William Gordon McGowan enlisted in April 1940 as Private 5677590 of the 7th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry. Five months later, whilst still in England, he was killed when a pile of sandbags he was stacking with colleagues collapsed upon him. He died on the 16th of September 1940, aged 20 years and was buried at Porlock Cemetery. Plot 898. |
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OFFICER CADET John Allan Pilcher (1921-1941)
He was born at Lynch Country House nr Bossington (Renamed Bossington Hall in 2016) on the 22nd of December 1920 and was the son of Gonne St Clair Pilcher (1891-1966) and Janet Pilcher nee Hughes (1890-1986), and he was the brother of Judith Allan Dunn nee Pilcher (1919-1995). His father was a High Court Judge.
He served as Officer Cadet 6464976 of the Grenadier Guards. On the 29th of January 1941 John was in his room at the Military College at Sandhurst, when a German bomber heading home after a raid offloaded its remaining bombs on the college, killing Pilcher and four other cadets. He was aged 20 years and was buried in the family plot at All Saints Churchyard, Selworthy. |
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PRIVATE William John 'Jack' Robins (1911-1941)
He was born in 1911 and was the son of Willian A. Robins (1879-1943) and Mary Anstey Robins (1876-1947) of Bossington near Selworthy.
Before the war he worked in Bossington on his father's farm as a Cowman. He served as a Private with the Porlock platoon of the 1st Somerset (Minehead) Battalion of the Home Guard. On the 23rd of February 1941, cycling home to Bossington after a Sunday morning drill in Porlock, William collided with a car in Bossington Lane, causing severe internal bleeding. Porlock's Doctor; Dr Foster was called to the scene and 'Jack' was rushed to Minehead hospital. He died the following evening from his injuries. He was aged 30 years. He was buried in the churchyard at All Saints Church, Selworthy. |
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Selworthy Home Guard 1940-1944
Previously named 'The Local Defence Volunteers' (LDV)
L-R Rear Row: Arthur Henry Kingdon, Ted Rowlands, Jack Gould, Philip Moore, Harold Prescott, Albert Stark, Arthur George Moor, Wallace Harding.
L-R Centre Row: George Davis, Reg Tame, Stafford Miles, Dick Creech, Eddie Keal, Robert Williams, Tom Farmer, William Tame, Leonard Bennett, John 'Jack' Farmer.
L-R Front Row: Mervyn Arscott, Walter Bellamy, Sidney Webber, Bill Gunter, John 'Jack' Thomas Kingdon, Thomas 'Tom' Henry Rawle, Jack Crockford, Thomas Hill, Tony Hale, Percy Sedman, Clifford Clarke.
Missing from the photo is Company Sergeant James 'Jim' Farmer who, in December 1941, was fatally injured during training at Holnicote House when a Thompson submachine gun was fired accidentally. He died of his injuries at Minehead hospital, aged 41years. Also
L-R Centre Row: George Davis, Reg Tame, Stafford Miles, Dick Creech, Eddie Keal, Robert Williams, Tom Farmer, William Tame, Leonard Bennett, John 'Jack' Farmer.
L-R Front Row: Mervyn Arscott, Walter Bellamy, Sidney Webber, Bill Gunter, John 'Jack' Thomas Kingdon, Thomas 'Tom' Henry Rawle, Jack Crockford, Thomas Hill, Tony Hale, Percy Sedman, Clifford Clarke.
Missing from the photo is Company Sergeant James 'Jim' Farmer who, in December 1941, was fatally injured during training at Holnicote House when a Thompson submachine gun was fired accidentally. He died of his injuries at Minehead hospital, aged 41years. Also
Ernest 'Eddie' William Keal (1878-1968)
Husband of Eliza Keal (1882-1967) Burial: Luccombe Cemetery. |
Robert Andrew Williams (1912-1964)
Husband of Rose Williams (1910-1999) Burial: Porlock Cemetery. |
Thomas 'Tom' Walter Roy Farmer (1922-2012)
Husband of Dorothy May Farmer (1921-2012) Burial: Minehead Cemetery |
William 'Bill' Gunter (1899-1976)
Husband of Olive Mary Gunter (1901-1988) Burial: Selworthy Churchyard. |
John 'Jack' Thomas Kingdon (1899-1978)
Husband of Lily Kingdon (1900-1979) Burial: Porlock Cemetery. |
Thomas 'Tom' Henry Rawle (1886-1972)
Husband of Elizabeth 'Betty' Eva Rawle (1906-1986) Burial: Porlock Cemetery. |