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The story of David John Williams was brought to public attention in the Forest of Dean by local historian Steve Cooper, following his research into the local newspaper archives. During his investigations, Cooper uncovered a report of a military funeral held at All Saints’ Church, Viney Hill, in 1921. Further research by Cooper and fellow historians Eric Nicholls, Roger Deeks and Andrew Gardiner revealed a story of a forgotten soldier, who they believed to have died while trying to return to the Forest to see his newborn child. The story was reported in the Forester newspaper by journalist Nial Anderson.

Roger Deeks investigated further and wrote up details of the life and death of David Williams in an article in the Journal, Bugle and Sabre, Military History in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, called A Forgotten Soldier: Private David Williams, in 2010.[1] Thanks to the work of these historians, Williams received a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone located in the All Saints Church.

The following is a summary of David Williams’s life, which draws on Deek’s article and Williams’s army records, birth and marriage certificates, census forms, etc., on Ancestry and other sources listed in the footnotes.

Early Life

David Williams was born on 25 June 1887 in Joys Green near Lydbrook, the son of a colliery carpenter. After leaving school, he obtained work as a collier and also qualified as a colliery carpenter.[2] However, since childhood, he suffered from severe asthma and working in the damp and dusty environment of a colliery would have made his condition much worse.[3]

On 25 July 1905, Williams chose the other main option for young working-class Foresters at the time and enlisted in the Gloucestershire Regiment (Glosters). He was just 18 years old and was 5 ft 4 in height and weighed less than 9 stone.[4]

India Colonies

In February 1908, Williams was posted to India, serving with the 1st Battalion Glosters, whose role was to maintain imperial commitments and uphold the British presence in key strategic locations. [5] The 1st Battalion was stationed primarily at Trimulgherry from 1903 until 1911, where it conducted standard infantry training amid the subcontinent’s garrisons. The death penalty was used to maintain military discipline, particularly against British soldiers of Indian heritage. Military prisoners were held in Trimulgherry’s notorious military prison.

The prison was built in 1858, soon after the attack on British seats of power across the subcontinent. Primarily designed to punish British-Indian soldiers, but also holding soldiers of British heritage, its gothic architecture, solitary cells, and gruesome gallows reveal how the British Empire kept a grip on dissent and punishment. Records show that nearly 500 people were executed at the prison.[6]

British soldiers were forced to watch the executions and so Williams probably would have been a witness to the barbaric spectacles. The execution of British soldiers in public in India was causing concern at home and was raised in parliament by Hugh Lea, the MP for St Pancras East, on 16 July 1906:

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that a public execution of a private in the 1st Lincolns took place between the prison and the cemetery at Trimulgherry on September 1st last; that the station orders issued by Brigadier General E. O. F. Hamilton, C.B., commanding Secunderabad and Bolarum, on that occasion required the attendance of detachments of every corps, British and native, in the station; that the scaffold was erected a few hundred yards from a public roadway and in view of the windows of the cell in which the man was lodged prior to his execution, and that in the walk from the prison to the scaffold he had to pass through crowds of natives and white women and children assembled to see the execution; and will he say what action he proposes taking in the matter.[7]

The soldier they hung was called Walter Smith. On 28 May, he got drunk and shot his sergeant major, proclaiming, “I shot the rascal. I meant it. He won’t get on to me anymore.”^[8]

Malta

In October 1910, Williams was posted to Malta with the 2nd Battalion Glosters, focusing on fortifications and colonial security.[9] Britain was naturally aware of Malta’s strategic value as a military base, and had gained full sovereignty of the island through the 1814 Treaty of Paris.

On three separate occasions, during this period, Williams was promoted to Lance Corporal, but on each occasion, he was later reverted to the role of private as a result of misconduct.[10]

In April 1913, Williams was posted back to the UK, and on 25 April 1913, he was transferred to the Reserve. His army record describes his conduct as very good with no instances of drunkenness in his nearly eight years of service.[11]  In April 1914, he married Fanny Hughes in Viney Hill and settled in nearby Yorkley.[12]

War

The British declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, ostensibly because Germany refused to remove troops from neutral Belgium. The next day, Williams was mobilised and posted to the 3^rd Battalion Glosters in Horfield, Bristol. This Battalion was a Special Reserve battalion and one of its main tasks was training and supplying reinforcements to front-line battalions.

Williams landed in France on 27 August 1914 with other reinforcements to join the 1st Battalion Glosters at Marne on 5 September, when the Battalion was made up of 26 officers and 970 other ranks. Williams was to suffer frequent asthma attacks while in the trenches, a problem which repeated itself throughout his active service during the First World War.

The First Battle of Ypres

On 16 October 1914, the Battalion was moved to join the first battle of Ypres. On 19 October 1914, the Battalion played a pivotal role in the defence of Langemarck, and was called upon several times to counter-attack against enemy breakthroughs. On 23 October, the Glosters, exposed on one flank, were attacked again and again, but beat off every fresh attempt, often in involved fighting at very close quarters.[13]

On 24 October, over 1500 bodies of German troops were counted in front of Langemarck. It is estimated that the German total loss in that sector for the previous three days of fighting was around 10,000 killed, wounded or taken prisoner, some of them child soldiers.[14] The battle continued and on 29 October, the Glosters Battalion, massively outnumbered, had 167 men killed, wounded or taken prisoner.[15]

On 29 October 1914, Williams was injured with a wound to the left hand. On 9th November 1914, he was evacuated back to England for treatment.[16]  Meanwhile, by 15 November, his battalion had been reduced to about 100 men. At the end of November, no side achieved significant breakthroughs at Ypres. The BEF suffered about 58,000 killed, wounded, and missing at the first Battle of Ypres between 14 October and 30 November with roughly 8000 deaths. The French had 30,000 casualties, the Belgians 20,000 and the Germans 130,000. Both sides settled into the trench warfare that would characterise the remainder of the war on the Western Front.[17]

Court Martial

On 26 December 1914, while Williams was posted to Horfield Barracks, his daughter, Esther, was born. She suffered from spina bifida and hydrocephalus and was very unwell. On 25 December 1914, Williams’s mother died.[18]

On 12 January 1915, Williams deserted, possibly because he wanted to see his baby daughter or attend his mother’s funeral or grave. He rejoined on 15 June 1915 and appeared before a court martial on 9 July, where he was sentenced to 112 days in a military prison with hard labour. However, the military was desperately short of men, and so his sentence was remitted and he was returned to duty on 21 August 1915.[19]

On 11 October 1915, his records show that he was given 28 days of detention, but no reason was given.[20] This may have been because he was about to be posted abroad and so may have attempted to desert again to see his daughter, who was still very ill.

Gallipoli

On 16 October 1915, Williams was sent to join the 7th Battalion Glosters at Gallipoli, where it had recently suffered terrible casualties, leaving 180 unwounded men from a Battalion strength of over 1,000 men.  Among the casualties were a small number of men from the Forest of Dean, including the following soldiers from the 7th Battalion Glosters:

Frederick Brinkworth (Private) from Lydney was killed in action on 7 August 1915.

William George Davis (Private) from Lydney was killed in action on 8 August 1915.

James Emmanuel Shott (Private) from Littledean, died of his wounds on 11 August 1915.

Samuel Sayes from Ellwood was a member of the Royal Navy Nelson Battalion, an infantry battalion that fought on land at Gallipoli.  He died of Enteric fever on 27 June 1915 while on a hospital ship on the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece.

Also:

Thomas Cooper (Private) from Coleford and the 4th Battalion South Wales Borderers, died of his wounds on 10 August 1915.

The conditions at Gallipoli were appalling, with many soldiers suffering from dysentery and other bowel complaints. In the end, a total of 355 men from the 7th Battalion died at Gallipoli, with 180 of these being killed on 8 August alone.  After the disastrous campaign, the Battalion was withdrawn to Suvla Bay to join newly arrived reinforcements, which included Williams. The conditions at Sulva Bay were very bad, with freezing cold nights. Consequently, on 2 December 1915, William suffered frostbite. He was not the only one because Harold Boughton remembers:

freezing weather made an already difficult situation worse – troops huddled together for warmth, but it was not enough. Some died and many suffered frostbite. I saw men crawling on their hands and knees and grown men crying like babies. They had to crawl down the beach and the only medical attention down there was a large marquee with a red cross on it.[21]

On 3 January 1916, Williams was sent back to the UK for treatment and was posted to 3^rd Glosters on 21 January 1916.[22] He discovered that while he was at Sulva Bay, on 7 November 1915, his daughter, Gladys, died. It is not known if he was given time to travel from Horfield to visit his wife and his daughter’s grave.

Executions

During the Gallipoli campaign, 101 men were sentenced to die under the British Army Act, but in only four cases was the punishment confirmed and carried out. In two of the cases, the victims claimed to have been very ill. This was quite likely to be true because sickness among the troops was common due to the conditions.

Private Thomas Davis from the 1st Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers was executed on 2 July 1915 for leaving his guard post at Cape Helles in June. During his trial, he claimed that a bowel complaint had meant he had to visit the latrines.

Private Harry Salter from the 6th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, was executed on 11 December 1915 for deserting at Suvla Bay in November while waiting in reserve.

Private Patrick Downey from the 10^th Irish Division was executed on 27 December for disobeying an order.

Sergeant John Robbins from the 5^th Wiltshire Regiment was executed on 2 January 1916 after refusing to attend a night patrol on the basis that he was too sick.[23]

Battle of The Somme

On 11 March 1916, Williams was posted back to France to join the 10th Battalion, Glosters.[24] It would not be long before he would be in action at the Battle of the Somme. The Glosters were fortunate not to have been in action on the first day of the Battle on 1 July, when the British Army lost over 19,000 men killed and another 40,000 wounded. However, on 4th July, the Battalion joined the Battle. On the 9th of July 1916, Williams’s battalion was fighting in and around Albert and the following day they were in battle north of Fricourt.

On 12 July 1916, Williams received a severe gunshot wound to the face, hand and shoulder. He was returned to the UK and arrived on 16 July 1916 for hospital treatment in Cardiff.

In July 1916, Williams’s father died, but it is not known if he was well enough to attend the funeral.[25] Williams remained in hospital for two months before returning to Horfield Barracks.

The Battle of the Somme lasted until November 1916 and resulted in over one million total casualties (killed, wounded, or captured) across all sides, with roughly 300,000 to over 400,000 estimated deaths.[26] Seventy-nine men were executed by the British army during the Battle of the Somme, the majority for desertion.[27] These men were viewed as expendable by the military commanders and the main function of their executions was to serve as a warning to others.

Back in Britain

However, desertions continued, particularly on the home front. Back in Horfield, on 25 September 1916, Williams deserted again but rejoined on 11 October 1916. However, there is no record of any disciplinary action. Despite his desertions, his character is described as sober and good in his records.[28]

On 8 January 1917, Williams was transferred to the Reserve and classified as no longer physically fit for service, mainly due to his asthma. He had served for over 11 years in the military.[29] He returned home to Yorkley and at last could spend some time with his wife. On 28 Feb 1917, the couple had a son, Stanley David Williams.[30]

In 1918 and 1919, coal was still in short supply and there was a shortage of skilled labour to work in the pits.  Williams may have been able to return to work at his old colliery if he wished, but he suffered badly from asthma and so probably did not want to return to the pits, where his recovery and health would have been at risk. Other employment may have been difficult to obtain, as returning soldiers competed for jobs

Ireland

Consequently, on 4 December 1919, Williams re-enlisted and joined the 1st Battalion Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, which was then serving in Ireland.[31] In the early months of 1920, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, Oxford & Bucks, were stationed at Limerick and Cork respectively. They garrisoned the towns and sent out patrols to outlying towns and villages. As the year went on, Williams was thrown into the centre of a bitter and brutal conflict with revenge killings, assassinations, and reprisals on both sides.

In December 1920, the British authorities declared martial law in much of southern Ireland, and the centre of Cork city was burnt out by British forces in reprisal for an ambush. Violence continued to escalate over the next seven months; 1,000 people were killed and 4,500 republicans were interned. The British army committed atrocities against Irish civilians, and there were reprisals by the IRA.

Executions

On February 22, 1921, the bodies of three British soldiers were discovered by a farmer on the Woodford to Cahir Road near the shores of Lough Attorick. The three soldiers had all been shot in the head. One of them had a label hung around his neck which read “Spies. Tried by court-martial and found guilty. All others beware.”  All three were members of ‘B’ Company, 1st Battalion of the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, stationed at the Strand Barracks in Limerick City. One of these men was David Williams. The other two were William Walker and H. Morgan (his real name was Thomas Mullett). They were all dressed in civilian clothing. The British army assumed they had been executed by the IRA’s East Clare Brigade. The British immediately retaliated by murdering an Irish civilian and burning houses

However, there is some controversy about the circumstances of their deaths. Padraig OgÓ Ruairc says that the three men were arrested by the IRA on February 19th and that their bodies were discovered three days later.[32]

O’Halpin and Ó Corráin say that they went missing from Limerick on February 13th and that their bodies were discovered on February 22^nd.  However, they say that no IRA sources for these deaths have been traced.[33]

Tomás Mac Conmara quotes local sources and one BMH statement, which indicates that the killing of these three British Army soldiers may have been in revenge for the killings on Killaloe Bridge.[34] The killings on Killaloe Bridge refer to the execution of four young Irishmen by British Crown Forces on 16 November 1920. The victims who became known as the Scariff Martyrs were IRA Volunteers Alfred Rodgers, Michael ‘Brud’ McMahon, Martin Gildea, and civilian caretaker Michael Egan. The circumstances surrounding the killings on Killaloe Bridge were as follows.

On 16 November 16, 1920, British forces surrounded a house in Williamstown, County Clare, capturing the three IRA volunteers and Egan. The men were taken by boat to the Lakeside Hotel in Killaloe for questioning and were then marched toward the police barracks. At midnight on Killaloe Bridge (which spans the River Shannon between counties Clare and Tipperary), the men were beaten, tied together, and shot. The Crown forces claimed the men were shot while attempting to escape, but witnesses and subsequent investigations proved this was a fabricated cover-up for a deliberate execution.

Julian Putkowski agrees with Tomás Mac Conmara and argues that the killing of the three British soldiers may have been an act of revenge. He points out:

There’s no indication about exactly when they were shot (Coroner guesses 19 February) but the British Army was not informed about the whereabouts of their corpses for at least two or possibly three days.

Spies, deserters or kidnap victims

There are several theories about what these men were up to before they were captured by the IRA. There are three possibilities.

• They were involved in an intelligence operation
• They were deserters.
• They were kidnapped.

Spies

Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc argues that the men were engaged on an intelligence gathering mission for the British Army in North East Clare and captured and executed as spies by members of the IRA’s East Clare Brigade. This was not an unusual occurrence. There were other cases in which British spies dressed as deserters were captured and executed by the IRA. However, the British tended to use members of their officer class for such operations.

Ó Ruairc argues that it is difficult to regard the men as deserters. He points out that had they been deserters, they would have tried to return to England. He adds that the three soldiers could easily have walked to Limerick railway station, taken a train to Dublin, and then boarded a boat to England. Instead, they headed into the hostile and remote territory of Clare, widely known as an IRA stronghold, which seems illogical. The journey was more than 40 miles, and they would also have needed to evade army and RIC patrols along the way.

He points out that British army records show that the three soldiers were paid up to February 22, 1921, the day their bodies were discovered. This would have been standard practice for serving soldiers killed on duty, but deserters would have been paid only till 13 Feb, when they deserted.

He adds that Lieutenant John Basil Jarvis, who served as an intelligence officer with the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry at the Strand Barracks, had a reputation for being reckless and may have taken the risk of sending these men on a very dangerous intelligence mission on the basis that they were experienced soldiers.

He presents this case in his online article, which should be read to follow the narrative presented here. The article provides background information about desertion by British army soldiers during the Irish War of Independence.

https://www.theirishstory.com/2011/02/18/deserters-or-spies-british-soldiers-executed-at-lough-attorick/

Deserters

Roger Deeks disagrees with Ó Ruairc, pointing out that these men were ordinary privates and unlikely to be chosen to carry out intelligence operations. In addition, Deeks argues that there is more compelling circumstantial evidence for believing that the men had deserted. He reports that Steve Cooper discovered that Williams had a son, Keith, who was born on 19 May 1920. The birth of his son may well have provided a motive to desert and return to Britain, as he may have deserted before for a similar reason.

Julian Putkowski has pointed out that both Williams and Morgan (Mullett) had a history of desertion. This fact further supports Deeks’s theory. Mullett’s war records reveal that he appeared before a district court martial at Woodbridge, Suffolk, on 9 March 1915 for being absent without leave. He was sentenced to 56 days in military detention but only served 14 days. On 23 October 1915, this report appeared in the Windsor, Eton & Slough Express:

Henry Morgan alias Thomas Mullett, 26, of the 3/4th Suffolk Regiment, was brought up on remand charged with being an absentee from the 3/4th Suffolk Regiment from October 4th. He was also charged with being a deserter from the 1/1st Essex R.H.A. since July 23rd. Inspector Hammond said a reply had been received from the Commanding Officer of the Suffolk Regiment asking that the prisoner be handed over to an escort, and the Inspector added that the escort was in attendance. Prisoner was ordered to be handed over to the escort.

No record of his punishment exists. However, there is a Henry Morgan from the Labour Company, based at Le Havre, who went absent without leave from 2 November 1917 and was sentenced to 56 days, but served 14 days.  Given Williams’s and Mullett’s history of desertions, it is unlikely they would have been entrusted with an intelligence operation in such difficult circumstances.

William Walker also had a motive to desert. He had only recently married in August 1919 to Margaret Jessett and, at the time of his death,  had a nine-month-old baby daughter, Doris.

Kidnap Victims

Putkowski suggests an alternative possibility for the three men’s disappearance:

They were reported missing on a Sunday, and may very well have been nabbed on Saturday night – when it’s quite plausible that the three could have gone out together for a drink and been captured by the IRA.  Even for a dumb-arse Intelligence Officer like Jarvis, it would have been mega-stupid to dispatch three British squaddies (certainly not “of the officer class”) in civilian clothes to reconnoitre, let alone spy on local inhabitants or kid himself they’d not be killed off by the IRA.

Viney Hill

David John Wiiliams was buried at All Saints Church, Viney Hill, on 28 February 1921. Recent research has not been able to find the grave, but thanks to the Forest historians, he now has a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone in the graveyard.

In January 1924, Fanny married a miner from Yorkey, Thomas Parry, and they had a child, Joseph, in July 1924.[35] Sadly, Fanny had to endure another tragedy because in the same month that Joseph was born, Thomas was killed in a colliery accident. The following report appeared in the Western Daily Press on 14 July 1924:

A verdict of accidental death was returned by Mr M. F. Carter, Dean Forest Coroner, in the case of Thomas Parry (36), collier, who was killed at the coal face at Oldcroft Colliery, a small slant, on Tuesday. Parry, was clearing the floor of coal in order to erect a prop when two tons of stone fell on him, death being instantaneous. 

In January 1929, Fanny married Edgar Hughes, a miner from Newport. The family, including Stanley, Keith and Joseph, moved to Abecan where Edgar worked as a colliery onsetter. Fanny died in October 1963.[36]

[1] Roger Deeks, Bugle and Sabre, Military History in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire: Lightmoor Press, 2010, 31-33.

[2] Ancestry

[3] His asthma is highlighted in his army records on Ancestry

[4] Williams’s Army Records

[5] Ibid.

[6] Deccan Chronicle 4 September 2021.

[7] Hansard, Executions of British soldiers in India, 16 July 1906

[8] Walter Smith was born in Swadlincote, a mining town in South Derbyshire. On leaving school at 13, he left home and worked as a collier. He joined the 4th Derby Reserve Regiment on 7 January 1899, when he was 19 but only 5 ft 3 in tall. He deserted on 29 January 1899, but was back on duty several weeks later.  By 1901, he was working as a farm labourer. He then enlisted with the Lincolnshires in October 1902. He spent a period in South Africa, where he was convicted at a court martial of assaulting a sergeant and sentenced to 6 months in a military prison doing hard labour. He was transferred with the Regiment to India. Thanks to Julian Putkowski

[9] Williams’s Army Records

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ancestry

[13]

[14] https://www.malvernremembers.org.uk/war-diary-entry/1st-gloucestershire-regiment-20th-23rd-october-1914

[15]

[16] Williams’s Army Records

[17]

[18] Ancestry

[19] Williams’s Army Records

[20] Ibid.

[21] https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/first-world-war/gallipoli/harold-boughton

[22] Williams’s Army Records

[23] Julian Pukowski and Julian Sykes, Shot and Dawn,(London, Leo Cooper, 1992) 56-59

[24] Ibid.

[25] Ancestry

[26]

[27] Pukowski and Julian Sykes, Shot and Dawn,

[28] Williams’s Army Records

[29] Ibid

[30] Ancestry

[31] Ibid.

[32] Padraig Og O Ruairc, Blood on the Banner: The Republican Struggle in Clare, 2009, 230-231.

[33] Eunan O’Halpin and Daithi O Corrain, The Dead of the Irish Revolution, Yale University Press, 2020, 311.

[34] Tomás Mac Conmara, The Scariff Martyrs: War, Murder and Memory in East Clare 187-188.

[35] Ancestry.

[36] Ibid.

Charles Jeffrey was born in 1894 in Pillowell, the son of a collier. He worked in the mines after leaving school.

He enlisted in the 3^rd Glosters, probably after the start of the war.  The 3rd. Glosters remained in the UK throughout the war, providing drafts to other battalions. In August 1914, the Glosters left Bristol for Abbey Wood, near Woolwich. Besides training, the work of the battalion was the defence of the arsenal and to guard the huge supplies of explosives which were distributed over the Abbey Wood marshes. From September 1914 onwards, the 3rd Glosters continually supplied drafts of officers and men to the 1st Battalion and other corps, while there was always a steadily increasing flow of drafts of new officers and men for training.

In January 1915, Jeffrey deserted from Abbey Wood. It is not possible to say what motivated him, but he would have had a reason. He was listed as missing in the Police Gazette, which implies he was gone for more than 21 days. There are no enlistment and service records for him, so it is not possible to say if and when he voluntarily returned to the regiment or if he was captured and if he was punished.

However, his military pension record shows he was discharged on 22 May 1916. Pensions were only provided for those who were injured or killed fighting in the First World War. Pensions were provided for the injured soldiers themselves as well as widows and other dependents. So, it is likely he was involved in combat with another battalion abroad and was subsequently wounded.

After the war, Jeffrey returned to work at New Fancy colliery near Parkend. He married Florence Thomas in 1934 and continued to work as a collier. He died in 1971.

William John Burris was born in 1892 in St Briavels. His father, also William, worked as a wagoner with horses on a farm. On leaving school, he obtained work as a collier.

He had a minor brush with the law in 1913, at the age of 20. On 8 July 1913, he was sentenced to 14 days in prison for stealing two pieces of timber.

Burris signed up for the 3^rd South Wales Borderers Special Reserve 24th Battalion on 6 May 1914 in Newport. At the time, he claimed to be 18 years old, but his age was probably 22. He was only 5 ft 3 ins in height and weighed just 7 stone. He was sent for training to Brecon, but almost immediately ran into conflict with the military authorities.

Location	Date	Offence	Punishment	Date
Brecon	15 May	Nor complying with an order and drunk	Admonished	18 May
Brecon	2 July	Absent from parade	3 days confined to barracks	3 July
Brecon	9 July	Neglecting to obey an order	4 days confined to barracks.	9 July
Brecon	10 July	Neglecting to obey an order	7 days confined to barracks.	11 July
Brecon	11 July	Breaking out of barracks. Apprehended by civil police in Newport on 13 July. Loss of kit	96 hours detention and required to pay for the kit. Forfeit 3 days’ pay,	17 July
Brecon	18 July	Stubbornness at drill whilst under detention. Improper conduct. Threw his equipment at a wall	48 hours on a punishment diet	18 July
Brecon	26 August	Shirking his work while on fatigue	4 days confined to a cell.	28 August

Burris was mobilised on 8 August 1914. He deserted on 17 October 1914. His army records appear to end here, so it is unclear what he did next.

However, a William John Burris, the son of William Burris, a farm labourer, married Ellen Reeson on 5 November 1918 in Wimbledon. He is listed as a soldier based at Bramshott military camp in Hampshire. The couple had a daughter born in 1920. The family subsequently migrated to British Columbia in 1920, where they had five sons and where he worked as a general labourer doing odd jobs. Ellen died in 1942. Burris married again to Catherine Ritoul in 1951 and had two more sons. He died in 1962.

Follow this link for full details:

https://www.deanheritagecentre.org/event-details-registration/remembering-the-1926-miners-strike-talk-and-presentation

William Howells was born in Coleford in October 1890. On leaving school, he worked as a trammer, possibly for his father, who was a buttyman at Hopewell colliery. He joined the 2^nd Monmouth Territorials.

He signed up in Lydney with the 11th Gloucestershire Regiment on 4 August 1915 and was sent to Belhus Park, Essex. However, he was absent from 18 November 1915 until 17 December 1915, when he was apprehended and confined to a guard room. He appeared before a district court martial at Seaford on 1 January 1916 and was sentenced to six months detention for desertion while on active duty and sent to Chelmsford Barracks.

He was transferred to the Machine Gun Regiment on 10 August 1916.  He deserted again and made his way home. He was officially declared a deserter on 28 August 1916.

He was arrested after being found sleeping rough in the woods near Coleford on 11 October 1916.[1] He was handed over to the military and appeared before a district court martial at Chelmsford on 23 October 1916. He was convicted of desertion and losing by neglect his clothing, equipment and regimental necessities. He was sentenced to one year’s detention and put under stoppages of pay.

However, he was released on 3 March 1917 and sent to the front in France. He was wounded in the thigh on 8 April 1917 and was in hospital up to 15 April 1917. He was sent home in a hospital ship on 26 April 1917.

He deserted again on 7 August 1917 until he gave himself up in Coleford on 1 April 1919. He was handed over to a military escort on 8 April 1919 and held in a guard room until 1 May 1919. He faced a court-martial on 1 May 1919 and was tried for “deserting his majesty’s service”. He pleaded not guilty but was found guilty as charged and sentenced:

to be imprisoned with hard labour for one year and to be discharged with ignominy from his majesty’s service.

He was sent to Lincoln prison.  He was discharged on 21 October 1919. He returned to the Forest to live with his family and started work at Princess Royal colliery as a trammer. He remained single and lived with his mother after his father died in 1941. He died in January 1953.

[1] Dean Forest Mercury 20 October 1916.

This story was originally covered in much more detail by Roger Deeks in the New Regard.

Roger Deeks, Private Reginald Thomas Packer, Grenadier Guards, and the Memorial, New Regard, Journal of the Forst of Dean History Society, No. 25, pp. 15-20.

Reginald Packer was born in Southrop, Gloucestershire, in July 1895, the son of a policeman called William Packer. The family moved to Cinderford, where William Packer was appointed Police Inspector in January 1909. The family worshipped at St. Stephen’s Church, Cinderford, where Reginald sang in the choir.

Reginald Packer was a strong young man and over six feet tall. In August 1911, this enabled him to leave his job as a brewer’s clerk and enlist in one of the elite army regiments, the Grenadier Guards. At the time of his enlistment, he was only 16 years and one month old. However, his physique enabled him to falsely claim that he was 18 years of age, which was a requirement for enlistment at the time. He served his time at the Grenadier Guards barracks in Warley, London, until the outbreak of war in August 1914.

His service records show that on Saturday 26 September 1914, he became absent without leave from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards while they were still stationed in England. He returned to Cinderford walking with a limp, using a stick with bandages on his head. He claimed he had been wounded at the Battle of Aisne and attended a church service at St Stephens on Sunday 27 September. He reported to the Dean Forest Mercury that he had left England for France on 15 September and had been involved in several desperate battles.  He said he was:

keen to be back again with his mates doing what he can in the struggle in which they are so nobly doing their duty.

However, he was arrested and by 15 October 1914 was held in confinement awaiting trial. On 27 October, he was convicted of desertion by a district court martial and sentenced to 42 days’ detention in a military prison with all former service forfeited. This meant he would lose his pension rights for his service up to that point and have a seriously blemished record.

The authorities were keen to keep his desertion a secret as they wanted to use the example of his ‘heroism’ as a propaganda tool in the local press to illustrate the bravery of the British forces in France and to encourage recruitment and support for the war effort. Also, the authorities might have been keen to avoid embarrassing Inspector William Packer, who was a highly respected member of the Forest establishment.

Meanwhile, on 7 October, Packer’s battalion had been sent to France and was involved in heavy fighting. The army was in desperate need of trained soldiers and so on 9 November, after serving only part of his sentence, he was sent to rejoin his battalion. He was immediately involved in fierce fighting around the town of Fromelles and was killed on 20 December 1914 at just 19 years of age. A letter was sent to the family by one of Reginald’s comrades, William Blake, which said:

You have the satisfaction of knowing that Reg was every inch a British soldier, well liked by his comrades, and a credit to the Regiment.

Reginald Packer’s death was first reported in the Dean Forest Mercury on 8 January 1915 and further reported the following week under the headline ‘Roll for Heroes’. The story reminded the readers of his return to Cinderford in September 1914 with wounds to his head and leg, and his quick return to France to fight alongside his fellow soldiers.

Reginald Packer is buried at Ration Farm Cemetery, La Chapelle Armentieres. It is possible that only his family members and the military authorities knew of the true story of his desertion. Reginald Packers’ younger brother, Ernest, was killed in France on 3 July 1916. They are both commemorated on the Cinderford Town War memorial and on a memorial at their school, Double View, in Cinderford. In addition, the wrought iron gates at St Stephens church, Cinderford, commemorate the death of a single soldier, Reginald Packer, killed in action on 20 December 1914. There is no known explanation for his return to Cinderford and his elaborate deception.

 

Horace Tom Beard was the son of Alice Beard and was born in Mitcheldean in May 1890, where Alice‘s parents lived. At the time, Alice was working as a parlour maid in a hotel in Newnham. Alice married Charles Hooper in 1892. Charles worked as a postman in Newnham.

After leaving School, Horace served an apprenticeship as a blacksmith and joined the 4^th Glosters Militia. He applied to join the professional army or navy but was rejected because of his stammering. He obtained work as a seaman and claims he was shipwrecked on several occasions. He joined the Worcestershire Regiment on 5 September 1914 and was sent for training at Worcester.

On 3 May 1915, Horace married Emma George in Newnham. On 15 May 1915, the following report appeared in the Gloucester Journal, where Horace is described as a soldier in the Gloucestershire Regiment. 

At the Police Station, Thursday before Mr. Spencer Shelley, Horace T. Beard, of Church Road, Newnham, was charged with being an absentee without leave from the Gloucestershire Regiment and was remanded to await an escort.

There can be little doubt that these two events are connected. There is no record available about his punishment.

Horace was then sent to join the British Expeditionary Force in France on 9 December 1915 and joined the 57th Field Ambulance. He was immediately thrust into action on the front line, where he was a victim of an exploding shell, which rendered him unconscious. His speech became worse, and then he lost it completely.

He remained in France until 21 February 1916. and returned home on 22 February 1916 because of gastritis. A Medical Report on 17 May 1916 provided the following statement:

Unconscious from a shell exploding. Speech became affected, eventually losing it completely. Worries a great deal. Voice is still bad.  A fortnight ago, he suddenly lost it completely for 6 days for no obvious reason. The patient has been shipwrecked four times. On every occasion, he lost his voice. Memory for past events is unreliable.

On 2 June 1916, Horace was discharged from the army because he was no longer “physically fit for service”. The reason given was neurasthenia and shell shock.

Medical Reports

Bristol 13 November 1916

Complains of a pain in the head and giddiness. Has lost his voice. Talks in a whispering manner. Stutters a great deal. Generally, in a weak condition. 50%

Newport, 23 July 1917.

As before 40%

Gloucester 15 June 1918

Much the same condition. 40%

Gloucester 24 August 1920

Complains of a choking feeling in his throat.  Can only tolerate bread and milk.   Cannot speak above a whisper. Pharyngitis present. Presence of internal tensions of cords. Larynx otherwise normal. Condition functional 40%

Gloucester 29 September 1920

Speech difficulty – husky voice. Hesitancy in speech. Difficulty with food. Vomits various times after food. Weakness in arm. Very slight tremor in hands and eyelids.  No muscle wastage in arm. Some loss of sensation.  Abnormal Larynx as before. Strength improved (functional). 30%

Some comments in these transcriptions of medical reports have not been included because the words are difficult to decipher.

After the war, Horace and Emma moved to Stroud.  Emma died on 18 November 1919. Soon after Emma’s death, Horace married Ada Fry. Horace obtained work in various roles as a driver, doorman, caretaker and builder’s labourer. Horace Beard died in November 1957.

 

In 1914, Martin Brady was living in Coleford, where he worked as a cook. He signed on with RGA on 21 November 1914 in Bristol.

He deserted from Plymouth on 28 January 1915 and was listed as a deserter in the Police Gazette on 16 February 1915. A court of enquiry was held on 26 February 1915 to discuss his case and to make a list of his belongings.

There is no reference to a Martin Brady being born in Gloucestershire or in online records that follow his desertion. He has a surname that is common in Ireland, so it is possible he escaped to Ireland, where he would find it much easier to avoid detection by the authorities.

The surname Brady primarily originates from Ireland, derived from the Gaelic Ó Brádaigh or Mac Brádaigh, translating to “descendant of” or “son of” Brádach

 

William Lewis was born in Minchinhampton in 1886, the son of an agricultural labourer. He married Rosina Gardiner in July 1911. Rosina already had a daughter, Winifred, from a previous relationship. The family then moved to the Forest so William could get better-paid work in the mines. At some stage, after this Wiliam joined the military. 

In May 1918, Rosina Lewis from Ruardean Hill was sent to prison for seven days for aiding her husband, William, a sapper in the Royal Engineers, to desert. This was not the first time William had deserted while on home leave; on three occasions in the past, he had to be fetched by a military escort. He was due back in France in February, but did not arrive and had apparently disappeared. Eventually, a thorough search was made of his house and William was found sewn up inside the mattress cover on which his mother and four children were lying. He was arrested and returned to the trenches.^[1] Rosina struggled to cope and was forced to enter the workhouse with her four children for a short period in the Autumn of 1918.

The Lewis family survived the war but not the poverty of post war Britain. William returned to work as a labourer at Foxes Bridge colliery near Cinderford, and by 1921, the family included six children. Labourers in Forest collieries were very badly paid compared to some of the more skilled workers who were on piece rates or were craftsmen and so the family struggled to feed their children.

In 1921, the response from the government and the owners to a depression in the coal trade was to allow ruthless competition to take its toll. They argued they had no alternative but to resolve the economic crisis in the coal industry by radically reducing labour costs, translated into wage cuts of up to 50 per cent. The miners refused to go to work under these new terms and downed tools. As a result, on 31 March 1921, one million British miners, including many war veterans, were locked out of their pits; this included over 6,000 miners from the Forest of Dean. After three months, the miners returned to work defeated and had to accept the severe wage cuts, while others became unemployed. 

In July 1921, William was caught stealing four cabbages from Westbury Court Gardens valued at one shilling.  Soon after, William and Rosina were brought to court, charged with neglecting their children, despite the court acknowledging they were well nourished. The parents were both sentenced to two months in prison and the children were taken into care. In addition, William was fined 20s for the theft of the cabbages.[2]

Rosina’s fourteen-year-old daughter Winifred died in 1922. Rosina died in 1927, aged just forty.

[1] Gloucester Journal 25 May 1918.

[2] Gloucester Citizen 30 July 1921.