A village with a big story
Born: Long Melford, Suffolk 22.3.1887. Parents: Samuel Cansdale (Blacksmith) and Maria [née Payne]. Family Connections: Brother to Frederick George Cansdale [b1896]. Home: St Marys Street, Long Melford (1891), Park Terrace, St Marys Street, Long Melford (1901 and 1911), Hall Street, Long Melford (1939) to [1951]. Occupation: Grocer’s Assistant (1901 and 1911), Tobacconist and Confectioner (1939). Married: Edith Emily Carter in 1912. Service Record: Attested on 10.12.1915 as Pte.18641 with the Coldstream Guards, however the actual battalion number is not recorded. Charles may have been called immediately to the colours as in May 1916 he applied to the Melford Military Service Tribunal for exemption, which was refused. He was posted to France and in 1918 received a severe gunshot wound to his left thigh, which resulted in its amputation. He was issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged on 2.10.1918. Died: Colchester, Essex on 21.10.1951.[1]
[1] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Long Melford. For the Tribunal’s ruling see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 24.5.1916. See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War, Silver War Badge [WO 329] record [ref: B30313], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. Date of death from the National Probate Calendar.
Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 17.3.1896. Parents: Samuel Cansdale (Blacksmith) and Maria [née Payne]. Family Connections: Brother to Charles Harold Cansdale [b1887]. Home: Park Terrace, St Marys Street, Long Melford (1901 and 1911). Occupation: Baker (1911). Service Record: Attested as Pte.2990 with 4th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, transferred as Pte.40456 to 8th [Service] Battalion, Suffolks and posted to France as part of 53rd Brigade, 18th [Eastern] Division. The Battalion saw action on the Somme in 1916, and at Arras and the Third Battles of Ypres the following year. Died: Frederick was killed in action near Poelcappelle on 12.10.1917 during the First Battle of Passchendaele, one of the many engagements that made up Third Ypres. Private Cansdale is buried in Cement House Cemetery [grave ref: IX.C.13], Langemarck, Belgium and commemorated on the Long Melford War Memorial.[1]
[1] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 19.11.1896, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. For details of 8th Suffolk’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/2039/1-5] and for an account of the action see Murphy, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], p.242. See also his Commonwealth War Graves Commission record, British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 728121], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].
