Selected Biographies

Pawsey, Albert William – Born: Shimpling, Suffolk on 9.7.1888.[1]  Parents: George Pawsey (Agricultural Labourer) and Harriett [née Green].  Family Connections: Brother to Frederick James Pawsey [b1892].    Home: Shimpling Street, Shimpling, Suffolk (1891), Alpheton Tye, Suffolk (1901 to 1911), Roseacre, Alpheton (1921), Orchard Cottage, Alpheton (1939), 2 The Glebe, Alpheton [1974].  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1901 to 1911), Male Nurse [1917], General Labourer (1921), Market Gardener (1939).  Married: Emily Cook of Long Melford in 1917.  Service Record: Albert enlisted on 15.9.1914 as Pte.13856 with 9^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, however he was deemed unfit for active service due to his flat feet and discharged two weeks later.  The foregoing condition notwithstanding he was conscripted on 8.3.1917 as Pte.198917 with the Home Service Labour Corps, being issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged on 18.5.1918.[2]  Died: Alpheton, Suffolk on 9.3.1974.[3]

Pawsey, Charles Cyril – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 13.9.1892.[4]  Parents: James Nathan Pawsey [Carter and Coal Merchant] and Elizabeth [née Gager].  Family Connections: Brother to William Pawsey [b1887] and uncle of Frederick William Pawsey [b1919]; also, brother-in-law of Charles Albert Mills [b1876] and Thomas Henry Wheeler [b1882].  Home: Station Road, Long Melford (1901), Rodbridge Street, Long Melford [1915], Swan Lane, Long Melford (1921), 20 Martins Rise, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911), Van Driver [1915], General Labourer (1921), Agricultural Labourer (1939).  Service Record: Charles enlisted on 16.4.1915 as Pte.3/17424 with 7^th [Service] Battalion, Prince of Wales’s [North Staffordshire] Regiment and posted to Gallipoli from 27.9.1915 as part of 39^th Brigade, 13^th [Western] Division.  Evacuated to Egypt in January 1916 he was then posted to the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, landing at Basra on 17.3.1916.  He received a gunshot wound to his left arm on 11.3.1917 during the advance to relieve the garrison at Kut Al Amara on the Tigris.  His recovery was hampered by bouts of heat stroke and sand fly fever, eventually re-joining his unit in September 1917.  In March 1919 he was posted with the North Staffs to Baku in Armenia as part of North Persia Force [also known as Norperforce], then via Salonika to England, being issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged due to shell shock in December 1919.[5]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1965.

Pawsey, Frederick James – Born: Shimpling, Suffolk on 30.3.1892.[6] Parents: George Pawsey (Agricultural Labourer) and Harriett [née Green].  Family Connections: Brother to Albert William Pawsey [b1888].  Home: Alpheton Tye, Suffolk (1901) to [1915].  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911).  Service Record: Frederick enlisted in 1908 as Pte.10138 with 3^rd Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment, transferring on 21.11.1914 to 1^st Battalion, Leicester’s before being posted France as part of 71^st Brigade, 6^th Division.  He took part in the Battle of Hooge in Belgium on 30.7.1915, an alarming experience for Pawsey and his comrades as the Germans used flamethrowers for the first time in this battle.[7]  Died: Private Pawsey was presumed killed in action on 14.8.1915 and is commemorated on Menin Gate Memorial [ref: Panel 33], Ypres, Belgium.[8]

Pawsey, Frederick William – Born: Poplar, London on 16.2.1919.[9]  Parents: Walter John Pawsey of Long Melford (Carman) and Caroline Ann [née DuPrey].  Family Connections: Nephew of William F Pawsey [b1887] and Charles Cyril Pawsey [b1892].  Home: 1 David Street, Poplar (1921), 26 Spinney Gardens, Dagenham, Essex (1939).  Occupation: Window Cleaner (1939).  Service Record: Frederick enlisted on 18.10.1939 as Pte.6092908 with 2/6^th [Bermondsey] Battalion, The Queen’s [Royal West Surrey] Regiment, being posted to North Africa as part of 169^th Infantry Brigade, 56^th Division.[10]  Died: Private Pawsey was killed in action on 9.9.1943 during the amphibious landings at Salerno in Italy and buried in Salerno War Cemetery [grave ref: I.A.36.].[11]

Pawsey, William F. – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 2.5.1887.[12]  Parents: James Nathan Pawsey [Carter and Coal Merchant] and Elizabeth [née Gager].  Family Connections: Brother to Charles Cyril Pawsey [b1892] and uncle of Frederick William Pawsey [b1919]; also, brother-in-law of Albert Isaac Harrington [b1885], Charles Walter Harrington [b1889], Henry Harrington [b1898], Charles Albert Mills [b1876] and Thomas Henry Wheeler [b1882].  Home: Rodbridge Street, Long Melford (1891), Station Road, Long Melford (1901), Bull Lane, Long Melford [1903], Military Barracks in India (1911).  Occupation: Labourer [1903], Soldier [1903 to 1918].  Married: Laura Harrison [née Harrington] in 1920.  Laura was the widow of Frank Harrison [b1889] killed in action in Palestine in 1917.  Service Record: William enlisted in 1903 as Pte.6191 with 3^rd [Militia] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, transferring as Pte.7838 to 2^nd Battalion, Prince of Wales’s [North Staffordshire] Regiment in December 1904, being stationed in India in 1911.  During the First World War he was promoted to Corporal in 1^st Battalion, North Staffs and posted to France from 10.9.1914 initially as part of 17^th Brigade, 6^th Division.  On 14.10.1915 his unit was put under the command of 24^th Division seeing action during the Somme Offensive of 1916 and the Assault of Messines Ridge in June 1917.[13]  Before his discharge he was transferred to 8^th [Service] Battalion, North Staffs.[14]  Died: Preston St Mary, Suffolk in 1935.[15]

Related Biographies

Mills, Charles Albert – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 28.2.1876.[16]  Parents: Henry Richard Mills of Acton, Suffolk (Carpenter) and Charlotte Elliston [née Chinnery].  Family Connections: Uncle of Frederick Mills [b1873], Arthur James Mills [b1879] and William Leslie Donald Mills [b1908]; also, brother-in-law of William Pawsey [b1887] and Charles Cyril Pawsey [b1892].  Home: Station Road, Long Melford (1881, 1891), Rotten Row, Long Melford (1901), St Marys Street, Long Melford (1911), Station Road, Long Melford (1921).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1901), Horse Shunter for Great Eastern Railway [1917] to (1921).  Married: Ada Bertha Pawsey in 1900.  Service Record: At the Melford Military Service Tribunal in June 1917 an application was made on Charles behalf by his employer Joseph Byford for his exemption from conscription.  This was granted on the condition that he became a member of the Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps.[17]  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1953.

Wheeler, Thomas Henry – Born: Clapham, London on 11.12.1882.[18]  Parents: John Wheeler (Railway Engine Driver) and Elizabeth [née Castle].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of William Pawsey [b1887] and Charles Cyril Pawsey [b1892].  Home: 79 Priory Grove, Lambeth, London (1901), 43 Garfield Road, South Wimbledon, Surrey (1911), 4 Milton Road, Wimbledon [1919].  Occupation: Railway Electric Assistant (1901), Labourer in Railway Electrical Depot (1911), Dynamo Examiner [1914].  Married: Emma Elizabeth Pawsey of Long Melford in 1906.  Service Record: On 26.11.1914 Thomas enlisted as Pte.6423 with 3^rd [Reserve] Battalion, East Surrey Regiment and was posted to France from 14.4.1915 with 1^st East Surreys, initially as part of 14^th Brigade, 5^th Division then from January 1916 with 95^th Brigade in the same Division.  The Battalion saw action at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, during the Somme Offensive of 1916, at the Battles of Arras and Third Ypres in 1917.  He was wounded by shell gas poisoning on 26.6.1918 while attached to 95^th Brigade Headquarters and was taken first to N^o. 54 Casualty Clearing Station at Aire-sur-la-Lys and shortly after to N^o. 35 General Hospital in Calais, before being sent to England to recover.  In September he was transferred to 3^rd [Reserve] Battalion, East Surreys and then in late November 1918 as Pte.G/35961 to 3^rd [Reserve] Battalion, The Buffs [East Kent Regiment].  In January 1919 Private Wheeler was issued with a Silver War Badge and discharged, due to his wounds.[19]  Died: Thomas died of pulmonary tuberculosis at home in Wimbledon, Surrey on 19.4.1922.

Notes _ [1] 1939 Register.  [2] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], [WO 329 – Silver War Badge ref: B137147] and Medal Index Card [WO 372].  [3] National Probate Calendar.  [4] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 10.11.1892, St Catherines Mission Church, Long Melford.  [5] For details of 7^th North Staffordshire’s movements in Mesopotamia and Persia see War Diaries [WO 95/5158/3-5] for the period in the Caucasus and South Russia see War Diary [WO 95/4955].  See also his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War, Silver War Badge [WO 329] record [ref: 04309], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [6] Date of birth taken from the Baptism Register of 29.5.1892 for St Georges Church, Shimpling, Suffolk.  [7] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], and Pension Cards and Ledgers [ref:56748/D/48].  [8] British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 [ref: 171985] and Commonwealth War Grave Commission.  [9] 1939 register.  [10] Queens’s Royal West Surrey Regiment Enlistment Registers 1920-1946.  [11] Commonwealth War Graves Commission.  [12] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 5.6.1887, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.  [13] For details of 1^st North Staffordshire’s movements during William’s time with the unit see War Diaries [WO 95/1613/3 and WO 95/2213/1].  [14] Chelsea Hospital British Army Service Record [WO 97] up to 1904, Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [15] I am grateful to John Davies for sharing some additional information.  [16] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 25.12.1876, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.  [17] For the Tribunal’s ruling see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 6.6.1917.  [18] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 18.4.1883, St John the Evangelist Church, Clapham, London.  [19] For details of 1^st East Surreys movements on the Western Front see War Diaries [WO 95/1563/1-4] and [WO 95/1579/1-2].  See also his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363] [which records his marriage date erroneously as July 1904 also carrying notification of his death], Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War, Silver War Badge [WO 329] record [ref: B100727], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].