THOSE REMEMBERED ON THE FALFIELD WAR MEMORIAL WHO DIED DURING THE 1914-18 WAR
CHARLES WILLIAM COLE
CHARLES WILLIAM COLE
Date Born
28th October 1879. Baptised in St George’s Church, Falfield on 7th December 1879
Birth place:
Turnpike Road, Falfield (Now the A38 located between Brandoak Cottage and Moorslade Lane).
Date of Death:
26th September 1915
Fate:
Killed in action
Duty Location:
France and Flanders
Buried:
Unknown.
Remembered at the Loos Memorial, Loos-
Regiment:
2nd Battalion Worcester Regiment
Rank:
Lance Corporal (Recorded on the War Memorial as Pte)
Service No:
14581
Military Information:
04.08.1914 – Stationed at Aldershot at the outbreak of war as part of the 5th Brigade of the 2nd Division.
14.08.1914 – Mobilised for war and landed at Boulogne and were engaged in actions on the Western Front including;
The Battle of Mons and subsequent retreat, The attack on Givenchy, the Battle of Festubert, The Battle of Loos.
20.12.1915 – Transferred to the 100th Brigade of the 33rd Division.
During 1916 – The Battle of Albert, The Battle of Bazentin, attacks on High Wood, The battle of Delville Wood and The capture of Boritska and Dewdrop Trenches.
During 1917 – The First Battle of the Scarpe, The Second Battle of the Scarpe, The actions on the Hindenburg Line, Operations on the Flanders coast (Operation Hush), The Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, The Battle of Polygon Wood.
During 1918 – The Battle of Messines, The Battle of Hazebrouck, The Battle of Bailleul, The defence of Neuve Eglise, The First Battle for Kemmel Ridge, The fighting for and recapture of Ridge Wood, The Battle of the Epehy, The Battle of the St Quentin Canal, The Battle of the Beaurevoir Line, The Battle of Cambrai, The pursuit to the Selle, The Battle of the Selle.
11.11.1918 – Ended the war in France, Petit Maubeuge N.W. of Avesnes
Medals Awarded
The 1914/15 star campaign medal of the British Empire for his service in World War One.
This Star is identical to the 1914 Star in every respect except that the centre scroll bears the dates “1914-
Eligibility for the Victory Medal consisted of having been mobilised, fighting, having served in any of the theatres of operations, or at sea, between midnight 4th/5th August, 1914, and midnight, 11th/12th November, 1918. Women who served in any of the various military organisations in a theatre of operations were also eligible.
The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the 1st World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in silver and 110,000 in bronze, the latter awarded to, among others, the Chinese, Maltese and Indian Labour Corps
The 1914/15 Star, the Victory Medal and the British War Medal were sometimes irreverently referred to as Pip, Squeak and Wilfred. With Pip representing either the 1914/15 Star or the 1914 Star, only one of which could be awarded to a soldier, Squeak represented the British War Medal and Wilfred represented the Victory Medal.
MEMORIAL PLAQUE
The Next of Kin Memorial Plaque is a bronze plaque approximately 11 cms or 4½ inches diameter with the name of someone who died serving with the British and Empire forces in the First World War. This was issued to the Next of Kin of the casualty along with a scroll. They were posted out separately, typically in 1919 and 1920, and a ‘King’s message’ was enclosed with both, containing a facsimile signature of the King.
The immediate next of kin of all who died serving with the British and Empire forces in the First World War were eligible to receive the plaque and scroll. With nearly a million dead for the British Army alone, the plaques are today still commonly found; the fragile scrolls survive less often. Some of those recorded by plaques and scrolls were not eligible for service medals, for instance, those who did not serve overseas but who died in service through accident or illness.
Parents:
Alfred (1845-
Other Information:
Alfred and Emma Cole the parents of Charles are buried in St George’s Church, Falfield. Alfred is buried in Row “B04” Emma died in 1904 but no records can be found to established whether she is buried in the same plot as Alfred.
Family History
Charles had a total of four sisters and five brothers. Charles and seven of his brothers and sisters were baptised in St George’s Church. His parents moved from Peddington, Nr Berkeley sometime prior to 1877 as Samuel Robert, Alfred and Emma’s third child was their first child to be baptised in St George’s Church. From 1881 onwards the Cole family were living in Falfield. Ellen Louisa and James Alfred were baptised in Berkeley Church.
Ellen Louisa | James Alfred | Elizabeth Emma | Samuel Robert | Charles William |
Mary Eliza | John | Anna (Hannah) | Job | Benjamin |
Credits: St George’s Church Baptism and Burial Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Ancestry website, forces-
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