THOSE REMEMBERED ON THE FALFIELD WAR MEMORIAL WHO DIED DURING THE 1914-18 WAR
THOSE REMEMBERED ON THE FALFIELD WAR MEMORIAL WHO DIED DURING THE 1914-18 WAR
WILLIAM (HERBERT) SELMAN
WILLIAM (HERBERT) SELMAN
PLEASE NOTE:
After some extensive research no information can be found for a HERBERT SELMAN. However entry no 336 in the Burial register of St George’s Church dated 14th June 1915 records the burial for a WILLIAM SELMAN (Qtr Sergeant 2nd Glos regiment) In the address box the officiating minister recorded the following “died at Lincoln result of wounds killed in action 17th May” Searching the “Soldiers of Gloucestershire website a record for William Selman service no 5956 recorded that he was buried at “xFALFI” following contact with “Soldiers of Gloucester” it was confirmed that he was in fact buried in St George’s churchyard. Unfortunately no information has been found to establish where in the churchyard he is buried.
Date Born
Circa 1880
Birth place:
Possibly Chipping Sodbury / Yate
Date of Death:
10th June 1915
Fate:
Died of Wounds
From Soldiers or Gloucester database “Quartermaster
W Selman (Salmon?) was shot at the Front with 2nd Glos
Regt and died in Lincoln Hospital aged 35. Buried in Falfield Churchyard on 13 June 1915. (Echo 16/6/15)
Reported as Died of wounds 10/6/15”
(Note the church burial records show that he was buried on 14th June 1915)
Duty Location:
Unknown but thought to be France.
Buried:
St George’s Church, Falfield. There is no headstone in the churchyard and the burial records do not record the area in the churchyard where he was buried.
Regiment:
2nd Gloucestershire Regiment
Rank:
Quartermaster Sergeant
Service No:
5956
Military Information:
2nd Battalion Gloucester Regiment
August 1914 : in Tientsin, China. Returned to England, landing at Southampton on 8 November 1914.
8 November 1914 : came under command of 81st Brigade in 27th Division at Winchester.
Landed at Le Havre 18 December 1914.
Moved to Salonika theatre in late November 1915.
3 November 1916 : transferred to 82nd Brigade in same Division.
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.
Other Information:
Searching the “Soldiers of Gloucestershire website a record for William Selman, service no 5956 records that he was buried at “xFALFI” On checking with the Archivist at Soldiers of Gloucester he confirms that the reference of xFALFI refers to Falfield Churchyard.
Checks on the census returns have been made for 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911. A William Selman can be found in the Chipping Sodbury Union (Workhouse) in 1881 ages 7 months and again in 1891 aged 10 and was born in Yate. Also in the 1881 census there is an Emily Selman, aged 33 recorded in the Workhouse. Could this be William’s mother? In the 1901 census William is now a soldier with the Gloucester regiment based at Tregantle Fort, Antony, Torpoint, Devon and in the 1911 census he is now a Corporal based in Polvrista Barracks, Malta.
The information below was taken from the Gazette in 1915
“The week after Sir George Jenkinson’s funeral on 5th June 1915, QMS Selman was buried with full military honours, including a rifle salute”.
William was a friend of Mr Simmons (could this be Frederick Simmonds recorded in the 1911 census as a farm worker living in Moorslade Lane, Falfield) and came to Falfield with him and looked on it as his home. He was injured at Ypres, a bullet passing through his spine. He was brought back to Lincoln hospital where he died. His wish was to be buried at Falfield so his body was brought by train and cart and kept overnight at the vicarage.
After previously contacting the Commonwealth War Graves Commission a headstone was erected in 2021 in St George’s Churchyard just inside the entrance on the right
Credits: St George’s Church Baptism and Burial Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Ancestry website, forces-
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