1/5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
Charles William Giles was born in the first quarter of 1893, the son of William Henry and Rosa Giles, who lived at Avenall’s Parade, Old Bath Road, Cheltenham. According to the 1911 census the couple had four children, two of whom died in infancy.
He enlisted in the 1/5th (Territorial) Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment, as a bandsman, shortly after the outbreak of hostilities. His former occupation was a nurseryman and florist. He had been a musician in the orchestra at one of Cheltenham’s ‘Picture Palaces’ and it was therefore inevitable that he should be part of the band of his battalion.
The unit left for training at Chelmsford, Essex late in 1914 and shortly after arriving, Charles fell ill with meningitis and died, on 25 January 1915, aged 22. He was brought back to Cheltenham where a funeral service took place at Holy Apostles Church after which he was interred in Cheltenham Borough Cemetery. A full page of The Graphic of 6 February 1915 was devoted to photographs of his military funeral.
His grave is now marked by a standard Commonwealth War Grave Commission headstone and he is commemorated on the Cheltenham Town War Memorial.
Researched by Graham Adams 23 December 2012 with acknowledgement that the bulk of this information was obtained from ‘Leaving all that was dear – Cheltenham and the Great War’ by Joe Devereux and Graham Sacker)