1/5th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment
There is a mystery surrounding the war grave of Joe Westell Heaven. He is listed as a casualty in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) ‘Debt of Honour’ Register and is shown as being buried in the cemetery adjoining Shortwood Baptist Chapel. He is commemorated on Nailsworth War Memorial and on the Shortwood Baptist Chapel Plaque at what is now called Christ Church. However there is no marked grave for him inside the cemetery. According to the CWGC the reason for this is that his family did not want him to have a marked grave and any subsequent efforts on behalf of the CWGC to introduce a headstone or memorial have been turned down. The reason for this is unknown and it is highly unusual.
Joe Westell Heaven was born in Nailsworth in 1896, one of six children born to Rowland Heaven (a brewer’s clerk) and his wife Sarah Jane (née Westell). At the time of the 1911 Census the family lived at Bristol Road, Nailsworth and appear to still have been living there when the CWGC complied its Register in the early 1920s. The census gave his occupation as a woollen warehouse worker.
He evidently enlisted into the Army at Stroud but otherwise little is known of his Army service. The CWGC records indicate that he served with the 1/5th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment, who were in action in Gallipoli before transferring to Egypt in December 1915. However, there is no Medal Index Card for him which implies no overseas service.
His death occurred at Eccleshall Bierlow, now part of Sheffield, Yorkshire on 14 January 1917, age 20. The cause is unknown (a recently released Pension Record Card states ‘died’).
He had a younger brother, Rowland Wallis Heaven, who was killed in action on 4 October 1917, age 19, serving with 1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment. He is buried in Hooge Crater Cemetery, near Ieper (Ypres), Belgium, where his grave is marked by a CWGC headstone.
Researched by Graham Adams 13 February 2020 (revised)