Author name: Adrian Smith

213th Anti-Aircraft Section, Royal Garrison Artillery Percy William Barnes was the son of Lambert Barnes, landlord of the Odessa Inn near Tewkesbury from 1917-1923. He was born in Cheltenham on 25 March 1897, but in 1901 he was a patient in the Home for Sick Children, Winchcombe Street, Cheltenham. In 1911, however, he was back […]

8th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment Henry Thomas Barnes was born in 1884 to William and Mary Ann Barnes in Upton St Leonards. By 1901 he was living at 6 Wilford Terrace, Whaddon Lane, Cheltenham and working as an errand boy in a cyclist’s shop. At the time he enlisted, in the 6th (Territorial) Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment,

6th Dragoon Guards (Carabineers) William Baldwin was born in 1880, the son of James and Elizabeth Baldwin of Begonia Villa, Flaxley Street, Cinderford. After leaving school he worked in the grocery trade before enlisting. Prior to the Great War he had served nine months in the Boer War, seven years in India, and a further

7th Battalion The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) John Edward Avenell was born in Gloucester on 26 September 1876. His parents farmed near Wotton-under-Edge and he attended the Ozleworth School and the Blue Coat School at Wotton. Early in the war he enlisted, at Guildford, into The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) and having gained

Royal Navy – HMS Meteor Edward Attwood was born at Cheltenham on Christmas Day 1882, one of seven children born to Edward and Annie Attwood. In 1902, at the age of 19, he enlisted in the Royal Navy for a twelve year term and in February 1914 transferred to the Royal Fleet Reserve. Upon the

Royal Naval Air Service George Geoffrey Allen Armitage was born in Gloucester in 1893, the son of Henry and Katherine Armitage. After leaving school he joined the Royal Navy and served seven years at sea in the training ship HMS Worcester before transferring to the Royal Naval Air Service as a Probationary Flight Sub-Lieutenant. In

3rd Tunnelling Company Canadian Engineers Wintour Maurice Adams was born in Cinderford on 14 December 1889, the son of Hubert and Maria Adams. After attending Double View Secondary School he found employment in one of the local collieries. In 1912 he emigrated to Canada where he was employed on the Canadian Pacific Railway. He enlisted