16th (Reserve) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
Frank Causon was born at 9 Levis Court, St Nicholas, Gloucester on 21 October 1894.
He was one of ten children born to Frederick Causon who was a bricklayer (died 1902) and his wife Martha Ann (née Timms), who died in 1930.
It would appear that after leaving school Frank became a domestic servant and the Census of 1911 has him living in Penbryn, near Cardigan in West Wales.
In the third quarter of 1914 he married Ada Knight at St Mark’s Church, Gloucester and in the December of that year the couple had a daughter, Phyllis. In 1914 the couple lived at 60 Alvin Street, Gloucester.
The majority of papers relating to Frank Causon’s Army service were no doubt lost to enemy action in 1940, however, a few papers have survived in the Army Pension Records, which are interesting. From information supplied to the recruiting officer it would appear that almost certainly Frank enlisted for military service on 5 September 1914 in Gloucester.
He was given the number 15761 and posted to the 10th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment. He quoted his age as 21 years 11 months, which would appear to be two years over his actual age: his occupation was listed as ‘porter’. After spending 24 days (inclusive) in the Army he was discharged as ‘not likely to become an efficient soldier’. It is not clear in the surviving papers as to the exact reason for this.
There appear to be no surviving papers relating to his subsequent service with the Gloucesters. It is worth speculating that when conscription was introduced in late 1915/early 1916 Frank was called up for military service and his past record was ignored (at a time when there was a greater need for men). His number, 19456, may indicate that initially he was posted to the 13th (Service) Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment (known as the Forest of Dean Pioneers) and he later transferred to the 16th (Reserve) Battalion, which was formed from depot companies of the 13th Battalion. The CWGC register states his battalion to be the 15th but Soldiers Died in the Great War lists him with the 16th and is probably the more accurate.
Frank Causon died on 18 March 1916 in the Andover, Hampshire registration district, aged 22.
He appears to have died in training and a recently released Pension Record Card states the cause was ethmoiditis (or a sinus infection) He came to be buried in Gloucester Old Cemetery, where a CWGC headstone marks his grave. His name appears on the War Memorial in St Mark’s Church, Gloucester and on the main Gloucester War Memorial.
His wife, Ada, remarried in the fourth quarter of 1918 in Gloucester to a Thomas Chequer and later lived at 28 Philip Street, Bristol Road, Gloucester.
Frank had a brother, Christopher, who initially enlisted in the Gloucestershire Regiment (number 8131) and went to France on 13 August. He later transferred to the Machine Gun Corps and served with the 81st Battalion on the Salonika Front. He died of wounds on 9 September 1918, age 33 and is buried in Karasouli Military Cemetery, Greece.
Researched by Graham Adams 5 June 2019 (revised 26 July 2021)