87th Battery, Royal Field Artillery
Charles Henry Goddard was born in Gloucester in 1892, the son of Charles and Clara Goddard who lived at 3 St Catherine Street, Gloucester.
He must have become a regular soldier at an early age as the 1911 census records him as being based at number 4 Depot, 4 Royal Field Artillery (RFA), Fort Purbrook, Cosham, Hampshire and he was serving with the 87th Battery, RFA at the outbreak of the 1914-18 war, having already reached the rank of Bombardier. The 87th Battery was a unit of the II Brigade in 6th Division. The division had been quartered in Kilkenny, Ireland and was immediately ordered to concentrate near Cambridge.
By early September it was fully equipped and trained and on 10th September it landed at St Nazaire to join the remainder of the British Expeditionary Force.
On 19 September, on arrival at the front, one of the 6th Division’s infantry brigades, accompanied by the 87th Battery, was detached to the 1st Division to take part in the actions on the Aisne Heights. The battery fired throughout the day and night for 48 hours supporting the action that carried the Heights. It was still with 1st Division at the Battle of Armentieres from 13 October to 2 November 1914.
It is possible that Charles Goddard may have received the severe wound resulting in his death during the Aisne fighting: the 6th Division did not participate in a major action again until July 1915.
As the date on which he was repatriated to a hospital in Manchester is unknown, it can be assumed that he had either been wounded at the Aisne and had survived for a further two months, or that he had been injured during the ‘routine’ duels between German and Allied artillery that became almost daily events.
Charles Goddard was 22 years old when he died on 19 January 1915 at Manchester. A recently released Pension Record Card states that death was the result of wounds received in action and that his father was deceased and his dependent mother was living at 44 Park Street, Gloucester. The funeral service was held at St Catherine’s Church, after which the cortège moved to Gloucester Old Cemetery. He is commemorated on the War Memorial tablets in St Catherine’s and St Mary de Lode’s churches in Gloucester.
Bombardier Charles Goddard was buried with full military honours, attended by the full band of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars and a company of the 5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment.
Researched by Graham Adams 13 February 2020 (revised) who stated: “In the main from an anonymous contribution”