1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
The CWGC Debt of Honour Register spells Private Mason’s middle name as ‘Cambrell’ but some records show it as ‘Campbell’. It would appear that the former name is more likely to be correct.
John Cambrell Mason was born in Cheltenham on 10 August 1892, the son of William Elson Mason (a baker) and his wife Sarah.
According to the 1911 Census the couple had twelve children of whom only nine were living. John was then fourth eldest of the surviving children and at that time was an unemployed labourer.
The family lived at 4 Cambridge Street, Gloucester. Interestingly of his younger brothers William is shown as serving with the 1st Battalion, South Wales Borderers and Henry Alexander with the 1st Battalion, Welch Regiment.
It has not proved possible to confirm whether they served in the Great War.
John enlisted in the Army at Gloucester on 29 September 1915. He joined the Territorial Force and undertook to serve for four years in the Territorial Force.
According to his attestation form he had no previous military service, was aged 23 years and one month, was a labourer and lived at 30 Prince Street, Gloucester.
His initial posting was to 3/5th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment and he was allocated the number 4550 although when and why his number was later changed to 36790 is not known. After a period of training he was posted to 2/5th Battalion on 8 July 1916.
Members of the Territorial Force were not compelled to serve overseas unless they had specifically volunteered. John Mason must have been such a volunteer as documents in his surviving Army Pension Record show him embarking from Southampton on 26 August 1916 to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) at Rouen the following day.
He joined the 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment in the field on 6 September.
The battalion was located in positions north of Bazentin-le-Grand in the Somme sector. As part of 3 Brigade, 1 Division the battalion took part in a major battle on 8 September at High Wood. It attacked the south-western face of the wood and the leading waves gained their objectives after sustaining high casualties from a British barrage falling short on the assembly trenches.
Later, after coming under intense fire it was forced to withdraw. Eighty-four Other Ranks were killed and 122 wounded. The battalion eventually withdrew from the front line area on 31 October.
On 4 November 1916 John was admitted to 141 Field Ambulance with myalgia and on the 13th was admitted to No 45 Casualty Clearing Station (CCS), near Dernancourt, suffering from ‘pyrexia of unknown origin’ (often abbreviated to ‘PUO’).
This was a prolonged feverish condition, the reason for which was difficult to determine and was thought to relate to the unhealthy conditions of trench warfare. It could be a sign of a developing condition such as tuberculosis.
The CCS sent him on to No 1 Stationery Hospital at Rouen on 15 November and 10 days later he was transferred back to England aboard the Hospital Ship St George: he was posted to the Regimental Depot Strength. His surviving papers give no indication as to where treatment took place once he had returned to England.
On 19 January 1917 he was posted to the Command Depot at Ballyvonare, near Cork in Ireland, a convalescent camp. Whilst there he was admitted to the Military Hospital at Buttevant, Co Cork on 26 June 1917. On 3 September he was transferred to the Central Military Hospital in Cork.
A Medical Board convened on 26 September reported that John had experienced blood in his sputum for about three months and this was the reason for his admission to hospital at Buttevant.
He had also experienced rheumatic like pains in the small of his back, thighs and joints and on occasion giddiness. He had been taken ill on parade on several occasions. Both his father and sister had suffered from consumption (tuberculosis) and the Board considered that he had inherited pulmonary weakness. The question was posed ‘is this man sufficiently robust to earn a normal day’s wage?’ and the answer was ‘no’.
It was recommended that John be discharged from the Army as permanently unfit for military service.
Permanent discharge was confirmed at a final medical board on 18 October 1917 after having seen four months of front line service his condition was seen as being aggravated by military service and a 50% disability pension was awarded. Rather ominously, the board recommended sanatorium treatment.
John Mann left the Army on 8 November 1917, after two years and 41 days’ service, during which he exhibited ‘good character’.
John was no doubt suffering from advanced lung disease (almost certainly pulmonary tuberculosis) and it is presumed that he returned home to Gloucester. Whether he received the recommended sanatorium treatment is not known and it is more than likely that his death on 14 November 1918, aged 26, was due to his illness.
He was buried in Gloucester Old Cemetery, where a standard CWGC headstone marks his grave.
On 1 May 1917 John had married Annie Anastasia Clapham at Gloucester. She re-married in 1931, to a man 15 years her senior and died in 1969.
Researched by Graham Adams 15 August 2019