The Gunners Who Died in Two World Wars Buried at High Wycombe Cemetery

The Gunners Who Died in Two World Wars – Buried at High Wycombe Cemetery Bombardier Horace Walter ADAMS. Horace Adams was born in 1892 in Portsmouth, the son of John and Emily Adams. His father was an ‘engine room artificer’. Little is known about his early life, but he probably joined the Royal Field Artillery in around 1910, and was therefore a member of the Regular Army when war broke out. He served as a Gunner in the 2nd Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery and was subsequently promoted to the rank of Bombardier, with service number 57651. Possibly he was wounded in action and after recovering was posted to the RFA in High Wycombe. He died on December 7th 1918 in the VAD hospital from ‘’Influenza 10 days and Pneumonia 6 days’’. Gunner James Ernest Bussey James Bussey was born on December 22nd 1915, the son of James William and Emily Bussey nee Wright, who had married at Bishops Auckland in Durham in the summer of 1911. His father was a coal miner, but James became a steel-works labourer and married Betty Harris at Darlington in the winter of 1938. In April 1939 James and Betty were living at 6 Brunton Street in Darlington. By that time his father been widowed and was living at 272 Bowerdean Road, High Wycombe. He was a ‘heavy labourer, general works’, with him was another son Thomas, who was a ‘wood machinist’ and a daughter Lilian. During the war James junior served with the 144th Battery in the 35th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, service number 1545630. This Regiment was formed in Oxford on September 2nd 1939, and recruitment for the 144th Battery began in December. By the end of the year, most of the batteries were manning vital points sprawled over the Southern Counties. Early in 1940, the Regiment was reduced to three Batteries: 78th, 89th and 144th. The Regimental Headquarters were at Black Hall, St Giles, Oxford until the movements started, which culminated at Middlesbrough and mobilisation for service abroad. It is not known exactly when or where James Bussey enlisted. It could have been at Oxford or after the Regiment had moved to Middlesbrough, particularly as he was then living in Darlington. The Regiment embarked on the luxury liner the Empress of Japan at Greenock and sailed down the Clyde on 13th November 1941 in convoy. They were bound for South East Asia to assist in the defence of Singapore but James could not have been with them. He was subsequently discharged with an Army pension as medically unfit. He died at the home of his father in High Wycombe on February 8th 1943 from tuberculosis. His funeral was held at All Saints parish church on February 13th 1943. At least James was spared the fate of his erstwhile colleagues in the 35th Regiment. They were captured and suffered terribly at the hands of the Japanese. Gunner Thomas Frederick Carey Thomas Frederick Carey was born on June 19th 1907 in Hackney, London the son of George and Elisa Carey. He married Hilda Louisa Dean in Islington in the summer of 1936 and the couple moved to Watford shortly afterwards, where they had two children; David in 1937 and Anne in 1938. They then moved to High Wycombe and in 1939 were living at 76 Herbert Road and Thomas was working as a bus conductor. Later they moved to 126 Chapel Lane in Sands, a village between High Wycombe and West Wycombe. At some time in WWII, it is not known exactly when, Thomas enlisted in the Royal Artillery, Service No. 11055173. Nothing is known about his military service but, probably in 1943, he was diagnosed with lung cancer, and discharged from the Royal Artillery. Later that year he was hospitalised in the Emergency Hospital at Amersham, where he passed away on December 16th 1943, aged just 36. The cause of death was stated as ‘’1.Carcinoma of Lung with multiple secondary carcinoma. II. Nephritis’’, the latter being inflammation of the kidneys. A second daughter Marion was born after Thomas’s death in the early months of 1944. Gunner Arthur Frank Darvill Arthur Darvill was born in High Wycombe in the early months of 1916, the son of Arthur and Daisy Darvill, nee Smith. Arthur junior, who worked as a machinist for the Wycombe furniture company of Frank Williams, joined the Wycombe Territorials and had a daughter Mary who was born in 1939. In 1942 Arthur enlisted as a Gunner in the 123rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment of the Royal Artillery, service number 11405241, and served in the 408th Batteryin 1937. He married Dorothy May Paull at Wycombe later the same year. The couple lived at 289 Bowerdean Road in Wycombe. He was based in Colchester and was a passenger in an Army motor lorry when it overturned. He died on July 6th 1944 in a military hospital, eight days after the accident. The cause of death was ‘’inter-cranial haemorrhage due to a fracture at the base of the skull’’. A colleague, Gunner George Rowley, also died in the accident. Arthur’s body was brought back to High Wycombe, the funeral taking place on July 13th at All Saints parish church. Gunner Kenneth Michael Harper Kenneth Michael Harper was born on September 23rd 1919 in High Wycombe. In 1939 he was living with his grandparents William and Jane Harper at 75 Richardson Street in Wycombe. He had followed his grandfather by becoming a chair maker. Early in WWII Kenneth enlisted in the Army and was posted to the Royal Artillery, 4th Medium Regiment. In June 1940 this Regiment returned from service in France with the British Expeditionary Force and for the next 2 years or so was stationed ‘at Home’. Early in 1941 Kenneth was billeted at Minty’s Mill, Christchurch Rd, Ringwood in Hampshire. On February 3rd he took a gun and shot himself in the head. The Coroner Percy B Ingoldby recorded the cause of death as ‘A gunshot wound to the head and I say that the deceased did kill himself whilst the balance of his mind was disturbed.’ There was no post mortem. Kenneth was 21 years of age.

Warrant Officer Charles Abner Hawes Charles Hawes was born in 1903, the third child of Alfred and Cecilia Hawes. The family lived at 64 Edward Road, Croydon, Surrey, and Alfred was a ‘house painter’. The couple went on to have at least seven children. Charles joined the Regular Army, service number 1018385, and served in the 394th Battery of 99th (The Royal Bucks Yeomanry) Field Regiment. In April 1933, he was posted to High Wycombe as a permanent staff instructor in the Artillery and became a Battery Sergeant Major. In the spring of 1937 Charles married Rosina Maud Mealing at High Wycombe. He was then transferred to the Drill Hall Taplow and the couple lived at Fleet in Hampshire. On September 27th 1939 he died in Newbury Hospital. The cause of death was peritonitis following appendicitis. His body was brought back to High Wycombe and buried in the cemetery on Monday September 30th. It was the first funeral with military honours to take place in the town since WWII began and took place at All Saints parish church.

Gunner William Arthur Massey William Arthur Massey was born in the Spring of 1895 in the small village of Chetton, which is near Bridgnorth in Shropshire. He was the son of John and Sarah Massey, who had married a year earlier. His father was a farmer. After completing his education, William worked as a ‘domestic groom’, continuing to live with his parents and siblings. He enlisted at Wolverhampton shortly after the start of the Great War, service number 83973, and was posted to ‘B’ Battery of the 97th Battery of the Royal Field Artillery. Early in 1915 he arrived in High Wycombe, and was billeted in the barracks in Barracks Road near the bottom of Marlow Hill to undergo training. After only a couple of weeks William contracted bronchial pneumonia and on February 9th he was admitted to the Wycombe VAD Hospital. Unfortunately, Gunner Massey died on February 20th. Although he had not seen active service he was accorded full military honours at the funeral at All Saints parish church in the afternoon of February 23rd 1915. The coffin covered in a Union Jack was borne on a gun carriage and six of his colleagues officiated as bearers. The chief mourner was his mother, who was accompanied by Gunner Massey’s colleague Mr G Bracey, with whom he shared a billet. Trumpeters and a firing party accompanied the funeral cortege to the burial at the cemetery in Priory Road. The route to the cemetery was lined by hundreds of people, many of whom were in tears. Gunner William George Page William George Page was born in Henley in Oxfordshire in c.1890, but was a member of an old Wycombe family. His father, also William George, and grandfather carried on the business of bakers in Shaftesbury St. for over 20 years in the late 1800s/early 1900s. William enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery at Hounslow in 1908, service number 35237. Little is known about his military service except that he was wounded in action in April 1916. He was evacuated to Dublin Castle Red Cross Hospital where it was found necessary to amputate one of his legs. Unfortunately, complications arose after this operation and William passed away on Thursday October 8th 1916. His father was present when he died and accompanied his body back to England. Full military honours were given as the cortege passed through Dublin City. Back in High Wycombe the body of Gunner Page was conveyed to the Borough Police Mortuary to await the funeral on October 12th. The funeral service was held at All Saints parish church, with semi-military honours. The Royal Field Artillery in Wycombe supplied the gun carriage, bearers, trumpeters, and a firing party at the cemetery. Three volleys were fired over the grave and the Trumpeters sounded ‘’The Last Post’’. Gunner Leslie Harold Pratt Leslie Harold Pratt was born on November 10th 1905 at Cuckfield in Sussex. In 1911 he was living in the household of his grandfather James Pratt, who farmed at Tanyard Farm in Cuckfield. In the autumn of 1928 he married Ivy Mills in the High Wycombe area. By 1939 they had moved to the Greyhound Public House in Burchetts Green near Maidenhead, where Ivy was the licensee. They had one child and Leslie was a master plasterer. Nothing is known about Leslie’s military service in the second world war except that he was serving in the 70 Anti-Tank Regiment of the Royal Artillery based on the Isle of Wight when he sustained a massive stroke. He died on March 15th 1944 in the IoW County Hospital. He was 38 years of age. Private George Alfred Priest George Alfred Priest was a native of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The only son of Francis and Mary Priest, he was born on December 4th 1894. His father was a corn merchant and the family lived at 11 Pauls Row in Wycombe. For 3 years George attended the Royal Grammar School, before becoming a pupil at a boarding school in Margate. In 1911 he assisted his father in the family business, before it was decided that he should gain a wider experience. He therefore joined a large firm of corn merchants and spent time in their premises in Surbiton and Colchester. George enlisted in the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) at Armoury House, the London home of the HAC in early November 1915, and was posted to the Infantry Section at Richmond Hill in Surrey. He returned home to visit his parents on a weekend-leave on December 11th, when it was said that he was in perfect health. However, the following Friday, back in his billets, he became ill and was taken unconscious to the Richmond Military Hospital. His uncle Mr Fred Langley remained at his bedside and he was twice visited by his parents. He passed away at 11.30 pm on Sunday December 19th 1915, the cause of death being cerebrospinal meningitis. His body was returned to High Wycombe and he was afforded a semi-military funeral in the afternoon of Thursday December 23rd. The HAC provided a firing party and the Royal Field Artillery at Wycombe made available a gun carriage drawn by a team of six black horses. In most of the business premises along the route of the cortege had drawn their blinds. At the cemetery the oak coffin was placed in a grave lined with ivy. Gunner Arthur Frederick Taylor Arthur Frederick Taylor was born in about 1920, the only son of Arthur and Annie Taylor. They lived at 201 Gordon Road, High Wycombe. Arthur junior became Chief Operator at the Majestic Cinema in Castle Street, before moving to the Palace Theatre in Frogmoor. He enlisted in the Royal Artillery at the start of the second World War, service number 1532621, and joined the 277nd Battery of the 68th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment. In 1940 the Battery manned the heavy anti-aircraft battery at Clifton, which was armed with four 3.7- inch static guns. At the end of January 1941 Arthur ‘lost his life as the result of enemy action’. It is now known precisely how this happened. His body was transported back to High Wycombe for burial in the cemetery. The funeral was held at All Saints parish church, when six colleagues from the Royal Artillery acted as pall-bearers. Driver Vincent George Wilkes Wilkes was born in May 1894 in Flackwell Heath, a village near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. His parents were George Henry & Eliza Emily nee Why, who had a large family of 11 children, 3 of whom died at a young age. The family were staunch Methodists, who worshipped at Vincent George the Wesleyan chapel in Flackwell Heath. In 1901 the family were still living in Flackwell Heath, but with Eliza’s widowed father John Why. Vincent’s siblings were William, Albert, Edward, Henry, Ernest, Bertha and Sydney. Ernest also died in WW1 and he too is remembered on the War Memorial at Flackwell Heath. It is known that as a youngster Vincent had a bicycle accident, causing head injuries, which resulted in him suffering from epileptic fits. After leaving school he worked as a ‘chauffeur’! The family were living at Orchard View, Flackwell Heath, when Vincent travelled to Newport in the Isle of Wight to enlist on 8th December 1914. He was 5’ 5” tall, but did not declare his epilepsy. Having been posted to the 8th Battalion Hampshire Regiment, service number 2064, Vincent was discharged on 23rd April 1915 after only 137 days. The reason was because of his epilepsy. However, it is known that subsequently Vincent joined the Royal Field Artillery, service number 10793, although nothing is known about his service in the Regiment. Probably he was conscripted when this was introduced in 1916. He later transferred to the Labour Corps, service number 440097, where he served as a Driver. This despite his epilepsy. It is known that Vincent was still serving in 1918, as his name appears in the Bucks Absent Voters List in the Electoral Register for that year. However, he became a victim of the virulent ‘Spanish Flu’ epidemic which swept through Europe in 1918/19 and was admitted to the Red Cross War Memorial Hospital, Marlow Road, Maidenhead. His condition deteriorated and he passed away on February 20th 1919, with the cause death being stated as ‘’(1) Influenza, 6 days (2) Pneumonia’’. As a Methodist (ie a ‘non-conforming’ religion at that time) he was buried in un-consecrated land in High Wycombe Cemetery.