TOPIC:

Steve – an excellent and very appropriately timed post.

The name of William Mobberley will be honoured today in Smethwick as he appears on the Chance Brothers War Memorial there:



Apologies for the small size of the image but from another source I have a large image of the upper third panel from the left:



The last paragraph from this article in the Evening Despatch (a Birmingham newspaper of the day) tells us why he is named on the Chance Brothers War Memorial:



I should also like to point out two names on the bottom right hand panel of the memorial – Sansome & Wattis. Both Old Boys of Holly Lodge High School for Boys which had become Holly Lodge Grammar School for Boys by the time I arrived there. Harold Sansome served in Coastal Command and was drowned on 3rd October 1942 when the Wellington he was co-pilot off had to ditch in the sea near the Canary Islands. Cyril Edward Wattis served in the Royal Armoured Corps and was wounded and taken prisoner during the First Battle of Tobruk. He died of his wounds whilst still in captivity on 23rd November 1941.

David,
Yet another Smethwick connection! Many thanks for posting, the image of William is far better than my blurred effort!

Picture courtesy of Noonan's

QSA (5) Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (Lieut. E. J. L. Evans, Worc: Rgt:)

Edwin James Llewellyn Evans was born in November 1881 and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant into the Worcestershire Regiment in January 1901, being made Lieutenant in March 1902. He was posted as a Squadron Officer to the 8th Cavalry, Indian Army in October 1905 and resigned his commission in April 1907.

Steve (Moranthorse1) - 3 years ago you wrote:

“Having won the QSA to 4295 Corporal F. Calfe and awaiting delivery from Spink, I would like to ask the forum members if anyone knows of the existence of the KSA with the two date clasps named to Calfe with a view to a potential reunite?

Back to Corporal Calfe himself, he recovered from his wound sustained at Slingersfontein as detailed in the SAFF Casualty List. One wonders what nasty incident occurred for him to suffer a fractured spine and suffocation which is listed as the cause of his death on board the ship Staffordshire as it sailed to Liverpool in 1903. Maybe a fall or a crushing injury?

As he died after the war has officially ended he is not listed in Watt (2000). If he was it would most likely state where he was interred or buried at sea.

Could anyone on the forum please suggest where I could have a chance of finding out whether he has a final resting place on land or if he was actually buried at sea?

Many thanks.
Cheers Steve”


I have just realised I have been researching your medalist following finding him listed as a patient at The Portland Hospital in South Africa along with three other 2nd Worcesters wounded in the same action. It would appear his medal has been wrongly engraved as his name was actually Frederick Thomas Callf.

Here he is from cradle to grave. The first the record of his baptism in St Andrew’s Church, Peckham and shows his father was named George. The second his Deceased Soldier’s Effects record which shows he was born in Peckham and his father was called George.





Another record I have found shows the Staffordshire was at latitude 2 degrees 21 minutes N, longitude 11 degrees 47 minutes W when he died, or as shown on the map below. I think this would allow the possibility that he was buried on land when the Staffordshire subsequently stopped for coaling.



I will sort out the dozen records I have downloaded for him and email them to you shortly.

Regards, David.

David,
Firstly, apologies for not responding very quickly to your recent emails and this post. Working long days at the moment, and Christmas etc......

That is an unusual surname, Callf. I wonder from where that originated?

If he was buried in West Africa, I wonder how well this would have been documented, if at all!

Many thanks for providing the map and location of the ship on which he died. It brings the story back to life again after my original post and appeal for information a couple of years ago.

Who were the other 2nd Worcesters wounded at Slingersfontein that you are researching? If you prefer to send me an email with their names if you are at the stage where you would divulge their names, maybe I may know something about them.

Cheers,

Steve

Steve - have just sent you an email with 13 Frederick Thomas Callf related attachments plus some (hopefully) helpful notes.

The surname Callf is thought to be a corruption of the surname Calf with about 40 families in the London area.

The CWGC website shows two Callfs who were killed in action in WW1:

Private 1911 Charles Callf died 24 March 1916 aged 21 whilst serving in 11th Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment. He came from Bethnal Green in London and embarked for France on 31st May 1915. He is commemorated on the Loos Memorial in Dud Corner Cemetery near Lens.

Corporal 9167 Richard Francis Callf died 20 April 1915 whilst serving in 2nd Battalion of the Shropshire Light Infantry. He is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres. No further details are given on the CWGC site but a quick look on Ancestry tells me how also came from Bethnal Green and was 23 when he died.

Almost certainly both shared DNA with your Frederick Thomas Callf. Below you can just make out the name of Richard Francis Callf on the Menin Gate Memorial.