7th (London) Brigade, 18th Battery, Royal Field Artillery

[Guest]

I wonder if there is anyone who can help me.  

 

I'm researching a James Josselyn (Joshlyn) Thomas who was a driver 'embodied' with the 7th (London) Brigade, 18th Battery, Royal Field Artillery from 12 February 1914 until 18 December 1914 when he died in Scrubs Lane, Wormwood Scrubs, north London (service no 1440).  I've tried looking everywhere to find out why he was in Scrubs Lane at that time but have found nothing - not even newspaper reports.  He was born in Battersea in 1893 so was 21 when he died.

 

Does anyone have any ideas?  I'd love to hear some theories!

 

[David Porter]

Welcome to the Forum TOR,

 

Cause of death not given in his surviving service records, so you need to order his death certificate for any further clues. His death was registered in Fulham, so it looks like his body was brought back to barracks there before burial at Wandsworth (where his parents lived). It seems to have been an accident or a case of suicide but, as you say, newspapers reports have failed to materialize. One slight correction to what you have written is that he was not embodied until the outbreak of war.

It is also curious that the CWGC give the date of death as December 21, 1914 whereas all other documentation has the proper date.

Edited 22 December , 2018 by David Porter
Additional information