A/CSM William Derbyshire Mathias

[leibregiment]

Question for Cheshire regiment researchers; What action prior to his discharge would have been subject to gas attack ?

 

Private A/CSM William Derbyshire Mathias; Discharged 8/5/1917 with Gas poisoning, a pre-war postman from Birkenhead; William Derbyshire Mathias was born on February 10, 1882, in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, his father, Alfred, was 32 and his mother, Agnes, was 21. He married Margaret (Maggie) Boyd and they had three children together. He then married Elizabeth Moore in December 1922 in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England. He died on February 24, 1935, in his hometown at the age of 53, and was buried in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

 

[Acknown]

SWB No. 177227 - on Ancestry: click here. He was in 3rd Cheshires when that was issued, which remained in the UK. So perhaps he was posted there when he was returned home with his gas injury, too sick to be deployed again.

MIC: click here. No indication of which battalion he was in, but he arrived France 19 Jul 15, so perhaps he was in 9th (Service) Battalion which landed at Boulogne that day. The battalion was in 58th Brigade, 19th (Western) Division.

To be discharged in May 17, he would have suffered from gas much earlier, possibly months, so it would be near impossible to discover which battle he was in at the time. However, this will tell you what the 19th Division got up to during the war: http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/19th-western-division/ and for the 9th Cheshires WD from Jul 15 to May 17: click here.

Acknown

 

[thetrenchrat22]

During the Great War, the Cheshire Regiment had a Regimental magazine called the Oak Tree.  I’ve looked through the issues from December 1915 to May 1917, I couldn’t see his name. 

 

A look through the The Times newspaper daily casualty list, which should have his name in it

[BillyH]

4 hours ago, leibregiment said:

He died on February 24, 1935, in his hometown at the age of 53, and was buried in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

 

That burial place may have come from a dodgy family tree on Ancestry?

The man who died in Pembrokeshire was William Mathias (no middle name) and he was 83 years old. Apparently he was buried the month before he actually died in Birkenhead!

 

BillyH.

Edited 23 September , 2019 by BillyH

[PRC]

I don't know if the attached extract from the 1935 Probate Calendar adds anything to what you already know.

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=Mathias&yearOfDeath=1935&page=2#calendar

 

I quick google turns up that for a death in that area at the time, the most likely cemetery was that at Flaybrick Hill. That closed circa 1975 but has been taken over by the Friends of Flaybrick Memorial Gardens who work to maintain both the Cemetery and create an urban conservation area. They say they have circa 8,000 memorial inscriptions in a database and for a small fee can investigate that https://flaybrick.org/memorial-inscription-database/

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

 

Edit - given that he died away from his home address there might well be a coroners inquest reported on in local papers which might record where and when the funeral is to take place.

 

 

Edited 23 September , 2019 by PRC
Add note about coroners inquest

[leibregiment]

Gentlemen many thanks, the medal roll has him enlisting in the 9th then briefly as a CSM in the 1st Battalion and back to the 9th....really appreciate your help