Soldier Died of Influenza - Pte Frederick William KING

[taylorsearcher]

A soldier who is buried in my local church graveyard (All Saints, East Hanningfield, Essex)  is listed by the CWGC as having served, initially as No. 7334 in the Lincolnshire Regiment, later transferred to the 667 Coy, Labour Corps, as No. 584426, and dying 13.3.1919, age 43.  There is a Pension Record for him courtesy of the WFA, which concurs with the date of death and cites the cause as being Influenza / Pneumonia.  I am curious as to how / where he may have contracted the illness.  I assume that, as he is formally recorded as a war casualty by the CWGC, he would have been serving at the time - possibly being discharged / invalided out.  There is a civilian record of his death recorded for the Registration District of where he lived, i.e. Chelmsford.  The problem is I cannot find his service record (sadly, as is often the case), but not even his MIC

 

Can anyone suggest where he may have been serving in early 1919 when he contracted the virus ?

 

Unfortunately, as the graveyard is not an official CWGC Cemetery, the grave is in a sorry state.  His wife and daughter lived in East Hanningfield before and during the war, but any relatives have long since moved on.

 

There area  also three other CWGC-recorded graves in the cemetery, relating to soldiers who lived in this village, These graves are in a similarly sad condition. I am hoping that my research into all four soldiers (one was actually in the RAF) will lead to a wider awareness in our village and possibly cleaning up the graves.

 

[alf mcm]

The Register of Soldiers Effects states that Frederick William King died during demob furlo. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/60506/images/42511_6117462_0201-00239?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=f70b5b14816121fb279fcd22a354801a&usePUB=true&_phsrc=bmY41938&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=551621&backurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2Fcgi-bin%2Fsse.dll%3F_phsrc%3DbmY41938%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D60506%26gsfn%3DFREDERICK%20WILLIAM%26gsln%3DKING%26gsfn_x%3D1%26gsln_x%3D1%26cp%3D0%26new%3D1%26rank%3D1%26uidh%3D9y4%26redir%3Dfalse%26msT%3D1%26gss%3Dangs-d%26pcat%3D39%26fh%3D6%26h%3D551621%26recoff%3D%26ml_rpos%3D7%26queryId%3Df70b5b14816121fb279fcd22a354801a

 

From 'No Labour No Battle' by Starling & Lee, 667 Labour Company was an Agricultural Companey, based in Warley.

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

Edited 21 June , 2020 by alf mcm
Labour Company details added.

[ss002d6252]

The war gratuity confirms he was still serving at the time of his death and the effects that he had died during demobilisation furlough leave.

Craig

[Acknown]

I have experience of dealing with War Graves in a sad condition. You might read this CWGC leaflet. War Graves are to be approachable and legible, but responsibility for keeping them so is less easy to determine. In my local parishes, either the parish itself or the local RBL branch take this on. My advice would be to gently approach the parish churchwarden, get her onside and perhaps contact your local RBL branch for support. You should note that the CWGC is able to make an upkeep grant of £10 per year per War Grave for maintenance. Again in my case, CWGC credits either the local RBL branch or the PCC. Details are on their website.

To one church warden, I offered to do the tidying up work and asked for permission to do it. In fact, he turned up to help me!

If the gravestones need cleaning, you might alert the CWCG.

Acknown

[Acknown]

I see that the leaflet link doesn't work. To read it, visit the CWGC website FAQs page: https://www.cwgc.org/about-us/faqs#ukgraves, then click 'UK War Grave Maintenance'. The leaflet states: 'Most sites are owned, operated and maintained by local authorities, churches, private companies or individuals.'

Acknown