| Charles Alfred Brooks |
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Captain
11 December 1888, Turleigh, Wiltshire
08 July 1917
29
67 Sqdn. Royal Flying Corps
Jerusalem Memorial, Israel and Palestine (including Gaza)
Son of George and Alice Brooks, nee Evans,
of Windene, Winsley, Bradford-on-Avon.
Previously wounded, twice in France. |
England Census 1901 about Charles A. Brooks and family
Residence: Turley No. 12, Winslay, Wiltshire, England |
| Name |
Relation |
Marital
status: |
Age |
Birth |
Place of Birth |
George Brooks
Alice Brooks
George W. Brooks
Florence A. Brooks
Charles A. Brooks
Evelyn C. Brooks |
Head
Wife
Son
Daughter
Son
Daughter |
Married
Married
Single
Single
Single
Single |
39
39
17
14
13
10 |
abt. 1862
abt. 1862<
abt. 1884
abt. 1887
abt. 1888
abt. 1891 |
Twerton, Somerset
Timsbury, Somerset
Combe Down, Somerset
Westwood, Wiltshire
Winsley, Wiltshire
Winsley, Wiltshire |
Captain Charles Alfred Brooks, formerly of the Wiltshire Regiment was attached to the 67th squadron Royal Flying Corps and then to No. 1 Squadron Australian Flying Corps. He was killed in action near Gaza, 8 July 1917, aged 29.
He was born in Turleigh on 11 December 1888 and before coming of age at 21 had already spent four years at sea as a merchant seaman. On the outbreak of War in 1914, he was granted a special reserve commission in the Wiltshire Regiment. He joined the 2nd Battalion, fighting at Neuve Chapelle between 11th and 13th of March 1915 and received a gunshot wound to his left leg.
Whilst convalescing he decided to join the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), then in its infancy and on 11th September 1915 received his Royal Aero Club Aviators Certificate, number 1947. His training was undertaken at the Military School in Ruislip, Middlesex on a Maurice Farman biplane.
He returned to France where on 1 March 1916 he was again wounded when his aircraft crashed. The RFC's role at this time was reconnaissance reporting back to battalions as to positions that could be subjected to sustained bombardment. After a posting to Egypt where he joined the flying school at Aboukir as an instructor, he joined No 67 (Australian) Squadron. This squadron provided essential air support to the British and dominion armies' advance into Palestine in 1917.
On 8 July 1917, whilst on patrol in a Martinsyde G100 scout single engine, twin winged aeroplane, he was attacked by two German Scout Rumpler aircraft near Gaza. One of these piloted by Vizfeldwebel Willi Kern and Oberleutnant Kurt Jancke dived at Brooks who spun away to avoid the attack and, as he did so, the wings of his aircraft were seen to fold up and the tail to fall off. The German aviator Oberleutnant Gerhardt Felmy who was also involved in the dogfight but had concentrated on Brook's fellow aviator, T. Taylor (who was forced to land and captured), sent a letter two days later to his squadron to say that Captain Brooks had been buried with full Military honours. This seeming incongruity where those who were intent on killing each other would honour the death of their opponents was characteristic of the chivalry of rival aviators; this was a dangerous enough profession as it was with many accidents resulting in death that did not involve dogfights.
The text was published by Linda Brooks on "Winsley at War" |
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| Stanley A. Couldridge |
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| Leslie Leopold Long |
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Private
7982
3rd quart. of 1887
06 October 1914
27
2nd Bn. York and Lancaster Regiment
La Ferte-sous-Jouarre Memorial, France
Son of Albert Thomas and Sarah Long, nee Gobbett. |
England Census 1901 about Leslie L. Long and family
Residence: 66, Victoria Street, All Saints, Ipswich, Suffolk, England |
| Name |
Relation |
Marital
status: |
Age |
Birth |
Place of Birth |
Albert T. Long
Sarah Long
Lillian L. Long
Leslie L. Long
Lawrence L. Long
Lambert L. Long
Leverett L. Long
Leonora L. Long |
Head
Wife
Daughter
Son
Son
Son
Son
Daughter |
Married
Married
Single
Single
Single
Single
Single
Single |
53
43
20
14
11
8
6
Leonora L. Long |
abt. 1848
abt. 1858
abt. 1881
abt. 1887
abt. 1890
abt. 1893
abt. 1895
abt. 1898 |
Wattisfield, Suffolk
Wingfield, Suffolk
Pulham Shrary, Norfolk
Ipswich, Suffolk
Ipswich, Suffolk
Ipswich, Suffolk
Ipswich, Suffolk
Ipswich, Suffolk |
| Alfred Lewis Selfe |
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Private
S4/255942
abt. 1884
04 May 1917
33
"K" Supply Coy. Army Service Corps
Savona Memorial, Italy
Son of the late William and Alice Parish Selfe,
of Bradford-on-Avon. |
| Wilson Frederick Vennell |
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Lance Corporal
14567
abt. 1895
20 May 1916
21
1st Bn. Wiltshire Regiment
Ecoivres Military Cemetery, Mont-St. Eloi, France
Only son of Frederick Joseph and Lily Vennell,
of Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. |
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