Charles Durnell

Memorial: Littleton-Upon-Severn - St Mary's Church

Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment

Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Silver War Badge, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Private 7736

Parents: Enos and Emma Durnell

Marital status: Married

Home address: Home Address: Littleton-upon-Severn Lived: 23 Parry Street, Tylorstown (Rhondda), Glam

Pre-war occupation: Mason’s Labourer

Date of birth: 1886

Place of birth: Littleton-upon-Severn

Date of death: 02/11/1914

Buried/Commemorated at: No known burial site. Commemorated on Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial West-Vlaanderen, Belgium and on St Mary’s Littleton-Upon-Severn Memorial.

Age: 27

Further information:

Charles was born in Littleton-upon-Severn the son of a brickyard engine driver and a middle child of nine with one sister and seven brothers. Charles’s first job was as a brickyard labourer, probably at the Cattybrook brickworks, whilst living in Littleton. He later moved to Glamorgan, where he worked above ground at the colliery. Charles married Beatrice Lily Charlotte Lidiard in 1909 in Pontypridd and together they had two daughters Phyllis born in 1910 and Lucinda born in 1912.

Charles’s battalion (the 1st Glosters) mobilised to France on 23rd August 1914 and fought in various actions on the Western Front including the Battle and Retreat from Mons, the Battle of the Marne and the Battle of the Aisne. Charles survived for only two months at the front before he was listed as missing in action. He was subsequently presumed killed in action during the First Battle of Ypres (19 Oct 1914 – 30 Nov 1914) the result of which was indecisive at a cost of 58,000 casualties. Charles’s body was never identified and the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, where he is remembered, bears the names of more than 54,000 soldiers who died in Belgium and have no known grave.

By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):

This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/