Charles Stanley Spencer Palmer

Memorial: Thornbury - Castle School

Regiment: Canadian Infantry

Medals: British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Private 464601

Parents: James Spencer and Amy Palmer

Marital status: Single

Home address: Coronation House, 13 High Street, Thornbury, Bristol

Pre-war occupation: Rancher in Canada

Date of birth: 26/01/1896

Place of birth: Thornbury, Bristol

Date of death: 02/09/1918

Buried/Commemorated at: Vis-En-Artois British Cemetery (Ref. I. D. 3.), Haucourt, Pas-de-Calais, France

Age: 22

Further information:

Wooden Memorial Board.

Charles Stanley Spencer Palmer, known as Charlie, was born in Thornbury in 1896, the son of James Spencer Palmer who was a chemist and dental surgeon. Charlie had two brothers and three sisters. He was educated mainly at home before being admitted to Thornbury Grammar School in September 1909. Charlie left school a year later, aged only 14, to go fruit farming in Canada. He served with the 30th Regiment, British Columbia Horse from May 1912 to May 1914 and, at the time of his attestation, gave his trade as ‘ranching'

On 4th January 1916, about three weeks before his twentieth birthday, Charlie enlisted in Vancouver into the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. He was described in the Attestation Record as being 6 ft 1 inch tall, of fair complexion, with blue eyes and brown hair. He joined 50th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Alberta Regiment). In 1916 the Battalion took part in the Somme Offensive and the operations at Ancre. At some point Charlie came to Thornbury on leave, at the same time as his younger brother, Bob, who was home having enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment that year, aged 18. In 1917 the 50th Canadians saw action at Vimy, Battle of Hill 70, and the Third Battle of Ypres (also known as Passchendaele)

Charlie was home on leave again in January 1918. Bob was reported missing in the spring but a couple of months later his parents received an official card that said he was a prisoner of war in Germany. In the early part of August the 50th Canadians fought at the Battle of Amiens. At the end of that month they were involved in the Second Battle of the Somme, around Arras, and sustained heavy losses. On the morning of 2nd September the Canadians seized control of the strongly defended Drocourt-Quéant Line, a section of the Hindenburg Line, suffering nearly 6,000 casualties that day including Charlie Palmer, who was Killed in Action. Seven Canadians were awarded the Victoria Cross during that operation. The Germans had been forced back to the position from which they had launched their Spring Offensive

Charlie’s grave is in the Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery near Haucourt. These villages were taken by the Canadian Corps in late August 1918. The cemetery was begun immediately afterwards and was used by fighting units and field ambulances until the middle of October. Inscribed on Charlie’s grave are the words chosen by his family. ‘OF THORNBURY, GLOS., ENGLAND. GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS TILL HE COME’. This appears to be an amalgamation of ‘Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends’ (John 15:13) and the first words of the hymn ‘Till he come! O let the words linger on the trembling chords; let the little while between in their golden light be seen; let us think how heav'n and home lie beyond that, Till he come'

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

Thornbury Roots Website, Thornbury and District Museum Research Group, Forces War Records and CWGC