Charles Western

Memorial: South Gloucestershire war dead not on a local memorial

Regiment: Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry

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

Rank and number: Private 9519

Parents: John and Caroline Western

Home address: Whiteway, St George, Bristol. (1901 Census)

Date of birth: 1892

Place of birth: Kingswood, Bristol

Date of death: 22/11/1915

Buried/Commemorated at: No known burial site. Commemorated at Basra Memorial, Iraq. Not commemorated on a local memorial

Age: 23

Further information:

Charles was born in Kingswood the son of a shoemaker and a middle child of ten children with five brothers and four sisters. In 1901 the family were living at Whiteway, St George, Bristol.

Charles enlisted in the Army in Bristol, and his battalion (the 1st) was deployed to Mesopotamia in November 1914 where they fought in the Mesopotamian Campaign. Charles was killed in action during the Battle of Ctesiphon (22 November 1915 – 25 November 1915) which was a victory for the Ottoman Empire, at a cost to the British of 4,600 casualties. Charles' body was never found and the Basra Memorial where he is remembered, commemorates more than 40,500 members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the operations in Mesopotamia from the Autumn of 1914 to the end of August 1921 and whose graves are not known.

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/
Some information supplied by Kingswood Heritage Museum