Elam Woffenden

Memorial: South Gloucestershire war dead not on a local memorial

Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment

Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Silver War Badge, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Private 2362

Parents: Thomas and Elizabeth Woffenden

Marital status: Single

Home address: 13 Lewington Road, Fishponds, Bristol

Date of birth: 1873

Place of birth: Pucklechurch, Bristol

Date of death: 25/01/1915

Buried/Commemorated at: Buried at Brown's Road Military Cemetery, Festubert, Pas de Calais, France. Not commemorated on a local memorial

Age: 41

Further information:

Elam was born at Pucklechurch, the son of a coal miner and a middle child of nine children with six brothers and two sisters. In 1891 Elam was living with his widowed mother and family and working in the boot industry.

In 1895 he enlisted in the Army and served for 16 years. At the time of his enlistment Elam was recorded as being 5’ 5” tall and weighing 9st 7lb with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. During part of his time in the army he had a posting to India. He was discharged in 1911 and would have been called up on the outbreak of war three years later.

Elam was mobilised to France with the 1st battalion in August 1914, landing at Havre where the Division engaged in various actions on the Western Front including the Battle of Mons and the subsequent retreat, the First Battle of Ypres and Winter Operations of 1914-15. By the end of 1914, the Allies and the Germans had established themselves in a line of trenches running from the Channel to the French-Swiss border. Until March 1915, artillery exchanges, sniping and mining operations were the main if not the only activities on the British Expeditionary Force’s (BEF) front, so it is likely that Elam was killed during one of these encounters.
Note: Elam’s first name is incorrectly given on CWGC as Flam

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
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/1915-early-trench-battles