BORN: 1892 in Magor, Monmouthshire, Wales.
UNIT: 2nd South Wales Borderers.
DIED: 12 Dec 1915, of Cardiac Dilation in Alexandria Hospital, Egypt, aged 23.
BURIED: Alexandria (Chatby) Military War Memorial Cemetery, Grave A63.
LOCAL CONNECTIONS: Mount Pleasant, Magor, and Cross Cottage, Magor.
Early Life
Edward Henry ‘Harry’ WOOLEY (or WOOLLEY) was born in 1892 in Magor, Monmouthshire Wales. He was the son of Edward WOOLEY and his wife Charlotte (nee HARRIS). His brother Frank George WOOLEY is also listed on the Magor War Memorial. See his story here.
Harry’s father Edward was a Mason from Shepton Mallet, Somerset. He married Charlotte HARRIS from Undy, Monmouthshire in 1881. It seems that Charlotte already had a daughter Annie HARRIS, born in 1877. Charlotte would later call herself Charlotte Eliza and was often recorded as Eliza.
'Mount Pleasant'
In 1901, Harry (aged 9) was with his parents and 3 siblings at ‘Mount Pleasant’, Magor. His father Edward rented the house for £8 per annum. It was advertised for sale later in 1901 as exceptionally well built, having 2 living rooms, 3 bedrooms, a scullery and pantry, a bakehouse with an oven and boiler, and a large underground cistern with a pump. His half-sister Annie HARRIS was not with them. She was brought up by her maternal grandparents in Penhow.
Boy soldier - lied about his age
Harry was already a soldier by the time of the 1911 census. As Private 10103 Henry WOOLLEY, 2nd Battalion South Wales Borderers, he was stationed at Artillery Barracks, Pretoria, South Africa. Harry’s age was listed as 21, but he was actually aged 19. Presumably, he had lied about his age to get into the army. His service number tells us that he enlisted in the second half of 1908 when would have been aged only 16 rather than the required 18 years of age.
Meanwhile, his family, including his brother Frank, still lived in Magor. No address was recorded on their census return, so we cannot tell whether they remained at Mount Pleasant.
In 1912 Harry sailed with the 2nd Battalion SWB from South Africa to China on H.M. Troopship ‘Soudan’. They arrived there on 03 Nov 1912 and were garrisoned at Peking and Tientsin.
Harry and WW1
Tsingtao and Friendly Fire
After WW1 broke out, Harry’s battalion were sent to lay to siege the German port of Tsingtao (now Qingdao) in China. About 1000 SWBs fought alongside Japanese and Sikh soldiers. After a friendly-fire incident, the SWBs were issued with Japanese raincoats so they could be recognised better by Japanese soldiers. The Germans held out for 2 months against sustained attacks. However, the Allies eventually took over the colony on 06 Nov 1914. British losses were light compared to German and Japanese casualties.
Harry then sailed back to the UK via Hong Kong, arriving home on 12 Jan 1915. After two months in Warwickshire, they sailed once more. This time their destination was Alexandria, Egypt, arriving there from Avonmouth on 29 Mar 1915. A month later, Harry was in Gallipoli.
Gallipoli
On 25 Apr 1915 Harry took part in the amphibious attack at Cape Helles on the Gallipoli peninsular. One company of the 2nd SWBs landed at Y Beach, as part of a diversion from the main assault. The remaining 3 companies landed at S Beach. They met almost no resistance and losses were very light. However, the main beaches assaulted by other regiments were bloodbaths.
The British commanders’ plan was to gain a swift victory by taking the forts that guarded the Dardanelles. However, things did not go to plan. The last thing the British wanted was a long, drawn-out stalemate like the one in Flanders. However, this is exactly what they created. Three successive attacks on Krithia between 28 Apr and 04 Jun 1915 all failed to reach Krithia (which was supposed to have been reached on day 1 of the landings). Spring turned to summer and the August battles of Scimitar Hill and Hill 60 also ended with the British having to dig in. They were effectively trapped around the three beachheads.
Terrible Conditions
Harry and his comrades suffered terrible conditions. Extreme weather and unsanitary conditions, combined with poor food, no water, dogged the poorly equipped men, all in an inhospitable terrain. The impact was awful. Bodies were left unburied because of fear of sniper fire. Sickness and disease were rife. Then in December 1915 one of the worst recorded storms hit the peninsula.
Evacuation - too late
With winter on the horizon, General Hamilton had been dismissed and replace by Sir Charles Monro. Talk soon turned to withdrawal. In Dec 1915 the War Office approved the evacuation from Gallipoli. On 11 Jan 1916 the SWBs sailed aboard the SS ‘Scotian’ to Egypt. But this was too late for our Harry. By 19 Jan 1916 the last Allied soldiers had left the peninsula.
The disaster at Gallipoli haunted a young Winston Churchill and became a defining moment in Australia’s and New Zealand’s histories. For our village history, it also took the life of young Harry WOOLEY.
Death and Burial
Harry was taken ill in Dec 1915 and transferred to 19th General Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt. Local medical services were insufficient and Harry, like other sick men, was sent via a hospital ship to a base hospital in Egypt or Malta. In total, over 90,000 British Empire troops were evacuated. However, the survival rate was low and the percentage of men lost to illness at Gallipoli was 3 times that in Flanders.
Harry was treated for 5 days for Cardiac Dilation. Sadly, he died at 7 a.m. on 12 Dec 1915. He had served 7 years in the British Army. Interestingly, his hospital record shows him aged 23 instead of 25. He had deceived the Army about his age to the end.
His Burial
Harry was buried in Alexandria (Chatby) Military Cemetery, Alexandria, Egypt in Grave A.63. His age was correctly recorded as 23.
Medals and Pension
Harry’s back pay of £23 12s 8d was sent to his father Edward WOOLEY at Cross Cottage, Magor on 20 Mar 1916. A further £7 10s War Gratuity was sent 14 Oct 1919.
Harry was awarded ‘the full set’ of 3 campaign medals. The 1914-15 Star, British War, and the Victory medals were nicknamed Pip, Squeak and Wilfred. These were characters in a 1920’s Daily Mirror comic strip that coincided with the issue of the 3 medals. The 1914-15 Star was only awarded to those who served in any theatre of war outside the UK between 5 August 1914 and 31 December 1915. As a recipient of this medal Harry would automatically qualify for the British War and Victory medals.
What happened to his family?
Parents
Harry’s mother Charlotte died in 1930. His father Edward died just before Ethel’s wedding in 1934
Siblings
Annie HARRIS (Half-sister). b. 1877 Penhow, Monmouthshire. She married Henry Richard FISHER, a labourer from High Ham, Somerset, in 1901/2 in the Newport Registration District. They moved to Low Ham, Somerset where they raised their children. Sometime between 1921 and 1939 they moved to Tiverton, Devon. Annie died there in 1956.
Thomas Samuel WOOLEY b. 1882. He emigrated to Canada in May 1907. He married Annie MADIGAN (nee MURPHY) in York, Ontario on 13 Nov 1912. Annie was a widow, originally from Dublin, Ireland. They moved from York to Sarnia, Ontario. There he worked as a Steward, Day Cook and Assistant Secretary of the YMCA. Their deaths were tragic and I have chosen not to publish the details here in case family members are unaware of them. Please contact me if you want the full story.
Fanny WOOLEY b. 1884, Undy. bt. 18 May 1884 Undy, when her parents lived on The Causeway, Undy. She married John MILES in 1903 under the name of Fanny Sarah WOOLLEY. In 1911 they lived in Five Lanes, Monmouthshire. They had 3 children and another 2 had died. In 1939, Fanny and John still lived in Five Lanes. John worked as a munition works labourer. Fanny died in 1959.
Elizabeth Lucy WOOLEY b. 14 Jul 1890, Magor. Emigrated to Canada 29 May 1912, aged 21. She married William Henry WARD in Toronto, Ontario on 28 Sep 1914. He was a Fruit Merchant and also an immigrant from Britain. She died in York, Ontario in 1946 aged 55. She had at least one daughter.
Frank George WOOLEY b. 1895 – see separate post.
Ethel Elsie Mary WOOLEY – b. 1898 in Magor. She married William Henry FRANKLIN from Caerwent on 31 Mar 1934 in Magor parish church. In 1939, they lived in Caerwent where William worked as a Farm Labourer. It appears they had no children. Ethel died in 1984.
Links
Listen to the voices of men who were at Gallipoli here.
Contact me if you want more detail about the sources used or any help finding your ancestors’ stories, military or otherwise.
