Charles Whitmarsh

Story:
Charles Whitmarsh was born in Melbury Abbas, Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 12th April 1877, the son of Ambrose John Whitmarsh and Maria Whitmarsh (née Lane).  He lived his early life in Melbury Abbas.  He had served in the Army from 1896 until his discharge on 13th March 1906. During this first period of Military Service he had been in India and had been awarded the India Frontier Medal with two clasps.  He married Huldah Amelia Hacker at St. James' Church, Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 23rd October 1906 and moved to Watchet, Somerset.  They went on to have four children.  Charles re-enlisted on 21st December 1914 as a Private with the 1st Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment (Service Nos. 4320 & 8790).  While serving in France & Flanders from 13 May 1915 he was transferred to the Machine Gun Corps (Service No. 3/16372) on 23 Dec 1915; soon after he received a gunshot wound which left him physically unfit for further duty.  He was discharged on 2nd April 1918 and eventually awarded the Victory and British War medals as well as the 1915 Star together with the Silver War Badge No. 361693.   He died in Bath, Somerset, on 29th September 1920.  His brother, Sidney Whitmarsh, also served in the conflict and survived, eventually dying in 1936.