Oakley John Whitmarsh

Story:
Oakley John Whitmarsh was born on 17 Jul 1891 in Farnham, Dorset. He was the son of William George Coombes Whitmarsh, a Farmer, and Emily Jane Whitmarsh (nee Conway). At the time of the 1911 Census he was single, working as a Farm Labourer and boarding out at Bere Regis, Dorset. His family remained in Farnham, Dorset. He enlisted on 1st September, 1914 as a Private with the 5th Service Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment (Service No. 10576). He was posted to join the Middle East Expeditionary Force in the Dardanelles on 11 Jul 1915 where he was recorded as wounded at Gallipoli on 25 Aug 1915 and finally officially missing presumed killed on 12 Dec 1915.  His date of death was finally given as 21st August, 1915.   He was awarded the Victory and British War Medals as well as the 1915 Star.   His name appears on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey (Panel 136 to 139) as well as the Farnham War Memorial. His mother was in receipt of a dependent's pension.