John and Mary Ann Bray Highley and their family (Part 5 - Charles William)

Today's post tells the story of Charles William, the third of the brothers to lose his life in WW1.

Charles William Highley

When Charles William was born in 1889, Ernest Jackson was 10 and John Henry was 12. Before the War his life followed a similar pattern to his older brothers – working in the Cotton Mill as soon as he was old enough, then marrying a local girl and starting a family. The article in The Todmorden Advertiser above says that he was well-known in the district. He married Mary Carr on 20th March 1915 and their daughter Miriam was born in May the following year. Shortly after this Ernest Jackson was killed so Charles William had lost both his two older brothers who had gone to fight in the War.

In September 1916 Charles William applied for an exemption to being called up. A separation allowance was a payment to soldiers who were separated from their family due to serving in the war. He was given an exemption until 30th November that year. The other brother mentioned is Richard who survived the war and is the subject of the next post.

The following January Charles William enlisted in Todmorden with the 15th Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers, known as the 1st Salford Pals.

When Charles William joined the Battalion in France they were fighting in the Somme region, but at the beginning of June they travelled by train to the extreme northern end of the Western Front, on the Belgian coastline at Nieuport. In a book on the Salford Pals the author Michael Stedman said that ‘the area provided the best opportunity for personal cleanliness that anyone could remember. At rest, behind the lines, a brief stroll took the men to the seaside, fishing, bathing and taking the sun.’

But away from the seaside in the frontline trenches there was heavy fighting and Charles William was killed in action on 22nd June.

Charles William was initially buried in a French Military Cemetery but after the war a number of graves were brought in from the battlefield and nearby smaller cemeteries and he was reburied at Ramscappelle Road Cemetery.

The burial return shows that he was identified by a piece of his boot which was stamped with his service no. 27557.

Ramscappelle Road Cemetery, Nieuport

Charles William's gravestone

Charles William was the last of the 3 Highley brothers to die. No two of them served at the same time in France or Belgium and the total time spent abroad between the three of them was only about 11 months.