Staff Sergeant Charles William Cowper MM
7th Field Ambulance AAMC AIF
by Robert Simpson
Charles William Cowper was born in the parish of St George in Edinburgh Scotland on 12th January 1881 at 7.10 am in 11 Scotland St, which was his parent’s home. His parents were James Beattie Cowper and Catherine N MacKintosh who had been married on 4th September 1868 in Scotland. On the census from 1871 to 1901 James’s occupation was merchant, grocer and wine merchant, and then grocer until his death in 1909. James’s father, William, had been a Schoolmaster in Logie Pert parish, Angus. Catherine had been a dressmaker before her marriage. Her father, John, had been a Church Officer. Charles was one of seven children to James and Catherine, the third of four brothers and the second youngest. In the 1871 census they were living at 10 Dublin St. Edinburgh St. Mary and also for the 1891 census. In the 1881 census they were living at 11 Scotland St. and by the 1901 census they were living at 59 Comely Bank Rd. Edinburgh. James passed away in 1909 at St. George Edinburgh. In the 1891 census Charles was listed as a scholar and in the 1901 he was still living with his parents and was a brewer’s clerk.
On 27th April 1903 he attested with the Royal Army Medical Corps as Private 4 with the Royal Army Medical Corps Militia Scottish District Company and signed on for 6 years with them. The form stated he was born in St. Cuthbert Edinburgh and was currently living at 88 88 Newhaven Road Leith where he worked as a Clerk at a business in Newhaven. He had not been an apprentice. He listed previous service with the Queens Rifle Volunteer Brigade, Royal Scots with time expired. They were a part of self-supporting companies that were raised in the mid 1800’s. Listed on the form as next of kin were his father James B Cowper at 13 Grosvenor Terrace Glasgow, which seems a bit odd as for the rest of his life he lived in Edinburgh after his marriage. His brother James was also mentioned, but the handwriting is so poor that his address is unreadable. Charles had completed 90 days drill on 23rd April 1903 and passed the class at Depot RAMC at Aldershot on the same date. His description was apparent age 23 years, height 5 foot 6 inches, weight 142 pounds, chest measurement 32 to 35 inches, fresh complexion with brown eyes and dark brown hair. His religious denomination was Presbyterian and had 4 vaccination scars on his left arm with no other marks. An officer noted “I consider the man suitable for the RAMCM”. He was considered fit by other officers and appointed on the 30th April. There is nothing else noted about his time with them. He purchased his discharge from them on 15th February 1904. What brought him to Australia in not known, but on 18th August 1912 he departed Glasgow, bound for Sydney on the Warilda. He arrived in Sydney in October 1912. Where he went after that and what he did is not known. There is a Charles William Cowper in the 1913 Electoral Roll in Gayndah as a farm hand on Cedar Farm, Mount Debatable which could be him; but by 1915 he was in Toowoomba and working as a clerk.
On 17th April 1915 Charles attested as Private 3560 in the 7th Light Horse Field Ambulance, A Section, Bearer Sub Division. He enlisted in Toowoomba where he was working as a clerk and stated his age as 34 years and 4 months. He listed previous service as three years with the Queens Rifle Volunteer Brigade (Royal Scots) and he had been discharged due to completion of term of embodiment. No mention of his time with the RAMCM or purchasing his discharge. His description was height 5 foot 6.25 inches, weight 140 pounds, chest measurement 34 to 35.5 inches, of dark complexion with brown eyes and dark brown hair. His religious denomination was Presbyterian. He had a T shaped scar on the right side of his abdomen. His pay-book number was 196725. Next of kin was listed as his Mother, Catherine Cowper, 59 Comely Bank Rd. Edinburgh Scotland. They embarked on HMAT Acsanius A11 on 24th May 1915 from Brisbane. He proceeded to join the M.E.F. at Gallipoli on 4th September 1915.
Charles was promoted to wagon orderly Corporal Temporary on 17th November 1915. They disembarked from the Minnewaska at Alexandria on 10th January 1916 after being evacuated from Gallipoli. With the 7th Field Ambulance on 14th March 1916 he embarked for overseas at Alexandria on the Minneapolis and disembarked at Marseilles on the 19th. On 2nd April 1916 his rank of Corporal pack storekeeper was confirmed at Fort Romfu, France. He was temporarily to be Sergeant general duties on 31st May 1916 and was then confirmed with the rank of Sergeant on 18th July.
On 17th June 1916, while with the 7th Field Ambulance he was recommended for the Military Medal with the entry reading, “3560 Cpl. (temp. Sgt.) Charles William COWPER for constant and unfailing devotion to duty as a bearer, Gallipoli Peninsula from 13.9.15 until evacuation”.
In the London Gazette of 27th October 1916, page 10486, position 57 has “His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to award the Military Medal for bravery in the field to the undermentioned Non-Commissioned Officers and men- 3560 Sjt. C. W. Cowper, Aust. A.M.C”. His mother was sent a letter on 25th April 1917 citing the above information about him being awarded the Military Medal.
On 8th November 1916 he was sent to the Casualty Rest Station, being sick. He was admitted to the 1st Australian General Hospital on the 10th with debility and constipation and was transferred to a couple of hospitals in England on 14th November 1916 with debility and discharged to duty on the 25th. A note indicated he left his unit on 8th November with constipation, giddiness and headaches and now felt weak, with the headaches and giddiness improved. He was readmitted on 13th December with occasional giddiness and was graded B1. He spent most of the rest of 1917 in England and was sent to Rouelles in France, where he arrived on 3rd January 1918. He was transferred to the 6th Field Ambulance. His company conduct sheet was clear. He was taken on strength of the 6th Field Ambulance on the 5th. On the 9th July 1918 he was admitted to the 6th Field Ambulance, the 5th Casualty Clearing Station and then the 1st Australian General Hospital at Rouen with a Ventral Hernia. He was sent to Havre on the 24th and then to England on the 8th August.
Charles was listed as permanently unfit for general service but fit for home service on 16th August 1918 at 1 Group Monte Video Camp A.M.C., No. 2 Australian Command Depot at Weymouth by Colonel Newmarch. His medical chart show he had a ventral hernia prior to enlistment, which caused acute peritonitis in April 1909. He had an operation on it which left the T shaped scar. The hernia and scar was painful and he was graded at C1. He was sent to Tetbury from the hospital in Weymouth for duty at the Australian Field General Hospital on 21st September 1918. On 14th December he was promoted to temporary Staff Sergeant.
In January 1919 he gave his address to the army as c/o Mrs Taysum, Market Place, Tetbury, Gloucestershire. A Medical Certificate issued on 5th March 1919 by Colonel Bernard Newmarch and Major Edgar Stephen stated the Charles was suffering from a ventral hernia. He had a history of acute peritonitis in 1909 for which an urgent abdominal section was performed. It was first noticed in October 1915 when he was carrying a stretcher. They noted there was a small ventral hernia at the lower end of the vertical scar and it was the result of weakness in the scar tissue, aggravated by strain and stress. They said he was not the cause of it and it was present since October 1915. They recommended he was partially incapacitated from work for a period of 6 months and lost 20% of his earning power. He was discharged from the 6th Field Ambulance, Australian Imperial Force on 6th March 1919 from their London office on behalf of the Director-General of Repatriation and Demobilisation, being discharged in consequence of being medically unfit. Charles was issued with a Silver War Badge, number A14404, after signing for it and was entitled to four blue Chevrons for overseas service but no wound distinctions. He served for 3 years and 324 days. His description was the same, with his age being 39 years and 1 month. He received all his active and deferred pay over 43 pounds on that day, signed for it and his parchment of discharge was number A601, which he received.
He married Ada Taysum in June 1919. Ada Redding was born in July 1866 in Gloucestershire to James Redding and Emma Jenkins. She had originally married Ernest William Walker in 1889 and had two children to him, Reginald Ernest in 1890 and Alec James in 1899. In the 1891 and 1901 census they lived in Cirencester, Gloucestershire and Ernest was listed as a printer or printer-compositor. Presumably it was that occupation which lead to his early death on 24th December 1909. He was buried in Chesterton Cemetery on 29th December 1909. Ada then married Harry Taysum in April 1911 in Tetbury, after she had moved there and opened a tobacco shop which she ran in Market Place. Harry had been born in 1873 in Stroud. Harry Joined the Gloucestershire Hussars or Yeomanry as Private 1985 in 1914 and was posted to Egypt, landing there on 24th April 1915. They were sent to Gallipoli, where he died of wounds on 12th October 1915. He is buried at Lala Baba Cemetery at Suvla. It looks like Ada did not get his medals, with a note on his Medal Index Card requesting instructions re the disposal of medals in 1920.
One of Ada’s sons from her first marriage also served in World War 1. Reginald Ernest Walker was born in 1890 in Cirencester. He joined on 7th March 1917 as Private 59059 in the Infantry Labour Company Devon Regiment and was transferred to unit 175 Labour Corps as Private 104816. He married in 1918. He was discharged on 10th February 1919. His occupation was listed as a hairdresser. He was entitled to the British War and Victory medals.
Charles and Ada continued to live in Tetbury where Ada ran her tobacco shop, now at 3 Church St. She was listed in various Directories in 1923 and 1925 at that address as a tobacconist. His mother passed away on 26th March 1926, still at 59 Comely Bank Road. On 3rd August 1938 Ada passed away in Cirencester. Probate for his will states “COWPER Ada of 18 Tower-street Cirencester Gloucestershire (Wife of Charles William Cowper) died 3 August 1938 Probate Gloucester 12 September to Midland Bank Executor and Trustee Company Limited. Effects 665 pounds 10 shillings and 9 pence.” This must have been a blow to Charles, and with his ill-health, took its’ toll, as on 23rd February 1939 he committed suicide.
The following newspaper articles give some insight to his last years in England:-
- From Western Daily Press 24/02/1939
Tetbury Man Found Dead At Home
Mr Charles William Cowper, who until recently was in business as a tobacconist at Tetbury, has been found dead in a gas-filled room at his home in Tower Street, Cirencester. His wife died a few weeks ago. (Not strictly correct, it was August 1938). Mrs and Mrs Cowper sold their business at Tetbury and opened a boarding-house at Cirencester. Mr Cowper served with the Australian Forces during the War, and later was stationed at the Australian Flying Corps aerodrome at Leighterton, near Tetbury. He was about 55 years of age, and lately had had an acute attack of influenza.
- Western Daily Press 27/02/1939
Man’s Gas Death
Cirencester Story of Ill-Health
Fight To Save Him
A two-hours’ fight in an endeavour to save a man’s life was described at an inquest at Cirencester this afternoon on Charles William Cowper, aged 53, of Tower-street, who was found dead in a gas-filled bedroom at his home last evening. A verdict of suicide while his mind was temporary unbalanced was returned. It was revealed by Frederick William Angell, a butcher, of Sheep-street, Cirencester, brother-in-law of deceased, that Mr Cowper wrote a letter in which he stated his intention to take his life. (He married Ada’s sister, Matilda Ann). Mr. Angell said his brother-in-law had undergone an operation two years ago and had since been in ill-health. He saw him on February 20, when he was feeling unwell and depressed. Graham Jack Brooks, a chemist, who lodged with Mr. Cowper, said that he last saw him at lunch. Mr. Cowper said he intended to take a hot bath and go to bed.
Warning Note
Gordon Douglas-Jones, another lodger, said he went home at 4.55p.m. and found a note awaiting him in which Mr. Cowper warned him not to go upstairs because of gas, and suggested that the police should be sent for. Mr. Douglas-Jones said he went to find Mr. Brookes, and together they went by car to the police station and then back to the house. D.C. A. Owner, who returned with them, said that Mr. Cowper was lying in bed with clothes over his head. A flexible tube nine feet long attached to a gas fire led under the bedclothes to a point near the man’s head. Cotton wool had been placed beneath the door, and the flu of the chimney was closed. The body was still warm, and with assistance of Dr. J. E. Winter, other police officers, and ambulance men, artificial respiration was tried for two hours without success. D.C. Owner added “I took possession of several letters addressed to friends and relatives. They all referred to the fact that the deceased was about to take his life.” Dr. Winter mentioned that in addition to artificial respiration he gave injections and used an oxygen cylinder. Death was caused by carbon monoxide due to coal gas poisoning.
- Western Daily Press 27/02/1939
That death was due to coal gas poisoning, self-administered, whilst his mind was unbalanced, was the verdict returned at an inquest held at Cirencester on Charles William Cowper, of Tower Street, Cirencester, formerly of Tetbury. It was stated that Cowper had been suffering from influenza and was depressed.
The 1st Training Wing of the Australian Flying Corps had its’ headquarters based in Tetbury by 1918. Presumably as Charles was there in a medical capacity, this would explain how he met Ada. After the war he must have become a Special Constable. A Special Constable has all the legal powers of their regular counterparts when on and off duty, but at the time Charles was one, their powers were restricted to within their force areas and neighbouring forces only. They were also generally unpaid. Their uniform was generally identical to their regular colleagues, with additional insignia to identify them. To receive the Queen’s Medal for Long Service, he had to complete nine years’ service with a minimum of fifty tours of duty for each year and be recommended by a chief officer of Police.
He was buried in Chesterton Cemetery Gloucestershire on 25th February 1939.
His medals are the Military Medal, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal and Silver War Badge. He also has a Special Constabulary Long Service Medal.
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