Lance Sergeant Carl Radford


Service Army Service No. 14757
Rank Lance Sergeant
Regiment:Gloucestershire Regiment, 12th Battalian
Date of Birth: 1896
Born Dawlish 		Date of Death: 03/09/1916
Memorial: Dawlish Memorial Inscription RADFORD C. L/SERGT. GLOUC.REGT

Service History

Carl Radford is recorded as enlisting at Weston-super-mare and entering France on the 21st November 1915.
It is likely that he was killed in one of the assaults in the Battle of the Somme which started on 1 July 1916. The cemetery ay Guillemont would connect him with that particular action.
His rapid progress to Lance Sergeant at the age of 20 suggests a capable soldier, or rapid depletion of NCOs in his regiment.

Association with Dawlish

Carl Radford was the fourth son of Henry Radford (1864-1934) and Mary Ann Matthews (1864-1964). Henry was born in Dawlish to Richard and Elizabeth Radford who lived in Church Street, Dawlish (1871 census). Richard had been an agricultural labourer and his wife a “washerwoman.”

Henry Radford became a “mason” (1901) and then a “plasterer”(1911) and their four children, born in Dawlish, survived to adulthood; Stanley (1889-1965), Claude (1891-1962), Percy (1892-1974) and Carl (1896-1916). By 1911 the parents had been married 23 years and were living at Swan Cottage, Dawlish. (Warren family tree)
Devon Roll of Honour Radford, Carl L/Sgt Gloucester Regt 3rd Sept 1916 France
Additional Information Commonwealth War Graves Site


Next of Kin: Henry Radford, father. UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects shows that Death grant of £8.5s.3d and the War Gratuity of £10 were paid to his mother, Mary, Sole Legatee.
Last Known Address: Swan Cottage, Dawlish


Gloucestershire Regiment badge
Headstone Carl Radford Guillemont Cemetery
Guillemont Road cemetery, north east of Albert, Picardy
Guillemont Cemetery, Picardy, May 2016

Battle of Guillemont

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Warren Family tree (Ancestry)