This is the last resting place of Charles Henry Wiltshire, one of 104 war graves here in Radnor Street Cemetery.
Charles was born in 1897, the youngest of ten children. His father William was an engine driver and in 1901 the family lived at 32 Regent Circus. In 1911 the family were living at 57 Eastcott Hill. On the census of that year Mary Ann declared that the couple had been married 32 years and 2 of their 10 children had previously died. She could hardly have anticipated the war that was to follow and the loss of yet another child.
Charles’s service records date from May 1, 1916 when he enlisted as an 18 year old. At the time of his death he was an Air Mechanic First Class in the Royal Naval Air Service.
Charles was invalided out of the Royal Naval Air Service on September 1, 1917. His service records state that he was suffering from tuberculosis caused by his military service. He died on October 16, 1918 at the family home, 39 Commercial Road. He was buried on October 22 in grave plot A2459 and later awarded an official Commonwealth War Graves headstone. He is buried with his father William who had died in 1913 and escaped the fear of seeing his young son in service during war time.
Charles’s mother, Mary Ann, was buried with her husband and son following her death in 1927. The last person to be buried in this grave was Winifred Jessie Wiltshire, William and Mary Ann’s daughter, who died in 1948 following yet another world war.
The story of Charles Wiltshire was remembered at our recent special event at the cemetery.
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Radnor Street Cemetery 