Continuing a series of articles in remembrance of Swindon’s sons who served in two world wars.
Frederick Clarence Whatley was buried in Radnor Street Cemetery on October 16, 1918 but when I discovered his cause of death it raised many questions.
Frederick was born on February 8, 1899, the second son of William George Whatley, a cost clerk in the GWR Works, and his wife Emily, and grew up in the Broad Green area of Swindon. Frederick started work as a Machine Operator in the Locomotive Department of the Works on April 30, 1913, transferring to the Carriage and Wagon Works on February 21, 1914.
Frederick joined the Royal Navy in July 1917 and was assigned to HMS Campania, a seaplane training and balloon depot ship. In March 1918 he was transferred to the RAF and served at No 1 School of Navigation and Bomb Dropping (Stonehenge) as a 3rd Class Air Mechanic.
Frederick died in a diabetic coma on October 12, 1918 at the Fargo Military Hospital. He was 19 years old.
Although diabetes was identified in the 17th century, no effective form of treatment was available until the discovery of insulin in the 1920s. Two Canadian scientists, Frederick Banting and John Macleod, were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1923 and there were many others experimenting on a treatment around the same date. Diabetes is a condition that remains a bar to military service today.
Did Frederick know he had diabetes? Was his condition recognised in 1917 and if so how did he pass a medical? Unfortunately his military records do not survive. The CWGC records state that he died from a chill and family history researchers once believed he died in a flying accident, however, his death certificate tells the true story.
Frederick is remembered on a memorial plaque that was once displayed in the Carriage and Wagon Works and now hangs in Steam Museum.
He is buried in a family grave in Radnor Street Cemetery.
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#MarkSutton
First published on July 27, 2022.
Radnor Street Cemetery 