Pte Douglas Benham - and Cpl William Ogden, CEF, buried Orcheston churchyard

[Moonraker]

My walk yesterday took me into Orcheston St Mary Churchyard, near Tilshead on Salisbury Plain, where I noted two graves of members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force who'd died in late 1914.

One I was familiar with: Cpl William Ogden, who'd been killed by a gunshot accidentally fired by Pte Gavin Wilson from a rifle into which Ogden had mistakenly inserted a live cartridge. The other was Pte Douglas Benham, whose grave was rather grander.  His attestation papers gave his job as "gentleman", which intrigued me enough to Google and find out this from the Clapham War Memorials website. He left £4,750.02 - worth about £459,420 today. I wonder how he amassed so much money. (That's a rhetorical question, BTW, I'm merely posting because I thought this interesting.)

Edited 24 June by Moonraker

[Allan1892]

1 hour ago, Moonraker said:

I wonder how he amassed so much money.

Looking at his service papers, I find that the cause of death was 'Heart Failure'

His Attestation describes him as a 'Gentleman' - however, further reading of his file, on his medical history sheet (page 27 of 32) his occupation is shown as a 'Broker'

[Moonraker]

Well done for spotting that - I didn't. When LAC introduced its present format for consulting personnel records, I was one of those who groaned and moaned, especially about the "letter-box" presentation of the service records. I still find the website non-intuitive.

[corisande]

5 hours ago, Moonraker said:

He left £4,750.02 - worth about £459,420 today

 

His father, a manufacturing ironmonger, died in 1899 and left £15,000

But there was a wife and 5 children (including Douglas)

Difficult to know how the father left the money

His mother died in 1906 and left £2500

So all things being equal - each of the children got £3500 to £4000

And that would be how Douglas got his wealth

[Moonraker]

Interesting, Corisande, thanks. Douglas was not the only wealthy member of the CEF. An article in The Times of 28 November 1914 mentioned that 'Practically every gunner and a number of drivers' in the 2nd Artillery Brigade's 5th Battery were said to have been earning from $1,200 to $3,500 a year before enlisting.. It was unfortunate that a report copied in the Wiltshire Advertiser in late October from the Daily Chronicle commented on the relative wealth of the Canadians, noting that the $1.25 or 4s 7d daily pay of a private contrasted with the quarter of that amount paid to a British soldier. With little opportunity to spend money at Valcartier (the CEF's mustering camp)  and on the transatlantic voyage, some Canadians had accumulated two months' pay. On the first pay-day in Britain some are said to have been paid in gold (sovereign coins, presumably). Nor can matters have been helped when the Salisbury Times noted that 'some [Canadians] are reported to have "come over" with hundreds, and some with thousands, of dollars in their inner treasuries'. The Canadians hobnobbed with their British counterparts and treated them to drinks, but the flaunting of newly exchanged pound notes sometimes provoked bloody fights.

 

[corisande]

13 minutes ago, Moonraker said:

the flaunting of newly exchanged pound notes sometimes provoked bloody fights.

Yes it is sort of reminiscent of the WW2 saying with the Americans "over sexed, over paid , and over here"

[Moonraker]

My Sunday walk took me through Shrewton, which brought to mind an incident in the village concerning Canadians eager for sex and a woman willing to provide it. See an earlier post. (Scroll down to one of my posts of January 23.)

Edited 25 June by Moonraker

[corisande]

3 minutes ago, Moonraker said:

concerning Canadians eager for sex and awomanl willing to provide it.

[FROGSMILE]

17 minutes ago, Moonraker said:

My Sunday walk took me through Shrewton, which brought to mind an incident in the village concerning Canadians eager for sex and awomanl willing to provide it. See an earlier post. (Scroll down to one of my posts of January 23.)

They also had the highest incidences (per proportion of troops) for venereal disease, or so I was told by a senior Canadian officer, with rueful pride, during a staff ride on the Somme a few years back.  Apparently the Tommies were deliberately and methodically terrified by the GHQ about the effects of infection, whereas the Canadian troops thought it was mostly just exaggerated scare mongering.

Edited 25 June by FROGSMILE