Life story retold by Paul Beecroft
R4/110981. PRIVATE T.H. WITHERS
ARMY SERVICE CORPS. 29.10.15 34
T.H. WITHERS is thought to be Thomas Harry WITHERS. Thomas appears to be one of those men who was not totally honest about his personal details when signing up to join the Armed Services in time of war.
The Attestation Form for T.H. WITHERS, No. R4/110981 is dated 28th May 1915. It records his full name as being Thomas Harry WITHERS of Cowfold, Nr. Horsham, Sussex. His age is shown as 37 years 3 months and that he was born in Romsey, Hampshire. Strangely, Attestation Forms did not require or record a date of birth. Based on the age given he would have been born around February 1878. His occupation is shown as being a Groom. His next of kin was given as his brother Charles WITHERS of Romsey, Hampshire. His Attestation was approved by the Superintendent of No. 4 Remount Depot, Army Service Corps at Arborfield Cross.
Thomas does not appear to have been in good health. Prior to joining No 4 Remount, his medical history shows that he was admitted to hospital on April 24th 1915 with an injury to a leg. He was hospitalised for 15 days. On August 3rd he was admitted to hospital with Indigestion and discharged on the 5th. Admitted again on the 17th for 2 days with Gastric pains and then on September 5th he was admitted with Cardiac weakness. He was discharged some 10 days later on the 15th. On October 10th Thomas was once again admitted with cardiac problems. On admission he was described as being incoherent and sadly died on the 29th. His cause of death was given as Endocarditis, although another part of his medical history refers to a Cerebral Haemorrhage.
Details of his funeral are not known but he was buried in Reading Old Cemetery and is commemorated on the Screen Wall.
Thomas Harry WITHERS is a bit of a mystery. Nothing is known about his family other than that he may have had a brother, Charles. It would appear that all efforts by the Army and the Police around the Romsey area were not able to find him to let him know of his brother’s death. Thomas stated that he was born in Romsey, but the BMD Index shows no exact match. The closest is Thomas Edward who was born in 1860. Thomas gave his address as Cowfold, Nr. Horsham, Sussex. This of course is not a full address but the 1911 census shows a Thomas WITHERS residing at 188, New Street, Horsham. New Street is in the parish of Cowfold. The census shows that he is not married, his occupation is that of Agricultural Labourer and his age is given as being 47, which would make his year of birth about 1864. The place of birth is shown as Headleage/Headleaye, Willstures. Willstures could be Wiltshire and was misspelt but there is no known town, village or parish with the name Headleage or Headleaye. If this is the same Thomas WITHERS that enlisted in the Army in 1915, then his age at the time would have been about 51.
Who exactly Thomas Harry WITHERS was will probably have to remain a mystery.
Division 71-72, War Plot