WORLD WAR I
Bingham War Memorial
Service Record
| Z/1912 | L/S Oliver Eaton | Royal Naval Division | born 1891 |
| Roll of Honour | Served in Royal Navy, wounded twice. | ||
| Royal Naval Division |
RND was formed to make use of a surplus of available men in
the Royal Naval Reserve, as there were not enough ships to accommodate them
all. See: http://www.1914-1918.net/63div.htm His record suggests Oliver was in the OTC at school |
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| 1915 Service record |
Joined Royal Navy Division on 16th May 1915 He was 5’ 11¼” tall with a chest of 35½” (36½ expanded). His hair was brown and eyes grey. Service record is a typed list showing his progress in minute detail including tracing all the paperwork involved! |
Having been in the OTC (at school?) | Occupation: farmer |
| Service Record shows that after about six months training,
mainly at Blandford Forum, he joined the Drake Battalion in December 1915.
From January 1916 he was based in Mudros on the Greek Island of Lemnos.
It was the base for operations in the Dardanelles and the subsequent blockade
from late 1915. In July 1917 the battalion embarked on HMT Minnewska at Mudros on 15/5/1916 to Marseilles (disembarked 20/5/1916). They were bound for the Western Front. On 11th August 1916 he was wounded in the right thigh and left ankle. This would have been on the Somme. He was repatriated on HS St Denis and treated at the Military Hospital Shorncliffe. He re-joined Drake in July 1917 and was posted to 189th Machine Gum Company. They took part in the 3rd battle of the Somme in August 1917. He was wounded on 30th July and returned to Drake in September. During October he seems to have been with the field ambulance group. He went on leave back to Nottingham in September 1918 where he was admitted to the Military Hospital, Carrington, Nottingham as his “Disability [was deemed to be] more serious”. He was discharged from hospital on 14th September and was posted to Aldershot with the medical grade II – light duties. It is not clear when he was discharged but his pension statement of service was September 1921 by which time he was in Canada (see below). |
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Family history etc
| Oliver Eaton [jnr] | |||
| 1891 | July-Sep 1891 Bolton (service record says Bingham13 May 1891) | ||
| Census 1891 | Family lived in Bolton, Lancs: Oliver snr b 1862 Bingham Wife: Mary b 1862 Bolton, Lancs Daughter: Mary And Ann E Garrison b. 1868 Rotherham Eliza Roberts b1874 Bethesda, Wales |
General Medical Practitioner and Surgeon Nurse/domestic servant General domestic servant |
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| Census 1901 | Lived at Littleham, nr Exeter, Devon With: Father: Oliver Mother: Mary Siblings: Mary, b 1890 George, b. 1895 Kingsbridge, Devon And: John S Philips, b. 1874 Stokenham, Devon Maggie Williams, b. Isle of Man Lucy Howe, b. 1874 Kingsteignton, Devon Charlotte E Grigg, b. 1837 Exmouth |
surgeon Groom/Gardener Cook Housemaid Nurse |
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| Census 1911 | Boarding pupil in Allhallows School, High St, Honiton Brother George also a live-in pupil |
Brother George served in WW1. Click on name for details | |
| Census 1911 [family] |
Oliver (snr) lived in Littleham and
was a widower with: Daughter: Mary And Minnie Blackmore, b. 1887 Cullompton Devon Lillie Kate Dannell, b 1891 Littleham |
Cook Housemaid |
Father Oliver snr served in WW1. Click on name for details |
| Census 1911 | James William Eaton (grand father) lived alone in Long Acre with a housekeeper, Ellen Elizabeth Gask. He was widowed. | ||
| Kelly’s Directory 1912, 1916 | Oliver Eaton snr | LRCP, MRCS, surgeon and medical officer of health Rural district Council | |
| 1912 | Oliver snr re-married: Gertrude F Grimaldi, Honiton March 1912 | Miss Grimaldi lived at the cottage hospital Littleham 1911 | They appear in Long Acre on all electoral rolls 1919-1931 |
| 1914 | Oliver (jnr) and brother George seem to have sailed to Canada
on the SS Victoria. Their ages on the passenger manifest tally but unfortunately
that list gave no addresses. Both were farmers. One can only assume Oliver returned to join the Navy – passenger list surveys are by no means complete on the web sites. |
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| 1915 | Address on joining navy was Long Acre, Bingham. | ||
| 1919 | On his “Declaration of passenger to Canada” when he returned in November 1921 he wrote that his previous entry to Canada had been to Halifax in August 1919. He was a Canadian citizen returning to British Columbia | ||
| 1921 | Oliver [jnr] and Margaret sailed back from Montreal to Liverpool on the SS Empress of Britain on 22 October 1921. He was a farmer and their destination was Bingham. They returned to Canada on The Empress of France on November 28th 1921. His “Declaration of passenger to Canada” said the reason for leaving earlier in 1921 was “to visit”. They were returning to Ganges, on Saltspring Island, British Columbia. | ||
| 1932 | Oliver (a farmer), Margaret and Edward (11 years) sailed from Montreal to Glasgow on the Athenia in May 1932. They returned on 14th September 1934 on the Antonia. But returned to the UK in time to be included on the 1939 Register. | ||
| 1939 Register | Living at Cables, Newton Abbott: Oliver, married, b. 13 May 1891 Margret A, married, b. 12 April 1885 Mary E, single, domestic work, b 9 December 1899 One closed record |
Fruit Farmer, British Columbia Domestic work Domestic work |
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| 1958 | (possibly) died age 66 Victoria, Canada | ||