Ernest Sales (1886-1915)

Post date: May 07, 2015 11:25:29 AM

According to the 1891 census Ernest Sales was born in Wateringbury in 1886, the son of George and Elizabeth Sales, who lived at Latters Buildings in Old Road. George was a fishmonger and had a large family with 8 children, aged between 15 and 2 years at the time of the 1891 census. The two oldest children, boys aged 15 and 13 were no longer at school but are shown as fish hawkers. Ernest attended Wateringbury School and is mentioned in the school log of July 1898:

"Owing to a complaint from the Mistress of the Girls school & a letter from a parent, I punished severely two boys (Ernest Sales & Fred Beal) for most rude behaviour to girls & also punished slightly several other boys who also behaved badly. There is a small set of boys from Pizien Well district who are doing a vast amount of mischief in the school, by their bad behaviour & bad companions outside the school. Their home surroundings are doubtless more to blame than anything else."

In the 1901 census George is still in Old Road but no longer at Latter's Buildings, with no wife and with now only 3 children at home; Ernest appears not to have followed the family fish trade and is described aged 15 as an ordinary agricultural worker. However when he joined up, aged 18, in 1905 in Chatham he was described as a fishmonger.

He joined the 4th Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment. He is the only known Wateringbury man to have joined the Worcestershires- perhaps the Royal West Kents were full. Enlistment took him to India for certain as in 1911 he is listed as a cook with the military in Bareilly, a town in the Utar Pradesh province of India. Possibly Ernest participated at the parade at the great Durbar in 1911 in Delhi to recognise George v as King/Emperor. In early 1914 the battalion was sent to Burma, where they were at the outbreak of war. Ernest was a private and his service number was 9502.

The following is summarised from the battalion's history at http://www.worcestershireregiment.com/h_gallipoli.php. No war diary for the 4th Worcestershires is currently available at The National Archives until March 1916, although one is referred to the battalion's history.

The battalion was sent back from Burma to the UK landing at Avonmouth on 1st February 1915 before embarking on 21st March again at Avonmouth to go to Alexandria, via Gibraltar and Malta. They disembarked at Alexandria on 6th April after 3 days waiting on-board boat as the port at Alexandria was very crowded. They sailed from Alexandria on the 11th April to Lemnos in the Aegean for the rendezvous.

On 25th April 1915 the Gallipoli landings took place and the battalion was to be landed at V beach, Cape Helles, but this proved a death trap and the main part was diverted to W beach where it was tasked to capture the high ground to the right of the beach and work their way to V beach. The strength of the battalion at the time of landing was 26 officers and 931 other ranks. Casualties in the first two days of fighting were 100. Two redoubts, the second protected by undamaged bared wired, were captured on the first day after intense fighting and progress was slowly made.

At the first battle of Krithia the battalion captured much ground but were obliged to give it up as the French forces on their right had retired under Turkish attack.

On 30th April the date of Ernest Sales' death the battalion was relieved by new French forces and moved into reserve some 400 yards behind the front line where they dug in and tried to avoid sniper fire. On the same day another Wateringbury man, Richard Heath, was killed at Anzac Cove. News of Ernest's death got home quickly and was reported in the parish magazine in both June and October 1915, but with the date of his death put as 10th May (See Updated Navy and army List and Lieut Stevens killed in action ).

Ernest's elder brother James was prosecuted at the Petty Sessions in June 1915 and fined £1 and 1s. for using obscene language in the village on 22nd May.