Frederick Relf (1894-1915)

Post date: Aug 28, 2015 4:30:43 PM

Frederick, or Fred as he was known, was born in Wateringbury in 1894. His parents were Charles (described in the 1911 census as a Storekeeper, wine and spirit) and Sarah Relf and they lived in Phoenix Cottages (just next to the Railway Pub at bottom of Bow Road) , Nettlestead. The cottage had 7 rooms and Fred had 4 elder siblings, all his mother's children having survived. At the Empire Day celebrations of 1906 the Parish magazine records that Fred Relf won a Kent Education Committee (K.E.C.) medal which was presented by Sir George Wolseley. He had won a medal twice in the preceding years. He attended Wateringbury school. In the 1911 census he is described as a "Gardener Domestic", one of many so employed in Wateringbury at the time.

His army record has survived and is available on Find My Past. When he enlisted (for 3 years or the duration of the war of longer, a typical short service contract) in the 12th (Service) Battalion, Rifle Brigade in London, aged 20, on 9th September 1914 just over a month after its outbreak, he described himself on his enlistment form as a footman. He was 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 150 lbs (not quite 11 stone) and had a chest fully expanded of 38 inches. His physical development was described as V. Good although a badly united fracture on his left collar bone was noted. He was inoculated in October 1914 and vaccinated in February 1915. His personal record confirms he was present when his battalion embarked on 21st July 1915 for France. He is not the Frederick Relf (service no 557) of the East Kent Regiment who was wounded in May 1915 and put on hospital ship Asturias.

He may not have been the perfect soldier as his record shows he was absent from tattoo on the 3rd April 1915 not returning until midnight on the 5th April for which offence he lost 3 days pay. In early August 1915 he also lost 3 days pay for an unknown offence, a month before his death.

He was killed in action on 25th September 1915, a year and two weeks after enlistment. He did not leave a will in his pay book and is not known to have left one at all. His personal effects were listed as simply one fountain pen and one "Letter in Case".

It appears that Fred's father had died by the time of Fred's death and his mother filled in the declaration (witnessed by Greville Livett, the Wateringbury Vicar) of living relatives in April 1919 and his brother, Albert acknowledged receipt of the various medals sent after the war.

The 12th (Service) Battalion, Rifle Brigade was raised in September 1914 (when Fred enlisted) as part of Kitchener's Second New Army and joined 60th Brigade, 20th (Light) Division. After initial training in the Winchester area they moved to Blackdown, then in February 1915 to Witley and to Larkhill in April for final training. They went to France on the 21st of July 1915, landing at Boulogne, the division concentrating in the Saint-Omer area. They then moved to the Fleurbaix area for trench familiarisation.

His name is on the 10th panel of the Ploegsteert Memorial, which is located 12.5 Kms south of Ieper town centre, on the N365 leading from Ieper to Mesen (Messines), Ploegsteert and on to Armentieres.

In the Kent Messenger of 29th September 1917 the following notice was inserted indicating that his father may still have been alive: