After walking to Canterbury Charles enlisted in the Royal East Kent Regiment later known as ‘The Buffs’ and underwent basic training which prepared him for his first posting.
Travelling on the troop ship ‘Plassy’ he travelled to India where he stayed until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. At this point his battalion was recalled from India and sent to Kilbride Camp near Dublin in Ireland. While serving there Charles met his future wife Katherine who moved to England with him.
The Second Battle of Ypres by Richard Jack. |
Although not fully recovered from gassing Charles volunteered to return to duty and was soon back in action. Having been made a machine gunner in the machine gun section of The Buffs and sent back to the Western Front, he got badly wounded in the arm by shrapnel from an exploding shell while in action and was knocked unconscious. When he awoke in a German military hospital he realized that he had been taken prisoner. A German surgeon tried to save his arm but failed so Charles had to remain in the Prisoner of War Camp until he was finally released as a wounded combatant and sent back to England.
Although he suffered the loss of his left arm Charles was luckier than other family members as William and Edward Seamer both lost their lives during the conflict. Edward died when his ship ‘HMS Turbulent’ was rammed and sunk at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 while William died when his tug ‘HM Desire’ was sunk by a German U-boat off the Yorkshire coast in 1918. After getting an artificial arm fitted at the artificial limb centre in Roehampton Charles underwent training as a radio technician for the last part of the war. After this he returned to Upchurch and worked at Chatham Dockyard then became a railway signalman until he finally retired during the 1950s.
About David