T.L. Blackman - The Three Uncles: The Cole Brothers in the Great War

Copyright 2016 by T.L. Blackman

www.thethreeuncles.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or anyinformation storage or retrieval system, without prior permissionin writing from the publisher.

The right of T.L. Blackman to be identified as theauthor of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with theCopyright Act 1994.

Smashwords LicenseStatement

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoymentonly. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.If you would like to share this book with another person, pleasepurchase an additional copy for each reader. If youre reading thisbook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your useonly, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchaseyour own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of thisauthor.

ISBN 978-0-473-35207-3 (Epub)

ISBN 978-0-473-35208-0 (Kindle)

ISBN 978-0-473-35209-7 (iBook)

For the great grandchildren of Michael WilliamCole:

Sheldon, Sarah, Thomas, Kaito, Shima, and Evan,

and

to the memory of Michael William Cole,

1917 2009

(Copyright remains with the individual/organisation in italics)

1. Mr W.H. and Mrs C.M. Cole ( Private Collection )

2. The Cole Family, c. 1875 (Private Collection)

3. Cole and Lewis blotter (PrivateCollection)

4. Mrs Kitty Cole, wife of William Cole, with one ofher children (Private Collection)

5. William Cole with daughter Irene (Private Collection)

6. Fritz William (F.W.) Cole (Private Collection)

7. 5th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 1915 (Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum)

8. Cyril Lawson Cole (MarlboroughCollege)

9. Clifford Spearing Cole (Marlborough College)

10. Commissioning Scroll for Clifford Spearing Cole,29 October 1914 (Private Collection)

11. Letters from the Western Front (Private Collection)

12. The gravestone of Clifford Cole, Royal IrishRifles Graveyard, Laventie (PrivateCollection)

13. Telegram home regarding F.W. Cole (Private Collection)

14. The wedding of Mr and Mrs F.W. Cole, 13September 1916 (Private Collection)

15. Maxwell Gerard Cole (Marlborough College)

16. Postcard from 2Lt M.W. Cole (Private Collection)

17. 1 Squadron, Ballieul, March 1917 (Cross and Cockade International)

18. 2Lt Lindsay Drummond (RoyalMilitary College of Canada)

19. Memorial Plaque to Maxwell Gerard Cole (Private Collection)

20. Rosamund Cole and baby Michael (Private Collection)

21. 2/5th Gloucestershire Transport Section (Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum)

22. The wedding of Mr and Mrs C.L. Cole, 23 November1918 (Private Collection)

23. Medals of Major F.W. Cole (Private Collection)

24. Major F.W. Cole, c. 1950 (Private Collection)

25. Plan of Etaples Military Cemetery (Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

26. Plan of Oostaverne Military Cemetery (Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

27. Plan of Royal Irish Rifles Military Cemetery,Laventie (Commonwealth War GravesCommission)

28. Model of Maxwells plane Nieuport 23 (Private Collection)

29. Whos who in The Three Uncles - Cole andDavies Family Trees

1. Mr W.H. and Mrs C.M. Cole (circa 1905)

I am extremely grateful to the followingindividuals and organisations who helped with advice andinformation during the process of researching this book. I havereceived enormous support from my extended family (they know whothey are) and special mention must go to Mrs Kay Cole and Mrs JackyMiddleton. Mrs Annie Blackman completed the first reading and alsoencouraged me.

The research was helped a great deal by Mr DavidRead from the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum, Dr T. Rogers fromMarlborough College, Mr Andy Kemp from Cross and CockadeInternational and the hard-working staff at the National Archives(UK), the RAF Museum London, the Commonwealth War Graves Commissionand Auckland Libraries. Also helpful with research were the manycontributors to discussion boards on the internet, particularlythose on ancestry.com and theaerodrome.com. Thank you also to MrsShelley Grey who helped me with British history and Kyle and PaulaWilliams who travelled with us to visit the graves in France. I amespecially grateful to Paul and Paola Dashwood for the layout ofthe hard copy book and cover design. My eternal gratitude goes toIain, Sarah and Thomas who always support my projects. Any factualerrors within this text are mine. Should any person discover apossible inaccuracy, I would be most appreciative if they could getin touch.

I will now borrow some words from another ancestor,Stamford Raffles Flint, author and editor of TheMudge Memoirs (1883). I have approached this researchrespectfully, ever mindful to the memory of those whom theyrecord. It is with deference I put forward this book, sounskilfully handled, and intended originally for those to whom itwould be of family or personal interest, trusting that whoevertakes it up will treat it with lenience and consideration.

And lastly, to my great-great grandparents, Williamand Kitty. Your boys have not been forgotten.

Somepeople asked if this book was researched because of the First WorldWar centenary. The truth is this journey began in July 2009 duringMichael Coles funeral. He was a popular man and St Dominics, thelarge church at Camberwell in Melbourne, was full for his requiemmass. During the eulogy his wife of forty years, Mrs Kay Cole,referred to his father, Fritz Cole, as being lucky enough to besent home after being injured on the Somme and his three brothersnot being so lucky as they were killed in France. Although we havealways known that three of my grandfathers uncles died in theFirst World War, we knew very little of what actually happened tothem. If someone did not research and write down the Colesexperiences then another generation would go by and the opportunitymight be lost.

The research uncovered a family sagadetailing the lives, adventures and tragic deaths of three of thefour brave young Cole brothers. The story travels from the Somme,to the skies above the Western Front; from the Battle ofPasschendaele, to the town of Brimscombe, Gloucestershire wheredreaded telegrams would arrive. It includes, miraculously,survivable plane crashes in flimsy aircraft and lots of mud andvermin in the trenches. It is also a story of love, engagement,marriage and a baby, all set amid the backdrop of a war that seemedto have no end. The Coles were an ordinary family yet the researchuncovered is an extraordinary story.

2. The Cole Family, c. 1875.

Standing left to right: Alice Mary (born 1860),William Cole, Sarah Selina Cole (ne Spearing), William Henry Cole(1852), Sarah Ann (1849), Emma (1856), Arthur Abel (1854). Seatedleft to right: Margaret Mabel (1865), Harriet Augusta (1859),Horace Ward (1870), Caleb Bruce (1862), Lillian Kathleen (1867),George Spearing (1858) and Florence Edith (1863).