HANLEY CASTLE (ST. MARY) CHURCHYARD EXTENSION
Worcestershire
England
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 52.07526, Longitude: -2.23654
Location Information
Hanley Castle is a small village located in Worcestershire. St. Mary's Churchyard Extension is located close to the Cricket Club and contains one UK. burial from World War One.
Hanley Castle is a small village located in Worcestershire. St. Mary's Churchyard Extension is located close to the Cricket Club and contains one UK. burial from World War One.
Lieutenant
Charles Evered Preece
No. 2 Squadron, Royal Air Force, formerly Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars (Worcester Yeomanry)
18th February 1919, aged 23.
Son of John and Ada Louisa Preece, of The Ivy House, Hanley Castle. Mobilised August, 1914. Served in Egypt and in France. His brother, L/Cpl. G.E. Preece, also died on service and is buried in Étaples Military Cemetery in France
The information below supplied by 'The Ellesmerian Club', the alumni organisation for Ellesmere College where Charles was a pupil.
Charles Evered Preece
No. 2 Squadron, Royal Air Force, formerly Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars (Worcester Yeomanry)
18th February 1919, aged 23.
Son of John and Ada Louisa Preece, of The Ivy House, Hanley Castle. Mobilised August, 1914. Served in Egypt and in France. His brother, L/Cpl. G.E. Preece, also died on service and is buried in Étaples Military Cemetery in France
The information below supplied by 'The Ellesmerian Club', the alumni organisation for Ellesmere College where Charles was a pupil.
Charles Everard Preece, the youngest of three sons of John and Ada Preece, was born in Upton-upon-Severn, Worcestershire on 27th July 1896. He was admitted to Ellesmere College on 26th January 1912 as a fifteen-year-old boy and entered the ‘Heywood’ dormitory. Academically, he was placed in Form III under the guidance of Mr. H. C. Milner.
Although he only spent one year at the college, as he left in December, he did seem to take an active part in many aspects of school life. He played hockey, cricket and football for his dormitory and he took part in many events on Sports Day 1912 and is shown as being placed 3rd in the ¼ mile flat race.
Away from the sports field he took a part in the Shakespearian Society production of “Julius Caesar” (1912) and like all pupils he would almost certainly have been a member of the Officer Training Corps. When Charles left Ellesmere that he went to study farming at Hillend Lodge Farm, Longdon, Upton-on-Severn.
Charles enlisted in the 1st/1st Worcester Yeomanry (also known as ‘the Queens Own Worcestershire Hussars) as Trumpeter Preece, Service No.1836 very shortly after the outbreak of war. The Yeomanry were mobilised in August 1914, moving to Bury St. Edmunds and then onto Newbury and to Norfolk as their training progressed. They embarked at Avonmouth in April 1915, bound for Egypt and arrived at Alexandria on 22nd of that month. In August, the month his unit embarked for action at Suvla Bay, Charles returned to England as he was medically unfit. His unit, meanwhile, were heavily involved in fighting in Gallipoli before they evacuated to Egypt in December 1915. Charles re-embarked with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at Devonport on 15th November, arriving at Alexandria on 6th December. He was promoted Corporal the following April and posted back to England for ‘Home service’ in the november
Mention is made in The Ellesmerian (December 1915) that he hoped to take up a commission in the 3/1stBattalion, the Worcester Yeomanry, a training unit that had been set up the previous June. His military service records have survived and indicate that, by May 1917, he had transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. He was gazetted as a temporary 2nd Lieutenant on 29th May whilst posted to No. 2 Squadron based at Oxford.
He then transferred to No. 58 Squadron on his promotion to Flying Officer on 20th July 1917 whilst he was serving in France. He flew various aircraft but predominantly those produced by The Royal Aircraft Factory, specifically the B.E.2.e and the B.E.2.c – both were single engine, two seater bi-planes that were used as front line reconnaissance aircraft and light bombers; some variants were used as night fighters.
At the end of June 1918, after a year’s active service, he was hospitalised in Le Touquet and his condition meant he was unfit for general flying duties for ten weeks. He was formally invalided out of the Royal Air Force (as the Royal Flying Corps had become on 1st April that year) and returned to England, transferring to the Observers School of Reconnaissance and Aerial Photography that was established at Monkmoor Airfield, Shrewsbury.
The airfield had been constructed directly on the orders of Field Marshal Haig, Commander in Chief of the British Forces, to accommodate the Observers School of Reconnaissance and Aerial Photography whose remit was to reconnoitre the entire Western Front to a depth of 30 miles behind enemy lines.
Charles survived the war but died in a flying accident at Shrewsbury on 18th February 1919 when he was test flying serviced aircraft. Newspaper reports of the time record that Charles, along with 1st Class Air Mechanic Harry Welch, were in an aircraft that has just taken off when the engine suddenly stopped and the aircraft, swerving round, nosedived to the ground, exploding on impact and killing them both instantly. The accident was subject to a Coroner’s enquiry and the following report was published in a local newspaper:
The inquest on Lt. Charles Evered Preece, whose home is at Ivy House, Hanley Castle, Upton-on-Severn, and First Class Air Mechanic Harry Welch, of 6, Katherine place, Osier Street, Ladywood, Birmingham, both of whom were killed in an aeroplane crash on the Monkmoor Aerodrome, was held at the Coroner's Court, Shrewsbury, on Wednesday, before Mr. Coroner R. E. Clarke.
Charles E. Farr, Upton-on-Severn, identified the body of Lt. Preece, who was 22 years old, said he was the son of Mr. John Preece, butcher and farmer, of, Upton-on- Severn. Private. F. Welch, of the King's Royal Rifles, said his brother was 20 years old. Flight Sergeant G. H. Bowater, of the R.A.F., at Monkmoor, said Lt. Preece gave him instructions to have an aeroplane ready for him by 11 o'clock on Tuesday morning. The engine was running perfectly, and the pilot, Lt. Preece, reported to him that it was running "beautifully” just before he left the aerodrome with Welch at 12.15 p.m.
Witness did not see the accident, but saw the machine in a field about a quarter of a mile away from the sheds about five minutes after seeing Lt. Preece set off. The aeroplane was then on fire, and owing to the position in which the machine had crashed to the ground it was impossible to remove the bodies. Witness had known Lt. Preece since November last, and had been on several flights with him. He was an exceptionally good pilot. He did not think Welch had been on a flight since he came to Monkmoor, but he believed he had been in the air prior to being transferred to Monkmoor. Welch was keen to go on this particular trip. Francis P. Edwards said he was in his field, which adjoined the aerodrome, on Tuesday, when he saw the machine climb to a height of about 60 feet. It was then going all right, but suddenly the engine stopped, and the machine, swerving round, nose-dived to the ground. He ran to the scene and saw that the aeroplane had broken in two, and the pilot was under the wreckage. The mechanic was at the back of the machine, but witness was unable to release the body as it was held by wires. He thought both the men were dead, when he arrived on the spot. While he was endeavouring to release the body a very loud explosion took place in the petrol tank, and witness was covered with the burning liquid, but he managed to extinguish the fire from his clothing The fire totally destroyed the machine within a few minutes. Lt. Judge, representing the C.O. of the R. A. F. Squadron, to which the officer and mechanic belonged, said he desired to express on behalf of the officers, N.C.O.'s and men of the Squadron their deepest sympathy with the relatives in their sad bereavement.
Replying to the Coroner as to the cause of the accident, Lt. Judge said he could give no explanation whatever, excepting that it was no doubt due to the failure of the engine. There was, he thought, absolutely no carelessness on the part of the pilot or the mechanic, as Lt. Preece was a very skilful flyer.
A verdict of "Accidental death" was re- turned.
He was buried in St. Mary’s Churchyard Extension, Hanley Castle, Worcestershire along with his brother, George, who also lost his life in the conflict.
His life is commemorated on a plaque in the parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul’s, Upton-upon-Severn and on the War Memorial at Ellesmere College.
He was awarded the Victory Medal, the British War Medal and the 1914-1915 Star.
Although he only spent one year at the college, as he left in December, he did seem to take an active part in many aspects of school life. He played hockey, cricket and football for his dormitory and he took part in many events on Sports Day 1912 and is shown as being placed 3rd in the ¼ mile flat race.
Away from the sports field he took a part in the Shakespearian Society production of “Julius Caesar” (1912) and like all pupils he would almost certainly have been a member of the Officer Training Corps. When Charles left Ellesmere that he went to study farming at Hillend Lodge Farm, Longdon, Upton-on-Severn.
Charles enlisted in the 1st/1st Worcester Yeomanry (also known as ‘the Queens Own Worcestershire Hussars) as Trumpeter Preece, Service No.1836 very shortly after the outbreak of war. The Yeomanry were mobilised in August 1914, moving to Bury St. Edmunds and then onto Newbury and to Norfolk as their training progressed. They embarked at Avonmouth in April 1915, bound for Egypt and arrived at Alexandria on 22nd of that month. In August, the month his unit embarked for action at Suvla Bay, Charles returned to England as he was medically unfit. His unit, meanwhile, were heavily involved in fighting in Gallipoli before they evacuated to Egypt in December 1915. Charles re-embarked with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at Devonport on 15th November, arriving at Alexandria on 6th December. He was promoted Corporal the following April and posted back to England for ‘Home service’ in the november
Mention is made in The Ellesmerian (December 1915) that he hoped to take up a commission in the 3/1stBattalion, the Worcester Yeomanry, a training unit that had been set up the previous June. His military service records have survived and indicate that, by May 1917, he had transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. He was gazetted as a temporary 2nd Lieutenant on 29th May whilst posted to No. 2 Squadron based at Oxford.
He then transferred to No. 58 Squadron on his promotion to Flying Officer on 20th July 1917 whilst he was serving in France. He flew various aircraft but predominantly those produced by The Royal Aircraft Factory, specifically the B.E.2.e and the B.E.2.c – both were single engine, two seater bi-planes that were used as front line reconnaissance aircraft and light bombers; some variants were used as night fighters.
At the end of June 1918, after a year’s active service, he was hospitalised in Le Touquet and his condition meant he was unfit for general flying duties for ten weeks. He was formally invalided out of the Royal Air Force (as the Royal Flying Corps had become on 1st April that year) and returned to England, transferring to the Observers School of Reconnaissance and Aerial Photography that was established at Monkmoor Airfield, Shrewsbury.
The airfield had been constructed directly on the orders of Field Marshal Haig, Commander in Chief of the British Forces, to accommodate the Observers School of Reconnaissance and Aerial Photography whose remit was to reconnoitre the entire Western Front to a depth of 30 miles behind enemy lines.
Charles survived the war but died in a flying accident at Shrewsbury on 18th February 1919 when he was test flying serviced aircraft. Newspaper reports of the time record that Charles, along with 1st Class Air Mechanic Harry Welch, were in an aircraft that has just taken off when the engine suddenly stopped and the aircraft, swerving round, nosedived to the ground, exploding on impact and killing them both instantly. The accident was subject to a Coroner’s enquiry and the following report was published in a local newspaper:
The inquest on Lt. Charles Evered Preece, whose home is at Ivy House, Hanley Castle, Upton-on-Severn, and First Class Air Mechanic Harry Welch, of 6, Katherine place, Osier Street, Ladywood, Birmingham, both of whom were killed in an aeroplane crash on the Monkmoor Aerodrome, was held at the Coroner's Court, Shrewsbury, on Wednesday, before Mr. Coroner R. E. Clarke.
Charles E. Farr, Upton-on-Severn, identified the body of Lt. Preece, who was 22 years old, said he was the son of Mr. John Preece, butcher and farmer, of, Upton-on- Severn. Private. F. Welch, of the King's Royal Rifles, said his brother was 20 years old. Flight Sergeant G. H. Bowater, of the R.A.F., at Monkmoor, said Lt. Preece gave him instructions to have an aeroplane ready for him by 11 o'clock on Tuesday morning. The engine was running perfectly, and the pilot, Lt. Preece, reported to him that it was running "beautifully” just before he left the aerodrome with Welch at 12.15 p.m.
Witness did not see the accident, but saw the machine in a field about a quarter of a mile away from the sheds about five minutes after seeing Lt. Preece set off. The aeroplane was then on fire, and owing to the position in which the machine had crashed to the ground it was impossible to remove the bodies. Witness had known Lt. Preece since November last, and had been on several flights with him. He was an exceptionally good pilot. He did not think Welch had been on a flight since he came to Monkmoor, but he believed he had been in the air prior to being transferred to Monkmoor. Welch was keen to go on this particular trip. Francis P. Edwards said he was in his field, which adjoined the aerodrome, on Tuesday, when he saw the machine climb to a height of about 60 feet. It was then going all right, but suddenly the engine stopped, and the machine, swerving round, nose-dived to the ground. He ran to the scene and saw that the aeroplane had broken in two, and the pilot was under the wreckage. The mechanic was at the back of the machine, but witness was unable to release the body as it was held by wires. He thought both the men were dead, when he arrived on the spot. While he was endeavouring to release the body a very loud explosion took place in the petrol tank, and witness was covered with the burning liquid, but he managed to extinguish the fire from his clothing The fire totally destroyed the machine within a few minutes. Lt. Judge, representing the C.O. of the R. A. F. Squadron, to which the officer and mechanic belonged, said he desired to express on behalf of the officers, N.C.O.'s and men of the Squadron their deepest sympathy with the relatives in their sad bereavement.
Replying to the Coroner as to the cause of the accident, Lt. Judge said he could give no explanation whatever, excepting that it was no doubt due to the failure of the engine. There was, he thought, absolutely no carelessness on the part of the pilot or the mechanic, as Lt. Preece was a very skilful flyer.
A verdict of "Accidental death" was re- turned.
He was buried in St. Mary’s Churchyard Extension, Hanley Castle, Worcestershire along with his brother, George, who also lost his life in the conflict.
His life is commemorated on a plaque in the parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul’s, Upton-upon-Severn and on the War Memorial at Ellesmere College.
He was awarded the Victory Medal, the British War Medal and the 1914-1915 Star.
