Tidwell Family

The family came from Branscombe and moved to Buckerell sometime between 1889 and 1901. They were Edwin and Elizabeth and their children William, Alfred, Mark, Frank, Ernest and Albert. 3 of the 6 children died during the War, 2 directly and 1 died not as a result of enemy action.

In the 1911 Census the family were mostly in Buckerell, Elizabeth had been widowed and was living with Frank aged 22 in a cottage immediately following Orchard Farm according to the Census records.

William the oldest brother survived the War and had a large family with Mary Ann.

In 1911 he was living with his family in Brick House (think this is now ??? opposite Buckerell Lodge entrance) working as an agricultural labourer.

Alfred is believed to have survived the War, but as with William there is currently no trace of them in the available War records or BMD records. He had a small family with Emily.

Mark was born in 1886 and joined the Devonshire Regiment as Private Mark Tidwell 7947.

In 1901 he was a 15 year old servant in the Pearcy household at ???stone Farm (Weston)

In 1911 he had already enlisted into the 2^nd Battalion Devonshire Regiment and was aged 23 possibly stationed in Malta.

Sadly he died of wounds in on the 25^th April 1916 (not 19^th Jan as recorded on Buckerell ?) serving with the 1^st Battalion in France & Flanders. He’s buried in Faubourg-d’Amiens Cemetery, also known as Arras Memorial. He was resident in Buckerell and had enlisted in Exeter.

Frank survived the War and had a small family with Louisa.

Ernest born on the 16^th September 1888 and eventually joined the Royal Navy / Royal Marine Light Infantry as a Private.

He died aged 27 recorded as ‘Killed or died by means other than disease, accident or enemy action’ on 5^th September 1916 when posted to HMS Alsatian and is buried in Anfield Cementary.

Albert born 1894 and died 13^th April 1918, buried Tourgeville Military Cemetery in France. He joined the Devonshire Regiment as private Albert Tidwell 9395 where he reached Lance Corporal in the 2^nd Battalion.

Charles Theodore Paynter

Charles Theodore Paynter was born 1^st November 1895 in Spondon Derbyshire, the third child of Francis Samuel Paynter and Helen Isabel Cane.

Charles father was a Rector whose family originated from West Cornwall and has a family crest, his mother was the daughter of a Rector.

Charles older siblings were Francis J H Paynter, born 1892 and died 1907 and Hubert S Paynter born 1893. His younger siblings were Noel Stephen Paynter born 1898 and died 1998, Bernard S Paynter born 1904 and died 1927 and Francis A Paynter born 1909 and died 1937.

In 1901 Charles was aged 5 living in the family home which was the Rectory in Springfield, Essex. In 1911 he’d joined the Royal Navy and was a Naval Cadet in the R.N. College, Dartmoth aged 15 and sometime after was aboard the HMS North Star, an Admiralty M Class Destroyer built by Palmers and launched 9^th November 1916.

As a Lieutenant on board the North Star he was sent on the Raid on Zeebrugge, an unsuccessful raid on both Zeebrugge and Ostend where a total of 200 men died and 8 Victoria Crosses were awarded. During this raid Charles was sadly killed in action along with 20 others from the crew when the North Star was hit by German coastal artillery and sunk at approximately 2am 23^rd April 1918.

Francis Charles oldest brother died when he was just 15.

Hubert Charles elder brother, received his Aero Club Aviators certificate on the 18^th May 1916 flying the Maurice Farman Biplane as a 2^nd Lieutenant in the 11^th East Surrey Regiment. Hubert was promoted to at least Captain and latterly became a solicitor as a Partner in his own business having been married in 1926. He was evident on the Air Force List as available for Active service in the RAFVR at the start of the 2^nd World War.

Noel was younger than Charles was born on Boxing Day 1898 in Springfield Essex and died 16^th March 1998 aged 99 having lived a highly interesting life which perhaps peaked when he became a Director within MI5. He survived both World Wars as a pilot and Intelligence Officer and was a significant supporter of Bomber Harris and a senior member of RAF Bomber Command as Chief Intelligence Officer. He also received the Companion Order of the Bath (CB) at the end of the War. He reached the rank of Air Commodore and was forever known as ‘Peter’, a nick name he gained while at Haileybury and Imperial Service College.

Bernard was younger than Noel and died in Bickley, Milverton, Somerset on the 23^rd August 1927.

Frances Charles youngest brother died aged 28 in Mittelburg, Austria as a result of an avalanche on the 8^th January 1937, he was a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF. His wife, already an author of many books wrote a book entitled ‘The Life and Letters of Francis Arthur Paynter (Flight Lieutenant, Royal Air Force) in 1938 and then the same for her brother-in-law Charles.

Buckerell Village War Memorial

I’m writing this in recognition of the 2014 centenary of the start of the First World War.

Many War records were lost to bombing of London during the Second World War so I may not be able to complete the War Records for all those mentioned on our memorial but I will post all the publicly available information that I discover.